DAY 5 // 29 December, Thursday | We booked Hualien Day Tour from Taipei (Guided in English) for 5 pax a few days ago!
We woke up at 5ish am this morning and it was raining!
We made our way hurriedly to East 3 Gate at Taipei Main Station! (Arrived: 655 am)
The gathering time was 7 am, then later we saw the itinerary written 7.15 am, so I guess we are early??
(East 3 Gate = 东3门)
It continued to rain, even after we got our number tags and were leaving the station, to board the bus!
As a family of 5, someone always has to end up sitting alone, or all the way at the back, in the most dangerous seat! We sat at the back, and the corner window seat has a missing seatbelt, so our tour guide, BOBO suggested that I change my seat, and also asked Bili if she wants to change her seat too.
So we did, for safety reasons! (later they played a video of accidents and the impact on those who did not wear a seatbelt 😲)
During the break at our first rest stop, Su Ao Service Area, Dad went to remove the seat cushion and took out the seatbelt, so later I can sit back at my original seat!!
I saw the toilet bowl water was yellow in most cubicles, and huh why so dirty one? Actually, the toilets at Su Ao Service Area use recycled water, hence the constant yellow tint... (chey)
Taiwan Cement DAKA Park
(We kept hearing BOBO call it "TAI NI DAKA", and were confused, as in tap card??)
Weather Report of today:
It has been raining non-stop since we got up this morning... We went to the washroom and also went to their 7-11 to get snacks hah, dad was at Starbucks waiting for us (not wrong to guess we are there), then he belatedly came over and get some hot food, before it is time to get on the bus again!
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Random View on the road:
We got to Taroko National Park Visitor Center and have to change to another bus! These buses are driven by local drivers who are more experienced in driving on 山路.
We moved our belongings to another bus, and from here we followed BOBO to the entrance of the tunnel.
Loving this view (on our way from the Visitor Centre)!
We were getting close to the tunnel! (also can't see BOBO from here, as she is small in size, all I can see is her flag)
While we were walking, I observed these two guys on the tour:
SUS, yes or no??
Tunnel moment be like:
(honestly, panicked a little because is this the trail ah??)
小錐麓步道 | Xiaozhuilu Trail
There are a few focal points on this trail of 650 meters (felt a lot longer btw!)
(End of the tunnel, leading up to the trail)
We kept climbing stairs, and at this point, I was feeling breathless, then realised aiyo why I still wearing my mask...
(1) Xiaozhuilu Cliff
(2) Little Suspension Bridge
From the back and from the front:
(3) Viewing Platform (I did not see any viewing platform hahaha)
Then we moved forward:
(4) Entrance to Shakadang Trail
We have to climb up those stairs and walked towards our bus! The bus driver drove over to pick us up from here.
Once we got up to the top, we could see the Shakadang Trail entrance, along the bridge, it was filled with these statues (their hair all looked different, so cool)
What we see below (from the bridge):
At the end of this bridge, was this:
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Along the way, while we were on the bus, we passed by:
燕子口步道 | Swallow Grotto Trail
We saw people walking along the trail with their helmets on, due to falling rocks!
Favourite from the on-the-bus series hehe 💙
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天祥 | Tianxiang Village
We went to try their vegetables and meat grown/reared at higher altitudes, the food they cooked are simple dishes, but very delicious!!
(I miss their bamboo rice with peanut powder!)
After enjoying our lunch, we went to walk around to take pictures, go toilet and also visit their convenience shop too!
The view:
The dog:
And Rachel's coffee on the bus:
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Thank god for this window seat on the right, I managed to take a lot of pictures during the ride, however, due to the window reflective problems, the images are largely affected. I picked these two, as the best from dizzy bus ride adventures:
九曲洞步道 | Tunnel of Nine Turns
We get to get off the bus and walked along the trail of what we kept hearing as "九七 Tuna", Dad was so excited to see how beautiful this place is (I think he just like the rocks and stuff hah)
HELLO THERE
(about to spam pictures of the beauty of Taroko National Park!)
💙💚
I love how peaceful this place is, at every corner, at every turn! This is one of the highlights of our trip, in my opinion, hehe
I will definitely visit this place again 🙏🏻 SO HEALING!!!!!
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長春祠 | Eternal Spring Shrine
We only got 10 minutes here! Quickly snap pictures hehe
Parents were feeling too tired to get off the bus, for just a photo. BOBO makes a good photographer!!!!
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我们去哪里呢？
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清水斷崖 | Taroko Qingshui Cliff
The colour of the water depends on the temperature, I wonder how different would it be if we came in another month!
(why do I look extremely excited ah, IDK)
Didn't like the rocks barrier behind me, but overall captured how happy I was on this day!!
Also, scroll to check out some weird shit going on:
Lastly, this is my favourite picture of parents on the trip ❤️
(don't stop traveling even when our knees hurt hah)
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Truth: my neck felt sore after all the naps on the bus, do not think I can do this again...
We stopped by the rest stop on our way and reached back Taipei Main Station at 7ish pm!
On the way back, we snacked quite a lot hehe
(unable to not capture the hobos at the bottom of the tree...)
We took a family picture, and the only caption I can think of, is HAHAHA
Dad wasn't feeling very well and decided to skip dinner, Mom just grabbed a bento on the way back to the Hotel! We wanted to have hotpot on a rainy day liddis, but ended up eating McDonald's
(take out and eat at the food court, the whole time damn scared kenna scolded by cleaner auntie, or by any auntie hahaha)
We went around the Main Station trying to find Grandma's favourite 萨其马, not too sticky and not too sweet.
Then having our daily yogurt because this flavour is so good??
Dad vomited 7-8 times until nothing was left in his stomach. Was it food poisoning ah? But we all ate the same food leh. Or is it he kept adding this turmeric + clove powder thingy in his food, to promote hair growth?
DAY 6 // 30 December, Friday | I woke up this morning, feeling like I was run over by a truck! Is it aging problems, going on a day trip, then coming back exhausted to my bones (but the trip is worth it)!
Parents not joining us today as Dad is still recovering (refused to see a doctor -.-)
We left the Hotel at 11ish am today and went around the area to look for nice food before we head to our only itinerary of the day hehe
(hope I am not the only one OCD-ing about this picture^)
Interior pictures
(unintended butt bomb)
I never really like food that is not soup/saucy to be soupy/saucy, looking at the eggs dish, I was feeling sian already, but this is so heavenly la 😋
FUFU CAT CAFE (at Ximending)
The pricing is $50 NTD for 10 minutes, for students who just want to come here to bond with cats, cheap! If we stay longer than 100 minutes, it will still be $500 NTD hehe
We came here at 1ish pm, looked at their menu, and ordered our coffee/tea!!! There are cup holders around for us to put our drinks.
Found this in the cat cafe that matches my socks!
More interior pictures:
CATS 🐾 the active ones
The sleepy ones
A bunch of sleepy ones:
Me just caressing this little ball while she sleeps...
THERAPEUTIC ✨
The cats weren't really interested in hanging out with us, mostly, so we just chill around and went to take pictures of them!
FEEDING TIME?
(睡宝宝起来了）
kitty's posture!!
We didn't expect the cats to come to sit on our laps since they are used to 100% attention all the time, plus it also takes time for them to warm up to us. Some miracle happened here~
I never liked hairless cats, because I felt cats should have fur? Might feel a little strange touching a Sphynx cat...
She looks mad all the time, but is a cute lil bb! I named her 宝贝! It wasn't weird at all, touching at Sphynx, I fell in love with Sphynx today!!!!
After a while, she left me and I went to get a new drink, the staff here told me they like lying on the blankets, so please try out having the blanket on my lap.
Here comes 宝贝, with her very annoyed expression + me just sayang-ing her endlessly hehehe
She later found the perfect spot on my (warm) thighs and fell asleep hehe. I didn't want to wake her, so I held in my pee and also endured pins and needles.
At this point, I think I will make a good cat mom!!
Another Sphynx at the cat cafe went to sit on Fat fat's lap, and hehe she's so cute too (with the same expression all the time)
(Fat fat calls her "naked rat" affectionally, of course!)
I went to the toilet, 宝贝 moved on and camped next to the "naked rat", under a layer of a blanket (beige) and didn't leave until it was snack time hah
Then a white lil ball came and sat on my lap:
(背影好可爱!!!!)
I tried taking selfie with her, and check ou her eyes! HAHAHA
Okay la, let you nap nap!
We take selfies later hehe
(Where is Bili throughout our cat mom journey, she is reading comics here about cats, and telling us the really cute moments hehe)
Later, she got up from her long nap (my thighs were damn hot liao), and just watched others while laying in her curled-up blanket I made for her, while she slept.
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Every guest that comes, gets treats to feed the cats. We were here for way longer than most people, the staff still gave us a frozen lollipop treat!
This kitty started sneezing after a few licks, and we didn't want to feed further. He/she also started tearing up.
I think I found my spirit cat:
(grumpy all the time!!!!!)
We left Fufu Cat Cafe at 7 pm!
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It is time for dinner - 臭豆腐 ((without Dad)
No idea why the stall owner thought we are Koreans haha
Dark streets liddis remind me a lot of HK:
We then went on to try other good food in the vicinity:
Also, our trip is coming to an end le, but we haven't had BBT!!!!!!
(2 dollars plus SGD only wor)
On our way back, we grabbed Mom's dinner and banana for dad (he insisted on not eating)!
DAY 7 // 31 December, Saturday | Dad is feeling much better, probably hungry le ba, from barely eating anything yesterday!
Bili has been talking about 咸豆浆 for the longest time, so here we are in search of it.
We decided not to go to Yong He and try somewhere else!
四海豆浆
(belatedly realised the lady in pink, is Mom trying to find the shop's 招牌)
Interior:
咸豆浆!
Hehe pictures of food I took:
We ordered a lot??
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I sent this picture to SL, telling her to help me buy this pair of Kydra shoes in white, size 39 (later she told me no stock le...)
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We wanted to tour around the area but it was drizzling, so we ended up making our way back to Ximending instead, to collect what we bought on the 28th!
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We have been talking about what is that red house, over there ah! Today let's go see see~
西門紅樓 | The Red House
They sell a lot of cute items, chic clothing, etc, and also have their own cafe here!!! I got this (it was so hard deciding to get one with a cat or a dog)
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老板???
Dad bought some poncho, we probably gonna wear it in Japan next year, but it wouldn't do us much help in the cold weather tho hah
Coffee break, 坐坐吧
While leaving this place, no idea why Dad suddenly called our Aunt on facetime HAHA
VIEW:
Before we go pick up our orders, we went to get our 雪花冰 first at XXXX (forgot the name of the shop oops)
On the way, I also went to buy Taiwanese sausages, really my love!!!
We got to Ruyi and the carton of 伴手礼 is 9.1kg!!!! It is also very bulky to carry by its made-shift handle (the box keeps bumping into our legs). We carried it with both hands, in front of us and made our way to the Metro (10 minutes walk), took the Metro, and then back to our Hotel, taking turns to hold it!
We didn’t want Dad to carry it because he just recovered, but in the end, he took it from the Metro station all the way back to our Hotel!
After we got back to the Hotel, Fat fat and I began our luggage packing journey (sibei sian to put everything back inside), while Bili went out to buy some other things + refund our transport cards at the Metro station!
We got a cup of Iced Latte from a pop-up stall in our Hotel Lobby, the coffee is not bad!
At 6ish pm, we then made our way to the restaurant at Level 5 for our Buffet Dinner (after the discount, it is $35 SGD per pax)
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BUFFET DINNER AT HOTEL
WAHHHH
(desserts, go outside and choose at Starbucks)
Cheese and Bread
FAM BAM💕✨
Dad: 你吃东西的脸很美
Me: (in my head) normally 我不美 meh
When you are older, and need to get up at 3ish am for an early morning flight, all you do over NYE is nua sai in the room:
We watched 台湾跨年节目 on TV, and wished each other Happy New Year!!!! (+ friends, colleagues) 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉
Stepping into the new year with Mom’s “you better behave” reminder:
DAY 8// 1 January, Sunday | I woke up earlier than my alarm, due to some random heat wave under my blanket + itchy feeling, so instead, I played games until my alarm rang!
We have to hop on the arranged taxi by the Hotel to Tao Yuan Airport at 4 am 🙃
(saw a lady drunk AF, vomiting, and can't stand upright...)
Not forgetting our carton of things for check-in!
(Yes the picture is blurry, is 4am in the morning...)
We arrived at around 5 am, checked in all our luggage, and went to grab something to eat, one last time at their convenience shop. Only featuring Fat fat’s sandwich:
(Parents eating some hot food, Bili got sweet potato, while I, with my stomachache, try to finish the sushi roll thing)
Then we went towards our boarding gate:
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There was a long wait, I am not sure if it is just EVA Air, their flights keep getting delayed… Most of the time on the flight, I was asleep but the neck pain is real!!!!
We arrived safely in SG (luggage took very long to come out, why!!!), took two cabs for a family of 5 to get home, and slept till it was dinner time ((:
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