Taiwan Round-Island Trip Jan '09 (Part 1)...台湾环岛之旅09年...台湾ラウンドアイランドトリップ...

I went on my Taiwan Round island from Jan 5th~Jan 12th for about a week...it was my first trip around the island!

It was great and i got to experience and discover a different Taiwan...i've been to Kaohsiung a few times before as well as to Taichung as well but that's about it. This time, i visited Taichung, Lugang,Changhua, Chiayi, Tainan, Alishan, Kaohsiung, and also Hsinchu Neiwan, San Hsia, Yilan, Shenkeng, SuAo,etc as well with my aunts and uncles and cousin.

It has allowed me to discover a Taiwan i didn't know as well, being the inner city Taipei kid that i was raised. Some other Taipei ppl have grandparents back in hometowns or relatives living in other cities/towns but my family all live in inner Taipei city with the sole exception of my uncle whose now is in Chile with his family and my Kaohsiung Aunt (as we call her as she's the only one living away from Taipei). Thus, I have not actually visited rural Taiwan before in my life nor gone to the smaller towns/cities. This trip changed all that:-)

Anyways, i shall detail my trip by places, so enjoy the read! Hope you like it:-):

Above: At the Taipei HSR Station...i saw a black buddhist monk! Pix above...

Taichung:

This is one of my favourite cities in Taiwan. If Taipei has everything in terms of development, and Kaohsiung is the spick-and-span modern and fast rising city, then Taichung is the city with a relaxed laid-back feel, a cosier city with its large coffee shops, green space, art galleries, and lovely boulevards.
Above: Taichung Bus ticket..

I love and visited and highly recommend the world-class National Taiwan Museum of Arts, the lovely park around it, the Art Boulevard directly across the Museum and when you walk along it, you will arrive at the list of restaurants on both sides with their foreign flavours and unusual architecture, ranging from Italian pizza, to Meditteranean cuisine, to Japanese stonegrill!

This is a wonderful place to have dinner at!

Above and Below: Civic Plaza Park...recommended by 'a Beautiful Mess' on her blog..

Above and Below: Civic Plaza Park and Eslite Civic Plaza Branch

Above and Below: Art Boulevard directly opp. the National Taiwan Museum of Arts...

Above and Below: Taichung Firestation and Confucius Temple, Taichung with apartment blocks behind it...

Above: Taichung Park...a tranquil place in the heart of town for pondering, a relaxing stroll, or exercise..Above: Another store/restaurant opened by Southeast Asian brides in Taiwan...Above: A city scene of Taichung, it really really REALLY reminded me of Japanese cities..

Above: Taichung streetfood...'Ru Wei' a Taiwanese delicacy and me and my mom's fav tea/supper tidbit snack to munch on..hehe....

Above: Taichung street scene....below is a store i saw which sells funky japanese street fashion...

I'd also recommend the Civic Square Park 市民广场 which i went in the morning which is a good time to go or during the evenings...you should also visit the Eslite Bookstore right opposite the Park which has a great view overlooking the park as its on the top floors of the building...the building also has nice looking restaurants, shops,etc...a nice way to spend a day there..i knew about this park from a blog which i read called the 'beautiful mess' and it was nice going there....

Of cos, also head to Yizhong Commercial District and Fengjia nightmarket for good street food and more shopping as well as the Jingming Yi Jie for nice restaurants,bustling shops, as well as cafes for a time of rest and relaxation...i ate with my cousin there whom is studying at university in Taichung..

Above and Below: Fengjia Nightmarket above and Yizhong Jie below...

Lugang:

I also headed for Lugang from Taichung as its just an hours bus ride from Changhua City. To get to Changhua City, take the Taiwan Railway from Taichung Main Station to Changhua Station which is like only a few stops away despite being another city. Then take the bus from the bus services opp. the road of Changhua Station to Lugang. Lugang is a historical town with alot of historical monuments and is well-known for that in Taiwan although less well-known with overseas tourists. I REALLY recommend visiting Lugang if in the vicinity of Taichung as its a nice small little town and a different experience altogether....the Lugang Historical Area is worth a visit situated close to the Matsu Temple..

Above and Below: Lugang scenery...

Above and Below: A typical Taiwan Railway Station...

I was actually the proudest of my trip to Taiwan for being able to go to Lugang, as i was going there alone and it was not so convenient to get there being a small town and i had actually not planned on the day to go actually and had just gone to Changhua and i didn't even know where the bus stop for Lugang buses was located or what time they departed and returned,etc...but thank god must be helping me and when i got there, i not only easily found the bus stop which was near the station but a bus going to Lugang was just about to depart...and when i arrived, i didn't know where to go e.g directions, but once again i managed to go to everywhere i wanted within the time i had and catching the bus back to Changhua..so everything was within plan:-)

Alishan:

I had visited both Tainan and Alishan from Kaohsiung as i had missed the Alishan bus on the first time and basically decided it'd be cheaper to stay in Kaohsiung and commute there via HSR as it'd save me accomodation costs in Tainan and Alishan (thank god i have free accomodation throughout my hk/taiwan trip which saved me heaps as well as the existence of the HSR which made it possible to do daytrips to Alishan from Kaohsiung!)

I woke up early in the morning. I still remember that was a bitterly chilly and windy morning in Kaohsiung, exceptionally cold for its normal winter weather, it felt like -2 degrees with the strong wind blowing behind my back....heck even Alishan which is supposed to be cold during winter (on that day it was only 8 degrees) didn't feel that cold..i took the HSR to Chiayi HSR Station which is the closest station and then from there took the bus to Alishan from the Alishan bus station at the front entrance of Chiayi Station. One needs to note that the HSR station is 30 mins away from the Taiwan Railway Chiayi Station and so you need to take the free shuttle bus and then walk to the Station by crossing a footpath.

The bus journey takes around 3 1/2 hrs (i think) from memory and it takes you up the mountain to the Alishan Railway Sta. Wondered around and it was time to take the famous Alishan Mountain Rail down to Fenchihu Station which is the mid-way village and famous for its Biantang ('Taiwanese style bento') which is always delicious...i had it and it was great...there are many lodgings and restaurants at Alishan and Fenchihu and one can opt to stay overnight to view the sunrise which is supposedly an amazing sight. I had a nice time at Fenchihu at this hillside cafe having bento and squash and chatting with the cafe owner whom grew up in Fenchihu...told me about life here, conveniences and inconveniences, how they get their daily necessities,etc...and then took the bus (which u cannot miss cos there's only one or two going back to Chiayi everyday) back to Chiayi city...

Of cos, as it was sunset, the bus driver was kind enough to stop for us and let us take our photos of the mist amongst the mountains for a minute, which was a surreal sight as you see a sea of mist amongst the mountains as the sun sets.....i am glad i finally was able to visit the most famous mountain in Taiwan!!!

Above: The Modern HSR Station in Chiayi i think...Taiwan has definitely caught up to Japan in terms of the service industry as well as infrastructure i think...

Above and Below: Alishan 'Sea of Clouds..'....

Above: Enjoying the view at Fenchihu with the famous 'Fenchihu Biantang'...

Above and Below: Fenchihu Village...

Above and Below: Alishan Forest Railway and Alishan view....

Above and Below: Alishan scenery...

Above: There's a photo of the 'tallest Starbucks in Taiwan', being the Alishan Starbucks store as well as photos of Chiayi Town and Station...

Above and Below: Pic above details what the inside of a HSR train looks like (the Taiwanese shinkansen)...below is a typical Taiwanese Railway Biantang...yummmmy....Chiayi Station and the sign below indicates the place where i bought my Biantang...

Above and Below: More HSR train and train station pix..hehe....

Above: Back to Kaohsiung again, after my Alishan trip!