Taiwan - Spring - with besties

Travelling is always fun especially when you go out with different group of people.

Different group of people will give you different kind of fun.

Today, I like to share the fun of travelling with besties. Let me introduce : Ms B. , Ms P. & Ms S.

We had known each others since childhood, constant contacts were kept throughout our growing years. We realised that we must really go out at least once before we are all burdened down by marriages and kids.We planned the trip in September and took us 6 months later to pack our luggages.

1) From Singapore to Taipei
Took Scoots and left Singapore at 0055hrs. Landed Taoyuan international airport at around 0500hrs, the perfect temperature of 15degrees Celsius greeted us.

Discovered my big grey luggage was cracked, the handle is no longer pullable at the airport. For the whole trip, I have to push my luggage all over the places with masking tape heavily secured the cracks.

Took the airport bus to Taoyuan HSR before we took a train up to Tainan.

Breakfast was a simple Mcdonald next to HSR station, but the flavours are not the same as Singapore.

We checked in to the quad room at 家新大饭店 which is merely 5 minutes walk to the biggest night market of Taiwan - Flower night market.
Here we run into our 1st expected situation.
Upon unpacking luggge, Ms P discovered that she left her "delayed menses pill" back in Singapore, she was so upset that she insisted on visiting the local doctor here to get these pills.

In the end, doctor told her “没救了，过两天就来，吃药也来不及了“
We were all there don't know to laugh or cry, in the end we choose laugh at it.
Ms P is still very upset about this so we gone for a GOOD dinner.

Flower night market is very very big and very very crowded.
We were so busy shopping and eating street foods that we all did not took any pictures.


Grabbed this shot from google for your better understanding

Next destination : Taitung

We took TRA way over to Taitung, the railway station in Tainan is so beautiful.
The view along the 3hrs ride
Take note, due to mountain roads, there is no HSR.

As we were early for the pick up from the resort, we decided to try the authentic railway bento.

Look out for these Aboriginal in the Taitung train station.

Master Bear resort was fully booked during this night, we were lucky we managed to get a quad room.
We stayed in their double storey wooden hut, it is very spacious inside. .

 

Yummy ala-carte dinner prepared by their in-house kitchen. Simple but yummy.

















There are many kitten and dog roaming around too
Staffs here are very friendly and they have night parties of bonding with other guests, dancing and fireworks too. In the morning, they do conduct a morning exercise but we were all prefer to sleep more as we had some drinks the night before. Overall, this is a nice countryside place to escape from the busy cities

Next stop : Hualien
Located on the mountain range, we took the train over Hualien, I had already booked my private hirer to receive us and first place to go in strict local lunch.

People come to Hualien to visit the Taroko Gorge  with good reason—it's simply beautiful. With rope bridges over rivers, hiking trails with astounding views, and temples cut into the mountainsides, it's an unforgettable place.
Beside Taroko, we went to Chishingtan, Love the beautiful scenery at this beach and there are some petty traders selling souvenir and food near the parking lot. Worth a visit to enjoy the sea view.
Cut it short, photos speaks million words..

Finally, after a busy day, sun was setting, we checked into our homestay : 花见幸福.
By the time, we got our room, it was already dark. Cant really see what's outside though we have the balcony facing lake. The room itself is country design with simple decoration of flora and light tone of paint.

We woke up at the next morning and we were so delighted to see the white piano across from our balcony. Breakfast is simple porridge and toast that was prepared by the host but the decoration of the dining area is so homely that we finished all of the food.

After breakfast, we decided to stroll through the compound before checking out.
There are a lot of plants and flowers, the compound is neat and comfort to stroll. We really like this place a lot.

Next Destination : Enroute to Su-Ao before checking in at Yi Lan for cuppa coffee and chill at Casa.
When we got there, there is also another beautiful café next to Casa named Hai Yang. In the end, we visited both. Both have the same Mediterranean theme with different decoration facing the sea. Casa is not only a café and restaurant, it is also a minus which we were very tempted to stay here for the night. But we had already paid for our hotel Yi Lan.
Hai Yang is a coffee house with my comfort feel.



This is Casa.



This is Hai Yang

There are many hotspring in Yi Lan. From a normal bath house, to hotspring hotel to hotspring villa.
We decided to pamper ourselves this night. We book a jaccuzi villa name He Fong which also provide free transfer to He Fong hotspring bath house. The whole day we spent in the villa chill, do  facial, scrub etc ...

This is our dinner at the road side 大排档 after our hotspring - simple, yummy & cheap.

Last stop Taipei, we checked into Hotel Via which is a boutique hotel that located in Xi Men Ding.
















Xi Men Ding
One of the most popular destination for tourists, the Ximending is the centre of the district - Exit 6 of Ximen Station. The area is very popular with tourists and locals for shopping, casual dining, themed dining and street performances. Makeshift pushcart stalls appear around 1000hrs - 0200hrs.
Clothes, bags shoes and accessories are available in a super wide range, with brand-less stall to    global brands shops. Trending beauty saloons and tattoo parlours are available too.
Ximending is the go-to-place for everybody. I am sure there are things catered for all.
ps : look out for side streets and corners, usually small shop or stall is set up selling "out-of-box" item such as stickers, mobile phone accessories or hats.

Shilin Night Market
The night market is a Taiwanese cultural tradition and no where is it expressed better than in Shilin Market. Shop, eat, browse and just soak up the atmosphere as you share the market with Taipei locals. Shilin Night Market is not just the Shilin Market food hall, but also the neighboring streets packed with funky little shops, roadside stalls, and vendors of fashion, trinkets and souvenirs.

Calla - Lilies （海芋), Cherry （樱花） & Azaleas （杜鹃花） Blooming at Yang Ming Shan
Spring is the time when flower blooms. We visited these 3 today.
Weather is cold up the mountain and the air is especially fresh.
Cherry and Azaleas are planted by the government in the public places whereas Calla-lilies is reared by a private farmer.

The best hired driver I ever got in Taiwan ( this is my 4th trip ) A Toyota Wish, we booked for full day tour our driver Mr Shi was such a gentleman that he really took care of we 4 girls. 
Ms B  & Ms. P were barely covered well ... Lucky Mr Shi, he was prepared.. he got 2 thick jacket for these 2 "smart" lass.
What amazed me was a 55yr old man keeps mentioning about his wife to us ... wow ... so envy... I wonder if my husband does that too...

.

Though the trip was full of unexpected situations and unlimitation of fun, we believed this is the one of best memory we had in our lives.


Last but not least, before I end my blog.. here are our damages..