Taiwan: Taichung (6~7 Jun'13)

Taiwan was never in my to-visit list. Don't ask me why, mixture of various reasons, really. I've heard of how friendly and nice Taiwanese are.. bla bla bla bla.. So, when hubby decided that this year, we could go to Taiwan for a change (for the past 2 years, we've been having holidays in BKK - long story cut short, coz we went back to return favor to Four-Face Buddha, as I wished for a baby there in 2010), I thought ok, we shall give it a shot.

As usual, I would have to do homework and plan on our itinerary, just to be vetted by hubby for a nod of approval. I hated the planning, as I couldn't really digest what's nice to do or see or eat there. Well, I do know the infamous night markets, but I've also heard of the crowd.

In short, I wasn't really looking forward to the trip, but I did feel excited for IZ, as it would be his furthest and longest overseas vacation (Malaysia excluded). The news on tainted ingredients from some Taiwanese factory didn't help.

Below are pictures taken from Sg to Taichung, which was our first stop. On why I chose Taichung, please read it in my review here.

In SG airport - hubby was given a pleasant surprise, birthday voucher by ICA, and so we spent on Dunkin Donuts, no prize for guessing why.. our dear son loves their donuts!



IZ during the flight, he really behaved himself, giving me no problem during the flight, he loved the orange juice, but didn't like the duck noodles

Upon our arrival in Taoyuan International Airport, we were given priority to clear the immigration, as they do have priority lanes for families with young children. The officer ushered us over.



I really like that people waited behind the yellow line while waiting for their luggage, unlike what's happening in most countries, esp SG and China where everyone else are standing at the conveyor belt, you wouldn't be able to see if your bag is coming on the belt.



We had our late lunch in the airport - it was a superbly yummy pork chop with spaghetti that looks like udon, superb nonetheless, but I can't say the same for the sundaes from Mc'D, IZ didn't like them

Being a fanatic, I couldn't imagine life without internet, so I purchased a data plan. If you come out from the departure hall, you should turn to your left and then make another left turn, you'll see 3 telecommunication counters. I didn't know which to choose, so I chose the one farthest in as it had the shortest queue, and I saw the price was lower than the others. For NT500 of data plan unlimited for 7 days, I was given FOC airtime of NT150 too. It lasts us whole trip and signal was strong throughout regardless which part of Taiwan we went.

We then took a bus (no. 705) from Taoyuan Airport to Taichung High Speed Railway (HSR) Station for NT30 for one adult. IZ rode for free. The journey took about 15-20 mins.



Bus tickets



We chose the front seat on the double decker bus - at first I really liked the idea that this guard was to protect us from harm, but eventually I hated it as it blocked all the view @-@



Above in green was the bus we took, below was a Hello Kitty EVA shuttle bus that IZ was fixated to

Then we bought HSR tickets to make our way to Taichung. The HSR schedule could be found on their website here.


HSR Tickets for Economy Class - Remember that train towards Taichung is at Platform 2

HSR Information - in case you're hungry or thirsty they do sell snacks & drinks

The train were pretty punctual, as you could see in the tickets picture, ETD was 1557 hours, the train arrived at 1555 hours.

 We then took a cab to Beacon Hotel (click on the link for review and pictures) where we put up for a night. Cost us about NT240 (approx S$10.45).

On our way to Fengjia Night Market, we were recommended to the street just beside our hotel for the street food.



We queued for this bloody rice stick and fried breaded hotdog - they were not nice.. boo!

Then the little one said he was hungry and we went into a local restaurant to fill his stomach.



Looks really simple - but it was amazingly delicious that IZ almost finished the noodles!



And then we arrived at Fengjia Night Market which was walking distance



IZ went all crazy over all the clock stalls there



Just this one for example - can't see clearly?



Here's the close-up



I find this umbrella really interesting



Another clock that caught his eyes



He was very happy and excited

On a separate note, while staying near the night market has it's plus point, it was also a minus point if you're traveling with young children (read, age of need to be carried most of the times, but their weight is on the upper side of the specs, and you do not bring stroller on your vacations). If you stay just a little further, you could hail a cab from the night market, wherever you are. But if you stay near the night market, you have no choice but to WALK BACK.


And then concussed right after.. I had to carry him while hubby bought drinks and queued for smelly tofu, my arms!



Well, the smelly tofu was not that smelly.. another boo!



Checked-out and waited for cab to send us to Taichung HSR station so we could make our way to next destination, Sun Moon Lake!

All about our Taiwan trip:
Part 1: Taiwan: Taichung (6~7 Jun'13)
Part 2: Taiwan: Sun Moon Lake (7~8 Jun'13)
Part 3: Taiwan: CingJing (8~10 Jun'13)
Part 4: Taiwan: Taipei (10~12 Jun'13)

UK Farm Stay! 15~16th Mar'13

Hmm.. the title could be misleading.. well, we went for UK Farm Stay, but not in UK! Hahaha..

We planned this trip to bring my parents to Port Dickson (PD) for a short trip, during IZ's first term holiday. Such a lucky boy to have a short break after a term. :-D

We decided to take it easy to drive up a day before we were supposed to meet up with my parents. I googled about the farm stay my brother told me about, in Air Hitam, Johore. I called them up and check for availability the next day, they are AVAILABLE. yippie!

The whole night and the next morning, IZ kept saying "I want to see mek-mek"!

Hubby and I took half day leave that day, we left home after lunch, and made our way towards North. I suggested to drive to Kluang train station to have coffee break. Well, it was not in the route, it was a detour but that's what road trip is all about right.

It was a very hot day but the coffee shop at the train station was surprisingly cooling. At first I was disappointed as there was no train at the station. But after we get settled down in the shop, came a short train. My guess was short distance train.

Happy boy

Yummylicious!.. and cheap too

It was a great experience for IZ, as it was the first time he see a REAL train. He wanted to board the train, I told him, next time, when we have a chance. Well, maybe we could take from Sg to Kluang for coffee next time? Hehehe..

Seeing train for the first time

Too noisy

After coffee break, we made our way to UK Farm. I was very excited when we drove through the entrance. The trail was so beautiful, although it was not constructed. It could be bad, if it was raining or it rained just before our arrival, but that day was just so perfect.

Hmm.. they are called UK Farm, but they have nothing to do with "United Kingdom, UK" okay?

Perfect weather for our excursion

It was a good 5km drive into where the resort was. But the view was spectacular, you felt like you were in overseas, some ang-moh country or what. The plantations were well maintained, and the place was huge!!!! (I got to know later that it was 200 acres big)

The trail to the resort

Beautifully maintained corn plantation

There it is!

Checking-in (it was super peak period)

Where we put up, the far left chalet.. was told there were only 4 families.. SUPER PEAK?!

The spacious verandah..

The view from the verandah

Back to simplicity room - there was air-cond, tv and wifi though (no mosquito!)

Spacious bathroom

Our "screwed" dinner

Why did I say screwed?

When we arrived, it was past 5pm. They asked us to order our dinner before 6pm, as they have to prepare. So, we ordered and asked when do we have to eat. One of the uncles replied "8+ the latest". So happily we gotten our key, and went to the car, wanted to go to our chalet.

Another uncle called out to us and said, "your dinner is ready". We went "HUH?!?!?!"

He repeated again, and I told him, he might have mistaken, coz we did not intend to eat so early.

He said no mistake, and he appeared not very happy about it.

So I told him, not that we didn't want to eat, but coz we already eaten before we arrived and the other uncle told us we could eat late, how could they prepare our dinner at 5+ before even 6pm?

So we asked the first uncle that we didn't want to eat then. He reluctantly agreed and drove his van to show us where our chalet was. We followed by our car.

Again, I repeated that not that we didn't want to eat, but coz it was way too early, for fear they would spit into our food. Hahaha! I know, paranoid.

Eventually, when we headed for our dinner at 7+, the food they serve, which obviously have been prepared an hour or so ago, turned not nice. While the black pepper lamb chop was not bad, it could have been better if it came fresh from the kitchen.

It was a very unsatisfying dinner, but we made do, as the traveling out of the farm would take us forever in the dark. IZ didn't eat the noodles we ordered for him too, we left the noodles almost untouched.

Lantern for RM10 - this is very famous in TW, surprised to have it in Msia

Write a wish.. what else, he drew a Humpty Dumpty maybe asking him to be good in next life, not to fall down again and break its head! Ha!

Setting off the lantern into the sky - can't help thinking of pollution.. where would the lantern land?

Sunrise in the morning - this was taken at 7+

Amazing.. probably the lowest coconut trees we have ever seen

Morning stroll

Getting ready for our excursion into the farm

Local products for sale!

There was option to take bus.. or..

Horse carriage

IZ didn't enjoy the ride

He said "dog!".. precisely why we need more farm stay

IZ happy

Beaming

Close encounter with baby goat.. 3 weeks old..

Feeding milk

Happy to see so many goats

Time for the sheep to go out

Interestingly..

So disciplined.. haha!

To the grass they go!

Next stop: milking process

Goat milk products

Our poor horse and guide

Herbal Farm

Nice natural blind

Flora

Sight we do not get to see everyday

Stevia tea - refreshing

Gasoline!

This view all over the place

The trail we took in the morning

Some buffalos along the way

Ostrich farm

Feeding ostrich

Re-charge with cooling honey drink

Jakun - Orang Asli (Native) Village

Their typical dressing

Demonstrating how to use sumpit to catch small moving animals

Demonstrating how to catch bigger animals - the cage is built based on the trace of trails the animal made, basically they estimate the size of the animal and build a cage accordingly

Make-shift tree house to avoid big animals while they hunt for days in the jungle

Different types of hut - bamboo, bark, atap leaves

Venturing into a hut

Goat milk chocholate ice cream to re-charge.. again..

Nice pit-stop to buy souvernir, wash-up and re-charge

Passion fruits farm

Mushroom farm

With alot of mushrooms

Wishing Tree

Smart way to earn money eh?

Yeah, that's what we did.. peeped at other people's wishes..

Treehouse on the wishing tree

IZ made it up there

Closer shot

Literally growing mushrooms

IZ made it up another treehouse!

Mulberry farm - owner say we could pluck mulberries

Yummylicious mushroom salad and mushroom cookies

Enjoying mulberry juice

The whole tour around the farm took us 3 hours with the horse carriage. It could take longer if we took the bus which needs min 10 pax to start. Well, of the 10 people, they may want to linger longer here and there or shorter here and there, thus, we decided to do it on our own.

A tip: start your farm journey the earliest, which is the 9.30am trip, and end just nice when the sun is right up on your head and the weather is too hot to venture.