Back to this year's trip: National Taiwan University campus. These are fit-looking birds.
For those who like their birds brown or tanned.
Back to this year's trip: National Taiwan University campus. These are fit-looking birds.
For those who like their birds brown or tanned.
Last edited by katie23; 30-04-2017 at 02:35 PM. Reason: spelling mistake
NTU campus is a large one, lots of trees, very pretty. This is a project of architechture students.
Life Science and Chemistry building (or maybe it's just a tarp)
I met up with my friend again for dinner (it was a Monday and he had work during the day). We went to the vicinity of Taipei 101 for a walk. T101 up close and personal.
Some streets at the back of T101, there are lots of shops and eating places. This looked nice, with all the lights. (wonder what their carbon footprint is, heh)
This place reminded me of Makati, specifically the Greenbelt area. There's an open area for eating and drinking, light music was playing. Very chilled and good for a drink or two. Lots of yuppies.
For those who are selfish
Saw a couple doing their pre-wedding photoshoot
This was a nice end to my visit to Taipei.
The next day, I took the train to Hualien, a city on the eastern side. It's famous for being the drop-off point to Taroko National Park. The journey took 2h 10m. Passed by the coast in some areas.
Passed by some mountains and ricefields too. The countryside was very scenic.
Hualien visitor information center. You can get info, maps & stuff. The staff speak a lil English and were helpful.
Lunch at a small Vietnamese resto - Pho Bo, or beef noodle soup.
My friend warned me that it was going to be rainy, and indeed it was. Temperature was ~ 22-26 C. The three previous days in Taipei were sunny ones, ~30 C. Hualien in the rain...
Went to a mom/pop store and saw Pringles! Different ones!
Hualien is in a mountainous area. Walked around a bit, and saw this motel (and mountains) at the end of a street.
It was cold and rainy, so I just bought stuff and went back to my accoms. Played with this dog of the owner - he was very friendly and had a funny gait. Turned out he's very old (17 y.o.) and his eyes have cataracts so he can't see well.
Last edited by katie23; 30-04-2017 at 03:11 PM.
From the brochure:
Taroko National Park is famous for its gorge landscapes which feature marble rocks on both sides of the Liwu River valley from Taroko to Tianxiang along the Central Cross-island Highway. In addition to its historic sites, such as prehistoric relics, ancient tribal relics and ancient & current road systems, the beauty of the pristine Taroko never fails to wow visitors.
I bought a 1-day pass for 250 ntd. It's on a hop-on, hop-off bus. The brochure has a schedule of the time that the bus will stop at different points. The interval of the buses are around 1 hour, so if you finish that point fast, then you'll have to wait for the bus. As I've stated earlier in this thread, one option would be to hire your own vehicle (car or motorbike) if you don't like waiting, or for those with kids. There are 10 points on the Taroko route; I wasn't able to go to all of them due to lack of time (and the waiting periods for the bus). The bus tour starts at 7am, but I was too lazy to wake up early - another reason that I wasn't able to go to all the points. However, I am content with what I have seen/experienced of the Taroko route.
First stop on the Taroko route: Qixingtan. It's by the coast. The wind was nicely cool, in the 20s.
The beach - was too cold for swimming, but good for a stroll.
@bld - those were bladdy big balls of a fish! Maybe fishlocker's? heh... They weren't processed (factory-made) fish balls, unlike the fishballs that I'm familiar with in PI. They were homemade, with flour/dough and fishmeat inside. Very tasty. I haven't released the pics of Kaohsiung yet - lots of seafood in the night market! Your Mrs will love it there! Cheers.
Haha. Yup, the seafood is good there, and not too pricey, I think. More exp than Th or Vn, but less than SG, Korea, Japan or USA. My accoms averaged at 20 usd (~1000 php), but then I picked the cheap (but decent) ones. I had my own room, but sometimes shared bathrooms. In Hualien, I stayed in a hostel, in Kaohsiung, a hotel. I think you can get a nice enough hotel for 40-50 usd. If you go to Hualien, I think your boys will enjoy hiking the trails in the Taroko route. Acdg to my friend, it's good that I visited in April, so it wasn't too hot yet. Would be very hot from June-Aug. Cheers!
p.s. I chose Taiwan bcos I had a 10-yr US visa and I could apply for a Taiwan visa exemption. I think most SEA nationals need visas for Taiwan. However, there was a recent announcement in the news that Taiwan will lift the visa requirement for SEA nationals, one year trial period, starting this June. So best check the announcements/visa requirements if you have a SEA spouse/partner.
Last edited by katie23; 30-04-2017 at 03:36 PM. Reason: added info on visa reqts
There was a statue of a female. Is that a female buddha? (honest question, I'm Catholic, not Buddhist, so I don't know.)
First time that I saw soi dogs in Taiwan. Most of the dogs that I've seen were tethered and well cared for.
Squid and sausage cart. Another one for The Gent.
While waiting for the bus, I decided it was time to test the Seaweed Pringles. Was good!
Hop-on bus. It's also a bus used by locals - they tap their cards on the sensor. If you're on the tour, just show your ticket to the driver and it's all good.
Mountains along the way
This is the Shakadang Trail. If you'll look closely, there are people walking on the trail.
The Shakadang River.
Bridge and the Shakadang Trail. There are stairs leading downwards from the bridge to the trail.
Watch your head!
This guy was being senti/emo. My gaydar beeped. If you're 6ft or more, you'll have to really watch your head, I think. This route/trail is still currently used by the Taroko tribe.
Visitor Center tunnel
This was my 3rd point in the route, Buluowan. There's a trail and a mini-museum, also a souvenir/coffee shop. I think there's a bigger eating place at the Taroko Visitor Center, which I didn't visit.
More of Buluowan
Painting of people of the Taroko tribe (an indigenous group)
This was my light lunch: sticky rice dumpling (there's meat inside) and hot chocolate. It was rainy & cold, and a hot drink was good at that time.
Foggy mountains
While waiting for the bus, I saw ppl praying under a Bodhisattva tree.
What's the significance of this tree in Buddhism?
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