Keelung, Yilan, Taipei - Itinerary for Taiwan trip

I just completed my pre wedding photo shot (PWS) in Taiwan. As much as I do not want to jump into the bangwagon of taking my PWS overseas, I was unable to resist the package that was offered to us, and the thoughts of going to Taiwan for a vacation.

Here is the itinerary, and I'll further elaborate the activities in my subsequest posts, including the experience of taking the new Taipei Airport Express Train and Eva Air's Hello Kitty Plane.

	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Breakfast		Hotel Breakfast	Hotel Breakfast	Hotel Breakfast	Hotel Breakfast (MOS Burger) + Scallion Pancake (礁溪柯氏葱油饼)	Hotel Breakfast (MOS Burger) + Xiao Long Bao (正常鮮肉小籠包)	永和豆浆	永和豆浆
Morning		Bus to Danshui	Wedding Photo shoot	Cab to Jiufen	Train to Yilan	Bus to Taipei, Check in City Inn Hotel Ximending	ChiaTe Bakery Shop	Bus to Shen Keng (via Muzha)
Lunch		Pork Ribs Rics @ 黑殿饭店 (Dark Palace)	Wedding Photo shoot	Local snacks @ Jiufen Old Street	Duck Mee Sua @ 蒜味鸭赏面线	Braised Pork Rice @ 金峰魯肉飯 (Jin Feng Ru Rou Fan)	Braised Pork Rice @ 天天利 (Tian Tian Li)	古早厝 (Gu Zao Cuo) @ Shen Keng
Early Afternoon		Danshui Old Street	Wedding Photo shoot	Jiufen Old Street	Jimmy's Park	Ximending	Taipei 101	Shen Keng Old Street
Late Afternoon	Reach Taipei, pick up by drive, check in K Hotel, KeeLung	Gown Choosing & Fitting @ Cannes Wedding Bridal Shop (台湾坎城婚纱摄影）	Wedding Photo shoot	Photo Choosing @ Cannes Wedding Bridal Shop (台湾坎城婚纱摄影）	Factory Visiting at CP Cheese Factory, Agrioz, R.Den Dessert Factory, Village Churrasco	Taipei Main Station, Wufenpu	Shuang Lian	Shifen Old Street
Night	Miaokou Night Market	Miaokou Night Market	Wedding Photo shoot	Train to Jiaoxi, check in 58˚ Hotspring Hotel (58度溫泉湯苑會館)	Luodong Night Market	Rouhe Night Market & Ximending	Shilin Night Market	Ningxia Night Market, Shida Night Market, Ximending
Dinner	Dinner @ Miaokou Night Market	Dinner @ Miaokou Night Market	Steam boat dinner at 義美石头火锅	Snacks from 7-11	Local food @ Luodong Night Market, Noodles @ 有面者	Local food @ Rouhe Night Market & Ximending	Local food @ Shilin Night Market	Local food @ Ningxia Night Market, Shida Night Market, Ximending

Taiwan Trip Day 1: Keelung
Taiwan Trip Day 2: Keelung & Danshui
Taiwan Trip Day 3 - PWS with Cannes Wedding Studio
Taiwan Trip Day 4 - Jiufen & Jiaoxi
Taiwan Trip Day 5 Part 1 - Yilan & Factories Tour
Taiwan Trip Day 5 Part 2 - Luodong Night Market & Jiaoxi
Taiwan Trip Day 6 & 7 - Back to Taipei & Review of City Inn Hotel Ximending
Taiwan Trip Day 8 - Travelling to Shen Keng & Shifen by bus
Taiwan Trip Day 9 - Express train to the airport & Hello Kitty Plane

See also: 8 food you cannot miss in Ximending

1 Day Island Hopping Trip - St John's Island & Kusu Island

There are 60 over islands in Singapore, and sad to say, as a Singaporean, I've been to less than a quarter of them. Hence, I was looking very forward to this team bonding event, where we embark on an island hopping trip St John's Island & Kusu Island.

We bought our tickets for the 2pm ferry from a bright orange counter of the Singapore Island Cruise and Ferry Services at Marina South Pier, which is accessible by MRT (Marina South Pier MRT station). 

The ferry (on the right)

Bye bye sky scrappers

The ferry ride to St John's Island took 30mins, and as this is the last ferry of the day, we only have 15mins to explore the island. We went around taking quick snap shots of this tranquil island surrounded by clear green sea. Before the island is open for the public to visit in the 1970s, St John's Island was previously a quarantine station, then a drug rehabilitation centre.

If you intend to stay longer to explore the island or visit Lazarus Island, which is connected to St John's Island by a bridge, you can plan your trip based on the ferry's schedule. 

We literally hop back to the ferry to hop to the next stop, Kusu Island, which is a 10mins ferry ride away. "Kusu" means tortoise, and legend says that this island was transform from a magical tortoise which did so to save 2 shipwrecked sailors. 

Again, the clear green sea welcome us, and this time, we had 1 hour to spend on the island. We spent the first 30mins playing old-school team bonding games like dodge ball and 7-up, before visiting the nearby Da Bong Gong temple to pray for good health, fortune and luck.

It's time to bade farewell to the island. We board the ferry to go back to the main island, and I look forward to another trip to the southern islands soon, this time, with more time allocated so as to fully explore the beauty of the islands.

Finland & Norway Trip Day 11 & 12 - Bye bye Norway, Hello & Bye Bye Finland

We spend the morning walking around Bossekopveien, taking more pictures of the Alta fjord and buying caviar cream, bacon cream, canned sardines and some food stuffs to bring back home in the neighbourhood supermarket.

Soon, it was time to bid farewell to Alta. The receptionist at the hotel helped us to call for a cab to bring us to the Alta airport, where we took the SAS plane to Oslo for transit back to Helsinki. 

We headed straight to Rantasipi Airport Hotel upon reaching Helsinki airport. Since we'll stay in Helsinki for just 1 night before flying back home, we did not want to create too much hassle of carrying our luggage around. Rantasipi Airport Hotel is just about 4km away from Helsinki airport, and is 1 of the hotels that provides free shuttle bus to and from the airport. The rooms are reasonably clean and comfortable for a 1 night stay, and a gigantic shopping mall, Jumbo, is just a 10 mins walk away.

We spent the next morning shopping at Jumbo, then took a bus to the city centre. Our lunch was settled at the stall selling Vietnamese food in Market Square, and it was really nice drinking the chicken broth of the pho after missing Asian food for over 10 days. We re-visited the Senate Square, and also went to the Old Market Hall, before heading back to Jumbo to grab some chocolates and more food stuffs.

Jumbo Shopping Centre

Vietnamese food at Market Square

Vietnamese food at Market Square

Senate Square

Senate Square

Senate Square

Interior of Senate Square

Old Market Hall

Time usually pass faster during holidays, and it was time for us to head back to Singapore. With luggage stuffed to the brim and memories packed with wonderful experiences, we bid farewell to the Scandinavian countries to return to the tropics, waiting for the next holiday to start.

Previously: Finland & Norway Trip Day 10 - Alta museum and a spectacular aurora show

Finland & Norway Trip Day 10 - Alta museum and a spectacular aurora show

Just like most European cities, all shopping centres and most shops in Alta are close on Sunday, and the frequency of public busses running in the city also decreases. Our plan for today is to visit the Alta museum to see the rock carvings made thousands of years ago.

Since we have the whole day to spare, we walked from our hotel to Alta museum, enjoying the crisp air, cold weather and captivating scenery along the way. 

It took us about 45mins to reach this UNESCO World Heritage site. There were some exhibitions and a souvenir shop, and the highlight of the museum are the prehistoric rock carvings, giving us a glimpse of the life of hunters and fishermen thousands of years ago. 

Trekking along the pathway to see the rock carvings

Fantastic view of the Alta fjord along the treks 

We spent the rest of the afternoon resting in the recreation room of the hotel, sipping tea and reflecting life while looking at the peaceful waters of the fjord.

Since this is our last night in the arctic region, we kept a close watch at the sky in our hotel room, switching off all the lights to prevent light pollution and praying for the clouds to clear so that the aurora will appear. We are really quite blessed; that night, we were treated by nature with a spectacular Northern Light show that makes a nice finale to our trip. To add on to our excitement, a shooting star appears out of nowhere to make a guest appearance, leaving us in awe of how beautiful nature can be. Since we did not join any aurora hunting tour, we only have our "unprofessional" cameras to help us capture what we see, but nothing can replace the images of the Northern Light that are well etched in our memories.

Up next: Finland & Norway Trip Day 11 & 12 - Bye bye Norway, Hello & Bye Bye Finland
Previously: Finland & Norway Trip Day 9 - Storekorsnes