Bismillah...
My Taipei trip still feels like a dream to me. I've been obsessed with G-Dragon since BigBang's MADE album and truth be told I was there to catch his final concert for the ACT III: M.O.T.T.E solo tour. But... The ticket sale started on the night we went camping in Melangkap.. The post below~ And it was sold out within 7 minutes!
So I proceeded with the trip but with no plans at all. I was clueless when I didn't get ticket. My traveler's instinct was completely shrouded by the frustration and the only thing that was arranged was my accommodation and the only info that I have about Taipei was how to get to my hostel from the airport. I tried to do a research, but like I said, my traveler's instinct was completely shrouded~
I arrived very late at night and took a bus from Tao Yuan to the Taipei Main Station; bus fare TND 125. And then from there I took a taxi that cost me around TND 140. I was given a self-check in instruction by the hostel but unfortunately I didn't watch the video. I felt guilty for calling up the staff at that hour but they were very helpful throughout my stay.
My first impression that night; Taiwan trip will be a short memorable one
During arrival, a very friendly Malaysian Chinese guy approached me and asked me whether I was alone. When I said yes, he said I shouldn't be worried because Taiwan is very safe and he started telling what are the things I should try during my short stay. And later, I was very impressed by the politeness of the airport staffs and also the friendly taxi driver.
I woke up quite late the next morning and of course with nothing in mind. I already knew some of the places that are doable on a daytrip but back home I just couldn't connect the transportation between the points that I wanted to go to. I found it is always easier to connect the dots once you've arrived at the country itself.
At 9am, I forced myself to get up from bed, take a shower and off to Pingxi!
The pic above is my EasyPay card that I bought at the 7E just next to my hostel. I was surprised to see how fancy the designs were and they actually had a GD limited edition too! But it's all sold out~ Damn~
This one cost me TND 150 without any credit inside. The normal card cost around TND 100 which is also with no credit inside. So I don't mind paying more as this is a very cute souvenir as well. The good thing about using this is, you can get discounts on the public transport! I bought TND 500 on the first day and I only topped it up on the last day because my credit was a bit short for the airport bus.
To me the public transport in Taiwan is very efficient and I had no problem moving about from one place to another. The only thing that I didn't figure out was when to touch my EasyPay on the scanner. Sometimes it was when you board the bus but sometimes when you alight the bus. So when there was no one infront of me for me to emulate, I occasionally get a "NO!!!!" from the bus driver when I wanted to scan my card hahaha
Don't be deceived by the empty alleys in my pictures. Pingxi was jampacked with tourists when I was there and these pictures were quickly taken as it was cleared from crowds. It was only a matter of seconds for it to be swarmed with people again after that.
I love how the old fashioned buildings are very well maintained. For a moment it felt like I was walking in a chinese kungfu movie set. However, there weren't so many food stalls and restaurants in this area. Most of them were souvenir shops and also those selling lanterns. It was hard for me to decide which lantern shop to go, but I'd mistakenly chosen si pacik nda-berapa-banyak-ambil-gambar hurm~ Although I actually observed the paci2 first when they were with their customers on the railway. But the paling-rajin-ambil-gambar pacik took so long on the railway that I couldn't wait to see which shop he will go back to.
The prices are all the same in every shop, so I guess it's the service that they provide that distinguishes them. Tips: Observe for paci paling-rajin-ambil-gambar
Each of the colour represent something. They will give you an A4 cardboard describing what they mean and the choice of combination. I thought a monochrome lantern was rather boring so I opted for the 4 colour lantern which cost me TND 200. The monochrome was TD 100.
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| These bamboos were hanged at the train station |
I took the Pingxi line train to get to Ruifang where I can get the bus to Jiufen. Actually, there is a train that connects Pingxi with Jiufen. However it was not the best option for me at that time because the travel time of that train is around 5 hours while it will only take around 15-20 minutes by bus from Ruifang. The train was really full from the start and worsened when more tourists board the train in Shifen. My face was literally pressed on the window! To be honest, it was not comfortable but I felt lucky that I decided to stand next to the window instead of standing at the aisle. I was really surprised to see how scenic the journey was. There were hills, gorges and waterfall along the way. But I didn't take any picture because it was so crowded that I couldn't even slip my hand into my pocket to reach for my phone (^^") And ya, I loved it when we passed Shifen too; shoppers were waving at us outside and ya I waved back lol
I waited for about half an hour for the bus to Jiufen in Ruifang. And when I got there, the crowd was even worse. It was like everybody that was in Pingxi and Shifen also planned to end the day in Jiufen. The old town was brightly lit with lights and lanterns so it made this place look very happening. There were a lot of street food but I didn't try any because it was either the seafood is placed exactly next to non-halal food or the line was too long that I don't think I can wait.
At the end of my day in Jiufen I met a very friendly Korean girl named Leya and we waited for the bus together and sat next to each other on the bus. We exchange emails and I hope I can see her during my next trip to Seoul (^^) Yes! I'm going back to Seoul, InshaAllah...
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