Taiwan Day 1 - Ken Ting
After much procrastination… here's finally my second contribution to the blog! And this is one hell of a trip because we travelled all the way from the north to the southern most tip of Taiwan, leaving our footprints in Kaoshiung, Tai Chung and Taipei. Logistically I would consider this a breeze, having previously planned and executed our Sydney holiday to perfection. Lol.
So we decided that Scoot has the best timing that caters to our travelling needs, even though it meant that it was a 1am flight and reaching Taipei at 5am plus because at the end of the day, we can spend the time sleeping while on the train to Ken Ting, which comprises of a 2-hours High Speed Rail (HSR) train and bus ride each.
We were ahead of our schedule and had to top up around S$12 to change our HSR ticket to an earlier timing but it was totally worth it as it saved us one more hour of daylight to explore Ken Ting.
Taken on Ubus 705 from Taoyuan airport en route to catch the HSR
The amazingly comfortable and convenient HSR which took us from the north to the south of a country in approximately 2 hours
And followed by a 2 hours bus ride all the way to Ken Ting, the southern most county/province in Taiwan
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There's ample opportunity to catch a power nap, so be sure to take the early flight and not waste precious daylight which you can use to explore the town. All in all, we reached Ken Ting at around 12pm plus but we couldn't check in because it wasn't check-in time yet. One thing we've learnt on this trip is that hotels in Taiwan are very strict on their check-in timing and there's little chance you can do so earlier.
So off we went in search of food…and as recommended by my darling...
Pretty much something like our Yong Tau Foo, just mix and match and they will heat everything up and throw in some special sauce to work up the magic...
…and the final product! Like Yong Tau Foo. Lol.
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Having not ridden a bike for probably 5 months or so, and given it was a super lightweight scooter, it took a little familiarisation and very soon we were scooting around the town. But before that, we did check into the hotel and have a look at our room. I think it was the most expensive room we've gotten throughout the whole trip. A very decent room although we, or rather I, had to carry our luggage up three storeys to get to the room.
The VIP room at 金沙灣旅店, the most expensive one available and our living quarters for the night
The clean bathroom, or rather, the hotels in Taiwan has very high standards for bathroom cleanliness as we found out during our 10-days stay here
And of course, the kind of money we paid went into this…our jacuzzi with a sea view
And of course, not forgetting the patio right in front of the sea
Basking in the sun…the sleepy dog that was always camping in front of the hotel...beside ours
And the exterior of our hotel, third one from the left if I am not wrong…lol.
There will always be…arty farty shots...
The link way between our hotel and the beach
…and more arty farty shots...
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After checking out the room, we went scooting to the various touristy hotspots. It was pretty warm in the day so I forgo the jacket I was lugging around, bad idea…but that's for later. First up would be Heng-chun, the sleepy town made famous by the movie, Cape No.7.
The South Gate…which was literally a block of monument in the middle of a roundabout
And of course we need an arty farty angle of the South Gate
And a little history if you're interested but bloody hell, go there and read it yourself
Scooted over to this place where a fire is literally spitting out of the ground due to natural gases and what not. Don't ask me why I ain't the scientist. But still the warmth of the fire is welcomed given the cold weather
This is the house of the main character from the movie, a real house with a real family living in it. Now they are making their living from selling souvenirs based on the movie. Pretty cool but we weren't big fans of the movie so we didn't want to be suckers and didn't buy anything.
Even a post office can become a tourist hotspot…and yes, we were the lame people to actually scoot there and have a look
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There were several other spots made famous by the movie but as time was tight, we only chose to go to those that interest us. And then there was tea break. Lol.
Recommended by my darling again...Xiao Du Pao Zi, apparently pretty famous in that town. This is the back entrance which we mistook as the main door…lol.
And this is the correct front counter of the shop… customer count wasn't too shabby given that it was 5pm.
The buns that they were famous for, with a variety of odd combination buns, pretty gimmicky I would say...
But nonetheless very juicy…one bite into this little bastard got my pants wet…lol…I meant the juice that shot out from the bun…never mind …
And once we are done with the buns, we dashed over to one of the two popular spots to catch the sunset. We were way too early, the sun wasn't setting anytime soon so we decided to just head to another place to simply unlock the "been there done there" achievement on the list
And that is to see a rock supposedly shaped like a cat…erm…what the heck…
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And then it was time to make our way back to the hotel as the sun begun to set. We had earlier decided not to ride once the sun is down because the streets and the roads are very badly lit. Wasn't the best idea not to wear a jacket either because it was freezing cold while riding. So cold that my darling had to hug me tightly to give me the little warmth that she could muster. Thank you my love...but next time please, please wear the gloves that I brought…hur hur...
So back we went to the main street of Ken Ting, that was supposedly the main shopping stretch when night comes.
Generic shot of the street though not the best representation. It was pretty bustling with lots of interesting stores and of course, food to eat
For the figurine collectors like me, a pity there's not much here on the streets of Ken Ting
BBQ wild boar meat, coupled with garlic. They are pretty much everywhere in Taiwan
Smelly tofu…something that me and darling has grown to love during our 10 day trip here… hur hur...
And the highlight food item of today, the spicy chicken wings from mexico…made by taiwanese…hur hur but if you love spicy food, this is a must try...
We only tried the medium level of spiciness and it was already damn hot…and mind you, we are people who can take our chilli…come whatever may…so this is definitely a gem
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And that pretty much sums up the first day here in Taiwan. Back to the hotel room to enjoy our jacuzzi. Damn we paid for that we better use it! Lol. Woo hoo!
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