Last stretch home

The last few days of our time in taiwan is spent in taipei. Thats where we are going home from. After a quick breakfast, we took a early train from hualien back to taipei. While me and audrey were busy snoozing away, amelia had stayed awake and enjoyed the fabulous scenery along the way.

Throughout our days in taiwan, we took the train quite often and i have to same i am impressed by the system and the experience as a commuter. Coming from a place where there is no need to take rail trains, i had initially thought i would need some time to get used to it. Instead i find that taking the train is far better than any bus, plane, Mrt or cars. The stability, comfort, space and view is truly one to beat. Talking so much about trains, i might have fallen in love with it.

Picturesque setting

Credits to Amelia
Toilet in train
So we sat from one toilet to another

One interesting restaurant in taipei is the Toilet Themed restaurant. I came to know bout this before we came, needless to say we went to give it a try. Interesting decor and presentation of food. However the taste of it is not even good enough for me to review it. My advice to all those wanting to try, go for the novelty and not the food.

Toilet restaurant

Back to taipei, we had chosen to stay in ximenting. It is the more happening place in taipei for young adults like us and everything we need from food to shops to cinemas, they have it there. We did not book any accommodation beforehand, not even a place to start.

After an unsuccessful attempt by the tourist information guy, who actually looked like a student on part time. We decided to walk around and look for a place to sleep.

15mins of futile walk later, we head back to the Metro station and bamm! we saw a neon sign just 1min distance away from the metro entrance. It points to a super narrow lane and goes by the name 金夜酒店. From the outside, it has the potential to be a dingy hotel. Nobody seems to ever walk the alley. The is no decor at all and nothing seems to be new. Upon entering we were greeted with weird stares by the 2 old ladies sitting inside. We asked to see the rooms and when the door opened, there is a "double bed" which looked like a single and a "single bed" which looked like half a single bed. The room is small and has zero windows, only the ventilation duct.

Me:Ok we will take it (好，我们决定要了)

You must be thinking, are you out of your mind! Maybe i am, but isn't life about neglecting the short comings and emphasizing the good points?

Written above is the negative first impression of the place. Now to the good ones. This place is super duper convenient. It is probably the closest accommodation to the metro(1min walk), the rest would take at least 5-10mins. We have a convenience store just 30 seconds away. The happening area of ximenting is just across the road. The rooms albeit small is very clean and neat. The furnitures, bedsheets and pillow cases are all very clean. We have a bath tube! We wont spend much time in the room except sleeping. The room is super duper cheap, 1000NT for the 3 of us, that is 333NT for each of us, try beating that. Most importantly of all, the aunties are super friendly and motherly!

So there you go, i would recommend this to those who are not fussy bout their rooms. For its price and prime location coupled by friendly staff, it is quite a steal.
Walk out of exit 1(or is it exit 6?) of ximenting metro. walk 1 mins(probably less) with your heads high and look for a yellow red sign with the name. Turn left immediately at the open after the convenience store.
Down a narrow and isolated alley
Feels like we have been transported back in time
Our small but clean bath room
Off to xi men ting, the one place you sure to go in taipei(if you need visual aid, we are walking in the direction away from the hotel. The metro exit is on the right)
This "passionate" guy was standing atop dancing without any care!! cool!
A temple sandwiched between shops
First up, More taiwan Sausage

Ah zhong Mian Xian, it is superb compared to singapore's mian xian

We ended our day with a movie at the cinema street in ximenting. Indian Jones!(Lame movie though)

Day 11. Sandy Day opps i mean sunny day

As a history buff, amelia suggested a trip to CKS memorial place and the presidential place. Once again, i learned alot from her explanations of what taiwan had gone through in the last few decades. These i wouldn't have known if not for her.
Early Qi gong goers
CKS Memorial Place
Notice the similarity? My hp changes wall paper to match where i am
View from the top

Finishing our visit, we had some time to spare and started to wander around aimlessly again. This time we wandered into a small alley(i think we have a thing or two for small alleys) which turns out to be their version of wet market. As we walked on, a fragrance smell drifted towards us. Near the middle, we found a beef speciality shop! Needless to say, we have to try.
We found it in this nameless alley market
Our big and delicious beef noodles
Along with it is a super big bowl of salted vegetables

Turns out this is a very famous shop in this area. Because of its location tucked in the side street, only people who live around here knows about this. We sat beside this 2 aunties(aunties and small alleys, my 2 loves) who were very surprised that we foreigners were there. We chatted about our trip and it was them who told us that this shop is very famous. (Lots of awards on the walls)

Next we took the metro to Dan sui to meet someone special.
They would get stomped in Singapore...

She is my last couch surfer that i had arranged to meet in taiwan. Prior to this day, i had chatted with her on msn for some time and we discovered we had many similarities. This time she brought her friend claire along.
Our gorgeous ladies from taipei, i miss you girls. See you in 6months time :p
Left to right( Claire, Sandy)

We took a walk along the water side talking ,eating and more talking and eating. We did not have any activities nor anywhere special to go. Yet it was my most enjoyable day. After 10 days of getting from places to places, i was both physically and mentally drained. We had a limited time and a list of places and things to do. Every single day was used to the maximum with hardly any time to take a breather. Now that we are coming to an end, our days were becoming more relax and by just sitting by the water, eating and talking, understanding each other, it really heightens the experience that we had gone through the last 10 days. Suddenly it makes all the time spent researching and planning this trip insignificant.
Plum drinks
Potato on a stick for you sir?
Traditional Buskers
Lover's bridge(If i remember correctly)
Food! (ah gei)Food! Food! (xiao long pau)
Food! Food! Food! (BBQ Squid)
Food! Food! Food! Food!
铁蛋(Metal egg)

Sandy told me that some taiwanese likes to buy metal eggs to go with their cup noodles. I am a fan of cup noodles back home and armed with the most popular cup noodles in one hand and metal eggs in another, plus the love of the hotel aunties by boiling hot water for me when they saw me walking to the water cooler/heater, i savoured every little bit of it. Yum Yum!

Next afternoon, we went to the recording of Guessx3 我猜我猜我猜猜猜. I have to admit, i was the only one keen on goings and had dragged the other 2 with me. One was anti Jacky wu, the other had no idea what it was. It was one of my must do there and i did enjoyed it very much.
The familiar dry ice used every single episode
Our guest stars for the day
Stars galore!
Jacky wu is really short....
Cameras! Set! Action!

At night we went to meet Jimmy and Michael(Our first host) for dinner at Shilin Night Market. We are leaving the next day and this was the last chance to meet up. While chatting we have this crazy idea of going to KTV in the morning before flying off. Crazy as well, the 2 guys decided to join us! Not only them, so did sandy and claire!!

We had a blast at KTV, almost rocking the roof down. Lots of laughter and smiles, lots of noise and music. Before we knew it, we were running late for our flight!! We rushed our way back our hotel and did our last minute packing with the help of our friends. Then off we go to the airport. We bade our goodbyes to sandy and claire before following michael and jimmy who accompanied us to the airport. All our luaggage
Not forgetting Amelia's best buddy

Once again, we had a blast on the high speed rail and bus. We were trying to get them to sing their national anthem but they were very embaressed to do it! At the airport, we were suprised to see Kimble and Po Po there!! We had no idea they were coming to send us off!!

We thought that yeah we are going home, so no more hiccups but NO! audrey had to pull her last stunt! Her bag burst at the check in counter, and what did we do? we used duct tape to hold it together.



And the cause of it all? This little "You Qie" After scouring more than 7 convenience store and buying every single 1 available, audrey manage to bring back 15 of it. And even before leaving, she was looking whether they sell boxes of them.
The culprit!

I was very glad that even on our last day, all our friends had managed to see us for the last time. It was the best way to end our trip.What they had done for us in this trip had far exceeded what i expected. The hospitality that we received cant be duplicated elsewhere. In this trip i made a lot of good friends and i had grown to know more about the world out there and how humans, no matter where you are, no matter how different you may physically look, are the same inside.

I wouldn't remember Taiwan as Taipei, Zhang Hua, Alishan, Sun Moon Lake, Hualien and Green island, instead i would remember Taiwan as Kimble, Jimmy, Michael, Po Po, Flano, Bo Shu and family, Sandy, Claire, the people we met on the trains, bus, metro, streets, love hotel family, catholic hostel attendent, fire flies guides, steamboat gas can runner, driver in the mist, Jack and wife, bbq owner cum night tour guide, puke girl on boat, people we met at the open air spring, national park ranger who gave us a lift, ghost boy, rafting team, xi men ting hotel aunties and many many many more who helped us in our trip.

And not forgetting the 2 most important people of all, Audrey and Amelia. I had a great time with you 2 and never would i trade the experience we had for anything in this world. We might have disagreements at times but it only made us stronger together. As cliche as it might sound, this trip would not be possible without you 2. I hope our paths will cross again and we can travel together somewhere in the future. From left(Jimmy, JK, Amelia, Audrey, Kimble, Michael, Po Po)
From left(Michael, Jimmy, Claire, JK, Audrey, Amelia, Sandy)

To everyone, Till We Meet Again

It is not down in any map; true places never are.

We are Hitch Hikers?

Day 9 and 10, this is the 2nd last post on taiwan. Come next week, i will embark on a 7 months journey through several countries. I have lots of interesting things planned out and also meeting some new people. I am sure it will be as much as an adventure as taiwan.

Now back to taiwan, we had arrived at hualien the night before and had found and booked a minsu. It looks very good on the website and the price is not expensive. But when we met the lady who was supposed to drive us there, she told us that the place was "full" and that we will be sent to another place. I did not like the idea of this at all but it was very late and there way no way we could find another place at this hour. Reluctantly, we went along with her. We were quoted 1500/night for a room in a small hotel, the price is the same as before but the decor and style of the place was totally different. No more homely minsu but cold hard hotel. Throughout our meetings, they asked what we plan to do in hualien and was pushy in promoting their services and they were not exactly cheap. On to happier stuff, FOOD!!!

Xiao Long Pau? it is more like our normal Pau at home
Food Galore!
This shop has only no menu because they only have 1 dish, Wanton!!

The next day we have our rafting trip!(900NT) The view was great and there was a few nice rapids even though some parts of the water was moving far too slowly. We were told this isn't the season for rafting, the water level is still too low. Some parts of it, we even had to be pulled by the boat. Rafting park
Our packed lunch, taste far better than it looks

At night we went to walk around hualien scouting for food! Wandered to a Nan Bin Night market where all sorts of food and games stores were available. It was drizzling slightly so not all the stores were open. Found a pavilion by the sea side and sat there while we chatted and ate.

Nan Bin Park
View from the pavilion
snail like thing on the left was fabulous, i couldn't stop eating and went to get 2 more servings!
They sell food from other countries as well
After dinner, we saw a stall selling fireworks! Needless to say, we suaku Singaporeans of course went to get some! It was super duper fun! We got so addicted that we kept going back to get even more, even bigger!


Day 10, we head to the all famous Taroko Gorge! Most places offer tours for around 700NT/pax or over 2000NT for whole cab. We did not need any guide and we did not want to pay so much for it. Initial plan was to get a public bus there for 150NT/pax, the hotel lady was very persistent in selling us her service even though we declined her many times. At long last, she said ok she will send us up there 1 way for 150NT/pax, same price as the bus. Same price and in a private car, why not?

Turns out there is another group of 4 already going up for the tour and they have seats left.. no wonder she is willing to go that far. Nonetheless, her loss is our gain.

Taroko National Park
Lots of marble formations
The light at the end of the tunnel
Looking for Sun Wu Kong!!

We came prepared with battle suits!
It really is a 水濂洞, it isn't even like raining inside. Its like a thunder storm!
Drying our ponchos
We were the only ones there
Lesson from kimble, always bring fruits on a hike :D
More majestic formationsRemember i said earlier that we paid 150NT each for a 1 way ride up. Well after that we have a problem. We have no means of getting back down...

My guide book says that there is a bus that comes every half an hour or so and we did verify with the people there, nobody seems to be able to comfirm it. We decided to try our luck and wait... and wait... and wait..... Ok there isn't any bus that is coming.

So what happens if you are ever stuck somewhere and needs to get away?? you thumb your way out!!!

Shortly after the video, it started to rain and we had only 1 umbrella. HAHA it was damm hilarious. The 3 of us were squeezing under 1 small umbrella with our thumbs out. There was lots of people who slowed down and said "hello!" "Good luck" and a few "HAHA". 5 mins into the rain, a car actually pulled up after us! The driver motioned us to get in and we just ran with everything we have got.

Hitch Hike - Checked!! Nothing too difficult for us :D
The soft spoken driver is actually one of the rangers of the national park and is on his way home in hualien, coincidentally in the area near our hotel. We chatted a bit and got to know more bout hualien through him.

At night, me and amelia went back to the night market to TaBao food back for audrey. Her new shoes plus the hiking we did today caused her leg to have a big blister.

Along the way to the night market, a little boy on a small bicycle suddenly appears and said he wants to follow us. Yeah why not?
So we were walking and asking bout the boy, how old is he, what is his name etc.

Suddenly amelia turned around to me and said "Is this boy a ghost?"
HAHAHAHAHA i couldn't stop laughing the whole night. Then we started to discuss methods to identify ghosts. Really interesting evening.

I shall call him Ghost Boy
Just for the record, ghost mum came later to bring ghost boy home
They have cigarettes UFO catcher! WTF?!
Our food back for audrey(Or Audray now)

Next post will be the last on taiwan. Meeting someone special. To whoever it may concern, finally its here!!