Day 8 was our free&easy day with a 1-day metro pass and ticket to the International Flora Expo. The weather became unexpectedly hot and the exhibits were not exactly attractive so we left after just a while.

Day 7 (Taipei)

We returned to Taipei City and visited the National Palace Museum, which boasts of the finest Chinese artefacts and artworks that were evacuated to Taiwan during the Civil War.

Day 6 (Hsinchu, Taipei)

In the morning, we returned to our coach to find it broken into. Sadly, we lost our bag of towel souvenirs. And no, we were not compensated for it.

Our first stop of the day was Leo Foo Village Theme park. This is my second visit and it is not different from what I remembered. The gf went on the Viking and while waiting for her, I chomped down a delicious chicken cutlet dusted with chilli powder. She also satiated her palate with a Turkish ice-cream cone

Day 5 (Nantou)

We travelled to Taichung County and visited the Shing-Long Towel factory where we did a hands-on activity making adorable dogs from towels. There was also a myriad of lovely towel made products e.g. cake, lolly, ice-cream on sale.

Day 4 (Gaohsiung)

We set off on a long bus ride to Gaohsiung, the 2nd largest city in Taiwan. Plagued by industrial pollution, we were advised not to drink the tap water even after boiling.

The ferry to Cijin Island was an eye-opener. Motorcyclists could ride up the ferry and the deck was filled with an army of motorcycles which scrambled out on docking. Our lunch was a treat to their famous seafood which I barely touched.

Day 3 (Taitung)

The breakfast at Dong Hwa Resort was a plain one, consisting of porridge with simple condiments. The morning was spent at an Aboriginal store selling expensive lingchi and baby dear foetus boasting immense health benefits, followed by a marble factory where we posed for photos with our zodiac signs.

Day 2 (Hualien)

Breakfast at Eastern Villa was the best throughout the trip with a spread of oriental and western fare (spaghetti, croissant and tea leaf eggs). We had a good laugh over the English translation of roasted peanuts a.k.a explodes the peanut.

Day 0 (Singapore > Taipei)

One of the perks that made us take up the Dynasty Travel package is access to the SATS Premier Club lounge. After checking-in, we chilled at the lounge to the generous buffet of food and drinks.

Day 1 (Taoyuan)

Flying Eva Air, we touched down on Taoyuan International airport at around 5pm and were greeted by the post-dusk darkness that was typical of Taiwan in December.

By the time we reached our hotel - Eastern Villa at Taoyuan County, two-thirds of the day was already gone and we didn't get to enjoy the range of facilities in the hotel.

The only highlight of the night was soaking in hot spring water in the privacy of our hotel room. It felt like soaking in hot water though; didn't find it relaxing, didn't see/ feel any dermatological benefits.