Happenings @ East TWN Day 2

-- train ride --

we woke up really early esp. on our 2nd day of the trip. soon it’ll be time for us to gain 1st hand experience riding on the train from Taipei city to Hualien 花莲. definitely excited about this – our very 1st “virgin” train ride in Taiwan! as we've pre-planned our journey and also bought our train tix & breakfast the night before, a stop over was made @ 7-Eleven to purchase some drinks for the train ride on 11 Jan 2007 – it was a breeze traveling out of Taipei city!

we were directed to the right platform to catch our ride and our train was on time – each purchased tix is assigned with a seat number. for our cart, it sure was pretty full for a weekday.

we were pretty much drained + medication intake the night before, we kinda dozed off while watching the scenery. hahaha. nonetheless, resting is much advisable as the upcoming attraction’s not to be missed ~ TAROKO 太鲁阁 NATIONAL PARK ~

some sights we've captured along the way :)




approx 3 hours later, we arrived in Hualien 花莲. once outside the train station, we went in search of Tourist Information Centre to confirm our guided tour (tour agency’s offering NT650 per pax for half day tour) of Taroko National Park. however, we were soon “chased” by a local – wanting to offer us personalized chauffeured service for the tour. he insisted being cheaper (his offer, NT500 per pax) and that it’s better to go with him. another local even tried to offer us NT400 per pax!





"Chased" by a local for personalized tour guide service



fellow travelers, do not be attracted by these CHEAP offers! we spoke to a local (owner of a shop) and was advised that it’s always better to follow guided tour agencies instead – mainly, they are registered companies in Taiwan and usually there’s no other hidden / additional charges as released to the public.

our "breakfast" before the trip



anyway, we went ahead with our guided tour as previously booked the night before –NT 650 per pax. as lunch will not be included in this package, we ta-bao (packed lunch) before boarding our mini-bus for Taroko National Park.



our guide, Mr. Wang was a very interesting and funny guy. he was very polite and apologetic for the late comers (yes, 5 pax were late for the tour due to train delayed~!) approx 30-45 mins later, we set off to our destination. he was informative and provided the group with a quick history of the surroundings around us – just like what a tour guide will do. we found out that a couple of the mountains (towards Taroko’s direction) were actually empty “shells” used to keep fighter plans inside! can you spot the fighter plane in the picture below?



up the hill / mountain we go. TAROKO 太鲁阁NATIONAL PARK is a natural reserve of huge marble rocks and the view was fantastic! it’s a MUST do/go site if you’re visiting Taiwan. the weather was cooling with a right amount of sun for great photo shots! check out the view and pictures we’ve got!

Cool Slideshows

we took more shots ~ candid ones!

Cool Slideshows

throughout our Taroko trip, it was mostly sunny with slight rain.
while we rested @ a café closing to the end of our tour, we came to witness the fall of a couple of small rocks from the mountains and they made a really LOUD thump!
it sounded like thunder but just way louder!
the WORKS of NATURE and this is something that we won’t be able to experience in Singapore.
unfortunately, was not able to capture this moment on picture/ video ~ sigh ~

amazingly for Grace, she found her all time favorite dessert (well.. similar to what she had when she was in Japan) in the cafe. it’s a fresh whole strawberry covered with fresh cream in a very thin layer of mochi ~



see a very happie Grace ~ satisfied with the yummy "Xue Mei Niang"!



it was around 5pm when we’re back to civilization and away from the mountains. stumped upon a shop selling fruit wine / vinegar and I got myself a bottle of honey wine.



also ta-bao (packed dinner) from the locals and they were tasty, esp HAKKA dumpling. being curious, we also purchased a box of “train food” 台铁便当. it’s hot when we bought it and tasted a little like Mom’s cooking. WOW!




-- stopping by @ Jhihben 知本 --

approx 3.5 - 4 hours later, we reached Jhihben 知本 also famous for their hot springs. took a cab to our hotel – Rainbow Resort and settled down quickly – looked around and bought us some raw eggs. there’s a sitting area near the Hot Spring pools whereby you can cook yourself hard boiled eggs with their equipment there! totally cool ~!



we were excited as it was our 1st try of tasting eggs boiled from Hot Spring aka volcanic water! our hard boiled eggs tasted somewhat similar to those cooked in water. not much difference however with a hint of sulphur aroma :P

Cool Slideshows

it was already in the wee hours of the morning when we retire for bed.... zzZzZzZ beat from all that train ride! haha ~!