TAIWAN Trip (22 Dec 2013 – 4 Jan 2014) Timeline 22 Dec Sunday 台北 23 Dec Monday 台北 24 Dec Tuesday 台北 to 花蓮 花蓮– get driver 25 Dec Wednesday 花蓮 26 Dec Thursday 花蓮 to 高雄 高雄 – take cab around 27 Dec Friday 高雄 28 Dec Saturday 高雄 to 台中 台中– take cab around 29 Dec Sunday 台中 30 Dec Monday 台中 to 九份 to 台北 31 Dec Tuesday 台北 1 Jan Wednesday 台北 2 Jan Thursday 台北 3 Jan Friday 台北 4 Jan Saturday 新加坡 Taitung: http://wikitravel.org/en/Taitung Miaoli: http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002110 Hsinchu&Miaoli: http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2013/02/taiwan-2013-where-the-heck-is-hsinchu- again.html Remember to bring along a notebook with you while traveling in Taiwan. Every train station and tourist spot, have its own unique stamp for you to collect. Stamp the cutie pictures in your note book for memories. From Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TTIA) to get to hotel, board either bus... Freego bus 飛狗客運 o NTD140 per head o Alight at 爱客发旅馆 (成都路) & walk to Island 南島屿 o Follow the map in phone! Guoguangbus 國光客運 o To Taipei Main Station o 1 way - NTD125 Per head 2 way - NTD230 per head o 1 station away from Ximen o Shorter journey o 05:40 / 05:50 / 06:05 / 06:15 / 06:30 / 06:45 / 07:00 / 07:15 / 07:30 / 07:45 Page 1 of 18 TAIWAN Trip (22 Dec 2013 – 4 Jan 2014) Day 1 – 22 December 2013 (Sunday) Time Itinerary Remarks Arrival @ Taiwan Buy 3G datacard @ T2 Morning Breakfast @ Airport / near hotel area Check in at Hotel Late Morning / Noon Brunch around Hotel area (if required) Nearet MRT: Shilin Station. Visit to National Palace Museum At Exit 1, take bus R30 (Red 30) to the National Operating Hours: 9am - 5pm daily Palace Museum. (ticket: NT 160, youth travel discount: NT80) Other routes that will Extended Hours: 5pm to 8:30pm every Saturday take you to and near (during extended evening hours, free admission) the Museum plaza are buses 255, 304, Minibus 18 and Minibus 19. Noon to Evening Shopping around 西门町&东区. 东区 starts from ZhongxiaoFuxing Station. They have an underground mall too. 西門紅樓 Optional: The Red House Opening hours: http://www.redhouse.org.tw/index_en.aspx Sun-Thurs: 11:00~21:30 1 minute walk from exit no.1 of MRT Ximen Station Closed on Mondays Fri-Sat: 11:00~22:00. You can take photos of Red House, and there may be some stalls set up in front of the place. I think it *not a must go. depends on the period. When I went, there was something like a flea but not 2nd hand products. Shopping & Supper @士林夜市 Night Jiantan Station * toast w ingredients in it! Page 2 of 18 TAIWAN Trip (22 Dec 2013 – 4 Jan 2014) Day 2 – 23 December 2013 (Monday) Time Itinerary Remarks Wake up @ 6am Breakfast @ 阜杭豆漿 Fu-Hang Dou Jiang 台北市中正區忠孝東路一段 108 號 2 樓之 28(華山市場二 Traditional and authentic Taiwanese breakfast. 樓) 2F, Huashan Market Nearest MRT: Shandao Temple 善導寺站, Exit 5. The Building. Morning building is right next to the station exit. Look for the sign “華山市場” (Hua Shan Market) at the entrance Opening Hours/營業時間: of the building. Tues-Sun 5:30am~12:30pm; Closed on Monday *** a blog says, closes @ 10am!!! Admission fee: NT$ 500 Visit to Taipei 101 Ticket Booth & Entrance are located at level 5 of Taipei101 Nearest MRT Station: Taipei City Hall shopping mall ** Try the 鼎泰凤 Din Tai Fung outlet there in the Cannot wear improper attire Mall. (Basement 1), Tel: (02) 8101 7799 or slippers to Taipei 101. Noon Shopping / Window shopping at... Walking distance from Eslite bookstore 誠品書 Taipei101, ask for directions.. Shinkong Mitsukoshi 新光三越 Cafes that you can visit: Agnès b Cafe (before W hotel, near 新光三越) Check Cafes listing doc for Dazzling Cafe (inside 新光三越) addresses / directions. Aranzi Cafe (before you head to Ningxia) Dinner @宁夏夜市 Either Shuanglian Station or Zhongshan Station, walk *** [Formosa Chang| Hu Xu Zhang Lu Rou Fa towards west (Chengde Rd.) 鬍鬚張魯肉飯] & DESSERT STALL!! from Exit No.1 for approx. 10 Night (see Ningxia’s map if required) minutes. Shopping & Supper @士林夜市 Jiantan Station * toast w ingredients in it! Rest for the day... Page 3 of 18 TAIWAN Trip (22 Dec 2013 – 4 Jan 2014) Recommendations within 宁夏夜市 http://kampungboycitygal.com/2012/08/taiwan-itinerary-day-1-ningxia-night-market- %E5%AF%A7%E5%A4%8F%E5%A4%9C%E5%B8%82/ 1. 蓮飲料吧 Lian’s Sugarcane Juice It is located just right after Ningxia Night Market’s entrance, which is very easy to look for. They are famous for the mixed sugarcane juice. One can opt for sugarcane + starfruits/yakult/lemon. 2. 圓環邊蚵仔煎 Roundabout Oyster Omelette There are two famous oyster omelette shop in Ningxia Night Market, another one being 賴記蚵 仔煎 (from Shuanglian Station towards Ningxia Night Market, before the entrance). Patrons are supposed to wait for their queue patiently outside. Whenever there is a vacant table inside, place your order at the cooking counter and proceed to go in and sit down. 米糕 Tainan Savory Rice Pudding (NT30) It looked and tasted exactly like Lu Rou Fan, in a different form. Glutinous rice is used instead of normal white rice. The glutinous rice had a nice chewy bite to it. It also soaked up all the fatty bits from the braised pork, how could it be not delicious? 蚵仔煎 Oyster Omelette (NT 60). If you would like to order this in Taiyu, the right pronunciation is “Er-Ah-Jian”. We just made a huge joke on ourselves by calling it as “Oh-Ah-Jian”. By the way, “Oh-Ah” means crow in Taiyu. The wait staff almost died laughing at us. Back to the food, it was indeed very, very delicious 3. 里长伯臭豆腐 Ah Pek’s Stinky Tofu The stinky tofus (NT 40) were quite dissappointing. It wasn’t as crispy as we thought, and the centre was too chewy for our liking. Nothing compared to the one we had at Luodong Night Market. However, most other patrons were having oyster meesua at the same time, maybe you could give it a try next time. 4. 童年木瓜牛奶 Childhood Papaya Milk It was really creamy and not too sweet. The ratio of papaya cubes + fresh milk is about 50:50, without any sugar or ice added. 5. 方家雞肉飯 Fang’s Chicken Rice Fang’s Chicken Rice is famous for their chicken rice and lurou fan. Their chicken rice is shredded chicken + chicken sauce + fried onions on top of a bowl of white rice. We were too full from all the abovementioned food but could not resist pork liver’s soup 豬肝湯 (NT 35). 6. 劉芋仔 Liu’s Yam Ball It is undoubtedly the most popular stall in the whole of Ningxia Night Market. The queue went spiral from one end to another and we waited for almost 30 minutes! There are only two items for sale: Yam Ball 香酥芋丸 NT15 / Egg Yolk and Floss Yam Ball 蛋黃芋 餅 NT20. We bought half a dozen of these egg yolk and floss yam balls and regretted immediately. It was decent but nothing great. Page 4 of 18 TAIWAN Trip (22 Dec 2013 – 4 Jan 2014) Day 3 – 24 December 2013 (Tuesday) Time Itinerary Remarks Morning *need to check train timings. Travel from Taipei 台北 to Hualien 花蓮 Wake up @ 8am Train Duration: about 2hrs 5mins * tell him how many days you wanna 太魯閣 Taroko Gorge Tour stay in Hualien and he can help you Hualien's guide: 09 6313 7786 do the planning. Places to cover: Tianxiang (天祥) 前山手工牛軋糖 Tunnel of Nine Turns (九曲洞) 牛軋糖總店 Eternal Spring Shrine (長春祠) Add: 花蓮市軒轅路 15 號一樓 Morning arrival in The Bridge of the Kind Mother (慈母橋) Tel: 03-8321237 Hualien Swallows' Grottos (燕子口) 牛軋糖專門店 Mystery Valley (神秘谷) Add: 花蓮市中華路 13 號 東海岸風景區 Tel: 03-8332006 曾師傅 新城總店 Buy bento set for lunch Add: 花蓮縣新城鄉新興 65-5 號 Tel: 03-8611191 Visit 七星潭 , 前山手工牛軋糖, 曾師傅正手工 Fax: 03-8611231 麻糬, Wanton Shop * need to search for directions from Night Nan Bin Night Market minsu/hotel to night market Travel from Taipei to Hualien: http://sullivanchen.blogspot.sg/2013/04/HualienTaipeiTransportation.html http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2299894 Taipei Railway Website (TRA): http://www.railway.gov.tw/en/ [Search for timetable of trains] http://twtraffic.tra.gov.tw/twrail/English/e_index.aspx 自強號 is the fastest express train on the east side so it skips the minor stops, 莒光號 is the second fastest and the other two are local trains (i.e. stops at all the stops and hence slowest). note that not all 自強號 will take the same amount of time to get from taipei to hualien, so it's best to check the schedule to be sure. 自強號 Taroko Express took a couple a mere 2hrs 10 mins to reach Hualien. Note that the tickets on this train get sold out really fast. Best to book online. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g293913-i9546-k5139521-2N_in_hualien_what_to_do- Taipei.html Blog entries on Hualien: http://www.wretch.cc/blog/sflow00&category_id=15721975 http://mykafkaesquelife.blogspot.sg/2011/10/hualien-city-taiwan.html Page 5 of 18 TAIWAN Trip (22 Dec 2013 – 4 Jan 2014) Day 4 – 25 December 2013 (Wednesday) Time Itinerary Remarks Morning Noon * need to search for directions Night Ziqiang Night Market from minsu/hotel to night market Day 5 – 26 December 2013 (Thursday) Time Itinerary Remarks Travel from Hualien 花蓮 TRA to Kaohsiung 高雄 TRA Train Duration: about 5hrs 9mins @ Zuoying Station / Kaohsiung Main Station Morning Flight Duration: about 55mins, NT$2100 per pax @ Kaohsiung International Airport http://www.mandarin-airlines.com/index/index.html Options for Cafés & Shopping River Bank Café Aozihdi MRT Station Tel:886 7 343 2883 Add: 302 HeTi Rd, San Min Cafés around Love River? Yanchengpu / Central Park Station New Jyrejiang / Yansu Market Central Park Station (R9) Wufu 2nd Road and Jhongshan intersection Noon Anning Fashion Zone Houyi Station (R12).