Taiwan Travel Adventure: Day 3 - Yangmingshan National Park

     This was my last day in Taipei, and incidentally, this tour was just a waste of money. I should have traveled to Yangmingshan myself.  I felt cheated, really.  Not because of Yangminshan; you see, it's absolutely gorgeous and serene.  Rather, because of the tour guide who didn't show us much around the huge park.  I think we only stayed in the park for less than an hour, and the tour was supposed to be four hours! Sheesh!

     This time around, we had a new tour guide, who was also the driver, and he had a lady companion with him.  There were only three of us in the tour, a kid about 9 years old and her aunt, from Sabah, Indonesia, since the other tourists cancelled their trip.

     When we left the city, it was raining; but the rain hadn't caught up yet in the mountains.  However, the guide was so uninspired and our tour was so short, almost a rip-off.  Ah, and I wanted to visit Yangmingshan and explore those paths; I wanted to see silver grass gently swaying with the wind.  I wanted to do more...not just climb some steps and circle the park within less than a 500-meter radius.  Argh!  How I wish I had my previous tour guide with me.  And the new guide wasn't informative.  Not at all.  Well, he's kind and all, but must he wait for my tour companion to ask me if I wanted my picture taken before he shapes up and offers to take mine?  At least my aunt-and-nephew companions were pretty cool and nice; and they even pity me because I could not speak Mandarin and they could, and they knew I could not get lost by myself.

      Well, I paid more for this tour than the city tour because it came with a hot springs bath.  And the choice of hot springs was very cheap.  It was old and it was not pretty to look at in or outside, compared to its neighboring hot springs.  Again, we felt short-changed.  Then the tour guide dropped me the bomb:  I was supposed to go to the public hot springs while my companions get a private one for themselves since they're family and one's just a kid who needs adult supervision.  Gasp! Me, inside a public bath?  Yes, I love animes and such and I've always wondered how it'd feel like bathing in a public bath, but to do it?  Ha! I needed all the courage I could muster.  I was really shy.  I mean, I don't care if my boobies flash once in a while but naked? Yeah, right.  However, if I don't go inside the public bath, then my money would really come to waste.  So, I decided to make a go at it.

      I felt my hair was raising and my heartbeat rising...but when I got to the women's bath, there was only one person inside, an older lady around 40's, already washing and finishing up.  I was so happy that we're the only ones inside.  I asked her which dispenser has shampoo, and she helped me.  Thank God for helpful Taiwanese.  After 5 minutes, the lady left and I had the bath all to myself.  There were three baths of varying temperatures; two which are hot and one which has cold water.  And the water reeks of spoiled eggs because of the sulfur. Haha!  I dipped in the hot water for 15 minutes and then I'd dash for the cold water bath to tighten my skin.  I did this routine for three times or so.  We had less than an hour to take our bath.

     As for the experience, let's just say that it wasn't much different from what I usually see from animes and Japanese tv series; only the bath house was older and it looked so tired.  If I had more time, I would have opted to go to Villa 32, a hot springs resort in Beitou, reputedly one of the best in Taiwan.  I read about it in a New York Times article.

     After the bath, I saw the boy and his aunt waiting outside and we chatted for a while, and we all felt that the public bath house was not so good aesthetically.  From the deck, we could see its neighboring bath house which looked so Japanese with the wooden walls and floors, plus the decor, too.  And, the younger people were there.  We should have gone there.  I think only housewives and older people go to our bath house.  It was almost deserted.  Nonetheless, it was still an experience, right?

     Then after a while, the aunt started complaining that we've been waiting for so long already, like for almost 30 minutes now and the guide was nowhere to be found.  See, we wasted time, really.  When he came back, it was past 4:30 p.m., and we had to head back to the city.  Then it started raining.  I asked the tour guide if he could drop me off somewhere at the Taipei Main Station instead of the hotel since I wanted to buy some things from the nearby mall.  The rain was pouring hard by then and the guide felt really sorry for me, saying, oh you poor girl, over and over again.  For them, it was odd that a single lady like me would be travelling alone, and they thought I was a little young to be travelling by myself.  They thought I was around 25, tops.  You see, it's good to be taken for younger than my real age, but it's not so great to be called, poor girl.  Makes me want to feel helpless myself.  Hey, I'm much, much stronger you know.    

Taiwan Adventure: Day 3 - Taipei City Tour

     I know most people hate going on tours.  It's sort of restrictive in terms of mobility and time.  However, I booked for three (3) organized tours for my Taipei trip so I could maximize my time there.  If I'd be roaming the city of Taipei by myself, for sure I'd be sidetracked gazing at everything beautiful: a work of art, or an engaging edifice, a lovely temple, mountains, trees, flowers, clouds, and of course, a banging dress or  absolutely adorable shoes.  I'd waste my time being in awe of everything.  

     So, for my second tour, I picked a city tour, and we passed by the usual sights: the Presidential building, the Martyrs' Shrine, CKS Hall, and the National  Palace Museum, among others, and got scorched by the burning sun.  Well, of course we had a van but we had to alight from it to see the sights  up close.  Nope, umbrellas were no good.  It was both hot and humid.  But I was grateful for the natural rosy, cheeks.

      For this tour, I had the same tour guide and the same American tourist as companion, plus two German couples, and a nice-looking Chinese lady from Shanghai.  Well, aside from the fact that the Chinese lady and I were the only Asians, we were also the only ones who were younger.  Since we're Asians, we looked really, really young compared to our tour companions who were definitely middle-aged already.  See, I believe group touring is usually for families with small children, and people who are older or not physically fit.  Me?  I had so little time and perhaps, I was just lazy, I guess.

      Our first stop: the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.  I love the color blue so I absolutely loved this building, but the walk from the gates to the building?  Not so much.  Heh.  Again, I found something to rave about touring with a guide; they know what you should see and how to get there the easiest.  We entered not through the main entrance, but from a smaller entrance; it was at the back, I guess.  This saved us the agony of climbing the monumental stairs to Chiang Kai Shek's colossal statue.  Why? There's an elevator in the lobby going up to the statue.  I'm not sure if there's one at the main entrance.  So, yay tour guide!

     Afterwards, we proceeded to the Martyrs' Shrine, and thanks again for the tour guide, we were just in time for the changing of the guards.  I was so lucky that I was able to take a video, a repository of how handsome the soldiers were.  They were so tall; I'm 5'6 and they were towering over me.  Ah...I so wanted to get a date from any of them.

     Aside from the dashing soldiers, I was so engrossed with the vivid colors of the hall.  The reds, the greens and the oranges were popping amidst the green mountains.  So picturesque.  I loved the gigantic red doors the most.  In fact, it's one of the pictures in my banner above.

     Ogling too much can be criminal, so we left and headed for a small temple, the name of which I forgot.  The tour guide gave us some quick information regarding their way of worship, and how they do it.  

     Then, it was time for the highlight of our tour, at least for me: the National  Palace Museum. I could stay inside it for a whole day and not complain.  Too bad that picture taking is not allowed inside the museum, but it's for good reasons.  They have to preserve the artifacts and works of art.  .                 

   

     Honestly, I wanted to smack people left and right inside the museum.  Tourists in droves were generally noisy.  This, despite the fact that the tour guides and their packs were given radios to minimize loud explanations to the group.  We were tuned in to a certain frequency so we could hear our guide.  It also helped us not to get lost.  Anyway, bring your own earphones if you're concerned with sanitation.  I happened to bring mine that time, so yay for me.

     Since the tour guide already knew which treasures or art pieces we should not miss, our tour inside the museum, though short, was full of information and we were able to see what we wanted to see.  Again, we took the elevator and started from the top going down.  But as the elevator was tiny, he politely asked the younger peeps, meaning me and the cute Chinese lady, to use the stairs.  We obliged, of course.  Ah, it's so good to be young; at least younger than our tour companions.

     The remarkable things we saw includes the jade cabbage, the miniature ivories, the emperor's toy boxes and many more.

     Somewhere in the middle of our city tour, the guide brought us to a gift shop, and I knew it was coming.  Good thing we stopped by the shop because the buttons of my blouse kept popping out and I kept flashing my brassiere to unsuspecting people; poor them.  The shop assistants helped me look for safety pins and they  helped me temporarily solve my button-problem.  Oh, I bought some Oriental tea from them.  I know, tea in Taiwan is expensive; they do have discerning tastes after all, but I wanted to try their tea.

     Here are some of the photos I took during our city tour:

Presidential Building:

CKS Memorial Hall

A rather long corridor.

The big man.

I'll call this photo, "From here to eternity."
I'll take an eternity to reach the top the memorial hall from the gates.

Martyrs' Shrine

The gorgeous officers that I was talking about?  Not in picture.
I have their video, though.

 The small temple we paid a visit to.

National Palace Museum

N.B.

I made a mistake in labeling.  It's the Martyrs' Shrine, and not the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall.  Sorry for the mistake; I realized it only when I was rechecking my entries.

Taiwan Adventure: Day 2 - Miramar Mall and Hwahsi Night Market

     I've been fast-tracking the posting of my Taiwan Adventures considering that I'll be working on my Hong Kong and Shenzhen Adventures soon.  See, I've recently returned from Hong Kong on a four-day trip, and I have to wrap up my Taiwan posts as soon as possible to make way for my new travel adventures.  And, I haven't started on my previous Thailand (March 2010 & 2008), Singapore (October 2008 & 2009), and Hong Kong and Macau (May 2009) Adventures yet.

     So, now, I'll talk about my Miramar Mall and Hwahsi Night Market visits.  Miramar Mall is an out-of-the-way mall located some 15 or so minutes away by cab from the Hello Kitty Sweets cafe.  It can be reached by public transportation, too, via the MRT on the brown line and the free shuttle of the mall.  The only reason why I wanted to go and see the mall, except for the huge ferris wheel on top of it, is my love for Taiwanese drama series.  The Miramar Mall has been featured in Why Why Love starring Rainie Yang and Mike He, both of whom I truly adore.  Though it was so out of the way, it was well worth it.  Heck, if I wasn't too apprehensive of the time (it was almost 9:00 in the evening), and too tired, I would have loved to watch a movie in their IMAX theater and hang out with the young crowd.  Well, let's just say that the mall was teeming with teens and college-aged kids.  I'm 31 already, but well, I think I best relate with people younger than I am and I really get along with them, like my nieces and nephews.  Perhaps because I failed to mature mentally that we're more or less on the same level. Heehee.

     While inside the mall, I saw a poster of the new Meitantei Conan movie and the people were giving me curious stares...what the hell is that woman doing taking pictures of a movie poster like crazy?  See, in the Philippines, anime and other Asian movies are not marketed to be shown on the big screen, save for the influx of horror films some five or so years ago like The Ring.  So, I was so excited to see that Detective Conan poster.

     After a while, I decided to head to the hotel and retire for the night.  Luckily, I saw a free shuttle going to Shilin Night Market.  I hopped on the bus and the ride to Shilin Market was tranquil: the tree-lined streets at night were a sight to behold, plus, it passed by somewhere we could see the Grand Hotel in all its blazing glory.  Really a sight to behold especially at night.

     Considering that the bus stopped at Shilin Night Market, I looked around for a while and after some thirty minutes, I rode the MRT going to Longshan Temple.  Since it was late already, I might as well visit the Hwahsi Night Market.  I know, I was supposed to head directly to the hotel but I might as well maximize my time in Taipei, right?

     From Shilin Night Market, or Jiantan Station, I rode the red line going to the Taipei Main Station, and changed to the blue line going to Longshan Station.  The shops at the underground market at the MRT station in Longshan were already closing and I hurried to the Hwahsi Night Market, which was just across the street from the Longshan Temple.  There were many people, and though it was already late, it was still humid.  I just took a couple of pictures and I hurried back to the station.  I didn't know what time it would close so I ditched my idea to go to Ximenting.  Instead, I went back to my  hotel.  This time, I really retired for the night.

The cast of Why Why Love.
Photographic evidence why I love Rainie Yang and Mike He.
They're too cute for words!

(Wrong spelling; should have been Miramar Mall.  Sorry for the faux pas)

The same background above in the pictures below:

...and here:

This is where some scenes from the series were shot:

I didn't ride the ferris wheel because I'm a wuss.
How many couples do you think were cuddling in there? Hmm...

Hwahsi Night Market

Taiwan Adventure: Day 2 - Hello Kitty Sweets

     I love everything cute, and it includes Hello Kitty.  I don't know where this fascination with Hello Kitty came from.  I think I was in college when the allure of the furry cat caught my attention.  See, I hated the color pink before, but Hello Kitty made me accept the detestable color in my life and now, pink and I are friends.

     Anyway, I thoroughly researched the Hello Kitty Sweets on the internet and I was glad to know that it's located near my hotel, just one stop easily reached via the MTR.  From the MRT Zhongxiao Fuxing Station Exit 3 (across the white Sogo Department Store), walk one block, then turn right and you'll find the Hello Kitty Sweets along the street.  The walking time takes approximately five minutes.

    In my case, I went to Hello Kitty Sweets after returning from my Jiufen tour, and although I was not able to eat anything since 7:00 a.m., I wasn't famished.  It was a good thing, though, because the dinner I ordered from the menu, with the help of the waitresses wearing pink loli outfits, was light.  Just a caesar's salad with chicken and the drinks and dessert that came with it.

     Well, the food is okay, nothing to rave about.  After all, I went there to see the restaurant and to experience dining in Hello Kitty fashion.  It did not disappoint.  Everything is Hello Kitty in pink and white.  The walls, the doors, the ceilings, the tables, the furnishings.  Everything is kawaii!  Even the restroom is decorated pink and white.  The downside is that the food is quite expensive, and there is a minimum food purchase per person of NTD 300.00.  With the expensive price, it'd be easy to reach that minimum.  However, to save some money, don't order dessert anymore because the main dishes come with free drinks and gelatin dessert, unless you really want to eat a cake.

     As for the service, it's really superb.  I don't speak Mandarin so when I asked help in choosing from the menu entirely written in Mandarin, almost all the waitresses came to my rescue and bounced off ideas explaining the menu to me.  And, when I was not able to get a cab because the cabbies I talked with didn't speak English, the cashier downstairs asked one of the waitresses to hail me a cab going to my destination.  Indeed, they're really helpful, like out-of-the-way helpful, and I'm grateful for that.

     Will I return to Hello Kitty Sweets? Of course.  And I might even try visiting the Hello Kitty hotel room and the Hello Kitty ferris wheel in Kaoshiung the next time I visit Taiwan.

     

Taiwan Adventures: Day 2 - Jiufen

  

     This is one of the must-see places for me in Taiwan.  My trip would not have been that happy if I didn't go to Jiufen.  See, I'm a huge anime fan; and any anime enthusiast should know Hayao Miyazaki and his masterpieces, one of which is Spirited Away.  And, apparently, Miyazaki's inspiration for the teahouses in Spirited Away came from actual teahouses in Jiufen.  The narrow, chinese-lantern laden streets, to the noh mask on the wall of one of the teahouses, everything appealed to me. So, I really had to go there no matter what, even for a short period of time.

     According to our tour guide, Jiufen means nine portions, or something.  Apparently, Juifen originally had nine families settled in there, and since the travel from Juifen to the town was far, to save time and cost, whenever one family one goes to town to do shopping, they would have to buy for all the other families.  So, they would have to buy nine of each item.  Hence, the name Jiufen.  To keep the tradition alive, the tour guide told us that we may buy nine of each item, and help the economy.

     As we were nearing Juifen, I noticed that there were buses parked on the side of the roads, and lots of people were walking uphill.  A few moments later and we encountered a traffic jam, but we were almost at the entrance.  The guide told us that if we were riding the big bus, we would have to hike on foot all the way up to the entrance; only small vehicles, such as vans, are allowed since the roads are narrow and busy.  Moreso, it was a weekend and it was packed with tourists.

     The entrance is beside a 7-11, but the alley is so narrow that it was easy to miss.  Our guide told us that the stalls are sequentially numbered and that we'd meet at a certain stall somewhere in the middle, gave each of us the number of the stall and the time we were supposed to congregate there.  We were supposed to roam around by ourselves; some free time for us to eat, sightsee and of course, shop.

    

     After an hour of shopping, I realized, I haven't eaten any taro balls yet, let alone any solid food since 7 a.m., but our free time was up.  Grudgingly, I went to our meeting place around 4:00 p.m.  The guide then walked us through the narrow paths leading to those oh-so-famous steps and to the platform to get pictures of "the teahouse" and it was so worth it.  So nostalgic...I made a mental note to myself that I must return to Jiufen and stay there longer.  And of course, never to return there on a weekend.  So many tourists.

     Though it was a short visit, I was grateful that we had a tour guide.  At least, we started at the top, near the entrance, going all the way down, and not the other way around.  It would have been brutal to climb those narrow steps, no?

Back from Hong Kong and Shenzhen

     We came back from our four-day trip to Hong Kong and Shenzhen yesterday, around 12 midnight.  Casting aside worries, we encountered no problems during our trip.  No stares, no prejudice, nothing.  Business as usual, so they say, even if some of the Hong Kong people knew we were Filipinos and even if news of the hostage crisis were being shown almost every 15 minutes on some public transportations.  Really, if Filipinos would not stop worrying about travelling to Hong Kong because of the Manila hostage crisis, then, we'd be the ones who'd be harboring feelings of prejudice, and not the other way around.  Don't create fears out of nothing; don't let your own ghosts haunt you. Seriously.

     Well, I cannot fault most Filipinos for being afraid; it was fueled by the words of a Filipino consul in Hong Kong to not go there if Filipinos have apprehensions.  Rather irresponsible if you ask me.  However, it's but normal to have fears, but to overreact? Sheesh.  Most of the times, it's better to believe in the goodness and fairness of mankind than be paranoid.  Just try to think positive; negativity is the harbinger of bad luck if you ask me.  Enjoy your travel to Hong Kong and China, as I did mine.  Of course, always exercise prudence and common sense; you need it anywhere anyway.

     To my countrymen, don't let your own fear and prejudice affect your planned itineraries to Hong Kong and China.  After all, we're all human beings; let's not allow the monsters of our own creations dictate our lives. :-)  

Taiwan Adventure: Day 2 - Northeast Coast

      
     This is a rather long post.  So sorry for the incessant chatter.    

     After my morning trip to Beitou, I went back to the hotel where the tour guide for my Jiufen trip fetched me. I found the travel agency via the Taiwan Tour Bus in the Taiwan tourism website and booked and paid the cost online.  According to the tour package, the guide would take us to the Northeast Coast, Jiufen and back to Taipei. I paid NTD 1,100 for the tour.

     My tour group consists of an Indian family of three (mom, dad and adult son), a gentleman from the US, plus our driver and tour guide. We went aboard a spacious van and I had the seat at the back all by myself. The airconditioning was cranked up high, thank God for that, to alleviate the heat from the summer sun.

     Our tour guide was lively enough and told us quite a number of interesting tidbits about the places we were to visit and about Taiwan in general. I forgot about most of it, though. I have very short attention and memory span. Lol.

     Anyway, we finally reached a coastal area, called the Northeast Coast and we passed by some huge rock formations, apparently, it's called the Nanya Rock Formations, and the old mining site adjacent to the Yin Yang Sea, or the two-colored bay. The area is so pretty: lush, green mountains on one side and the ocean on the other side.

     We had a short stop at some viewing deck some place near where the mountain with a profile of a human could be found. According to the tour guide, we should use our imagination to see the “profile.” He then asked us one by one whether we could see the nose and all, and he had drawn on paper what we were supposed to be seeing. It was funny. But for all I know, I might have misunderstood him, especially that I wasn't paying attention anyway.  That would have been funnier.  There were some huge tetrapods, those four-spiked concrete armor found on breakwaters laying steadily on the coast. I call it the monster jackstones. And I was so excited to see those.  I have been seeing them on some Japanese tv series and I find them quite lovely and fascinating.  Makes me want to stand beside the tetrapods to see how gigantic they are.  Oh, I also saw lots of tetrapods in Danshui, near the Lover's Bridge.  If it wasn't so windy when I went in Danshui, I would have loved to stroll along the breakwater and act as if I'm the heroine of some asian drama series.  Haha!

     There were a lot of people fishing on the rock formations and some were picnicking, swimming, and even scuba diving.  It's like a go-to place for a weekend getaway with family and friends.  And why not?  The beauty of the northeast coast is just so visually stunning: clear blue skies, earthen color of the rocks, the vibrant green of the mountains...

     After that, the guide brought us to see some pretty rock formations. He even led us atop one of the rocks but I didn’t climb on it; it was slippery and I was wearing slippery-soled sandals. And, I’m kinda scared of heights. I have no problem going up, but I have a lot of problems going down. So, I was like a kid who couldn’t play ball during P.E. class. :-(
 

     Since the tour guide was being so generous, he allowed us to stop at the Ying Yang Sea to take some pictures. Apparently, the ore color trailing from the edge of the coastal highway towards the sea comes from the old mining/smelting site on the adjacent hill.  And some of those monster jackstones have been heavily saturated with the ore color as well.  The hues of the tetrapods are a sight to behold.  Really.  And it translates well in pictures.

      We wrapped up our Northeast Coast tour and we proceeded to ascend the narrow , winding road going to Juifen. Yay!