Taiwan (Oct '13) - Overview

Traveled to Taiwan with two friends from 21 Oct (Mon) to 28 Oct (Mon). It had been more than 6 years since I last visited the island. Since my friend do not mind driving in Taiwan, therefore we rented a car to drive us to more remote places that are difficult to reach via public transport. We also visited some factory tours as part of our in-depth travel in Taiwan.


Leisure trip at a glance

Country / Region: Republic of China (Taiwan Region)
Period: 21 Oct to 28 Oct 2013
Flight timings:
21 Oct: TZ 202, SIN–TPE, ETD 0055 ETA 0540
28 Oct: TZ 205, TPE–SIN, ETD 0400 ETA 0840
Air tickets: Return tickets at SGD 230.13 (inclusive of airport taxes)
Accommodations:
CityInn Hotel Plus Taichung Station Branch - 新驛旅店 • 台中車站店 (21 to 23 Oct)
Wuling Farm Guest House - 武陵國民賓館 (桃花莊) (23 to 24 Oct)
Old House B&B - 古舍古鄉 (24 to 25 Oct)
Mulan Country Villa - 沐嵐小鎮 (25 to 26 Oct)
Y Hotel Taipei - 台北青年國際旅館 (26 to 27 Oct)
Currency exchange rate: TWD 100 = SGD 4.39 (Sep '13 period)

There is no time difference between Singapore and Republic of China (Taiwan) as both are in GMT +8 time zone. Total damage was about SGD 1500 including flight tickets, transport, food and hotels, excluding personal expenses.

Here's the overview of the trip itinerary:

Day 1 – Midnight flight TZ 202 to Taipei. Took shuttle bus to Taichung and checked in CityInn hotel. Took train to Fengyuan station. Visited Taiwan Balloons Museum. Took bus to Carton King Creative Park. Had lunch at Carton King. Got our rental car and parked at hotel carpark. Dinner at Banana New Paradise and explored Yizhong Street.

Day 2 – Visited Taiwan Mochi Museum, Xitou Monster Village and Puli Paper. Bought some chocolates from Feeling 18 Degree Chocolate Factory and then visited Paper Dome New Homeland Scenic Park. Dinner at New Age Shopping Center food court.

Day 3 – Drove passed Taroko National Park on the road to Wuling Farm. Had late lunch at Wuling Farm Visitor Information Center. Track to Taiwan Salmon Ecological Center. Dinner at Wuling Farm and had early rest.

Day 4 – Appreciated the nice scenery at Wuling Farm. Drove to Yilan and checked in Old House B&B. Visited Water Geothermal Square. Had lunch at Wei Zhen Xiang restaurant. Visited Kavalan Distillery, Sophisca Candy Studio and Agrioz Candied Fruits Museum. Dinner at B&B.

Day 5 – Morning tracking at Jiuliao Ecological Park. Lunch at Artemis Garden. Drove to Wulai and checked in to Mulan Country Villa. Had dinner at Wulai Old Street.

Day 6 – Explored Wulai. Returned our rental car at its Xindian branch. Lunch at Carrefour Xindian Store. Took Taipei Metro and checked in Y Hotel Taipei. Visited Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and had dinner there.

Day 7 – Had brunch at Addiction Aquatic Development. Visited Taipei Expo Park and had snacks at its Maji Square. Explored Xinyi district and had dinner there. Took shuttle bus to Taoyuan Airport.

Day 8 – Long wait in the airport until ready to board flight TZ 205.

Taoyuan International Airport (桃園國際機場)

The Taoyuan International Airport is an international airport serving Taipei and northern Taiwan, and located 40-km west of Taipei city center. It is the largest and busiest airport in Taiwan. Renovation of Terminal 1 had just completed in 2012 and the complex looked spacious and contemporary in design (left photo below). Ground transportation linking the airport is robust and connecting buses are located at its basement level (right photo below). The IATA code for this airport is TPE.

Transportation

Airport Shuttle Buses

Taoyuan Airport to Taichung

There are many bus operators providing connections from the airport to various cities in Taiwan. Each operator has their own counter at the basement level of Terminal 1 (left photo below). Prices of the shuttle buses provided by various operators are similar. What concerned us most was to select the closest timing for the next bus to the destination. Ticket printed with simple information was provided once we purchased the ride from the bus operator (right photo below).
We took Freego (飛狗) Bus No. 5503 at 0610 hours which cost TWD 240 per person. The coach bus was modern looking (left photo below) and the leather seat was spacious with configuration of three seats per row (right photo below). Reached Taichung Train station at about 8.30 am.

Taipei Station to Taoyuan Airport

Took Kuo-Kuang (國光) Bus No. 1819 which cost TWD 125 per person. Similar to Freego, the coach bus of Kuo-Kuang was contemporary (left photo below) with comfortable seats (right photo below). Bus service operation hour is 24-hours daily and its total journey time was roughly one hour.

Taichung Local Train

Had the chance to take Taichung's local train line between Taichung Main station and Fengyuan station. Each single trip cost only TWD 21. Electronic gantry had been setup at the Taichung Main station to facilitate quick entry (left photo below). From my observations, the train platform was typical and similar to other train platforms in Europe, except there were more vending machines and kiosks at the platforms (right photo below).
Taichung City Bus (台中客運)

Taichung Bus is similar to SBS Bus in Singapore. Electronic signboard could be spotted on the bus (left photo below) and seat was comfortable too (right photo below). However bus frequency is low, therefore need to plan for ample time during travel.
Car Rental in Taiwan

Since my friend do not mind driving in Taiwan, we then decided to rent a car for 5-days. After going through several car rental services in Taiwan, we finally selected Easyrent (和運租車). The car rental rate was based on per day usage. Total cost paid was TWD 8,400 for 5 days (total 120-hours), from 21 Oct 3 pm to 26 Oct 3 pm. In addition, GPS rental was free and it proved to be very useful in our navigation.

Office was easy to spot and one of its branches was well located near Taichung main train station (left photo below). We opted a Toyota VIOS 1.5 which was well-maintained (right photo below).
Based on our itinerary, we traveled about 520-km from Taichung to Xindian. Fuel consumption of VIOS is 15.1-km per liter and fuel price was about TWD 15 per liter for unleaded 95 petrol, thus from the calculations the total fuel cost we paid was about TWD 1,200.

Taipei Metro System

The Taipei Metro System needs no introduction as it is essentially the best form of transport in Taipei. Bought a limited edition of Taipei Zoo Easy-card (悠遊卡) in a 7-eleven store at Wulai for TWD 100 (left photo below). There was no stored value or deposit in this card, therefore had to top up at one of the vending machines in the station before using it (right photo below). This card proved to be useful and convenient as I no longer required to buy any single trip tickets when traveling in Taipei Metro system.


Accommodation

CityInn Hotel Plus Taichung Station Branch (新驛旅店 • 台中車站店)

CityInn Hotel Plus Taichung Station Branch is located behind Taichung train station just within 6-minute walk. Booked this hotel online for a Deluxe Triple Room at TWD 5,520 of two nights with daily breakfast.

The room design is bright and simple with modern décor (left photo below) and it included a small desk together with mini-fridge and coffeemakers (right photo below).
Complimentary bottled water was supplied daily (left photo below) and good quality disposable amenities were provided (right photo below).
Self-service bar offering free beverages to guests (left photo below) and washing machines with washing powder and dryer are available to guests without charge (right photo below). Also there are free parking lots accessible to guests.
Breakfast was served at its basement which was furnished with modern vibe (left photo below). Simple selections were available (right photo below).
Following were my choices during my two days of stay (photos below).
Wuling Farm Guest House (武陵國民賓館 - 桃花莊)

This farm was originally established to provide employment for retired servicemen in 1963. Since then, there were several expansion and improvement phases occurred in Wuling farm. It is famous for its cherry blossom during late March to early April. However, the farm is still good for relaxation in October.

Booked this hotel online for a Quad Room at TWD 2,063 of one night with daily breakfast and paid another TWD 1,500 for dinner (three persons). Reason for opting dinner at Wuling farm was due to its convenience as we were tired from the trips of previous days.

There are several different guest houses in Wuling Farm and the room we stayed was at 'Peach Blossom village' (桃花莊) area (left photo below). Room was spacious and clean which had the homely feel (right photo below).
Meals were taken at Wuling National Hostel (武陵國民賓館) which is located 600-meters from our guest house (left photo below). The dining area is large and able to accommodate at least 100 guests at any time (right photo below).
Dinner buffet was served with good selection of food and beverages (left photo below). My favorite was the 'shui mai' together with bacon and fried potatoes (right photo below).


Breakfast buffet was served in the same dining area but with fewer selections in the morning (left photo below). Simple bun with some vegetables and peanut was my breakfast selection for the day (right photo below).
Old House B&B (古舍古鄉)

Located in Yilan, this Old House B&B (left photo below) gave me the feeling of being in a chalet due to its detached houses of different sizes and shapes in red-brick façade (right photo below).


There is a large pond with many colorful koi fishes (left photo below) and some free-ranching chickens within its perimeters (right photo below).
The rate of this B&B was the lowest among the five lodgings we stayed in this trip. Booked this B&B online at TWD 1,000 for a triple room of one night with breakfast. In addition, we also paid TWD 2,250 for our dinner in this B&B.

Room is spacious and clean with the traditional rural Taiwanese-style (photos below). What impressed me was the 3-in-1 milk-tea sachet provided which I liked it so much that I even bought a big pack from a supermarket in Taipei.
Meals were taken at the dining area in its main building (left photo below). Vegetable salad was first served which was refreshing (right photo below).
This was followed by six other dishes consisting of sliced pork, pan-cakes, fried cabbages, steamed fishes, tofu soup and fried shrimps (photos below).


Though pricey, the dishes were delicious with taste of home-cooked food. The owner of B&B even mentioned that the vegetables were organic and the shrimps were caught from a local lake. We had a good chat with the friendly owner till late.

Breakfast was served in the same dining area with some local dishes (left photo below). A cup of warm coffee was then provided which was energy boosting for me in the morning (right photo below).
Definitely would recommend this B&B to anyone interested to stay in Yilan for its value for money and hospitality of the owner.

Mulan Country Villa (沐嵐小鎮)

Mulan Country Villa is a hot-spring B&B located at Wulai area (left photo below). It is just 10-mins drive from Wulai Old Street. The outdoor hot spring pool was closed during our stay (right photo below).
Booked this B&B online at TWD 4,000 per deluxe triple room for one night with breakfast and afternoon tea.

Rooms are decorated in European style with comfortable beds and warm hue lightings (photos below).
Basic amenities were provided in the bathroom (left photo below). The best feature was the in-room hot spring bath tub (right photo below). After bathing in hot spring water, the skin did feel smoother.


Afternoon tea was provided in this B&B from 1400 to 1800 hours. Glad that we could enjoy this afternoon tea once we arrived in this B&B. Two trays of biscuits (left photo below) and a pot of fruit tea (right photo below) were served.


Breakfast was taken in the same dining area as afternoon tea (left photo below). Simple meal of coffee, bread, cereals, scrambled eggs and ham with three slices of citrus fruit were served (right photo below). Do note that their breakfast period was rather early between 0800 to 0930 hours.
Y Hotel Taipei (台北青年國際旅館)

Y Hotel Taipei is located close to Taipei Main station (left photo below). The hotel lobby is spacious and with ample seats for waiting guests (right photo below). The friendly reception staff even provided weighing machine for us to weigh our luggage to prevent being charged for overweight checked-in baggages.


Booked this hotel online at TWD 3,500 per standard triple room for one night without breakfast.

Room design is modern in design with comfortable beds (left photo below). The bathroom was bright and clean, and even incorporated with automatic toilet seat (right photo below).

Interesting Observations

• Taiwan is modern country but its Chinese culture is definitely deep rooted in their daily life. A Chinese red seal marks can be found in most official documents such as the road toll ticket collected by their Ministry of Transportation and Communications (left photo below). Another example was an advertisement banner that incorporated the two popular heroes of DC comics as "Menshen" (門神) or Chinese divine guardians of doors and gates (right photo below).
  
  


• Saw a poster at a Taichung bus stop which states "事辦外遇劈腿, 婚姻感情挽回", or literally "Marriage Recovery, Handles Extra Marital Affairs or Cheating in Relationship" (left photo below). Seems like this advertisement was from a Private Investigator which is uncommon in Singapore.


• Notice on social affairs topics was seen in the male toilets above the urinals (right photo below). It must be stressful reading these topics while relieving oneself.
  
  

Some useful links:

• Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications:
  http://www.taiwan.net.tw/
  
  
• Taipei Travel:
  https://www.travel.taipei/
  
  
• Wiki-Voyage (Nantou):
  https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Nantou
  
  
• Taiwan Railway:
  https://www.railway.gov.tw/