So, here are my post-trip reflections, again at Arm’s Length and trying to see the forest for the trees – so to speak! This will be another long post, so it’s divided into two parts.<\/p>\n
The Itinerary, Sights and Weather<\/h3>\n
12 days was the longest I could afford to get out of work this December. The kids had so much fun on the island that on the day of departure, H mused that she would have been happy to stay in Taipei for another day or two (P agreed with his sister, but he does so for everything she says). And we visited parts of northern Taiwan only. I’ve read blogs of visitors who’ve covered the entire island in the same time, and wonder how they pulled that off! The amount of time we spent this trip felt about right, and didn’t feel too rushed.<\/p>\n
The rainy weather on Days 8 and 9 aside, I don’t think there would have been significant changes to the itinerary, as all planned activities in these trips are compromises of sorts. Still, of improvements now that the trip is completed, I would have:<\/p>\n
Extended<\/strong> our length of time spent in Xitou Nature Education Center, Mt Hehuan, Taroko National Forest<\/p>\n Dropped<\/strong> Shengxing Station, Sun Moon Lake, Qingshui Cliff, Yehliu Geo Park, Shifen Waterfall<\/p>\n This is on account that Xitou really does take at least 4 hrs (we spent just over 2 hrs), Mt. Hehuan on a sunny day is just stunning and needs at least 4 hrs (we spent about 2.5 hrs including the ascent and descent), and there’s a lot more to see in Taroko National Forest that’s beyond the well-trodden parts – you’d need a full day (we spent just 4 hours). On the other hand, Shengxing Station, Sun Moon Lake, and Yehliu Geo Park were just too crowded for me; and Shifen Waterfall likewise with the added challenge of it not being particularly interesting to begin with, and there are nicer-looking steep cliffs in Indonesia than Qingshui Cliff.<\/p>\n Though the itinerary<\/strong> we had was pretty standard – as in, unless you have specific requests the private drivers you engage will bring you to the same places you would go to when with tour groups – the sights in Taiwan remain quite varied. I reckon this is on account that the island has a mountainous spine that runs the length of the island right down the center, and weather and climate will thus dramatically vary alongside large changes in elevation and geography. Over the course of just 12 days, we saw varied natural sights with relatively little driving in between them: different types of coastal areas (Gaomei Wetlands vs Qingshui Beach vs Yin Yang Sea vs Yeh Liu Geo Park), mountains (Mt. Hehuan vs Yangmingshan, the fog in the latter notwithstanding), a large lake (Sun Moon Lake), parks (the awesome Taroko Gorge vs Xitou Nature Education Center), and the water bodies that respond to volcanic activity (hot springs and Beitou Thermal Valley).<\/p>\n Climate-wise in mid-December, the weather in Taichung and Taipei cities themselves was roughly between daily lows of 16\u00b0C and highs of 23\u00b0C or so. Or in short, bearable and quite cool in fact. Days were usually clear though with overcast skies, and the sun only coming out of hiding occasionally. The climate outside these cities tends to follow the general elevation of the area you’re in. So, areas like Dahu, Miaoli, Xitou, Sun Moon Lake, Taroko Gorge, and Tamsui were broadly in the same weather bracket as the two big cities. Cingjing was about 2\u20133 and 5\u20136 degrees cooler in the daytime and nighttime respectively. As for Yangmingshan, despite the thermometer reading of 15\u00b0C the morning we ascended, it felt like it was freezing because of the cold winds that accompanied the rain.<\/p>\n Speaking of the rainy weather in winter, I actually drew up alternative arrangements in case we had to switch to a wet-weather programme, but that was only for our free-and-easy days in Taipei. And as luck would have it, Days 10 and 11 when we explored the city on our own had relatively better weather.<\/p>\n Of the three predominantly Chinese-speaking countries I’ve been to, the one which I see myself returning to is Taiwan. No China and Hong Kong for me. And if it’s not apparent enough from my travelogue entries these several years by now, I dislike the mannerisms of mainland Chinese. On the other hand, the Taiwanese we met and conversed with, whether they were cabs we hailed on the street, our own drivers, MRT staff personnel, shopkeepers, restaurant owners, or wait staff, were invariably courteous. Peter was like the Singa the Courtesy Lion<\/a> with his ‘Hello!!’ and ‘See you later!!’ to everyone he met, and each time without fail the Taiwanese would return his enthusiastic hellos. They might not always have been warm, but at least they never gave me the cold, hard, and blank looks that I saw again most recently in Hong Kong whenever I tried to be polite.<\/p>\n The Wikitravel page for Taiwan<\/a> notes that local drivers<\/strong> are reckless, but that wasn’t my observation from our limited stay in the country. Drivers normally kept within speed limits, within their own lanes, and only changed them after plenty of notice through signalling. I observed too that Taiwanese vehicle drivers were, as a rule, polite. They readily gave way to others, and I rarely heard the use of the horn, that is except for the several times on the mountainous roads when vehicles would gently honk to express their appreciation when someone had given way to them. I asked Checo about the absence of honking, adding that Singaporeans are among some of the most impatient and haphazard drivers I’ve seen anywhere. He remarked that there was a time decades ago when Taiwanese drivers also used the horn quite liberally. But apparently, the government had enough of the incessant honking, and instituted some law that if you hit the horn for more than a few seconds without good reason, you’d be fined NTD1,200. I thought he was kidding. But he wasn’t. I found a Taiwan web page that says this:<\/p>\n The motor and scooter cyclists<\/strong> are a different matter though, and like what I saw in China, Hong Kong, Phuket and Bali, they don’t seem to care too much about pedestrians in uncontrolled junctions, happily weaving in and out of people along roads. It can be quite intimidating, but thankfully there are often clearly marked-out pedestrian walkways on the road.<\/p>\n Most Taiwanese, and in particular the older folk, do not understand English<\/strong>, though they occasionally pepper their conversations with the simplest English words, especially ‘OK’. Many of the younger Taiwanese though do know and can speak better English, and seemed to enjoy the opportunity to put it into some practice. Yongkang Street comes to mind: we had brunch at the Together Cafe, and also spent quite a bit of time at the Soya handicraft shop – and the proprietors at both establishments could carry conversations in English as well as any Singaporean. For the most part, Singaporean Chinese don’t look very different from Taiwanese Chinese and might have been indistinguishable – that is until Singaporean Chinese like us open our mouths and show how many of us today struggle with conversational Mandarin!<\/p>\n Lastly, I’d thought that the Taiwanese would have been more vocal about politics, their government, and their feelings about China. But for the most part, the drivers we had seemed not to want to talk about that sort of thing, though Checo quipped that the frequent brawling in Taiwan Parliament<\/a> is like a TV drama serial for them to have fun watching over popcorn. Many did however share about the economic pressure tactics employed by China to influence the governance of their country, with the favorite weapon of choice being the control of the number of mainland tourists who are permitted to visit Taiwan. My takeaway then? The Taiwanese don’t speak of China glowingly and possibly harbor some degree of resentment over their attempts at influencing their government. On the other hand, they realize that their livelihoods will be significantly affected by what China does to them.<\/p>\n We had three day trip drivers<\/strong> – one – King Kong<\/strong> – for four days in Taichung, another – Tony<\/strong> – for one day in Hualien, and a third – Checo<\/strong> – for two days in Taipei. All three were very helpful, knowledgeable about the general area, and had exemplary driving skills. But by this point in my blog posts, it should be apparent to readers whom both Ling and I agreed our favorite driver was. It was Checo<\/strong> who took us to Yehliu\/Shifen\/Jiufen\/Yangmingshan\/Tamsui, even if he’s the best only marginally amidst the really strong competition he’s in! But Checo’s our favorite because he was full of anecdotal stories and we learned so much retrospectively from this one opinionated Taiwanese man, and also – to use Ling’s words – because he mother-henned us and made us feel pampered! He also, appropriately, demonstrated an unusual degree of forcefulness when we were trying to navigate the narrow one-way street traffic to get to our minsu in Hualien, by refusing to back down when told by the road boss that his cab could not come through the one-way street. Basically, until that moment the mild-mannered man thundered back at the road boss, who in turn backed down sheepishly. In fact, he even followed that evening with a complaint to the town police chief about this particular road boss. \/Salute!<\/p>\n King Kong<\/strong>, our Taichung driver and so named I suspect because he’s a big-sized individual, also deserves a special mention. Kong was a quieter individual, but Peter loved him and like with Checo, insisted on holding his hand the minute we got out of the vehicle. He also took a lot of family pictures for us – as in two to three dozen each day – and would WhatsApp the entire stack back after dropping us off at our accommodation. And this fellow has got pretty good skills in framing picture compositions. I’m half-tempted to ask him to send me the original JPGs so that I can do further editing, but think that would be too much to ask! Tipping is generally not an expectation in Taiwan, but we gave both tips at the end of their service. Spoil market much? Haha.<\/p>\n We only engaged Tony<\/strong>, our Hualien driver, for just one day. But over the short period of engagement, he struck me as a fatherly figure though at times he seemed also a little uncertain how engaging he should be with us. But we had no issues with his service, and would also gladly recommend him to others.<\/p>\n In all, the taxi industry in Taiwan seems to be quite carefully regulated. All three of our drivers are actually also taxi drivers, so we rode around in their yellow cabs. Taxi driver licenses and permits are clearly displayed, and they wear name passes even. Unlike in Taipei, I didn’t see many drivers roaming about in Taichung or Hualien though, so if you need to get somewhere in a hurry, you might need to get some local numbers to call them in.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/blog-2018-taiwan-day-05-A7_01188-cingjing-farm.jpg\")
<\/a>The Taiwanese<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Our Drivers<\/h3>\n
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