Go an! That means good afternoon, and I just Googled that today as well. :)
I'll compress days 3-5 because this has become a ridiculously long series of entries for just a 5d4n trip. But I guess that's because I really enjoyed Taiwan. Even with the language barrier, the locals that we've met never failed to smile genuinely at us. They were extremely patient as well when we tried to communicate using our hands, at times when "ni hao" and "xie xie" just couldn't seem to cut it. :) Taiwan felt safe, and somewhat homey. The coolness of the breeze while we were there was just right. Except maybe when we went to Jiufen...
And that was on day 3 (naks, sume-segue). The towns of Jiufen and Jinguashi were near each other, so we aimed to visit both in one trip. It was the first and only kind-of-cultural part of our Taiwan trip. The Gold Ecological Park, located at Jinguashi, at Ruifang District outside Taipei City, has the Gold Mine Museum. But our real targets were the couple of restaurants that served the miner's lunch (yes, food. What else did you expect?), complete with a metal lunchbox and chopsticks...just like what the miners used to have back in the days.
Following my very organized and neat itinerary that I wrote at the back of a used calendar (reduce, reuse, and recycle guys)...
I really carried this around the whole time
...we took the railway to Ruifang Station from Taipei Main Station. But before that there was a small fuss as we didn't know where to purchase tickets for the train to Ruifang. We first fell in line for the ticket machine, and when it was our turn, we found out Ruifang wasn't on the available options. LOL. There were no directional signs at all (at least, none in English) so you can imagine our anxiety (especially Jing's. Hahaha). Beside the machines were 3 ticket counters with a lot people queuing so we went there without any idea which railway tickets they were selling. Bahala na si Batman. Fortunately, we were on the correct counter window, and were able to get our tickets. If I remember correctly, a one-way ticket costs about NT60-80 per person. Travel time to Ruifang is around 1 hour. A piece of advice, if you can board an earlier train, please do so. The train can get really crowded. Jing and I weren't able to get seats until halfway into the ride. It's okay to bring food inside but be ready to have people staring at you. Jing and I ate our breakfast in the train and we were the only ones eating. Kebs na. Kaysa naman himatayin kami. :)
Across the street from Ruifang station was a Wellcome store where -- according to blogs -- we were to wait for the bus going to Jinguashi/Jiufen. But I noticed most of the passengers turned left from the station and walked a little further, so I entered the Wellcome store to inquire. I have used every related word -- bus, ride, car, road, drive -- to ask where we should wait for the bus to Jinguashi, but the cashier's English was very limited and I think I only caused her stress. LOL. So we followed to where the people went instead, and were thankfully led to the correct bus stop.
Next problem: how to read the bus schedule. Why didn't I ever pay attention to my Chinese subject at school? Every single person at the bus stop has gotten on a bus until there were only 5 of us left. According to my research, we should get on the 1062/1063 bus. BUT none of those passed by. Worse, the LED signs on the buses were also in Chinese characters. Another 20 minutes later, a bus finally came with the Jinguashi/Jiufen sign (in English) and we hopped in before any of us could protest that it was neither bus number 1062 or 1063. But who cares if we got lost in the middle of a non-English-speaking town, right? Right. Finally, after a few narrow turns, we were in front of our destination, to Jing and I's relief. Now straight to eat the miner's lunch!!!
Ruifang station (photo cr. to Jing)
Followed these people walking to the bus stop
Ruifang bus stop for Jinguashi/Jiufen buses
The bus schedule. Very comprehensive /sarcasm/
Finally on the bus!
Finally arrived
Finding lunch. lol
Miner's lunch!
We both ordered chicken. The other option is pork
Some tea to go with our lunch
The view from the restaurant
Around Gold Eco Park
Thanks for the warning
The Crown Prince Chalet
Stairway to the tunnel. We didn't go up /tamad/
Pose muna after lunch (photo cr. to Jing)
(photo cr. to Jing)
(photo cr. to Jing)
After going around Jinguashi, we got on the bus and rode back to get to Jiufen. Jiufen Old Street is famous for being the inspiration for Spirited Away, an award-winning animated film in Japan. It was like going to another night market but with a little more character, with its old houses-turned-shops, and lanterns decorating the entire area. It's where we bought our boxes of mochi (glutinous rice cakes) for pasalubong (if you guys are buying, I recommend the green tea and brown sugar flavored ones. They were so good!). There were a lot of other interesting stuff being sold at Jiufen, though they were not exactly cheap, considering the town is now [too] well-known to tourists. We went inside Ah Mei Tea House as this was the actual structure that inspired the movie, plus it has one of the best overlooking views of Jiufen. When we got seated, we asked for the menu, and we were given some sort of bamboo mat with traditional Chinese characters engraved on it...which of course, we couldn't read. So I don't know if I understood it correctly, but the waitress kind of said that the cheapest we could order was a tea set worth NT300 (more than Php400)... PER PERSON. Uhm, yeah... no. Jing and I politely declined and headed back out. Budget travelers here, sorry.
Anyway we went around Jiufen Old Street a few minutes more (mostly hunting for food) and decided to get on the bus back to Taipei so we could arrive just a little after it gets dark. This was the time that I already felt a little feverish. The bus ride from Jiufen to Taipei took an hour and a half, and I slowly felt my eyes getting hot and my head was throbbing. It was really cold at Jinguashi and Jiufen (a lot colder than at Taipei), so I guess that kind of took a toll on my body.
(photo cr. to Jing)
This wrapped ice cream tasted good but it was messy to eat :)
Juice :)
Gold chocolates :)
This dog guards his master's leather bag shop
(photo cr. to Jing)
photo op time ((photo cr. to Jing)
Ah Mei Tea House
Ah Mei Tea House (photo cr. to Jing)
Inside the bus, feeling a fever coming :O
So when we got back to the apartment, I had to sleep it off while Jing went back out again for another round at Raohe (it was her last night in Taiwan). As luck would have it, she found this shop that sells jeans for NT100 (Php150)!!!!! Good thing she remembered to call me. Between the headache and runny nose, I managed to give her my size and my preferred jean color. LOL. When she got back, we were a pair of ripped jeans (well, 2 pairs for her) richer!
(photo cr. to Jing)
Luckily the next day I felt better, so Jing and I woke up earlier than usual to go to Starbucks at Taipei 101. Yes, Starbucks. But before you judge, it's the SB branch that has an overlooking view of Taipei, and we actually had to call in advance the day before to reserve slots. When we reached, we waited a few minutes at the Taipei 101 lobby until a Starbucks staff came to gather all of us that had reservations and led us up to the 35th floor. Everyone else raced for the long tables near the window, while the lazies (us) opted for the next best spot. LOL.
Honest opinion: The "view" was between meh and okay. The windows weren't clean, maybe because the mist from the weather mixed with dirt, so that the supposedly clear windows were opaque. Yeah, well, the coffee was good, at least. :)
Taipei 101 lobby
Taipei 101 lobby
That's the "view" behind us. Lol
Just enjoyed my coffee instead. (photo -- and hat -- cr. to Jing)
We strolled around the area afterwards and would occasionally find these public bicycles for rent called YouBikes, parked along the walkway. Anyone can use it for a fee, and there are Youbike stations everywhere so you can just park your bike in any of these stations when you're done. So cool. I wish we had tried one, but there was no time and we didn't know the traffic rules. Maybe next time.
(photo cr. to Jing)
Etchosera. Naka-kabit pa yung bike lol (Photo cr. to Jing)
In the afternoon, Jing collected her luggage at the apartment and I accompanied her to Taipei City Hall station where she'd board the bus to the Taoyuan Airport. Awww. When she left, I went to explore outside Taipei City Hall and found myself at Xinyi Shopping District. It was a Sunday and I was pleased to find a lot of street performers along the district's pathways. I regretted leaving my camera at the apartment but I stayed to enjoy the performances anyway. I so love Taipei!
Here are some of the acts at Xinyi. The 3rd one was a crowd favorite. Watch to know why. :)
My 5th and last day in Taipei was short. I actually just went back to Ximending to find this record store that sells K-pop albums. LOL! Yes, I was still at the height of my K-pop addiction then. I located the store after a few wrong turns, and I was so happy to find so many T-ARA albums...even the old ones! But I didn't buy anything. Umandar ang pagkakuripot ko. I didn't think I really needed them. O diba, I just wasted time trying to find the store. Hahaha. But to k-pop fans, here's how to get to Jia Jia / Chia Chia Record. I included a few photos of the facade (and the staircase) just to guide you. :)
1) From the Ximen Station exit 6, enter the Ximending shopping district
2) Turn right on the first street (Lane 6)
3) At the dead end, turn right again (Emei St.)
4) Turn left on Section 1, Zhonghua Rd. Walk straight for 1 block
5) After passing Lane 114 on your left, you should see a building with the yellow sign (see below).
My check out time at Toni's apartment was 11AM, so before I went to Ximending, I already checked out early and just left my luggage at one of Taipei City Hall station's baggage lockers. They were so convenient, I don't know why we don't have them in the Philippines. I was able to maximize my remaining time in Taipei without having to drag my luggage around. The only funny thing was, the only large locker available (there were small and medium ones, too, for smaller bags), was at the top row. So I needed to lift my 25-kg luggage up and shove it inside. I just avoided people's stares while I mustered as much muscle power as I can to accomplish the task. Despite a couple of sweat beads sliding down my temple, I did pretty fine by myself. Macho eh. LOL. The instructions were translated in English and were easy to understand so trying to operate them was a breeze.
I enjoyed our Taiwan trip so much. I wish I can go back again and explore other sites and provinces outside Taipei City. Jing says it's like the "affordable Korea," and I agree. Actually it's like a cross of Hong Kong and Seoul, but with its own identity. And the people are exceptionally nice -- all smiles and always accommodating.
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