Trip review

Hi,

Just to share some comments on my trip to Taiwan!

I spent 5 nights in Taipei, 1 night in Hualien, 1 night in Cingjing Farm. It was my 3rd time there, hehe.

Currently, it gets dark at about 6pm so it feels as if it%26#39;s very late but it is actually only early evening!

Taipei city

- Stayed at TS Hotel Deluxe Suite (with wood tatami) for 3 persons. The 1st room we got was very big and spacious but at the 2nd check-in, the room was slightly smaller.

- The Freego shuttle bus between airport and hotel is slightly cheaper if you buy the return-trip tickets (I think the difference is NT$20). You%26#39;ll have to call Freego to pick up on the day of return.

- We had to change to a smaller bus on the way. I felt it was quite troublesome as we had to get our luggage from the coach compartment and carry it up to the smaller bus because it has no luggage compartment. It was also a more bumpy ride on the smaller bus. We reached TS Hotel at almost 8pm.

- I think Wu Fen Pu is definitely more accessible from Songshan train station rather than walking from Houshanpi MRT. I remembered it was a long walk when I did that in 2007 and this time round, I got there in no time from Songshan train station!

Hualien

- Had booked cabbie Lu Lai Fu and his service was good! Went to the usual spots in Taroko Gorge.

- At night, we played fireworks and ate the wonderful 老牌蔥油餅 that he recommended. It%26#39;s very oily but is is very tasty especially with the runny egg yolk!

- Stayed at Roseland and the rooms were big and comfortable. BTW, they do provide bath towels.

- Location was good because it is in the city center.

- The fresh muahchee at 曾记 (www.1314.com.tw) is good and cheap. Love the peanut one! However, they only last 2 days because they%26#39;re preservative-free. So we bought a few and ate them there.

Between Hualien and Cingjing Farm, the road is very winding and luckily, we don%26#39;t have motion sickness. Lu Lai Fu mentioned that eating guava is good for people with motion sickness and he will bring guests to buy some if they tell him they have motion sickness. The scenery en route was amazing, especially at Wuling. Lu Lai Fu say that next time, I should go and climb Hehuan mountain!

One thing to note was that initially, he asked me what time I%26#39;d like to leave for Cingjing Farm the next day and I asked him for his advise. He suggested 0930 and I was ok with it. Then, a few hours later, he told me that it may be better to leave earlier at 0700 or 0730 and cited weather reasons, that fog will appear in the later morning and obscure the scenery. So we agreed 0730.

Later on, I deduce that he changed the time because another Singaporean guest called him to pick them up from Cingjing Farm to go Hualien at about 12noon. So, the change in time was not because of the weather..or at least, not completely. Oh well, I understand he was just trying to plan his time...but felt he was not very truthful here. Anyway, it is also good that we left early because we reach Cingjing almost 1pm and spent the afternoon at the Evergreen Grasslands.

After I came back, I read that you can go Lishan en route but he didn%26#39;t suggest that to us or I might have gone too. I wonder if it%26#39;s because he had to pick up the other guest so he didn%26#39;t suggest to us? :S

Cingjing Farm

- Stayed at Florance resort and realised that its location is not ideal. There%26#39;s nothing nearby and the nearest amenities is a 15mins walk away at the 國民賓館 area. I suggest to stay at 國民賓館 instead.

- We got a free upgrade to a room with balcony. Do remember to close the balcony door at night because there are A LOT of flies and bugs. The view from the balcony is good in the morning, when it is not so foggy.

- I borrowed laptop from the reception desk and spent the night surfing away, haha.

- Note that Florance resort has 2 dogs and they are really friendly. Even though I%26#39;m generally afraid of dogs, I love them. They don%26#39;t bark at you and are very comfortable around the guests.

- The resort has a shuttle bus schedule between Florance and Evergreen Grasslands and they actually charge guests for it. I was quite surprised as I expected the shuttle to be free. Luckily, later on, the boss told us that because we are not Taiwanese and don%26#39;t have our own transport means, they will not charge us and were flexible with the shuttle bus timing to fetch us back.

- Nothing much to do at Cingjing Farm except for Evergreen Grasslands. Even that was rather quiet and deserted, probably coz we went on a weekday. Met a group of volunteers who walked with us and explained.

- Food at Florance resort is western menu and it is very expensive. I suggest to have dinner at the chinese restaurant at 國民賓館 instead. In my case, I went to buy take away food from the restaurant back to Florance.

- The buffet breakfast at Florance is quite good. Love the salad, especially the blueberry salad dressing! Then, we took the 1030 Nantou bus to Puli and another bus to Taichung HSR station. The bus rides were extremely bumpy!! We got back to TS Hotel at about 1530.

Food in Taipei

- World Soymilk King (世界豆漿大王) at Dingxi station. Find that the food and soymilk is rather average even though there were good reviews.

- Desert from 鮮芋仙 (www.meetfresh.com.tw). The dessert was quite nice but I still think they look nicer on pictures.

- Takoyaki (or octopus balls) with wasabi at a corner stall of Danshui. These are my favorites and I must have them whenever I go Danshui!! :D

- Another favourite is peanut muahchee (黑糖雪菓) from 手信坊 (http://www.3ssf.com.tw/). There%26#39;s a branch at the basement of Shinkong shopping centre at Taipei main station.

- Bubble milk tea from 50嵐 (http://50lan.com.tw/). And, I just realised that Koi Cafe in Singapore is by them!

- Green milk tea with matcha ice-cream from Tian Ren (天仁茗茶). This is nice!

- 好記擔仔麵 (www.hawji.tw) is a rather famous restaurant. I didn%26#39;t find the famous noodles that great but I love the beancurd dish. The steamed flower crab is pretty good too. Note that the restaurant allows smoking within so might be unsuitable for people who are averse to cigarette smoke.

- Taoyuan Beef noodles (桃源街牛肉面) at Ximending area. The beef here is very tender and nice! When we were there, there was no one else so we were wondering if it%26#39;s the correct famous place, haha. Probably coz we went at a wierd afternoon hour.

- 飛天 hotpot has a good variety of food and is cheaper if you go during the lunch hours. We tried 3 types of soup-base - clear soup, spicy (麻辣 - 小辣), herbal. We find that the clear soup is the best and the spicy is just too spicy! Plus point, they have free flow haagen dazs ice cream!

Food in Jiufen

- 阿柑姨芋圓 is very nice as compared to other 芋圓 I have tried. The seating area inside of the shop has a good view too. The shop is at the top of the staircase at the end of Jiufen old street. You should be able to see a signboard pointing you up the correct direction.

- 杏仁酥 from the shop that sells a lot of peanuts and other food. Another of my favourite food. From the sticker on the packaging, it seems they have a branch at Shenkeng old street. Anyone can confirm?

- Pineapple cake pastry from 李義. The shop is now outside the Jiufen old street - used to be inside the old street when I was there in 2007. It%26#39;s nice because it is not so sweet. You can buy it from the Taipei main station underground mall too. They provide delivery to your Taipei hotel if you spend at least NT$2500.

Trip review

Thamks for sharing with us, glad u had a good time.

Trip review

Hi vlazygirl,

You mention you took a bus from Ching Jing to Nantou and another from Nantou to Taichung. I will be travelling the same route but starting from the other direction.

May I ask if you have problems with your luggage on the bus (I assume you travel with all your luggage)? Is there enough storage space?

Thx

hi vlazygirl, Can i have The cabbie lu lai fu contact number. you asked the cab to pick u up from chingjing right? and how much do you pay for his service?

wow, u r not a lazy girl at all...see those wonderful review u have feed us. i have one question

where is 飛天 hotpot ? isit near ximending?

cherylyn81 %26gt;%26gt; Lu Lai Fu no. is (0)928-569-081. I paid NT$4500 for 3 pax from Hualien to Chingjing

sberry %26gt;%26gt; I think they have many branches. there%26#39;s one at XMD.. it%26#39;s kinda opposite Ta Shun Hotel

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