It has been about a year and a half since my last visit to Taiwan (6D5N Taipei, Tainan Kaohsiung)..
Guess what brought me back again? It’s the same reason as my 2017 trip – cheap tickets by Scoot!
This time round, we secured the 1-for-1 promotion which cost us about $220 each; inclusive of two-way 20kg baggage allowance.
Unlike my previous trip where I did quite a bit of planning, this trip had an itinerary called ‘I give up’ cause I spent my weekends chasing K-dramas instead of travel planing. Similarly, my travel partner was pretty chill about it and we both agreed to not have an itinerary. The least we did were to book our accommodations, train tickets via klook (I had quite a number of referral discounts) and our bus tickets up to Cing Jing via KKday plus the unlimited wifi rental.
Note: exchange rate used in calculations would be 1 SGD = 22.22 NT
Total NT Damage: 13,571 = 610.75 SGD
Details | Price (NT) | Price (SGD) |
Airfare (Scoot)
Singapore to Taipei (Fly @ 00:55) | Taipei to Singapore (Arrive @ 03:00) |
$223.23 | |
Travel Insurance
(Chubb via DBS PayLah 60% OFF Promotion) |
$24.72 | |
Accommodation (Average Price per pax per night: $50.236)
1 Night Taichung – Green Hotel – Fengjia (near Fengjia Market) |
$251.18 | |
Transportation
High Speed Rail – Bought from Klook (Save up to 20%)
To get $5 off your first booking, click here and signup with referral code A2IPJ (Limited time only! 1 for 1 HSR tickets via KKDay) Taichung – 2-way Cing Jing Shuttle Bus – Bought from KKDay Buses
|
128 |
$13.52 $43.39 $5.76 |
Transportation – Easy Card (6 Days Transport)
Card Purchase (50NT) + Top Up |
400 |
$18 |
Transportation – Taxi (divided by 2) *We took taxis 5 times, 4 times in Taichung + 1 time in Taipei |
645 | $29.02 |
Food + Drinks Approx 3 breakfast, 5 lunch, 5 dinner |
||
Attractions Cing Jing Farm – 160NT Cing Jing Skywalk – 50NT Swiss Garden – 90NT |
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Shopping – 3 boxes of pineapple tarts from Jun Mei Bakery (Taichung) – 1 box of lemon cake from Ru Yi – 2 box of Chiate nougat spring onion biscuits – more nougats from random shop in Yilan – 1 jacket at SPAO (having 70% OFF; no joke) – 1 pair of sunglasses @ 250NT – a lot of dry noodles (zeng brand and more) + hua diao noodles – a lot of money at UFO Catcher machines – won 2 toys! – expensive coffee powder from George House |
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Total | $1,185.56 |
Day to Day Itinerary Highlights
Day One
[00:55] Flight to Taipei Airport
[07:20] Train to Taoyuan HSR Station
[08:05] Train from Taoyuan HSR to Taichung HSR Station
[ – ] Taxi from Taichung HSR to Hotel: Green Hotel – Fengjia
[09:52] Taxi from Hotel to Taichung Second Market for Breakfast – eat the mixed soup and the carrot cake with egg
[10:47] Walk to Miyahara Ice Cream to eat Ice Cream
[11:44 ] Walk to Taichung Cultural Heritage Park
[12:48] Walk to Painted Animation Lane (w/ cartoon murals of Japanese manga)
[ – ] Taxi to buy Pineapple Cake @ Jun Mei Bakery
[13:48] Had Vietnamese food for lunch
[ – ] Taxi back to Hotel
[18:30] Dinner/Supper @ Fengjia Night Market
The best thing here is that.. my favourite ‘Angel Chicken’ from Kaohsiung has opened an outlet in Taichung!
Prior to planning this trip, I was asking my friend if she was willing to make a trip down to Kaohsiung so I could eat this chicken. Didn’t expect them to expand so quickly~~ This is definitely a chicken to remember and I’ll eat it every single time I’m in Taiwan. It was so delicious that we ate at the New Taipei outlet too when we went back to Taipei 2 nights later.
Day Two
[09:20] Bought breakfast from the street vendors outside Fengjia University entrance
[10:10] Taxi to Taichung Station (near Plaza Hotel) to board bus for Cing Jing
[11:00] Bus departs for Cing Jing (16 or 20-seater, can’t really remember)
[13:00] Arrive at Cing Jing Guesthouse: The Cotswold Villa
Forgot to take photos of the room interior but it was wooden flooring. It is kind of like a cottage style and the bed has heating as well. Breakfast was amazing with homemade bread!
[13:45] Walked to Cing Jing Farm
[15:30] Walked along the Cing Jing Skywalk
[16:15] Arrived at Swiss Garden
[17:00] Popped by MosBurger to get some snacks
[17:42] Board public bus (1 hour frequency) that brought us up the hill
[18:00] Dinner @ Chicken restaurant beside Guesthouse
[20:00] Back to accommodation
Day Three
[04:30] Board bus for Sunrise Tour @ HeHuan Mountain
[05:30] Stargazing
[06:30] Sunrise
[07:15] Final viewing point before returning
[08:00] Back to accommodation (View from accom)
[11:10] Bus from Guesthouse to ‘The Old England‘ hotel for Lunch
Food was average..
[13:45] Board the 18-seater mini bus back to Taichung HSR Station
[16:00] Train from Taichung to Taipei
[17:30] Walk from Taipei Station to Hotel @ Xi Men Ding: e-House Hotel
[19:00] Chill @ Xi Men Ding
[20:30] Buffet Dinner @ Ma La HotPot Restaurant (498NT but super worth it)
Day Four
[09:50] Free breakfast @ Hotel
[11:00] Arrived @ Neihu Station
[11:31] Start to ascend up Jin Mian Shan + Scissors Rock
As recommended, I took the right path up and the left path down. The right path is slightly longer and it involves quite a bit of climbing (using your hands to climb across boulders) and I think I wouldn’t have been able to climb down the same way. It definitely seems more dangerous, but definitely more fun. The left path is shorter but involves more steps and slightly more boring in terms of view.
The left path has more steps.
When you’re on your way up, don’t forget to look back to admire the scenery.
[12:35] Reached the top
[13:20] Started to descend
[14:06] Arrived at the bottom
[14:20] Cabbed to area near Songshan Creative Park
[15:00] Lunch @ Majide (Jap meat restaurant)
[16:20] Explored Songshan Creative Park
[17:30] Went to Chia Te to buy Snacks
[18:30] Back to Accom
[19:00] Went to do 60-min foot massage
[20:20] Bus to LeHua Night Market
Ate my favourite ‘Angel Chicken’ here as well.
[22:30] Bus back to Xi Men Ding accom
Day Five
[11:00] Train to Taipei City Hall
[12:00] Bus to Yilan Station – explored the Ji Mi Square
[14:15] Train from Yilan to Toucheng Station
[14:30] Had delicious Yam Ice Cream + long walk to Lanyang Museum
[15:20] Arrived @ Lanyang Musuem (did not pay to enter)
[15:55] Waited @ Bus Stop for their one-hour frequency bus to Jiaoxi
[16:27] Queued for famous Spring Onion Egg Crepe
[17:00] Walked around -> Bus Terminal
[18:15] Bus from Jiaoxi to Taipei Bus Station
[19:00] Went for massage again – this time I did body massage
[20:20] Back to accom
[21:50] Out for Dinner/Supper @ Xi Men Ding
Day Six
[12:00] Went to Yongkang Street for another famous Spring Onion Egg Crepe
[13:10] Coffee appreciation @ George House
[14:43] Ate Dan zai mian @ Du Xiao Yue
Bought soft serve matcha ice cream from Zenique – delicious!
[15:00] Long walk to Hua Shan Creative Park
[15:30] Arrived at Hua Shan Creative Park + explore
Special exhibition: pink store by sanrio.
[17:30] Bus to Xi Men Ding
[18:00] Dinner @ Fu Hong Beef Noodles @ Xi Men Ding (near accom)
[19:00] Collected luggage + walk to Taipei Airport Station
[19:40] Train to Airport
[23:20] Departed Taipei after 45 mins flight delay
[04:00] Landed
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Sorry for the half-completed write-up. There were many things that I have forgotten to take a photo of and some were just IG-stories taken on my IG account.
This trip was pretty much a nua trip – similar to my Bali trip last month – and I didn’t even remember to record my expenditure -> which explains why my shopping and food portion is left blank.
I didn’t exactly make any new friends this trip. Just some random conversations here and there. One memorable one was this (somewhat elderly 60-70 years old) Canadian couple (from Montreal) which we met on the public bus in Cing Jing. They have been staying in Taiwan for a month and they do this every year, for the past 6 to 7 years. It was their first time visiting Cing Jing and they recommended Alishan to me as well. Apparently, they only stay in Canada for 4 to 6 months a year as it is simply too cold. The rest of the time – they’re traveling – mainly in Asia – with their backpack that seems small enough to be Cabin-size. HOW ON EARTH do they squeeze 6 months of traveling attire/gear/toiletries in that bag? Do they really NOT buy anything when they travel? Oh wells, this is something I wish I could learn but I guess it will be very difficult.
That’s it for my first trip of 2019. No idea where my next trip will be – nothing planned for the next few months but I do forsee an exciting 2nd half.
Feel free to ask me any questions about my taiwan trip and I’ll be glad to asssist.
Hi, where do you book your hehuan mountain tour ticket? can share the link please?
Thank you! 🙂
Hey, I booked mine via the guesthouse that I stayed in. However, you can get it online as well from Klook or KK Day.
Here’s KK Day’s link: https://www.kkday.com/en/product/1641?qs=hehuan
Klook’s product seems to be taken offline.
May i know how do you book for the sunrise tour?
Hey, I booked mine via my accommodation. You can also consider booking from KK Day: https://www.kkday.com/en/product/1641?qs=hehuan