I didn't really plan for this trip as most of the time I just check for the flight ticket and book it when I feel it's cheap and reasonable. Yeah, this is how surprise am I and trying my best to gain some weight during all my recent trip. So right after I decided to go there alone I received Bobo's msg asked about my trip. She get really speechless when I decided to go there alone and ended up I booked for her ticket and we travel back to the same place again! Yes, she's my first travel partner back in 2012 and 4 years after, we back to the same place again!
HAHAHAHAHA Since this is really an unplanned trip it's really free and easy! Just eat, play and have fun only lol. So here's the things I did and places I went during my Taiwan trip few weeks ago. A summary version and you can keep this as your reference because most of the places and things I did were recommended by my friend XiaoYu. She have been living there for years so it's good to get some advice from her too.
You can simply take out your note and write your own 'to go/ to-do in Taiwan'. Listed everything out and plan nicely because it's really fun to do so. I visited and went to places like WuFenPu-五分铺 , KeeLung Night Market-基隆夜市, 九份老街-JiuFen Old Street, 烏來-WuLai, Dazzling Cafe & Xi Men Ding 西门町, ShiLing-士林夜市 in 2012 and this time I'm exploring some new places again. If you interested to read my previous post about taiwan trip feel free to click on the name above (I linked it) or click on travel > Taiwan to check it back!
So, are you ready? Let's get started!!!
.....
....
...
..
.
This is quite a relaxing and fun place to me. There are lots of photo spot and you can cycling around the area. There are 3 of us and we decided to rent a 4 person bike and to be honest it's quite sad at first because it's raining that day :'( Please remember to check the weather report first before planning for your itinerary too.
Bali Left Bank is a popular retreat for people who looking for a relaxing afternoon away from the city. It's located along the North Coast along the Tamsui River directly opposite of Tamsui Old Street. I'm staying at Tamsui this time and it's the reason why I'm here. Xiaoyu recommended this place for us!! So make sure you plan a day with your partner here and there are a super long bicycle path that connects Taipei City with the North Coast, so you can cycling around the path with your friends!! Other than that there are lot of villages, shops, and restaurants too.
To be honest, I'm really surprise with the amount of tourist from Korea. No joke I have no idea why it makes me feel like i'm in Korea rather than Taiwan because Korean tourist everywhere in Tamsui. I guess Korean really love this kind of places and you can hear them speaking Korean and wear a normal top with a super short skirt or with a brunch of friends / family.
Since it's raining, we just hide under our 4-person bike and cycling all around this area. Remember to rent a bicycle!
Bike rentals are quite affordable, and shops are located along the entire length of the coast. So no need to worry about where to rent a bike and you can negotiate with the owner if you have more than 2-3 person. I really enjoy the whole day making fun with my friends and if you followed my snapchat (@chanwon92) you probably know what's happened lol. They dumped on a side and ride as fast as they can when I request them to help me take some OOTD shoot. HAHAHAHAHA
Yea, we were so crazy about it and it's why I didn't take much photo during this trip lol. Just take it easy, eat, drink & enjoy life!
Also, the first time I brought pet along with us! It's really fun to hang out with brunch of friends and the furkids. If only my country allows me to do so. We can bring pet on public transports too. Bebe only allow to be in my house and if only I can bring him travel with me like this :'( He will be so soooooo happy I guess!
Pity Yuna need to take care of our bike when we were talking photo with each other! HAHAHA
Hot to go:- From Guandu Station (官渡) on the Red Line 2, take bus R13 / R22 towards Bali By Ferry:Regular ferry service is available between Bali Left Bank and the pier at Tamsui Old Street, located next to MRT Tamsui Station (淡水), northern terminus of the Red Line 2.
.....
....
...
..
.
This is another place that you can spend with your girls because there are lots of restaurants, shops, cafés, stores, and small boutiques around the street. All taiwan well known online stores and small boutiques are here. I went a shop named Stage , a famous taiwan artist's shop, to purchase my brother's souvenir. It's almost similar to Orchard Road at Singapore. Besides, department stores such as Pacific SOGO and Mingyao Department store are located along the main road too.
九作食茶
A small boutique that I really like!
How to go: While Blue Line 5 , Zhongxiao Dunhua (忠孝敦化) station that will get you straight to the center of DongQu.
.....
....
...
..
.
For those who asked me where I shop the most in Taiwan...then you should read this! I bought most of my taiwan clothes haul at here. The Shi-Da night market!! Compare to Shi-Ling night market here has more clothes than Shi-Ling but Shi-Ling has more food than here. So if you want to get cheap and fashionable items then you can shop at Shi-Da Night Market first and here's some of the recommended food for you to look for @Shi Da Night market.
Salted Chicken with vege
My all time favourite bao! Chocolate , original , yam and so on!!
PLEASE TRY and eat it while it's still hot!
RECOMMENDED X18038208423
Lantern Soy Sauce Braised Food
Need to queue quite long so I prefer the salted chicken lol
This is quite yummy too!!
My diner - Bacon + Potato + Cheese
After settled our dinner, we decided to spend the rest of the day shopping at Shi-Da. Lots of pretty clothes in reasonable price like TWD 290- 490. I bought a very nice denim jeans (long pants) at TWD 290 and a very chio white denim jacket at TWD 490. Really worth so I recommend you to come here first and spend some of your money so you can wear the outfit on the next day! AHAHAHAHAH Also, another reason I love to shop here compare with other because it's more compact and easy to look for items / shop that I love. Shopping here is a good way to support the local fashion community, as well as get a good deal on some new designs hard to find elsewhere.
How to go: Take Green Line 3 SongSan
.....
....
...
..
.
I wrote about Xi Men Ding 西门町 4 years ago and it's remain the same until now except we feel the service might be really different compare from the past. We get scolded by one of the luggage shop seller when we ask for the price and colour available. The seller really impatient and frustrated when we asked for other choices and end up when we told her that we will consider first then we get scolded wtf! This is how I feel really different in term of the service.
I guess because this place had become a tourist spot now so they served a lot of tourist from China and now it's why! Damn angry when I go there and if not because of 阿宗面线 (the famous noodle that I really love) & the ramen I also won't be here!! lol So here's some of the food that I really love except of the 阿宗面线 that I mentioned just now!!
Nagi Ramen!! VERY VERY NICE!! RECOMMENDED!!
You can choose and customise your own favourite ramen!
Seriously, I miss this A LOT!
Come and greet everyone of us! So cute !!
Almost bigger than my hand!
Gaming time with Bobo
How to go: Take MRT Blue Line 5 or Green Line 3 to Ximen (西門). Exit 6 of Ximen Station
.....
....
...
..
.
Since I'm staying at my friend's house @Tamsui we decided to spend a whole day walking around the famous Tamsui & Tamsui Old Street. It's the place that I'm not able to make it on my first time in Taiwan so finally I'm here after 4 years!! lol
Located at the northern tip of Taiwan, Tamsui is located along the north coast about 40 minutes from Taipei by MRT and very accessible as a day trip. There are 3 favourite place you can visit when you're in Tamsui, it's the famous Tamsui Old Street (淡水老街), Bali left bank that I mentioned on the #1 & Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf (淡水漁人碼頭) which is well known for its beautiful sunsets and seafood. A lot of Korean tourist here at Tamsui Old street! Idk why lol
Here's some of the super cheap and yummy food that I went nearby Tamsui.
Firstly, the famous百葉溫州餛飩(周杰倫套餐) that recommended and love by Jay Chou. lol I'm not a fan of him but my friend told me the set lunch was super duper cheap and reasonable. So I just come here to try it. Not bad it's REALLY CHEAP!!
百葉溫州餛飩 地址：台北縣淡水鎮中正路177號 電話：(02) 2621-7286
So the next one is really cheap and reasonable too T.T So damn cheap !! The burger only cost TWD 45 and omelette only cost TWD35 ONLY!! If you are looking for super tasty and yummy one then this is not the 5 stars kind of breakfast but in term of the price, it's really cheap and reasonable. Need to queue almost 20 mins to get a table or else you can take away too. One person cost no more than RM10 for burger + omelette...WHAT!?!!!
April Trip Breakfast 畅游早餐店
Burger & Omelette (My order)
How to go Tamsui & old st. : Take the Red Line 2 to Tamsui (淡水), the northern terminus station. Upon exiting the station, turn left to reach Tamsui Old Street.
.....
....
...
..
.
Went to九份老街-JiuFen Old Street few years back and this time I decided to grab a taxi that fetch us all the way from PingXi > ShiFen > JiuFen Old Street! The taxi driver was really nice to fetch us all the way and make it a whole day trip. So we didn't walk all the way to find bus stop and MRT station instead we just booked a 1 day taxi to fetch us. It's more worth for taxi because we have 4 person and a puppy. HAHAHAH
Both Pingxi (平溪) and Shifen (十分) are rich in culture and history and provide a nice glimpse at Taiwan's beautiful natural scenery. Events such as the Sky Lantern Festival draw visitors year round to create a Chinese Lantern (天燈) with a wish written on it to set into the sky, all for a modest NT$100-200. We bought a lantern and write out wish then ended up we decided not to let it set into the sky because it's consider as a pollution.
So we just write our wish and take few photo then decided to take it down instead of let it set into the sky. Thanks the person who help us to take photo and take it down after we done.
Pingxi (平溪)
Shifen (十分) Old Street
Chinese Lantern (天燈)
JiuFen Old St 九份老街
Handmade again!!
All the way to Jiufen is because we want to eat this and enjoy the sky view above the jiufen!
Okay idk why but this is quite creepy.
.....
....
...
..
.
After few days or relaxing and walking it's time to rest and spend some time at some beautiful cafe! No joke but Nearby ZhongShan Station has lots of beautiful cafe that you might falling in love with. If you love cafe hopping then you should spend some time here. A little bit like Gangnam cafe area in Korea. I went to natural kitchen shop which selling lots of pretty things from Japan that you can use to decorate your kitchen , plate , wood made spoon & fork and so on. Also, a very nice cafe called LeTAO @ ZhongShan.
I always visit Natural Kitchen when I'm in Tokyo, Japan. Most of the item is 100 yen and in Taiwan it's TWD50 - TWD100 too. Super cheap and reasonable!
Natural Kitchen Shop @ZhongShan
Next, LeTAO which is famous with its dessert that suitable for our sweet tooth. Spend 2-3 hours just sit down nicely , talk with my friends and replying my email too.
Best pancake ever! So soft!!
Last but not least, Udon Time!!
.....
....
...
..
.
Another place we went because of the famous duck rice. This is the best thing ever I tried during my whole trip. Until now I still remember how tasty it was. OMG!!! It's the 庙口鸭香饭 (Duck rice) that only available in HsinChu新竹!!! Also the special square shape pearl green milk tea.
庙口鸭香饭
Let me tell you this is the best meal so far. Taste like heaven OMG. The duck meat was so soft and for the best taste it's recommend you to mix the duck rice with an egg. OMG SOOOOOOO DELICIOUS!!
OOTD spot nearby the milk tea shop!
.....
....
...
..
.
Since it's Summer time in Taiwan, the best activity will be WATERPARK!! Yes, we spent almost a whole day at this super fun water park. We woke up in the early morning and first time experience the Taiwan bullet train!!
HsinChu Bullet Train Ticket & my gudetama snack! lol
Waterpark @六福村水上乐园
Is time to have fun!
.....
....
...
..
.
I have no idea why I spot gudetama everywhere even I'm in Taiwan. I love gudetama a lot and it almost everywhere in Taiwan. I bought 7 box of gudetama chocolate snack because I want to collect all the free gift wtf!
Sorry gudetama!
Wooohoooo!!
.....
....
...
..
.
Collection stickers and exchange for a set of line character board game from Watsons Taiwan. OMG Feel so good and happy when I collected 40 pieces of the line sticker. AHAHAHAHA
.....
....
...
..
.
Not the first time you heard about this bookstore. It's everywhere in Taiwan!! Bought some nice book and not sure whether you can bought the book that I recommended for you in Malaysia or not, it's the 被讨厌的勇气. It's on my good read list top 3!! If you are a person always feel lost in your way this book is strongly recommended for you. Will share my thought once I finish reading it.
.....
....
...
..
.
In case you curious on this!! Since I went taiwan for almost 11 days I decided to buy a taiwan simcard instead of renting a pocket wifi. It's unlimited access to 3G and for the 10 day package it only cost me for TWD 500 (around RM55-60) Super affordable and cheap than a pocket wifi.
.....
....
...
..
.
So here's the end of my Taiwan Travel and Itinerary post. Hope this summary can be helpful to you too. If you are a budget person and wish to travel to another country, I think Taiwan should be one of your to-go places too because the food and transportation there is quite affordable. Ticket cost me around RM1050 plus you can bring around RM1500-2300 as your own pocket money for food or shopping & transport too.
That's all for today. Love, xx. Enjoy your taiwan trip :) Hopefully I got chance to visit to 台南 & 台东 one day!!
Thanks Xiaoyu & Bobo for taking care of me when I'm sick during the trip!
因为喉咙痛伤到了声音结果整个最后5天说不到话 要叫他们回头望我只能用拍手来呼唤他们！
很难忘的经历！希望下次还可以回去台湾 xoxo
xoxo
Post a Comment