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Hi, I am not into finance and politics and thus cannot contribute much in those 2 areas. However, I love to travel and it is the time of the year when everyone starts to plan for their year end vacation.
I start this thread to allow like minded people to share their past trips experience and to seek advice on their impending trips. To start the ball rolling, I will post my contribution about my D.I.Y self planned Taiwan Trip last November.
I know that many people have visited Taiwan but most people go with tour and for those who went on a D.I.Y trip, they tend to stick around Taipei. Mine was a 1 week trip and I only managed to have time to visit Taipei, Taizhong, Hualian and Yilan. The trip was super rush and I wished that I had more time to explore these beautiful cities.
Date: November 2010
Visited: Taipei, Jiufen, Danshui, Taizhong, Hualian, Yilan.
Mode of transport: Mostly bullet trains and trains
Total Spent: $3000 SGD (from airfares to everything)
Favorite Place: Hualien - Seven Stars Bay
Regreted Not To Spend More Time In: Taizhong's Sun Moon Lake, Jiufen
Most Overhyped Attraction: Yilan's Shangrila Farm Resort
The most memorable place that we visited was Seven Stars Bay 七星坛 in Hualian. It is a peaceful seaside town with very little tourists. The shore was filled by pebbles instead of sands which makes the place unique. We booked a hotel that overlooks the sea (just 100 metres away) and it was really soothing to hear the waves as we relax inside the room. From the room, we could even see the sunrise and the mountains. In the evening, we walked to a small house-restaurent recommended by the driver of the hotel. The place is a house and the owner had turn the front yard into a small dining area and a bar counter. The place serves BBQ meat and vegetables done in the simplest method and yet it was one of the nicest meal we had. The owner had given up his job in Taipei and together with his wife/gf, returned home to Hualian and set up his small dining business. We had some small chat and I was asking him how he was able to give up everything in Taipei and live a simple life in Hualian. He only replied, "没有什么可不可以的，只有要不要” That moment, a famous quote in Sammyboy suddenly comes to mind. "The cowards never started and the weak died along the way"
The 2 places in our trip that we regreted not spending enough time there were, Sun Moon Lake and Jiufen. We were there in the daytime and missed out on the sunset and the night view which would have been very beautiful. Try the cable car rides and the near vertical climb up the mountains will bring some thrills for those action seekers. Jiufen seems to be very crowded with tourists and if you do not want to take the long journey bus there, you might want to visit Danshui instead. Danshui offers the usual souvenirs that Jiufen offers but it is nearer to Taipei City, more accessible with the train stopping at the town, more locals to mingle with and has a fantastic night market. For people who loves Naraya bags, there is 1 shop in Danshui that sells the bags and the prices are at least 50% cheaper than getting them in Singapore.
The most over rated place during the whole trip would be Shangrila Farm resort. There is basically nothing to do there, not much fruits to pluck. The only plus points about the place is that they have an activity of releasing the sky lanterns which is a beautiful sight in the night sky. Personally, I love the salted pork set in their restaurant. The other plus point is that there is a very cute Malaysian tourism student on attachment there and that is one sweet eye candy :p
I start this thread to allow like minded people to share their past trips experience and to seek advice on their impending trips. To start the ball rolling, I will post my contribution about my D.I.Y self planned Taiwan Trip last November.
I know that many people have visited Taiwan but most people go with tour and for those who went on a D.I.Y trip, they tend to stick around Taipei. Mine was a 1 week trip and I only managed to have time to visit Taipei, Taizhong, Hualian and Yilan. The trip was super rush and I wished that I had more time to explore these beautiful cities.
Date: November 2010
Visited: Taipei, Jiufen, Danshui, Taizhong, Hualian, Yilan.
Mode of transport: Mostly bullet trains and trains
Total Spent: $3000 SGD (from airfares to everything)
Favorite Place: Hualien - Seven Stars Bay
Regreted Not To Spend More Time In: Taizhong's Sun Moon Lake, Jiufen
Most Overhyped Attraction: Yilan's Shangrila Farm Resort
The most memorable place that we visited was Seven Stars Bay 七星坛 in Hualian. It is a peaceful seaside town with very little tourists. The shore was filled by pebbles instead of sands which makes the place unique. We booked a hotel that overlooks the sea (just 100 metres away) and it was really soothing to hear the waves as we relax inside the room. From the room, we could even see the sunrise and the mountains. In the evening, we walked to a small house-restaurent recommended by the driver of the hotel. The place is a house and the owner had turn the front yard into a small dining area and a bar counter. The place serves BBQ meat and vegetables done in the simplest method and yet it was one of the nicest meal we had. The owner had given up his job in Taipei and together with his wife/gf, returned home to Hualian and set up his small dining business. We had some small chat and I was asking him how he was able to give up everything in Taipei and live a simple life in Hualian. He only replied, "没有什么可不可以的，只有要不要” That moment, a famous quote in Sammyboy suddenly comes to mind. "The cowards never started and the weak died along the way"
The 2 places in our trip that we regreted not spending enough time there were, Sun Moon Lake and Jiufen. We were there in the daytime and missed out on the sunset and the night view which would have been very beautiful. Try the cable car rides and the near vertical climb up the mountains will bring some thrills for those action seekers. Jiufen seems to be very crowded with tourists and if you do not want to take the long journey bus there, you might want to visit Danshui instead. Danshui offers the usual souvenirs that Jiufen offers but it is nearer to Taipei City, more accessible with the train stopping at the town, more locals to mingle with and has a fantastic night market. For people who loves Naraya bags, there is 1 shop in Danshui that sells the bags and the prices are at least 50% cheaper than getting them in Singapore.
The most over rated place during the whole trip would be Shangrila Farm resort. There is basically nothing to do there, not much fruits to pluck. The only plus points about the place is that they have an activity of releasing the sky lanterns which is a beautiful sight in the night sky. Personally, I love the salted pork set in their restaurant. The other plus point is that there is a very cute Malaysian tourism student on attachment there and that is one sweet eye candy :p
My purpose of starting this thread is to let people have an understanding of what I see and feel about those places that I have visited. If they happen to be visiting those places in the near future and wants to know my opinion about those places, they can do so in this thread. Everyone is free to post their experience, not just me.
But of course I did not try it lah...
