Day 8 - Singapore-Taipei-Tainan: Selamat tinggal Singapura, Ni Hao Taiwan

Singapore/Taiwan: Day 8 - 3.4.2015

We had to get up ridiculously early in the morning at 3 a.m. and then took a cab, that we had arranged at our hotel in Singapore, the Keong Saik Hotel. Originally we had planned to take the MRT to the airport, but the day before our departure we realised, that the MRT-trains don't drive that early. After about 40 minutes with the cab, we arrived at the Singapore Changi Airport. Things went smoothly there. We didn't have to wait long to check in for our flight with the discounter airline Jetstar to Taipei, Taiwan. The disembarkment process also was quite quick, and so we had some time left at the large and pleasant airport, which to my delight even had free foot massage machines!

We set off at 7 a.m. and arrived at around noon at Taoyuan International Airport. Passing through Immigration was quick, and soon we were at the arrivals hall, where we turned left and at the end left again (as we had read online) to get to the telephone companies. We bought a local SIM Card at the Chunghwa Telecom office and uploaded some money on it for cheap international calls. Next, we had to reach the Taoyuan High-Speed Rail Station. While there's a shuttle bus, we decided for a cab, when a cab driver outside announced, that it cost 350 Taiwanese Dollar (about 10 Euro).

At the High-Speed Rail Station, we purchased tickets at the machine, which also has English service, to Tainan, where we had booked a hotel for three nights. There was still time left, so we wanted to have a snack and coffee. While Jetstar has cheap flights, they don't serve anything on board for free, so we were ready for something. Unfortunately, the supermarket and the restaurant at the station were filled with loads of people, and we didn't want to squeeze through and stand in a long queue with our heavy luggage. Luckily, we found a Starbucks right outside and relaxed there for a moment, until we had to go to the train.

We only got non-reserved seats for the train, and while they have wagons for non-reserved seats, it was already full, and I had to stand nearly all the way to Tainan. The High-Speed Rail lives up to its name. It is a really fast and modern train that runs a line from north to south Taiwan on the western side of the island. It actually was just a bit more than an hour until we reached Tainan. Outside of the station, we found the free shuttle bus, that connects the High-Speed Rail Station to the city centre. We could store our luggage on the bus which had English signs before we could get on board. That was great because we don't speak any Chinese. We exited the bus at Jiang-Sing Junior High School Bus Stop and then walked the rest to our hotel, the Fuward Hotel. 

We had decided to start our two-week journey through Taiwan in Tainan because the city is the oldest in Taiwan and has an abundance of temples. It's also a good base for the excursion in the area. When we arrived at the hotel, it was already late afternoon, and we were a bit exhausted after all the travelling that day. The hotel, however, cheered us up - nice room, a modern hotel, flatscreen TV with an abundance of channels, refrigerator and aircon. 

You're not every day arriving in Taiwan. So we wanted to make the most of it and started a little sightseeing tour. The hotel is really close to the Confucius Temple. When we walked there, it was already getting dark, but the more than 300-year-old temple was illuminated - quite a sight.

Just opposite the temple was a food street, so we went there and had dinner at the Hawaii Grill, where the friendly owner - a US American - told us, how much he liked Taiwan and that it's much easier there to start a business than in other countries. 

After dinner - we had chicken and coconut cake - we walked further to the Koxinga Shrine, which unfortunately was already closed, so we could just walk around in the park in front of it.

On the way back to the hotel we walked past the Lady Linshui Temple and stopped at a bakery. They were especially friendly there and told us which filling the different pieces of bread have. We then went back to the hotel and soon fell asleep after a long day of travelling. We were looking forward to two weeks of sightseeing in Taiwan.

Taiwan might not be the obvious choice for non-Chinese travellers, but after some research, we had decided for this holiday, to see ancient temples, modern cities, waterfalls, rainforest, mountains - and all reachable by modern infrastructure, which makes independent travel easy. The next day we planned to really start with sightseeing in Tainan.

Day 7 - Singapore: Out and About in Singapore

Singapore: Day 7 - 2.4.2015:

After a not precisely lavish breakfast at the Keong Saik Hotel (toast, marmalade, beans) we walked to the nearby Outram Park MRT Station and drove to Boon Lay MRT Station, which took a while. Our first destination for the day would be the Jurong Bird Park, which is a bit outside the city. From the Boon Lay MRT Station, we followed the signs through a shopping mall to the huge bus terminal. The bus 251 was just boarding, and so we went in, using our Three-Day-Pass for the trains and buses in Singapore.

We didn't really know when to exit the bus, so my friend tracked our bus ride with our map, and it was just a few stations to the bus stop in the Jln Ahmad Ibrahim. When we entered the Bird Park, the staff told us, that a bird show will just begin, so we walked there first and found ourselves in a vast arena, when the "High Flyers"-Show started, featuring parrots flying through rings. They actually have several shows, including the "King of the Skies"-Show featuring eagles, which we missed. 

The park is enormous, and after the show, we walked along a lot of aviaries and took the shuttle-bus to what I liked most - the rainforest-themed Waterfall Aviary, where the birds, including Crested Guineafowls, ran and flew around in an area, that included a substantial artificial waterfall. Later at the Flamingo Pool, we also stumbled upon a Green Iguana.

The Jurong Bird Park was fun and exciting, as they have many different sections and a lot of information on the birds. Originally we had planned to go from there to the Singapore Botanic Gardens, but we also wanted to visit Sentosa Island. It seemed like there's not enough time for both, so we skipped the gardens and took the bus 251 back to Boon Lay MRT Station and took the MRT to Harbour Front MRT Station. There we came to Vivo City, a vast shopping mall and had lunch at their food court, which featured many Indian, Chinese and even Filipino meals.

We read that there's a Monorail from Vivo City to Sentosa Island, so we started looking. The weather had changed for the worse, from burning hot to cloudburst and thunderstorm. It took a while (including an unwilling excursion to the cinema area inside Vivo City) until we found the Monorail ("Sentosa Express") entrance among the abundance of stores and floors. Despite the weather, we decided to buy a ticket and off we went with the Monorail through the thunderstorm across the ocean to Sentosa Island.

Sentosa Island is primarily a tourist island with expensive hotels and huge and also costly attractions like the Universal Studios, a waterpark and the world's largest aquarium. We just wanted to take a look at the island and visit the free or cheaper attractions like the beach and Fort Siloso. We first stopped at the Imbiah Lookout Station, where several attractions are located, like a Butterfly Park and Madame Tussauds Singapore. However - the rain was still heavily pouring, and we stopped walking around when the thunderstorm and the rain seemed to get worse. So we basically just got a glimpse of the big Merlion statue, which appeared to be as big as the one we saw the day before at Marina Bay.

I was not ready for defeat against the weather and needed to go to my personal must-see, the Palawan Beach. Coming from the original Palawan, Philippines, I, of course, had to take a look at Singapore's Palawan. So we decided to ride the Monorail to the Beach Station and from there, a free shuttle. Due to the weather, however, we just could make a quick photo stop, and then we gave up and returned to the hotel, as the rain wouldn't let up. We were getting totally drenched even in the shuttle. The beach was okay, but of course, nothing beats the real deal, like the beach in my hometown of Araceli, where I spent some time last year.

Back at the hotel, we rested, and I had planned to meet a friend, which unfortunately didn't work out. So my companion and I just walked for dinner to Chinatown where we had another delicious meal in the "food street" Pagoda Street, including dessert, consisting of fried banana. We later also stopped by the Maxwell Food Center again to get more of their delicious mixed fruit drinks. Then we already had to pack, as we had to leave the next early morning to the airport, for our next destination, Taiwan. 

All said Singapore was an excellent stop for few days with interesting cultural attractions, especially the different city quarters, great food, tropical climate and many tourist attractions like the Gardens by the Bay. We haven't seen half of it - next time I hope we can see the Botanical Garden, the Night Safari, the River Safari and the MacRitchie Reservoir Park. And I really wish I get the chance to come back.