Taiwan – Day 1 (Arrival – Taichung Tour)
Tour Taichung care of Mr. Zhang
Prior to our travel to Taiwan, we contacted Mr. Zhang via What’s App (0932-517273) to schedule a tour. His package costs NTD 3,000.00 for a number of famous spots in Taichung. Mr. Zhang speaks mostly Mandarin and Fookien but little English so you might need Google Translate if you’ll be booking him. Since my friends and I are Chinese and can speak conversational Mandarin and Fookien, we were able to converse nicely and talked about various topics throughout the tour. Actually, it was mostly me doing the little chats and the two sleeping and resting at the back of the car… Anyway!
Once we arrived at Taichung Station, we contacted him and was told to meet him at a particular exit. After a few greetings, we started our Taichung Day Tour!
Tip: Make sure to bring an umbrella or a cap. We went there on September which was supposed to be the start of Fall. However, it seems like Summer spilled over so it was really hot and humid. Bringing sun block is definitely recommended. Remember to stay hydrated as well!
Our first stop was the Rainbow Village. It’s basically a former veteran’s village with murals and illustrations manually hand-painted on its walls, ceilings and floors by the Rainbow Grandpa, Mr. Huang.
Aside from taking selfies at various artistic scenes, you can also buy souvenirs at a stall here. You’ll also get a chance to meet Mr. Huang himself.
Once we were done filling our color palettes at Rainbow Village, we were off to Zhong She Flower Market. Truly a sight to behold, the Flower Market features carefully crafted and cared for landscapes of flowers.
There are two spots featuring a piano in a bed of flowers. Both of which are popular Instagram backdrops.
According to Mr. Zhang, Zhong She Flower Market serves as a picnic destination for locals during the weekend. On these days, families and friends would come here to have lunch and bond with each other.
From the flower market, we rode the car and went up the mountains to reach another nature hot spot, the Lavender Cottage. True to its name, the Lavender Cottage highlights the lavender as its theme and even features it in their menu! This is also where we had our lunch. The prices may get a little pricey but for the heck of it, we went ahead and filled our tummies a bit.
You can find a huge teddy bear at the entrance for you to take a picture with! Now, now… Don’t get the wrong idea and bring it home with you!
After walking around and taking in the scenery at Lavender Cottage, we went halfway down the mountains to reach the Mushroom Garden.
At the Mushroom Garden, you can take a tour and see how they grow various mushrooms. Likewise, you can also buy them as souvenirs here. They also offer a number of dishes which make use of their home-grown mushroom, one of which is the popular fried mushrooms.
Note: Some mushrooms look so creepy!
While resting here, we decided to skip Carton King, a stop included in the package. Checking the reviews online, it’s more or less a restaurant/cafe with furniture and displays made out of cartons. As soon as Shiela was feeling better, we continued on our Taichung tour back at the city proper.
After all the nature-y stuff, we went back to the city to visit the famous Feng Jia Night Market.
Lots of milk tea places here with prices that’s half of ours! The franchise Fiftea probably started here in Taiwan since their drinks really cost around PHP 50.00 converted! Back in the Philippines, this definitely cost more.
Some of the things that you must definitely try are the sweet potato fries and Taiwanese sausage.
Once we were done looking around Feng Jia Night Market and partaking in a fair share of food, we contacted Mr. Zhang to pick us up at the designated place. He drove us back to Taichung Station where we rode the HSR back to Taipei.
Head back to the Hotel and Rest
We bid each other good night after wrapping up the day and preparing for tomorrow. Since our first day was hectic and tiring, we decided to have a relaxing stroll around Taipei for our second day in Taiwan.
