The Best of Taiwan

Here's my 8D7N full itinerary in Taiwan:

Day 1

Taoyuan International Airport 桃園國際機場 -> Eiffel Tower Hostel @ Feng Jia 逢甲 -> Feng Jia Night Market 逢甲夜市

Day 2

Cingjing 清境農場 -> Green Green Grasslands 青青草原 -> Misty Villa Cingjing 雲濛仙境

Day 3

Hehuanshan 合歡山 -> Puli 埔里鎮 -> Puli Brewery 埔里酒廠 -> Guangxing Paper Mill 廣興紙寮 -> Sun Moon Lake 日月潭 -> Laurel Villa 桂月村

Day 4

Shuishe Pier 水社碼頭 -> Syuanguang Temple 玄光寺 -> Ita Thao Village 伊達邵 -> Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village 九族文化村 -> THSR Taichung Station 高鐵台中站 -> MANGO53 Inn 芒果客棧 @ Taipei 台北

Day 5

Taipei Main Station Underground Mall -> Ximending 西門町 -> Taipei 101 台北101

Day 6

Wanhua Station 萬華車站 -> Ruifang Station 瑞芳車站 -> Jiufen 九份 -> Gold Ecological Park 黃金博物園區 -> Sunny Room Minsu 陽光味宿民宿 -> Jiufen Old Street 九份老街 -> Miao Kou Night Markat 庙口夜市 @ Keelung 基隆

Day 7

Jiufen Old Street 九份老街 -> Ruifang Station 瑞芳車站 -> Wanhua Station 萬華車站 -> Ximending 西門町 -> Miramar Entertainment Park 美麗華百樂園 -> Wego Boutique Hotel -> Shilin Night Market 士林夜市

Day 8

THSR Taipei Station 高鐵台北站 -> THSR Taoyuan Station 高鐵桃園站 -> Taoyuan International Airport 桃園國際機場 -> Home Sweet Home


Before you leave the airport, please apply/register for the local telephone line if you need one and also the Youth Travel Card to enjoy discounts at many places. You may visit here for more info. Also not to forget, the maps !

Please follow my next few posts for more details of these places... More photos to be shared so stay tune !

Hanoi, Vietnam (Part II)

First of all, let me introduce you the Quán Ăn Ngon Restaurant located at 18 Phan Boi Chau Street. It has lots of varieties including specialties from all over the nation like Bún chả (Grilled Pork Served with Herbs & Noodle) or Chao Tom (Pounded Shrimp Hash Fried on Sugar Cane). Anyway, the following are the foods that we ordered. The price here is relatively much higher than many local food stalls probably because it's tourist friendly restaurant with English written menu.

We walked a lot during our visit to Hanoi. Hence, we stopped by to a lot of stalls to buy drinks, desserts, etc. to cure our thirst. Of all the drinks/desserts that I've tried, I would like to recommend the iced mixed fruits. You can easily find this almost everywhere near Hoan Kiem Lake. Apart from fruits, there is condensed milk. All you have to do is to mix the shaved ice, fruits and condensed milk together. Definitely a must try !

We also visited the Quán Bún Chả Hàng Mành restaurant located at 1 Hang Manh Street. Bun Cha is the signature dish in this restaurant and also Hanoi itself. Bun Cha is a combination of grilled pork, slices of green papaya, rice noodles, and fresh herbs. Other than Bun Cha, they serve also the Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls. By the way, do empty your stomach before heading to this restaurant as they serve you with very large portion !

Here's another local street food I would like to recommend but unfortunately I do not know the name of these dishes. However, it is located near to the intersection between Phu Doan Street and Yen Thai Street.

Last but not least a must try, the Cha Ca La Vong Restaurant located at 14 Pho Cha Ca Street. Please take note that there are a lot similar restaurants with the same name but they are not related so do check the address correctly. There is no food menu in this restaurant as they serve only one dish, the Chả Cá (Grilled Fish). It's served with turmeric, dill, peanut, ginger, spring onion, rice vermicelli and fair load of oil. By the way, the spring onion and rice vermicelli are refillable. I would rate this 9/10 even though it is quite pricey at fixed price of VND 170,000 per person (excluding drinks).

So here ends my sharing of Hanoi's food experience. They are definitely worth a try if you are visiting Hanoi !

Hanoi, Vietnam (Part I)

This is my second visit to Hanoi, Vietnam. For those who have never been to Hanoi, I would recommend Halong Bay, Tam Coc, and of course some local museums like Ho Chi Minh Museum, Vietnam Military History Museum, etc. Perhaps some who are into religion, there are a lot of local temples too. The few temples that I visited are Temple of Literature, One Pillar Pagoda and Quan Thanh Temple.

I am a Christian myself so I visited the church also which is the Saint Joseph Cathedral Church. It was built in 1886 and still holds several masses throughout the day.

Besides the church, I spent most of my time walking around the streets in Hoan Kiem District or better known as Hanoi Old Quarter.

As you are walking around, you'll definitely see a lot of electricity pillars with all the tangled cables.

The main transportation around Old Quarter are motorbikes, bicycles, taxis and buses. I would not recommend taxis as there are a lot of taxi scams here, so be careful if you are taking one.

By the way, I was staying at Hanoi Charming Hotel located at Yen Thai Street. I would strongly recommend this hotel because of its services and their helpfulness. I've stayed twice myself. There is a market at Yen Thai Street every morning selling meats, vegetables, foods, etc.

If you are planning to buy souvenirs, there are a lot being sold at Hang Gai Street. 

Lastly, the people. Hanoi people are friendly and hospitable. Seldom you will find people selling things or foods at unreasonably high prices especially to tourists. However, you may find some quite aggressive sellers  who are carrying their things walking around the streets like the first photo below.

That's all for the sharing in part I. I'll be sharing photos of food in Hanoi in my next post. So stay tune !