Taiwan Up – Part I

We finally went on our holiday! !

S and I have been planning for a short holiday just for the two of us, but that proved to be quite difficult due to his work commitments.  We finally did it one week after our trip to Perth with the family.  This trip to Taiwan is the first time in 2 years that we are spending time together as a couple for more than 1 day! We were really looking forward to it. :)

It was a 6 day trip starting from 27 Dec and ending on 1 Jan 10 so that we can catch the New Year Eve concert in Taipei. :)) For me, this was a trip that can only be “experienced”.  Unlike my other trips where I would buy lots of things home, I hardly spend the money that I had changed..for one, food & drinks were fairly cheap in Taiwan, especially if you went to the night markets, and transportation was also very reasonable…I spend NT52 (about S$2) for a day pass on one of the historical train lines.  So how do I share my experience with you….perhaps through the “highlights” of my trip :)

(1) Where to stay?

S and I decided to stay in 2 different hotels in our stay in Taipei.  Our first hotel was next to the Taipei Main station, which was a good place for us as we wanted to venture outside Taipei for the first couple of days.  It was a budget type of hotel (Solove Hotel), located on the 3rd floor of an old building…totally not lux at all…but it was cheap and good. We paid about S$250 for 3 nights stay) The rooms were clean, and it was NOT sleazy at all.  There were guests with their kids in town staying there and it was all non-smoking…which means you didn’t have to smell stale cigarette smoke that sometimes linger in carpets of tourist class hotels.  

For our last 2 nights in Taipei, we picked a boutique hotel near the Xinyi area as it was where to New Year’s Eve Concert was to be held.  We thought it was going to be crowded and didn’t want to be caught up in the jam going home after the concert, and wanted a place where we could walk home from the concert venue.   We picked Le Suite Taipei (Da-an).  It is what a boutique should be! The service was great, and attention to detail was excellent.  It provided hairbands in the bathrooms for ladies! They also provided a mobile phone for you and if you had any needs outside the hotel, they are just a call away.  This is what I call service…

(2) Take a rail trip out..

Taiwan has got a great rail system.  The opening of their MRT has certainly made travel within Taipei really easy.  It never “feels” too crowded the way it does in Singapore or Hong Kong.  I think it is due to the fact that everyone lines up to get into the train.  There is very little pushing to get or out of the train.  Everyone who wants to stand on the escalator would stand on the right side, and those who want to walk, will do so on the left.  No one is left frustrated by the pace of their movement.   This is something that I can really get used to….

Ping Xi (平溪)
S and I took one of 3 historical line out to the northern part of Taiwan.  We first took a train to Ruifang (瑞方), and then move to the next platform for the Ping Xi (平溪) line.  The 1 day ticket cost us NT52 which is about S$2, and it allowed us to hop up and down the train along the 6 stops it has.  Total worth the trip! :)

Da Hua (大华)Train station

ShiFen (十分) Scenic Area ( Clockwise – Rail running through town, bridge to the waterfalls, Eye glass waterfall)

Ping Xi (平溪) where the river runs through the town which is famous for its sky lanterns. So famous that they have it on their drain covers.

End of the line….Qing Tong (菁桐) It has one of the last train station built in Japanese style.  You can actually buy a wooden postcard and have it sent to yourself at the station with its red post box.

(3) Up the hill

After our adventures along the Ping-xi line, we took a bus from Ruifang train station to Jiu Fen (九份) (This time round, we could use of Easi card, so I didn’t have to dig for change for the bus fare!). This lovely town on a hill.  We arrived rather late, and as it was winter, the shops closed quite early.  But we were still able to get some great local food along the old street and later went for some tea at one of their famous tea houses.  Previously, I had only seen this place in the day time, but it takes on different look at night.  There were just lights glittering in the darkness of the hills, and when you look out, you can see the port just below the hills.  I am glad that I was able to take in this sight. 

Well …more updates in the next entry! :)