In August last year, I visited Taiwan, a small island nation east of China with modern cities, traditional Chinese temples, beautiful hot spring resorts, and dramatic mountains. My first trip to Taiwan was in 2013 and it was great. But this time, it was even better as I had 2 awesome planners (Sarah & Ken) with me on this trip. Everything was well arranged from the airport pickup to hotel arrangements, what to do, where to go, during our 4 days there. I thought I should share with you in case you are planning a trip to Taiwan for the first time. Thank me later at the end of this post! You're welcome.

We arrived in Taipei city on Friday evening, checked into the Landis Taipei Hotel, and quickly went for dinner. We spent only 1 night in Taipei. The next morning, we woke up at 5am, had breakfast, and by the time we walked back to our hotel, our private driver was already there waiting for us.

A few hours drive later, we arrived in Hualien, a home to several world-class scenic attractions located on the eastern coast of Taiwan. We quickly checked into Farglory Hualien, a 381-room hotel with a stunning view of the mountain on one side and a breathtaking sea view on the other.

We spent 2 nights here and on the second day, we experienced a 5.5 magnitude earthquake in the early morning. While Ken felt the room was shaking, I was still sleeping like a baby. All I heard was his voice "I think there was an earthquake". I replied "OK" and carried on dreaming about something beautiful (not about an earthquake of course). In case you don't know, the average number of earthquakes in Taiwan is approximately 2,200 per year, of which 214 can be felt. That's crazy! 

Anyway, here is our itinerary of the day.

If you are visiting Hualien, you definitely should visit Ch'ing Shui Cliff. It's one of the Eight Wonders of Taiwan. This is a 21-kilometer coastal cliff with the tallest peak, Qingshui Mountain, rises 2408 meters directly from Pacific Ocean. The view here will blow your mind.

From Ch'ing Shui Cliff, our private driver took us to Swallow Grotto Trail along the Central Cross-Island Highway. It's considered the finest section of the entire Taroko Gorge with natural sinkholes, stunning rock formations, and spectacular scenery. It's truly heaven on earth.

It looks unreal, doesn't it? That's how beautiful Taroko National Park is.

Shakadang Trail was our next destination on the list to visit. This place is well known as "Mysterious Valley Trail" for its crystal-clear turquoise water and stunning scenery. No swimming allowed though, but it's safe and easy to walk. If you love walking, jogging, and exercising, you'll enjoy it very much.

We stopped at Eternal Springs Shrine on our way back as James, our private driver, mentioned that this shrine is one of the most famous scenic spots in Taroko National Park. Besides, the story we heard from James about 212 workers who died during the construction of the Central Cross-Island Highway makes this place worth visiting. 

A long journey became less tiring with an ocean view on the right

and a mountain view on the left.

Once in awhile, we just had to stop for a quick photo and soak in the fresh air.

On day 3, we decided to visit Jiufen, a popular tourist area with great views, historical market streets, and good food. The name Jiufen came from the Qing Dynasty, where there were only nine families in this village. They requested "nine portions" of supplies every time shipments arrived from town. Jiufen in Chinese means "nine portions" in English by the way.

If you are a food lover, you'll definitely love this place. Tiny streets filled with restaurants, souvenir shops, and food stores that sell varieties of Taiwanese products. Even if you are not into snacking or food tasting, it's still worth visiting.

A beautiful temple in a corner of Jiufen.

Ximending is a famous shopping district that you shouldn't skip if you are a shopaholic like me. My first time visiting Ximending, I went crazy with shopping. This time, I didn't shop much. I was more interested in walking along the busy streets, hopping into a cafe, and watching local people walking by. It's so therapeutic.

We were just wandering the streets, having no specific place to stop in mind. The only time we stopped was when we saw a cute dessert and coffee shop. As usual, there is always time for dessert and coffee.

No trip to Taipei would be complete without a visit to Taipei 101, a 508 meter (1666 ft) tall skyscraper in Xinyi District of Taipei city. It was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010 until the Burj Khalifa, Dubai took its crown. (Read my blog posts about Dubai trip here and here).

Once you are at this place, purchase a ticket on the 5th floor of the Taipei 101 Shopping Mall. It'll take you to the observation decks on the 88th and 89th floors. The queue at the ticket counter might be long, but I can guarantee you, the view up there is a real treat to the eyes. Don't miss it!

There you have it, a full list of what to do in Taipei for 4 days. I wish I could take more photos, but this blog entry is already long enough with almost 30 pictures and a video included. Hope it comes in handy when you are planning for your first trip to this beautiful country. 

Thank you so much for reading! 

Some time in mid of 2016, I made a short trip back to Taiwan. It has been 3 years since my first visit. The first trip to this beautiful country was in 2013. It was also the last time that I went on a holiday with a bunch of people (15 of them probably). It was fun, but it was also tiring as we were constantly on the go from one place to another. If you are like me, afraid of burning yourself out with a full itinerary "recommended" by a tour agency from the early morning to the late evening, you'd be better off planning your own trip. 

When my boyfriend and I travel, we are very laid back. We will pick one or two places to visit or things to do in a day and as soon as we cross that item off our to-do list, we pretty much go with the flow. That's what happened when we visited Taiwan. I'll share more details on what we did and where we went in another travel post. For now, here are just some photos of me, wandering the streets in Xi Men Ting at the end of our trip. 

No particular destination in mind. Just walked and enjoyed Taipei as much as I could. It's so incredible to see the familiar places with fresh eyes. 

Thank you so much for reading! 

::Outfit::

Cropped denim jacket- Thanks to Esprit

Mugler sunglasses- Similar here

Forever New culottes- Similar here

Chloe drew handbag

Jeffrey Campbell gladiator sandals

Vintage deep V-neck top- Similar here

Hi everyone,

Suddenly, I don't know how to start this last blog post about #Taiwan trip. The feeling is like when I was in Taipei on my 4th day knowing that this was my last day in Taipei. It's getting emotional.

My flight back to Singapore was at 8pm so I had plenty of time to walk around the streets and to look for some souvenirs for friends and family. My hotel is located right at Ximending, one of the most popular shopping districts for young people. Ximending is the source of Taiwan's fashion, subculture and Japanese culture. It's like "Shibuya of Taiwan"








As you can see from the photos, most street shoppers are youths and the way they dress up is pretty similar to Japanese style.


Walking at the middle of Ximending street with my favorite frog hat that I bought for my nephew Miu the other day. It matches my sunglasses, don't you think?


Too much of walking and shopping around under the crazy hot sun worn me out, this was the last thing I wanted to do before leaving Taipei.