PART 1: Taichung, CingJing Farm Stay

Weeeheeee! I'm back! Has been really busy the moment I touched down in Singapore with all the internship, dance practice coming up. Well, here's the MUST know and MUST go places that I want to share with YOU! Taiwan has been a popular holiday location for most, or at least within my friends and family. So here I am sharing my experience through all the PICTURES!

First, let me start off with a brief itinerary and key expenses for this trip! Me typing and you reading 8 days worth of sharing is wayyyyy tooo tiring, so let's split it up to 4 different parts! Bringing your parents overseas can be a little challenging as you'd want them to enjoy as much as they could don't you? A specially planned 8 Days trip to pamper my parents and allowing them to rest and relax while they enjoy the amazing TAIWAN CULTURE! Here we go!

In Short, We travelled from Taoyuan->Taichung->Cingjing->Taichung->Taipei! For this post, I'll only ZOOM IN into the first 3 days itinerary and expenses! All in all for the 8 days, we changed 3.5K Singapore dollars. NOTE: It's a family trip and we didn't exactly "save" on shopping and food, when you're out with parents, I guess you'll have the tendency to "JUST BUY AS AND WHEN YOU WANT" :P

Day 1:

 - Depart to Taiwan from Singapore at 3:45PM (Two-way Flight: $778.32 for 3 pax!)
   **Note: To get good flight deals, plan your trip early! Refer to my previous blog post for                                   more info.

- Arrive at Taoyuan International Airport at 8:30PM

- Purchase 10 Days DATA sim card (Cost: 700TWD)

- Travel down to Taoyuan HSR Station by bus 705, Duration:25mins (Cost: 30TWD/pax)

- Take HSR to Taichung (Cost: 590TWD/pax) *Note: Book your tickets EARLY!

- Take bus 160 to Feng Jia University and walk to Minsu! (Duration: 40mins)

*Minsu: 台中逢甲温馨小屋 (Cost: $252)

   

 Check out the Sunflower garden at Changi Airport Terminal 2! Was my first time there then, it's REALLY NICE! I believe every girl will be happy when they see flowers right?

 Once you arrive at Taoyuan Airport and picked up your luggages, head out and turn right, you'll see this counter that sells all sort of DATA Sim. I went for 台湾大哥大 this time round as I heard from my friend that it's the more popular TELCO in Taiwan, and it lives up to its name! They provide really efficient 3G services that we need! Getting DATA sim in Airport would probably get you the best deal! Do not hesitate to ask anything from the locals, they're really friendly! I fell in love with Taiwan culture the first time I went there previously:)

 If you've pre-booked your HSR tickets online way before your trip, you could just queue and collect your HSR tickets instantly once you arrive at the train station! For those whom are arriving late at night, fear not that your stomach will get hungry! There's MOS burger, Mac donald, and their AWESOME 7-11 just a few steps away from you! You can always buy and bring up the HSR to enjoy our meal:)

 For my case, as I was planning to come back to Taichung HSR station to board the direct bus to Cingjing, it's good to know the timing of the bus so you can gauge what time you have to travel down! However in the end, we met a pair of Singaporean couple and we shared cab up to Cingjing the next morning at 7:30AM for just 400TWD for a quick 1.5hrs DIRECT ride up to the Farm! Many cab drivers will be more than willing to help you find people around to share cab, so don't worry about that!:)

 This was the route we took (Bus 160) to Feng Jia University. If you're worried that you'll miss your stop, don't hesitate to ask the bus driver to alert you! Note: This bus service is FREEE!!! On a side note, if the Taiwan Tourism Board in Singapore does not offer the free Easy card( Taiwan Ez-link), you could easily get one at any 7-11 stores! This would make your travelling around Taiwan much smoother!:)

As mentioned earlier, we actually planned to take Nantou Bus Service up to Cingjing, but by topping up abit more, you could sit in a comfy car and sleep your way up! The driver will even share with you more interesting places to go around Cingjing Farm!

That marks the end of Day 1! As we arrived pretty late in Taiwan, the only thing we could do was to enjoy a good supper in Feng Jia night market! Food there was splendid!!*Drools*

 For those who're interested to book Minsu, here's the contact!:) They have different themed rooms and if you're not those with high expectations, they offer more than what you may be asking for!:)

 Small yet comfy room. When we were brought to the minsu, we walked through a dark alley and there wasn't even a lift up, lucky the owner was nice enough to help us move to another minsu location nearby which has a lift! Most minsu in Taiwan has necessities like toiletries, hair dryer and water, you could save some luggage space on your end if you want to travel light!


Day 2:
- Travel up to Cingjing Farm (Cab fare: 400TWD/pax)
- Visit Swiss Garden (Cost: 330TWD/3pax)
**Note: Bring your student card for student price!
- Cingjing Farm (200TWD/pax)

Day 3:
- Watch Sunrise at Hehuan Shan (1300TWD/3pax)
- Cab back to Taichung( 400TWD/pax)
- Shop at Yizhong District
- Visit 一中乱剪 to do perm and cut my hair! (1300TWD)

 Waking up early in the morning and arriving at Cingjing around 10am. Headed to Swiss Garden first and decided to catch the meh meh and horse show in the noon and evening instead of the morning ones. Plan your route in Cingjing carefully as you wouldn't want to waste time walking up and down the steep slopes and steps!

 A really pretty place for those who want to SPAM photos!

This was the driver who drove us up! He's super friendly and nice!

 He said 瓮仔鸡 was a MUST try in Cingjing and recommended us to this more popular one!

Basically it's chicken being specially cooked in this HUMONGOUS "pot". I wouldn't say it's SUPER nice but it's tender and soft! Not too bad for first try on such dish.

 Ordering like a set for 5 pax was only 1300TWD! Considered quite a good deal isn't it?

 Headed next to Swiss Garden! Mum and dad hesitated to go in as it seems like just a normal small garden but the hidden fun is INSIDE! Thanks to my ez-link card, I got the student price ticket!^^

 If you're not really a scenary or flower person, I'd say you could give this a miss.

 There's this small dispensing machine inside where you could pay 10TWD to get pigeon and duck food to feed them! OMG, a city girl like me has my virgin experience and interaction with these birdies! They're wayy TOO ENTHU when they see that you're holding food. Not the kind of scary enthusiasm but the really friendly and gentle one! Love how they will rest on your arm and peck on the food! Dad got addicted when he realised how fun it got..LOL!

As usual, when you're out with your mum, they'll ask you to pose in all sorts of places and say "take photo here lah! Very nice leh!"

 Next, we headed to the CingJing Farm!

 LOVE the cute meh mehs in the farm! They're so approachable and nice!

 Coincidentally, month of MAY was the peach season and the peaches there was EXTRAORDINARY SWEEET AND JUICY!! A MUST TRY IF YOU SEE THEM! Driver shared with us that we should only buy if the stall owners allow us to sample the fruits to taste how sweet and good they were. 

 Cingjing gets really chilly at night, if you are keen to go for the Lushan hot spring, do arrange transport and leave for the hotspring around 4pm! As we were too late for that, we settled for a warm comfy dinner at this random restaurant we walked pass, which turns out to be pretty decent!

 Here's the price list for your reference! They serve western food there as well!

 And that kinda sums up our Day 2!

You can always get the map in any HSR station or more conveniently, on your mobile phone!

 As recommended by my friend, it's a MUST GO to He Hua Shan to watch the stunning sun rise. So I decided to arrange for transport with the minsu owner and woke up at 3am for this! It's a longgg journey up and along the way, the driver stopped by and allow us to enjoy some star gazing!

 Everyone was wrapped in winter jackets except for us, totally unprepared for the cold weather up there!

 That's the minsu ( Cost: 4102TWD for 1 night!!)we stayed! It may look pretty inconvenient as the cab driver drove us down but the owner is really nice! No matter at what time and where you want to go, she's always there to provide transport for you! I was being pretty skeptical when I first saw the run-down farm site but when I open the door to the minsu, I was totally WOW-ed by it:)

 This is the star gazing as well as the breakfast lobby! If I'm not wrong, they also provide steamboat dinner at a decent price!

 Very comfortable room with heater and soft bed! We fell asleep at like 8pm? Cos the whole room was just too nice and comfy:) Quality time with parents at its best:)

This was the admin office of the minsu, just 1 min walking distance from our room!

That's about it for Taiwan Part 1! To find out what we've done in Taichung, Stay Tune for PART 2! As for the hair salon that we've visited, you could visit their facebook page to find out more! Ryan was the hair stylist that did my hair for me and he's highly recommended!

Taiwan May Trip( Pre-Trip Planning)

Weeehee! Decided to revive my blog and start blogging again. Has travelled to a few countries recently and is ever thankful for those bloggers out there who made my planning process so much easier:)

And, with my upcoming Taiwan Trip, I shall share about my pre, during and post-trip! Everyone dread most when it comes to the planning stage and you have no clue about where to start. Well, there are tons of website out to guide you;))
To plan a trip, first, set aside your available travel dates and you can start searching for the awesome deals for flights out there! This time round with the natas fair sales, I'm thankful to secure my Taiwan flight at only $200+ for to-fro!*HAPPY*

Here are some of the airline apps and website that I rely on when I plan my trips.
1. Skyscanner (http://www.skyscanner.com.sg/)
2. Price Breaker (http://www.pricebreaker.travel/Web/Home/Main)

And not forgetting, different airlines have their own sale day! Look out for them!
1. Scoot (Tuesday 7-9am Morning Glory)
2. Tiger Air (Thursday Flash 24Hrs)
3. Jetstar (Friday Frenzy 11am-6pm)

**Note: To save on your flight cost, you may want to make your payment via AXS machine!
(save up to $50!However for some sales, this mode of payment is not applicable)

Recently, it's been a popular choice to visit Taiwan for a short getaway or even travel for weeks as Taiwan is a place where you can take your time and explore around! This time round, I've been looking around for TaiChung-Taipei itinerary as I only have one week to spare before my internship starts. Here it goes!

For pre-trip planning, after sharing about my flight booking, next step is to have a rough outline of your itinerary before you can move on to book your accommodation!

There's quite a number of interesting blog posts out there and I'm personally super thankful to Entree Kibbles and Escape2Taiwan.com as they offer really interesting insights into Taiwan attractions!

As for accommodation, I'd strongly recommend Airbnb! Simply key in your travel dates and number of people staying over and you'll find your ideal home overseas easily!

For as low as $20/pax/night, there are many pretty minsu similar to the ones above available from the website! 

Once you're done with your accommodation booking, it's time to plan how you can travel around! For Taiwan in particular, if you understand Mandarin, it shouldn't be much of a concern. You can easily get contacts of recommended Taxi driver that poses both as your chauffeur and tour guide! However, if you're one who prefer exploring around and experiencing the local mode of transport, you may want to try their local bus and trains! Booking of trains can easily be made at convenience store over in Taiwan, so don't have to worry on that part:)

However, if you're thinking about travelling from end to end of Taiwan, or even save part of your time on travelling, you may want to consider taking HSR( Highspeed Railway), by booking a month in advance, you'll save quite a sum!

Once you've confirmed your accommodation and flight, it's time to check out more on Taiwan and get some freebies! Taiwan Tourism Board based in Singapore offers different freebies such as vouchers & Taiwan travel easy card, differ from season to season. Click here for more details about getting to the tourism board address and what's the free theme park tickets that may be available!:)

Shall post till here and will update on my planning journey in my next post! Stay tuned!