Sunday, May 8, 2016

Taipei Huaxi Night Market- Our First Stop in Taipei (Taipei Trip Day 1)

It was our first visit to Taipei together. We arrived at 2:25 pm at Taoyuan International Airport Terminal 1 (台湾桃园国际机场), with approximately 120 visitors already queuing at the immigration counters. We took around 1 hour to get the clearance. Tao Yuan International Airport is not Taipei City Airport. It is located 40 km away from Taipei Main Station at Zhongzheng District.

We decided to travel by mass transport to our hotel. First, we went to B1 level and redeemed our free tickets from Kuo-Kuang Motor Transport (国光客运) counter, then took a bus to Taipei Main Station (special thank to Taiwan Tourism Bureau MOTC, normal fee was NTD125 per person per trip). Bus no. 1819 to the main station was scheduled with 10 minutes interval. We reached Taipei Main Station at 5 pm, registered for free wifi at the tourism information counter, and roamed around for a while. We took MRT (Taipei Metro) to our hotel at Long Shan Temple (龙山寺). Our hotel- Long Shan Hotel was just 5 minutes walk from the MRT station (we will share more about the hotel in our upcoming post).

People queueing for immigration clearance (upper left). One hour of queue time was a bit long. The staff at the information counter at the arrival hall was helpful (upper right). She showed us the way to the airport bus station (lower left). The buses parked near to the ticketing counter. 1819 was the bus that we were waiting for. With the interval of 10 - 15 minutes to get the next bus, waiting is not an issue there.

Taipei Main Station is big, but not big enough for us to get lost (upper left). The the main station ticketing counters is the place where people purchase tickets for the trains to other cities (upper right). Visitor Information Center is located just beside the ticketing counters (lower right). We obtained our free wifi access at the information center. The application required our passports and took around 5 minutes to be completed. The wifi could be accessed in the government buildings, metro stations, and some city bus lines. The free wifi access was very useful to get us connected with our family and friends. Please visit the official website of free Taipei wifi for more information.

By far, we had no problem travelling around. All the signages at the airport, the main station, and the metro stations were clearly stated in traditional Chinese and English. Well, we could understand both. After a short rest, we decided to take our dinner at Mengxia Night Market (艋舺夜市). Later we realized that Mengxia Night Market was actually connected to Huaxi Night Market. Both night markets open from 4 pm till late night.

How to go to Huaxi Night Market (华西夜市) and Mengxia Night Market (艋舺夜市)? From Longshan Temple Station, exit through gate 1, turn right and walk through Mengxia Park until you are right in front of Longshan Temple. The entrance of Mengxia Night Market is on your left, on the other side of the road. Walk along Mengxia Night Market and you will find Huaxia Night Market on your right. Well, it should be a 2 - 3 minutes walk from the metro station. Staying at Long Shan Hotel, Mengxia Night Market was just 3 minutes away from our hotel by foot.

The entrance of Mengxia Night Market （艋舺夜市) that marks the beginning of a 400 meters night market spanning along Guangzhou Street (广州街), intersects with Wuzhou Street (梧州街) and Huaxi Street （华西街）.


When we walked down Guangzhou Street, the entrance of Huaxi Night market could be seen on our right, some 50 meters away from the entrance of Mengxia Night Market.

Mengxia Night Market is more like a traditional Asian market. Most of the food stalls are gathered at the first stretch of the street, from the entrance till Wuzhou Street intersection (upper row). Clothes, games, shoes, bags, wallets, purses, and pirated VCDs are available after the intersection till the end of Guangzhou Street (lower row).

We tried grilled squid (upper left), sausage and meat on sticks (upper right), fried oyster with egg (lower right), and juice from fresh fruits and vegetables. All of them tasted good.

Red bean pancake (upper row) and sticky rice ball (lower row) attracted our attention, but not our taste bud.

Huaxi Night Market is covered (upper left). The street is around 400 meters long. North entrance is a bit quiet (upper right), and the south entrance which connects to Mengxia Night Market at Guangzhou Street is busier. The shops along the street offer different types of food and drinks. There are shops selling exotic food such as snakes and turtles, massage and nail polishing services, and a few shops selling adult-only toys (lower left). 

We found a very crowded eatery (upper left), and tried the pork rice, spiced duck egg (upper right), and winter melon-pork soup (lower right). For us, the taste was just average. There were other dishes offered there, but we wish to spare ourselves for other food.

By the way, Guangzhou Street can be accessed through Wuzhou Street. Huaxi Street lays parallel on the right side of Wuzhou Street.

As described by a few locals, Mengxia Night Market is a traditional night market without much tourist attracting elements. Many stalls set up tables and chairs to serve their customers. We could find more old people here, strolling in a relaxing manner along the streets. These two night markets were less busy compare to Raohe or Shilin. We like the market in the way that we can enjoy our time without squeezing our way down the alley.

We stayed in the night markets for about one hour. After dinner, we rested early. We have Taipei Zoo, Maokong Mountain, and Rauhe Night Market in our 2nd day itinerary. Follow us go to Taipei Zoo and Maokong Mountain now!

More about our experience in Taipei: 


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Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Refarm, A Good Place for Short Rejuvenation in Kampar

Refarm is a recreation farm. Fish ponds, rooms for overnight stay (not cheap), halls for birthday party, gazebo for outdoor activities, and several types of old MacDonald's farm critters. Not to forget the best part of the farm- a big swimming pool with the water pouring down straight from the waterfall. For us, the all-natural water from the mountain range far behind the farm was selling point that worth the entrance fee paid.

Approximately 4 kms from Kampar (to Tapah and Cameron direction, address is lot 6059, Jalan Temoh-Kampar), Refarm can be easily spotted as it's located just beside the main road. The entrance was not catching our attention at all, so we didn't realize its presence until we were invited by Bryant. The entrance fee was RM10 for adult and RM5 for child. It opened daily from 9 am to 6 pm.

First of all, our advices- be early and be ready to get wet. The farm was still under minor construction and there were less shades. Gazebos and some big trees could help to chill a bit, but the whole area was very hot and humid under the sun. The swimming pool could be the only place that remained cold after 11 am. There was a fish catching area fun for children. The area however was a bit too big and the fish could easily elude the clumsy net. The animals feeding area was not attractive, hence a quick walkthrough would be just fine. So again, the main attractive would be the pool. By the way, if you are really a big fan of old MacDonald's pets, you may visit Farm in the City in Selangor. It is a good educational farm for children.

Decent entrance of Refarm. Luckily, ample car parks were prepared.

The entrance of the park is located next to the restaurant (upper left). The ticketing area was narrow. The restaurant had limited operation time, and it offered non-halal food (upper right). There was a shady walkway right after the entrance (lower left), with some fish in not-so-attractive tank.

There were a few fish ponds, decorated with newly planted shrubs.

The best part of the farm- the swimming pool! You can see the water pours into the pool from waterfall far behind.

There are shading huts beside the pool, with tables and chairs prepared for snacks and rest.

We could see ongoing constructions around, reflecting the ambition of the farm owner (upper left). A view from the top of the hill (upper right), where the rest houses located (lower right). The pool for fish catching was a bit too big for novice "fisherman". 


We could touch only two types of animals- goat and horse.

We took our lunch at Refarm Restaurant with Livien's family. The food was average, with overall small portion. The restaurant surprised us with no credit card payment allowed. Luckily we brought enough cash.

We stayed in the farm for around 1 hour and 30 minutes. To our surprise, we were not bitten even once by mosquito. The farm was clean without unpleasant smell from animals. So, if you wish to have a dip in natural waterfall, Refarm provides a good alternative that saves us from a long walk through the jungle, such as waterfall at Nopungguk. By the way, there was a food stall inside the farm, providing snacks and drinks with reasonable price.

So, visit Refarm again? Yes, and will bring along the towels and swimming suits with us.

For our experience in places nearby Kampar, please read our posts:

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Monday, January 4, 2016

Places to Visit for One Day Trip in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Kota Kinabalu has become an international hub, where people around the world make it a transit in their way in and out of Malaysia. Approximately 8 km from the city airport, Kota Kinabalu is just steps away from the terminal building. Well, if you have made Kota Kinabalu your transit in your upcoming tour, you might wish to take a one-day stop there. We visit Kota Kinabalu at least once a year, and this is our must visit list in Kota Kinabalu to fill your one-day itinerary. 


Lok Kawi Wildlife Park
25 km away from city center, it is one of the most well-managed wildlife park in Malaysia, with a list of Borneo pygmy elephants, orang utans, sun bears, gibbons, Proboscis, hornbills, and many more. It is the best place to see these indigenous animals without travel days into the jungle or cruising down the river. The park opens daily 9:30 am – 5:30 pm. For Mykad owner, the entrance fee is just RM10 for adult and RM5 for kid. The entrance fee doubles for the visitors without Mykad. A round trip should take not more than 2 hours. The animal shows are at 11 am and 3:15 pm.

Although bus services are available from Menggatal and Likas, taking a taxi is the best way to reach the park. Getting there by a rented car is a good idea as well. The taxi fare should be around RM60 – RM100 (two ways), while a rental car is available in airport with around RM130 per day. The journey will take 20 – 30 minutes with car.  More information about the park is available at our Lok Kawi Wildlife Park post.

Entrance of the wildlife park.

Animals are well-kept. We have been to the park for several times. The animals were active most of the time.

Sabah Museum
Although it is not as spectacular as Sarawak Museum, but it is still a well-organized museum. With it recent facelift, the full air-conditioned exhibition halls promise comfortable environment to the visitors. The main attraction of the museum is the skeleton of 22m-long Bryde’s whale. We found the Nature Gallery, the Sabah Cultural Gallery, and the Archaeology Gallery were indeed very interesting. The photo gallery is quite informative as well. Anyway, it is just a small museum, so we could see everything in less than 2 hours. The entrance fee for Mykad owner is RM2 while RM15 is required for those without Mykad.

Well, the museum can be easily accessed by taxi (fare around RM10 per trip) or by bus. We would recommend to visit the museum before or after visiting Lok Kawi Wildlife Park, as both are located on the same direction from the city. More information about the museum is available at its official website.

Next on our list, Simply Chocolate factory.

The outlook of the museum. Photography is prohibited inside of the museum.

Simply Chocolate Factory, Jalan Muntahan
It is small, simple, and it is a place that you may wish to visit to grab some local souvenir for your friends and family. The small factory is located at Lorong Muntahan (by Jalan Penampang), in between Sabah Museum and Lok Kawi Wildlife Park. 

By the way, we can get Simply Chocolate in other bigger and more appealing outlets, so why this one? Well, in this particular factory, we can get the same quality chocolate with much cheaper price. So, why not. Not convincing? Just walk around the souvenir shops around the airport, museum, and down the city and compare the prices.

The chocolate factory is facing inside and it is not easy to be seen from the Muntahan main road (upper left). Some of the chocolates packaged for sell (upper and lower right), and samples for us to taste before we decide what to buy.

Tanjung Aru
It is indeed one of the most famous beach in the world. The beach is quiet in the daytime, and turns happening at night. The best part of it- watching the sun sinking below the horizon accompanies with the disappearance of the islands in the soft blowing breeze. The sea is always calm and the water is always clear, but the beach is not always as clean as it shown in luring photos, and beware, your luck plays important role to witness the stunning sunset, so do pray hard for it.

For us, watching the sunset is always the main agenda. The food and drinks (hawker center and the pub) are not in favour of our taste, except for the coconut water in the hawker center. Although the sunset is free, but not for some parking lots. If you are driving and reluctant to pay, then you may need to park your car further down the road, some 400 – 500 m away from the hawker center (nearer to the Shangri-La Hotel) to avoid blocking the traffic.


Tanjung Aru Beach is quiet during the day time.

The observation post of Shangri-La Hotel at the beach.

Sunset at Tanjung Aru.

Seafood Dinner
We would recommend two new places for seafood dinner. The Catch Seafood Restaurant and Grill. With a price of RM45 for adult and RM22 for kid, the restaurant provides seafood buffet with various choices including fish, clams and shells, prawn, and crab. The cooks are ready to prepare the seafood for us according to our choice. In addition to that, free flow of grilled mutton, beef, noodle, spaghetti and many other dishes are available as well. It is located nearby Merdeka Supermarket by Jalan Penampang. The signage of the restaurant can be clearly seen from Jalan Penampang. With very good service and clean environment, it is a great place for a sumptuous seafood dinner. More information about the restaurant can be found in its official website.

Wish to get some seafood inside the city? Then Welcome Seafood Restaurant can be a good choice. Located at the ground floor of Asia City commercial building, the Chinese restaurant can be reached by foot within city area. The restaurant offers nice seafood with fair price. Full air conditioned section is prepared for us to escape the hot and humid weather. Nothing is perfect. The service of the staff is not up to the standard. However, for us, we don’t really mind to be annoyed a little bit to get good and cheap seafood.

The Catch Restaurant and Grill at night.

The restaurant is clean (upper left). The cooking service is provided free of charge. So what we need to do is choosing our favourite seafood and the way to cook it (upper and lower right). RM45 is a bit expensive, but can you imagine that we can eat seafood with different ways of cooking to your heart content?

Last Minute Shopping
It is huge, it is new, it is Imago Shopping Mall. Indisputable, Imago provides the best shopping environment, but it is a bit far away at the corner of the city. If you are hunting for original Tenom Coffee, souvenirs like shirt, hat, and key chain, local delicacies or indulge yourself with a sip of Starbuck coffee, then Centre Point is still the best in our list. What, that old shopping mall? Yes, if you wish to get something fast, convenient, and with fair price, it is still a good place to go. By the way, the shopping mall is just a few minutes away from Welcome Seafood Restaurant. Seashore with stunning view is just few steps away as well. A few other shopping malls like Asia City, Oceanus, and Warisan Square are close to Centre Point as well. 

Centre Point at night.

The Gaya Market is held on every Sunday, starting as early as 5:30 am till noon. It is a great place for us to get exposed to various local products. However, we need to make sure that our stopover includes Sunday morning. Kota Kinabalu shopping guide is available here.

Market at Gaya Street with various local products.

Places to Stay and More
Where to stay in Kota Kinabalu? Our advice is, stay as close as possible to the city area, and stay as cheap as possible. There are many good budget hotels scattering around the city, and we have highlighted several of them for you here. Please check the most recent comments about the hotels in Tripadvisor.
There are many other attractions around Kota Kinabalu. If you have one more day to stay, we would recommend Tungku Abdul Rahman Marine Park to you, and if you plan to stay a bit longer, you might wish to visit Kinabalu National Park, or go rafting at Tamparuli. 

More about our experiences in Sabah:


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