Family Trip to Taiwan – Alishan (2) – travel with a 9 months old baby and a 3.5 years old toddler

We booked a cottage for four at Alishan Youth Activity Centre where Erwanping station is located. 

Erwanping Station (Chinese: 二萬坪車站) is a railway station on the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) Alishan Forest Railway Line located in Alishan Township, Chiayi County. The station was opened on 1 October 1912. 

The daily mean temperature in April is only about 11 degree celcius here. Alishan is well known for its sunrises, sunsets, sea clouds, railways and forests. We were unable to wake up (not advisable too) for the sunrise, but we managed to capture the beautiful sunset at Erwanping Station and clouds on the other day. 

We walked along the railway tracks a few times as this part of the railway is temporarily not in use. 

The entrance fee is NT300 for a foreigner to enter Alishan National Scenic Area. I wanted to see cherry blossom so much but only had a glimpse of a few trees. Should have come earlier before the flower season is over. We took the red mini train and imagined pink and white petals raining down from the swaying tree. At least, we still managed to snap a few pretty shots. 

The next day, on our way back to the city, we stopped at Fenqihu (奮起湖), a small town of low wooden buildings built into the mountainside at 1,400 meters, midpoint of the Alishan Forest for its production of high altitude food products such as bamboo shoots and aiyu jelly (愛玉). We tried the rail lunch boxes (火車便當, Fenqihu bento) for lunch. 

Daddy is my hulk! He is so strong to carry both of us on him.

I saw wasabi plant for the first time!

Family Trip to Taiwan – Alishan/Kaohsiung (1)

We are flying to Taiwan again. This time, with an additional member, my little brother, and new destinations. The first time I was there, I was only one and half years old. Now, I am a big boy!

The timing of our flight to Kaohsiung is not very pleasant, 6am. We left home around 3.30am and the airport was so crowded. Some people were queuing impatiently, some were rushing as they were late, some seemed to be in good travelling mood. Some kids were sleeping in their prams or carriers, some were curious about what’s going on. My brother and I belonged to the last group. We were both widely awake from 4am to plane taking off despite the fact that we were exhausted and sleepy. 

We have lots of luggage AGAIN as usual. Grandma always like to be prepared at all times and it’s a good thing. We checked in three bags with our clothes (for both cold and warm weather as we are going up the mountain), inflated bath tub, travel sterilizer, milk powder and other essentials. Our carry-on bags included a diaper bag, a foodie bag, my trunki filled with toys and books, a big fridge-to-go to put EBM, pump parts and medicine (all for my younger brother). Ooh ya, and a suitcase of jackets (5 to be exact). Mummy said we might be able to travel light when the two of us were older. 

The plane landed 30 minutes ahead of time. Mummy has booked a car rental services and we started the day with food from FamilyMart. We rented a Touran 7-seater with two car seats. 

First stop was Cijing WanSan seafood! After the sumptuous and value-for-money lunch, we headed straight to Alishan Mountain. 

The trip took more than 3 hours with half of the time driving on winding roads up the mountain. Google map mislead us onto a “walking trail” instead and we finally reached our accommodation, Alishan Youth Activity Centre, before sunset. Daddy must be very tired from the long drive and a lack of sleep. The temperature dropped almost 10 degrees celcius. We had to put on warm clothes and I loved the weather actually. Getteibg dinner here was not easy and mummy was so wise to prebooked a set meal for us in the hotel. Looked fine though tasted so so. 

Kaohsiung/Tainan Getaway (1)

Mummy decided to write about her couple trip with daddy to Taiwan. This is a short 3-day getaway without me. It is the first time that she leaves me for more than a day. Let’s see how it may go. 

The Scoot flight departures from Singapore at 6.15am and comes back from Kaohsiung at 8.05pm on every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. They bought the tickets on promotion, and the round trip tickets cost only SGD$198 per person. The journey lasts 4.5 hours in the air. So they left on Tuesday morning and coming back on Thursday afternoon. Just in time to vote on 11 Sept (Election Day). The plane was a special SG50 edition.

 
Everything was very smooth. They reached Kaohsiung at 10.30am. A Sim Card with an unlimited internet data usage or 3 days and 100 talk time from Taiwan Mobile cost only NT300 (SGD$1 = NT22.3). Then they took MRT to Kaohsiung station (NT35) and changed to a train (NT106) to Tainan. Daddy bought the ticket at 11.52am and the train left at 12noon. What a rush and they were on time! It’s a good 30 minutes ride to enjoy the sceneries along the way.      

  
    
 

Mummy and daddy checked in to the hotel right beside the Tainan Train Station. A night stay at Shangri-La’s Far East Plaza Hotel is SGD$203 (a price more than the air ticket). But great accommodation is the key to an enjoyable staycation, isn’t it? 

   
 

Once they put down their things, they headed out for famous street food! The roads were pretty quiet possibly because it’s a Tuesday (and also the outbreak of Dengue Fever in the area).

永樂燒肉飯，永樂蝦仁肉圓，阿松割包，阿輝鱔魚，50嵐珍珠奶茶

  
 

Taiwan Family Trip (8) – Sun Moon Lake

We left Cingjing Farm in the morning and headed to Sun Moon Lake on our way back to Taipei. I don’t know why this place is so famous (neither do my parents). Anyway, we took a lake cruise which stopped at two different piers for two attractions. One is the Temple. We ate THE 阿婆茶葉蛋 and took a photo with the stone which has the name ‘Sun Moon Lake’ written in Chinese. 

   
  

THE egg!

  

Sun Moon Lake

   
The other stop was better, a food street. We settled our lunch here. The journey from Sun Moon Lake to Taipei took 3.5 hours drive.    

Street Food

    

 

Taiwan Family Trip (7) – Cingjing Farm

Today was definitely the best day of this trip for me. We went to 青青農場 the Farm to watch a sheep performance 趕羊秀 and a horse show 馬術秀. 

Map of Cingjing

The show has yet started.

  

The horse riding show

It was my first time seeing the sheep and daddy even brought me for a short horseback ride. 

  
   
  
Daddy and mummy went to hike at the Main Peak of He Huan Mountain and I stayed in with grandma again. 🙂 They didn’t prepare well for this hiking trip to a point 3471m above sea level. They probably didn’t plan this at all. Daddy went up with a short sleeve tshirt and mummy had a thin cardigan outside of her tshirt. It seemed very cold at the peak, may be only 10 degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, they spent about 1.5hours hiking up and down. Good for them.

   
  

  

  

Only 12 degrees at the car park.

It’s our last day here in the midst of the mountains with splendid views and comfortable weather.     

Koaladidi is always ready to go!

Dinner at Lumama. 

      

Taiwan Family Trip (6) – Cingjing Farm

It seemed quite rush for us changing from place to place. We left Taichung around 10am and went straight up to the mountain, Cingjing Farm, Nantou County. Our accommodation had a wonderful view of the mountains.

   
  

 

 We had the famous local delicacy Urn Chicken (甕仔雞) for lunch. It came with a pair of Cotten gloves and mummy tore the chicken with the gloves on. 

  

Daddy and mummy then drove up to Wu Ling (武嶺), a saddle between the Main Peak and the East Peak of He Huan Shan (合歡山). Wu Ling is 3,275 meters above sea level and is the highest point of Taiwan accessible by public roads. Unfortunately, the weather changed and clouds covered the entire mountain. I stayed in again this time as the drive to Wu Ling was not a very smooth one. 

   
  

  

  

 

The view out of our window changed with the weather. 

   
    

Taiwan Family Trip (5) – Kenting/Taichung

The weather in Kenting was so good these days. We packed our things and had a simple breakfast near the 民宿 where we stayed and continued our journey to Nanwan Beach. We reached there around noon time. Grandma thought it would be better for me to stay in the car instead of running around on the sand. Daddy flew his Drone to capture photos of the bird’s-eye view of the beach and the sea for me. Mummy wore her hat to the beach and came back in a short while. The sand was too scorching hot for her feet. Let me show you how beautiful it is.

 

Can you see my mummy?

  
     
We reached the south most point of Taiwan too! (Actually daddy did. :p) Then we drove north to Taichung. We detoured to Kaohsiung first before going to Taichung actually. The reason being Uncle Bruce left his bag in Sizihwan Bay yesterday while they were taking photos/selfies happily. Luckily, a kind soul found the bag and returned to the nearest police station and mummy’s good friend went to get the bag back for him. How honest Taiwan people are! I love Taiwan people! Lesson learnt: be careful with your belongings when traveling. Mummy thought she was unable to meet the friend but in the end they still managed to meet up, though for a few minutes only. 

  

We quickly moved on and reached Taichung at nightfall. A must-see-attraction of this city is the famous Fengjia Night Market. I didn’t go again this time as the place was probably not the most hygienic place for a toddler like me and it was too late. Daddy and mummy explored the night market with a daring try of many kinds of street food. They tried all the following foods:

   

  

      

          

Taiwan Family Trip (4) – Kaohsiung/Kenting

We had breakfast in the hotel and left for a Kaohsiung city tour in the car. The weather today was too hot to do anything outdoor! We passed by the 85 Sky Tower, Love River, and took a few photos at Sizihwan Bay.  

           
Before we left for Kenting, we ate the No. 1 Beef Noodles in Kaohsiung for lunch, though I only tasted a bit.  

 
The drive down to Kenting was quite a pleasant one with clear views of the mountain, the countrysides and soon the sea. After less than 2 hours drive from Kaohsiung, we were at Kenting. I kept on saying ‘Wow!’ as I saw the turquoise sea from the car window. 

We checked in, settled down and geared up for the sunset at Guanshan, one of the most beautiful sunset scenes I have ever seen! 

Daddy drove up to the car park. We were early for the sunset which was said to be at 6.37pm according to the weather app on iPhone. Daddy took out his DJI Drone and captured a few pictures of the bird’s-eye view of the surrounding areas. 

   

  
I was very fascinated by this little device. On one hand, I was a bit scared by its sound and motion; on the other hand, I wanted to touch and play it. I called this thing “plane” though. 

Then we went to the lookout to wait for the sunset. I seriously could not understand why people liked to gather around to see the sun setting. The sun sets everyday, doesn’t it? Anyway, I was more interested in the trees and birds there.

  

  

 

We had seafood dinner again! Seafood for the third consecutive day. Daddy ordered beer today. I think Kenting is quite an ideal holiday destination. 

  

Taiwan Family Trip (3) – Kaohsiung

From North to the South. 

Daddy drove all the way from Taipei to Kaohsiung in our rented white Toyota Wish. It was a 350km drive and took about 3 hours. We stopped at a highway rest area 國道台中清水服務區休息站 for a short toilet and lunch break.  
We reached our hotel in Kaohsiung around 5pm. Mummy booked this hotel especially for me. The entire hotel is decorated with colorful art drawings on the wall. We even had a cocoon swing chair in our room. I loved it! 

 

  

   

Let me give mummy a call~

Daddy drove us to Cijin Island via the underwater Kaohsiung Harbor Tunnel. We caught the last sight of sunset at the beach.

  

    

We stopped at the old street and hoped to get some fresh seafood. Unfortunately, the restaurants seemed to be overpriced for the tourists from nearby hotels. 

     

We decided to go 萬三小吃店, a place that is famous for locals and really value for money! This is going to be Daddy and mummy’s all time favorite! Free self-service rice and drinks and free fruit platter were provided. 

   

  

Taiwan Family Trip (2) – Taipei

Daddy’s good friend had not been to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the most prominent historical landmark in Taiwan, and daddy thought it would be good for me to pay a visit there. The CKS Memorial Hall was erected in honor and memory of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, the former President of the Republic of China, and was opened in 1980 as part of a national park and gathering area. I ran freely at the Liberty Square under the scorching sun.    

Free Soul

There were some exhibitions going on too.

  

 

Lunch was done at Ay- Chung Flour-Rice Noodle Mee Sua 阿宗麵線 in Ximending shopping district. I took a nap there and was woken up by a fierce dog. 😦 

 

After a good rest, I was faced with a big challenge. (To be frank, it’s a big challenge for my photographer.) Yi Po bought me a professional photo shoot package. I was supposed to come when I was 6 months old, but now I am already 1.5 years old. It’s probably the rowdiest time of a toddler that the photographers hate the most. We spent 4 hours in the studio. Hopefully the photos would turn out to be nice. 

      

  

We had dinner at a Tung Hakka Cuisine 桐花客家私房料理 in Neihu District. It was not easy to reserve for a table though.