Two days back we made a random train hopping down south, so this time decided to try the northern line which goes right after Taipei.
Breakfast was a Taiwanese styled bun, filled with peanuts, sugar, some vegetables, a sliced of bacon and a fried egg. Finished it off with milk pearl tea, and the waitress thought we were mad when we asked her to add pearls, as it was already the smallest cup, so we were literally drinking pearls instead of the sweet milk tea.
From Hsinchu, our first stop on the original itinerary was Xizhi, but for some reasons I couldn’t find it on the vending machine, so we decided to stop at Taoyuan first.
The lines heading up north were a stark contrast to those down south. The trains were newer, better equipped, and were more frequent. Also along the way, people were getting on and off, so the carriages were always almost full unlike the ones we took the previous day down south which were often empty.
Our first stop Taoyuan was a city like Hsinchu. The next train was due in 14 minutes, so we did a quick stroll at the shopping mall located right next to the station for some needed air-conditioning in the hot summer.
From Taoyuan, headed right up to Xizhi because we were finally able to purchase ticket to this particular station! Passed by our office’s headquarters which was also located at a stop before Xizhi. Made a quick stop for toilet and a trip to our favourite 7-11 before taking the next train back down to Songshan.
Songshan station was interesting because it was located right opposite Wufenpu, well known for its clothings and accessories wholesale shops, where items were said to be often sold at dealer price.
Witnesses an accident while jaywalking trying to get to Wufenpu. We tried doing some shopping, but soon realised that the prices aren’t as cheap as we had expected, and more than often you had to haggle. The cheaper option was to browse through their ‘deal rack’, where the stuffs are often rejected ones, or out of season. Instead of buying myself clothing, I bought an umbrella instead as I had lost my 2nd umbrella at the previous Xizhi stop.
We spent almost 2 hours at Wufenpu, and it started to rain heavily, so ducked into this small restaurant hidden in a corner to keep out of the wet weather. The dry oil mee was delicious surprisingly! Stayed there for some time until the rain became smaller, and headed back to the train station to continue our train hopping.
Our next stop was Shanjia, and it was raining heavily by the time we got here. Received my stamp from the counter, then had to cross back to the platform very very carefully on a narrow plank because the station was undergoing a major construction. The station master at the Shanjia station was a jolly fellow, and he seemed to know everyone who came and went out of the station.
After Shanjia was Yingge, and problems started happening. We decided not to take the 6.02pm train, because it wasn’t very wise to rush for the train and the stamps all within 4 minutes, so decided on the 6.23pm train to Fugang. However suddenly an accident occurred at the previous station and also the heavy rain, the trains were all delayed by around 15 minutes. As we had a great deal of time to spare and was bored, got a squid ink bread to share between us.
Munched on the black bread which was actually quite delicious while waiting for the train. As it was also getting late, we decided to give up on visiting the last two stops, because it would be very late by the time we get back to Neiwan. When our train finally came, we rode it all the way back to Hsinchu, but a few things happened on the train on our way back.
One of the lady had a bread stolen from her, or maybe one of the passengers took it by mistake while leaving the train without realising, but she shouted and even ran off the train to chase the fellow but probably lost him/her, so she was fussing loudly over it. After that, a drunkard came onto the train, and was staring at us all the way till he reached his stop, which was kind of freaky.
Unfortunately for us when we reached Hsinchu, it was already 7.40pm, and the next bus for Zhudong comes at 9.10pm, so decided to hide out in the bookshop till it was time. The bus was much more crowded than usual, and we were lucky to be the last few ones who were able to board the bus. Seats were all taken except for one next to a heavily drunk guy, but fortunately the ride to Zhudong wasn’t that long. Headed home to Neiwan on the 9.40pm train after a long day to our favourite Kangxi program.
この長い旅で 