20 May 09 – Day 4 (Hualian)

Woke up around 6+am to take the doughnut as breakfast and was out of the hotel by 7.30am to get to the Main Station to take the 8am Tze Chang train to Hualien. The train left exactly at 8am and reached Hualien exactly at 10.08am. Quickly made our way to 后车站 via the underpass and met up with the couple who was supposed to share the cab. Mr Hu De Song came to pick us up and he was our cabbie for the day. He brought us to get 便当 and in that shop, we saw Mr Lu Lai Fu with the group that he was taking. We then headed to Cingshui Cliff to take some photos. The view was great but Mr Hu said it wasn’t the best due to the plankton. The sky darkened as we reached Taroko Gorge and as it was already 12+pm, so we ate our便当 at the place outside the tourist service center. The 便当 was very delicious and I finished the whole thing together with the soup.

Cingshui Cliff

Blue blue sea near Cingshui Cliff

SWT's lunch - Grilled Meat Bian Dang

My lunch - Fish Fillet Bian Dang

We started the Taroko Gorge tour proper around 1+pm. We were given time to take photos, walked the trail and the last stop was the highlight of the tour, a visit to the 水帘洞. We had to walk through dark caves before reaching水帘洞 and fortunately Mr Hu lent us torches. The caves had bats and dripped water. By the time we reached水帘洞, Mr Lu and his group were just done. Mr Hu helped us into the ponchos and he stayed back to look after our stuff while Mr Lu led us into the水帘洞 and helped us took photos. We walked barefooted into the cave, the water was cool and the ground was very rocky but not pointy.

Some pictures of Taroko Gorge :

Unique rock formations

Can you see a bear head?

Can you see the head of an indian chief?

Guess what animal? This rock resembles an elephant.

Tourists who walk this stretch of the Taroko Gorge were required to wear helmets coz there have been cases of fallen rocks injuring people

This is supposed to resemble a carp jumping through the dragon gate

Inside the tunnel, the walls were wet

Bats hanging on top

The hanging bridge that we were supposed to cross to get to Water Curtain Cave

The couple who travelled with us crossing the bridge

Water Curtain

The couple outside the Water Curtain Cave

Everyone had great fun and when we were out, we saw a few people wanted to go in but without any preparations. So Mr Hu gave the ponchos to them so that they could go into 水帘洞. We ended our Taroko Gorge tour around 5.35pm and Mr Hu ordered the 炸蛋葱油饼 for each of us. We took about 1 hour to go to the city and we ate the炸蛋葱油饼 while it was hot. Then he brought us to a shop to get muah chee before sending us to the train station to take the 7.30pm Tze Chang train back to Taipei. Thanked Mr Hu, boarded the train and bought cheese cake from Café 85 and a cup of ice plum tea on the way back to the hotel.

Cong You Bing Stall in Hualien

Cafe 85 Cheese Cake

Thoughts: The day was great coz I didn’t have to do any planning. I left it all in the good hands of Mr Hu and just enjoy myself totally.

19 May 09 – Day 3 (Taipei)

It drizzled in the morning when we went out. Visited the Tienhou Temple, which was near our hotel before leaving for Xinbeitou via MRT. Got to the Xinbeitou Station and asked for a tourist map from the counter. Headed to the Hell Valley to take some photos before going to Puchi Temple. It was small and simple. As the drizzle got heavier, we went to Peitou Hot Springs Museum.

Puji Temple

An uncle soaking his feet in the hot spring

You can see the steam if you look carefully

Some pictures on Peitou Hot Springs Museum :

One of the stained glass windows in the museum

Steam coming out from under the ground

By the time we were done, it was around 11.30am and as the drizzle stopped, I psycho SWT who didn’t bring her towel to go to the Peitou Public Outdoor Pool. The session we went to is from 10.30am to 1pm. Quickly got changed, put our stuff in a locker, rinsed ourselves before going into the pool. There were three types of pool: cold, warm and hot. We started with the warm one before going to the hot one (40-42 Degree Celsius). While in that pool, an uncle chatted with us and I let SWT did most of the talking. Got out of the hot pool, then to the warm pool before going to the cold pool. Took shower, got changed and left the place around 12.45pm. Ate lunch at the Xinbeitou MacDonald till 2pm before leaving for Danshui.

We wanted to visit Pali first and so asked around for directions. Was told to take Red 26 to Fisherman’s Wharf to take a ferry from there to Pali. So did as told, saw the Lover’s Bridge and took some photos before crossing it to get the ferry tickets. Bought round trip ticket for ferry from Fisherman’s Wharf to Pali to Danshui and paid NT$120 per person. By the time we got to Pali, it was late afternoon and Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology was some distance from the pier. So we decided to drop that and walked the Old Street instead.

Toy Shop in Pali

Dog in a Pali Shop

Ate yam balls with dou hua in a shop before going to Danshui. Walked the Old Street, bought the 阿婆铁蛋 and鱼酥 and ate阿给 and 淡水鱼丸 before continuing with the street. Finally took the ferry back to Fisherman’s Wharf. We didn’t get to see the sunset coz the weather was cloudy so we saw the lighted up Lover’s Bridge instead. Took Red 26 back to Danshui Station where we bought Mister Doughnuts before heading back to the hotel.

Grass Jelly with Yam Balls

Dou Hua with Yam Balls

Ah Ge - Dong fen and meat wrapped in beancurd skin in sweet and spicy gravy

Danshui Fishballs

Fried Mushrooms

Lighted Lover's Bridge

Thoughts: I enjoyed the hot spring very much but I don’t think those that like cleanliness would want to go to that Peitou Public Outdoor Pool. It was worth visiting the Puchi Temple, which is simple, Japanese style temple. Peitou Hot Springs Museum is also worth visiting to understand how the area developed into the current hot spring hotspot.

In my humble opinion, there wasn’t much to see in Pali or probably because lots of shops were closed during my visit. I probably would have done better to skip Pali and focus on Danshui Old Street instead. The weather wasn’t good during my visit so didn’t get to see sunset on Lover’s Bridge but the lighted Lover’s Bridge was lovely. Danshui Old Street has lots of good food to eat and buy.

18 May 09 – Day 2 (Taipei)

We left the hotel around 8.30am to take MRT to Yuanshan Station before taking Bus 208 to Martyr’s Shrine to see the change of guards. We got there at 9am and I thought we had missed the session. There were already many tourists there taking photos of and with the guards. About 9.15am, we saw the guards in green uniform marching out to relieve the two guards in white. The whole process took about 15min and along with the guards were the tourists. I was joking with SWT that the guards also had their own escorts. After the process, we walked around the Shrine and left around 10am. Waited for Bus 213 which will bring us to the National Palace Museum (NPM) but after 15min and it still hadn’t come. So we took Red 3 to Jiantan Station, took MRT to Shilin Station before taking Bus 255 to the NPM and got there by 11.30am.

Front view of Martyr’s Shrine's front gate

Martyr’s Shrine's Terrace

The track from the numerous change of guards sessions

As it was International Museum Day so it was free entrance. Audio guide was available for NT$100 but we need to leave our passports with the counter and so we toured the Museum without the guide. There were a lot of tourists; mainly Mainland Chinese and they were a rowdy bunch. Besides tourists, there were also lots of students there as well. I had only planned to stay for about 1-2 hours at the NPM but SWT was very interested in the exhibits and so in the end we stayed till around 4+pm. Took us quite a bit of an effort to see the famous Jade Cabbage coz the tourists all swamped to that glass case when they were let in. SWT and I were short and so kena shoved to the side by those aunties and uncles.

National Palace Museum

Took the same bus back to Shilin Station and took MRT to the Taipei Main Station to go to Taiwan Storyland. Reached there at 5pm, bought the NT$280 ticket where NT$150 was redeemable for food, games or souvenirs. Walked around, took photos and ate dinner using the entire NT$150. Left around 6+pm to head back to the hotel. Rested and then headed out to Ximending (XMD) at 8.30pm. The streets were full of people even on Monday night. There were many shops selling clothes, shoes, accessories, food, etc, etc. However, the things were not suitable for me, they were more suitable for the youngsters.

Some photos from Taiwan Storyland :

SWT's dinner, redeemed fully using the entrance ticket

My dinner, redeemed fully using the entrance ticket

There were also pushcarts selling snacks. Was tempted to buy the snacks but I kept delaying coz I still wanted to browse other shops. Found 格子趣店 (武昌街二段30号, in front of Watson’s) and saw O’mani 谐音糖果. Tempted to buy but I don’t think anyone would know how to appreciate good fun. Instead, bought 10 pieces of the stickers, which can be pasted on the EZ Link card while SWT bought many facial masks. Then we went to Watson’s to browse before heading back to hotel at 10.30pm. Looked for the pushcarts but found none, then I saw a policeman on his scooter and I understood why. Bought Tiramisu from Café 85 and a cup of bubble milk tea along the way as supper in the end.

Cakes & Tea

Overall the day was half good and half bad. Managed to catch the earlier session of the change of guards but the time spent on transport put me back on track again. Only planned for 1-2 hours in the NPM but ended up spending about 4+ hours there. Hence pushing my timing back by a lot and thus not much time to explore XMD and didn’t manage to find 美国二手货市场 (昆明街96巷8号), 生活工場 (台北市武昌街二段81及83號), Xiao Zhu’s shop (台北市開封街2段66號, between Wanhua Sport Center and Paradise Hotel).

Thoughts: Martyr’s Shrine change of guards was worth watching. As for Martyr’s Shrine itself, just go in take some quick photos and proceed to the next station. NPM is one of the must-go museums in the world. It is most famous for the Jade Cabbage and Meat Stone, which is currently located on level 3. You have to queue up to get into the room. I'm not really into Chinese History but then the exhibits were rather interesting. I like to look at the pottery and the weapons but not so much on the paintings and calligraphy.

I like Taiwan Storyland coz I get to see the things that I used to see and played during my childhood years and some of that stuff were even older that I am. Ximending was a very trendy and busy place. Lots of shops selling clothing, shoes and accessories but I found that they were more suitable for teenagers and maybe those in early twenties or those with good figures. I can't get any shoes either, probably because those in fashion now don’t suit me. As for accessories, I don’t wear much so didn’t get much either. There were pushcarts selling snacks and I regretted not getting the snacks when I saw them.

17 May 09 – Day 1 (Taipei)

Reached Changi Airport Terminal 1 around 11.45am to check-in. Walked around T1 with SWT before going to BK for lunch about 12.30pm. Headed to gate C24 for boarding but the flight was delayed. Hence we only boarded the plane at 1.50pm and it only took off at 2.30pm. The plane landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TTIA) about 6.40pm. Quickly collected our luggage and looked for the counter to apply for Youth Pass. The staff asked for our passports to verify our age before handing us the forms to fill in. After we were done, she handed the passes and the information booklets that tell us what benefits that we were entitled to. Looked for the Kuokuang bus counter to buy round trip tickets that cost NT$230 per person. Took the 7.25pm bus and the journey took about 50min. Got to the Taipei Intercity Bus Terminal, alighted, collected luggage and started to hunt for the way to the Taipei Main Station. Along the way, we passed by the TRA counters and so collected the Hualien tickets.

Spent close to 45min to locate the Taipei Main Station after asking a few people. Used the free Easycard to get to Ximen Station, got out from Exit 1 and saw TS Hotel purple signage on the left side. Crossed the traffic light, which was directly in front of the station and walked to the hotel. Along the way, we passed by a police station, a few shops selling bubble tea and a few shops that sell/rent dance costumes. Reached the hotel, the staffs were friendly and the check-in was done quickly. By the time we got to our room 601, it was already 9pm. The room that I had booked was a Superior Suite that came with bathtub, spa shower and windows facing the road. We rested and then headed out to Shilin Night Market (NM) about 10pm. Bought NT$500 Easycard each at Ximen Station and took the MRT to Jiantan Station to look for Shilin NM. We walked the side that had shops selling clothes and accessories. Bought 胡椒饼, 大腸包小腸 and an Chocolate Vanilla Ice Cream Cone to share. Headed back to Jiantan Station at 11.30pm to take MRT back to the hotel.

Youth Pass

Hualien TRA Tickets

Easycard

Thoughts: Taipei Main Station is big, believe me. If you are a first timer to Taipei Main Station carrying luggages, please ask the station personnel for directions to get to the correct escalator to go down to the MRT station. Don’t waste time trying to find your way by looking at directional signs.