[Day 1] Our Family Trip to Taiwan 2013

Our recent family trip to Taiwan in June (2013) was rather impromptu because when I received the itinerary I was quite hesitate to go.  Is like base on what I read through, almost half of the "attractions" mentioned were those that we had already visited during our 1st Taiwan Trip in  2010. But to think about it, going for a long trip with mum's siblings (uncle liang, aunty lily and her husband)  whom I am close with since young make it still a good reason for us to revisit those places again with them.

So on 13 June 2013, together with twenty over tour mates plus our group of six we begin our journey to Taiwan again.  And since this is a round the island trip, we will be visiting towns like Taipei (台北市), Taichung (台中), Nantou (南投), Kaohsiung (高雄), Taitung (台東), Hualien (花莲) and Yilan (宜兰) during the eight days.

Our Flight to Taiwan with Singapore Airlines.

[Singapore International Airport] Everyone getting ready to board the flight.

[Singapore Airlines] Mum, Aunt and Uncles all getting ready for the flight to Taiwan.

[Singapore Airlines] Inflight Entertainment Facilities

[Singapore Airlines] USB Port Charging facility

With inflight entertainment available, passengers on board will be able to immerse themselves in over 1,000 entertainment options (movies, music, games and etc) available on KrisWorld which is accessible via both a touch screen handset or the personal 11.1-inch touch screen monitor.

Beside those you can also make use of the USB ports which is conveniently located under the monitor to charge personal devices such as iPhone, iPod and etc during the flight in their new Economy Class cabin.

[Singapore Airlines] Meal On Board - Snacks and Beverages

After the flight take off about 15 minutes or so, the cabin crews will start serving beverages like water, juice, beer or wine together with a pack of nuts or crackers to go with the drink(s).

[Singapore Airlines] Inflight Menu

[Singapore Airlines] Meal On Board - Adult Menu

Frankly speaking I don't really like the inflight food from Singapore Airlines and most of the time I only eat about 1/4 or less on their main dish.  I don't eat their appetizer (salad) except for fruits/yogurt or their bread. So far out of all the airlines which I have travel with, I still prefer the food from either Thai Airways or Korean Air. But think about it if I ever have a chance to travel on Business Class flight perhaps I might have different views on their inflight food too.

[Singapore Airlines] Meal On Board - Dessert

Whenever we have inflight meal, my boy and I always look forward to their dessert which is usually ice-cream and sometime you might even be served with familiar brands like Häagen-Dazs (usual available during return flight to Singapore).

[Singapore Airlines] Bird eyes view of Taiwan Agriculture from our window seat

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport

After about 4 hours 45 minutes, we finally touch down at Taiwan, Taoyuan International Airport. Although is not our visit to Taiwan but mum and my boy are still very excited and everyone are looking forward to the 8 days trip too. 

[Stay Connect] Thanks to XinYun (@xysg) who share with us information on how to purchase this 台湾大哥大 "pre-paid micro SIM card" which comes in handy for us to stay connect via their 10 Days unlimited data usage at NT$800 (SG$34.20). You can purchase this at their mobile network kiosk using your passport upon arrival at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after you clear the immigration custom.

Personally I find their network coverage is still quite good even at high mountain area when we stay at Sun Link Sea Resort, Nantou (Taiwan). Furthermore you can even share the network data between you iPhone and iPad using the "hotspot" function like what I did for my boy's iPad.

[Taipei] Dinner @ Ching Hwa Restaurant (锦华大饭店)

After traveling about 45 minutes away from the Airport, we stop over at Ching Hwa Restaurant (锦华大饭店)  for dinner before heading to Wu Fen Pu (五分埔) wholesale centre for our 1st shopping spree in Taiwan. Dinner for the night comes in 10 course dishes with one of their famous local dish known as Wuxi Paigu (無錫排骨) but unfortunate I did not snap photos for the rest of the dishes because everyone is hungry and I don't even get a chance to take a shot before they are gone.

Ching Hwa Restaurant
锦华大饭店
10447 台北市新生北路
2 段 28 号 2 楼
Telephone: (02)2522-1100
Website: www.jeanhwa.com

Since Wu Fen Pu (五分埔) is pretty near to the restaurant where we had our dinner; Tony, our tour guide decided to let me have an hour to shop around the wholesale centre before heading back to our hotel. Since this is our 2nd visit to Wu Fen Pu we are quite familiar with the surrounding which has rather similar layout and concept like the Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok.

If you are traveling on Free and Easy Trip, you can get to Wufenpu by either MRT via Houshanpi Station (台北捷運藍線後山埤站) or Train at Songshan Station (松山車站) and take a short walk 5 - 10 minutes walk to reach the destination.

[Wu Fen Pu (五分埔)] Wholesale Centre

[Wu Fen Pu (五分埔)] Wholesales Centre

Wu Fen Pu is like a maze where there are rows of shops selling similar stuffs like female/male clothing, shoes, accessories, bags and etc. So it will be good if you can find a central mark/shop to start with then follow the lanes along so that you won't be going round and round the same area (because most of the shops look quite similar too).  On a side note, since this is a wholesale centre try to gather your purchase for clothes / items in bulk like 10 pieces or more (sharing between friends) to get a cheaper price.

[Wu Fen Pu (五分埔)] Street Food

At one of the lane, we spotted this stall selling ingredients like the above which look quite similar to our Yong Tau Foo (釀豆腐) with familiar items like Kang Kong, Fishballs, Quail Eggs, Bittergourd, Carrot and etc. They have cooked meat like chicken, chicken liver, cuttlefish.

[Wu Fen Pu (五分埔)] Fresh Cut Fruits

Apparently this type of fresh fruit pushcart can be easily seen in most Taiwan night markets or streets along busy districts like Xi Mien Ding or Feng Jia and etc. Mum and Aunt loves to buy fruits like Mango or Gava from these stalls and they do taste great too.

[Wu Fen Pu (五分埔)] Deseret (芋头莲子汤) from Ku Cha Zhi Jia

Ku Cha Zhi Jia is located near the cross junction at one end of the wholesale centre and this eighty plus year old shop is handle by their 3rd generations and they even have other others in Taipei too. I am sure base on it's name and shop decorations more or else you know it sells mainly herbal drinks and desserts. And as usual we order their Louts, Yam and White Fungus Soup (芋头莲子汤) which cost NT60 (SG$2.55) per bowl which is recommended that lotus seeds are enable to expel body toxic whereas cold yam (taro) is good to cool down the body heat.

苦茶之家
台北市大同區長安西路244號
Telephone: 02- 2558- 0019


If you have ample time, try to visit the Wu Fen Pu earlier so that you can try the famous "Lu Rou Fan (鲁肉饭)" from 胡须张鲁肉饭 (Formosa Chang) which located at No. 129號, Section 4, Mínsheng East Rd, Songshan District.

Our lodging for the first night was pretty good at KeeLung Harbor View Hotel which is about 3 - 5 minutes walk away from Keelung Train Station. Each room is equipped with air-conditioning, TV set, Internet access (wired), electric kettle and attached bathroom. Some of their deluxe rooms also offers guests with harbor panorama views which makes it an unforgettable experiences.

Keelung Harbor View Hotel
基隆華帥海景飯店
基隆市仁愛區孝二路108號
No.108, Hsiao-2Rd.
Keelung City, Taiwan
Telephone：(02)2422-3131　
Website: http://harborview.hotel.com.tw/eng/

Itinerary of our 8D 7N Taiwan (2013) travelogue are as follow:-
~ [Day 1] Our Family Trip to Taiwan 2013
~ [Day 2] Exploring Jiu Fen Old Street and Yehliu Geopark
~ [Day 2] Pear Picking and Hsitou Monster Village, Taiwan

Upcoming Posts
~ [Day 3] Sun Moon Lake and Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village
~ [Day 3] Feng Chia Night Market
~ [Day 4] Mei Non Hakka Village, Fo Guang Sha and Liuhe Night Market
~ [Day 4] Dinner at Royal Family Steak House and Liuhe Night Market
~ [Day 5] Fruit Farm and Pacific Ocean (Da Niao)
~ [Day 5] Dong You Ji Hot Spring Resort
~ [Day 6] Ku Cha Shu Outlet and Taroko National Park
~ [Day 6] Qi Xing Tan
~ [Day 7] Train from Ruifang to Taipei and Jin Che Orchid Garden
~ [Day 7] Tamshui Old Street and Fisherman's Wharf
~ [Day 7] Xi Mien Ding
~ [Day 8] Zhong Zheng Ji Nian Tang