Wave Like the Wave: Taiwan 7D6N May 2015

It's day two, 19 May 2015 Tuesday. This is the day to leave Gao Xiong and head to Tai Zhong for 3days 2nights!

Here's a view from the window early in the morning. We had our breakfast nearby our hostel at 7.30am

This is how the building of my hostel looks like. This building is separated from Block A to Block D. Ours are Block B which is on the right hand side once you come out from the MRT station.

We ordered little for breakfast because we thought we will be eating on our walk to the next destination. We have this thought throughout the journey but the truth is that we rally grab any food although we saw stalls at the road side. Anyway, our breakfast costs 130nt (2 cups of soya bean - 30nt and the other 2 plates - 100nt). We wanted to eat Taiwanese kind of breakfast but this shop sells more of western food.

The check-out time is 11am but since we are going to Tai Zhong, we check-out around 8.30am so that we could have more time at Tai Zhong. We sat on the MRT from San Duo Shopping District to Kao Shiung Main Station and walked to Ubus office, a 5mins walk. You can just ask around if you're not sure where is the office, there is a tourist information center and numbers of drivers at the station. You can check-out their website (unfortunately, the website is in Mandarin) on the bus trip schedule so that you would save time. By the time we reach their office, it was already 9.12am and the bus is leaving at 9.21am. Thank God that we are just in time and we don't need to wait for the next hour. It costs 250nt per person from Jian Guo station(建國站) to Zhong Gang Zhuan Yun station (台中中港轉運站) and the length of the journey is 2hours and 40minutes.

After 2hours and 40minutes on the bus, it is already 12.20pm, time for lunch! We was told that we could take BRT to Tong Hai Bie Shu Shopping District for lunch and go to Tong Hai University. Inside Tong Hai University, there is a cow farm and Luce memorial Chapel but because we didn't ask where is the locker at Zhong Gang Zhuan Yun station (台中中港轉運站) place, we end up walking with our heavy luggage to Tong Hai Bie Shu Shopping District to eat. After our meal, we have no choice but to check-in at our hostel. We ordered two bowls of beef noodle for 150nt and the portion was enough for 3 person. Sorry for not having a photo of Tong Hai because we was a little frustrated and tired with our luggage. haha!　We sat BRT back from Tong Hai Bie Shu Shopping District to Maple Valley Park (7 stops away) and took a taxi(100nt) to our hostel, Migo Stay, 1400nt 3person/per night. Oh ya! forget to mention that our initial plan was to go to GaoMei Wetland for sunset after Tong Hai but due to the far distance, we decided to cancel it off and go to other places.

This room is not as big as the one we had at Gao Shiung. It is a little squeeze but all is fine. Something to improve is the limited number of hanger they provide, only one! and the weak wifi at our room(most probably the modem is place further from our room). Anyway, time to continue on with our journey with a aunt (dad's friend) at 2.30pm. She brought us to the first stop, Maple Valley Park（秋红谷）which is the place we get down from BRT and took a taxi (cab). This park is a detention pond and the only concave park in Taiwan. They did not have the intention to have a detention park at Tai Zhong but it was due to scandal on the previous project that came up with this idea.

After Maple Valley Park, we head to National Tai Chung Theater/Taichung Metropolitan Opera House (台中國家歌劇院）by bus since it is free for the first 8km and this is something good about Tai Zhong. We reached somewhere near the theater and below is a view before crossing the road. Here is their official website - http://npac-ntt.org/

This theater is still under renovation and it is estimated to open to all by next year if I'm not mistaken. By then, I believe many event will held at this opera house. After visiting the theater, we head to Tai Chung Train Station and walk to Miyahara （宫原眼科）. The ice-cream there is very famous but we didn't buy due to the limited time and the long queue.

Next, aunt brought us to visit something special. A place the local or the tour guide will not bring you there. She brought us to Zhong You Shopping District (中友商圈） to visit their toilet. You did not read it wrongly and I did not type it wrongly. It is the toilet that she brought us to visit. The specialty of the mall is the different design of every single toilet in the mall. I forget how long will the design last for but I remember that they used up around 10000nt to change the theme. I took the other design of the toilet but it is quite blue so I would only post a underwater female and kids toilet.

After visiting toilets, we went to Calligraphy Greenway (草悟道/行草悟道) which is a place near our restaurant for dinner. We didn't walk at the Calligraphy Greenway because it is too long and we are not sure where will we be at the other end of the Calligraphy Greenway. So we only took a look at the information board to know more about it. There is two website about it, first one and second one. You can just google it and you will get to see images of it. Also, there will be street performance on and off this place during the weekdays. However for weekends, there will always be people performing and this is a great place for evening walk with love ones. Dinner Time!!! It is around 6.20pm and it is time for dinner, aunt brought us to Italian Pumkin Bistro (南瓜屋紐澳良義大利餐館) for dinner. The food, service and atmosphere was really great. I truly miss this restaurant and the price is reasonable. They serve salad, soup, main course, dessert and drinks. The set i called was around 370nt (cant remember the exact figure).

It was around 8.30pm after the dinner and it time to say goodbye to the aunt that has brought us around Tai Chung City the whole day. We sat on the BRT to Maple Valley Park and look for a taxi(cab) to get back to our hostel like what we did previously. However, the first time we sat on the taxi was at a fixed price, 100nt, but this time, the uncle told us that they charge according to meter and it was 85nt only. By the time we reach our hostel, settle down and clean ourselves was already 9.30pm. Since this is the first time my brother and I went Taiwan, we have not been to any night market and the nearest one was Feng Jia Night Market. So both of us went to take a look and not really to hunt for food because we are really full. Migo stay gave us a map upon check-in and we followed accordingly. Walking distance was about 10-15mins away. We saw a crowded area infront of us and we know that we are at the correct place. We continue walking towards the crowded direction to get to the university and the night market. We found the university and had a walk inside and time to walk around the night market. We saw streets with stalls and that was only a part of the night market after telling local friends that we took an hour to walk the night market. Such a joke because Feng Jia night market is actually the biggest at Tai Chung and Taiwan. Therefore, it is impossible for us to only take an hour. haha. Maybe this is the reason for me to come the next time.