Taiwan is a country with the best in everything from culture, food, shopping to scenery. We went on a 7Day tour to cover most of the parts. You can never travel to the whole of Taiwan in a week, and I don't mind staying in different hotels each day. Whenever one thought of tour group, it must be tiring and time racing.
But come to think of it, you get to visit a lot of places which you could easily plan for your next free and easy trip for the ones worth going back again. Do not go during September as the weather is so unpredictable. When we touched down, it was pouring heavily. The next second, you are melted by the scorching sun. Best period is during in March, but bear in mind to bring along winter clothing or you will be freeze to death.
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| Cam whoring in the rain |
Tai Chung : Feng Jia Night Market
Everywhere you go, there will be a night market. The best part is, all of these pasar malam foods are cheap, and tasty. I like the smelly bean curd, and white bitter gourd juice. The queue is long, however, as they are hot spots for both locals, and tourists.
Taiwan's streets are so clean that we could not find rubbish anywhere. We did not even dare to throw on the floors, and was seeking high and low for a trash can. In the end, we saw this man in the middle of night market with two huge containers. On one side is for usual rubbish, the other side is for recycling eg. water bottles.
One of the locals was pouring out water from his bottle before throwing it into the bin, we followed suit. I was told that if bin is nowhere in sight, the people will bring it back home to throw into their own. This is one thing for sure, it will NEVER happen in Singapore.
Our hotel for the night was at Leader House Lukang. They offered a panoramic view of Tai Chung which caught me by surprise upon waking up. By the way, the sun was already halfway up in the sky at 6:30am.
Pu Li : Chateau De Olliere
We visited to this lovely castle like hotel whereby every single piece of the building was imported all the way from England. You can just drop by for high tea, the three-tier exquisite afternoon tea set blew me away.
Nantou : Sun Moon Lake & Wen Wu Temple
The weather was extremely hot at Sun Moon Lake, but the sky was so dark it could rain any time. That is the bad point travelling during this time. Sun Moon Lake http://www.sunmoonlake.gov.tw/english got its name as it is formed by a curved moon lake, and a diamond-shaped sun lake. You can view it from the top of the sky.
Wen is referring to civil god (Confucius), and Wu the martial god (Guan Yu). Wen Wu temple is overlooking the largest lake in Taiwan - Sun Moon Lake.
I actually prefer signing up tour packages rather than free and easy. Since I like to try out all types of delicacies, our selections are limited if there are only the two of us. But, with a group of ten, it is a different story.
Bought some fruits from a stall right in front of our restaurant, and the lady was so kind. I wanted to buy just two bananas, not a comb, and she said I could just have it for free. So I bought some more fruits from her, very sweet and yummy.
Okay, so it is raining cats and dogs again when it was freaking hot an hour ago.
Kao Hsiung : Liu He & Xin Jue Jiang Night Market
There are never ending local foods to be tried in all night markets since they have their own specialties. I like coffin bread (guan cai ban), and smelly bean curd in spicy soup (ma la chou dou fu). It is so spicy that my lips went numb and swollen after finishing it.
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| Pig blood's cake - erm not nice |
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| Coffin Bread |
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| Steamed smelly bean curd |
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| Gigantic Octopus |
Our stay for the night was at Sunshine Hotel http://www.hotelsunshine.com.tw/tw/eng/about.html I like their traditional antique room decorations, I'm an old lady. *smiles* By the way, I was amazed by the high-tech shower functions, I could not figure which buttons to use.
Mei Nong Hakka Folk Village
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| Yummy bean curd made of peanuts |
E-Da Theme Park
It was newly opened in 2010 when we first visited, so not many rides available.
We stayed at E-Da Skylark Hotel http://edaskylark.hotel.com.tw/eng which was newly opened as well. You could smell the new paint, and wood of furnitures. We were welcomed with managers who bowed like 90 degrees when they met us at the entrance. I was truly shocked as this is something I had not experienced before, excellent service.
As the area was newly opened, there were not many restaurants to choose from. Fortunately, we managed to find a Western restaurant - Robi. I was requesting for my pasta to be cooked in Aglio Olio style (not in the menu), and they were able to change it for me. That is what good customer service is about, unlike Singapore.
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| Sinful fried sweet potatoes from theme park |
One of the highlights of our tour was to visit to Hua Lien's aboriginal village. Most of the Taiwanese are actually from these villages (yuan zhu ming).
The view from our flight towards Hua Lien was simply breathtaking. Our hotel for the night was at Parkview Hotel http://www.parkview-hotel.com/en/menu_e.asp, one of the best around the area.
Our sumptuous dinner at the hotel.
Taroko National Park
Another attraction in Hua Lien area is Taroko Gorge http://www.taroko.gov.tw/English. The tunnels through 27 mountains were opened up be men.
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| In memory of workers who sacrificed their lives digging through these mountains |
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| Coconut pulp that looks like octopus |
We visited Ma Zhu temple, the Goddess's statue is made of coral.
Our dinner was at King Ping Tea Restaurant, Taipei. The head chef is formerly from Din Tai Fung according to our tour guide.
Taipei : Jiu Fen
Jiu Fen is located up the mountains whereby it was a gold mining area in early days. There are not many shops except for local products like ginger tea (jiang mu cha), almond tea, fruit pudding, and souvenirs. Do try out their mua chee soup. By the way, Jiu Fen is full of cockroaches along the whole street (eeee).
Sulphur hot spring at one of the hotels (tour leader and I soaked naked).. lol.. I kind of like that idea.
Had lunch at seafood restaurant before heading to Yeh Liu.
Yeh Liu - Queen's Head
We should have had our hot spring after visiting to Yeh Liu http://www.ylgeopark.org.tw/ENG/info/YlIntroduction_en.aspx as it was so hot, I was sweating non-stop. Too many tourists and we could not get a picture of the actual Queen's head, but the 3D printed one.
Martye's Shrine
I'm certainly impressed by the guards who were standing in front of entrance. Not only they are required to stand all day carrying a heavy gun with full armour, but also not to blink during their shift. I think it is a torture to train your eyes not to blink. Do remember not to touch the guards while taking pictures. I enjoy watching the guards changing their shifts. https://taiwanease.com/listing/138/Martyrs_Shrine
Shi Lin Night Market
Shi Lin night market is more commercialised which usually attracts tourists. Do try out the famous large fried chicken chop.
Last hotel of our trip was at Regent Hotel http://www.regenthotels.com/EN/Taipei
We can eat railroad bento on Taiwan's railway train.
I tried the Pinang, and it tasted awful. You could be addicted to them just like cigarettes.
Do remember to buy their local products Sunshine Biscuits (Tai Yang Bing).
One thing I love about Taiwan is their huge Yakult. I felt like bringing a lorry full of these drinks!
