Well, hello everyone! I am back with day 3 of the long overdue Taiwan trip travelogue!
It is an exciting day for day 3 because we are moving over to Hua Lien, out of Taipei! Woke up pretty early in the morning and brought our luggage to the next hotel we will be staying in when we are back from Hua Lien.
Will totally recommend to go on a light suitcase or back pack so the travelling will be easier and we are only in Hua Lien for 2 days. I think all you have to do is to inform the hotel when you make the necessary booking? Mine is done by a friend of my dad, because he have good relations with the owner of the hotel.
Anyway, after that, we head over to grab some Mac breakfast! Both of us got the sausage mcmuffin meal.
We then went over to the main station and got our tickets. I will recommend you guys to head over to the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) website first and check the timings and trains available so you can better plan your trip.
That is what I did, with a rough idea of what time I want to book the tickets, we manage to reach there earlier and purchase the tickets in person. You can also make bookings online!
There are two types of TRA available, the express one that have the shortest travelling time and the ordinary one that will take slightly longer one. The express one will be slightly pricier of course.
The tickets were NT $440, which is about SGD 19.
While waiting for the TRA to arrive~
And finally after about 4 hours of ride, we reached Hua Lien, and we are staying in a Minsu called:
The owner is very nice and when we are there, someone actually came to pick us up from the station to the Minsu.
We were greeted by the very kind 羊妈妈, got the keys to the room and make the necessary payments. LOOK!
It have a very homely feel to it and I have to say both of us are obsessed with the place. After settling down, we went over to play with the dogs! Oh, they have 2 dogs and 2 sheep! Awesome isn't it? We literally sat there and chill with the doggies for ages!
After which, we approached 羊妈妈 and ask her what are the places we have to visit! When I was doing my research, there wasn't much in Hua Lien except those sight-seeing places. She gave us this cab driver's number and told us that he can bring us to places for a much cheaper prices because they have like an affiliation.
We then went back to get ready and we were picked up at about 6 plus 7 and went out for dinner.
We wanted to go to the famous 公正包子 but the shop was PACKED and I am not even joking I think we will need an hour so more to get a sit! We were starving and when we are on our way there, the cab driver actually recommend us to go to 周家蒸餃 which is located just beside 公正包子 which he personally finds it so much nicer. He mentioned that that is the traditional ones. So we then went over to 周家蒸餃, which is the yellow sign board if in the photo below.
The insides of the shop.
We then place our order:
丸汤
the noodle that Susanna had which I don't know the name
小籠包
Decent, not the best I have tasted.
豆浆, quite bland, I should have ordered tea instead.
蒸餃, I absolutely love this. We ordered 10 to share, I even bought some to takeaway as supper.
After finishing our dinner, we went to explore Hua Lien, there is a night market over there called the Rainbow Night Market, the former Nanbin Night market, and there are not much things to walk. There are literally two lanes of shops facing each other, mostly filled with those games booth and some food vendors. We literally finish the place in less than 5 minutes.
Bought a drink to quench my thirst while walking, I think we sat down to have smelly toufu which Susanna wanted, I didn't have any though.
We then continue to wander around other parts after the night market, there are a few small shops along, we got tons of local snacks from there and it is insane!
After we are done, I called up the cab driver and he drove us back to the Minsu and that is all for the night. Our arms really ache from all the stuff that we bought, especially the tapioca snack which is super nice. I am literally drooling reminiscing about it.
Taiwan Vlog Day 3 and 4 will be out soon! :)
With Loves,
Joan Ting
Joan Ting
