Day 2 na, and may I suggest or kung babalik ako dito, I would do an overnight stay sa Shifen and Juifen, bitin kasi ang group day tour. There's still a lot to visit at lalo sa Juifen, may nightlife =) Kaya kung paparyan ka, mag-stay ka at least overnight to explore more of the place...sabi nga "a traveler wants to experience life while a tourist wants to escape" and also "a traveler wants to try new things, meet new people and look beyond what's in front of you"...asyasya, mag-stay ng matagal, yun lang naman ang punto ko =P
Pre-booked tour ulit ito via KKDay naman, hindi ko alam ang mga yan, nalalaman na lang pag naggagawa na ng IT for a travel. Hindi ko pala nabanggit sa unang blog na kasama ang breakfast sa'ming hotel accommodation, light breakfast lang naman sya pero kung kagaya namin kayo na we take as much as we can, eh heavy na din sya =P eto pala yung blog for Day1.
So eto na, meeting place nito ay sa Taipei Main Station, malapit lang ang hotel namin dito, parang lakad away lang. Meeting Tyogon na din today, kasama sya sa trip na 'to. Ikot ikot ulit with group of we don't know who and it's for PhP 1, 115 per head, wala itong free meals, guide lang na maninita lang naman ng time at chicka chicka ng konti at ang importante yung sasakyan papunta sa places to visit. Tara!
grabe talaga ang mga art installation dito, kahit dito ka lang sa main station mabubusog na din ang mga mata mo at madami ng pwedeng photo op places
ayan, finally, anjan na si Dennis at kasama na syang gumala
Ang chicka sa Taiwan Tourism Bureau, ito daw aming 1st stop ay cape about 1,700 meters long by Datun Mountain reaching the sea, mukha daw itong giant turtle submerging into the sea pag ni-view from above, kaya ang another name nito ay Yehliu Turtle. The place is divided into 3 sections; 1st section - rocks like Queen's head, fairy shoe and candle; 2nd section - bean curd, dragon head naman and the 3rd section - sea-eroded caves, seal shaped rock naman. Kailangan mong imaginin kung yan nga ba ang shape na makikita mo, may tama naman sila or baka na-mind setting na din gawa ng mga karatula =P
buti hindi pa ako plantita nitong time na 'to, kung hindi, nasimplihan kong mandekwat ng seeds nitong mga magagandang flowers na 'to
ito ang first section, kung saan makikita mo ang mushrooms, candle rocks and the famous "Queen's head" jan din ang mga cute princess. Sa dami ng tao, kailangan mong ipaglaban ang spot for a good photo op hahaha lalo jan sa "Queen's head". At pwede ka ding magka-jowa photo, ka-back-to-back mo nga lang kagaya ko sa photo na kung saan tuwang-tuwa ako (HINDI nga lang sinama ni Tyogon ang ka-back-to-back ko =P sayang!)
may ganyan namang signage kaya guided ka naman sa makikita mo =) unless may mas maganda kang imagination, mas madami kang mapo-form at makikita=)
hindi ko na nasubaybayan kung san ang section 2 and 3 pero naikot naman namin lahat ng sulok kaya malamang naman in no particular order eh nadalaw namin ang 2 and 3
Nag-agree ka ba sa "Queen's head"? Agree naman ako, yung pagkakapusod kasi ng hair at ang mahabang neck, ganun din sa mga princess. Nakita ko din ang fairy shoe (although mas mukha syang tsinelas sa paningin ko =P). Sabi sa isang website, ang pagdalaw daw dito ay isipin mong student ka ng Geology para namnamin mo ang bawat formation, pati na din yung mga fossils na hindi ko na napansin sa dami ng tao nga kasi. Pero mahaba naman ang allotted time jan, kaya may pagkakataon kang usisain silang lahat.
ito ang next destination at tinikman ko yang "awesome" boneless chicken wings stuffed with egg fried rice (glutinous rice kaya heavy sya) pero di naman sya awesome, but it's very filling
Next stop, Shifen, coal mining town daw ito before the 1950s sabi sa "The Travel Intern" and today dahil sa kanyang rustic vintage vibe at dahil famous sya sa releasing sky lanterns kaya popular destination na sya from Taipei. At kaya gusto ko itong balikan kasi di ko nakita ang falls at hindi ako naka-try sumakay ng Old Choo-choo train =( but we did what we came here to do at eto sya.
sinulat ang aming mga dalangin sa lantern for PhP 169.10
may choreography din ang pag-release hindi basta bitaw lang, unti-unti at may photo op siempre
at ayun ang aming mga dalangin na ipinadala sa hangin at aasahang makakarating kay Papa G, I wonder natupad kaya ang mga sinulat namin jan?
siempre merong before release, meron din dapat na after release photo op
may mga areas din dito sa Pingxi District na dinalaw namin. Tuwang-tuwa ako dito kasi I love trains =) kaya naman kahit riles palang #nakakahappy na!
And our last stop, I am not sure whether we went back to Main Station from Shifen to have another ride since I have this photo but anyway, our last stop is Jiufen.
An interesting thing I discovered while doing this blog, according to Wikipedia, Jiufen also Jioufen or Chiufen in Chinese when translated to English means "nine portions". It is because, a long time ago there were only 9 families living in Jiufen and before the road was built, all materials were transported by ships at the nearby wharf, and the village would request "nine portions" every time shipments arrived in town.
If Shiefen is coal mining, Jiufen naman is for gold mining. According to chicka, Jiufen today is still untouched by modern-day high-rise buildings and I hope it will stay that way =). Ito naman ay parang Baguio, long and winding road na pataas, kasi mountain town din sya.
ito lang nagawa namin, ang mag-walk along the Jeifun Old street na narrow alleyway lined up with small food stalls; ito din lang ang natikman namin ang signature beef noodles ng Jiufen Old Noodle Shop
eto naman ang mga nakita namin sa mga small food stalls pero di na namin nagawang tumikim
yang Taiwanese tea eggs, favorite ko na yan dun sa hotel na pinag-stayan namin
hindi din namin na try itong must-try na A-Zhu peanut ice cream roll, akala ko eh same lang sya ng panutsa or yung long playing natin dito =P yan daw ay peanut shavings from ground off huge block of compressed peanut (yang bloke na yan sa picture) then add 2 scoops of ice cream and cilantro then wrapped into a roll (may cilantro? hmmmm)
Bukod sa mga na-miss kong i-try na food eh madami din kaming hindi nadalaw dito, kasi kulang na ang time nagtatawag na si Kuyang guide at saka umuulan kasi, although normal naman daw talagang maulan dito. So kung babalik dito, maganda sigurong mag-stay even for 1 night at bisitahin ang mga ito:
Sheng-Ping Theatre, the first film theatre in Taiwan (photo from the online verse)
pwede ding mag-gala ng naka-Chinese costume, may Jiufen Chipao na nagpapa-rent ng qipaos/cheongsams (Mandarin gowns or traditional Chinese outfit), shoes and accessories for ladies/men/children (photo from online world)
at ang Amei Teahouse na hindi man lang namin nakita, kahit silip man lang; iconic landmark pa naman 'to (photo from the internet)
at kaya gusto kong mag-stay ng kahit 1 night, lookie, mukha syang Christmas village sa gabi although sabi sa mga websites eh close na ang town ng 7PM,maaga silang natutulog =P (thanks to the rightful owner of these photos)
And there you go, Day 2 seems to be the longest and the so nakakahappy gala day. thank you KKDay for the tour. Si Kuyang guide ay nakarating na daw sa Cebu at Boracay kaya chicka-chcika din nya kami nung nalaman nyang Pinoy kami.
At bago bumalik si Dennis sa kanyang Uni, we had dinner muna, dahil nasa Taiwan kami, nag-Vietnamese food kami hahaha =P
ang cute!
at dahil jan, lights off na ulit, bukas naman bisita sa Uni ni Dennis at ikot sa Taipei at meeting Shawn.
