11/11/2014
We took an afternoon flight and reached Taoyuan International Airport around 8pm. Rainy season in Taiwan. I was hoping for a temp. of 15 ~ 16 degrees celcius, but instead we were greeted by the rain every single day I was there while the temp. remained around 19 ~ 22 degrees. zzz
My second time in Taiwan. My first trip was in year 2010 also in November.
Anyway, to get to Taipei Main Station (train station) we took a bus down from the airport. The whole trip took about an hour costing 90 TWD, about RM9 or SGD4. pretty cheap. There are other buses with shorter journey time costing slightly more, maybe about 120 TWD.
Our dinner for the night (in a family mart):
When we reached and got off the bus, it was already pretty late. There weren't much choices available and the night markets were pretty far away from Taipei Main Station. So we decided to just settle our dinner somewhere nearby.
Well, we didn't actually booked any accommodation for our first night in Taipei (being cheap as we are), yet we stick around here because there are a few 24 hours manga/internet store here. 10 minutes walk from the station.
It is a very different & good experience from the usual backpacker inn/hostel that I usually stayed in.
Paying just SGD 10 or less, I get 8 hours of good sleep with free flow drinks, air-con, mattress, pillows, blanket with mountains of magazine/manga, internet and DVD free rental. I also get my own private room with a TV/DVD set and a computer.
The next morning, we had our breakfast just right across the street before taking a bus to Keelung. The bus station is just beside Taipei main station (train station).
Mc'd pork burger.
The journey took about an hour with a little traffic congestion along the way. The bus fare (about 50 to 70 TWD, I don't remember x.x) can be paid by purchasing a ticket at the ticket counter or by using EasyCard. Both alternative cost the same. Do remember that if you're using the card in Taipei, you have to tap the card when you get on the bus and tap again when you get off the bus. However in Keelung, you only need to tap once when you get on the bus. No idea why is it so tho.
When we reached Keelung, I suggested to visit Shifen. Our initial plan was to take a bus to Jiufen but it was a little too early to go there. So we went to a nearby tourist information counter and the staff there planned out an itinerary for us.
Keelung - Chaojing - Shifen - Ruifang - Jiufen
Take a bus from Keelung to Chaojing, then a local train to Shifen, late afternoon take the local train to Ruifang and switch to a bus to Jiufen.
Chaojing:
When we were on the bus to Chaojing, a few of the local aunties and uncles were talking to us asking where are we heading to and taught us which stop to get off and how to get there. One of them even got off the bus together with us and showed us the way. :X
And it started drizzling around afternoon.
Local train to Shifen:
Try to pre-check the timetable online if you can because there's only a train every 40min to 1 hour for this route. I waited 45 minutes at the station.
On the way to Shifen, we went past Houtong Cat Village. I turned to my friend and said "Let's go back there later" >.<
Shifen:
Sky Lanterns
I didn't know we can release them under the rain too. I was telling my friend what if you release one with your wishes on it and the lightning strikes it down a minute later?
and Taiwan, the land of snacks.
A pretty interesting place to have on the itinerary.
Houtong Cat Village is located between Shifen Station & Ruifang Station.
Land of the Kitties ='.'=
Kitties everywhere
Kitty shaped pineapple cake
Kitty souvenirs.
Most of the cats don't give a damn when you pet them. There are minorities tho that hiss at you.
This place is decorated with cat related items, and you'll come across cat houses and food bowls left out for the kitties.
The village itself isn't very big and there ain't much people around except for the tourists/cat lovers and some souvenir shops. I went on a weekday and I didn't see much locals around. Maybe all out for work?
We left after an hour and took the train to Ruifang, where we switch to take a bus to Jiufen. The bus to Jiufen cost only 22TWD, 20 minutes ride.
We had a hard time searching for our accommodation (the direction wasn't clear) and it was drizzling (worse). And the place was packed with tourists, ugh!
Imagine having to look for an unknown place under the rain in a place packed with people and you have no umbrella with you. Don't forget the luggage.
This time we booked an actual hotel room, more like a family run hotel. It costs around 1500TWD per night. We got switched to a bigger room by the owner for the same price coz someone else wanted our room. Oh well, queen size bed for each of us. Done checking in and leaving our stuff out to dry, we left to look for food.
Look at all the umbrellas...
The crowd died down later into the night, and finally we were able to walk "peacefully" without being shoved around. These streets are filled with food stalls and souvenir stores. Tho most of them selling similar stuff :/
Food and more food. That vege was good.
That concludes a tiring day for us.
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