Taipei, A Place More Affordable Than Singapore

Thanks to newly added flight schedule, we were lucky to snatch 2 return tickets on Jetstar for S$540 all-in. ALL-IN. Inclusive of convenience fee S$32 by paying online. Felt so cheated by budget airline nowadays. Book online gotta pay convenience fee. Book through call center gotta pay service charge. We could have paid offline at 7-11 or post office or S.A.M. and save $32! I'll bear in mind the expensive lesson learnt.

This trip was quite rush so not much planning was done. But overall, it was fun.
Our flight was in the evening. Reached Taoyuan Aiport at 11:40pm.
We have out grown the age of backpaking or hostel-staying tour. So we tend to spending a little bit more on lodging to get comfort plus peace of mind in exchange. Why not? So Four Points by Sheraton turns out to be a pretty good choice.

Day 1
Public transport network in Taipei is very good. And the fare is cheap. It is very easy to navigate with a EasyCard on hand. Just need to top up when the value is low. Similar to ezlink card (Singapore) or suica card (Japan).

easycard 悠遊卡

ezlink card 易通卡

suica card (スイカ)

After breakfast, we head to Yangmingshan Park. We took bus 260 from Taipei Main Station. I didn't know how. So the bad bad ung reproached me again like a chatterbox. Yangmingshan is nice & cooling. It's like Owakudani in Japan without the black egg store. There are many walking trails good for exercise. Contradict to what we have planned, our lazy bum decided to travel round the park in bus instead.

Prata look alike 葱抓饼

Fat dog sleeping in convenient store

The weather was hot. I can't stand walking under the sun at Thamshui Fisherman Wharf.

While waiting for sunset, we took a rest at Fullon Hotel lobby pretending to be a guest. By the way this hotel opened for business since June 2011. Very new.

Dnashui Fullon Hotel

龙虾饼

Danshui Fisherman Wharf

In the evening, we went to the famous Shilin Night Market for dinner. According to Taipei News, Shilin Night Market will be gradually shifted undergournd from Nov 2011 onwards. This place was voted in an unofficially survery the number 1 tourist destination. 49% of taipei tourists choose night market as the must-go destination followed by Taipei 101, National Palace Museum etc. And Shilin is the first choice for those who voted night market as #1 destination. I personally think that it is overrated. The place is too crowded for a proper sit-down meal. But we did buy some cheap and tasty 水姑娘 cookies for our friends & colleagues.

Shilin and KFC (not in Shilin night market)

Day 2
Keelung, a port city in the northeastern part of Taiwan, is connected to Taipei by rail (NT$41). He always likes to travel by train. So we took a train and connect to a bus and head to Yehliu Geo Park. Bus 1022 from Keelung train station is a local bus that terminates at Jinshan (NT$64). Nobody alight at Yehliu so we conveniently missed the Yehliu bus-stop and ended up in Jinshan. Had our goose rice lunch then took the same bus on return trip (NT$25). Bus driver was quite unfriendly to an ang-moh onboard who didn't tap his card properly. So maybe that's why he deserved to be scolded. Hehe....

It took us a while (at least 40min) to reach Keelung by train. Then we are supposed to take a public bus to Yehliu. But Smart Alec in action again. We ended up in Jingshan. Overshoot by almost 7-8km. Good thing is that the goose rice we ate was actually quite tasty. That stop a potential eruption.

Coming to Yehliu Geopark in the afternoon was a mistake. But if we back out (打退堂鼓) we will regret forever! The Geopark is a cape extended into to the sea by ~1,700m. It is famous for the sea-erroded landscape. Under the attack of wave and weathering, rocks form many intersting shapes. You need to queue for at least 15min to take a shot with "The Queen's Head". Besides, there are tofu rocks, fairy shoe, ginger rocks, gorilla rock etc.

Queen's Head

weathered rock

Spot me

Spot me, again

Ginger Rock

Yehliu Geopark

This place is really amazing but walking under the sun for 3 hours drained my energy too fast too furious. A sumptous seafood treat (including 好鲜甜的 NT$560 濑尿虾, tasty mantis shrimp) is definitely a must (NT$840). In the evening, we took a straight bus to Taipei (NT$96). The ride is long and winding. It put me to sleep for 2 hours.

In 2009, Zhao Genda, a PRC tourist vandalise the gift of nature. He crafted his name on the stone. Taiwan Government recently passed a Zhao Genda Bill protect the heritage against vandalism. Any tourist caught vandalising, the tour guide will be fined as well. I'm not sure how is it going to affect the tour agency.

At night we are back to Taipei looking for food again. At Q-Square, we had Cold Stone Creamery ice cream and Karen Teppanyaki (NT$220). For the first time he bought himself a pair of pants (NT$98)