Early morning, we went for the same hotel breakfast be4 meeting Mr Zhang, a minivan driver who was recommended by Liang to us for his excellent services in bringing tourists around Taiwan (also, for 7 ppl, the cost of hiring him to fetch us around places for the whole day was really cheap considering the distance we travelled and places we went to)
It started off with a 40-min drive to Yang Ming Shan. We went to the flower park first and the sights of nature there were quite beautiful altho there weren't many flowers in bloom(Mr Zhang told us that in April when the flowers (e.g. sakura) do bloom, Yang Ming Shan is always packed with so many ppl tat vehicles are not allowed to enter the carpark at all... following tat we went to a volcanic area where the sights were juz magnificent..hot air spewing from holes high up the mountains, bubbling boiling water on the ground etc..of coz we had to take photos of ourselves against the scenic background..haha..lastly we went to Jing Tian Keng, some sort of nature trail that ppl can hike around Yang Ming Shan's vicinity and view the various spectacles surrounding it..green pastures all around, the mountains looking majestic, even seeing the locals there having picnics and playing with their children itself was a sight to remember..too bad we din have enuff time to walk around that much but overall it was still a great eye-opener for me.
Flower clock at Yang Ming Shan...
Me at the volcanic area...
Interesting tidbit 4: Hiking/walking seems to be a part of many Taiwanese ppl's lives...as i saw for myself tat morning(it was a Saturday), there were many groups of locals moving around Yang Ming Shan, from families to old couples to a bunch of teenagers together etc...They juz seem to love their nature so much..aided with their umbrellas, walking sticks, frisbees etc, they juz walk long distances without so much as to complain or tire out of it..even when we were being driven up to our destination, we could see other ppl actually walking on the sidepaths alongside the winding road upwards and tat really amazed me..how they have the energy and strength to hike such lengthy distances..it's impressive i tell u..
We den travelled to Jin Shan Lao Jie (literally translated as Golden Hill Old Street)..it was quite similar to Jiufen the day be4 with many shophouses and foodstalls selling their goods and delicacies..we went for lunch at this place with a special arrangement...the cooks were constantly making new dishes of many varieties(zi char style) while we,the customers, were supposed to go to the counter and take whatever we wanted to eat ourselves (self-service at its best)..haha..only after the meal would someone den come and charge us according to the different plates we ate from(like sakae sushi and its coloured plates system)..it was a sumptuous meal made up of prawn, sotong, fish, noodles etc.(8 dishes altogether) and it only cost abt 10 sg dollars per person..damn cheap haha..it was quite interesting to actually see what's on offer and den deciding what we wanted to eat from so many choices..after that we chilled out at a mini cafe, a few of us ate sundaes while others drank iced tea...
Following a one-and-a-half hour drive(which moz of us dozed off in between), we reached Longdong located in the north eastern coastal area of Taiwan..the viewing gallery there was closed for renovation and there wasn't much to see too..so after lingering there for a short while, we went to Bitou Cape (which Mr Liang said had one of the best scenic views in Taiwan and he wasn't wrong)...from where our vehicle parked, we had to walk up the pathway first to Bitou Elementary School before going onto a upward hilly trail (a portion of it was at the cliff area and the feeling was quite scary juz looking downwards at the sea haha) towards the Bitou Lighthouse..after stopping at some points of the hike to take photos and relish the magnificent view, we eventually reached the Lighthouse..wasn't too fantastic in my opinion(perhaps becos it was closed to the public) but still a sight to enjoy with the sun shining its rays upon the lighthouse, evoking a nostalgic feeling..
Bitou Cape Lighthouse...Our last stop be4 we returned to the hotel was Miao Kou, a night market with over a few hundred food stalls and a lesser proportion of stalls selling other things...we spent close to 2 hrs there juz walking and trying out the food sold there and still, it wasn't enuff for us to walk more than wat we intended(perhaps due to the throngs of ppl tat made it hard for us to move fast)...
Rested in the hotel for over an hour..den we attended a Halloween party at Lava Club located near Taipei 101...Taiwan's nightlife quite happening sia..lol lots of ppl dressed up as different characters e.g. Jedi knight, devils and angels, the police, tennis players etc..took photos with some of them..had a fun time though there was a lot of 2nd hand smoke around, causing a certain degree of unpleasantness...haha..feeling hungry after the clubbing session, we bought instant cup noodles from the 7-11 beside our hotel and juz ate together in one of our rooms..haha..the cup noodles in Taiwan really come in lots of different flavours and types..not to mention tat the ingredients they have are much more as compared to those in Singapore..a truly satisfying if somewhat unhealthy supper for us..lol
The Jedi knight with us haha...Day 4:
This was our own free and easy day as we woke up later(due to us chionging the nite be4) as compared to the previous days..grabbed a drink at Shihlin be4 taking the public bus to National Palace Museum (also known as Gu Gong)...This museum is really huge and houses lots of artifacts from centuries ago till now...from relics made of bronze and jade to the historical Chinese scriptures and imperial examinations' test scripts, there was juz abt everything to do with Chinese history in the museum spanning 6 lvls high (and tat doesn't include another building which we din visit)..Spent abt 2 hrs plus there and to say the truth, i onli had time to glance thru moz of the exhibits becos there were juz too many of them..onli at the more interesting topics like chariots did i stop longer to read up on their history..
We den made our way to Miramar Shopping Centre for lunch first be4 taking the Ferris Wheel there (1st time experience haha)...a 17-min ride which allowed us to see Taiwan from the top(we even saw some funny hanky-panky going on directly below where we were lol)...
It was around 6 plus in the evening when the sky was really dark, we decided to split up into groups to go different places...
Me and nigo in front of Miramar Ferris Wheel...
The Miramar Ferris Wheel at night...
Interesting tidbit 5: Haha i forgot to mention this much earlier but in Taiwan, the sun starts setting around 5 plus in the evening so by 6.30 pm thereabout, the sky would already be dark (imagine Singapore at 830 pm) with the street lamps all lit up already..haha..so many a times when we tot it was damn late already, it turns out tat we were fooled by the darkness of the sky instead lol..
Clarence and i went to Taipei 101 where we took the lift up from the 5th to 89th storey in about 33 seconds (whereas the others went to Wu Fen Pu Fashion District for shopping)..could feel the pressure in my eardrums while ascending lol..anyway at the observatory, we managed to look at Taiwan as a whole...could see the ferris wheel and other buildings from afar looking like miniature toys..lol..the onli gripe i had was tat it was dark at night so couldn't see the natural landscape beyond the urban areas e.g. Yang Ming Shan...if not i guess it would have been really beautiful..
Moved on to Wu Fen Pu Fashion District from Taipei 101 and shopped for clothes there...managed to get a few shirts and jeans...den da bao "lu3 wei4" from a roadside stall before heading back to the hotel..tasted delicious..haha the tau pok and mushrooms really brought out the flavour of the sauce strongly...
Day 5:
Haha the last day in Taiwan...we basically juz went Xi Men Ding to walk, eat dunkin donuts, buy some souvenirs...found an interesting sweets shop where some of their sweets sold are made to look like other items like fries(which are actually marshmallows) etc..tried out shaved ice at a cafe which allowed us to write on their walls (and we did leave our legacy behind...lol...) before returning to the hotel and taking the coach to the airport...
Interesting tidbit 6: Haha the last tidbit to be shared happens to be one tat i observed from the first day onwards...on escalators, in singapore we normally stand on the left and walk on the right..however in taiwan, ppl stand on the right and walk on the left...and sometimes we would not realise tat we were wrong and still stand on the left..haha..until we see other ppl den we change to the same as them...
7 of us at the airport before boarding the plane back to Singapore...
Overall, it was a really enjoyable trip for me...learnt a lot of new things about Taiwan..saw a lot of fascinating sights..the nature, the coastal areas, the people (i have to admit that the girls in taiwan are pretty lol =P)...ate lots of delicious food..and i guess ultimately, travelling with frens is juz different from travelling with family...it's more independent and free i guess..some things i have to do myself..like asking for directions, looking out how to travel around most conveniently...with family there's always a mentality of being taken care of..if i dunno something, my parents can help me with it...at least after this trip, i can say that i know better now how to travel independently...how to take care of myself...and this will help me when i go on exchange programmes nxt time (hopefully)...haha...and of coz looking forward to my nxt overseas trip...wherever it may be, it'll be fun... =D
i realise tat i spent a really long time blogging abt my entire taiwan trip..yes i know it's quite long and draggy for some ppl budden it's some sort of rememberance for me bah...nxt time i can come back here and read this entry again and relish my past memories of being in Taiwan...lol..
Scooters at Jiufen...First up, we went to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall... a really majestic place used to commemorate Chiang Kai Shek who gained the respect and admiration of many ppl in Taiwan... (actually i dunno much abt him..forgot all that i learnt abt him during history lessons last time..haha but he muz have had a great influence over his ppl for them to have a memorial hall built and named after him)..supposedly there was also a drama theatre as well as a music concert hall located nearby while Mr Liang (the tour guide) told us that mini concerts and talks were held on a stage erected in the middle of the compound...
Funboy, Darren and I at Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall
Nxt we went to Ye Liu, a coastal area near the north of Taiwan, where fishing wharves were located...highly concentrated with fishermen and boats who set out to the sea to earn their keep thru selling their catch... there, we saw a lot of diff sand and rock formations due to erosion and the strong impact of the seawaves hitting onto the coast (1st period was history, now the 2nd period is geography haha)...for us singaporeans who dun get to see much from the coasts of our small island, taiwan really has mind-blowing sights for us to admire...
Doesn't this juz look like a slipper?
Jiufen was our next destination...it was like an old village with lots of shophouses lining up a winding road upwards.. tried out yam balls(something like tang yuan but smaller and chewier..) and some kind of green ang ku kueh which were both, according to Liang, in the list for Taiwan's best xiao chi.. (2nd and 12th respectively if i dun rmb wrongly) Den went to buy some taiwan snacks like muah chee there...
Yam balls from Jiufen...
"Pi xiu"
Oh yah...between the 2 shopping trips, we went to Martyr's Shrine where we saw the changing of guards ceremony..there were lots of schoolchildren and tourists there to witness the hourly ceremony...the guards were in perfect coordination with one another as they marched out to the entrance and back to the temple shrine...haha we were allowed to go close and take photos of the guards but not touch them so it was quite amusing to see ppl posing around the guards (me included) while they stood firm and strict in their positions without moving even the slightest bit...
Look how coordinated and smart they are...
Went to a well-known pastry shop selling pineapple tarts, chestnut tarts and cheesecakes etc...(as with city tours, they bring u around to buy stuff as mentioned be4) before heading for beitou hot spring..haha gd experience..first time going into the hot spring (somewhat similar to a sauna room but in water instead of hot air...) and the feeling can be described as SHIOK!! haha at first couldn't accustom to the sudden heat of the water and took some time before i immersed myself into the hot spring..helped to relax muscles a little too, with the hot water providing a soothing, calm atmosphere..
Last stop of the night was to Shihlin Night Market (most of u shld have heard of it be4..at least of the foodstall Shihlin Xiao Chi found in Singapore selling Taiwan delicacies like fried chicken cutlet and oyster mee sua) and as they say, the ones in Singapore cannot be compared to the real thing..haha..how true it was..Shihlin Night Market was filled with so many different food stalls that we went around trying out new food like guan cai ban (coffin boards) and oyster omelette which was cooked differently from the Singapore kind...also had some clothes and accessories stalls around but the bulk of the night market was made up of hawkers selling their delicacies and famous dishes...not to mention how cheap some of their food were sold at...haha..had a really full stomach after eating so much food be4 returning to the hotel...