SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2015
Tracy and Josh had to head back to Hsinchu and it just so happened that I had a friend, William who was in Pingtung for the weekend. From xinzuoying station to pingtung station on the TRA was only 30 min, so it wasn’t too far.
I get to Pingtung station and I walk 15 minutes to a hotel that William’s friend booked. This weekend was very different from my usual travels. I didn’t really have to plan anything. Tracy took charge and booked everything and led the way, partially because she’s been there before. And Sunday, I was tagging along with William and his friend, Emily. I stayed one night at tzu-chi hotel for 900NTD a night. It was decent. It had everything that an accommodation should have.
At this point, it’s some time between 8pm and 9pm. I asked the front desk and they were able to give me easy directions to the nearest night market. The night market is also pretty decent and I ate sticky rice and fried chicken. I then brought the food to the closest 7-Eleven and ate there. I also indulged in a Haagan Daz ice cream bar.
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| Sticky rice |
The next day, William and Emily picked me up in a taxi and we went to a restaurant for lunch. I don’t remember the name of the place, but the food was very good. I ordered a pasta dish and we shared appetizers and desserts. Entrees were on average 300-400NT I think. I also got to meet Emily’s friend, Jessica, who was very nice and I kind of bonded with her that day. The restaurant/cafe gave William the wrong dish and then made him the right one. So, William got a second plate of pasta, free of charge. There was also a larger group at the restaurant, so the server also gave us 5% off our entire meal for the long wait.
Unfortunately, this blog entry is not entirely helpful as it doesn’t really give the important information of where each of these places is. 🙁 I suppose that’s the problem when I don’t plan things myself. I don’t pay attention to details.
From the restaurant, we went to a park nearby. The park was very nice. There was a well kept playground and “exercise contraptions.” At night, they had a carriage made from lights. It was 70s/80s and I was wearing minimal clothing. My fault. My punishment: eaten alive by mosquitoes. William said every time he looked over at me, I was itching something hahaha. Oh god. Despite my discomfort, I truly enjoyed my time talking with Jessica and getting to know her more.
From there, we went to a Latin American festival. I’m not exactly sure what I expected, but it was a lot smaller than I expected. It seemed just like a family house party. The space was very cozy with a white building and space inside for playing board games. There was a bathroom on the back porch. There was a space for musical performances and people were just sitting on blankets. I really liked the vibe.
I had forgotten my anti-itch medicine for my mosquito bites and luckily there was a stand selling some. I still don’t know what the medicine is itself, but it stopped the itching and I might have been gypped when I had to pay 200 NT for it.
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| The food was really good. |
The festival was nice. Music was good and they had a couple of small food stands with Latin American food. We stayed for a while and then took a walk down the block and browsed the market.
Then it was time to catch the train to the high speed rail station and take the high speed rail back to Miaoli. We took the 9pm train and arrived in Miaoli at 10:25pm.
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| Me, William, Emily, and Jessica |
Not really my story, but I thought it was funny….
William and Emily bought their high speed rail tickets separate from me, so we sitting on opposite trains. When we went to the platform to wait, we parted ways. Once the train left, I fell asleep and turned my phone’s data off to save battery. Well, somehow Emily and William were waiting for the wrong train and didn’t get on the one they were suppose to, but that was the last train to Miaoli. So, they just hopped on the next train at 9:18pm and took it to Taichung. They were planning on taking it to Taichung and then transfer to the TRA and take it to Miaoli. I learned of this when I woke up an hour later and I was curious as to when their train arrived in Taichung. Looking at the timetable, I realized that their train reached Taichung before mine because their train was express, whereas the train I was on stopped at every station.
I quickly called William (3 minutes before my train was about to arrive in Taichung). I told them don’t leave the platform. My train isn’t at Taichung yet. A minute later, they hopped on the train I was on and I met them on the platform in Miaoli. Emily was so relieved because her phone battery was about to die and she had to travel to Taoyuan the next morning for work.
