For the second time, we stepped foot on Taiwan island. Our last trip to Taiwan was only a year ago. Diversified geography is the most fascinating part about Taiwan. And the good thing is, most of the tourism spots are well connected by an extensive public transport network.
We did a 900km journey round the island trip by rail fom Taoyuan-Taichung-Kaoshiung-Hualien-Taipei-Taoyuan. The feel of the trip makes it as though Taiwan is a very big country. By the rail distance its almost like travelling from Singapore to Padang Besar by rail and hence the feeling its the same size like Malaysia. However, Taiwan is much smaller than Malaysia in reality. How much does it cost to travel 900km? In general per person we spend RM 220 to round the whole island using high speed train, electric train and diesel train. Fastest 350 km/h, slowest 100 km/h.
Our friend Yee Siang joined the first leg of our trip in the West, the more developed side of Taiwan.
Taoyuan - Taichung
Basically we were literally travelling for the first half of the day. Flight (S$240) > Bus (NT$30) > THSR (NT$540) > Taxi (NT$200+). By the time we reached Taichung hotel (S$100/night) , it's almost time for dinner. We had great time experiencing the public transport in Taiwan. The fare is relatively cheap the overcrowding situation is not too bad. Taxi is affordable when travelling in pair or more. Flag down rate is NT$85 for the first 1.5km and NT$5 for subsequent every 200m.
As we reached hotel we quickly orientated ourselves and planned for dinner. Just like any other tourists, Night Market came right to our mind. We headed towards the largest night market in Taichung, 逢甲夜市, located right next to Fengjia University. To our disappointment, we only had some fried rice, chicken cutlet and some soy bean curd dessert. The whole place is full of stinky toufu smell. Even the passerby smelt like one.
Fried rice store was the only aircon place without the stinky toufu smell. The long waited chicken cutlet was supposedly the BEST according to some TV show. But the taste is also overwhelmed by the stinky toufu smell from surrounding and salt & pepper taste which reminded me of Wang Run Xing in Hangzhou.
Sulky photo taken in Hangzhou, Mar 2012
The soy bean curd was very different from the SEA type. The texture is more solid and the soy taste is much stronger. I had a feeling of eating raw 豆腐 instead of 豆腐花. As we concluded the night activities, somehow I don't foresee myself visiting a Taiwanese night market in near future.
mural inside the hotel room
(I think it means Mr. Felix from the Wonderland)
Second day was the highlight of our Taichung stay. We visited Sun Moon Lake (日月潭)
The day started off with lots of walking again. From the Nantou Bus pick up point, we purchased a day package (套票) for NT$660. The pass included return trip to Sun Moon Lake, cable car ride, round-the-lake bus ride, unlimited boat ride and a coupon to exchange with souvenir. What a fantastic deal.
Along the journey, we spotted many dried stream/ river under the highway. Not sure it is due to draught or what. Maybe the rivers are usually dried to prepared for rainy days. The 1.5 hours bus ride stopped by a small town, Puli and later terminated near Sun Moon Lake jetty. Without wasting much time, we rushed to redeem our boat ticket. The boat ride basically brought us from one end of the lake to the other end passing by a tiny Lalu Island in the middle of nowhere.
Even a noisy person shut up to enjoy the view
The highest point is about 58m above the station
same same but different
On our way back to Taichung, we stopped by a stupid place called Taomikeng to see "paper dome" in great anticipation. But we end up wasted 1 hour waiting for bus. Finally we returned to Taichung in the evening at about dinner time. Having had enough of the street food, we took a proper meal this time. At Gen Teishoku Far East 21 (大远百).
Taichung - Kaohsiung
The next day, we parted our way from Taichung Train Station. Yee Siang took THSR to Taipei while we chose to take TRA electric train to Kaohsiung. The trip from Taichung to Kaohsiung was 2 hours (NT$469). THSR ride could have been faster but definitely more expensive. After all, taking slow train is a fun experience, too.
Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan after Taipei, with 2.9 mil population. Metro/ MRT system was introduced in 2008 to ease congestion. Moving around in Kaohsiung city is easy because the main attractions are connected by MRT.
After a long day, it started to rained in the evening. We had TGIF (Dream Mall) for dinner. Watching a Chinese illiterate ordering food from a Chinese menu was totally amusing.
On day 2, our initial plan was to see the whole Kaohsiung in MRT. My heart burst with excitement & made me jumped out of bed early. Buffet breakfast energized me to march out from Chateau de Chine. While contemplating between MRT or bus, bus 99 came by. The driver recommended a day-pass which offers unlimited ride on bus 99 (NT$20). The slow bus ride brought us to Gushan Pier. Conveniently, we took a 5 minute ferry (NT$15) to Cijin Island.
It feels like 10 suns in the sky
Cijin Island makes a pleasant half day tour. The main attraction includes a light house & fort built by the British 100 years ago up on a hill. Walking up the hill is not leisure on a HOT day. although the view is not bad, it doesn't compensate the torment exercising under the HOT sun. I felt like rolling down the hill on the way down.
The winding road leads up to the hill. There found a light house and fort.
Seriously need a wide angle lens camera
Another interesting place is the Seafood Street selling seafood, crackers and cold drinks. We had our lunch and some rest here. Before taking the ferry back to mainland, I noticed a few tanks by the shore. They look so much attractive than those in Jurong Island.
At a quiet corner, there exists a tunnel closed from traffic since years ago. The tunnel actually leads to Zhongshan University. The moment we stepped into the tunnel, a stream of comfortable cold breeze blew through. On the over side of the tunnel, the students were having fun. It's good to be back to school once in a while to feel young again. To make the most out of the bus 99 day-pass, we sit in the bus for the rest of the journey. The bus climbed up the Chaishan hill and terminated in front of a temple. The scene was pretty as it overlook the shoreline of Southern Kaohsiung. In evening, we shopped at SOGO and get ourselves some good deal.
Teva track shoes for NT$900
For the first time we both given up on CROCS
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