9 Day Taiwan Trip - Day 1 (Sun) Hsinchu

We are boarding the midnight Scoot flight to taiwan, reaching taiwan at around 6am. As we will be travelling to Hsinchu, we decided to deposit our big luggage at the rainbow hotel (our last night stay in taipei), so that we can travel light throughout our trip.

For those travelling in taiwan, you can consider purchasing a prepaid sim card that enables one to make calls within taiwan at a affordable rate. It is very helpful if you need to liaise with your hotel/minsu or make reservations for restaurants or even contacting your friends. I highly encouraged anyone to buy this as it is cheap and really helpful. You can buy one over at the telecom counters at the airport.

 

Take note of the operation hours. The one in terminal 1 opens at 8am and the one in terminal 2 opens at 7am. I didn't get mine at the airport as i reach far too early.



Depending on your trip duration and whether do you need data plan, there are several plans from several service providers for you to choose from. I got mine from chunghwa telecom, i paid NT$300 for my sim card that only enables me to make calls. It's more that enough for my 9 days trip, i still have around NT$200 left in my sim card.

We make our way to the bus terminal and take Freego bus to rainbow hotel. I chose Freego as it stops very near to rainbow hotel.


Actually Freego bus stops very near alot of hotels in ximending. It is super convenient if you are staying at ximending. You can choose to buy return tickets directly from the counter, it is much more cheaper (around NT$140 as compared to NT$900 taxi to airport) and saves you the trouble of arranging transport to airport later on.


After waiting for around 30 mins, we are off to rainbow hotel. The journey is around 1 hour.



I called earlier to ask whether we can deposit our luggage at the hotel, the lady was very nice and i'm surprised to hear her saying: "Anyone can deposit their luggage at the hotel even if they are not their customers."



The place looked quite old, seems like they have not furnished for quite a while.

After which we make our way to taipei bus station (台北转运站) to take Guoguang bus(国光客运) to Hsinchu.



We get to their subway station and brought the easy card (悠游卡), which is the equivalent of our ezlink card.
*One thing to note: Remember to refund the card on your last day.


We are going to the Taipei Main Station, which is just one stop away form ximending station.


Upon reaching the Taipei Main station, we just follow the signs to get to the bus station.





We brought our tickets to Hsinchu. The frequency of the buses is quite fast, we just need to wait for around 10 minutes before hopping on to the bus. We told the driver that we are alighting at 竹东屈臣氏站, which according to the minsu's website - within walking distance to our minsu.

The journey takes around two hours.


After alighting at 竹东屈臣氏站, I immediately ask a lady about the directions to my minsu. I was shocked to hear that it's actually quite far, but the lady is nice enough to help me call the minsu and the owner say he will come and pick us up.

Our accomodation in Hsinchu - 童话小屋. I chose this place because it's within walking distance to the train and bus station.

Our room for three:

Interesting paper towel, you can use this after your shower and it will not tear off. You just let it dry and you can use it again.

The room was quite spacious, it's really worth it for the price we pay (less than NT$2000 per night) . Shortly after we settle down, the owner pass a map to us indicating all the places of interest and good eats around the area. I heard that its the owner who drew the map.


Very useful map, we depend on this map when we explore the area. But one thing to note is that the distance may seem quite short on the map but in reality, you need to walk quite a distance to reach the place.

Details of the minsu in Hsinchu :
童话小屋   
Email: tian951105@yahoo.com.tw
Address: 新竹縣竹東鎮信義路上Handphone nos.：0988-333-077 

The owner is actually quite nice to drive us to the train station and ask us to take the train to Neiwan station and visit the bustling Neiwan old street (内湾老街). According to the owner, it's best to visit the street during weekends as it's more happening, there's not much shops open during the weekdays.

Neiwan old street is indeed bustling with activities. The street is actually quite long with a lot of things to see and shop.






They sell alot of 野姜花 products at the old street.

There's a famous bridge that one must visit if you are visiting the old street, it's very near the Neiwan old street. 

There's a small shop selling coffee over there, we were very impressed at how the uncle put his soul into preparing each cup of coffee. He was meticulous in every step. We brought a cappuccino for NT$100. As it turns out, the coffee was fantastic. You may wish to try when you are there.
We walked for around 3 hours before heading back. For those who are visiting Neiwan old street, you may also consider going to the lavender garden nearby. The taxi ride cost only around NT$100.

We waited for around half an hour for the train. You may wish to take note of the timings of the train if you do not want to wait.


  
After arriving at Zhudong train station, we followed the map given to us by the owner and walked back to our minsu. Some places we passed by along the way:

We freshen up abit and relax for a while before heading out for dinner. There's a few nice dinner places indicated on the map. We decided on the pork rib noodles. It's easy to navigate around the place with the map. 

The pork rib noodle came with a few pieces of taro. It's really fragrant and flavorful, quite different from the ones i had in singapore. The noodle is springy and the pork rib is soft but a bit lack of flavor. Overall, it's quite nice, worth a try. Apparently, this stall is quite famous, their pork rib noodle had been featured on a variety show before.

The condiments area is self-service.

After the dinner, we walk to the Zhudong night market. 

The night market is quite small, nothing much to shop around. I heard that the saturday night market is much bigger. For those interested, the Zhudong night market opens daily, it will turn into a morning market in the day which i will visit the next morning. As it is drizzling, i hurry back to the minsu. Thanks god its all within walking distance.