Taiwan 2013

Taiwan Day 1: 22/08/2013
Puli - Sun Moon Lake - Cing Jing

After months and months of anticipation and hard work, our effort finally paid off. We are finally back in Singapore and this entire Taiwan trip was so worth it! I hope it haven't happened. So I can go through it all over again. 

I have always wanted to go to Taiwan cos everyone who has been there have been raving about it. 

And now it's my turn to go around raving about how fun Taiwan was and how much both of us enjoyed ourselves.

To be really honest, the last time we went on a couple overseas trip to Phuket, it was fun except we fought almost every night. Like seriously. It was a major mood turner. And I have to keep telling myself to calm down and not ruin the trip. Thankfully it turned out ok and we came back alive. Lololol. 

As for this trip, there's no fighting. All we had was sweet sweet romance (omg I sound like we're on a honeymoon) and just lots of fun, laughters, support for each other. In terms of support I mean we give each other feedbacks and ideas throughout the trip . And along the way when we met lots of "mishaps", we just laugh it off instead. And trust me, this looks like a perfect trip but we had our bad times too. Just keep reading!

Our flight is at 00:55 via Scoot and we have to check-in on Sunday midnight. Thankfully for Dan, Mel and Nigel who came to send us off at the airport. Really grateful for it. 

After our dinner and preparing to check-in our luggage! 

After we check-in our luggage we had about 1 hour before departure so we chilled at Starbucks. Finally got to try my green tea latte with white chocolate pudding and it doesn't taste fantastic at all Idky is everyone raving about it.

Finally in the boarding gates!

On the plane. 

Even though the ride is just 4hrs and I don't have v long legs, I felt v uncomfortable. This is my first time taking budget airlines and the seat is just so cramp! I wonder how people with legs longer than mine (which is a lot) can tahan taking budget planes. And I am not the type of person who can sleep in a perfectly still position. I can't sleep straight! Its especially frustrating when our flight is midnight and its obviously the only time I have to sleep before embarking on our first day. As cranky as I am is the guy sitting beside me. Not Jz. He's an African American if I wasn't mistaken and his legs can barely breathe! I felt so sorry for him.

Only thing nice is the sunset we got to see as our plane is about to lane. It's 05:30. 

Finally got out of the plane! 

We traveled by Scoot and our air tickets cost S$392.57/pax. It has 15KG check-in baggage for each person so we didn't bother buying extra baggage. We packed light though I am pushing around a huge luggage. Inside is half empty.

Taiwan airport. 

Upon custom clearance we took UBUS 705 from Taoyuan Internation Airport to Taoyuan HSR Station. 

It costs NT$30 for adult and the bus can be found at arrivals lobby at terminals 1 and 2.

The bus frequency is quite fast. We missed one cos Jz went to buy some light food but 5mins later the next bus is here.

First meal in Taiwan!

Arrived at Taoyuan HSR Station. The bus ride took about 15mins.

We still have a bit of time before our train so we went to collect all our tickets.

If you're taking HSR, it is best to purchase the tickets online as there'd be early bird discount of about 15-35% depending on the timing of the train. Booking opens 1 month prior to the traveling date. Also it ensures that you have a seat otherwise if the tickets sold out you have to stand on the train. No problem if you're just traveling a few stops but not a good idea if it's long distance.

It is also wise to check the platforms properly before waiting for the train cos... we waited at the wrong platform.
Its damn stupid cos we're so happy we arrived early and I even have time to go to the toilet to put my make-up and all and when the time is up for our train to come, it never did and we thought it was delayed until we realize it's supposed to be another platform. I totally panicked cos we're scheduled to meet our driver at Taichung HST at 08:00.
I was so afraid we couldn't get anymore tickets to Taichung or have to spend additional money on buying the tickets cos from Taoyuan HSR to Taichung HSR costs NT$485/pax!
Thankfully we up to the customer service and asked the person and he said there's another train schedule to Taichung HSR in 20mins time and he's not sure if we are able to tap-out over there and might have to top-up money. Also we no longer have our seats so we have to move to another cabin and if there's no vacant seats we'd have to stand. So we're ok with it. Drama over.

In the end we just tried our luck and use our ticket to tap-out and when we successfully tapped-out, I was like *victory-baby*. Lolol.

Our initial plan is to take bus from Taichung HSR to Sun Moon Lake and then to Cing Jing. But, we have one problem... OUR LUGGAGE!!!! I mean, we don't mind bring our luggage along to take bus etc but how are we going to lug it over to Sun Moon Lake!?? We are going over to take ferries etc and I don't even know the walking distance etc and if there's places we can store our luggage while we tour around the place.

I did some research and Taichung HSR has lockers for you to store your luggages and the price varies for duration and luggage size. However, my only concern is, are we able to store our luggage overnight? Cos I think these lockers are more suitable for people who are there at Taichung for one day and would be heading to somewhere else at the end of the day so they deposit their luggage at the HSR and tour around then come back to collect their luggage at the end of the day. For us its different cos we'd be staying one night at Cing Jing though we're coming back to Taichung in 24hrs time. But still, we don't wna take the risk.

Anyways, we hired a private cab and he drove us around Taichung, Puli and then to Sun Moon Lake and in the evening drove us to our minsu at Cing Jing. He knows like everything everywhere! When I contacted him I gave him a rough idea of what we wna do and he said ok, and then added a few more other places that we could drop-by along the way and we're totally cool with that. He also introduced to us to many nice places to eat along the way. He quoted us NT$3500/car to bring us from Taichung - Sun Moon Lake - Cing Jing.
Of course it'll be better if there's more people so that can split that NT$3500 within the group but since there's only the 2 of us...

Here's the driver's contact:
Name: Steven (Xiao Jiang)
Contact: +886-920965369, +886-960666721
Email: jmltw369@gmail.com

First thing he brought us to do is to register for the Taiwan Youth card. It is so worth it. I mean it's free and we get to enjoy lots of special priviledges like half-price for most places. Can save so much!

First place he brought us to is this bee house. 

I think it's just some "friend's" shop  and he's just trying to help them for some business by bringing his customers there to buy stuff cos he successfully did as Jz spent NT$1900 over there on honeys. I didn't even wna buy and when the person introduced he just "Ok take" "Ok give me one of that" "Ok got big bottle?". I have the urge of strangling him and ask him to stop but I feel so paiseh to turn those Taiwanese down.

Second place we went which is right across the street is Paper Dome. 

Paper Dome has a long history behind it and we went inside to hear the full story but I am too lazy to narrate the story now so please go Google about it yourself.

As you can see the entrance ticket is NT$100/pax and they gave you NT$100 of voucher to spend inside. 

Paper Dome has something to do with earthquake so we're standing there and shaking to experience the quake.

A ring? 2 person hand-in-hand?

This is inside the Paper Dome. It's just a small dome but everything's made of paper including the benches.

Apparently the king is a frog.

Driver Steven said it'll be nicer if we were here in the night cos the lights of the Paper Dome would be reflected in the water.

Map of Taiwan.

Have I introduced to you this 2 cute lil fellows?? They were from the bee house and they're simply cute!

So shy when I wna feed it with cake.

Owner of the house baked cake using honey and it was not bad tasting. 

Owner ask the dog to pose a photo with me and he just lie on my thighs like asking for a cuddle.

Greedy pigs!

I think cos I don't wna feed it cake so he don't wna pose anymore. So realistic one.

Next destination is Sun Moon Lake.

Waiting for our ferry to tour around all the other wharf! Ferry ticket costs NT$250/pax and there's a total of 4 wharf.

Cien Pagoda, WenWu Temple and Checheng. 

My OOTD for Day 1.

Our first stop. And this place is famous for their tea leave egg. 

Ah Ma Tea Leave Egg cos it's sold by this Grandmother for many many years. Until she became a grandma.

I am not a fan of tea leave eggs but this is really nice. We had 3 each and even bought some for our driver.

We also visited the temple at the top.

After walking around we hop onto the ferry again to bring us to Ita Shao where our driver would be meeting us. I honestly prefer being in the car than walking around on our own. Cos I can sleep on the car and we don't have to walk under the blazing hot sun. Really thankful we decided to hire a private cab. 

Driver brought us here for the famous chicken wing dumpling at Ita Shao.

Salivating already??

We also had bubble tea in this small cosy cafe nearby. So cute.

They gave us 2 wooden blocks for us to write our wishes and we can hang around the area.

Some decoration in the cafe.

Walking around and saw this dog. Or lion??

Cable car time!!!! 

Cable car ticket is NT$250/adult. Opening hours: 10:00 to 16:00. Hence we have to take the cable car before 4PM!

Overlooking the lake.

The cable car brought us to the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village.

Other than the Aboriginal Culture Village there is also a theme park. But because we are not really interested and there is not much time, we gave it a miss. Entrance ticket to Cultural Village is NT$680/student or NT$780/adult. Ticket to theme park is NT$700/adult and opening hours are 08:00 to 17:00. I heard there are performances at the cultural village so if you are interested can go check out the timings.

Our driver also brought us to this peacock place, which has lots of other bird species too.

Our very last tourist destination stop - Wen Wu Temple.

Right opposite the temple is this flight of stairs that has 365 steps and each step has a date carved onto it.

Any beside every date is carved with a famous person's birthday or a festive season or something.

Our driver said we can walk to our birth dates and take a photo but Jan is all the way at the bottom and we're so lazy to climb back up.

So here's just a photo for example.

The cement blocks are there to protect/rebuild from the recent typhoon. Heard the damage is quite bad.,

We are supposed to be pushing the boat.

There is 9 or 10 dragon in this art piece if I am not wrong.

Around all the walls are filled with these kind of art. I wonder how much effort was put in to complete all these.

After tour around the temple driver brought us to this famous place that sells glutinous rice balls except its meat inside.

Glutinous rice balls are supposed to be their main but I find that the rice is much nicer. I love it!

Our food journey does not end. He then brought us to this ice-cream cafe for dessert!

The driver told us that this cafe is called 18degreeC cos their ice-cream are supposed to be eaten at 18degreeC in order to taste nice. And if you wna eat in the cafe you need to queue cos only limited number of people are allowed in the cafe as they need to maintain the temperature at 18degreeC.

While we're on the way to Cing Jing we drove past this rock that marks the middle of Cing Jing and Puli. 

I think it took about 1hr of car ride up to Cing Jing. While we're on the way up we can already feel that the temperature is lower and it starts to feel chilly. I fell asleep on the car and when I woke up, we're 5mins away from our minsu. The whole place is foggy due to the mist and the road is all whiny. But our driver is so skillful he can drive very fast though the road is very zig-zag. I am sure in his shortest time possible, we arrived at our minsu.

Misty Villa Minsu (Cing Jing)

Address: No. 9 Rong Guan Lane, Ren-ai Township, Nantou, Taiwan

Contact: +886-492803208

Amount: NT$2240/night for Standard Room

Our room which is over-looking the mountains.

After we check-in to our hotel, we took a shower, freshen up from the whole day of walking and rested awhile before heading out for dinner. Cing Jing is like a small town and everywhere is walking distance. However, because the area is mountain area, the road is quite steep and dark especially after 7PM.

Small Swiss Garden which is right opposite our minsu.

There's some water show at Small Swiss Garden in the night so we went there to catch the show first.

Even though we planned to go Small Swiss Garden the next day, we bought the ticket first and it allows double entry. 

After the show we cross opposite the road to have dinner. First dinner, pork rib noodles.

Ended the night with a relaxing cup of hot chocolate in this cold cold weather. Highest Starbucks in Taiwan.

Goodnight!