Day 3: Taichung!!
Taichung is an hour away from Taipei by the THSR and 2 hrs something by bus or the TRA. So we choose the THSR since we wanted to experience something close to the Japanese bullet train. The normal ticket price is 700NTD but we purchased our ticket in advance by Klook and we bought it for around PHP1862 two-way (TPE – Taichung – TPE). We only spent a day here because we only wanted to see the flower farms but ho ho ho. Misfortunes befall on us.
After we arrive at the THSR station, we grabbed something to eat from one of the stalls in the station, croissant and lemon honey water! It was not juice but lemon honey water, like when you put slices of lemon and a tsp of honey in your drinking water. It was so refreshing.
After eating, we headed to the TRA station going to Taichung.
We waited for like 30mins for the train to arrive. And when it did, we got off at Taichung Station and made our way to out hotel by walking.
According to Google Maps, it was only a 4 mins walk to the hotel. What we walked was an hour and half. Got lost and for like 2x!! The reason: we got out the wrong exit. HAHAHA! But anyway, we reached out hotel around lunch, again dropped off our bags and set off to find Chun Sui Tang, by walking again. There are so monay bus stops but we didn’t find the right bus stop to out destination and my friend relied too much on the 15-18 mins walk indicated by Google Maps. Not I am saying it’s her fault but oh well. On the other hand, we got to explore the town much more. We reached a Taroko Mall where Google Maps is pointing that Chun Sui Tang is located there. But we didn’t find it. So we set off to their food court and settled for a Korean bibimbop. I also bought a ice cold green tea to refresh my body from all those walking earlier.
After eating we wanted to have dessert, so we go to Häagen-Dazs which we saw earlier when we went inside the mall. But boy oh boy, instead of ice cream, we found Chun Sui Tang!!!! ARGH!! It was on the second floor and we didn’t noticed because we didn’t searched enough. So yeah, regrets. So instead of ice cream, we went across the street to buy some milk tea. And this street has 11 milk tea stalls! I am resisting the urge to buy one of each. HAHA! They say that milk teas originated in Taiwan, specifically in Taichung. So it was a mission for me to taste the best milk teas in their hometown.
Across that street was a bus stop. A bus number that we were looking for earlier before we decided to walk on our destination. So we waited for the bus because bus rides up to 10km in Taichung are for free if you have an EasyCard. We were going to National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts because we cannot go to the flower farms anymore. The travel going to one flower farm will cost us half a day already and we don’t have the time anymore. We lost our time trying to find our hotel. Sucks.
Oh by the way, there’s no entrance fee here 🙂
After the museum, we went to the infamous instagrammable village, Rainbow Village in Xinwuri District! We just took a cab there from the museum because time is running out and we cannot afford to lose time again.
So here it is, Rainbow Village!
After our stroll in Rainbow Village, we decided to go back to our hotel, Shin Sei Bashi Hotel, sorry I didn’t get to take photos because I was too tired. But it was smaller than Hey Bear Capsule. when I mean small, it is small. Our dormitory consists of 10 persons but there are only 2 shower rooms and 2 toilet rooms. And well, the room is cramped. But it is clean and the ambiance is nice and well cheap. We rested for a bit because we are now determined to go to a night market this time! HAHA! And we did! We went to Feng Chia Night Market by bus and boooooy the travel is long because of the route the bus makes. I think we traveled at least an hour and 15 minutes to get to the night market. When we got there, we were in awe because even in a province like Taichung, we got a Taipei feels because the night is alive! First thing we hunt down was food because we are starving! We just roam around and bought food at the night market. We also entered stores there looking for souvenirs or face masks or in my case, Biore sunscreen and hair whatnots. But failed attempts again because Biore is expensive even on sale T_T and face masks are even more expensive T_T So we got out of the stores and eat again. I saw a Takoyaki stall and bought one since I didn’t get a chance to buy at Ximending that looks like baby octopus takoyaki. It only costs 65NTD and you get 2 big takoyaki that they will slice up for you! YUUMM!
We also got to taste an exquisite scallops on stick!! It was buttered flavor but it was so yummy we had to buy again before we leave! Got no pic because it immediately went inside my mouth HAHA!
OHHH right! We saw this one after getting off the bus. Sadly we didn’t enter. But I think it was a cafe, with a Harry Potter theme. HUHU regrets! But no worries, I will be back in Taiwan again! #hopefully
It’s like Ximending but it’s in Feng Chia Night Market, Taichung! We rested for a bit and finished our food before taking a cab back to our hotel. It was already past 10PM and we can’t risk getting lost or taking the wrong bus, again.
Our Taichung day was far the most challenging part of our tour, because people here don’t speak English that much compared to people in Taipei. And their main transportation is the bus, no MRT or TRA, and as I have said, little English in our area. We converse in English and surprisingly they answer back, but in Chinese and it was like they understood us but cannot say it back in English, well I dunno. No English subtitles HUHU so that is the reason why we lost our time trying to find our hotel, we cannot just ask for directions because well, language barrier.
And that is how I got the idea on how to move on. HAAHAHAHA! But anyway.
So yeah! When we got back to our hotel, we packed our bags, because for tomorrow, we are set for our final destination and the one I have been so anxious to go and get spirited away, Jiufen Old Streets!
See ya!!
W and B 