Thursday, April 4, 2024

Taiwan (Post Covid-19 Overseas Visit No 8 - My 20 days Free & Easy Visit to Taiwan) Day 8 - New Taipei (Yangmingshan),Taiwan (March 14 2024)

Sakura in Full Bloom, Yangmingshan
New Taipei, Taiwan
Yangmingshan Sakura Season
New Taipei, Taiwan
Yangming Early Spring
Flower Clock Square
Yangmingshan, New Taipei, Taiwan
Beitou Hot Spring Museum

Day 8 March 14 2024 Thursday (Taipei City, Taiwan) - my dream of visiting Yangmingshan has been fulfilled on this day ! Happy Sakura viewing in Taiwan, KM not to forget my Sakura viewing with my wife in Kyoto & Osaka in April 2010 - A great outcome after a 20 year of gap setting foot on Taiwan soils again ! Dream has no expiry date so KM, keep up with your Sakura dream and do one in Japan one more time ! 

1) Morning walk in an open air Shuanglian Market nearby our homestay hotel & Mingquan West Road Metro station, Taipei City. 


2) Our group morning breakfast - Chinese glutinous rice meat ball soup with vegetable NT$65 (Rm9.75) per bowl. 


3) Bought a takeaway pack of glutinous rice + cellophane noodle or fensi (NT$75 = Rm11.25) as breakfast eaten in a nearby garden ! 


4) Bought bread & pastries (NT$63 = Rm9.45) as lunch for our groups' visit to Yangmingshan today. 


Yangmingshan National Park is one of the 9th national parks in Taiwan, located in both Taipei & New Taipei City, the districts that are partially in the park include Taipei's Beitou & Shilin Districts and New Taipei's Wanli, Jinshan, Sanzhi & Tansui Districts. In this trip, I have the opportunity to visit 2 National Parks in Taiwan ie Yangmingshan & Taijiang National Parks & in 2004 visited the Taroko National Park. Hopefully I could visit the other 6 national parks if opportunity arises in my future visit to Taiwan !   

5) Took a metro train ride from Mingquan West station >  Jiantan Metro station to board a public bus No R5 to Yangmingshan - a cost effective approach to a national park !  


6) Chinese Culture University, Yangmingshan - a visit by mistake when the bus drop off a number of passengers, mainly university students & our group got off the bus too ! So near yet so far but our group managed to take another public bus from the main road to right the wrong !


7) Yangmingshan National Park - a nice & pleasant morning, the right place & the right time for our group to view Sakura in full bloom, an Instagram spot for visitors flocking here to take pictures ! A free flying parrot was the star of the day making friends with visitors  ! 



8) Qianshan Park, Yangmingshan National Park - a small walk to a nearby park after the Sakura viewing visit ! 



9) Yangmingshan Shuttle tour bus & main terminal 



10) Round the Yangmingshan shuttle tour bus ride 


11) Our group lunch break (finger food - bread & pastries) near a park in Yangmingshan Main Bus Terminal 


12) Shuttle tour bus ride to Flower Clock Square, Yangmingshan National Park  


13) Cherry Woodlands & Stream Scenic Area, Yangmingshan National Park 



14) Flower Clock Square / Plaza, Yangmingshan National Park 


15) Uphill walk via gradual steps to Xinghai-Guangfu Building, Yangmingshan


16) Bye bye Yangmingshan ! Took a Yangmingshan Bus No 260 from Yangmingshan Main Terminal > Metro Jiantan Station - thus a happy ending for our group's visit to Yangmimgshan National Park today !  


17) After the Yangmingshan visit, instead of returning to hotel, my group decided to visit Beitou Park by taking a Metro train from Jiantan > Beitou (transit) >  XinBeitou 


18) Arriving in Xinbeitou Metro Station 


19) Downtown New Beitou nearby the Metro Station


20) Beitou Park, Taipei City, Beitou District, Taipei

Taipei Public Library - Beilou Branch

21) Beitou Hot Spring Museum - housed in public hot spring bath built during the Japanese colonial era, the Tudor-style building has a brick & wood facade and black tile.


22) Walkabout in Xinbeitou Hot Spring Zone along the Zhongshan Road. The Thermal Valley was closed (17.00) at the time of our group's visit !  


23) Open Air Hot Spring (members only) - not open to public 


24) Plum Garden, Zhongshan Road, Beitou District, Taipei City.  


25) After the Beitou Hot Spring Park visit, I had a dinner with my wife in a local restaurant nearby our hotel, 2 vegetable dishes + deep fried pork + rice = NT$145 (Rm21.75) for 2 sharing. 

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