Tai Chung

hi! (: sorry for the hiatus in blogging about my taiwan trip! haha now that i'm back from europe, i've got yet another trip to blog about :P not that I'm complaining! ^^ i'm really glad that i could go on so many grad trips :))

shall start my entire series of taiwan (detailed) posts with Tai Chung - we started our grad trip here, and it was really quite a relaxing change to be away from the hustle and bustle of a city (especially since we'd just ended exams). while Tai Chung does have some sort of a city centre, it's not very developed and there is just this whole "ruggedness" about the place. we only spent a night in the city though, so i don't have much to say about it. but the highlight was going to our FIRST NIGHT MARKET!!!! *yay!!* we were so excited to check out Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市 also because it was known to be one of the top night markets in Taiwan! and after my entire trip of exploring numerous night markets in taiwan, i've got to agree that it's absolutely true! probably kinda biased too  because it was our first experience with a night market. but still....it's GOOD!

super crowded!!! i think we went there quite early, around 5.30/6pm? awesome that there were stalls already open then ^^

first stall we came across was this! haha actually i can't really remember exactly what this was, but i think it was the pepper bun 胡椒饼 that is also very popular at the Raohe Night Market 饒河夜市. it was piping hot! and quite interesting, but don't think we were huge fans of it haha. it was, in Sam's words, "ok la". 

this was some cheesy chicken thing! which was quite nice ^^ look out for the stall name in the pic

Sam's favourite fried prawn! it's grilled/fried till the ENTIRE prawn is crisp and you can eat the thing whole, including the tail, shell and head :O i didn't try it, but Sam absolutely loves it and it comes with lots of different seasonings which sound really interesting!

this golden squid is a MUST TRYYYYY. the squid-alternative to the prawn above. i love it!!!!! so much easier to eat haha. and it comes with all sorts of seasoning too. we went for the simplest salt & pepper flavour, and it was SO GOOD.

after all the sinful fried food, we were dying for a drink!!! and we're such suckers for nice packaging ^^ hahaha. this box tea is so adorable!! and i've gotta say it tastes quite nice too :) super refreshing and clears up all the oil after munching on all the street food. 

Da chang bao xiao chang 大腸包小腸 is another popular item to order! though it actually appears in most of the night markets, but idk why it was recommended for Fengjia. anyway, it's definitely one of those must-try items in ANY of the night markets (wherever you can find it) because i think it's quite a signature taiwan street food! basically it's a chinese sausage wrapped in glutinous rice. personally i'm not that crazy over it because i'd much rather eat the sausage on its own! ;) hehe.

cheesy potato with bacon on top! also one of those recommended items for Fengjia. and superrrrr sinful as you can see from all the oozy cheese :x it was pretty good though! AAAAAND for all this food (and more), we spend about SGD$20 in total. taiwan food prices (Y)

 next day we went up to Cingjing farm 情境農場. and as you can see, the weather was terribly foggy >.< 

this was taken at a rest area where our van was parked. so pretty!

there were some shops there (selling lavender stuff!!!) and i bought bath salts there ^^ yayyyy. which reminds me i haven't actually used them yet :P oops...

we visited the Little Swiss Garden 小瑞士花圜! kinda sad that it was so foggy :((( we had to pay to go in somemore (students with ID: NT$90, adults: NT$120). if not it would have looked even prettier!!! sk edited the pics very well ^^ (thanks babe! and i koped quite a lot of your photos cos i'm too lazy to edit mine haha)

**random tip: for students, bring some sort of student identification with you! most of the attractions have student rates :)

popped into Carton King just to take pictures with their really interesting creations! entry is free, and it's really quite incredible to see what can be made out of cardboard boxes 

the weather at Green Green Grassland 青青草原 was even worse!!!!!! :'( like where was the 青青草原??!! couldn't see ANYTHING. we were supposed to watch the sheep shearing performance and this was all we could see at the start. O.O 

thankfully, the weather cleared up just in time for the show!! :) really glad for that :') it was amazing. haha we literally saw the fog being blown away. and it was slightly less cold. and we were actually all excited to explore the 青青草原. unfortunately it crept back on us towards the end of the show >.< you can google to see how the place looks in nicer weather. we didn't really explore it in the end sadly...but in the sunlight, this place could almost pass off as new zealand! :) with all the sheep hehe. the sheep performance was surprisingly entertaining! and gotta say that the taiwanese in general are just great at hosting ;) another horse show we watched at the same place was pretty boring though. Prices for students with ID: NT$120 and adults: NT$160. i think it would be really worth it if the weather is good and you'll probably spend lots of time just walking around and enjoying the scenery ^^ (same for the Little Swiss Garden above! we really enjoyed them, even in the bad weather :))

as mentioned, lots of places to take photos ;) 

OH YES. and the Green Green Grassland had the BEST TAIWAN SAUSAGES EVER!!!!! you have to eat it when you're there! look out for that stall behind us. 山猪香肠 - it was so damn good. we bought two for all of us to share at first. then sk decided that she wanted one on her own. then sam. and then all of us decided to buy more of it, cos it was SO ADDICTIVE. idk what is it about the 山猪 haha. i would have thought that the meat would be more tough! but NO. it was so juicy and succulent and bursting with delicious sinful (but who cares) flavour. the aroma itself was enough to make us drool.

we stayed in a minsu on top of the mountain, and i believe that is the BEST way to have the full experience of Cingjing! :))) waking up to this view is love :') 

next day we took a boat out to Sun Moon Lake 日月潭. the weather was beautiful that day! :)) i can't remember how much we payed for the ferry. it seems like there is no exact place to buy the tickets, but rather there are people hawking everywhere in that area, and i think they generally offer the same price. we were ambushed the moment we stepped out of our van O.o and we just took the deal. basically it's a boat ride around the lake with stops at 2 "islands" (idk how to describe it haha). 

the first stop was to eat the really famous tea leaf egg 茶叶蛋! i don't really recall when is the last time i ate tea leaf egg, but this was REALLY good. it deliciously fragrant, and every mouthful had a really distinct essence of the tea and herbs.

and this was the crazy queue for the egg. goodness. plus the fact that it's made up 80% of ATs who are always trying to cut the queue, it was quite a horrendous experience. but since we were already there, we decided to just queue anyway! and it was worth it ^^ but next time, please buy a few more eggs each. hahaha.

second stop had nothing much. mostly a street of food, which wasn't that great. but love this picture of us anyway!!!! ^^ we look so happy :) and we totally have the 'we're-going-to-sail-off-for-a-holiday-on-our-private-yacht' feel. hahaha <3

yay end of my first detailed post! hope it wasn't too boring :x thanks for reading :)

other taiwan blog posts:

My Taiwan grad trip! 

General information about taiwan

The Ultimate Taiwan Travel Guide: Itinerary + other useful info

hello!! after reminiscing my entire holiday in Taiwan, here's the general itinerary we had which could serve as a guide if you're planning a trip to taiwan! (: i spent two weeks there, but the second week was really super duper chill (we woke up at 10plus every day and left the house only around noon haha) and explored areas outside of the usual tourist spots. but especially if it's your first trip to taiwan, or you're just interested in the usual tourist spots, one week was just about right for us to explore all the necessities in taipei at a pretty chill pace and we also spent a few days in taichung (: i've included details about our accommodations at each location and also some general info.

Day 1
Arrival in Taipei > HSR to Tai Chung > Pick up by driver > Check into Galerie Hotel > Feng Jia Night Market

we landed at the Taoyuan International Airport and were supposed to be headed for Taichung on that day itself! Took at shuttle bus from the Airport to the Taoyuan High Speed Rail (HSR) station - tickets can be bought on the spot at the airport. and from the HSR station, we took the train to Taichung! the journey was super fast (i was really surprised!) - around 45min, and it cost NT$590. there are many timings for the HSR, and i believe the ticket is valid for any of the timings! so you can just check the departure board to find out when the next train is :)

for our single night in Taichung city, we stayed at The Galerie Hotel. booked it through Agoda and paid about S$85 for a twin room! very reasonable price i think! and the hotel was pretty cosy ^^ it was sandwiched between two rather run-down looking buildings and at first we totally didn't notice it! but if you look closer, you'll see a ramp leading up to a stylishly-designed lobby. the staff were really friendly and accommodating (we asked them to heat up our food for us and they did so, even though the kitchen was already closed :p oops!). rooms were comfy, though a little dim, but we had a good night's sleep! :) and breakfast was included! i really enjoyed a simple meal of taiwan porridge with just peanuts and pork floss :P yummmmmmy. haha but there was more to the breakfast than that of course!

our driver in Taichung ^^ Mr Zhang hehe. he was superrrr funny :P hahaha. though he didn't talk much to us, he was very helpful with recommendations of places to visit, taking care not to be pushy, and cracked us up with his antics like looping 来也匆匆去也匆匆 for our 5 hour car ride back to Taipei. omg!!! haha poor sam in the front seat >.< hahaha. loved his comfy car though!!! i highly recommend him if you're going to taichung ^^ he was so reliable and was really a great help during our trip :') 

not sure whether you can contact him directly, but we actually got him through Mr Huang, who is some sort of a coordinator for drivers in Taipei and Taichung.

Day 2
Drive up to Cing Jing Nong Chang > Swiss Garden > Carton King > Cing Jing Qing Qing Cao Yuan > Check into Star Villa

sleepy faces in the morning cos we made the effort to wake up for sunrise at 4am!!

for our second night in Taichung, we were actually up in Cing Jing Nong Chang 清境农场 (okay i don't know whether it's just the farm that is referred to this way or the whole area is called the same thing). anyway, we stayed in the Star Villa Minsu. the view was... :O :O :O paid about S$210 for the family room with balcony if i'm not wrong! (: really thankful for the good weather that day! honestly, if you're going up to cing jing, it really depends on your luck whether you get clear weather. and it matters A LOT, unfortunately. but it's really unpredictable, so just hope for the best!!

Day 3
Sun Moon Lake > Drive back to Taipei > Check into Airbnb > Din Tai Fung > Blackball

SUPER LOVE OUR FIRST AIRBNB IN TAIPEI!!! :) We stayed at Joy's apartment (and this is actually not the one we stayed in bcos somehow that has been unlisted :/ sad....not sure how similar this is, but it's in the same building!). Joy was the loveliest host ever :) we were delayed on the way back to Taipei because of traffic and everything, but she was super patient and welcoming when we arrived! she explained all the features of the apartment to us - washer/dryer included!! WIFI was also included, and she provided practically all the necessities we needed for a comfortable stay - soap/shampoo/toothbrush/toothpaste/towels/hairdryer all included :') and really good quality ones! the towels were super fluffy, and she even provided l'occitane hand soap :O WOW?! it was really like a home to us! of course i can't guarantee that you'll get exactly the same - especially since it's a different apartment - but i'm sure you'll be very comfortable staying in one of Joy's apartments :) we paid about S$155/night for 5 pax (excluding airbnb service fees & cleaning fees!) 

perhaps the only downside was that the location is quite out of the central area of Taipei, with the nearest MRT station being Nangang Software Park. the good thing is that Taipei's metro system is really well-connected, and it takes you to almost anywhere in Taipei really easily. the apartment was located a mere 5min walk from the MRT station, and despite the distance from the city centre, it wasn't too troublesome to travel around.

Day 4
Jiufen > Shifen > Keelung Night Market

Day 5
Sabrina House brunch > Bei Tou Hot Spring > Dan Jiang High School > Dan Shui Fisherman's Wharf > Shilin Night Market

Day 6
Xi Men Ding > Yong Kang Street > Lao Zhang Beef Noodle > Mr J Restaurant

Day 7
Wu Fen Pu > Formosa Lu Rou Fan > Raohe Night Market > Holiday KTV

we went to Holiday KTV at Ximending! :) i can't remember what is the price we paid for it, but i believe it's cheaper than PartyWorld? we had a student price, and it was basically a per pax price, including food. unfortunately we came from dinner already!!! there was actually A LOT of food. definitely would have been filling for all of us. had lots of fun singing there!! ^^ though we felt that the song selection was kinda limited :/ perhaps PartyWorld would be better that way!

Day 8
Move to second Airbnb

i realise i didn't have any pictures of our second airbnb! but you can check out the website for the images (: the pictures are quite accurate! we were surprised that there were two beds instead of one in fact! and there was still some space to move around, which was great.

Sam & I moved to this apartment when the other girls left, because we didn't need such a big space anymore. the location was great! right outside the busy area of Xi Men Ding, we could get there in 5mins and also reach the Ximen station very easily. generally a very cosy apartment that was comfortable for the both of us :) amenities such as shampoo/soap and hair dryer were provided as well, which was great! Free WIFI was included, but it malfunctioned on some days, which was quite troublesome. one thing i didn't like about the apartment was that it was constantly filled with a smell of cigarette smoke!!! >:( it was really quite awful >.< probably bcos it is an old building and so the ventilation wasn't good. but it was quite a big boo-boo for me.

Day 9
Tianmu > Dinner at a Dumpling restaurant

Day 10
Farmers market > Taipei 101 > Creative Park > Meng Jia Night Market

Day 11
Picnic Cafe

Day 12
Dihua Street > Sadaharu Aoki

Day 13
Yongkang Beef Noodle > Yaboo Cafe

Day 14
Fu Hang Dou Jiang > Da An Park > Perfume Dance

for your convenience, here is a guide to Taipei's metro system! it's super comprehensive and takes you almost anywhere you need to go. 

i'm still working on the rest of the posts so the details aren't in yet! but i'll link the other posts along the way when they come up so that it's easy to navigate :)) haha this post is really just meant to be a general overview with an itinerary for your reference.

aaaaaand i'm off to my final grad trip! (: bye-bye for now ^^

Grad Trip in Taiwan :))

i'm back from my grad trips!!! (: or at least ⅔ of them hehe. and boy, am i glad to be back! travelling really does get pretty tiring after awhile. especially Nepal... :x haha once in a lifetime trip. i missed singapore so much!!! i've never been one to complain much about singapore (i honestly love it here, except maybe the weather) but the trip to Nepal just made me superrrr homesick. i was SO HAPPY to be back, i was literally bouncing off the plane the moment we landed at Changi Airport hehe ^^ though i have to clarify that despite everything, i thoroughly enjoyed the company (: - though i'm sure i would have enjoyed it more in any other country in the world hahaha. 

okie, here's some photo spam of taiwan to start off!!! ^^ SUPER LOVED my grad trip there :') first ever trip to taiwan and i spent two whole weeks there! honestly, i've had more than enough of taipei for awhile, but i miss the food already!!! definitely a place to go back, though probably not in the near future yet! 

so stoked for our first trip together!!! ^^ haha reality barely set in then that exams (and uni life!) was over. what would i give to go back to that day again :') so excited!!

waiting for the HSR to Taichung! (: 

TAIWAN IS ABSOLUTELY A FOOD LOVER'S HEAVEN :D

i miss the food already (though it's actually quite unhealthy oops)

we started pigging out the moment we reached taichung hehe! :P first night market was Feng Jia Night Market, and one of the best! stuffed ourselves till we were going to burst because everything looked so delicious, and ended the night with a hilarious discovery moment when we realised how the food was S.O. C.H.E.A.P. woohooooo ^^

next day up the mountains to Cing Jing Nong Chang - we had really bad weather that day >.< super cold!!!! and of all days i'd decided to wear shorts. haha big mistake....look at how warmly everyone else was dressed!!! what was i thinking. haha. BIG LOVE for these girls xx :)

the weather cleared up the next day!!! ^^ and we had our ANTM Vogue photoshoot with gorgeous mountains as our background hahaha. looking at these photos just makes me miss grad trip with this bunch soooooo much!!!!! hehe we were all so enthusiastic and woke up at 4am to try to catch the sunrise. in the end it rose from behind our villa and we couldn't see it :( so thankful for the clear weather anyway though!!! the scenery... :')

on to Taipei!!! ^^ where more exciting things were to come.

hahaha so much meaning behind this photo. lol!!!! how the three of us were the naughty (irresponsible) kids running around and exploring our AWESOME airbnb and toilet (i miss it already!!! okay i'm officially having major nostalgia now haha :P) while our 双木林 parents were patiently listening to the landlady showing them how to use the facilities in the house keke. well, too many cooks spoil the broth right? no need for so many people crowding around the area. teehee ^^ 

first meal in taipei was awesome-possum!! we were totally blown away by the super friendly (and smile-y) staff at Din Tai Fung, and how delicious the food there was ^^ the service itself just made up half the experience already. look at the big smiles on our face! ;)

one of my favourite moments! (: 放天灯 was super meaningful with the best company ever <3

bestie! <3 love this photo of us!! (perfect if not for that butt in the picture -.-)

another of my favourite places was the Dan Shui Fisherman's Wharf/Lovers' Bridge. can really feel the loooove there hehe! and it was so spacious and windy and all! super super love that place :') 

visited Jay Chou's restaurant too! hehe so that dearest SK could fulfil her dream ;) could see how happy she was! haha. and it was really quite cool with the piano and all ^^ definitely a must for Jay Chou fans! 

we got so lazy that by the last day of our trip together, we woke up past 12pm!!! :P omg haha. honestly i think this is the FIRST time in my life (not counting when i was a baby) as far back as i can rmb that i've ever slept till such a time. i've really never done this in singapore before!!! and the feeling was SO SHIOK. haha. this was taken on the last day before we parted ways :'( i was so torn between choosing between staying on in taiwan with sam or going to korea with the girls. hearing them rave about korea so much totally made me want to fly there as well!!! And yet i was absolutely relishing our couple time in taiwan as well :') (so much better than exchange hahahahaha). if only i could split myself in half eh? hehe. but the one week with them was really a precious memory that i'll keep forever :') BESTEST bunch of travel buddies <3 we really had the perfect combi of personalities  (hehe like the parents & the kids ;)) and just the right number of people so that we could share food and eat to our hearts' delight. SUPER DUPER LOVE THE VIDEO THAT SK DID TOO :') hahaha so many memories!! totally looking forward to our next trip together again <3 

lots more on my taiwan itinerary coming up!! stay tuned ~ :)