Graduation Trip to Taiwan...

After 4 years of slogging in NUS, it is only right that I should reward my hard work by going to Taiwan for a trip to celebrate the end of my pursue of a degree.

It was initially decided that 4 of us (Yk, Ys, Gm and me) should go on the graduation trip together. But alas, a few days before booking the JetStar tickets, Gm decided to join the PangSehKia gang, and go to Japan instead with his SOKA buddies. Well, it's Japan plus girls in his SOKA group, so I guess it's forgiveable. Nonetheless, WELCOME Gm to the PSK gang.

So instead, the 3 of us headed to Taiwan in a free-and-easy 8 days trip. Although it's the virgin trip to Taiwan for the 3 of us, we managed to plan our itinerary with the help of Aska's sis-in-law. Thanks Aska for passing on the information.

Our summarized itinerary: Taipei-Taipei-Alishan-Alishan/Taipei-Taipei-Taipei-Taipei

Below is the more detailed itinerary, with most pictures from my handy, trusty SONY ERICSSON 770i handphone, unless otherwise stated.

DAY 1

Taking the Jetstar 3K521 flight, we arrived at Tao Yuan International Airport at 1800h. From the airport, we took the 国光bus to Taipei main city area. This costs us NT140 each, much cheaper as compared to NT1000 for taking a cab down to the main city area.

We alighted at the Taipei Main Railway Station, and made our way to our first Taipei hostel, Chocolate Box Backpackers via the MRT. Situated opposite the 师大 Shida night market and beside the 师范大学, we alighted at the Taipower buiding station and walked to the hostel. We kind of lost our way a little as we did not really know the exact location of the hostel. For future backpackers, I would suggest moving towards the Shida night market first, then walk into the alley beside the 师范大学 to find the hostel.

As it was my first time going to some hostel to stay, I was a little apprehensive about the state of my accommodation. Judging from the exterior of the building which housed the hostel, I thought it was going to be some lok kok place.

However, as the saying goes, do not judge a book by its cover. The Chocolate Box Backpackers Hostel was very well decorated, and it sure was not as bad as I thought. It was great!

Jimmy, Lam and the 3 of us in the living room...
(pix from Ys)

The beds in the six-bunk dorm we stayed in...










After checking in, we went to Shida night market to get some food for dinner. While walking through the stalls, we saw NONO and a girl. Haha. He looked secretive:) After having some 鸡排 (chicken cutlet), we then visited the club, Room18. It was said that the nightlife in Taipei very happening, so of course we must go see right? But I guess we were there too early, as the real action starts at 0100h.









The 3 of us at Room18... (pix from Ys)

Free entry for everyone every Wednesday...











DAY 2






Now that we were in Taiwan, what's better than not to start the day with a standard 豆浆油条 right?




Breakfast at a 豆浆shop at Shida night market...





After breakfast, we headed to the nearby 师范大学 and 台湾大学 to take a look at the campus life in Taiwan. As we din really know the place around, we just wandered around aimlessly. I guess NUS is much better than the universities in Taiwan, in terms of infrastructure and facilities.

Next, we made our way to the 中正纪念堂(Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall) on foot. Being reconnaissance troopers, we figured that we should walk to 发 辉 our reconnaissance spirit, since it's only 1 MRT stop away.

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

After the visit to the CKS Memorial Hall, we walked towards the 总统府 (Presidential Residence) and found this shop that sells some nice 鲁肉饭.







Some nice 鲁肉饭 with soup... YUMMY!










After lunch, because it started to drizzle, we decided that we should head to 西门町(XiMenDing) and do a little shopping.

Things sold at XiMenDing are mostly girl stuffs, which hardly struck a chord with us 3 guys. After walking around, we decided we should start eating again. MuaHaHa! Tea break.

阿宗面线 and Honeydew-flavored donut from Dunkin' Donuts...

After some rest back at the hostel, we headed to 公馆(Gongguan) night market to scour for our dinner.

葱饼 + 鸡排 + 沙茶羊肉+ Mixed fruits ice... (pix from Ys)

DAY 3

Because of the rush to catch the early High Speed Rail to get to 嘉義(Chiayi), we checked out of Chocolate Box at 0800h in order to go get tickets for the 0928 HSR to Chiayi. It cost us NT970 each to take the HSR to Chiayi. For future HSR takers, plan your trip properly as it costs quite a lot more to take the HSR on Fri, Sat and Sun.

HSR

When we arrived at the Chiayi station, Charlies was already there waiting for us. Charlies is the owner of the Small Swiss Homestay, where we will stay during our visit to 阿里山(Alishan). For the 3 of us, the guided package to Alishan actually cost us NT 4500 each. If Gm had come along, we would have saved NT1000 each.

But anyway, I think it is still quite worth it, as I believe Charlies is the only guy in Alishan providing 民宿+ guided tour around Alishan. Also, the package includes transport up the mountain, food at famous/popular places during the stay and the guided service of an expert mountaineer, Charlies himself.

For lunch, he took us to this famous chicken rice stall at Chiayi to try out the chicken rice. Sorry for the lack of picture, but I guess we were too hungry to care about getting pictures of the chicken rice. It is different from the ones we have in Singapore, and it does taste good.





After lunch, Charlies took us to a fruit stall to buy some fruits up Alishan for tonight, and also to a drink stall to get some drink, where I tried this grapefruit red tea.
(pix from Ys)

Wah lau, damn nice can? They cut the grapefruit into pieces and put it into the drink. A bit sour, but shiok. Think only in Chiayi we can get such stuffs.

After getting the fruits, Charlies took us to this Alishan museum, which showcase things to be seen in Alishan and the aboriginal villages.

Alishan Museum

After the museum visit, we started to move up towards 石桌 (Shizhuo), where the Small Swiss Homestay is located. Because the journey is a long drive up, Charlies had got to take a 30mins nap. He dropped us at this 天长-地久bridges place and told us to explore around for 30 mins.

天长bridge



地久bridge

After the 30mins rest, we continued the drive up to Alishan. Along the way up, the temperature outside started to become cooler and cooler. Not long after, it's time for TEA! We stopped by this roadside stall, managed by a 原住民, and ate some grilled home-made sausages and meat.

After another 1+hr drive up the Alishan highway, we reached the Small Swiss Homestay. The Homestay was very nice, very hotel-liked. It was like way way off my expectations.

Charlies' Small Swiss Homestay

Our Room "晚霞"

After checking into the homestay, Charlies brought us to 奋池湖 (Fenchihu), a 30mins drive away, for a hike cum tour around the town. It is also at this town where we had our dinner.

Fenchihu


Dinner of 阿良铁便当 + 柠檬爱玉

DAY 4

Because of the weather the night before, we did not manage to catch the sunrise. Wasted! It was said to be too misty to see anything. Geee.

Because the Alishan Forest Train departs from the Alishan station at 1318h, our tour with Charlies would have to end then. In order to make use of most of our time, we checked out at 0700h, and set off for the Alishan Recreation Area, which is about an 1 hour's drive from the location of Small Swiss Homestay.

View along the way

Upon reaching the Alishan Recreation Area, we went to buy the tickets for the Alishan forest train down back to Chiayi. It is recommended to but the tickets early, just in case they get sold out, and you have to stand all the way down, 3.5hrs. Then to get into the Alishan Recreation Area, it cost about NT200 each, with NT50 discount for students.











Before we start our 3-4hrs hike in the Alishan Recreation Area, Charlies brought us to this shop for breakfast.

After a hearty meal of 蛋饼(pancake), 萝卜糕(carrot cake) and soya bean, off we go to trek in the Alishan Recreation Area.







Besides seeing steam locomotive, we also get to see the Sisters' Pond, trees that were shaped like an elephant and a pig, the 3-generation tree which consists of one tree growing on another tree, which in turn was grown on another tree, and last but not least, the many old trees (>1000 yrs old) which are very huge and tall.

Alishan Recreation Forest

After the gruelling 3-4hrs trek, we headed back to the entrance of the Alishan Recreation Area for lunch. It was also to be the farewell meal for Charlies and us.

Lunch

After lunch, we parted ways with Charlies and headed back down to Chiayi via the Alishan Forest train. It was an experience everyone should try, since it is only 1 of the 3 trains in the whole world that moves within mountainous terrains up above sea level of hundreds. The journey took us about 3.5hrs, from Alishan Forest Train station to Chiayi train station and costs us NT399 each.

Alishan Forest Train (last 2 pix from Ys)

At the Chiayi train station, we got 自强号tickets back to Taipei Main station from Chiayi. The journey took us 4.5hrs and costs about NT600, much cheaper than the HSR but much slower too. We also take-away turkey rice, famous product of Chiayi, to eat on the train for our dinner.

After travelling over a total of 7+ gruelling hrs on the railway, we managed to get back to Taipei from Alishan. Next, to get to our second hostel in Taipei, Taiwanmex, we took the MRT to the Zhongshan station and walked to the hostel as instructed by the owner, Raul.

When we reached the hostel, we were met by Raul and his wife, Audrey. They are a nice couple as they were apologetic that we do not have the rooms we requested for initially, a double + a single room. I guess being the cheapest hostel around in Taipei, they should have the highest occupancy rate. Instead, they brought us to this building where our room is beside some offices. COOL! haha.. Quiet at night with no one around, the place that we got was apartment-styled. Nice.. But the bad thing is, there is no hot water available. Thus, to bathe in comfort, we got to luge our bathing stuffs to a few doors nearby, and bathe at the other hostel.

Taiwanmex

After checking into our room and unpacking some stuffs, we headed to the street for some food. We had our dinner real early, and were hungry by the time we checked in. We walked to Shuanglian station and realised that there is a food haven there. Loads of food shops and stalls over there. Just that some of them were not open by the time we got there. We went into this 四神汤 shop and got some 四神汤 and 肉棕 for supper.






DAY 5

Being a Sunday, we thought XiMenDing would be crowded with throngs of people, and probably we should go with the crowd and go look around. However, once we got there, we decided to go somewhere else. The crowd was too overwhelming, and it really was a hassle getting into shops.







We decided that we should go to the Sun Yat-Sun Memorial Hall after lunch and take a look at the change of guards parade there, which takes place every hourly. For lunch, we headed to the famous 鸭扁eatery at XiMenDing to eat some goose/duck meat.








After lunch, we headed to the Sun Yat-Sun Memorial Hall via the MRT. Getting around Taipei is as convenient as getting around in Singapore. So I would suggest Taipei travellers to get a EASY card to move around more conveniently when travelling on the MRT.

Sun Yat-Sun Memorial Hall

After the change of guards parade, we headed to the nearby TAIPEI 101 building, the tallest inhabited building served by the fastest lift ever, at 1010m/min. To reach the 89th floor, it took us 37 secs. Short and sweet! The ticket up there cost NT400 each (i think), with discount for students. But it's worth it in my opinion, as each guest is allowed an audio equipment, which serves as a guide to the surroundings you see at the top. It comes different languages as well. Chinese, English and Japanese. Great!

View from Taipei 101

After waiting for the sun to set at Taipei 101, we headed to 五分铺(Wufenpu) via the MRT. Wufenpu is situated near Jiantan station, a 10 mins walk away. Basically, this place is the wholesale place for clothes and accessories. Things are cheaper and varieties aplenty. Mostly girl stuffs, I must say.
(pix from Ys)












After shopping a while at Wufenpu, we walked towards the Songshan Train station, crossed the overhead bridge to reach 绕河(Raohe) night market. In my opinion, this night market sells the cheapest stuffs of all night markets around. All visitors should at least visit this night market for the bargains over at the shops. (pix from Ys)

Dinner

蚝仔煎(Oyster omelet)

After dinner, we headed back to Taipei Main Station via the train, not MRT. From Raohe night market, it is probably a 20-30mins walk back to Jiantan MRT. So for travellers who want to get back to Taipei Main Station, I suggest taking the train from Songshan Train station back to Taipei Main Station. It took us just 15 mins and NT18 each. Cheap, convenient and fast!

DAY 6







After breakfast at a food stall near our Taiwanmex hostel, we made a move to the Taipei Main Station to catch a train to 基隆(Keelung). The train ride took about 40 mins and cost Nt80+ each.














Upon reaching Keelung station, we walked the overhead bridge to the bus stop to catch a bus to 野柳(yeliu), where there is this geopark which housed rocks of special shapes, formed by the constant sea waves erosion.









From where we alighted the bus, we walked about 20mins further into the road leading to the geopark, and reached the geopark. Paying NT100(i think) to get in, the view in the park was magnificent, as the rocks in there were really very special.

Yeliu Geopark

After visiting the geopark, we went to have lunch at a nearby seafood restaurant. 6 dishes + 1 soup for NT1000. The food was not really that cheap, but the seafood was really fresh. Guess that's the advantage for being a port town.

Lunch

After lunch, we headed back to Keelung by bus, from the point opposite where we alighted. Then from the very same bus stop at Keelung train station, we took a bus down to Ruifang train station, wanting to get tickets into 金瓜石(Jinguashi). Lo and behold, the place got to be closed every Monday. Gee... Also, the lady at the visitor center told us that even if it was open, we were there too late. So for visitors wanting to go Jinguashi, go there early in the morning for some gold-mining.

From Ruifang train station, we took a bus up to 九份(Jiufen), a place famous for its big fishballs and 粉圆(chewy balls).

Jiufen

From Jiufen, we realised that there was a bus back to Taipei, which alighted us at Zhongxiao Fuxing station. the journey took an hour and cost NT90 each. So for future travellers to Taipei, if you want to travel to Jiufen or Yeliu, you can actually take bus from Taipei. For the exact location to board the bus to these places, you got to check.









After getting off the bus, we headed to the Huaxi Night Market at Longshan Temple station via MRT. This night market is specially for tourists, and things here are generally much more expensive. Come here only if you have extra time. Oh ya, also you can come here if you want to get sex toys or pornographic materials.

Dinner

甜不辣 + 盐水鸡(salt water chicken) (pix from Ys)

DAY 7



After breakfast, we headed to the Taipei Main Station to take bus 260 up to 陽明山(Yangmingshan). The bus stop was just outside the Taipei Railway Station, not the MRT station. We got confused and lost our way a little.

The 260 bus accepts the EASY card, and the 40mins journey from Taipei Main Station cost us about NT40 each.

Arriving at Yangmingshan, we realised that the national was so big that to cover the whole park area, you have to take this bus 108 that shuttles everywhere throughout the park. It cost NT60 for unlimited rides on the bus, if you think going to cover the whole park. But if not, it costs NT15 for each ride on the bus. The 108 bus accepts EASY card too.









From the bus terminal where we got off 260, we decided to walk to the visitor center, which was 1 bus 108 stop away. We thought it was near, but it took us like 20mins to walk there. And that was not all.












As it was supposedly the butterfly season, we went to the 二止坪(Erzhiping) to go up some butterfly trail. However, the guard saw that we 3 are young and strong, and directed us up this winding road. We walked up and unexpectedly hit the trail of Anbu trail, that led us up all the way to Mt Datun. 900m above the point we started! (pix from Ys)

Mt. Datun - way up, picnic at the peak, way down

The whole trek up and down Mt. Datun took us about 2hrs. It was some experience, and i guess you need some prior training to get up there and down. Haha.. just like us. SCOUTS!!!

After the trek, we had a light lunch at the nearby 7-11, and took a bus to 北投(Beitou) for a soak in the hot spring. Think we took a N5 bus, which cost NT30 down to Beitou. The whole journey took about 30mins.

We had the intention of going to some private hot spring, preparing about NT1000 each for the soak. However, when we were walking down the stretch of road of hotspring resorts/hotels, we saw this sign to some public outdoor hotspring bath. We walked towards it, and seeing that it cost just NT40, we decided to save the money and try out this public outdoor hotspring. NT40!!! Cheap, although there was little privacy since it was a public one. There were many people there, locals and foreigners. But well, it's CHEAP. It was my first down into some hotspring, so it was quite an experience. SHIOK!

Public Outdoor Hotspring

After the 45mins soak in hot-cold-hot hotspring, we made our way to 淡水(Danshui) via the MRT from the nearby 新北投(New Beitou) station, to go to the 渔人码头(fishermen's wharf) to see the sunset.

From the Danshui station, we took a R5 bus to the fishermen's wharf, where we alighted near the Lovers' Bridge. The view at the fishermen's wharf was very nice, very picturesque, especially when it's near sunset.

Fishermen's wharf

After the sun had set, we took a ride on a boat to get back to the Danshui historical streets from the fishermen's wharf. The ride took about 20mins and cost about NT90.








From the Danshui station, we took the MRT down to Jiantan station to get to the 士林(Shilin) night market. A trip to Taipei is never complete without a trip to Shilin night market.







This Shilin night market is very big, the biggest of all those we had visited. Selling from food, accessories, clothes, pets and game stalls, one can get practically everything from here. Apparently, this night market is very happening, with most stalls opening right up till the wee hours of the morning.








After walking round the night market, we had some beef noodles for dinner, at a shop inside one of the alleys. Followed by some Mango shaved milk ice and 豆花(beancurd jelly) for dessert. Yummy..

Dinner

DAY 8

This being the last day in Taiwan, we decided to slack around our hostel area till it's time to check out. We hanged out at the usual 豆浆(soyabean milk) stall for our breakfast and went for a foot reflexology session. It's not cheap, NT350 for a half an hour session, but because we still had some leftover cash, we decided to pamper ourselves before heading back.

Breakfast + foot reflexology

After checking out, we left our luggage at Raul's main hostel apartment and went to the Taipei underground shopping mall to get some 凤梨酥(pineapple tarts), 太阳饼(sun biscuits) and 芋头酥(yam tarts) for folks back home, as well as to do some last minute shopping.





We take-away some 卤味(pig innards) and ate them together with cup noodles for lunch, after which we left for the airport by taxi. From Taipei to the Tao Yuan International Airport, the taxis apparently do no look to their meter, but charge a flat fee of about NT1000 to NT1200. If you want to save some money, you can actually go to the GuoKwang bus station opposite the Taipei Railway station to catch a bus back to the airport, at NT140 each. The buses run at 20mins interval and take about 50mins.

AFTERMATH:

• bring along a big luggage - you never know what you will buy and since you can check in as many baggage as possible, as long as the weight limit is not exceeded
• do not bring too many clothes from home - you can buy and wear the new ones. Old, used clothes take up space in the luggage
• if u own a tripod for your camera bring it - easier to take pictures with you in it
• Taipei sewage system is very poor - cannot throw paper into the toilet bowl. Be mentally prepared
• always bring along your student pass if you are a student - you never know when you will get students' price