Taiwan with Family 2012: Day 4

The second half of the trip took us to HuaLien, Taiwan's largest county that sits on the eastern coast of the country. Train tickets were pre-booked on the TRA website (Taiwan Railway Authority) before the trip and have been on our second day here. After a quick breakfast, we took the southward train from Taipei station.

Depending on the type of the train the journey might take anything from 2 to 3.5 hours. We managed to book one of the express trains 自強號 and the train ride was approx 2.5 hours.
Among the 4 of us were 3 bulky suitcases which we had a bit of trouble stowing away on the train. There was no designated carriage or area for storing luggage apart from overhead shelvings. But we managed to squeeze them into the space at the back of the carriage. The seats were comfortable and the scenery along the way was beautiful. The train took us through mountains, rivers, farms and various towns such as 松山、宜蘭、羅東. If you are lucky you may even be able to buy a railway bento before they get sold out!

Scenic train ride to HuaLien from Taipei


We have arranged accommodation with a hotel nearby the train station, initially thinking that may be more convenient. It turned out to be quite a distance away from downtown and I would recommend staying somewhere closer to the town area instead.
After checking-in, we headed to the tourist information centre and was approached by several taxi drivers who offered us one-day tours around Hualien county. The prices were quite similar among them and we decided on a female driver. She agreed to take us to Taroko Gorge, 縱谷線 & 東岸風景區 on the next three days for a total of TW$6500 and we arranged to meet at the hotel the next morning. She was so friendly the whole time and was a very experienced driver who knew the roads of HuaLien like the back of her hand. Anyone who needs a taxi driver in HuaLien should ask me for her contact number!
After having lunch, the afternoon was spent on strolling around HuaLien city. Comparing to Taipei, this place is like a tranquil rural town. There were no noisy traffic lights, no quick-paced office workers in their fancy suits or hugh shopping malls taking up an entire block. The streets looked older and had many individual snack shops, restaurants and shops. The city itself is quite small and most tourist attractions are located in other areas of HuaLien County.

美崙山公園　＆　忠烈祠

時光二手書店, a very cute and cozy second-hand book store

A tiny stall at the back of a van selling "炸蛋蔥油餅", a mouth-watering street food worth lining up for!

奇蹟Coffee, one of the many cafés in HuaLien city

舊鐵道行人徒步區: where the train connecting HuaLien and Taitung used to run. Now transformed into a shopping district.

The old rails, traffic lights still remained.

南濱公園 which was under renovation. The beach was less than impressive and not worth the trip.

After walking past 王記茶舖 for the first time we decided we HAD to come back for dinner. It occupied a spacious 2-storey building with indoor and outdoor seatings. The décor was sophisticated and inviting and each seating area had its own style of setting. It seemed popular among the locals too!

Wholesome dinner @ 王記茶舖

Taiwan with Family 2012: Day 3

On Day 3 we headed to the New Taipei City. To get to 野柳 from Taipei, we took 國光客運 from Taipei Station and got off at 野柳站.
野柳地質公園 is located on the cape on the northern coastline of the Taiwan island. Due to its geographical location, the sandstone has been exposed to years of sea erosions and weathering and transformed into a unique landscape.
We were free to explore the entire park and walk among the "candle rocks", "mushroom rocks", "Queen's Head" and many other stones that were interestingly shaped. The weather was however very tough and the heavy rain and strong wind made it hard to stay for any longer. I'm sure it would have been much more enjoyable if the weather was a bit better. We all ended up with wet shoes and socks after the visit!
There was a small market outside the exit of the park selling souvenirs and snacks. We shared a nice cup of 姜母茶 there, which was amazingly satisfying on a cold day like this!

Honeycombed rocks

Sea grooves and sea caves

From 野柳 we headed off to 九份 by bus. We first took 基隆客運 to KeeLung Station, then another bus to 九份. It took us more than an hour altogether as the train was not accessible from 野柳. 九份 sits on a hill northeast of Taipei and used to be the a gold mining town. Since it has got its fame from the film 悲情城市, it has now become a tourist attraction famous of its teahouses and local dishes.

The weather continued to be cold and misty for the rest of the day, which added a mysterious and serene feeling to the place. Walking through the alleys and down the stairs was the best way to explore Jiufen. It was such a charming and cute village and was probably one of my fave spots in the whole trip!

The nostalgic streets of 九份

昇平戲院

九份舊道and the misty view from the hill

Shop selling cute toys, souvenirs, postcards and delicious local foods

Leaving Jiufen, we first took a bus to 瑞芳站, from which we caught a very crowded train back to Taipei. We skipped dinner and went straight to 士林夜市! Despite its name 士林市場 is closer to 劍潭站, which is connected to the night market by a underground tunnel.

Apparently the entire market used to be on the ground level. Most of the food stores have now been moved to the basement while the stalls selling clothes, souvenirs and game stalls were in the covered area on street level. Not that it made a difference to me or anyone who went there for the first time. We tried as much food as we could including fried chicken fillet, oyster omelette, beef and lamb skewers, pancakes, buns and some icy drinks. I honestly cannot comprehend how Taiwanese people stay slim!

The last on this day's itinerary was another must-go; 誠品信義店, which was walkable from 捷運市政府站. Among the many outlets in Taipei, 敦南店 is the main store that operates 24/7. But we were informed by a guide book that 信義店 has a larger collection of books and decided to visit this one instead.

This building had a total of 8 levels from Basement 2 to 6/F. Apart from the bookstore which spanned across levels 2 & 3, the rest of the outlet consisted of restaurants, cafes, stationery store, music shop, boutique children's area, a florist and even a saloon. Calling it a bookshop is such an understatement!! I can't wait for them to open the first outlet in Hong Kong!

Taiwan with Family 2012: Day 2

The first destination of day 2 is one of the major attractions in Taipei, 故宮博物館. Before heading out we went to the train station to pick up our train tickets for Taipei-Hualien from the TRA counter.

To reach 故宮博物館, we took the MRT to 士林站 using a 1-day Taipei Pass. We saw a 豆漿粢飯 stall outside the train station and could not resist getting breakfast there! From Shilin, there were severel buses that headed towards the museum (255, 304, R30). As advised by the staff at the train station we took bus R30, which took us right to the entrance of the museum, saving us an uphill walk.

Our delicious breakfast!

The crowd in 故宮博物館 was crazy and there was a line to enter the major exhibition halls, ie 大白菜 & 肥豬肉. If you are interested in Chinese history and culture you can spend a whole day there. For me I thought the jade, ceramics and Chinese painting exhibitions were the best.

The museum and its gift shop


At around 1pm we took the bus back to Shilin, from where we headed to 淡水站 by MRT. 淡水 is a historical town at the mouth of the 淡水河 and had been ruled by almost anyone who passed by, including the Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, English. Because of its historical background and geographical location it has become a very popular tourist attraction. 淡水老街 was lined up with shops selling street food, local delicacies, souvenirs, accessories and packed with hungry tourists like us!

After filling up our stomaches we continued walking down to see 龍山寺, 真理街, 淡江高中, 真理大學, 紅毛城 and Former British Consulate. All the campuses are really nice and spacious and the alleys of Tamshui town made a really nice walk. 紅毛城 and Former British Consulate have been converted into museums focusing on the history of 淡水. Admission is free for both so no reason to miss either!

龍山寺

Streets of Tamshui and school campuses

紅毛城 and Former British Consulate

Display within the Former British Consolate

Snack and dinner

PS Beware of tour groups from China in 故宮博物館! Some of them had absolutely no patience and will try to push people aside and jump queue whenever they can. You may get pushed over if you are not careful!