Taiwan Trip 2012 - Summary
From the 2nd of July to the 12th of July I was at Taiwan, mainly to attend the Asian Pacific Pharmaceutical Symposium (3/7-8/7) in Taipei. For the other days i either travelled with my friends or alone. It was really an eye opener while travelling all alone to somewhere so far away from home and it has indeed taught a lot of stuff that you can never get while staying in your comfort zone back in your home country.
What I liked best about Taiwan was not its food or scenery, but their people! Maybe it's just me but everybody that I have met at Taiwan has been really nice and polite to me, especially to those strangers on the streets, cab drivers, train station, restaurant, etc. Maybe its due to the fact that I'm a Chinese and able to speak their language fluently helps a lot in getting this type of treatment. I have heard many people praising the Japanese for their politeness but never Taiwanese, weird. Anyway, the thing that I disliked the most was the weather! At an average of 35-38 degrees Celcius it's even hotter than Malaysia! Having said that, I am very thankful that during the 2 weeks that I was there there was no rain when was I doing my visits.
Okay enough talk! Moving on to my itinerary. I will try to blog each place that I went to in detail as all the English blogs that I've read prior to the trip seemed to be a bit out dated and I hope to give my readers a more up to date information. hehe.
Places that I've went in chronological order :
Taipei (台北)& nearby
Hua Lien (花蓮)
Taichung (台中)
Nantou (南投)
Taoyuan (桃園)
Money Spent (not exactly very budget conscious though =P)
1. Air Tickets with Air Asia. Booked 2 months before the flight. RM942 (including 15kg luggage to & fro, Nasi Lemak Meal to & fro)
2. Accomodation (Leopard Garden TWD980, Hualien 11 TWD1000, Tomato Hostel TWD1050 & Harbour Resort Hotel RM233.51)
What I liked best about Taiwan was not its food or scenery, but their people! Maybe it's just me but everybody that I have met at Taiwan has been really nice and polite to me, especially to those strangers on the streets, cab drivers, train station, restaurant, etc. Maybe its due to the fact that I'm a Chinese and able to speak their language fluently helps a lot in getting this type of treatment. I have heard many people praising the Japanese for their politeness but never Taiwanese, weird. Anyway, the thing that I disliked the most was the weather! At an average of 35-38 degrees Celcius it's even hotter than Malaysia! Having said that, I am very thankful that during the 2 weeks that I was there there was no rain when was I doing my visits.
Okay enough talk! Moving on to my itinerary. I will try to blog each place that I went to in detail as all the English blogs that I've read prior to the trip seemed to be a bit out dated and I hope to give my readers a more up to date information. hehe.
Places that I've went in chronological order :
Taipei (台北)& nearby
- Leopard Garden Hostel (Xi Men Ding)
- Taipei Main Station
- Jiu Fen (九份)
- Xi Men Ding 西門町
- Hello Kitty Sweets Restaurant (Taipei)
- Tamshui Streets (淡水的街)
- Little White House (小白宮), Aletheia University (真理大學), Fort San Domingo (紅毛城)- [Tamshui 淡水 ]
- Tamkang High School (淡江高中) - [Tamshui 淡水 ]
- Tamshui Fisherman's Wharf & Lover's Bridge (淡水漁人碼頭&情人橋）
- East Taipei Holiday Inn
- Shenkeng Street (深坑路)
- National Palace Museum (台灣故宮）
- Taipei Expo Park (Pavillion of Taipei & Pavillion of Dreams)
- Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
- Ping Xi (平溪)
- Mr J French & Italian Restaurant @ Taipei Medical University （臺北醫學大學）
- Area around Taipei 101 (台北101)
- Taipei Shopping Mall & Din Tai Fung Restaurant (鼎泰豐）
- Taipei 101 (台北101) Observatory Deck
- Shih Lin Night Market (士林夜市)
- Babe 18 Night Club
Hua Lien (花蓮)
- HuaLien 11 Hostel
- Hua Lien Nightmarkets (Nan Bin Garden 南濱公園夜市 & Zi Qiang 自強夜市)
- Taroke Gorge Tour (太魯閣一日遊)
- Qi Xing Tan Beach (七星潭海灘）
- Hualien Pastries & Train Station
Taichung (台中)
Nantou (南投)
- Arrival at Sun Moon Lake (日月潭）& Harbor Resort Hotel (碼頭休閒大飯店）
- Cycling around Sun Moon Lake
- Bamboo Garden & Wen Wu Temple
- Peacock Garden & Cable Car
- Formosa aboriginal village (九族文化村) & Theme Park
- Passing by Ita Thao & Xuan Guang Temple
- Cih-en Pagoda (慈恩塔)
- Sunset series at Cih-en Pagoda
- Sun Moon Lake Miscellaneous
Taoyuan (桃園)
Money Spent (not exactly very budget conscious though =P)
1. Air Tickets with Air Asia. Booked 2 months before the flight. RM942 (including 15kg luggage to & fro, Nasi Lemak Meal to & fro)
2. Accomodation (Leopard Garden TWD980, Hualien 11 TWD1000, Tomato Hostel TWD1050 & Harbour Resort Hotel RM233.51)
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