bymyamante

Bit's Birthday trip.

TAIWAN- DAY ONE.

Got our Return air tickets abt 6 months ago from Scoot at SGD330 per pax including Baggage.

Reached airport at around 11.15pm to check in.

Took off at 0055 hour. :)

As it was after work and we will be having a really long day upon arrival,

tried to sleep during the flight but didnt really sleep welll.

Reached Taoyuan Airport at 0540, so early right!

But doesnt matter cos we continued to travel uphill-Destination Alishan.

Hired a private driver at TWD2800 (ard SGD120) per car to pick us up from Chia Yi HSR.

So we took Ubus at TWD30 (SGD1.30) per pax from Taoyuan Airport to Taoyuan HSR.

Had breakfast at Taoyuan HSR, too hungry so we settled for 7-Eleven.

The store totally amazed me, favourite!

They have practically everything, so much more variety than Singapore's, and the price is not marked up like what we have here.

Can u imagine our excitement. loll.

Booked the HSR ticket at early Bird price, 

20% off so we only paid TWD735 (SGD31.50) each.

We happily strolled to the platform to wait for our 757am train,

took photos somemore..slowly find the right angles, as seen above. -.-

Then something unforeseen happened.

ITS 757, NO ANNOUNCEMENT YET???

it was then we thought of confirming with the staff,

only to realise we waited at the wrong direction and the train has already left,

the train leaves on the dot. :(

So we had to go back to the ticket counter, pay the ticket difference (Top up the 20% that we initially saved), to get a ticket at 821am, the next ride. boooo.

After the drama..

Taoyuan HSR - Chia Yi HSR - 68 minutes ride.

We had no choice but to get front-back seats tickets since it was too last minute.

Thanks to the kind souls in TW, we got to sit together eventually!

really good impression the Taiwanese gave us. :))

Had some small talk with a lady on her way to work,

she said I speak good mandarin. hehe.

must pronounce the words accurately while we were there, cannot throw Singapore's face. haha!

Met up with our driver, Mr Zhang.

First up, we get to the foot of the mountain first- 地久桥

There's a 天长桥too but according to Mr Zhang, that suspension bridge did not receive proper maintenance, so it was closed off due to safety issues.

So we only crossed this 地久桥, our love will last eternally. :)

Ah, by the way we were on this suspension bridge around the Earthquake timing,

since already so shaky, no wonder we didnt feel the earthquake at all!

think it's either this or because we were on the move, inside the car. haha.

We were so lucky to be safe! phew.

Next, we move midway up mountain-奋起湖

No there's no lake, the name arise due to dialect. haha.

Another drama happened, my water bottle leaked!

Busy cleaning my bag while the car move left right left right, up the winding road.

I began to have car sick.

It was a kns feeling, giddy and feel like puking. :((

He brought us to a teahouse to get some genuine Alishan tea. 

I went to the washroom, tried to throw up but didnt managed to.

Bought some tea while feeling giddy and all loll.

Then we reached. It was a temporary relief because I finally can rest for a while to let the car sick feeling go away.

Stopped for lunch at this Bian dang stall. Super nice!

The driver's personal fave, hidden in a corner.

but i got no appetite so we only bought one set to share.

I swear I would have snatched the food with Mr Jake had I not been feeling sick. lol.

Took some photos at the railway, and had a walK down the old street selling some traditional snacks.

Of course we had to lug some home. hehehe.

Feeling much better, we continued our journey up Alishan.

reached there at around 2pm.

Checked in to Alishan Kao Feng Hotel.

Around SGD140 per night.

Not fantistic but at least it's clean.

we had no choice bcos almost all fully booked when we planned for hotel! haha.

Without worries of getting car sick again, I began to feel so hungry! hehe.

Went out to look for food and we had this awesome sausage, must try!!

Noodles was not bad and soup was good for the cold weather. :)

Registered for a Taiwan HP number with 中华电信.

Cost us TWD300 (ard SGD13) for calls only.

They have the pure Data option, 

as well as Calls + Data (TWD450).

Took the Mini Bus from the Tourist centre at TWD50 (ard SGD2.10) per pax..

On our way to search for Cherry Blossom!

We got the wrong info that mid march - mid apr was the season, NO!

Mr Zhang said actually the season for Alishan Cherry Blossom is early Mar,

He regret to inform us that we may not get to see the pink blossoms because of the time lag in media reporting :(

Nevertheless, we went up with some hope.

of course we cannot expect to see a pink forest anymore.

Third drama of the day,

Mr Jake stepped into this pile of wet cement which was used to smooth the roads.

He was wearing his new shoes.

Used up my whole packet of wet tissue to clean.

2 minutes later, another Ang Moh stamped into the same pile of cement.

He let out a laugh. haha.

if it's me i would have cursed and swear.

Came to this Sisters Pond.

Everything was in a state of tranquillity.

It makes you feel very calm to be walking in Alishan's forest.

So quiet, not even Birds chirping.

We like it so much.

This pavilion is so much like the ones we see in Gu Zhuang TV show hor!

Then we came to this heart-shaped tree trunk, it's natural!

not man made de.

"Love Forever".

And then we finally found some leftover Cherry Blossoms,

the ones which have yet to wither,

waiting for us. :D

Next time must come earlier lah! hehe.

Super many photos, I can only select some to upload.

Hungry again after 2 hours walk.

Had dinner at this restaurant, set meal at TWD500 (around SGD21.50) for 2.

Too much for us to finish, and not very nice leh. :(

Dessert and Roasted milk tea from my favourite store in TW, 7 Eleven!

hehe, liked the container.

The ice cream cost about SGD4, not that cheap but still cheaper than what we have in Sg.

We always like to eat ice cream when it was already very cold!

Think got 10degrees that night? hahaha.

Back to hotel to rest.

Heading to Nantou area the next day, prayed no earthquake!

And blessed we are.

Next blog entry will be on Sun Moon Lake and Ching Jing. :)

Taking veryyy long to put up blog entries bcos got to compile the photos.

always a challenge after every holiday trip! lol.

But got to do it for our keepsake.

love,

Jace.