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Leisure trip at a glance
Country / Region: Republic of China (Taiwan Region)
Period: 20 Dec to 27 Dec 2013
Flight timings:
20 Dec: CX 650, SIN–HKG, ETD 0650 ETA 1045
20 Dec: KA 436, HKG-KHH, ETD 1240 ETA 1405
27 Dec: CX 511, TPE–HKG, ETD 1305 ETA 1455
27 Dec: CX 711, HKG-SIN, ETD 1600 ETA 1950
Air tickets: Return tickets at SGD 576.50 (inclusive of airport taxes)
Accommodations:
Wu House B&B - 吾宅 (20 to 22 Dec)
CityInn Hotel Plus Taichung Station Branch - 新驛旅店 • 台中車站店 (22 to 23 Dec)
Cingjing Vienna Garden Chalet - 维也纳庭园木屋 (23 to 24 Dec)
Caesar Hotel Taipei - 凱撒台北飯店 (24 to 27 Dec)
Currency exchange rate: TWD 100 = SGD 4.35 (Dec '13 period)
Here's the overview of the trip itinerary:
Day 1 – Morning flight CX 650 to Hong Kong. Had lunch in Hong Kong Airport. Boarded flight KA 436 to Kaohsiung. After customs clearance, took Kaohsiung Metro to Zuoying Station. Boarded HSR from Zuoying to Tainan. Checked in to Wu House B&B. Had dinner along Hai'an Road and then visited Blueprint Cultural & Creative Park.
Day 2 – Took Tainan tourist shuttle bus and visited Taijiang Bird Ecological Center, Taijiang Cetacean Museum and Salt Field Eco-Culture Village. Explored Qigu Salt Mountain and Taiwan Salt Museum, and had lunch at museum. Took shuttle bus to Anping Tree House and had light snacks at Anping Old Street. Visited Garden Night Market and had dinner there.
Day 3 – Visited Black Bridge Sausage Museum. After which took train to Taichung. Visited Teddy Bear exhibition at Maple Garden. Shopped at Shinkong Mitsukoshi and had dinner there.
Day 4 – Visited Rainbow Village, Noutanjing Sky Bridge and factory tour to Sunny Hills and Shimmer-forest bakeries. Took train from Jiji station to Checheng station. Explored Checheng and had lunch there. Visited Guangxing Paper Mill, Feeling 18 degree Chocolate Factory and Geographic center of Taiwan. Drove to Cingjing Farm and had dinner there.
Day 5 – Visited Mt. Hehuan Visitor Center to observe sea of clouds, Evergreen Grasslands and took photos of the Old English Manor. Had lunch at Puli Township and visited 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan. Took HSR from Taichung to Taipei. Had dinner near hotel.
Day 6 – Took train to Ruifang station. Had lunch at Jintong and release Tian Deng at Pingxi. Explored Shifen Waterfall. Took train back to Taipei and had dinner along Taipei Main Station Underground Mall.
Day 7 – Visited Taipei Palace Museum and had late lunch at MAJI square. Visited Eslite Bookstore.
Day 8 – Took shuttle bus to Taoyuan Airport. Had lunch at airport and boarded flight CX 511 to Hong Kong and then CX 711 back to Singapore.
Hong Kong International Airport (香港國際機場)
Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport and it is built on reclaimed land of Chek Lap Kok; therefore it is also known as Chek Lap Kok Airport (赤𫚭角機場). This airport was our transit place for flights between Singapore and Taiwan (left photo below). Cathay Pacific, the flag carrier of Hong Kong, could be seen commonly at this airport as its main hub (right photo below). The IATA code for this airport is HKG.
Kaohsiung International Airport (高雄國際機場)Kaohsiung International Airport is a medium-sized civil airport in Siaogang District of Kaohsiung; therefore it is also known as Siaogang Airport (小港機場). Once completed the Immigration clearance and collected my luggage, the scene of its arrival lobby was familiar to me even though it was my first time at the airport (left photo below). Probably I saw it in some HK dramas. The airport is well-connected by its Metro System (right photo below). The IATA code for this airport is KHH.
Taoyuan International Airport (桃園國際機場)
Taoyuan International Airport is an international airport serving Taipei and northern Taiwan. The airport is located 40-km west of Taipei city center and it is the largest and busiest airport in Taiwan. Renovation of its Terminal One had only completed in 2012 and I was impressed by its decoration with the cultural (left photo below) and natural (right photo below) elements. It gave a relaxing vibe to the airport. The IATA code for this airport is TPE.
Transportation
Kaohsiung Metro System (高雄捷運)
Kaohsiung Metro is a light transit and light rail system covering the metropolitan area of Kaohsiung. The metro system is made up of Red Line and Orange Line with 37 stations (left photo below). We took this metro system from Kaohsiung International Airport station (R4) to Zuoying station (R16) for HSR. One way fare at TWD 50 was ticketed with an RFID chip (right photo below).
Taiwan High Speed Rail (台灣高鐵)
Taiwan High Speed Rail (HSR) is a high-speed railway in Taiwan consisting of a single line that runs approximately 350-km from its capital Taipei to southern city of Kaohsiung. The trainset is based on 700 series Shinkansen trainset in Japan and is capable of running at maximum top speed of 300 km/h (left photo below).
Each train consists of one business car and eleven standard cars including reserved seats and non-reserved seats. Train cabin is well-lit with comfortable seats (right photo below).
Ticket vending machines are conveniently located across the station (left photo below) and visitors are connected by escalators to various platforms (right photo below).
Following were the tickets we took during this trip from Zuoying to Taipei (photos below).
HSR connection to Local Pubic Transit
Besides being expensive, the main disadvantage is all the HSR stations are not located within the city center except for Taipei station. To reach these inner cities, visitors will need to take either a taxi, bus or local train. During this trip, we tried two different connections from the HSR station.
Taiwan High Speed Rail (HSR) Shuttle Bus
- Once reached Tainan, we opted to take the free HSR shuttle bus (left photo below) located outside the Tainan HSR station. Bus seats were comfortable and there was clear overview of bus stops on its window panel (right photo below). Do note that each bus departing from its terminal bus station has the frequency of about 30-minutes.
- It can be confusing for first time visitors that some of the station names are shared by both HSR and TRA even they are located many kilometers apart. During this trip, we encountered two such stations where we had to take a local TRA train to connect.
| HSR Train Station | Connecting Station | Connecting TRA Line | TRA Railway Station |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tainan HSR station (高铁台南站) |
Shalun railway station (沙崙車站) |
Shalun Line Shalun station ↔ Tainan station |
Tainan railway station (台南車站) |
| Taichung HSR station (高铁台中站) |
Xinwuri railway station (新烏日車站) |
Taichung Line Xinwuri station ↔ Taichung station |
Taichung railway station (台中車站) |
Shalun railway station is located besides the Tainan HSR station (left photo below). It requires about 22-minutes and TWD 25 to connect between Shalun and Tainan railway stations (right photo below).
Xinwuri railway station (left photo below) is connected to the Taiching HSR station via a bridge. It takes about 11-minutes and cost only TWD 15 between Xinwuri and Taichung railway stations (right photo below).
Xinwuri railway station (新烏日車站)
Xinwuri railway station consists of a large building where shops and restaurants are located. In addition, there was a Railway Shop (left photo below) and a small railway exhibition that displayed the routine work of a train operator of early years (right photo below).
Carton King theme restaurant (紙箱王火車餐廳) was also located in the station building (left photo below). Next to the restaurant was the Honey Museum (蜜蜂故事館) which was its ninth shop in Taiwan (right photo below).
| ✍ Update: |
|---|
| Carton King theme restaurant and Honey Museum are permanently closed at Xinwuri railway station. |
While walking towards the train platform, I saw an outlet selling the famous Taro Pastries by Master A-Tsung (阿聰師). Thus decided to get myself a box of 6 taro cakes (photos below) at TWD 195. It is a must for taro lovers. However do note it has very short expiry date and I had to consume them during my Taiwan trip.
Taipei West Bus Station Terminal A (台北西站A栋)Shuttle Bus to Taoyuan Airport could be taken at the Taipei West Bus Station Terminal A. First operated in 2010, the terminal was connected with the Taipei Main station underground passage. We got our bus tickets from Kuo-Kuang (國光) Bus Counter which cost TWD 125 per person (left photo below). Bus No. 1819 to Taoyuan Airport departed from Berth 5 which was located towards the end of the terminal (right photo below).
| ✍ Update: |
|---|
| Taipei West Bus Station Terminal A is no longer in operation since Oct 2016. |
Accommodation
Wu House B&B (吾宅)
Wu House B&B was located at No. 19, Lane 140, Yiping road, Anping District in Tainan City. Booked this B&B online at TWD 5,900 for two nights with daily breakfast. The Wu House had a low-key architectural style which integrated clear water molds and washed stones into the exterior design (left photo below) and used natural light and shadow to illuminate its interior space (right photo below).
This B&B was even featured in a travel guide (left photo below). Once entered from the main door, a long flight of stairs would then lead us to its living room located on the third floor. Our room was located on the fourth floor which required us to climb another short flight of stairs (right photo below).
There were five rooms in Wu House and four of them were named after Japanese cities. The Okinawa Room had the style of warm summer color, Tokyo Room showed the minimalist style, Hokkaido Room had the purple lavender tone and Kyoto Room was in traditional Japanese style with an independent garden. The last room, Miyazaki Room, revealed the innocence of animation master Hayao Miyazaki.
We stayed in this Tokyo Room (left photo below) for two nights. Even its room key had the wooden block inscribed with the words 'Tokyo' (right photo below).
Indeed, the Tokyo Room was furnished in Japanese minimalist style (photos below).
Breakfast was taken at a big table in the kitchen (left photo below). Oyster porridge and coffee were prepared for us on our first breakfast (right photo below). Simply liked this local meal.
For our second breakfast, yam cake (left photo below) and fish ball soup (right photo below) were served. The fish balls were made from a local grown milkfish which tasted mildly sweet. Chatted during breakfast and we got to know that the owner got up early in the morning to buy these local breakfast for us. We could feel the warm hospitality from this B&B.
| ✍ Update: |
|---|
| This Wu House B&B is permanently closed, but its other B&B '吾宅x樹說' is still available. |
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 (left photo below). Booked this hotel online at TWD 2,760 per night with breakfast. This was the same hotel I stayed two months back. However, the room this time had the cartoonish décor on its wall compared to the plain wall previously (right photo below).
Simple selections were available at the breakfast area (left photo below). Following was the breakfast choices during my stay (right photo below).
Cingjing Vienna Garden Chalet (维也纳庭园木屋)Cingjing Vienna Garden Chalet is located at No. 29, Dingyuan New Village, Ren'ai Township in Nantou County. Booked this B&B at TWD 3180 per room per night with breakfast. The B&B is built in the European style wooden chalets or cottages (photos below).
There is a small courtyard and deck with views of mountains (left photo below). The interior of the room followed the same wooden cottages style as the B&B theme (right photo below).
Breakfast was served in the dining area in a cozy setting (left photo below) especially with the functional fireplace (right photo below).
Was rather disappointed with their limited breakfast selections (left photo below). Following was my breakfast choices (right photo below).
However the view from the B&B in the morning was great with the sun rising behind the mountains (photos below).
Caesar Hotel Taipei (凱撒台北飯店)Caesar Hotel Taipei is a 5-star hotel located at No. 38, Section 1, Zhongxiao West road, Zhongzheng District in Taipei City. It is conveniently located opposite Taipei Main Station and connected to Exit 6 of Taipei Metro (left photo below). Booked this hotel online at USD 170 per room per night without breakfast. The hotel reception had this Oriental floral decoration which formed a sharp contrast from the general hotel theme (right photo below).
The room design was much simpler with the essential amenities (photos below).
Interesting Observations
- Souvenirs are creative in Taiwan. The train ticket look-alike was issued by an instant noodles manufacturer which is very suitable for students (left photo below). Fridge magnets in the image of road signs to major tourist attractions are popular memorabilia sold in most souvenir shops.
- Endorsement from artists may be a good form of advertisement. Banner with photo of a local TV program 'Super Taste' (食尚玩家) was spotted in a restaurant at Cingjing (left photo below). Also Hong Kong TV cooking programme host, Suzie Wong (蘇施黃), was identified from a poster in a restaurant at Jintong (right photo below).
Some useful links:
- Tourisum Brureau Ministry:
http://www.taiwan.net.tw/
- Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Service:
https://www.taiwantrip.com.tw/
- Taiwan Tourism Factory:
http://tourismfactory.tw.tranews.com/
- Taipei Travel:
https://www.travel.taipei/