Ni Hao, Taiwan! (Day 2)

Ni hao! Sorry, I'm just too excited to post another blog. 😬 That's why, my apologies for flooding your feed. Peace!

In case you missed our Taiwan Day 1 blog, you may click here.

For our Taiwan Day 2, I'm going to post our itinerary below which we booked again through our very trusted Klook (kindly click to access their website). But for faster access to Klook, you may download and use their mobile app.

DAY 2 ITINERARY:

1. Yehliu Geopark

2. Ying Yang Sea

3. Golden Waterfalls

4. Jiufen (Old Town)

5. Shifen Waterfalls

6. Shifen (lanterns)

not included in Klook:

7. Shilin (Night Market)

NOTE: Meals aren't included in the tour. And this whole day tour costs 890 pesos per head which we already booked prior this travel.

But before starting our day with a tour. We fueled ourselves with the free hotel breakfast that came along with our hotel room booking. And it was served by the cafe beside our hotel. VERDICT: Their food is really good! It wasn't bad for a cafe food. 😬

I had waffles which are superb! It came with a veggie salad and a coffee/red tea. I also bought a packed rice burger as my baon during the tour, which I later gave to my sister. LOL. That baon of mine in the picture was from Family Mart by the way.

Back to the tour topic now..

The meeting place for the tour was near GaKuDen Bakery which is just at the back of Ximen MRT Station Exit 4. Good thing that it was just a walk from our hotel. So, no hassle at all! 👌🏽

About the tour, we'll be riding a bus for it. That's why nope, our tour vehicle won't fetch us from the hotel like from the tours that we are used to.

And unfortunately, this wasn't the bus that was assigned to our group. Okay lang, all Pinoy naman kami sa mini bus eh! So, masaya! Hehe.

Lookie! There's a free bottled water from Klook. Yay! This was very much needed! Thanks, Klook! 😬

EN ROUTE NOW.

Ni Hao, Yehliu Geopark!

Here's our tour guide briefing us of the whole place.

Here in Yehliu Geopark, you have to pay for an admission fee so you could enter its premises. Good thing that Klook also sells this admission ticket. That's why it became hassle-free to us entering because we already purchased it while we were in Manila, weeks before this trip.

Below is the screenshot of the admission ticket via Klook + its price per head.

Inside Yehliu Geopark.

What we're about to see here are the rock formations that Taiwanese people are taking pride of. And a sample of it was this miniature of Queen Elizabeth's head.

Meanwhile, here's the map of the whole geopark.

And more of the geopark itself.

No filter shot of this view deck featuring yours truly. *wink*

Britney Spears moment of my sister. Haha. *cues Sometimes by Britney Spears* LOL.

And my mandatory shot at this staircase, that for me was inspired by that famous stairs in Tasmania. LOL.

Posting a picture of my sister at the huge Yehliu rocks plus the ocean.

And it was a looong walk towards the famous "Queen's Head". There were so many tourists that day in Yehliu in spite of the heat!

Then ta-daaa! Here's the famous "Queen's Head".

Unfortunately, the only picture I could share of the "Queen's Head" is the back shot of it. For you to see its front, you have to fall in line which I didn't want to do anymore because it was super HOT that day! And I'm already contented with this picture.

Also, we didn't check some of the rock formations anymore because it was too exhausting!

Thus, here's one family snap before we decided to leave the place. Hihi.

#NoFilter view of the Yehliu waters.

And wow! I stumbled upon this Queen's Head tiles as we exit the place.

Before leaving, my mom and my sister tried this fruit juices as refreshment. Hihi. It was 80 pesos per cup of it.

And because my mom is such a fruit lover, here are some #NoFilter shots of the beautiful fruits in Yehliu. (Beautiful talaga? Haha. Ang kikinis kasi ng fruits doon eh! LOL.)

For our 2nd stop, it's at Ying Yang Sea.

Yeah, it was beautiful. But it was for viewing purposes only. Too bad! Huhu.

Then picture with my girls. 💚

And there was even a mountain behind the Ying Yang Sea.

Picture time again with my mom and sizzums. 📷💚

Sorry, I just had to take a picture of this one because I found it cute. Hehe.

As for our third stop, it's at the Golden Waterfalls.

And here's another #NoFilter shot. 😍

Picture with Lyle as we barely take photos whenever we're on tour. Haha. And IRDK why! Kakaloka.

Also, a picture with our very kind and motherly tour guide who always checks our seatbelts. Plus, she always lets us sleep whenever we are heading to our next destination. Hihi. Love ittt!

FOURTH STOP: Jiufen

FUUUDGE! This place was really on the bucket list of mine! And it's all because of the anime film - "Spirited Away" (thanks, Gab for recommending that anime to me! mwah!) which is by the way playing in the background as I blog. Hehe. Because my sister wanted to watch it. Heeha!

Going back, I took a picture of this building because nothing.. it gave me a glimpse of Korea from the K-dramas that I watch. Hehe.

We had to take a 15 minute walk from the parking lot to Jiufen (Old Town) since it's situated in a side hill/mountain.

Then we stumbled upon this sign that measures the distance between Jiufen to Manila. Hehe. There are a lot of cities posted like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, London, etc. but I didn't take photos of it anymore. Hehe.

After that 15 minute walk, here we are finally in Jiufen! 😬

We were given roughly 2 hours for this place. And this is where we had our lunch since there were so many food stalls here. You're free to choose which restaurant to eat at, as long as you'll be back by the specified time by Nana (our tour guide). You can also shop for pasalubongs here if you'd like to, as there are number of souvenir shops here too. ☺️ But just a tip, the items here are pretty pricey compared to Shilin (Night Market).

And for our lunch place, we chose this:

Hi, Kuya Sungit and the food elevator/dumbwaiter! LOL.

We were at the 2nd floor since there were no vacant seats at the ground floor anymore.

Sorry, I wasn't able to get the restaurant's name. But it's located near the stairs going down to Amei Tea House (Spirited Away anime location).

The food was okay lang. Also, I kind of didn't like the restaurant because it was old and pretty untidy. Hehehe. ✌🏼

After having lunch, we then decided to go to Amei Tea House already - the house/temple inspiration of the anime - Spirited Away. YEYYY!!!

FUDGEEE! ITO NAAA! AHHH! 😱😱😱

#NoFilter shots of the Spirited Away temple/house. Hihi.

GANDAAAAA! 😍😍😍

Then after our pictorial here, we decided to explore more of the Jiufen (Old Town).

Yummy milk bread! (Pero mahal! Huhu.)

Afterwards, we already headed back to parking area. 😬

For our fifth stop (2nd to the last), it's at the Shifen Waterfalls.

My gahddd.. we weren't informed that we have to trek! Huhuhu. Can we just stay in the bus, please? 😭

But.. okay team, fight! Haha. 💪🏽

On our way to Biak Na Bato now. Char! 😅

There you go! Welcome to Shifen Waterfalls!

We just took few pictures here then decided to go back again to the bus. LOL.

Then I saw this cute mini lamps on the way out. That's why I took a picture of it. Hihi.

Also, I took a picture of this trail way where an actual train passes by. 🚂 Hihi. Super cool to the nth level! 😎

And last but not the least, here we are now at our sixth/last stop: Shifen (lanterns).

Ohhh.. it was a chamba shot to capture all these Asian boys smiling and laughing. Priceless! Hihi. 📷

Write on your lanterns now. 🏮

Welcome to Shifen! LOL. (Oh, I love my hair color here! Tee-hee!)

Unlucky for us because we didn't experience to write on the lanterns outside since it's crowded already. But nothing to fret about, at least we were still able to experience it. And we thank God for this, really! 💚

Here's Kuya Nice and Donelle.

Angelo and Lyle.

And my sibs being the artist that they are - drawing on the lantern. Ugh! Haha.

Some more snaps of us in Shifen...

...not until a real train passed by. Hahaha!

And a solo picture won't be complete without my mom photobombing. Lololol.

Then a few minutes more, we went back to our meeting place already. 

As we went back, I and my sister saw this cute cat roaming around Shifen. Hehe. And my sister wanted a picture with it of course. But the cat obviously won't. LOLJK.

We just seated beside the bridge here in Shifen as we waited for our busmates. Then while waiting, we found out that - once these lanterns from Shifen drops from the sky, they will be picked up by some personnels to have it recycled or disposed. So it won't litter around the Shifen hills/mountain or around the Shifen area itself. Wow, Taiwan! Kudos to that! ☺️

Then, before hopping on the bus, my mom asked me to have a picture with Nana. Hihi. 

While on the bus going back to Ximending, Nana asked us if we can help her continue having a tour guide job by rating her below. It's the least we could do for her, so of course, why not! You can also give her some tip through this website. 😬

Going back now..

Hello again, Ximending! We missed you! Hehe.

On this day too, we have planned to go to Shilin (Night Market), which an office friend (hiyie, RJ! TYSM! mwah!) of mine recommended me to. He said that the pasalubongs there were very affordable. That's why we really pushed going there in spite of our very very tired selves! LOL. 

Fast forward..

Here we are now at Shilin (Night Market).

Big thanks to Kuya Cliff for waiting for us to finish the tour so he could accompany us here. Hihi. 💚

But wait.. are you ready now for some mouth-watering foodzzz? LOL.

Cheesy lobsters at around 400 pesos each.

Cheesy oysters for around 250 pesos for 4 pieces.

Cheesy beef for around 250 pesos as well.

And this spicy Yang Chow at around 130 pesos 2 plates. Yummm! 😋

Here are also the other dishes from the Yang Chow sidewalk carinderia that we ate at. Hehe.

And as I end this blog, I'm sharing with you some random stuff from Shilin.

This mini arcade...

...lipstick claw machine. LOL.

And last but not the least, a picture with my fam bam. 💚 Thanks, Balengs & Angelo for the pic! 💕

(Brasohan game strong by yours truly. Hahaha!)

And like the usual, I'm sharing to you my expenses for that day.

DAY 2 EXPENSES:

68.00 pesos - packed rice burger

170.00 pesos - lunch

85.00 pesos - No Face keychain

170.00 pesos - milk bread (3 pieces)

306.00 pesos - Salted Egg biscuits

34.00 pesos - Taiwan ref magnet

136.00 pesos - Taiwan flag patch

969.00 pesos - TOTAL

Then, as for the rest of the food and my transpo, they were sponsored. LOL. What a poorita! Hahaha. And yep! That's how I survived this Taiwan trip with only 5k pesos on my wallet. Trololol. So, thanks a lot sponsors! Hehehe. Lablabs! 😚

There.. enough of the chit chat now. And see you on my next blog!

Thanks for reading! 💚

Zai jian,

Dona