A special video by Nasrul "All Around Taiwan", Nash Film

Before I end up the blog entries about our Taiwan trip from 12th till 15th December 2018, about a week, I wish to share the video that has been uploaded by Nasrul in his Youtube Channel, Nash Film. He has been filming the entire trip at his own sweet time and imagination. Although I tried to improve the content to strictly follow our itinerary but he was not bothered to follow my request. As always, he will do what he likes to do following his own way. However, in my own biased opinion, the video turn very lovely. Do enjoy...

With warmest regards to All, Noor Aswana Mustapha Kuala Lumpur 28th December 2020 P/s: I will upload an obligatory entry on 1st January 2021 "Farewell 2020, Welcome 2021" ... InshaAllah!

Day 7 - Last day in Taiwan, exploring Taipei the capital city

Travelling date: 15th December 2018. We sent a message to the house owner saying that we will collect our bags later in the evening as our flight is at night. She said its fine for us to drop the key at her mail box as she understood teh hassle to bring all the luggage along with us while exploring Taipei city for the last time. After we've done with packing, locked our luggage, we took the rented Vios to Da’an district to drop the car. Things didn’t go right as right after Syahirah took the car from her father she accidently scratched a taxi and caused a traffic jam. The police came to arbitrate the matter and Hotai Car Leasing took the case into their hand as the rent included the insurance. Hubby had to pay an extra penalty for the loss that the rental company had while the car was under repaired. Nasrul and I let the 2 of them, father and daughter to resolve their dispute among themselves.

We walked toward the left hand side of the shops row trying to find a good place to eat. There is a restaurant that served Malaysian food somewhere there. Although it wasn’t a halal restaurant, the owner cum chef willing to friend Mee Goreng mamak without meat and/or other un-halal ingredients for us. The food is not cheap but the taste is good, hence no complaint paying more for something that you truly enjoyed at the end of the day. The restaurant belong to a Chinese Malaysian man married to local Taiwanese lady. It has its own crowd and are doing well.

Thereafter, we took a public transport, train from Technology Building station still in Da’an District to a famous shopping area in Ximending which is located in Wanhua District. We made friends along the way. This place was so crowded with local and tourist as it is a tourist attraction area. By the way, Ximending literally means "West Gate District" as it once was a suburb near the historical west gate of the old city, commonly described as the Shibuya or Harajuku of Taipei, in reference to these youth-centric districts of Tokyo. It first re-launched in 1999 as a walkable, people friendly area and subsequently expanded. It is true that Ximending is one of the places that secondary school students, university students, and other hip, young people (and too many tourists) go to eat, drink, shop, enjoy music and movies, and people watch in Taipei, just as they do in these areas of Tokyo.

However, Ximending's main walking areas, described as "Xi Men Walker" when translated into English on signs in the area according to Taiwanese are much better than most of Shibuya's back streets. The best of Ximending has been purposefully designed for people with more modest scale, street trees, attractive pavers, and helpful signage. There's so much to see in Ximending, ranging from the famous Red House theatre, music venue, and creative street market to restaurants and plenty of tiny boutiques, street food etc. We did a last minute shopping buying souvenirs and clothes to finish off our Taiwanese dollar before heading home. We visited few other places that I already forgotten about as the trip was 2 years ago. Will not prolong any entries in the future anymore, therefore, I hope, I oblige... sigh!

By 5pm, we were ready to go back to our accommodation, collected the bag and took a cab to the airport. We had a nice cool dinner with a decent food at the airport after check-in our luggage. It was around 8pm and at 10.30pm we found a comfortable place to pray, musolla sort of thing that was provided in the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport not far from the boarding gate to our plane. That’s wrap our story in Taiwan.

Day 6 - Road Trip from Sun Moon Lake - Qinjing Farm, Nantou County - Taichung - Taipei

Travelling date: 14th December 2018. This would be our last day of the road trip in Taiwan. It’s a day where we were to return to Taipei from Sun Moon Lake and the rest of the tour places in our touring list. That morning, we were ready to leave and checked out from the hotel by 9am. On the way ot, we saw another stunning view of the lakes from the Petrol kiosk and had to stop for some exploration. Lucky we did, as our mood, the weather and the places intermingle in the photos that I’m sharing in this entry.

Sun Moon Lake is located 748 meters above sea level. It is 27 meter deep and has a surface area of approximately 7.93 km2. The area surrounding the lake has many trails for hiking. The lake and its surrounding countryside have been designated one of thirteen national scenic areas in Taiwan. For those in construction industry would relate the lake at this large scale would come with the Dam Construction, meant to generate electricity. There are several hydroelectric power plants been built in the Sun Moon Lake since 1919, including Mingtan Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant and Minhu Pumped Storage Hydro Power Station. When the first hydroelectric plant was finished in 1934, it was considered to be one of the most important infrastructure constructions of the time. Wujie Dam, also completed in 1934, diverts water from the Zhuoshui River to increase hydroelectric generation at the lake. The Jiji Line railroad was built to facilitate the construction. This are the info that I gathered from the Wikipedia.

Our next destination was to be in Qingjing Farm where we saw a lot in Visit Taiwan flyers, the white Taiwan sheep’s on a high mountain range. The Qingjing Farm, also known as Cingjing Farm, is a tourist attraction farm in Ren'ai Township, Nantou County. It took us only an hour to arrive in this beautiful farm, mostly crowded place in the weekend. Apparently, the farm was established on 20 February 1961 as the settling place for the demobilized soldiers and their dependents who were listed in the armed forces. It is located in an altitude of 1,750 meters above sea level, therefore the road to this place are quite interesting but the weather is generally mild all year. In the months from May to September, the average temperature is between 15℃ and 23℃.

Qingjing Farm offers exquisite scenes all four seasons of the year, each with its own unique interest, which would be toured on your own pace and at your own steps. You must pay an entrance fee to enter but once inside you can enjoy what they offered; Mountain Reflection in Green Lake, 487-Steps Trail, Clouds Covering the Mountain, Green Green Grasslands, Fragrance of Fruit Orchards, Sincere Heart Makes Wishes Come True. You basically can fully savour the sweet serenity of the high mountain countryside.

Qingjing, in its broad sense covers Qingjing Farm and its neighbourhoods, from Wushe to Meifeng. It is intersected by Provincial Highway 14A but Waze and Google Map apps will direct you easily to this place. I would advise you to come during weekdays, try avoiding weekend as the place might be flooded with local tourist as well as foreign tourist. We met a Chinese Malaysian family while having lunch at the 7-Eleven. They were there for almost a week already but didn’t covered the whole island like we did. According to them, they are regularly visiting Taiwan as its nearer and cheaper for holiday.

Our next and last destination was to visit Zhongshe Flower Market, also known as Houli Flower Farm or Chungshe Flower Garden in different publications. There’s an entrance fee to this place as the place has been well advertised by the tourist agency, so only Nasrul and I were exploring partially of its flower garden over the 6 hectares of flowers. Hubby and Syahirah chose to wait outside, within the compound at the food outlet and enjoying the flower gardens at a free zone area.

There were several types of flowers are in bloom throughout the year. One of the biggest highlights of the flower farm is during tulip season. Every year from January to March, up to 300,000 tulip bulbs are in full bloom, similar to what you will find in the Netherlands. Zhongshe Flower Market is the only flower farm that succeeded in growing tulips in all of Taiwan. The flower farm also sells products as they are commercial parties. They sell seasonal flowers and potted plants, while other gardening materials, flower vases and even fertilizer are also available. You may find many photo backdrops around the 6 hectares of flower fields. One of the main features of Zhongshe Flower Market is the photography backdrop zones, where different props are used to set the stage for gorgeous photographs. The flower farm is a popular spot for wedding photography. Many couples bring a professional photographer to take wedding photos. Some of the backdrops include a wedding gown arch, scenes that resemble European fairy tale and many musical instruments, including a white piano placed in the middle of a lavender field.

We headed back to Taipei to rest at our final Air BNB accommodation in Shongshan district. It was good to end the trip but our last accommodation was on the highest floor without a lift. We had to drag all or belonging as we need to return the car the next day.

Day 5 - Road Trip from Kaohsiung - Tainan - Sun Moon Lake (Yuchi Township, Nantou County)

Travelling date: 13th December 2018. For information, Syahirah was on medical leave during the trip as she just got discharged from the hospital after an operation on her left foot. The operated area took times to heal. Before the trip, it was Dr Ng from Mediviron Clinic who did the treatment (open the bandage, cleanse the wound, applied the medicine and bandaged back) for her. Dr Ng provided sufficient medicine for her to do the treatment twice a day on her own, at night and in the morning.

Our morning routine was quite simple. I usually will woke up first for Fajr prayer and 28 minutes after the Syuruk prayer, prepared breakfast, arrange clothing for everyone and packing. Our breakfast were usually bread, noodles cup, cereal and coffee. Next I woke Syahirah up first since she needed some time to do the treatment. In any trip, hubby will be the last person who is ready to leave so, it’s very important to get him to follow our departure time. And of course, I'm the time keeper who adamantly will try to get everyone to stick to my long list itinerary :)

Day 5 road trip was quite interesting as we had so many places to visit. Therefore, we left Kaohsing before 10.00 am. We first headed to Tainan, which is the oldest city in Taiwan since we discovered about a Halal restaurant from the Trip Advisor. The place is called Ali’s Kitchen operated by a mixed marriage couple. The husband is a Pakistani and the wife is a local Taiwanese. They met when they studied in US. They converted the front house as a kitchen that sells authentic Pakistani food. They happened to open the shop while doing some preparation for their business for the next day when we arrived. We were lucky and thankful that he was willing to serve us lunch and cooked a little more for us to pack for our dinner.

The couple are God sent people. They shared their life story and vice versa. Their 2 children’s were studied abroad, in America, both of them. They usually took turn to visit and will close the kitchen one or 2 months every year for that trip. They also open their house for the tourist to rent, duly advertise in Air BNB. Both of them are no longer working 9 to 5 job but running their kitchen and renting business on a full time basis. The wife even took us to the Bank for hubby to exchange some of his US Dollar, very helpful and very friendly indeed. Before we departed, the wife gave us lots of gifts, mostly foods and tea. By the way, Taiwan is famous for their tea, herbal and bubble tea etc.

We left Tainan city at around 1pm heading towards Sun Moon Lake, a lake located in Yuchi Township, Nantou County. But for those who wishes to explore Tainan city, you may visit their must-sees attraction such as the Confucius Temple, Chimei Museum and the historical Anping District. Be sure to make a trip to Hua Yuan (Flower) Night Market, as it was the most popular night market in Tainan.

A three-hour drive away from Gueiren District (where Ali Kitchen in Tainan is located) lies the massive and marvellous Sun Moon Lake. We explored Yuchi Township which has many attractions built around the enormous lake area as to boast the tourism in Taiwan. Sun Moon Lake clear waters and picturesque mountains in the backdrop is a must-visit for all nature lovers. Among its variety of attractions to visit around the area include the Sun Moon Lake Ropeway, Ita Thao Village and Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village. Sun Moon Lake is a great choice for first time visitors like us as we’d get to witness the stunning beauty of both the lakes and the mountains of Taiwan. We took so many photos over the site area as the time we were there was before the sunset. It makes all photos beautifully captured and really worth the trip and the money that we spent.

We adjourned to look for our hotel after the sunset which is located in less than 15 minutes’ drive. As it was a week days, the entire area wasn’t as busy as it was on the weekend. Hence we found no difficulties at all to park our car, looking for a restaurant to eat. There’s no crowd that was occupied the areas at night. After we secured the key to our room and placed or belonging inside, we straightaway explored the area looking for dinner. Yes, there is no specific Halal Restaurant that we could find so, we opted for pork’s free menu.

Remarks: majority of the photos in this entry were snapped from Sun Moon Lake. I'm still not use to new blogging setting in Google. Its not as friendly as before where I can edit and type photos description and arrange the setting like I'm typing in words, to say the least.

Day 4 - Road Trip from Taitung to Kaohsiung

Travelling date: 12th December 2018 The road distance from Taitung to Kaohsiung is around 163km and it took about 3 and a half hour if without any stop. We departed from a housing area where we stayed close to 11.30am after filling up our stomach with heavy breakfast that I created from whatever food stock that we brought.

Knowing the difficulties in finding a halal restaurant, we planned ahead to stop for lunch at the 7-Eleven. The 7-E outlet that we cose to stopped was in Fanglio Township which has a clean toilets nearing Kaohsiung. I would really recommended 7-Eleven to those who is not really particular on the food. You can find mostly basic foods such as rice, pasta, bread, fruits, dessert,drinks etc which is good for breakfast, lunch or dinner. And usually it seated next to Petrol station which is so convenience to traveler.

The first destination that we are targeted to visit was the Kaohsiung Mosque. Kaohsiung Mosque is the largest mosque in Kaohsiung and the main gathering site of Muslims within the city. It is situated in Lingya District, the second mosque being built in Taiwan after Taipei Grand Mosque in Taipei. The mosque was constructed in 1990 and open to public in 1992. The 1st floor is dedicated for the male and female dormitories, female prayer room and female activity center. The 2nd floor is the main prayer hall, study center for Arabic language and Islamic culture display room. The 3rd floor is the guest room, youth activity center, office and kitchen. The mosque also features the imam office, administration office, library and ablution area. The Imam and the mosque caretaker were very helpful to us. They showed us the ablution and toilet area. We stayed a bit longer for Asar praying with him. Not many people came for Asar maybe because a lot of people were still working at that time. We met an Indonesian girl who studied in Kaohsiung who is a regular to the mosque as she came for a halal meal. There are a Halal restaurants owned byMuslim people beside the mosque.

After prayer, we quickly adjourned to the largest shopping mall in Kaohsiung, EDA Mall as the priority was to change the currency as we run out of Taiwan Dollar. EDA Mall is actually a resort city and being decorated with Christmas decorations all over as we were there during Christmas time. We chose to have Subway for dinner. Thereafter we looked for money changer and had a brief tour, rather a window shopping. We left the mall shortly after to look for our Air BNB accommodation in Sinsing District. The apartment caretaker was quite nice to show my husband where to park the car. Apparently, the apartment is seated just next to Liuhe Tourist Night Market. Liuhe and Ruifeng night markets are the most famous in Kaohsiung. Syahirah and Nasrul were exploring the night market just the 2 of them as the parent were too tired and ready for bed. That’s pretty much all of what we were doing in Kaohsiung.

For information, Kaohsiung is a massive port city in southern Taiwan. It is a home to many skyscrapers, such as the 248m tall Tuntex Sky Tower that were light up almost every night just like our KL Twin Tower and KL Tower. Beside the skyscrapers the city is known for its diversity of parks, i.e. Love River that was upgraded with walking paths and cafes along its banks, and cruise boats navigating for the tourist. For those who travels to shop, may choose the higher end products from the high end mall just like EDA Mall or medium class shops and a night markets. Since we were on tight budget and the purpose of travel is to record our presence in Taiwan without a need to repeat a trip, a road trip circling the island was more than enough.

Day 3 - Road trip from Hualien - Taitung - Keting National Park - Taitung

Travelling date: 11th December 2018

From the map (see below), we will be spending more than 6 hours on the road. Therefore, we left Hualien before 9.30am on a bright sunny day. Not a drop of rain throughout the journey. How I wished it was sunny yesterday as a stroll in Jiufen old town is something not to be missed. Ops, before I forget, I made such a blunder for not booking an accommodation in Keting, but in Taitung instead. We wasted about 3 hours, to and from Keting turning back to Taitung. However, our accommodation in a private room at Taitung Residential area was worth the trip. Our room with 2 master bed and attached bathroom was so comfortable that we had nothing to complaint about.

We stopped for fuel and toilet at Yuli Township, a rural area but all in a nice view after one and half hour journey. While taking photos with Nasrul, I saw a train passed by in a hilly mountain. You can actually tour a whole island of Taiwan by train. The train that I saw must be from Taipei to Hualien & Taitung that is called an Eastern main line. Taiwan Rail Administration provides generally hourly express trains on the scenic eastern line.  From late 2007 new 'Taroko express' high-speed (130km/h) electric tilting trains were introduced, providing an hourly service between Taipei and Hualien, with several services continuing along the scenic valley to Taitung. Those train traveler should try this Taroko express. I was a train traveler before I quit to travel with my family which are not used to inconveniences of being a backpacker.

Yuli Township mountainous view as a photo backdrop

Do not forget to bring wet wipes

We arrived in Taitung town by lunch time and quickly searched for a halal restaurant, HCC, Halal City Company but it was closed. We ended having lunch at 7-Eleven, whatever pork free meal that we can grab. 7-Eleven is quite a reliable place to stop for a tourist like us. In time of emergency you can fill your stomach with quite a wide selection of food and not to mention their good aroma coffee that we enjoyed so much. In addition to that a drive along a coastal road with panoramic view is another valuable experience.

How our lunch looks like in 7-Eleven

The coastal road

As we arrived a bit too early, we decided to tour Keting instead of day 4, thinking that we can actually spent more times in Kaohsiung, a second major city in Taiwan. It took us 3 hours to reach Keting National Park but at 5.30pm the area is getting dark and not possible to explore and/or hike as the park was closed. Another disappointed journey. We stopped by the roadside watching Pacific Ocean while taking some photos.

A little bit of information on Taitung City which is situated on the southeast coast of Taiwan. The place is well known for Peinan Cultural Park, the site of a number of buried Neolithic slate coffins first excavated in the 1980s. Examples of relics recovered from the site, including pottery and jade stones, are displayed at the National Museum of Prehistory. Beside its beautiful pebble beaches, in their wooded Taitung Forest Park are birds and butterflies, and footpaths wind past several lakes that hikers wold love to explore. If I were with my hiking cum tajwid group, I’m sure the 4 of us wold enjoy the trip better.

Seafood in Taiwan is a must

While on the other hand, Kenting National Park occupies the Hengchun Peninsula at the southern tip of the island of Taiwan (see the map above). Keting is famously known for its white-sand beaches, caves, coral reefs and northern mountains. The park’s main resort, Kenting Town, is home to restaurants, street-food stalls, bars and nightlife. The Frog Rock outcrop and the jagged, 318m Dajianshan peak overlook the resort. We arrived just nice for dinner and found the seafood restaurant “ALI SEAFOOD” in the google map and thought it was a Muslim, halal place but it wasn't. Since we were there already and hungry, we thought to spend a bit on the meal. But it wasn’t cheap and they do not accept credit card.

Beautiful isnt it? I mean, the room

We headed back to Taitung where our accommodation was at around 7pm and arrived back in the city slightly before 10pm, all exhausted. Husband decided to rest a little bit more at a nice house and we shall started late for 4th day trip to Kaohsiung.