Free & Easy Travel to Cebu & Bohol, Philippines from 12th to 16th November 2010

The Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral of typical Spanish colonial church is the seat of the Archdiocese of Cebu


Date of Travel: 12th to 16th November 2010 via Cebupacific Flights from LCCT, Kuala Lumpur to Cebu via Manila. Our first travel via Philippines Budget Airlines - CEBUPACIFIC at special bargain airfare of RM 472.32 (excl. airport taxes at Manila-Cebu, Cebu-Manila and Manila-LCCT).

No. of Travellers: 2 (Two) - Elder Brother: Wan Heng Wah and myself, Wan Heng Kei

Accomodation: Sampaguita Suites, Plaza Garcia Building, Magallanes Street, Cebu City.
From: 12th to 16th November 2010 for 5 Days/4 Nights @ Peso 998/Standard Room with twin beds.
The Sampaguita Suite is clean, very reasonably priced and offered a free airport pick-up from Mactan-Cebu Airport on our arrival on 12th November 2010.
Sampaguita Suite is located within the the old Cebu City with nearby the tourist attractions such Magallen's Cross, Basilica Del Santo Nino Church, Cebu City Hall, Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, Cebu Heritage Monument, The Carbon Market, 10 to 15 minutes walk to Fort San Pedro and Pier 1(Express ferry to Bohol Island) and Pier 3 (ferry to Mactan Island). It is also very reasonably priced for budget travellers.

The extension of the Basilica Del Santo Nino - The oldest Church in the Republic of Philippines

Another extension section of the Basilica Del Santo Nino Church.

Basilica Del Santo Nino is one of the oldest church in The Philippines. It was built on the spot where the image of Santo Nino, a sculpture of the Holy Child Jesus preserved in a burnt wooden box was found by the Spanish soldiers under a pile of ashes unscathed . It was belived that the orignal Santo Nino was presented to Queen Juana by The Spanish after baptized by Father Valderama. The same image now lies in the Basilica del Santo Nino. During the World World Two, a bomb fell inside the Basilica but again the Santo Nino was recovered unscathed. It was one of the numerous miracles and powers attributed to this image.

Basilica del Santo Nino was erected by The Augustinian Fathers in 1565 and was burnt down on 1 November 1566. The second church was destroyed by fire in March 1628 and rebuilt soon after 1628 to 1629. The present massive church was designed and constructed in 1735 to 1737. It is now the center of devotion and religious pilgrimages through the Visayan Islands.

The image of Santo Nino displayed at Basilica del Santo Nino.
The Christian Cross planted by Ferdinand Magellen upon arriving at Cebu on 21 April 1521. This cross was housed in a chapel next to the Basilica del Santo Nino on Magallanes Street (named after Ferdinand Magellan) just in front of Cebu's City Hall. The cross of tindale wood encased the original cross planted by Magellan. Magellen's Cross is a symbol of Cebu and the chapel's image can be found in its city seal. It is also seen as the symbol of Roman Catholicism in The Philippines.

Fort San Pedro - A bastion fort built in 8 May 1565 with Spanish Conqueror, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi breaking the ground. It was initially a nucleus for the earliest Spanish settlement as well as to repel Muslim raiders. It also serve as a stronghold for Filipino Revolutionaries. During the World War Two, it served as a fortification for the Japanese and after the battle of Manila Bay, the Americans turned the fort to the local Cebuanos.

The Heritage of Cebu Monument is a tableau of sculptures made of concrete, bronze, brass and steel showing scenes relating to the History of Cebu. The construction of the monument began in July 1997 and completed in December 2000.

It was built by local artist Eduardo Castillo with assistance from late Senator Marcelo Fernan with donations from private individuals and organisations. The structure depicted are Basilica del Santo Nino, the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, the St. John Baptist Church, Magellan's Cross, a Spanish Galleon and other scenes despicted are the baptism of Rajah Humabon, a procession of the Santo Nino, a Roman Catholic mass, the Battle of Mactan between Lapu-Lapu and Ferdinand Magellan and reputable Filipinos such as the late President Sergio Osmena Sr. and Blessed Pedro Calungsod.

The Carbon Market is the oldest and largest farmer's market in Cebu City. it is a lively and colourful place where you can find large variety of local fish, fruits, flowers, sweets as well as handicrafts and inexpensive souvenirs from Cebu and the nearby Visayan Islands.

Getting around Cebu City to Mactan Island

My elder brother & I took the most economical way to travelling from Cebu City to Mactan Island. We walked for 15 minutes from Sampaguita Suite to Pier 3. From there, we took the ferry as the locals do. The fare for me was 12 Pesos and 10 Pesos for my elder brother, a senior citizen. In addition there was a terminal fee of 1 peso each. The ferry took about 15 minutes to arrive at the Mactan Pier, right next to Virgen de Regla Church. We spent about 30 minutes in this old church which was built by the Spanish between 1735 to 1744. Thereafter, we took 2 jeepneys to proceed to Mactan Shrine or Lapu-Lapu Monument & Magellen's Marker. For the return journey, we only took a single jeepney ride to nearby Virgen de Regla Church. As it was already, 2pm, we were rather hungry and we turned out at Big Bro and had a whole grilled chicken, rice and drinks for lunch. It cost us less than 200 Pesos. The owner was Mr. Robert - a well-mannered person and a big fan of most famous Filipino Boxer cum congressman, Manny Pacquiao; presently WBC super-welterweight champion.

Magellan Marker was erected in 1866 to mark the spot where Magellan was killed by the Chieftain of Mactan Island, Lapu-Lapu and his men during the battle for supremacy on 27 April 1521.

Magellen's body was never recovered despite efforts to trade jewelries and spices for the dead body. With Spanish's failure to find and retrieve the explorer's body, they build a monument right in the heart of Mactan Shrine. Thus, Magellan's Market is a test on how the Spanish appreciate and honour their adopted son.

Mactan Shrine or Lapu-Lapu Monoument is one of the most visited tourist haven within Mactan Island. It is a bronze statue of dedicated in honour of Lapu-Lapu; the native chieftain of Mactan. The Mactan Shrine showed a bronze statue of Lapu-Lapu holding a bolo and shield. Lapu-Lapu resisted Magellan's insistence of subduing his people to convert to Christianity. The shrine was erected on the spot where the battle took place.
Lapu Lapu became the first Filipino to repel European Aggression



Getting Around Cebu Island to Tagbiliran, Bohol Island.

Initially, my brother & I intended to go Island hopping, snorkelling around Cebu Island such as Guluntungan Marine Park but unfortunaly, we were unable to find an ideal join-in tour; only private tours beyond our budget were available. From the internet, we found an ideal tour (Island Banca cruise) but as it was the weekends, they only responded on Monday by which time, we were already in Bohol Island.

We decided to go to Bohol Island. From the net, we found there were regular ferries from Cebu to Bohol. We send an email to http://www.oceanjet.net/ early Sunday Morning at 1.00am and by 4am, they responded with a special offer return trip (Cebu-Bohol) @ Peso 820/person. We decided to go on Monday, 15 November 2010 taking the 1st trip (Cebu-Tagbiliran) from 6.00am to 7.40am and returning same day from 3.35pm to 5.30pm. Oceanjet operates the fastest Cebu-Bohol ferries with less than 2 hours per trip from Pier 1 (10 minutes walk from Sampaguita Suite and nearby Fort San Pedro). On arrival, we walked toward Tagbiliran Town in search of tour service. We managed to find Travel Treats http://www.traveltreats.wordpress.com/. We enquired with the staff, Ms. Lot and after a conversation with her boss, we were offered a special rate of PHP 2000 and within 10 minutes their driver cum tour guide, Mr. Ferdinand arrived. The tour was from 9am until 3.00pm at Tagbiliran Jetty just in time for our 3.35pm ferry back to Cebu City. Some of the attractions within Bohol we visited were:-

PHOTOGRAPHS OF TOURIST ATTRACTIONS WITHIN BOHOL ISLAND

Photograph of myself and my elder brother taken at The Church of Our Lady of The Immaculate Conception or more popular known at Baclayon Church.

It was one of the one of the best preserved Jesuit-built churches in The Philippines.

Our guide pointed to one of the huge pillars on the side of the church - etched on it was the distinct image of Padre Pio, the result of a natural phenomenon. Since then, many devotees have made pilgrimage to Baclayon Church.




The Blood Compact Site is of historical importance as it commemorates the first international treaty between Filipino and The Spanish. It was located at Barangay Bool, Tagbiliran City.

The blood compact on 16 March 1565 between Spanish Explorer, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna, a native chieftian sealed the friendship between Europe and Asia.
Right across the Blood Compact Site was Panglao Resort Island with a 800 Metres stretch of white powdery sand and various dive spots, dolphin watching, snorkelling, etc.

The 213 steps leading to the top of Chocolate Hills where an observation deck was built for all visitors

The admission fee for Chocolate Hills was Peso 50/person.

Chocolate Hills consists of more than 1268 cone-shaped hills, a strange geological formations that have baffled geologists. The hills are spread over an area of 50 square kilometres and vary in size from 30 metres to 120 metres in height.
Chocolate Hill complex is Carmen; about 55 kilometres from Tagbiliran Town. It is the most famous tourist attractions of Bohol Island. There are thousand of cone-shaped hills spreading out on a natural open plateau, looking like mystic moulds

Photograph of myself taken at the observation deck of Chocolate Hills.

Other places visited in Bohol were the mahogany man-made forest, the Philippines tarsier, a Bohol Phthon named Prony said to be the largest python in captivity. This python is said to swallow a live 60 kgs. pig once a month
My brother & myself enjoyed our 5 Nights/6 Days tour of Cebu and Bohol; although tiring as one night was spent on the flight from KLIA LCCT to Manila but it was worth it as the entire holidays including flight tickets, hotel accomodation, transport, food, tours, ferry rides, etc. cost us less than 1 (One) Thousand Malaysian Ringgit or approx. USD 320.00.

We are planning again to visit Cebu and other nearby places such as Bohol, Panglao Island, Island Hopping and Guluntungan Marine Park and other interesting places. The next time, we will bring along our other siblings, namely our sisters and others who loves budget travelling. They did not joined us this trip as they were worried about the security in the Philippines especially over the recent attack on a tour bus on Hong Kong Tourists in Manila. We assured them that Cebu is a safe city for tourists.

Posted by HK Wan in November 2010

- (email: hengkei@gmail.com)

Free & Easy Travel to Beijing & Tianjin from 2nd to 7th June 2010

Photograph of me taken at the main entrance of Tian'anmen or The Gate of Heavenly Peace

Date of Travel : 2nd to 7th June 2010 via Air Asia X Flight No. D7 2612 (8.30 am to 14.30pm) and Flight D2 2605 (15.50 pm to 22.15 pm - However, this flight was delayed for 3 1/2 hours) and we arrived at approx. 1.30 am the next day

No. of Travellers: 4 (Four) , i.e. Elder sister, Wan Lai Meng, Younger Brother, Wan Heng Wan, Eldest Sister-in-law, Doreen Cheong and myself, Wan Heng Kei

Accomodations:

Beijing - Forbidden City Hotel, No. 5 Nanheyan Street, Beijing @ RM 107/Double Room. The booking was made via http://www.airasiago.com/. The hotel was within 20 minutes walk from Tian'anmen East and Wangfujing Metro Stations with nearby tourist attractions such as Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City/Palace Museum, Donghuamen/Wangfujiang night markets, Mao Tze Tung Memorial Hall, People's Hero Square, Great Hall of the People and other Beijing Attractions.

Tianjin - Jinjiang Inns, No. 17, Jinbu Road, Tianjin @ RMB 189/Double Room. This hotel was within the localities of Tianjin Railway Station and thus convenient to us when we arrived by Express D Train from Beijing South Railway Station.

Free and Easy Travel within Beijing was easy and conveniently accessible especially with the superb Beijing Metro presently with 9 existing Lines ( Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 13 and the Batong and Airport Lines); more new and extention lines are being added. Beijing has the cheapest metro transportation in the world at RMB 2.00 per ride. At times we were passing through as much as 20 metro stations comprising of 4 or 5 lines or inter-change stations when we visited Beijing tourist attractions such as The Summer Palace, The Beijing Olympic Park/Bird Nest, etc. Where-else in the world can you find a more cheaper, confortable and airconditioned metro ride at this price ?

I vividly remembered my last trip to Beijing (Chengde & Tianjin) 13 years ago during the 2nd term school-break where my family joined a 7days/6 Nights Packaged Tour and cost us more than RM 2000/person. My elder sister was here twice previously whereas my younger brother & family also holidayed here in 1997. This was the first time my eldest sister-in-law, Doreen was in Beijing; being a first timer, she enjoyed her Beijing budgetted holidays. Details of our free and easy travel within Beijing and Tianjin were as follows:-

Photograph taken at Longevity Hill, the tower of Buddhist Incense; the highest building within The Summer Palace, Beijing

Exotic Chinese Snacks comprising of silk worms/cocoons, water beetles, centipedes, snake and other food such as starfish, scorpions, sea horses, etc. available at Donghuamen Night Market, Wangfujing.

Wednesday, 2nd June 2010 - Upon arrival at Tianjin Binhai Airport and after immigration clearance, we purchased shuttle bus ticket (at Ticket Booth near Exit 2) @ RMB 35/person. The non-stop express bus to Dawangfen Bus Station, Beijing took about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The bus station was located nearby Dawangqiao Metro Station (Line 1). Since, there were four of us and carrying backpacks, we took a private taxi @ RMB 60 to the Forbidden City Hotel to check-in.

We had a short rest and then took a leisure walk to the nearby Donghuamen Night Market followed by Wangfujiang pedestrian Mall for our dinner and enjoyed the night sceneries.

Thursday, 3rd June 2010 - We walked to Tianan'men Square and then spent almost 3 hours at The Palace Museum or Forbidden City; the largest imperial palace in the world and listed by UNESCO. The Forbidden City was built during the Ming Dynasty in 1406, and continued until the Qing Dynasty. It now housed the Palace Museum.
After the Palace Museum, we intend to visit Mao Tze Tung Memorial Hall or Mausoleum where Mao's embalmed body was displayed to the general public. Unfortunately, this place was only opened up to 12 Noon; thus, we missed the opportunity. We should have came here first rather than the Palace Museum. We then walked around the vicinity of Tianan'men photographing/videoing other tourist attractions such as the Great Hall of the People, People's Hero Monument, the National Museum of China, etc. After a quick lunch, we took the Tianan'men East Metro to Tiantiandongmen Metro and visited the Temple of Heaven; an imperial temple where Ming & Qing emperors offer sacrifices to Heavenly God. The temple was divided by two enclosed walls, the inner & outer walls. The magnificent buildings within this complex were the Circular Mould Altar (Yuanqiutan), Imperial Vault of Heaven (Huanqiongyu), the Hall of Prayer for good harvest (qiniandian) and others like Three Echo Stones and Echo Walls, etc.

Later in the afternoon, we took the Yongan-li Metro (Line 1) and did our shopping at the nearby Beijing Silk Street and the nearby localities.

Photograph of myself, HK Wan, my elder sister, Wan Lai Meng, my eldest sister-in-law, Doreen (Top Left) and my younger brother, Wan Heng Wan, my elder sister & eldest sister-in-law (bottom right) taken at the main entrance of The Forbidden City or Palace Museum, Beijing

Photograph taken inside the Forbidden City, Beijing

Photograph of the Wan Siblings, younger brother, Heng Wan, elder sister, Lai Meng and myself, Heng Kei taken at the Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Friday, 4th June 2010 - We had early breakfast and took the metro to Beijing North Railway Station via Xishimen Metro Line 2. We then purchased train tickets for the 9.30 am ride to Badailing Train Station @ RMB 14/person. The journey took slightly more than 1 hour. On arrival, it takes us about 20 minutes to walk to the main entrance of the Badaling Great Wall. The Badaling Great Wall of China was listed as one of UNESCO heritage sites as well as the new seven wonders of the world. It started during the Spring and Autumn (770 - 476 BC) and during the reign of China's first emperor Shihuangti from 221 to 206 BC, it functioned as a fortification. Thus, certain sections are more than 2500 years old. The Badaling section of the Great Wall was the most popular and touristy sections as it was well maintained and nearby China's capital of Beijing. There is a saying that you may not have really visited China's capital of Beijing until you been to the Great Wall of China.

We spent almost 3 1/2 hours at Badaling plus lunch there. However, you have to be careful when you order your lunch. The food stall we chose was a tourist trap. Due to demand, you need to pay first and then select your meals as per catalogues/photographs provided; however, when the food was delivered, it looks different and very much inferior than ordered. We were scammed. We returned by the 3.15 pm train. The train ride was comfortable but not too regular as the trip was once every 2 or 3 hours. I would recommend you to go by train and return by Bus No. 919 @ 10 minutes intervals or vice-versa.

After Badaling, we took the metro to Beijing Olympic Park via various Metro Line Nos. 2, 13, 10 and 8 and exit at Olympic Sport Center. We spend another 2 hours visiting Beijing National Olympic Stadium of the Bird Nest, The National Aquatic Center or the Water Cube, The National Indoor Stadium of the Fan. The main events of 2008 Beijing Olympic were held at the Beijing Olympic Park.
Photograph taken at The Great Wall of China, Badaling - One World, One Dream at The Great Wall

Another photograph taken at The Great Wall of China, Badaling

Another photograph of the Wan Siblings taken at the Birdnest or The Beijing 2008 National Olympic Stadium

Saturday, 5th June 2010 - We went to The Summer Palace via Metro and exit at Beigongmen Station after having passing by about 16 Metro Stations @ RMB 2/person; what a bargain. The Summer Palace is one of the largest and best preserved imperial gardens in the world and listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. We spend more than than 3 hours visiting the various attractions such as Suzhou Market Street, the tower of Buddhist Incense, Longevity Hill, the Kunming lake, the Long Corridor (with over 14,000 tradional Chinese paintings on the beams and cross beams), the Marble Boat, the Garden of Virtue and Harmony and other attractions. Thereafter, we took the metro to Yonghegong Metro (Line 2) and visited Yonghe Tibetan Buddhist Temple of the Palace of Peace and Harmony Lama Temple. It was a temple and monastery of the Geluk School of Tibetan Buddhism and one of the renowned Tibetan Monastery in the world.

Photograph of my eldest sister-in-law, Doreen Cheong taken at The Ancient Cultural Street, Tianjin

Evening scene of Haihe Square, Tianjin. This photograph was taken at the Century Clock with my younger brother, Heng Wan, myself, Heng Kei and my elder sister, Lai Meng

Sunday, 6th June 2010 - We checked out of the Forbidden City Hotel at about 9.30 am; took a cab to Beijing's newly opened (1st August 2008) South Railway Station - the largest railway station in Asia. It served as Beijing's railway terminal for high speed/Express D Trains to other Chinese cities. The taxi ride took about 20 minutes and cost RMB 25. This Railway Station was also served by Beijing metro Line 4 at the basement. We purchased the express train from Beijing to Tianjin @ RMB 58/person, leaving at 10.55am and arriving at 11.24am, one minute ahead of schedule. During the journey, I noticed that the top speed exceeded 330 kilometres/hour to as high as 333 km/hour. As we came out of Tianjing Railway station, we saw our hotel, Jinjiang Inns from a distance and it took us 5 minutes to get there.

At Tianjin, we took a cab to Tianjin's ancient Cultural Street, the nearby Notre Dames des Victories Cathedral, went shopping at Walmart (since there were none in Malaysia) and at night, we walked along the brightly-lighted Haihe Square, the Century Clock, Tianjin's food street and the localities within Tianjin Railway Station.

Monday, 7th June 2010 - As our departure Air Asia X flight was in the late afternoon, we had a morning walk from Jinjiang Inns; crossed the Haihe River via Jiafang Bridge or Liberation Bridge to the French quarters with its unique architecture and various statues of French sculptors.

We checked out of Jinjiang Inn at about 12 Noon and then booked a taxi @ RMB 60 to Tianjin Airport for our 15.50 pm flight back to Kuala Lumpur LCCT. There was no delay to the flight but after boarding the aircraft, we waited inside for almost 3 hours due to some technical problems on the aircraft's computer system. The aircraft finally took off and we arrived at LCCT at about 1.30 am the next morning (instead of 22.15 pm).

Despite the delays, we enjoyed our free and easy 6 Days/5 Nights tour of Beijing and Tianjin and overall, it cost us less than MYR 1,000 per person (or USD 305) inclusive of cheap airfares, food, budget hotel accomodations, all travellings via bus, metro, trains, taxis, etc. entrance fees, etc. and as Malaysian, we love budget travelling especially to various places, our preference are the Chinese cities, Indo-China, Thailand, Indonesia, etc. as our Malaysian Ringgit can be valued in these places viz-a-viz Chinese Renminbi, Thai Baht, Indonesian Rupiah, etc. In actual fact, it was more economical for us as Malaysian to holiday in these places than the much high costs in neighbouring Singapore or Brunei.

Posted in July 2010 by HK Wan (Email: hengkei@gmail.com).

Free & Easy Travel to Taipei, Taiwan from 17th to 21st March 2010

Photograph of a Giant Panda at Taipei Zoo.

Date of Travel: 17th to 21st March 2010
Via Air Asia X Flight No. D 72672 (9.50 AM to 14.50 PM) and Flight D 72605 (15.40PM to 20.50 PM).
No. of Travellers: 7 (Seven), i.e. Elder Sister, Wan Lai Meng, Younger Sister, Wan Lai Ling, Youngest Brother, Aaron Wan and Wife (Liza), My wife, Ting Sow Lan, my son, Wan Wai Yan and myself, Wan Heng Kei.
Return Fare: MYR 418/person (5 persons)
Accomodation: Lilai Hotel, No. 21, Sec 1, Zhonghua Road, Taipei City 100. The location of this hotel was superb as it was within walking distance to Ximen and Taipei Main Station Metro Stations. Due to our early booking, we had special rates at this hotel @ TWD 1180 (double occupancy + 2 breakfasts) per night with free wifi.

Free & Easy Travel to Taipei, Taiwan is very much easier now that Air Asia X has daily flights(from Kuala Lumpur LCCT) and also from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. If you are going to Taipei, my recommendation is to travel on your own as Taipei has it vast network of communications such as Metro (few lines), 1st class roads & railways. My wife and myself have good memories of Taipei & Taiwan as the last time we were here was almost 29 years ago sometime in Sept 1981 as part of SA Mass Wedding & Honeymoon Tour of Manila, Taiwan (Taipei, Hualien, Kaohsiung, Tainan, Tai Chung, Sun Moon Lake and back to Taipei), Hong Kong and Macau. I vividly remember the first day when we arrived at Taipei, it was a public holiday being The Mid Autumn Festival or the 15th Day of 8th Month based on the Chinese Lunar Calender. Back then in 1981, Taipei City was jammed with vehicles (as there were no metro or first class railways) but now it is so easy to travel within this tourist-friendly city. Clean f.o.c. toilets are every where; free filtered drinking water & sometimes hot water can be found in public places (e.g. Danshui Metro) and Taipei Zoo. With the exception of National Palace Museum (it f.o.c. on Saturdays from 5pm to 8.30 pm), The Taipei Zoo and Yehliu Geopark, there are hardly any entrance fees (unlike China) and more so, the Taiwanese are one of the most tourist friendly people in the world.

About a week before our departure, the MATTA Travel fair was held at Putra World Trade Centre, KL and within walking distance from The Wan Family House in Tiong Nam Settlement. We managed to obtain some travel brochures & Taiwan Easy Card (pre-loaded with TWD 50) from The Taiwan Tourism Promotion Board. The Easy Card was given to all travellers who has travel bookings destined to Taiwan. The Easy Card can be conveniently used for most travels within Taiwan such as Metro, All Buses, Entrance to Taipei Zoo, etc., otherwise, you have to provide exact fares. So, if you are going to Taiwan, make sure you purchase the Easy Card on arrival there.

Wednesday: 17 Mar 2010 - Our Flight D 72672 arrived at Taipei International Airport approximately 20 minutes ahead of schedule. After immigration clearance, we proceeded to the Bus Transportation Center and at Freego Counter, we purchased return tickets directly to our hotel at TWD 260/person; child @ TWD 140. The journey took approx. 1 hour and upon arrival at Taipei, we have to change to another mini bus which took us to Ximenting (opposite Lilai Hotel) for check-in. A short rest and we are off to the nearby Ximenting; in the evening, we walked to Taipei Main Station; top-up our Easy Card and then took the Metro to Shihlin. From Shihlin, we walked southwards towards the night market for night shopping, dinner, etc. Finally towards Jiantan Metro for our trip back to our hotel at Ximen.

Thursday: 18 March 2010 - Early breakfast and then we took Taipei Metro from Ximen to Taipei Muzha Zoo (via Jhongxiao Fuxing Metro) from 9am until 12 Noon. Entrance fees @ reasonable TWD 60/person. The Taipei Zoo is one of the largest zoo in Asia. It displays animals from Taiwan, Africa, Australia, the Asian tropical rainforests, the desert and the temperate zone, an insectarium, amphibian and reptile house, penguin, koala and panda exhibition. In 2008, the Taipei Zoo received two Pandas from China named Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan (meaning REUNION) as a gesture of Unity. If you are in Taipei, you must visit the Taipei Zoo. it is one of the best zoos in the world.

After visiting the Zoo, we took the Metro to Taipei City Hall; from here we walk to the nearby TAIPEI 101 - presently the 2nd highest building in the world. There is a free bus service from Taipei City Hall to Taipei 101 but we opt to walk so that we could photographed 101 from the distance. We also visited the nearby Taipei 101 Mall, had our lunch there and then took the free bus shuttle to Taipei City Hall. On arrival, we took a 10 minutes walk to the nearby Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall and spend an hour there; watch the changing of guards and in the late afternoon, returned to our hotel for a rest. In the evening, we took the metro from Ximen for 1 stop at Longshan Temple; visited the temple and thereafter visited the night market at Huasi Road, dinner and later back to Ximenting and our hotel for the night.

Photograph of myself, my son and wife taken at the entrance of Taipei Zoo

Another photograph of my wife, son and myself taken within Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Outdoor Garden

Group Photograph my my elder sister, Lai Meng; my youngest sister-in-law, Liza, my youngest brother, Aaron, myself, HK Wan, my son, Wai Yan and my wife taken at Taipei 101 Mall

Group Photograph of myself, my youngest brother & wife, my son, my wife and elder sister taken at Chung Cheng Park, Keelung. The Statue of The Goddest of Mercy, Kwan Yin @ 22.5 Metres High is the largest within Taiwan.

Photograph of my wife & son taken at Yehliu Geopark

Another photograph of the Queen's head taken at Yehliu Geopark. In the photograph - my younger sister, Lai Ling, my wife, Sow Lan and myself, HK Wan

Friday: 19 March 2010 - Immediately after breakfast at Lilai Hotel, we walked to Taipei Main Railway Station and purchased 7 train tickets from Taipei to Keelung @ TWD 43/adult & TWD 22/child. The journey took 50 minutes. On arrival, we walked to the nearby bus terminal and took a bus to the nearby Keelung City Hall. From here, we walked our way up to Chung Cheng Park. It was a 30 minutes walk and rather tiring since we were walking uphill. However, I would recommend that you should take a taxi instead of walking (uphill). The Chung Cheng Park has 3 levels, the first level is a historical fort; the second level is a Buddhist Library and 2 temples, i.e. Chung Lieh Temple and Chu Pu Tan Temple. At the third and highest level, there is a statue of a smiling white Buddha and a 22.5 Metres white statue of The Goddest of Mercy, Guan Yin. This is one of the most popular landmark of Northern Taiwan. You can also climb the stairs inside the Guan Yin Statue for a splendid view of Keelung and the ocean. Due to rush to visit more places within Keelung, we spent about an hour or so at Chung Cheng Park. Thereafter, we walked all the way down from Chung Cheng Park to the nearest bus stop where we intend to take the stage bus from Keelung destined to either Jinshan or Danshui as we intend to go to Yehliu Geopark. Buses destined to Jinshan are more regular and the journey from this bus stop to Yehliu Geopark took about 1 hour. On arrival, we had our lunch at a nearby restaurant and then visited Yehliu Geopark. Entrance fees: TWD 50/adult. We spend approx. 2 hours at Yehliu Geopark. We then took a 20 minutes walk to the same bus stop and took another bus to Danshui. The journey slightly more than 1 hour and by the time we arrived at Danshui, it was almost 5.00 pm. Earlier, we have planned to go to the fisherman's wharf and the Red Fort but since it was already late, we opt to walk around Danshui Town, the night market, Danshui's promenade. It was quite an interesting place as you can watch public singers, performers, stalls of Taiwanese Food, etc.

At about 7.30 pm, we took the metro from Danshui to Longshan Temple (for dinner and Huasi Night Market) and finally back to our Hotel at Ximen.

Photograph of my wife, son and myself taken at the Sulphur Spring, Yangmingshan.

Another photograph of my son and wife taken at the Flower Clock, Yangmingshan Park.

Saturday: 20 March 2010: As our holidays coincide with early Spring, a visit to Yangmingshan is a must. We took the Metro from Taipei Main Station to Shihlin Metro and from here we boarded a mini Red Bus No. 5 to Yangmingshan. As it was a Saturday, the red bus was full and we were standing all the way for the 45 minutes ride to YMS Bus terminal. On arrival, we took the Bus 108 @ TWD 60/person for a 1-way circle route that serves all the attractions on Yangmingshan for a total of 13 stops. As we were in a rush, we only went for a few stops such as Xiaoyoukeng ( a sulphur pit on Mt. Qixing), Lengshuikeng ( Milk Lake due to the sulphur content of the water). As our visit to YMS coincides with the 2010 Yangmingshan Flower Festival (from 26 February 2010 until 28 March 2010) which was held within the vicinity of YMS's famous landmark, a large flower clock made of flowers with a diameter of 22 feet. Water runs around the flower clock and music is played every hour. It was blooming flowers every where and the park was exceptionally beautiful in spring with all kinds of flowers blooming such as cherry blossoms, Azaleas lily, camellia, peach blossoms, etc.

We left YMS at approx. 1.30pm and took Bus 260 back to Shihlin; had a late lunch and then proceed to Yuanshan Metro; from here we took Red Bus 21 to go to the Martyrs Shrine. On the way, the bus passed by
Taipei Grand Hotel which used to be one of Taipei's landmark. My wife and me visited this place way back in Sept' 1981. The Martyrs' Shrine was built in honour of 330,000 men who sacrified their lives fighting for the Republic of China (Taiwan). There were 2 military police officers guarding at the front gate and another 2 other officers guarding the main shrine. The guards are supposed to remained silent and still (like statues) during their shifts. You should not miss the changing-of-guards every hour as it was an elaborate process.

From Martyrs' Shrine, we took the same Red Bus 21 back to Yuanshan Metro and then to Jiantan Metro; from here, we took Red Bus 30 to Taipei's National Palace Museum. Our plans was to visit this place on Saturdays, after 5pm whereby it will be free of charge to all visitors (Normal fees: TWD 16,000). We arrived here at approx. 5.15pm. The National Palace Museum of Taiwan has permanent collections of ancient artifacts, artworks, porcelains, bronzes, paintings, jade, carvings, etc. of over 8000 years of Chinese History from neolitic age until the Ching Dynasty. A large number of the collections were obtained from China's ancient imperial families. It is also one of the largest and best museums in the world. If you are in Taipei, it is a must to visit The National Palace Museum. We left the museum at about 8.00 pm and proceed to Shihlin Night Market for our dinner and last minute shopping.

Photograph of my family, i.e. wife, son and myself taken at Sun Yat Seng Memorial Hall Garden

Another photograph of my family taken at Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall.

Sunday: 21 March 2010: This was our last day at Taipei as tomorrow being a Monday and my son, Wai Yan and my younger sister, Lai Ling (a teacher) would have to be back in school after the 1 week holiday break. As our flight was 3.40 PM in the afternoon, we do not want to waste any precious time. After breakfast at Lilai Hotel, we took the Metro from Ximen to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall - 2 stops away and the next thing, we are already inside CKS Memorial Hall. It was a bit windy that morning and we had our coolest time in Taipei. CKS Memorial Hall was built in memorial of Chiang Kai-shek, former President of Taiwan. The monument was surrounded by a park as well as the National Theatre and National Concert Hall. The Presidential Building was also located nearby. A large bronze statue of a smiling and seated Chiang Kai-shek dominate the main hall. Military Police Officers guards the main hall during opening hours and the changing of guards take place every hour attracting visitors (similarly as at the Martyrs' Shrine and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall).

After visiting this place, we headed back to our hotel and made the necessary arrangement FreeGo Airport Bus to pick us up at 12.00 Noon. The waiting place was just 50 metres from the hotel and the airport bus arrived at approx. 12.30 pm bound to Taipei International Airport for our flight back to LCCT at 3.40 pm.

Although the 5 days4nights holidays at Taipei was rather short (during the March'2010 school holidays), we all really enjoyed our holidays at Taipei, Taiwan.

Posted by Wanhengkei on Sunday: 24 April 2010

(Email: hengkei@gmail.com)