Taipei (Day 13): Back in the Big City

March 13, 2016

We set our alarms today at 5am to get ready to pack up and catch our train back to Taipei at 6:07am (Tim: One snooze later…). We checked out of our hotel and caught a cab to the train station. Unfortunately the hotel free shuttle to the train station doesn’t run so early in the morning (Tim: Neither does their breakfast, which was pretty good). This was the first cab ride we’ve taken this trip, generally we try not to take cabs but since time was an issue this morning we had to. The cab fare to the train was 140 NT = $5.70 CAD for a 3km ride.

Once we arrived at the Hualien train station, the place was packed for 5:45am! The only store that was open was 7-Eleven and they had two long line ups to pay. We passed on grabbing anything for breakfast as we planned on just sleeping on the ride back to Taipei. The train ride was 3 and a half hours, it was the only train that wasn’t full (local train). The ride didn’t feel that long because we both slept for the first two hours. The scenery along this route was quite nice, the ocean and high mountains lined the east coast. As we got closer to Taipei the scenery changed back to older run down buildings and high rises. I was looking forward to getting back to Taipei. Although I enjoyed seeing the rest of Taiwan, Taipei is probably my favourite city in terms of accessibility and variety.

We arrived at the Taipei Main Station at 9:38am. We decided to buy our tickets to Kaohsiung for next week – when we’d be going down to Kenting (a beach resort area at the southern tip of Taiwan) with my sister, Noel, and Nate. We didn’t want to get burned with not being able to pick a good train time with them. Since we bought the tickets early, they were 20% off. The high speed rail tickets are about double the price of the regular Taiwan railways tickets (which we took around the island this past week). But to save time (especially traveling with a toddler), the high speed rail was a no brainer. It would take less than two hours to get to Kaohsiung (the trains go at 300km/hour) from Taipei, versus around 5 hours on the regular train.

We headed back to Tim’s uncle’s apartment to drop off our bags before finding something to eat. The whole train ride I was craving shabu shabu hot pot again. We went back to the same place we had dinner last Saturday. It totally hit the spot and I was on a hot pot high. I noticed there were a lot of children (around 5-8 years old) with their parents there – about half the tables had children at them. We will probably take my sister, Noel, and Nate here when they visit. It’s a block down from where we’ll be staying, it’s kid friendly, good value ($20 CAD total for both of us) and delicious.

At the shabu shabu restaurant
At the shabu shabu restaurant

We planned on walking to Daan Park after our lunch but it started to rain and Tim didn’t bring his rain jacket, so we went back to the apartment. I repacked my bag and organized items that we had left here last week. Also, I forgot to mention that as soon as we got back to Taipei, I saw two miniature red poodles.

Starting the red poodle count again
Starting the red poodle count again

We met up with the Airbnb host in front of the apartment at 3pm. Her name is Violet, an English speaking local, who showed us up to the apartment. The apartment looked like how it did on Airbnb for the most part. The walls are a bit weathered but that’s not really a big deal as the apartment is clean and stocked with all the necessary amenities. It has 2 bedrooms (3 beds), 1 bathroom and a large kitchen. The location is really good- close to two MRT to lines (Daan and the Technology Building stations) and lots of restaurants. One of the perks of this place is that it has a washer and dryer (Yay! We can finally do laundry) (Tim: The dryer just basically spin dries the clothes…).

Tim setting up shop in the living area
Tim setting up shop in the living area
Kitchen
Kitchen
Hallway to the two bedrooms and kitchen
Hallway to the two bedrooms and kitchen
One of the bedrooms
One of the bedrooms
Other bedroom - single and double bed
Other bedroom – single and double bed
View of the MRT from the balcony
View of the MRT and S. Fuxing Road from the balcony

After settling in and finishing up our laundry, we headed out to buy some groceries for my nephew, Nate. My sister will be cooking for him while he’s here. We went down to the Technology Building station and went to PX Mart to buy a 6L jug of water, some fruit and chicken. Across from the street from the apartment, there are a couple of organic grocery stores. We bought organic milk and eggs from the market – Nate is a lucky boy!

Around 6:30pm, Uncle Albert stopped by and we went for dinner down the street on S. Fuxing Road. Tim and I have walked down this street every morning we went to the King Soy breakfast place but since it was always the morning we never realized the street was filled with lots of busy restaurants. Uncle Albert said that S.Fuxing Road used to be full of all the same restaurants for people looking for late night eats, but now there are only a few left. We headed to his favourite one down the block, basically two doors away from our favourite breakfast joint.

When you walk into the restaurant, there is a long counter full of dishes to choose from. You simply point to what you want and then they prepare it for you. Most items are already prepared (except the fish dishes) so they plate the food in a metal bowl over top a flame (similar to how hot pot is served at Boiling Point in Vancouver). Uncle Albert treated us to dinner (again! Tim is not good at fighting for the bill) so we don’t know how much each dish was, but from what we can see on the wall they range from 60 NT to 150 NT ($2.45 to $6 CAD). It was nice to have congee on a rainy Taipei night and all the dishes were more homestyle cooking which was nice and comforting.

Lots of dishes to choose from
Lots of dishes to choose from
We picked green beans, spicy bean curd, pork belly stew, cabbage, steamed fish (forgot to take a picture of it after), and sweet potato congee
Green beans, spicy bean curd, pork belly stew, cabbage, steamed fish (forgot to take a picture of it after)
Sweet potato congee
Sweet potato congee
Fried egg omelette with pork and some cabbage like vegetable
Fried egg omelette with pork and pickled turnip (this was my favourite)

When got back to the apartment, we took the clothes out of the “dryer” and they were still damp. Asian wash/dryers don’t actually use heat to dry clothes, they just spin it, so we had to hang dry everything. I washed the bulk of my clothes so hopefully they dry on the balcony for tomorrow!

Now we’re washing up and going to sleep early because my sister, Noel and Nate will be here tomorrow at around 6am. Uncle Albert kindly offered to pick them up from the airport at 5:30am. We’re very lucky to have Tim’s family here – they’ve always been so kind and hospitable to us.

Another random thing to note about Taiwanese buildings and high rises, most are made of concrete- something we’re not used to as most buildings and homes in Vancouver are made with lumber. I first noticed because when I walk down the halls at home, I usually like to tap the walls with my knuckles and hear back a hollow sound. But here, I do the same thing and there’s no sound at all and it hurts my knuckles. That being said, Nate isn’t allowed to run around apartments here. The walls are too dangerous.

Our step count today is pretty low at 11,500.

Hualien (Day 12): Taroko Gorge

March 12, 2016

This morning, we took the bus towards Taroko Gorge National Park. It’s about a 45 minute ride from Hualien. We caught the shuttle from the hotel to the train station to catch a local bus that does a loop of all the major sites around Taroko Gorge. The daily unlimited ticket was 250 NT each ($10 CAD).

We started out on the Shakadang Trail, which was about 6km. The scenery was amazing, especially with the low lying clouds; it made it seem mystical. The greens and landscape reminded me a lot of British Columbia. Although it was beautiful, it made us think that we’re pretty spoiled to live in such a beautiful place and it’s also a shame that we haven’t explored more of our own province. Hopefully we’ll get to do that more this summer when we’re back home.

Our favourite part of the Taroko Gorge Park was the Shakadang Trail, it was also the only trail that was opened fully. A lot of the park was close due to unstable gravel and rocks (they’re still fixing it up from typhoon season). It was too bad that a lot of trails were closed because this made all the areas that were open busy with all the busses of Mainland Chinese tourists. This was my only complaint about the gorge – it was a bit hard to fully appreciate its beauty when there were hoards of loud Chinese tourists around. We saw a bunch of them smoking when there were a lot of signs saying smoking was not allowed (the park should have more park rangers to crack down). As we weren’t able to go to all the different sights due to closures, we know we will have to come back in the future to see more.

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Old suspension bridge on the left (max capacity is 5 people) and the new suspension bridge on the right (max capacity is 20 people)
Old suspension bridge on the left (max capacity is 5 people) and the new suspension bridge on the right (max capacity is 20 people)
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I’m posing like this for a lot of pictures because that’s what we see a lot of tourists do in Taiwan
Tim's second follow me traveller photo
Tim’s second follow me traveller photo
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Bridge by the Shakadang Trail
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I liked the colours in the rocks
Aboriginal statues
Aboriginal statues
Shrine in the middle of the mountain
Eternal Spring Shrine
Cave shot
Cave under the Eternal Spring Shrine

When we caught the bus back into the city, I fell asleep as soon as we got onto the bus. It was a nice 45 minute nap. When we got back into the city, we started walking back to the hotel and we noticed that there were a lot of mochi shops in Hualien; specifically the one in the picture below.  We decided to stop in and take a look, we had two samples and left. They were really tasty and I can see why lots of people were buying them. I tried to look up to see if they have a store in Taipei but their website doesn’t exist. This seems to be a common issue of website addresses on bags, store fronts and cups in Taiwan. (So far I’m 0/3)

Mochi store in Hualien. There are about 4 of them within 15 minutes of each other
Mochi store in Hualien. There are about 4 of them within 15 minutes of each other
This cut out is here to meet you at every store
This cut out is here to meet you at every store

After resting up a bit and finishing the first season of “Fuller House” on Netflix, we headed out for the night market. It was raining quite hard tonight, but Hualien’s Zhiqiang Night Market has vendors all undercover so the rain wasn’t a huge deterrent for most people. The night market is unique compared to other night market’s that we’ve been to in Taiwan as there are a couple rows of vendors that are all aboriginal.

Zhiqiang Night Market
Zhiqiang Night Market

While going through the stalls, there was a huge line up at a roasted corn stand called, “Li-Jo Corn BBQ”. We decided to join the crowd and line up. They had video footage of testimonials and how they made their corn (typical). Once you get to the front of the line you pick corn you want and they charge you by weight. We thought it would be around 50 NT ($2 CAD) max per corn, but for our two corns it ended up being 164 NT ($6.65 CAD) total. It was quite pricey (For Taiwan standards), so we were hoping it would be amazing. We waited for our order for about 15 minutes (took about 10 minutes to get to the front of the line) and when it came and I took my first bite, I was a bit disappointed. The corn wasn’t fresh tasting, I’m not sure if they roasted it too long to make the corn kernels chewy. The sauce was a sweet, spicy, sticky soy sauce. It was good we tried it but I wouldn’t get it again – especially for 80 NT on average each. My favourite corn is still the corn from Cafe Habana in NYC (Tim: Me too. Best corn on the cob I’ve ever had).

Lin-Ji Corn
Lin-Ji Corn
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Tim about to take his first bite
Corn selection. There were two types of corn. One was more similar to BC Corn and another one the kernels were a lot bigger
Corn selection. There were two types of corn. One was more similar to BC Corn and another one the kernels were a lot bigger. We got one of each.

Here are some other items we got from the night market.

Duck wrap (50 NT = $2 CAD). This was good, but you can't really go wrong with duck meat, cucumbers, pickled veg with a hoisin sauce
Duck wrap (50 NT = $2 CAD). This was good, but you can’t really go wrong with duck meat, cucumbers, pickled veg with a hoisin sauce
Yes, we got a corn dog from the Taiwanese night market. It was actually really good... (45 NT = $1.80 CAD)
Yes, we got a corn dog from the Taiwanese night market. It was actually really good… (45 NT = $1.80 CAD)
A huge ai-yu jelly drink (40 NT = $1.60 CAD) for 1 L
A huge 1L ai-yu jelly drink (40 NT = $1.60 CAD)
We ordered fried chicken nuggets from here. They refry everything once you order it. (40 NT = $1.60 CAD)
We ordered fried chicken nuggets from here. They refry everything once you order it.
Fried chicken
Fried chicken (40 NT = $1.60 CAD)

We walked back to the hotel in the rain, the rain eased off a bit so it wasn’t that bad. We’ve been wearing these MEC breathable rain shells my Mom bought us for our trip… so far so good! I’ve noticed that a lot of people wear flip flops here when it’s pouring rain. I guess it’s better than soggy socks (although it wasn’t very warm here tonight).

We have to wake up around 5am tomorrow to catch our train back to Taipei. Tomorrow will probably be our laundry and errands day, in anticipation for my sister, Noel, and Nate’s arrival! Yay! I can’t wait.

Number of steps today: 26,200

Hualien (Day 11): Day of Semi-Rest

March 11, 2016:

Today was our last morning in Taitung. We bought tickets for the train to Hualien at 9:39am . Tim’s aunt picked us up from our hotel at 8:30am and dropped us off at the train station. She made sure we collected our tickets from the ticket counter, since this was the first time we bought tickets online. We said our goodbyes and said we’ll be back soon.

Tim's aunt gave us a charm that she said means "Peace be with us". We'll keep this close to us during our travels
Tim’s aunt gave us a charm that she said means “Peace be with you”. We’ll keep this close to us during our travels

While waiting for our train to arrive, we grabbed some breakfast from 7-Eleven. I decided to try a tea egg and a pudding (which is a popular snack in Taiwan, probably not a very good breakfast choice, but a delicious snack choice!).

7 Eleven hardboiled tea egg (10 NT = $0.40)
7-Eleven hardboiled tea egg (10 NT = $0.40)
Delicious pudding from 7 Eleven (20 NT = $0.80 CAD)
Delicious pudding from 7-Eleven (20 NT = $0.80 CAD)

The train ride to Hualien was 2 hours long. I finished up my blog from yesterday but after writing for a half an hour, I felt a bit train sick. I fell asleep for the rest of the train ride (I’ve been pretty good at sleeping most of the way), so I missed all the mountainous terrain on the way towards Hualien.

When we got to Hualien’s train station, we wanted to go to the ticket counter to get tickets for Sunday back to Taipei. Tim’s aunt warned us that the train is usually booked up from Hualien to Taipei, but we didn’t realize how crazy it would be. Once we got to Hualien, the train station was a gong show and we thought, uh oh, we’re in trouble. We had searched for tickets quickly while waiting at Taitung’s train station and couldn’t find any trains at a decent hour that were available.

The hotel in Hualien has a free shuttle service to and from the train station, so there was a van waiting for us when we arrived. Trip Advisor’s reviews were right, East Town 26’s service was really good so far. We were welcomed by the front desk girl and we were able to check in early (their check in time is 3:30, we arrived around noon). We got to our room and it was nice and clean and more modern than the last hotel we stayed in. The cheapest room (Tim: and only ones available) were single beds, so we just go that (we’re roomies!).

Our room at East Town 26 - two single beds. Tim's going to get a good night sleep . ($66 CAD/night)
Our room at East Town 26 – two single beds. Tim’s going to get a good night sleep . ($66 CAD/night)
Good sized bathroom
Good sized bathroom

Once we got to our room, we both got on to our laptops and tried to search for train tickets back to Taipei. We weren’t having any luck, the website kept saying everything was full or that we’ve tried too many times for the same search. After about half an hour of trying we decided to go to 7-Eleven to buy the tickets. Most convenience stores in Taiwan sell rail tickets (at a premium, extra 8 NT = $0.30).

When we got to 7-Eleven, we took a look at the kiosk and realized that we weren’t going to be able to buy tickets because it was all in Chinese with no English option. Feeling a bit defeated we turned to the lady behind us and Tim asked if she could help us translate it. She asked us where we wanted to go and she pulled out an app on her phone. We sat down with her and she reserved the tickets on her phone (super quickly) and she pulled up the tickets on the kiosk we were just at with a confirmation code. The kiosk then printed out a receipt that we used to pay at the
7-Eleven counter. Tim asked her if we could get a drink or anything for her because she helped us out, but she said she didn’t need anything, she was just happy she was able to help us.

Unfortunately, the only time we could get that would get us back into Taipei before 3pm (we’re checking into our Airbnb on Sunday) was if we left Hualien at 6:07am (not looking forward to Sunday morning, but beggars can’t be choosers). We’ve learned our lesson about train tickets (especially the Hualien to Taipei route). We also learned that with that app, locals can reserve train tickets without paying for them right away.

With that out of the way, we decided to find something to eat. The lady at the front desk suggested a few restaurants she likes to go to. We stopped by one that looked pretty busy and promising. It looked like they specialized in steamed juicy buns. We got a seat and they handed us an order form in Chinese. Tim told the waitress that he couldn’t read and that we’ll just order 10 buns and hot and sour soup. We literally just looked at what others were eating and copied them.

Juicy buns
Juicy buns
Buns and hot and sour soup (50 NT = $2.50 CAD for the buns and 20 NT = $0.80 for the soup)
Buns and hot and sour soup (50 NT = $2.50 CAD for the buns and 20 NT = $0.80 for the soup)
Inside the juicy bun
Inside the juicy bun
After we finished eating, we walked out to take pictures. We almost forgot to pay!
After we finished eating, we walked out to take pictures. We almost dine and dashed.

There isn’t much in Hualien in the city itself in terms of “must see sights”. Most people stay in the city so they could use it as a base to see Taroko Gorge National Park, which is exactly what we’re doing. Although it was starting to rain, we headed to the coastline to walk around.

Chishingtan Scenic Area
Along the coast between Nanbin Park and Meilun Coast Park
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That’s me with my hood, on the other side of the Pacific from home.
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Rocky beach

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Tim shouting that he loves me
Tim shouting that he loves me
Run little pug! There was pretty random artwork around the walkway
Run little pug! There was pretty random artwork around the walkway
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These large concrete blocks help to prevent erosion
3D art
3D art

It started to rain a bit harder so we started to head back into town. I was feeling a bit tired and cold. Today was actually the first day that I felt colder than normal. The temperature in Hualien was around 15 degrees and dreary – felt like home.

When we got back into town, we looked for something to eat for an early dinner. I wasn’t feeling that great and just wanted to take it easy tonight because tomorrow was going to be a full day of exploring the Taroko Gorge. We found a soup noodle restaurant so we decided to eat there. It was like Tawainese casual noodle restaurant. My noodles were okay, Tim seemed to enjoy his pork hock a lot more (Tim: The pork hock was good, but the noodles and soup weren’t much to write home about). It was only 5pm and all I wanted to do was go to sleep.

My noodles were with pork spare ribs (60 NT = $2.40 CAD) and Tim had pork hock (60 NT = $2.40). The side was a century's old egg with tofu with bonito flakes (30 NT = $1.20 CAD)
My noodles were with pork spare ribs (60 NT = $2.40 CAD) and Tim had pork hock (60 NT = $2.40). The side was a century’s old egg with tofu with bonito flakes (30 NT = $1.20 CAD)

After our early dinner we went to a bakery (“181 Bakery”) that we had passed by earlier to pick up some buns to pack with us on our day trip tomorrow to the Gorge. The whole bakery smelled really good. They had samples in front of most of the items, so we were able to sample a few.

We got a pizza bun, green onion bun, a croissant/palmier type of bun, and an egg tart to try tonight (140 NT = $5.75 CAD).
We got a pizza bun, green onion bun, a croissant/palmier type of bun, and an egg tart to try tonight (140 NT = $5.75 CAD).

Because I wasn’t feeling that well, we decided not to go to the night market tonight. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by a bubble tea place to grab a milk tea for later. We headed back to the hotel around 6pm and since then, I’ve been writing today’s blog post while watching “Fuller House” on Netflix.

We’ll probably sleep early tonight as we have to get to the train station tomorrow around 7:30am to catch a bus towards to the Gorge. I’m looking forward to going back to Taipei and chilling out and spending time with my sister, Noel, and Nate.

Total steps for today was 15,000.