Trip To Taiwan – Day 1

10^th October 2016

The trip to Taiwan was planned by my wife and her sisters in August while I was still in Kuching.  The initial plan was for six of them (my wife, my son Leslie, my mother-in-law and my sister-in-laws Margaret, Angela and Shirley) to go on the trip as I was scheduled to be in Kuching again for the first half of October to look after my mother.  My mum very unexpectedly passed away on August 30 after a year-long struggle with lung cancer.  Since I did not have to go to Kuching in the first half of October, I decided to join the trip to Taiwan.

We took the Air Asia 2.55pm flight to Kota Kinabalu on October 10, arriving there at about 3.30pm. By the time we checked into the Gaya Centre Hotel, it was 4pm. It was a very cloudy day but I took a quick stroll around the vicinity of the hotel while the others went shopping in the nearby shopping complex. I love the views at the waterfront area but I did not venture too far away from the hotel as it looked like the rain would come at any time.

We decided to have our dinner at the G Café in the hotel as it was raining. When we entered the restaurant, we were a bit apprehensive as we were the only customers. We thought maybe the food must be lousy but because of the rain, we went ahead and ordered.  We were in for a surprise as the food turned out to be quite delicious!

We went to bed early at about 9pm as we need to get up very early for our flight to Taiwan the next day.

11^th October 2016

We were up from our beds at about 2.40am.  And at 3.40am, we left the hotel for the airport. The city looked so quiet and deserted.  This is the first time I ever got up so early for a trip.

Our plane touched down at Taoyuan Airport at 9.30am. Looking out from the plane’s window, we could see that it was a rainy day. About an hour later, we made our exit from the arrival hall and called our hired tour driver Coke Liao. He was waiting for us in his Mercedes Viano 7-seater MPV and in no time, we were on our way to Taichung.

We stopped at Hu-Kou Service area for a toilet break and took the opportunity to buy some drinks and tidbits at the shops there.  The ads for some products were a bit cheeky.

At noon, Coke stopped at the famous Hai Rei Meatball for us to try the specialties there.  We ordered the very popular fried vermicelli, meatball soup, fried cabbage, fried tofu and another local fried vegetable.  The famous fried vermicelli did not live up to our expectation.  We think it is over-rated.  The meatballs and the tofu were not bad but the fried cabbage and local vegetable were a bit bland.

 

At 1.10pm, we arrived at the Shengxing Railway Station, located at the highest point of the western railway trunkline, 402.326 meters above sea level. The train station, completed in 1906, is built entirely of wood in the Japanese huya (Teeth of a Tiger) style, which is supposed to ward off evil spirits. Many artifacts from the Japanese occupation period can still be seen here.

Trains no longer stop at Shengxing Station; it has become a Miaoli tourist attraction and a historic site. The station is surrounded by a cluster of tea shops, souvenir shops, and traditional Hakka restaurants where visitors may savour authentic Hakka dishes.

The great thing about the Sheng Xing Station is visitors can walk down on the tracks along the platform. There is a 1km tunnel you can walk into. Due to time constraint, we did not venture into the tunnel.

At 1.45pm, we left the station to visit the Xin Feng Nong Chang (New Peak Farm). We passed by the Long Sheng Broken Bridge built by the Japanese in the early 1900’s. A strong earthquake in 1935 (The Guandao Mountain Earthquake) destroyed the bridge extensively, rendering it beyond repair.

We arrived at the Xin Feng Nong Chang at about 3pm.  The grapes were in season and we had a good time trying out the grapes and taking photos. The area is also famous for mushrooms. As it was just the start of the grape season, the grapes tasted a bit sour. We only bought a small bunch of grapes and several packets of dried mushrooms.

Our next stop was at Dongdong Taro Balls (Dong Dong Yu Yuan). The place was already decently packed and we had to queue to place our order. We all opt for the hot taro balls and we wasted no time tucking heartily into this Taiwan specialty. The freshly-made yam paste and the soft and chewy taro balls are highly recommended.

 

After the desserts, we felt ready to continue our sightseeing. The next stop on our itinerary was Carton King Creative Park. With branches in Cingjing and Jiji, the original Cartoon King in Taichung City is now quite an institution. We spent time strolling around the park admiring the cardboard exhibits that include Eiffel Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Taipei 101, a windmill, a zoo , trees and even a restaurant that features furnishings, decorations and crockery made of corrugated cardboard.

Each entrance ticket costs NT200, which comes along with a NT100 voucher that you can use to purchase goods or spend at the restaurant. The entrance ticket is a sort of scavenger hunt for stamps which you can collect from eight designated spots in the park. Once you have all the eight stamps, you can go to the souvenir shop to get a free gift which was a spiraling paper pinwheel.

After we emerged from the Carton King park, we were ready to check in to our hotel which was the Eiffel Tower Hostel. Check-in was quick without any hassle. There are lifts available but the lifts are quite small. For the seven of us with six large pieces of luggage plus other small luggage, we had to take two trips.

Coke had booked for us 2 quad rooms (for 4 persons) that have 2 double beds each.  There are no hotel personnel in the building at night and entry to the building is by keying in a security passcode.

It is located within walking distance to Fengjia night market (逢甲夜市) which we set out to visit after a short rest in the hostel room. Fengjia Night Market , also called Fengjia Shopping Town, is located next to Fengjia University. It is claimed to be the largest night market in Taiwan. It includes the Fengjia Wen Hua Night Market, Xitun Road, Fengjia Road, and Fuxing Road.

In the area, there are shops and stalls selling everything – sweets, cakes, waffles, chou tofu (stinky tofu – a much loved dish in Taiwan), pastries, international and local foods, drinks, clothing, electronics, glasses, shoes, bags, jewellery, stationary, gifts, etc.

You will be spoiled for choice with the diverse varieties of food and snacks: octopus meat balls, grilled sausages, barbecued chicken, fried chicken, pancakes, seafood,  bubble tea, sausages in sticky rice rolls, crepes, oyster omelettes, sweet taro ball soup, super tall ice creams and even teh tarik and satay.

We spent less than 2 hours at the night market as were quite tired after the whole day of sightseeing exacerbated by the insufficient sleep when we were in Kota Kinabalu yesterday. We had a great day thanks to Coke Liao! After a shower, we were soon in our dream world. May tomorrow be another great day of sightseeing!