This is the 2nd trip we have for the same group of people. This time we cover more places and self drive. Alot of new experiences and also of course more tiring.
And of course, my long awaited Hello Kitty flight on EVA air...
Adult meal
Day 1 - Home to Yilan
Ceyan got overly excited on the plane wanting to see outside through the window at the row in front of us which result in his head being stuck. i panicked but luckily he is not hurt, just abit frightened.
No crying at all taking off. When landing he keep telling me to blow his ears.
Hk flight is so cute. Really happy to take. Seeing all the cute stuffs makes my day.
Flight got delay alittle. Had a rush dinner at the airport before collecting rental car. The food is expensive. About $10 a bowl of char siew noodle (quite big bowl though).
Dont know y the supposed 1.45hr drive turns out to be almost 4hrs drive. Hubby is the one driving. Shag out totally. By the time we reach yilan shangrila leisure farm already pass 12 midnight.
The place is actually on a mountain. The road is dark n scary. By the time we got ready to slp, is 2am. Worse of all it was raining heavily. Causing a lot of inconvenience.
Day 2 - Yilan
Woke up early to have their breakfast. Sweet potato porridge and some veg dishes. Some bread and butter. Not much choice and not so nice. Lucky the rain stopped after we finish out breakfast and got the chance to go walk around the farm.
Disappointing factor: this is a fruit n veg farm, no animals. The owner mentioned that we can even pluck the fruits n eat directly but we only see some (and i really mean a few unripened dragon fruit, pomelo, etc. Not even the passion fruit that he mentioned is the season.
Shortly after we walked back to resort to have a rest. Ate cup noodle in the room and napped.
Went to luodong night market. Not alot of food variety. Nothing to buy too. Head back to the resort for a festival that they are having. They have games and DIY tang yuan. The best was bubble play and 放天灯。We wrote the blessings as a family and let it go into the sky of Yilan (though it dropped down halfway). At the end of it, there were fireworks too.
Day 3 - Yilan to Hualien
Day 3 - Yilan to Hualien
Drive for 4hrs to hualien. Along the way got stuck for some time due to landslide at the mountain road. It was so scary. All drained and shagged.
Finally reach the minshu (花蓮陽光晨堡民宿 - SunshineBandB). Very very nice themed room. Host is very friendly and nice. Ours is romantic room, mums is doremon and sis is minion family room. Clean and neat. Shortly after we put down our luggage, we head off for shabu hot pot. Tried the milk soup, very tasty. And the beef is nice too. Free flow of drinks and sauces. Ceyan ate the whole bowl of rice and tell me nice.
Went to dong da men night market. Very big and spacious. They have alot of playing spots for kids. Even those like Singapore uncle ringo. Ntd300 for 5 games. Cheaper than sg and best of all, not many ppl around. Looks like we book the whole place. Ceyan's first try on the pirate ship ride and he enjoyed. Not scared and didn't cry. So proud of him.
The home stay owner are really kind and nice. They spent their night with us discussing and helping us to navigate our exploration in Hualien.
The home stay owner are really kind and nice. They spent their night with us discussing and helping us to navigate our exploration in Hualien.
Day 4 - Hualien
The very friendly and nice home stay owner offer to drive us around today. We went to places for sight seeing. Places like 七星潭，Taroko National Park 太魯閣国家公园, Shakadang Trail 砂卡礑步道，庙，燕子洞和酒庄。
燕子洞
One of the tiring activity is the shakadang trail. Walked 3km in total not forgetting the up and down stairs which has many flights of stairs. And the most shag was actually carrying the toddler along the way. Luckily my family members helped too. Along the way are rocks and scenery at 1.5 km there are a few temporary stalls selling souvenirs. Symbolizing the area is owl and is 原住民.
The most shag is the temple and bell knocking. We stopped at the big buddha temple and climb up a cliff to the bell. Super shag. The steep slope and steps and again carrying a toddler. Taking turns. But the view is really nice. The air very fresh too.
The Buddha temple in the background is where we parked the car and climb all the way up.
When we are finally up and panting hard.
The next exciting place is 七星潭. The wind is super strong and todd almost fly away. He is hugging us so tight and refuse to stand on his own. The waves are spectacular. The high waves and blue sea. The weather is perfect for us in Hualien. All the sight seeing went smoothly. We really enjoyed the breeze and strong wind, but after that our hairs are tangled and face sticky (becos of the sea water).
Ended our Hualien stop with a dinner with the host family at a local restaurant selling authentic 原住民 food. Grill fish and chicken. They don't use knife to cut the chicken, they use their hands to tear. Salute. The chicken is super hot and very nice.
My niece hair shows how strong the wind is.
After this photo, my hat flew away.
Ended our Hualien stop with a dinner with the host family at a local restaurant selling authentic 原住民 food. Grill fish and chicken. They don't use knife to cut the chicken, they use their hands to tear. Salute. The chicken is super hot and very nice.
Day 5 - Hualien to Taichung
Today is all about travelling. we left hualien home stay about 9+ in the morning and reached taichung gogo hotel only at 6+pm. Everyone shagged out. Along the way we decided to stop by cing jing hoping to try our luck but ended up wasted trip. Along the way many vomited and feeling unwell including my small boy. So we made a few stops along the way. There is a stopover selling 水蜜桃honey and coffee. It taste really good. It was so cold up on the mountain. We went thru quite a few mountain up and down with all the sharp bends. Torturing. But the view was stunning. We are like above the clouds.
Finally we reach cing jing, there was alot of ppl no parking lot. And we reach abt 3+pm and understand from the staff there that they close at 4pm and the entrance tix is ntd 200 per pax. So disappointing. End up we left cing jing and head off directly to hotel in taichung. Grab a simple bento dinner nearby Gogo hotel and walk abt 20mins to a shopping mall which is like a dept store hence we walked one round and left.
Day 6 - Taichung to Hsinchu
We went straight to hsinchu leofoo village in the morning and reach about 1+pm. Cannot check in yet and realized that the room (kensky) we booked is with lesser variety of animals and not facing the main area that has giraffes, zebras, rhino, flamingo and sheeps. So we ended up topping up another NTD 2K to upgrade the room (greenery). And we regretted cos by the time we check in, the sky is dark and we can't see anything. We don't wanna waste time so we went to the theme park before checking in. My son was so excited to see all the roaming animals. He would rather be out there so cold just to see the animals.
The wind was really strong and we are so cold even though it was only 13 degrees. We went for lunch in the theme park selling noodle soup. And saw a few animals like white tiger, orang utan and camels. After lunch we started to go for a few relaxing rides. And took a carnivore bus ride to see lion, tigers and bears. Ceyan was really excited to see all the animals. Also went for carousel and 5D movie - giddy and bumpy and not really interesting. Went back to the resort for check in and dinner. It was dark outside and we can't see anything. Take away simple dinner and ate in the room. Food like pasta and fried rice. Played some card games.
Day 7 - Hsinchu to Taipei
Woke up early to see the animals from our balcony. Glad to see giraffes there but soon after they were gone. Unfortunately, it was raining so many animals went hiding or under the houses. Only left with zebras and flamingo. After check out we went to the theme park again, this time for rides. And we are lucky that the rain stopped when we reach the theme park but still drizzle in the mid day. The most stunning part is that my 2yo actually sit a roller coaster with us. Though the roller coaster is mostly played by kids still was abit fast and scary. My boy has no reaction and said it was fun. So proud of him. Left the park about 2+pm to taipei.
Checked in and had dinner at haidilao in the qsquare mall. Ceyan was left at the play area with employee taking care of him. He was quite obedient. I had manicure done too.
Day 8 - Taipei (Jiufen)
Usual spot chiate. We are queuing to enter the shop, their biz has really grown so much. Bought 7000+ ntd worth of goodies. Hope that we don't waste at the end of the expiry date. Their food only last for 15 or 40 days. Brought mama to Jiu Fen old street. She bought quite a lot of things. Glad that she enjoyed the place. Climb a lot of stairs from the car park to the street. Shag out.
Bad traffic on the way to return the rental car. Then meet the rest at ning xia night market.
"must eat" ah ma yu yuan
Bad traffic on the way to return the rental car. Then meet the rest at ning xia night market.
Day 9 - Taipei (XMD)
This qsquare service apartment really disappointing this time. The bed is small and the heater is not working well. Awhile very hot water awhile very cold. Super frustrating. We had pasta for lunch at the qsquare mall then went to ximending. Bought shoes and clothes. Went to modern toilet restaurant for tea took a same pic for ceyan 1yr + ago. So cute. Went back to taipei main station for dinner then head back to rest early.
Difference of 22 months
Day 10 - Taipei (Danshui + Beitou)
Went directly to danshui for lunch and shop at the old street. We also had some glutinous balls cos that day was dong zhi. But it doesn't taste nice. We played a game of throwing ping pong ball into different color cups which is quite difficult but Ceyan managed to get 1 ball into the rare gold cup with the highest point.
After danshui, we went ahead to beitou hot spring. Walking a long way up the hill to look for a suitable and available hot spring room. In the end we went back to 水都 the one we went few years back. After hot spring and shower feel so great. Grab some convenience food and bread then head back to the hotel to pack luggage.
After danshui, we went ahead to beitou hot spring. Walking a long way up the hill to look for a suitable and available hot spring room. In the end we went back to 水都 the one we went few years back. After hot spring and shower feel so great. Grab some convenience food and bread then head back to the hotel to pack luggage.
he gets to play in the big bathtub without hot spring water (just normal warm water)
Day 11 - Home sweet home
Custom check was terrible this time. I forgot to put the scissor back into the checked-in luggage. Got confiscated. Urgh. But worse off was mummy. She hand carry the bottle of honey and we got caught. On the spot we drank the honey directly from the container. Omg that was thick but nice still. We empty as much as we can and move on. This was the first time we got stopped by the custom. Careless. 
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