Guide: How to get to Taichung from Taoyuan airport

 Hi guys! I just got back from holiday and this time we travelled to Taiwan and we explored Taichung also! We booked our air tickets to Taoyuan airport and then change high speed railway train (HSR) to Taichung. Our plane landed at Taoyuan airport terminal 1.

Once you exit from the custom, you'll see this sign board. Most of the sign boards have both english and chinese, so you don't have to worry not understanding what they are saying. To save some money for more shopping and eating, we have decided to take the bus to the high speed rail station.

 Turn to your left and you should a money changer, toilet and store selling local treats! You may also refill your water at the water dispenser outside the toilet. They offer hot, warm and cold water!!

 This screen will show different timings and bus routes to the different locations you are going. If you're unsure, you can also go down to the counters to ask.

 Take this escalator down to the counters to buy your bus tickets.

 The different buses to the different cities around Taiwan.

 There's also buses to Taipei.

 We've decided to take the Ubus to High Speed Rail Taoyuan Station to take our High Speed Rail train. The ticket cost NT30 per person. You can also take the bus straight to Taichung if you're saving more money as it'll be cheaper than taking the HSR. (But definitely much longer travelling time than taking the HSR. Approximately 45mins vs 2hrs.)

 The ticket price to the different places, all the way to Pingtung.

 There are also other companies and you can compare the prices around (though they are about the same as prices are competitive there). The different companies also cater services to different places (i.e. Taipei Main Station).

 Waiting for the bus which comes every 15-20mins interval and the bus is just located right outside the counter.

And here we are, at HSR Taoyuan Station. The journey took around 30mins.

They have a big Mac right outside the station. Can grab some food before your train! If not there's 7-11 inside where you can buy some snacks and drinks.

When you walk in from the entrance, you should see the ticketing counter at your right hand side. You can pre-purchase your tickets online and if you book early, you can get discount up to 25%. But of course you can also buy your tickets here at the counters.

As we booked our tickets online, we can collect it via the machines here.

After you pass through the gantry, go towards Number 1 elevator for Taichung.

Incase you're worried you're at the wrong platform, you can check the board to see if it stops at the station you're heading to. You can go to Tainan also.

And here comes our train! It arrives into the station on time and leaves on time. So do take note of the time of your train so you don't miss the timing!!

They will announce your train number and the destination before the train arrives into the station. Do take note so that you don't board the wrong train!

And after 45mins, we are here at Taichung!! The ride was smooth and seats were pretty spacious too. We slept throughout the ride and glad that the whole cabin was quiet.

Taichung station is bigger and has much more stores downstairs. (i.e. Starbucks, Mos Burger, Mac etc)

After which, we decided to take the free shuttle bus to our hotel which is available right at the bus station below.

 There are few shuttle bus to the different locations. You may look at the big board for all the bus routes here. They'll also state which platform to wait for the bus next to the bus numbers.

 
As our hotel is located at near Fengjia University (which is where Fengjia night market is located at as well), we took bus 160 at platform 12! The buses will come every 20-30mins interval. Do remember to keep your train ticket as it'll serve as your bus ticket too! Show it to the bus driver and you can get the free-ride there.

The bus journey took around 45mins. If it's your first time at Taichung and you're scared you're unfamiliar with the place and might miss your bus, don't worry as they will announce the stops along the way!

Hope it'll be useful for anyone who is travelling to Taichung! Do leave a comment below if you guys have any questions! :D

Will blog more about my trip soon! Do also leave a comment below if there is anything special you all want to know about Taichung/Taipei.

Maybank? Seriously?

Hello~ I was actually continuing my post for Taiwan but I was really frustrated by Maybank services that I had to post about it! *Please pardon my rants* Everything in the post is just my experience and my thoughts that I just need a platform to vent on.

I came across Maybank both while shopping one day and they had attractive deals, so I went ahead to sign the cards. I have heard quite a lot of bad reviews about Maybank services before but I thought they had improved over the years as the industry is so competitive. Hence I decided to give them a chance! The staff also told me that they will take around 7 days to process the application and the card should reach me by next week.

So I signed the cards that I feel would be more applicable for me and the person got me to fill up my details (the usual process when applying for credit cards). Everything was settled pretty fast and I went off to continue my shopping.

So 1 week past... No mails, no news from Maybank. 2 weeks past, still nothing.. 3 weeks and continuing to 4 weeks.... My patience was already at the max and I wrote in to Maybank to cancel my application as it was taking wayyyy too long to be processed. (From my past experiences, the application would only take 3-4 days to process and the cards would normally at the max take 1.5 weeks from the day of application to reach my mailbox. Which I think is pretty normal for most people too.)

I was so elated after waiting for so long and finally receiving the mail! But..... to my horror when I open the mail! The card was not the one that I applied for!!! I still clearly confirmed with the staff the cards that I applied for and to my worst nightmare, they actually gave me the card that I DID NOT applied for! WELL DONE MAYBANK! They actually took 4 weeks to process a card that I did not applied for at all! ARGHHH~ Can feel my frustration hitting the sky and I couldn't stop complaining it to my friends over the phone.

Maybank services was seriously the worst that I have came across by far from any banks!! No wonder there were so many bad comments/reviews on their services. I seriously wonder how they survive in this competitive industry where all other banks are constantly improving their products and services. Such service standard is just not acceptable, in my opinion! Definitely would not recommend them to any of my friends at all!!!

French Cuisine - Tooth Brasserie

Honestly speaking, I wasn't a fan of french cuisine in the past. But I am now a big lover of it cause of my boyfriend!! We're now always searching for good french cuisine to go for and if you guys have any recommendations, do feel free to share with us so we can go try it out! :D

And as all french restaurant, bread and butter will be served as a starter. Oh and I am soo in love with the bread! It's so soft and has a sweet taste in it. I'm just ADDICTED!! I can just have that for the whole dinner.

The first dish is oven-baked burgundy snails with tomato fondue and garlic butter. The overall taste matches well and the way they handled it is just right. Oh and if you like, you can also match the sauce with the bread. We literally cleaned out the whole plate, no joke!

We then ordered truffle fries as I am a crazy lover of fries! However I feel that the fries are just pretty normal. Not really special nor crispy.

Then to our main course!!

Crispy Duck Leg Confit

 My boyfriend had the duck leg confit which was a recommended dish. The overall taste was nice and the duck leg was soft and savory. Portion was also just nice.

Beef Cheek Bourguignon

 This dish is also another recommended dish. I heard that they only serve a limited number of dish each day. I am totally in love with the dish! The beef is so tender and juicy~ Matching with the mushroom and sauce, it's just perfect! It may look small, but the portion was just nice.

And lastly, to our dessert. We had chocolate lava cake. The chocolate was hot and melted together with the cake when eaten. The best to top with such cake is definitely vanilla ice cream! It was a nice dessert to end off for the dinner. Not to filling and not too sweet.

The overall ambiance of the restaurant is just nice. Quiet and romantic ambiance, perfect for date nights with your partner! Food is nice and pricing is pretty affordable too! Would definitely come back again for more!

Tooth Brasserie

The Sultan Hotel

101 Jalan Sultan #01-01

Singapore 199002

BACK FROM HIATUS

HELLO!!~

Sorry guys for the hiatus. Was busy with a big project previously and totally had no time to manage this space. Not sure if anyone is still reading, but i'll be back with more food post soon!!

Would love to do more beauty reviews but haven't got the opportunity to grab more beauty stuffs due to my hectic schedule! Any recommendations from you guys?

Stay tune for my next food post coming up real soon!!! :D

Hong Kong Food Hunt at Tai Ping Koon Restaurant!

 中環 (Central) is definitely well-known by most people! You hear it from people who have been to HK, you see it in drama and movies and definitely a place people would intro you to if you are in HK. Central is a very busy place as it is the heart of the business district where a lot of banks, law firms, foreign investments and embassy are found. In here you can also find a lot of high end brands and boutiques and also high end shopping malls. Was there to shop and found this shop which sells food that differs from other normal western restaurants.

Central is always so crowded and streets are so busy~

 Here we are! Just along one of the alley lies this treasure shop!

 Very traditional western decoration. It was a weekday tea time but the place is also quite crowded and we were lucky to get a table as seats there was quite limited.

Menu with their signature dishes!

 Ordered their set lunch to share and just like the usual westerns, bread will be serve together with the soup before your main dish. The bread was really tasty and soft~

 Creamy Corn Soup

 TPK Style Fried Rice Noodles with Sliced Beef. They also have it in the swiss sauce but since we are getting another dish with the swiss sauce, we decided to have it in the normal sauce. However after trying both dish (the dish below) we felt that the sauce tasted almost the same.

 One of the must-have dish here: TPK Swiss Sauce Chicken Wings (瑞士雞翼) Really like the overall taste of this dish. The sauce and the wings matched perfectly and the wings were cooked just nice! Very traditional taste which reminds me of my grandparents cooking.

 Last but not least, their famous Soufflé (梳乎里)!! Yes it is HUGE and fluffy but not to worry, it's just the hot air in it. After a few minutes, the thing will start collapsing down and it is best to have it before it starts collapsing cause the taste and texture would not be that nice anymore. This dish would require 20-30 mins to prepare and bake, so it would normally be served last as dessert. If you are there alone or just 2-3 person, this would definitely be too much for you guys. I would say it would be preferable for at least 4 pax to share it as it can be too much and you'll get sick of it pretty fast. It was really soft and rich of the egg white taste. Really admire the chef for doing this dish as it really requires a lot of effort to make this dish! Would totally recommend you guys to try it out but it would be best if you are going in groups. Haha!

If not, do drop by to try out their other dishes which is pretty great too! Prices are also in the mid-range which is a match to the standard of their food!

Tai Ping Koon Restaurant (太平館餐廳)
Address: 60 Stanley Street, Central, Hong Kong

香港中環士丹利街60号

Telephone: +852 2899 2780 / +852 2899 2806

Opening Hours: Daily from 11:00am - 12am

One Day Food Spree in Hong Kong!

Had a free day in Hong Kong all by ourselves and we decided to go on a food spree, trying out the local street food and some local dishes! These are just some of our favorite food that we normally eat when we're in Hong Kong and they are cheap and good! (:

Squid and fish balls with their homemade chili sauce! Super spicy but super tasty!!

 Fish cake with pig intestine soup. The soup base is really tasty and the fish cake is different from the normal ones with have locally. But the pig intestine is really chewy and it does not have the stinky smell which some stalls have and the smell is definitely a big turn off!!

 This is the name of the stall! It's located just right at the corner and in the middle of the Fa Yuen Street, a popular street market in Hong Kong!

 You can choose to stand and eat outside if you're just having small bites or you can choose to sit in the store and slowly savor your food! If you're not a spicy eater, do ask for a less chili on your food or you'll be drowning yourself in water afterwards! Haha!!

 The stall is just located at the intersection of Bute Street and Fa Yuen Street, not easy to miss out! Do give it a try if you're shopping there!

Next up is lunch! One thing not to miss out when you're in Hong Kong is Wanton Mee!! So here we are!

 Mak's Noodle! There's a few famous wanton noodle stalls and their standards are about the same. I normally go to the usual few and decide base on the crowd in the store. Stores in Hong Kong are pretty small and cramp as land is very expensive there, hence it is very common to squeeze and even share table with others when you're dining in Hong Kong.

 Wanton Soup!

 Beef Tenderloin dry noodle. Yes they serve both dry and soup noodles, but the variety for dry noodles are more limited. And after trying both soup and dry noodles, I would say the soup one definitely taste better as the taste of the noodles is quite strong when you're having it dry.

 My favorite and must have in HongKong!!! Beef and wanton kway teow soup! The meat is so tender and soft and the soup is just so flavorful with the beef added in. You might not be able to see the wanton in the picture but it's below all the kway teow. Every time I have this dish, I totally cleaned out the bowl with every single drop of soup in my stomach! That's how much I love this dish!!

Mak's Noodle

G/F, No. 55 Parkes Street, Jordan, Kowloon

Opening Hours: 11am to 12.30am

Tel: +852 2302 0908

They do have a few other outlets in central, causeway bay and at the peak. So if you're in the area, do pop by to try it out!

  

Dinner time with one of the famous dish of Hong Kong: Roasted Goose!

One of the most famous store in Hong Kong for roasted goose would definitely be Yung Kee Restaurant which I believe is no stranger to most people. This Kam's Roast Goose is the branch out of Yung Kee Restaurant after a few years of much-publicized family fued between the 2 brothers. Both restaurants are now each operated by each of the brother. Though unlike Yung Kee which is more glamorous and big, the standards at Kam's is no far less than them but definitely at a cheaper price.

 I had my favorite Roast Goose with noodles which still tasted as great as the one I had in Yung Kee. A few popular dishes are the roast goose, roasted suckling pig, BBQ pork (aka Char Siew) and century egg with pickled ginger.

Do prepare to queue and wait during dinner time as the shop is rather small and is usually packed with customers during lunch/dinner time, even on weekdays!

Kam's Roast Goose

G/F, Po Wah Commercial Center, 226 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai

Opening Hours: 11.30am to 9.30pm

Tel: +852 5408 7740 / +852 2520 1110

Last but not least, not forgetting some local street food that cannot be missed out when you're in Hong Kong!! You can find these items easily along the streets when you're feeling hungry or tired after shopping.

 Curry Fish Ball. The fish ball are pretty different from what we normally have in Singapore. They are not the bouncy kind and they do not have much fish taste, but they are just chewy and the sauce and chili that are mixed together with it makes it just irresistible!

Fried conch with chili! This dish is so chewy and spicy at the same time. You can just keep chewing it and cannot get enough of it.

Some other famous street foods are the stinky fried tofu, egg waffles, egg tarts, organs in a bowl and bubble tea which can be easily found along the streets. These food are cheap and tasty and are easily reachable wherever you are! So do give them a try if you're in Hong Kong! Not to worry, though the stores are along the streets, the food are very hygienic and I've so far never gotten sick from eating these street foods.

Till the next post! (: xoxo.