Alt Travel in Taiwan
11:25 AMOne and a half years over due, and finally I am writing out my adventures again. This post should probably be dated back to July 2018, after my work trip in New Zealand. Because of visa issues, I wasn't able to go to Australia, so my alternate route took me to Hong Kong. Instead of staying in Hong Kong however, I decided to go to Taiwan for a few days. And it was so worth it!
Day 1: Arrival to Taiwan, the typhoon and I
Landing in Taiwan, my official summer vacation began, as it was windy and cold in Wellington! Really love the architecture of the airport, but the line to go through customs was dreadful. I probably took the first flight into Taiwan from Hong Kong, but the line was super long. It took about an hour before I finally exit the customs... for an established Asian city, I think it's too slow!
Finally arriving at my hotel, not a Marriott this time, but I was super surprised with how cute this little boutique hotel, Dandy, was. It was close to the subway and malls. And food options were abundant. Honestly within 2 hours of being in Taipei, I probably ate 2 meals high in dairy and carbs:
Obvious option was Din Tai Fung, and some of their most popular dish, xiao long bao:
Next was some nice cool dessert at my favourite Japanese cafe I found down the road with green tea shaved ice!:
All the eating had to cut short, however, on my first day in Taipei, because a typhoon was approaching. I was actually very fortunate because all flights to and from HKG and TPE, was cancelled shortly after I arrived. That night, I went to Mitsukoshi and brought end of day sashimi / sushi for dinner and an original Taiwanese beer. It was by far the best meal I had that evening, but the best was yet to come...
Day Two: Aftermath of the typhoon, or did it even hit Taiwan at all?
I expected the typhoon to be one of a massive destructive one, or so the news emphasized. Subways were closed and people working in Taiwan were warned to leave work early because of potential catastrophic conditions. However, when I woke up the next day, while there were still signs of rain drizzling, there wasn't much damage in Taipei. News also reported that the typhoon did not directly hit Taiwan, and only little towns have had more damages. This meant.. I can continue to explore Taipei on the second day!
This is not my first time in Taipei, but there were a few touristy spots that I end up hitting up:
1. Dragon Hill Temple
Wasn't my first time in this temple either, but what's really unique about this little temple in Taipei is the fact that it's embedded within the residential area. Somehow, between the tall apartments, a pretty impressive waterfall exists with a decent size garden with a few ponds featuring the impressive dragon on the 'hill'.
2. Addiction Aquatic Development (上癮水產)
This was a fairly new attraction for me, a friend of mine highly recommended me to go here because she knows my love for good seafood.
And I was AMAZED. For about $60 CAD, I was able to get all of this! It feeds about three and I even go sake with it. What a steal!
Aside from the seafood though, I also found durian, one of my all time favourite fruits! This was shipped all the way from Thailand! I was delighted!
3. Taipei 101
Obviously the purpose of this trip was really food oriented, with occasional sightseeing. At Taipei 101, I got the best of both worlds. Nice landmark of Taipei...
...and more food, this time it's mango shaved ice and bubble tea.
4. Shilin Night Market
And what's a better way to end the day with more shopping and eating at Shilin Night Market. The last time I was here, the market was still above ground, this time around, the shopping is above ground and they have opened up the basement for all the delicious night market goodies. I was there for a good few hours, and as you can tell, it was still bright when I got there, but dark when I left.
And for food, I went to my all time favourite place for the oyster pancakes, and some other Taiwanese night market goodies!
Day 3: Road Trip #1
Getting outside of the city on our third day, we hired a cab that took us around to the outskirts of Taipei to further explore the place. It was nice! I didn't need to walk 25,000 steps a day for once, and get to see the natural beauty of this island.
Stop #1: MaoKong
Our cab driver was knew we were into tea, so he drove us to this gondola to reach to the top of the MaoKong hills to enjoy the view, and have a traditional Taiwanese tea meal. He thought it would be cool for us to stop there, even though we thought about going there (or for me, I just didn't know).
The gondola ride was not busy, probably because it was during a week day and/or perhaps not a lot of people know about this place (me included). The ride was a long one probably 15 - 30 minutes, and you get to see Taipei from a far... better than going on a hike when it's over 30 degrees outside :D
Along the way you see rows and rows of farms on the hills, I think they are tea leaves farm, if there's such a thing.
Arriving to the very top, and you know you are at the top, because of this sign:
Our driver picked us up from the top and brought us to a Tea museum, where we learned about different teas, and even got to try some for free.
Then he brought us to a restaurant to try out a full Taiwanese tea experience before he brought us to our next destination.
The key part of the tea experience was the tea, and they served little buns and dumplings to augment the taste of the tea. It was quite interesting. And maybe because it was so hot that day, the amount of food that was served to us was sufficient. It was a very relaxing day, much like today.
Stop #2: Wulai
After a relaxing morning drinking tea and enjoying the nature at the top of MaoKong, our cab driver brought us to the highlight of the day, Wulai. Before heading to New Zealand, a couple of my friends went to a spa in Wulai, and they highly recommended it. So we made our reservations in advance via Klook (https://www.klook.com/activity/825-volando-urai-hot-spring-taipei/?krt=r20&krid=d13c6da7-63fc-4e1a-5b6a-9b7b3d036bfa&aid=c52b8e63ac6328d0&utm_medium=affiliate-alwayson&utm_source=non-network&utm_campaign=825), and told the cab driver of our plans, and he basically planned an itinerary accordingly. I love it when I don't need to plan a trip, especially because the cab driver knows Taipei and parts of Taiwan better than a tourist!
We arrived to Wulai about an hour early before our spa booking, so our cab driver took us to the Wulai waterfall. He was actually really impressed at how much water was coming down from the waterfall and he took some pictures of his own too. Perhaps it was the typhoon and all the rainfall that I thought never occured.
Stop #3: Volando Urai Hot Spring Spa
The highlight of the trip was by far the at the SPA! Because we went on a weekday, we got about 1.5 hours at the spa, instead of an hour on a weekend. There is a cold tub and a hot springs pool that overlooked a river at Wulai. The cool tub, is the smaller one, and the hot pool is the bigger one, as shown below:
I enjoyed the hot spring pool a lot, and even got a nice gram while at it. I wanted to stay there forever, but I guess 1.5 hours is better than none.
And before we know it, our trip at Wulai ended, and here is the last picture I took as we head back to Ximending where I met with my relatives for dinner.
Stop #4: Ximending
Ximending is known for shopping and eating. Last time I was here, one of my aunts brought my sister and I shopping and she haggled prices at every store. This time around, she wasn't here anymore, so it wasn't as fun anymore. I did do some shopping at Ximending, and I even found this bubble tea place that had taro fresh milk drink. The 'tapioca' was made out of taro, and topped with fresh milk. It was by far the best drink I ever had. They don't have such creative stuff in Canada, it's too bad.
Dinner with my relatives is also always very nice. I don't know what they ordered, I just eat it and enjoy their company! It was a nice kind of family dinner :)
After a relaxing road trip yesterday, we met our cab driver, the same one at 9AM sharp at our hotel. Today is going to be a fun one because we were heading out to see the Yehliu Geopark, Jiufen, and Shifen!
Stop #1: Yehliu
It was a very hot day, and before we got to the Yehliu Geopark, our cab driver parked at the side of the road by the ocean. We were confused, but we got out and followed him. He brought us to this side of the road rock formation that's literally beside the ocean and told us this is the best spot for nice pictures of Yehliu. He was super honest. It was amazing, and I had lots of fun taking pictures of the interesting rock formations on the camel rock, which I later found out at the Yehliu Geopark.
Finally getting dropped of at the Yehliu Geopark now, it was about another 5 minutes drive. The park was windy!!!! Apparently, on the day of the typhoon, it was closed! I guess outskirts of Taipei was definitely affected. Anyways, at the geopark, we got to see a lot of natural rock formations that were caused by the erosion of the wind, rain and waves from the ocean. Below are a few highlights:
Stop #2: Shifen
Leaving Yehliu after being scotched by the sun and whipped by the sand, our cab driver took us to Shifen. Shifen is most popular for the lanterns. Do you recall those beautiful images of millions of lanterns that are lit up and set off in the evening skies? Well, we went there during the day time, and it wasn't the special holiday for it, so it actually looks better during the day. Before we set off our lanterns with our wishes though, we have had some traditional Shifen Taiwanese dishes for lunch. They were recommended by our cab driver, and I must say, it was delicious!
Writing our wishes in Chinese... sorry my Chinese calligraphy ain't too great :P
Here's the final product!! And about to be set off!
And off it goes with other lanterns to the skies in broad daylight.
Before heading to Jiufen, our cab driver took us to another amazing waterfall! This one was more prominent than the one an Wulai. On the way there, we had to walk through a few bridges and a few food stands... it was very enjoyable.
Stop #3: Jiufen
Final stop before we head back to Taipei, this is another famous tourist spot where folks have tea, eat, walk through the steps full of lanterns, and do their much needed souvenir shopping! Here are my highlights:
Famous tourist spot for a picturesque gram:
Just exiting all the steps for a bit more room from the crowded tourist walking through the steps:
View of Jiufen at the end of all the steps outside of the Jiufen old street:
Some delicious stuff that I enjoyed eating throughout my trip in Taiwan:
And before I knew my trip was over, I went back to Shilin Night Market for more yummy Taiwanese goodies. This was a tummy-filled trip and I when I got back to Canada, I went on a keto diet to lose the extra few pounds I've gained. :P
Until next post! Bye!
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