Student News – Yukiko’s trip to Taiwan!
Congratulations to Bond English student Yukiko for her recent 4-night/5-day trip to Taiwan with her friend. Let’s hear about her journey!
Day 1
We boarded Peach Airlines departing from Kansai International Airport at 10:55am and arrived at Taipei Taoyuan Airport at 2:00pm.
We were scheduled to arrive at 1:20pm, but due to rainy weather, we arrived 40 minutes late.
There were long lines at the immigration and customs counters. After getting through immigration, we took a shuttle bus provided by our tour company, and arrived at the Hotel Cozzi Minsheng Taipei at 5:20pm.
We didn’t have much time on the first day, so we had dinner near our hotel.
We had a large fried chicken and fried rice.
Day 2: Tainan tour
We ate at our hotel’s breakfast buffet at 6:30am and left the hotel at 7:30am.
We took the subway and headed to Taipei Main Station, and boarded the bullet train at 8:45am with other tour participants.
After arriving in Anping, we took a Mercedes Benz tour van around the city for sightseeing.
In Anping, we visited Anping Fort, the oldest castle in Taiwan, the Anping Tree House, famous for its incredible banyan trees, and the former British Commercial Deki Western Company, which was once used as the headquarters of a British trading company and a Japanese salt company.
For lunch, we ate a course of Taiwanese cuisine, including Tainan’s specialty, Danzi noodles.
After lunch , we checked out Hayashi Department Store and Land Bank.
The Lin Department Store opened in 1932 and was the first department store in southern Taiwan, and was registered as a historic site in Tainan City in 1998.
We also visited a national historic district, where we felt the nostalgic atmosphere of Shennong Street Tainan.
Tainan Confucius Temple, the oldest temple in Taiwan, was built in 1666.
We then participated in the Taiwan Lantern Festival, the largest light festival in Taiwan, which is held for 16 days from February 24th to March 10th.
There was a large dragon light show, and an exhibition of lanterns with motifs from various countries including Japan. They even had a Totoro lantern, as well as many other kinds of lanterns.
Day 3
We ate at our hotel’s breakfast buffet again, and then took a tour bus to Shifen Falls, a beautiful waterfall about 50-minutes from Taipei.
It’s nickname is the Niagara of Taiwan!
We were exposed to a lot of negative ions and we felt soothed and refreshed.
The tour bus then headed to the town of Shifen.
We wrote our wishes on a lantern and released it high into the sky!
On the lantern, I wrote “健康第一” and “大願成就”.
It is said that a lantern that flies high into the sky will be carried by the air currents and fall in almost the same place.
We then went to the town of Jiufen, where it was infortunately raining, but we were able to tour the building that appears in the famous movie Spirited Away千と千尋の神隠し:
At 4pm, we returned to Taipei Main Station and took the subway to Longshan Temple.
Longshanji Temple enshrines more than 100 gods, including the principal image of Kanzeon Bodhisattva, and is famous for offering blessings for love, work, school, safe childbirth, and health.
I prayed for happiness and health.
Day 4
We took the subway and headed to “Sisi Nan Village” near Taipei 101 Station.
“Sisi Nan Village” was a small area, but there were cafes, small theaters, and museums, and the Taipei 101 building could be seen:
We then walked along “Dihua Street” and “Yongkang Street”, we ate xiao long bao and bought miscellaneous goods, soap made with Chinese herbal medicine, and dried fruits.
Day 5
The temperature was close to 30 degrees!
We boarded Peach Airlines departing from Taipei Taoyuan Airport at 2:25pm and arrived at Kansai International Airport at 5:55pm.
During this trip to Taiwan, I was able to meet a Taiwanese woman who taught us how to purchase train-pass cards even though we didn’t know how to do so, and a store clerk who said, “Have a nice day.” I felt grateful and happy!
I love traveling abroad.
Which country should I go to next?
