Taiwan Day 2 in Nantou (Cingjing)

Alright, since I'm stuck at home because of the flu and cough I've been having for the last 3 days, I shall do up a post on the Taiwan trip. (It's so close to being a year since I went there!) 

Day 2 consisted of us driving up to Cingjing area and spending the entire day amongst the clouds (I'm not even kidding). Here's an example when the driver stopped a bit for us to take some photos:

Isn't it gorgeous? And this is not the most spectacular view, yet.

Dawncake (Miyahara) 宫原眼科

Has it really been 2 months since I last updated? I know it's such a cliché, but the days just flew right past. Alright, enough chit-chat, let's talk about one of my favourite shops in Taiwan instead - Dawncake (Miyahara) 宫原眼科. It is housed in a historical building that used to be a Japanese eye hospital, hence its English name, 'Miyahara Ophthalmology Department'.

What's so great about this shop? First up, the decor!

Is this Hogwarts?

The Diner (Taipei)

The Diner is probably one of my favourite eateries in Taiwan, maybe even surpassing that Michelin star global brand. Some may cry foul over the blasphemy of having western food instead of local cuisine while in Taiwan, but food shouldn't be limited by geographical boundaries right? By the large crowd that was in the restaurant, it seems that I am not the only one impressed by this unassuming restaurant.

Taiwan November 2013 Masterpost

Hello everyone! It's been close to a week since I got back from the 7 days in Taiwan and I finally got round to saving the photos onto my computer. I don't want to bore everyone so I won't write about all we did there, I will only write about the more interesting places we went to. The list below is our itinerary and I will be adding the links to the individual spots once I have written up the post on it!

Day 1: Tainan
Anping Old Street, National Museum of Taiwan History, Hua Yuan Night Market. (Tainan Commercial Hotel)

Day 2: Nantou
Green Green Grassland, Carton King, Old England Manor. (Cloud's Hometown)

Day 3: Taichung
Shin Fong Leisure Farm, Sinshe Sea of Flowers, Miyahara (Dawncake), Chungyo Department Store, Tian Wai Tian Steamboat, Fengjia Night Market. (Le Parker Hotel)

Day 4: Taipei
Shifen Waterfall, Shifen, Jiufen, Ximending. (Just Sleep Hotel)

Day 5: Taipei
The Diner, Eslite (Xinyi), Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, Sadaharu Aoki Taipei, Taipei 101, Shilin Night Market. (Miyi Hotel)

Day 6: Taipei
MOCA, Coffee Alley, Wufenpu, Formasa Chang, Shida Night Market, Taipei Main Station Mall. (Miyi Hotel)

Day 7: Taipei
Din Tai Fung, Yong Kang Street.

Melange Cafe 米朗琪咖啡館 (Taipei)

Melange Cafe (米朗琪咖啡館) was the only cafe that we had planned to visit prior to the trip, for we had read many rave reviews about their waffles and desserts. We reached there at around 2pm and perhaps it was a mistake for us to visit them at the peak tea-time period. It was a good 90 minutes wait for the table!

When we arrived there, we took a queue number and were told about the 90mins wait. Resigning to our fate, we decided to wander around the streets and shops near the cafe. Fortunately, there are a few shops selling clothing and zakka items that entertained us for a bit. 

There are actually two branches along the lane and we were allocated to the main branch. If I'm not wrong, there is a minimum spending of NT100 each. Be sure to hang around the area when it is nearing your stipulated time as they will serve the next customer if you miss your turn.

(The photos here were taken by my iPhone 4, so the quality is not as good as we will all like it to be. My apologies!)

The main store.

The other branch further along the lane.

Taiwan January 2013 (Part 2)

On the third day of our Taiwan trip, we bid farewell to Kaohsiung and it was hello Taipei! We spend our three nights in Taipei at a small boutique hotel, Miyi Hotel, which is located near Taipei Main Station. Since my memory is hazy, I will only be covering the highlights of the trip.

Out of all the places we visited in Taiwan so far, I think Yang Ming Shan National Park (陽明山國家公園) has to be my favourite. Maybe it was because of the really cold air or the cherry blossoms (though sparse) or the fact that we got so lost up there that all added up to one hilariously memorable trip up the mountains. We took a shuttle bus from Taipei Main Station and the journey up was an extremely gripping one as we had to stand and there were so many sudden swerves and turns. 

Food stop to recover from our gripping bus ride.

As we went in January, there weren't a lot of fully bloomed cherry blossoms. But they were enough for us city kids to swoon over them.

This is probably the first time I saw cherry blossoms.

Pink or Red? Or somewhere in between?

A very happy old man.

Taiwan January 2013 (Part 1)

This is my first travel post! It will be about our free and easy trip to Taiwan from January 23rd to 29th 2013. This trip was supposed to be our graduation trip and because we went on an off-peak period we were able to enjoy cheaper tickets. For this trip, I only brought my film cameras and the photos posted here were by my Canon-A1. It will be my second time to Taiwan and I might post some of the highlights from my first trip too.

We reached Taoyuan Airport in the wee morning and had breakfast at the airport itself. After some transfers, we made our way to Taoyuan HSR station and then took a 90 minutes train ride to Zuoying HSR station to get to Kaohsiung.

Most of the passengers slept or played with their gizmos throughout the ride

Lobster Salad Onigiri and Bottled Milk Tea from 7-11.