this taiwan trip is only 5 days 4 nights. i agree it is a bit short. especially when we are all discussing the itinerary, it seems a bit too packed, and darling's sister commented that we seem to be going there to eat, and not to tour. hahahahaha. the thing is we are travelling with two young kids, and we really do not know what to expect, and we are afraid that they may fall sick, so to play safe, i think 4 nights is just nice.
of course at taiwan, my number 1 place to stay at is ximending. very convenient location, no worries in getting food, all the shopping can be done here.
and then darling commented that the 2 young kids may be bored, because shopping doesnt entice them. why not stay at a min su where there are big vast areas for them to run around. i totally agree with her so i start researching for a good min su.
i chance upon this dearbnb website, whereby it introduces all the different min su in the different areas of taiwan. and i must say that the min su that they introduce are all very nice, and of course very pricey.
after doing much research, and weighing all the possibilities, i decided to go with this min su, 幸福山行 at 平溪. 平溪 is located at the outskirt of taipei city. from taoyuan airport to 平溪 is about one hour fifteen minutes ride. and then on the next day when we check out, the journey from 平溪 to ximending is about 45 minutes. and this 幸福山行 has a big green field for yuanze and xuanxuan to run about. it also keeps animals, such as a tortoise, a wild boar, a dog and even a blue bird. and the room is super nice.
we book the 8 pax room, known as the 蓝鹊山房. sunday to thursday, each night cost NT10300. fri and saturday, eve of public holiday and public holiday, each night cost NT11800. cny period and special event period (eg 平溪天灯节) cost NT15800. NT10300 is equivalent to 464 sgd.
this 8 pax room consists of a living room, and 3 bedrooms. bedroom 1 is like a master bedroom, with a tv and a washroom. bedroom 2 also has a washroom. bedroom 3 is the smallest room, with 2 big mattresses that can sleep 4 people. and the living room itself also has a washroom. hence is not too bad for 8 pax to share 3 washrooms. i remember in 2014 when we went to stay at a hk airbnb, it was 5 pax having to share 1 washroom. a bit nightmare. hahahahaha. ok let the pictures do the talking!
the glasshouse that we are staying at. we staying at the first floor. second floor consist of other rooms. you can book the whole glasshouse. for the rates, please check their official website. i lazy to write here.
this is the entrance to their reception/check-in counter.
the living room. also got a tatami area for people to sit there and drink tea. darling said she can imagine her parents sitting there drinking tea, while watching yuanze and enxuan run around at the field outside. hahahaha.
this is bedroom 1, the master bedroom. also have a tatami sitting area.
their washrooms got a bath tub. even the toilet bowl is the japan version one. which means got the bidet to wash your backside after you shit, and also warm toilet seat so that your backside wont freeze.
the washroom at the living room.
the small bedroom for 4 pax.
a playground in the eating area. how amazing is that. the down side to this is that enxuan and yuanze wants to play here before they have their meals. anyway i also want to add that all the carpentry here was done by the owner of the min su. not just this playground. the swing, the rocking horse, all the carpentry in the glass house, all done by him. so crazily talented.
our dinner. very filling. each dinner set cost NT380. equivalent to 17.10 sgd. each dinner set consists of a main dish, a bowl of rice, a bowl of organic vegetables, a roasted pumpkin that is really very yummy and sweet, a small dish of salad that is made of some 瓜 and salted egg, and a bowl of soup. and also comes with a drink. for the main dish, you can choose from a saba (mackarel), deep fried chicken cutlet with their signature spicy sauce (my FIL loves this sauce alot and requested for extra sauce), bbq chicken cutlet, and cherry duck breast (i personally think the cherry duck breast is the best dish among the rest). the drink you choose coffee, milk tea or soyabean milk. and i ask the owner whether can prepare meesua for yuanze and enxuan, and he agreed. then when i ask him how much does the meesua cost, he said it is FOC. so nice of him. that is taiwan hospitality!
the next morning. i really like staying at one big house with everyone. enxuan likes it too. it was drizzling at that time. both of them were waiting for the drizzle to stop so they can go out and play. i wanted to have a morning jog too but the drizzle forbidded me from doing so. :(
even though got drizzle, both of them still very happy. :)
this is their hand drip coffee, served to us for breakfast, as well as for dinner. it is very nice!
their breakfast! very western. not the local taiwan breakfast that you are expecting. consist of a plate of fruits (pineapple, apple, lychee, water melon), a yogurt, and a panini sandwich that has egg, cheese, pork cutlet and peanut butter. really very filling. oh yah the pineapple and lychee was the best that i have ever eaten in my entire life. so nice until my FIL ask the owner where he got the pineapple from, and so nice until my MIL ate 9 lychees.
ta daaa this is the owner of the min su. 吴先生. thank you so much for the great hospitality.
oh yes he also got sell 天灯 that cost NT150.
will i come back again to stay? of course i will. i love this place.
and yes, it finally happened.
we went to taiwan from 10 june to 14 june. a total of 7 adults and 2 kids.
a few months before the trip, my MIL warned us not to say anything about the trip in front of the 2 kids, especially when we are going, because she has heard horror stories of parents getting very excited about overseas trips and keep mentioning it in front of their children, then sway sway on the day of the trip, the child falls ill and the trip was cancelled.
so we were all very careful. as the day start counting down slowly to the trip, i keep praying and praying. pray that both enxuan and yuanze will be in good health.
and thank goodness, 10 june came, and off we went to the changi airport terminal 3 to take our flight to taiwan!
yuanze's first trip overseas. anyway the minnie mouse luggage doesnt belong to him. it belongs to enxuan.
we took china airlines to taiwan. china airlines ironically is not from china, it is actually taiwan's national airline. i booked the tickets in december 2017, at 560 dollars per ticket. it was actually a bit more expensive as compared to the air ticket in 2016, which cost 545 dollars. i have actually been monitoring the price since november 2017, and it started off at 600+ dollars. then when it finally came down to 560, i decided to purchase it already, after permission given by darling and her family.
and then when darling's sister bought her air tickets in march 2018, it was at 500 dollars. omg damn heart pain. but then from april onwards, the price soar up to 1000 dollars. ok that made me feel a bit happier.
at china airlines, once you secured the air tickets, you can go to the website to select your seats. when i went to taiwan in 2016 with darling, i only discovered this 2 weeks before the trip. so by the time when i book my seats, we were only left with seats way at the back of the aircraft.
so this time round, i can choose the seats 6 months before the trip, and i chose very good seats that is in the middle of the aircraft, with alot of leg space, and even have room to put a baby bassinet, although yuanze is too tall for that bassinet.
for this trip, i am very thankful for darling's family, because they all help to look after yuanze. i even have a few precious hours on my own to shop around ximending, and i am very thankful for that. hence for couples who want to go on holiday with your little one, bring your parents along too, not only you can bring them for holiday and make them happy, and they can also help to take care or entertain your child. :)
ok that's it for the first post of taiwan trip, more updates coming up!
