Our family Taiwan 5D4N Trip to Taichung, Taiwan

DSC02752

It has been some time since we travel as a big family on an air plane. Last year, we went for a Royal Caribbean cruise and there were 17 of us! I would not exactly count that as travelling overseas since our furthest Port of call was just Malaysia Port Klang and we didn’t even leave the ship. This year, I won 6 free air tickets on a budget air line (I shall not mention it since I highly suspect our bout of super itchy insect bites was due to the airline seats. Please tell me this experience of bug bites on airlines is not unique to us!). I paid for the taxes and 2 full price tickets plus a $50 toddler ticket to Taiwan. We had 9 of us in total and it was Little YT’s first plane ride.

Travelling in a big group is nothing new to Kel and I. We travelled to Hongkong and Phuket with the grandparents previously. And travelled to Sweden and Australia in big groups too, although the people are different, but they are still part of our family. This time round, I decided on Taiwan to bring my parents who have not been there before and I swear to them that Taiwan is a super awesome place to visit! Kel and I simply love the food, the night market, the shopping and we never ever got sick of the mountain views. Now, I feel like going there again…

20140620_071715

The moment I settled the air tickets, I booked a private customized tour package with Jerry Travel. Our first interactions were on facebook chat and his response was quick. He asked where we would like to go and I gave him some compulsory places of attraction to visit and asked for his recommendations for the rest. We have young and old and hence I reiterated to him that we preferred a relax pace and the itinerary would include suitable activities for the grandparents and the kids.

Jerry's van
Jerry’s van

I viewed this trip as a companion trip to our parents and to make the kids happy. So, that was our expectations. It is important to have the right expectations when you are travelling in a big group like this. Honeymoon, babymoon, whatever -moon holiday itinerary do not fit into this holiday, such thoughts had to be thrown out of our mind.

I shall introduce our itinerary here and here is how it looks like:
Day 1 – Taiwan National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院 / Jiufen old street 九份老街
Accomodation: Beitou Quandu Hot spring hotel 北投泉都溫泉飯店
Dinner: at Jiufen old street

Taiwan National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院

Our family outside Taiwan National Palace Museum
Our family outside Taiwan National Palace Museum

After we touched down at Taipei International Airport, we were greeted by our stand-in driver who brought us to our first place of attraction (Jerry could not meet us on our first day due to some schedule conflict, so he only took us from the 2nd day). If you have been to China’s Palace Museum in Beijing, you would be impressed by Taiwan’s National Palace Museum. It has a permanent collection of more than 696,000 pieces ancient Chinese artefacts and artworks, making it one of the largest in the world. The very famous must-see items are the Jadeite Cabbage, The Carved Olive-stone Boat, Concentric Ivory Balls among other amazing artefacts.

The very famous Jadeite Cabbage
The very famous Jadeite Cabbage

The Jadeite Cabbage is masterfully carved out from a piece of Jade with natural jade colours of green and white to recreate the real cabbage. Sadly for us, this Jadeite Cabbage just left the museum to Japan on loan, hence we were not able to see it when we were there.

Unbelievable skills! The Carved Olive Stone Boat
Unbelievable skills! The Carved Olive Stone Boat

The “Carved Olive-stone Boat” is a tiny boat carved from an olive stone. The incredibly fully equipped skilled piece is carved with a covered deck and moveable windows. The interior has chairs, dishes on a table and eight figures representing the characters of Su Shih’s Latter Ode on the Red Cliff. The bottom is carved in minute character the entire 300+ character text with the date and the artist’s name! (Wiki source description) You have to see the artefacts for yourself to marvel in awe on how clever and skillful people in the olden days can be! Whoever did these must be super human!

Website: Taiwan National Palace Museum

Jiufen old street 九份老街

This was an old photo of Jiufen when Kel and I went with my best friend and her hubby in 2007.
This was an old photo of Jiufen when Kel and I went with my best friend and her hubby in 2006.

Jiefen old street has its own character. It is an old street with many shops on both sides of the narrow street. The street is so narrow that when the recycling truck drives through the street, one has to hop onto the shops on either side to make way for the truck. Highlights of this street is the small eateries that serve delicious braised meat rice, noodles with meatballs, famous yam and sweet potato balls dessert and numerous shops selling exquisite hand crafts like a zip up wallet!

Did you see Little YT struggling to get out?
Dinner at Jiufen. Do you see Little YT struggling to get out?

Website: Jiufen Old Street

Day 2 – Leofoo Village Theme Park 新竹六福村樂園 / Gao Mei Wetland Windmill Park to watch sunset 高美溼地風車公園看夕陽 / Fengjia Night Market 逛逢甲夜市
Accomodation: Bramasole Home Stay 布拉姆所民宿 for 3 nights
Dinner: at Fengjia Night Market

Leofoo Village Theme Park

Leofoo Village Theme Park
Leofoo Village Theme Park
Inside Leofoo Village
Inside Leofoo Village

DSC02562

On the second day, we went to Leofoo Village Theme Park. This theme park is really huge with 4 theme areas, “Wild West”, “South Pacific”, “Arabian Kingdom” and “African Safari”. We saw many locals, many who came in groups of friends and families. We only manage to cover 2 of them as it was a typhoon period and it started raining when we were at our 2nd theme area where there were ponies, monkeys, other animals and roller coaster rides. The kids loved the roller coaster rides the best. Some of the rides include a 360 degrees viking that, to me, seems scarier than the Singapore’s Universal Studio Galactica Battlestar. The theme park has a variety of rides suitable for the daredevils and faint-hearted. It has a good mix of play for all ages. While waiting for the rain to stop, we caught this at the UFO catcher machine. The best part was we gave it many tries, and in the end it was YH who caught it by catching nothing but the pincers pushed the plush toy out! All of us spontaneously screamed in joy!

YH caught one of this for his sister!
YH caught one of this for his sister!
It's the typhoon period and the kids were enjoying walking in the rain!
It’s the typhoon period and the kids were enjoying walking in the rain!

That’s the good thing with a private tour guide. When we saw that the rain was no where near stopping, I gave a call to Jerry and he arrived in less than 10 minutes and off we left Leofoo Theme Park.

Website: Leofoo Village Theme Park

Gao Mei Wetlands

Sunset at Gao Mei
Sunset at Gao Mei

IMG_1986

IMG_1987

IMG_2002

IMG_2006

The next place he brought us to was Gao Mei Wetlands Windmill Park to watch sunset. I like to watch sunset and this is certainly a good place to enjoy some less commercialized attractions overseas. Good thing that the rain did not follow us here. There were many windmills in a line producing about 3% of Taiwan’s power demand. The first time I saw such windmills were in Copenhagen enroute to Sweden across the border. These are certainly “new” windmill design to me as opposed to what all children’s books have drawn of a dutch windmill with 4 big blades. By the way, Singapore has no windmills.

We got off our mini-van and took a really leisurely walk along the breakwaters to an extended walkway into the sea. There were many couples, friends in groups and families enjoying the strong wind and beautiful view of the sunset. After an hour or so, we turned back and walked along the local delights food street. We bought the BBQ octopus, fried sweet potato balls, local drinks, and beer and ate while walking back to where Jerry was waiting.

MIL buying the local delights
MIL buying the local delights

Website: Gao Mei Wetlands

Fengjia Night Market

DSC02626
At night, we visited Fengjia Night Market. This is claimed to be one of the best night market in Taiwan. Boy, was it crowded! When you have young kids and grandparents, navigating through the night market is certainly a challenge. The crowd was amazing and looked like Chinatown during Chinese New Year. Everyone was tailing behind someone. Stopping for some shopping was almost impossible while trying not to lose sight of the other family members. Luckily, I managed to buy a pair of shoes for XX and YH and that’s about it. Yes, this is within our expectations to be “shoppingless”. However, we did taste many Taiwanese snacks in the night market and even found a good eatery with free flow of home-made special tea.

Day 3 – Qingjing farm 清境农场-青青草園綿羊秀.馬術秀 / Feeling 18degrees Chocolate Factory 18度c巧克力工坊
Lunch and Dinner: at local eateries

Qingjing Farm

20140622_113027

20140622_121141
Qingjing farm is located in the high mountains. We drove up the mountains for about an hour. There were 2 parts of the mountainous farm. On one side, you see the horses and on the other side, you see the sheep. The view from the high mountains was spectacular. We were like in the clouds and the weather was a welcoming cool of below 23 deg C. The grasses were so green and the kids simply plucked out the green grasses to feed the sheep. It was relaxing to be among nature except that there was much walking to do and the walking part did tire our parents out.

In Qingjing farm, you must watch the sheep show. One of the show host was a localized Westerner and he wowed the audience with his humour and the excellent sheep’s performance. He also demonstrated how he shaved off a sheep’s wool and led his herd of sheep to run past our legs! We were apparently sitting in the sheep’s path!

IMG_2739

When you are at Qingjing farm, be prepared to spend half a day there. In between, we had lunch at the food centre at Qingjing which was like Singapore’s version of a hawker centre. Don’t you love looking for local food and taste when you venture foreign grounds? We tasted black pig’s meat, their zi char (fried dishes), sausages with glutinous rice and soup. They were delicious but some were too oily for my liking. Lining the walk path to the food centre, we saw many 水蜜桃 (peach) at very cheap prices. Taiwan’s peaches are a must-buy! Somehow we did not buy any as we had enough of them from the earlier buys in the local market. On our last day, we regretted not buying for home when Jerry told us that Qingjing has abundance of peaches compared to limited supplies in Taipei. We wanted to get some fresh ones on our way to the airport but to find that there was not any left to buy. So, if you are in Qingjing in the summertime, remember to grab the cheap peaches there!

Website: QingJing Farm

Feeling 18degrees Chocolate Factory

IMG_2745
After we left Qingjing, Jerry took us to the famous Feeling 18degrees Chocolate Factory. Not exactly a factory as it is more like a cosy small town serving premium ice-cream and chocolates. There was a sitting area for patrons to enjoy free coffee. It was about 5pm and there was a long queue for both ice-cream and chocolates. We bought some macha, guinness stout, chocolate, coffee, mango, cookies and cream ice-cream. The ice-cream was relatively cheaper than in Singapore. We were told that not many places in Taiwan served such ice-cream which is really common in Singapore shopping malls. This place is popular with the young and trendy.

Website: Feeling 18 degrees

Day 4 – Sun Moon Lake 日月潭遊湖/ Wen Wu Temple 文武廟 / Peacock Park 孔雀園 / 水里車埕 Che Cheng Train Station 車埕火車站坐觀光火車 / Wu Chang Temple Earthquake Ruins Preserved Site 武昌宮
Lunch: 木茶房 Cedar Tea House
Dinner: One of the restaurants in Pu Li 埔里, near Bramasole, I couldn’t remember the name.

Sun Moon Lake and Wen Wu Temple

Sun Moon Lake
Sun Moon Lake

On day 4, after our morning hearty breakfast and fun play in Bramasole Home Stay, we went to Sun Moon Lake. It is described as a must-see attraction to go when you visit Taiwan. The lake has a shape of a sun and a crescent moon from a helicopter view which we were not able to see that. Kel and I were back to this place 7 years later and it kind of brought back some nostalgia. Due to time constraint, we skipped the boat ride to enjoy the lake’s scenery. Partly it was because XX was still feeling car sick and a boat ride would not be the best enjoyment for her. We’ll be back to take the boat ride, Sun Moon Lake!

Wen Wu Temple
Wen Wu Temple

DSC02726

We walked up the stairs to Wen Wu Temple. Such memories! Kel and I donated some amount to build this temple 7 years ago when we were here. Our names were supposedly engraved on one of the walls. We were naturally happy to be here personally to check that out. After searching for some time and narrowing down to our nationality and year of donation, we finally found our names! One small disappointment was my name was engraved in the wrong Chinese character! We told the person-in-charge and he told us he would rectify that. Looks like we have to be back again to check that out which we wouldn’t mind in the least bit of course! We donated again to the temple this time round and bought some chimes and beautiful souvenirs home.

DSC02732

Website: Sun Moon Lake

Next, on our way to lunch at Che Cheng Train Station, we stopped by a Peacock Park.

White peacock
White peacock

Che Cheng Train Station and Cedar Tea House
We had our lunch at Cedar Tree House at Che Cheng Train Station. They served delicious food and waffles. We got to keep the lovely wood buckets after the meal. Price was reasonable and the environment was cosy. We could enjoy the serene view from the restaurant through the full glass windows. After lunch, we took a relax stroll and snapped many photographs here. Could I ever stop marveling at Taiwan’s breathtaking scenery?

Cedar Tea House Menu
Cedar Tea House Menu

IMG_2062

DSC02763

DSC02746

DSC02774
Hot stamping the wooden bucket lid

DSC02778

DSC02776

We took the wooden buckets to be hot stamped in a basement workshop near the Che Cheng Train Station. Then we boarded a train that would bring us to Ji Ji Train Station. We got to enjoy the scenic view outside the train and met Jerry 2 train stops later. He took us to Wu Chang Temple Earthquake Ruins Preserved Site which was not far away.

Wu Chang Temple Earthquake Ruins Preserved Site

Taiwan had a magnitude of 7.6 earthquake in 1999, 21 Sept which killed 2,415 people. This earthquake was also named JiJi earthquake 集集大地震 because it took place here. Wu Chang Temple was partially leveled in this earthquake. We had a chance to see the cracked walls, twisted iron rods and its ruin state. The Taiwanese government decided to preserve this ruined temple to raise awareness, educate people and remind all on the devastating damage in this disastrous earthquake and its aftermath which changed the lives of millions of those who experienced it. It was a good education tour for us and the kids in particular, which also reminded us to appreciate Singapore’s almost perfect geological location on earth.

DSC02796

DSC02795

The deities from Wu Chang Temple escaped unharmed which surprised everyone. They were moved to a temporary temple opposite the road and moved to a new temple beside it just recently after they had raised enough funds.

Website: Wu Chang Temple

Day 5 – to early wet market / airport

On day 5, we were supposed to have a half day tour in Taipei. Unfortunately, our budget airline moved our flight timing earlier by 3 hours due to some schedule updates. (Remind me not to take this budget airline again!) Hence, we had to leave for the airport straight after a leisure morning breakfast in Bramasole. But we will be back again!

We bade goodbye to Mr Xie, the owner of Bramasole, exchanged small tokens of appreciation. He was wonderful in giving us Taiwanese tea leaves in an exquisite box. We gave him a sugarcane sweet pastry that we bought from some brewery market. Everyone was reluctant to leave the home stay (read here for our wonderful home stay experience). As a Chinese saying goes, 天下无不散之宴席, there is an end to all wonderful gatherings. We took many pictures and these will be our good memories to keep.

On our way to the airport, we dropped by a market to look for 水蜜桃 (peach) again but in vain as all had been sold out. Jerry bought us some nice local glutinous snack breakfast for us. They tasted good but too oily. We stopped for toilet breaks in between and finally got the chance to visit a mini-mart. Back on day 2, Kel and I had been wanting to visit a supermarket in Taiwan. We always go to a supermarket to see what they have for the locals wherever we travel. Taiwan is famous for many interesting instant cup noodles and range of milk tea. We manage to buy back some snacks and then it was straight to the airport. And this time round, we bade goodbye to our very hospitable tour guide Jerry. The kids were so fond of him that they were sad to say goodbye to their Jerry 叔叔.

Jerry and the kids
Jerry and the kids

All travels have their fair share of laments of planning that could have been better. For this trip, these are the things that could have suited more to my liking:
1) First night stay in a true hot spring resort with hot spring pools, but this would easily take up half a day to enjoy the facilities and grandparents may not like too much of this.
2) When we were at Leofoo village, we should have thought of asking Jerry to bring our parents to a nearby area for sight-seeing instead of them following us around in the amusement park. They were not as keen on the rides.
3) It would be good if we had chosen the Sun Moon Lake round the lake tour in the boat ride to enjoy the scenery. Well…
4) At the end of it all, I should have booked a 7 day tour to have more time to do the above!!!

And we are only touring Taichung.

My suggestion to others keen on Taiwan trip: If you can afford the time and money, plan one all-around-Taiwan trip on a tour bus to touch and go. Then, plan subsequent trips with more days to enjoy a part of Taiwan each time you go. Every part of Taiwan has its interesting places to visit and experience. Every season in Taiwan has its own charm. I guess I am never sick of going back to Taiwan for holiday 🙂

Lovely Taiwan!
Lovely Taiwan!

More information on Jerry Travel:
Jerry Hsu
TEL: +886-933-499-313
Email: sky37833@yahoo.com.tw
Website: http://jerrytravel.okgo.tw/
Jerry Travel Blog: http://blog.xuite.net/sky37833/jerrytravel
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jerry.car.rental.service

Jerry took good care of us throughout the whole trip. Everyone warmed up to him quickly. He always ensured our car ride was comfortable and told us not to worry about the mess that the kids made. We felt bad when we had soiled diapers, snacks wrappers, empty mineral water bottles, food crumbs strewn all over the van. But each day we board his van, everything was clean and tidy once again. As he was our personal tour guide, we were relaxed and able to enjoy each attraction at our own pace. The itinerary was flexible. This suited our big group with young and old. Jerry is very knowledgeable. Ask him anything, he is able to answer you with rich history facts, up-to-date information and he is able to connect with our parents and our kiddos. I highly recommend Jerry Travel if you want to tour Taiwan, especially with families. He even host guests on cycling tour! Did I tell you that he was a national cyclist! Oh, and there are also good tour guides in Jerry Travel too. Just check out their facebook page and you will know 🙂

Have you been to Taiwan in a big group before? Share your experience with me!

54 thoughts on “Our family Taiwan 5D4N Trip to Taichung, Taiwan”

  1. BBQ octopus! I hope it was good!
    Man, what a trip! It sounds like you guys had a lot of fun, and learned a few things to share with the rest of us. 🙂

    What great pictures! I did laugh at the Windmills – we have those here, actually a lot in the state where I live, so it’s common place to see them. You can even get a smaller version for schools or even your house!

    I don’t have a windmill. (Just in case anyone was wondering!)

    I love that you didn’t have to rush from one event to the other, and really love all of the local food you got to try! I was going to ask where my souvenir was, but then I saw it was a “shoppingless” trip. 🙂

    1. Oh, we have kids windmill at home with rainbow colours. The first time I saw such windmills in Copenhagen, it was all so new to me. Now I think of it, such windmills must be on earth for ages, it’s just that I haven’t seen them till recent years.

      Thank you for your patience in reading such a long post! You saw the “shoppingless” word! The “winnings” from the shopping, if any, were so pathetic, but we did have a good time to walk around and enjoy Taichung 🙂 Will get you souvenir the next time I go and Fedex to you!

  2. Oh my goodness that’s your relaxed pace?

    You certainly do have to adjust the pace for a big group. And not just if young and old are along – it just takes longer to get moving the more people you have to herd. I know I’m not telling *you* anything new here, but it’s definitely lessons to learn for ourselves! (We’re thinking of organising another trip with the grandparents next year – but we’ll try not to pack it quite as full this time.)

    1. This trip is indeed rather relaxed but can be more. However travelling in large group, you have to bear in mind everyone’s preference or choose to go with majority. During the trip, some of us were hungry at certain times and some weren’t yet and would prefer to stay at a particular attraction longer or some were tired and some still wanted to walk on, so I know I cannot please everybody but I am glad everyone tried to give in and adjust. Each one of us was accommodating to each other which was good. But it could get a little more trickier when too many families are involved.

      You are already thinking of a next year trip! That sounds early, but good before your little one reaches P1. Is that going to be the year after?

      1. Ha I was just explaining to my Dad that we can’t organise it yet because the school holiday calendar for 2015 isn’t out yet and he’s impatient to get going. Why not? He said. And I said nobody in Singapore is planning anything this far ahead – why would they put it out?

        Planning time frames in Australia drive me crazy now when I’m back. I ask friends out for coffee and they open their calendars to several months ahead 🙂

        P1 is next year.

        1. We really do not plan so much in advance. P is P1 next year? So you must be busy with registration now. Which means your holiday will have to be during peak holiday period. Or are you going for Australian school?

  3. You have transformed my thoughts about traveling with large groups -especially with my husband’s family. I have been so naive about this, thinking it will all just magically work out. In reality, we really should all be committing (somewhat) to an agenda- i.e. getting clear what we want to do and why. I think it would help lessen some of the strife.

    1. Oh, if your kids are old enough, you probably have to either manage their expectations or let them have a voice in a little part of the planning. And you are right about the what to do and why. That will be helpful to make the trip easier and happier. Another thing is probably to let them be mentally prepared for a positive mindset when impromptu changes or unforeseen hiccups occur. I would love to hear about your holiday trip 🙂

  4. You managed so much! I’d love to visit Taiwan one day too… but yes, it is important everyone has a flexible mind when a larger group is travelling together, it can get pretty tricky otherwise. Glad you had a good time!

    1. Each travel has its fun regardless of the number of people. I wouldn’t exactly say which I like the best. When I travel alone with my hubby, I miss the kids. When I travel with the kids, I wish I brought my parents along to enjoy. When I travel alone, I certainly wish I wasn’t alone to enjoy what I was enjoying. But travelling in big group, I do have to be mentally prepared for more flexibility. I hope you do visit Taiwan some day. It’s really an awesome place 🙂

  5. Traveling with a big group isn’t easy with planning work & everyone’s agenda to consider. But I love big family trips especially with lotsa hands to help with the kids! Heeehee. & I love Taiwan – a place I always wanna explore more. Will come back to ur detailed recommendations again when we decide on a Taiwan trip! :))

    1. I hope the recommendations help with you future trip! You are right about the lotsa hands part. But I find this is also the exact reason kids may get lost more easily when everyone thinks that someone is looking after the kids 😛

  6. Hi, happened to see your blog while i was planning for my taichung trip. Your itinerary was so fit for me as i will be travelling with young children too. I like the private customised tour package part. May i know how much is the car rental cum tour package rate? Thanks.

    1. Hi thanks for asking! Glad that you find this itinerary fit for you! I like the places we went to and we did it at leisurely pace. For the package rate, I think it will be better for you to ask Jerry via the contact I shared on this blog post. His rates are reasonable to us. I like his approachable self and how he accommodates to all of us young and old. Send him an email or Facebook msg. He usually replies very fast 🙂 Email me about it if you do go Taichung 🙂

  7. Hi, you have 9 pax, but don’t look can squeeze inside the car together with the luggage. Does the child have a seat?

    1. Hi Claire, we stayed in a hotspring hotel on the outskirts of Taipei. We mainly stay in Taichung in Bramasole Homestay. It is in the link in the post. If you are looking for more interesting hotels, you can visit http://www.bumblebeemum.net travel posts. I remember she did up a very comprehensive list of interesting homestay hotels 🙂

  8. hi Christy, can i ask, is there heater in Bramasole Homestay? my family (two adults w two children n one infant) will be going to Taiwan tis dec and Taichung will be one of the places we want to visit.

    1. Hi Joy, yes, the facilities are similar to hotel stay. The best part is the host cook delicious and healthy breakfast for you! Home grown vege and fruits. The owners like children and they are very accommodating and warm 🙂 I suggest that you can email or leave a comment on their facebook if you have questions. Let me know if you have problems getting their response. After this homestay, we have become friends 🙂

  9. Hi Christy! i will bring my parents and 4 adults to TaiChung in Oct. Could you tell me how much you have paid Jerry? what are the charges? Thanks!

    1. Hi Christie!
      You have a large group, will be good to engage a private guide. I suggest that you watsapp Jerry or email him. He responds very fast. If not, let me know ya! His charges may be different now and usually depends on how many days trip you are going for. I can only tell you that I find his charges very reasonable and he is very accomodating. He can suggest places to go or simply follow your itinerary. Check out his facebook page Jerry Travel too. If you do engage his services, I would love to hear how it goes for you and your family! 🙂

  10. hi christy,

    we are planning a trip this Nov with young kids. may i check is there a few guides under Jerry Travel or just him alone (so that we know do we need to request for specific guide) ? I read that for some guides, we will need to pay for their stay during the period. May I know how does it works for Jerry travel when you engaged their services ?

    1. Hi,
      There are a few tour guides. Do check out their facebook page for pictures and updates. They are very friendly and feel free to contact them directly with your planned dates, itinerary, number of pp, even ask them about suggestions to your trip. For my trip, there wasn’t a need to pay for Jerry’s accomodation. Not too sure if it is due to him staying in Tai chung. You can ask him about that.
      Once you contact them, they will send you a planned / suggested itinerary and quote depending on number of days and vans. Let me know if you have problems contacting them. We have become friends since our Taichung trip!

      1. Hi Christie,
        Thanks for your mail.
        There’s plan changed. So will not go Taiwan for time being.

        Best regards
        Christine

      2. Hi Christy,

        Thanks for the reply. I have contacted them but they are all booked though I was informed there is a charge for their stay. Will keep their contact for our future trips 🙂

        1. Hi Slai,
          Sorry to hear that! They must be very popular or short handed. I didn’t know about the charge. Something new for me. But I think it may be common practice. Thanks so much for coming back to leave your reply here 🙂

  11. Hi, we were also planning a big group (9pax with parents and children) trip to Taiwan and came across your blog. Thanks for sharing your experience online. For accomodations, do you book two to three rooms or is there apartments which can accommodate the group?
    Thanks in advance.

    1. Hi Jean, I am glad my post helps!
      For accomodation, we book minsu at Bramasole. one big room with adjoining rooms that an accomodate our family of 5 in one room and 2 grandparents in another. And book one more room for the other 2 grandparents. You can check out the post here: http://kidsrsimple.com/2014/07/10/taiwan-home-stay-bramasole-%E5%B8%83%E6%8B%89%E5%A7%86%E7%B4%A2%E6%B0%91%E5%AE%BF/
      The homestay experience was very good and totally at home. You may consider this place if you are in Taichung 🙂

  12. Hi Christy,
    We are planning a family trip(6pax with 2 teenagers & 2 small kids). I’ve booked Bramasole for 3days2nite stay. Do you really need to hire a personal cab driver? Is there any other transportation so that we can venture on our own?

    Thank you:)

    1. Hi Tracy,
      getting around in Taichung can be challenging as there are many terrains and places of interest are not near to subways. I hardly see buses too. Hiring a driver will take your mind off planning the route. As this is different from Taipei city where it is easy to tread on your own, I would still recommend a driver or self-drive especially you have young kids and many of you travelling together.

      However, you may check out if venturing on your own is advantageous for you. I am sure some people do go on their own. You may have to weigh the pros and cons with big travel group.

      Hope this helps 🙂

  13. Hi Mommy,

    May I know the hotels u stayed at when u were in Taiwan? Which ones do u recommend? We are planning a trip this June with our 2 kids (3 and 5yo) and will likely follow ur itinerary closely.

    Thanks!

    1. Hi Michelle,
      In my Taiwan post, I mentioned we stayed at Bramasole homestay. Out of the 4 nights, we stayed there 3 nights. The first night we stayed at Beitou Wen Quan Fan Dian which was only so-so. We enjoyed ourselves very much at Bramasole where there are much to play for little ones and we love the nature at the homestay. Do click on the link inside this post to read about our homestay experience 🙂

  14. Hi Christy

    It was a lovely blog. We are planning a family holiday to Taiwan in July with 2 young kids, 3&1. Could I know what were your travel dates n what was the weather condition in Taichung? Thanks for sharing.

    1. Hi Jamie,
      We travelled in June which was really hot and there were showers of rain occassionally. It will be better to travel Sep/Oct or Mar/Apr period for better weather in my opinion.
      Hope this helps 🙂

    1. Hi, Jerry recommended accomodations to us and we booked online directly.

  15. Hi Christy,
    Thanks for the lovely post!
    I’m very keen to stay in Bramasole for my upcoming trip in October. Just wondering, how long is the average traveling time from Bramasole to the various tourist attractions (e.g. Cingjing farm, sunmoonlake etc).

    I’d love to spend at least 3 nights in Bramasole too. 🙂

    Thanks!

    1. Hi Clovie,
      Good choice! I am sure you will love Bramasole! The traveling time was not very long. Probably about within an hour. You can ask Bramasole’s friendly boss about it too. Are you engaging Jerry Travel as well? He will be able to plan for you 🙂

      Enjoy your trip!!

        1. Hi Jacqueline,

          Jerry’s contacts are on blog post 🙂
          Jerry Hsu
          TEL: +886-933-499-313
          Email: sky37833@yahoo.com.tw
          Website: http://jerrytravel.okgo.tw/
          Jerry Travel Blog: http://blog.xuite.net/sky37833/jerrytravel
          Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jerry.car.rental.service

  16. My Mother-in-law and Father-in-law thinking of going taiwan end of November. This is a very useful guide. Especially the driver contact details.

    1. Good to know you find it useful! We enjoyed ourselves alot! Love the Bramasole homestay and friendly driver cum guide 🙂 Look forward to your photos!! 🙂

Comments are closed.