20130602 Taiwan trip Day 1 - Taipei & Thermal Valley@Xinbeitou

This series of posts about our trip to Taiwan is brought to you by Kathleen (in blue text) and mommy (in black text).

 

So mommy said she wanted to go Taiwan with K.  Then si yi yi said she might want to go go.  Then popo and gongong joined in.  So from a 2 person trip, it became a 7 person trip!

 

Kids : Charlie, yy and Kathleen

Adults : mommy and si yee yee

Grandparents : gong gong and po po

 

 We booked a 7 seater cab to send all of us to Changi Airport on the night of 1st June.  Initially, we were afraid that the cab might not be able to accommodate 7 of us plus all the luggages but were we surprised!  There was ample space for the luggage and also for the passengers!



 

sitting on the bench waiting for the taxi

We booked a 1am Jetstar Asia flight and reached the airport early. The aim was to make the kids sleep in the plane (since there is no entertainment) so that they would be refreshed by the time we reached Taipei.

 

Kathleen, Charlie and yy sitting on the airport trolleys.
Gong gong is pushing Charlie's trolley.

 

 

 
 


me at Changi Airport close to the playground

 

Me at the playground playing



Me and Charlie sitting at the airport bench with the aeroplanes behind us

Well, the plan kind of work.  K fell asleep soon after takeoff (perhaps helped by the fact that she was medicated - she was having a slight fever) while Charlie slept much later.  Yy, like the adults, hardly slept.


me sleeping when the sun came up

It was a Singapore > Taipei > Osaka flight, and it seemed that we were the only ones who collected our luggage from the conveyor belt.

After collecting out luggage, we went to the basement to take the Kuokuang express bus 1819 to Taipei Main station, where our Taipei accommodation Keymans Hotel is.


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me and Charlie sitting on the bus coach seats

The bus ride arrives at 15 minutes interval and took about 50 minutes, and K slept in the bus again ! :)


The doll and the cat together with the trees

It was still early but the temperature was already 35degee! We deposited our luggage at Keysmans Hotel and then went to buy our MRT cards. 

Our first destination? Thermal Valley at Xinbeitou MRT station.


me with my Taiwan MRT card.  My MRT card is in orange and white

It was supposedly a 15 minute walk from the Xinbeitou MRT station, but with the hot weather and the slight uphill slope, I think we took about 30 minutes instead.


me on my way to the thermal valley

Finally, the signboard that indicated that we were near to our destination!


Kathleen with the di yu gu signboard

Many websites mentioned that the sulphuric smell was so bad that you can smell it when the train reached the Xinbeitou.  It could be a seasonal thing, but we agreed that we did not smell it until we reached the place, and even then, the smell is bearable.


me and mommy at the hot steam water.  Ouch!

The water is about 80 degrees (according to the signboard).  Look at the steam (and the beautiful turquoise colour)!


the hot and boiling water in the pond



me standing in front of the fence and behind the fence is the hot and boiling water



me and mommy taking a photo with the boiling water.  She said that she could feel the heat behind her back.

Gonggong and popo were very tired and they did not walk around the pool.  After that, all of us went to the souvenir shop there and enjoyed the aircon for a while :P  And then we went back to Taipei city for a late lunch before we checked into the hotel.


me with my rabbit shirt near to a shop

At night, we went to Xinmenting for abit of shopping and had our dinner there.  We did not manage to buy much things there.




me with that funny chicken with my rabbit on my shirt. ha ha.

 It was a Sunday, and the Taiwanese shops seemed to have this 'culture' where they only served set meals (to increase their revenue I suppose) on weekends and public holidays.  And so we had no choice but to order set meals at this Risotto restaurant (soup, drinks plus rice!) so you can imagine the food that were leftover!


Kathleen's dining table 3 little ghosts being friends.  How funny.

 

After dinner, we went back to Keymans Hotel.

 

Note : there was an earthquake in Nantou and the tremors were felt in Taipei too.  However, we did not feel it.  Were we too dense?

 

Note2 : Keymans Hotel is about 10 minutes walk from Taipei Main station (across the road from a shopping center called xin guang san yue).  They do have bigger rooms  but we only manage to book a 4 bedder and a 3 bedder.  What I like about the hotel is that they have a water dispenser at the lift lobby of each floor that dispenses hot and cold water (they provided thermal flask for each room).