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[Taichung Attraction Review]- Carton King & Banana New Paradise

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In our recent trip to Taichung, Taiwan, the last two attractions that we went to was Carton King and Banana New Paradise. If anyone is wondering, we actually planned for a day tour in Taichung because we really miss the Tai Yang Bing [a.k.a Sun Biscuit/Cake] and we found it pretty pointless to spend money on High Speed Rail Tickets to Taichung just for boxes of Tai Yang Bing. Hence, we decided to sniff out other attractions that we haven’t been to so that we could kill multiple birds with one stone.
Carton King

Last year, we were at the Carton King branch in Nantou and this time round, we went to the Carton King Creativity Park in Taichung. The Carton King Creativity Park in Taichung is way bigger than the one we went to in Nantou and there are also more things to look at and shop for.

Ticket booth made of cardboxes and paper.

Entrance tickets to Carton King Creativity Park cost $200 TWD and it also comes with a voucher that we could use to buy souvenirs or food and beverage.

Almost all of the displays in Carton King Creativity Park is made by corrugated paper.

Sitting on the sofa like a boss. The sofa was made out of cardboards.

If you wish to purchase some of these unique displays, you can do so at the souvenir store but you would have to assemble them from scratch. The souvenir store also has some really interesting cards that you might want to check out and purchase as gifts for your family members and friends.

Apart from the souvenir store, there’s also a mini bee/honey museum, a restaurant, and a candy store! As our next destination was Banana New Paradise [a unique 1900s-themed restaurant], we skipped lunch at Carton King Creativity Park. If you’re planning to visit Carton King Creativity Park, do note that the restaurant only serves lunch from 1100 to 1400 and dinner from 1700 to 2030. A meal for an adult would cost approximately 250 TWD to 400 TWD and for children, it would cost about 150 TWD.

The dining table and seats in the restaurant at Carton King is also made of cardboard.

At the mini honey/bee museum at Carton King Creativity Park. This is the reason why I deserve to be an actor.

Jacqueline’s new found friends.

To go or not to go?

Verdict: Carton King Creativity Park is really unique and there are probably no other places like it. There are tons of opportunities for photos and if you’re an artsy person, Carton King Creativity Park might be your source of inspiration for some creativity. The souvenirs available are reasonably priced and some of the DIY kits are pretty interesting and suitable to be placed at home for decoration purposes. Hence, we personally feel that you ought to have Carton King Creativity Park in your itinerary if you’re planning to visit Taichung. In fact, we would definitely return to get some more stuffs from their souvenir store because they are really unique and inexpensive.

Banana New Paradise

Banana New Paradise is situated near to the Confucius Temple, the Taichung Broadcasting Bureau, and Yizhong Night Market. It was a pity that we didn’t have much time to explore this part of Taichung because we uncovered quite a number of attractions in this vicinity where Banana New Paradise is at.

Banana New Paradise has an old train carriage right outside their restaurant.

Old telephone communication system onboard the old train carriage.

If you wondering what is Banana New Paradise, it is essentially a theme restaurant that serves Chinese and Taiwanese meals. The decorations and displays in the 1900s-themed restaurant is really unique and you will get a taste of what it feels like to be living in Taiwan during that era.

The restaurant even has an entire, authentic-looking replication of a Taiwan street from the 1920s to 1940s. Apart from the colonial-era store fronts and the displays of real antiques, there’s also old mailboxes, signs and posters, a 50-year-old taxi, motorcycles, fully-stocked camera store, dentist office, barber shop, movie theater, and a candy and toy store too. All these can be found in Banana New Paradise and they are really a sight to behold.

The toy and candy shop!

Yes, they even have features from the Ching Dynasty!

Old school barber shop.

An old school cinema booth! We used to have something like this in Singapore too.

Old school cinema posters.

Real antiques that are extremely rare.

I don’t really know what this is but it sure looks like a machine used for shaving ice.

Your eyes ain’t tricking you. This is not some part of an alley. In fact, they are inside the theme restaurant itself!

It’s time for school!

We were quite surprised to see this fire hydrant inside the restaurant too!

Jacqueline posing for a photo with the fire hydrant.

Old school cameras.

Visitors can sit at tables along the “street”, or inside “shops”, and enjoy Chinese and Taiwanese meals.

The super duper unique food menu.

And how was the food?

It was really superb!

When we were there, we did not manage to arrive in time for their normal lunch hours and as a result, we only managed to order some light snacks to fill ourselves. Hence, it was more like a high tea session than lunch.

Char Siew Pau

Carrot Cake

Fried Beancurd Roll

Fried Sticky Rice

Ice Lemon Tea

Icy Mango

To go or not to go?

Verdict: Banana New Paradise is definitely one of the most extraordinary theme restaurants in Taichung and the food is relatively superb as well. The cost of having a meal at Banana New Paradise is reasonable though it is considered to be on the higher end by the locals. If you’re a history buff and you want to have an experience of what living in Taiwan during the 1900s is like, you might want to include Banana New Paradise in your itinerary. Furthermore, there’s no entrance fees and you pay only for what you consume in the restaurant.

Overall, our one day tour at Taichung was a really fruitful one and as you can see, we bought lots of goodies on just one single day.

I was personally very tired from the one-day trip in Taichung and here I am taking a quick power nap before arriving in Taiwan for the rest of our trip.

 

In our few upcoming blog entries, we will be sharing with you some of the interesting places that we have been to in Taipei and New Taipei so do look out for that! Have a lovely weekend! 🙂

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[Taichung Attraction Review]- Xinshe Castle & Mushroom Farm

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During our visit to Taichung, one of the attractions that we visited was the Xinshe Castle, a European-style castle. From the Lavender Cottage, the journey took about 20 minutes by car and according to our driver, the Xinshe Castle is quite a popular tourist attraction.

The entrance tickets to Xinshe Castle cost $250 TWD and it comes with a $100 TWD Voucher which could be used for shopping and food/drinks.

The exterior façade of Xinshe Castle looks rather grand and its compounds are huge!

There are tons of man-made water features and the place offers ample photo opportunities.

However, we spent less than 20 minutes at Xinshe Castle and we felt rather cheated because the attraction just wasn’t worth the money. In fact, when we were there in June this year, mosquitoes were aplenty and we aren’t sure if it was due to the season/weather. However, what we do know is that the mosquito bites that we received were stinging pain!

Trying my very best to force a smile for the camera because the mosquitoes were getting on my nerves.

If you have Xinshe Castle in your travel itinerary, we highly suggest that you bring along some insect repellent and apply them to your body to keep those pesky mosquitoes away. Otherwise, you might want to leave Xinshe Castle out of your travel itinerary.

Another attraction that we visited was the local mushroom farm and it was quite a last minute decision because during the car ride, we noticed that there were quite a number of mushroom farms around the vicinity. We also found out from our driver that the place was well-known for its fresh mushrooms.

When we arrived at one of the local mushroom farms, the place wasn’t as pretty as any attraction would appear to be but it was quite a worthwhile learning experience as we saw how the mushrooms were being grown and harvested by hand.

The place was rather dark and humid and the conditions were suitable for the mushrooms to grow. Apart from mushrooms, lingzhi are being cultivated as well.

Fresh mushrooms ready for harvesting.

The mushroom farm also have some food products for sale and you can sample some of them before making the decision to buy them. Some of the products include fried vegetable chips, dried mushrooms, and other fresh produce.

Overall, we personally feel that Xinshe Castle was a waste of time and money and its only a place good for visiting only once. As for the mushroom farms, you might just want to drop by a while to take a look and learn something new.

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Small Swiss Garden + Green Green Grasslands @ Cing Jing

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Hello Everyone,
we really hope you like our most recent blog post on the Old England Manor and the Carton King. For this particular blog entry, we will be sharing about our experience at the Small Swiss Garden and the Green Green Grasslands with you.

Small Swiss Garden
Because of its Northern European atmosphere, the Small Swiss Garden has been called “Taiwan’s Little Switzerland”. Entrance fees to Small Swiss Garden cost $120 TWD [approx. $5 SGD] and if you’re the sort of person whom don’t fancy flowers and birds, then I would probably recommend you to give the Small Swiss Garden a miss. However, if you’re looking for great photo opportunities, then you must check out this place!

The Small Swiss Garden has some sort of a water show and it is probably better to catch the night show as the whole place would be lighted up with beautiful lights. However, as it was a distance from our accommodation to Small Swiss Garden and the roads were foggy, we gave it a miss for safety reasons.

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

At the entrance of Small Swiss Garden

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

You can purchase some bird food that cost only $10 TWD [approx. $0.42 SGD] to feed the pigeons and ducks. If you’re lucky, some of the birds will perch on your shoulders and provide a good photo opportunity. However, do beware that the birds might just decide to release their poo unto you.

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]
From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

Princess on the Carriage

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Melvin’s Perspective]

I know its not Christmas yet but since I was there and they had this huge Christmas tree, why not?

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

Baby with the Beautiful Lavender Flowers~!

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Melvin’s Perspective]

Fooling around in Small Swiss Garden

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]
From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

Some Rather Beautiful Shots of Small Swiss Garden

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Melvin’s Perspective]
From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]
From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]
From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]
From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

There is a small cosy cafe in Small Swiss Garden and if you have some spare time, you might want to spend the time sipping some coffee or tea while admiring the peaceful scenery.

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]
From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

Our first time seeing white ducks

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

Parting Shots at Carton King and Small Swiss Garden

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]
From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Melvin’s Perspective]

Green Green Grasslands
Green Green Grasslands is situated on much higher grounds in Cing Jing as compared to Carton King and Small Swiss Garden. Hence, it is highly recommended that you have your own transportation up to Green Green Grasslands because climbing can be a rather tedious task. The entrance fees to Green Green Grasslands cost $200 TWD [approx. $8.50 SGD] and trust me, it’s really worth the money. There, you can see herds of sheep grazing on the grassy hill and if you would like to feed them, the sheep food will cost you $10 TWD [approx. $0.42 SGD]. Also, if you visit on a weekends, there will be a Sheep Shearing Show which we found pretty amusing.

Having some fun right outside the entrance of Green Green Grasslands

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

Entrance Tickets to Green Green Grasslands

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

Entrance to Green Green Grasslands

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Melvin’s Perspective]

Our “Couple Stamps” to Green Green Grasslands

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Melvin’s Perspective]

An Overall Map of Cing Jing

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

Baby having her share of fun at Green Green Grasslands

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Melvin’s Perspective]
From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Melvin’s Perspective]
From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Melvin’s Perspective]
From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Melvin’s Perspective]

My turn to have some fun at Green Green Grasslands

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]
From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]
From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

While waiting for the Sheep Shearing Show to begin, we decided to have a ride on their incredibly big horse! The ride cost us $150 TWD [approx. $6.37 SGD].

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Melvin’s Perspective]

A Short 4-Minutes Video on The Sheep Shearing Show.

The Sheep Shearing Show

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

Make sure you get good spots for the Sheep Shearing Show and do not take the seats where the horses were stationed at [for the rides] because the floor is littered with horse pee and poo.

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Melvin’s Perspective]

At the end of the Sheep Shearing Show, we decided to take a parting shot with this Sheep Shearer cum Shepherd from New Zealand whom spoke really good Mandarin.

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

A rather “interesting” sheep we saw along the way. While the wool of other sheeps were curly, the wool of this particular sheep is rather straight [as if it was straightened using a hair straightener].

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

Parting Shot of Green Green Grasslands

From Day 1 Taiwan 2012 [Jacqueline’s Perspective]

Now that you know about the Old England Manor, Carton King, Small Swiss Garden, and Green Green Grasslands in Cing Jing, our next blog entry will be about our accommodation [Ming Qin Minsu] in Cing Jing. So, do look out for it and stay tuned to more updates from us!

God Bless!

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Taiwan Holiday 2012

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Hello Everyone,
we truly apologise for not blogging over the last few days as we are currently in Taiwan for a holiday and we will only be back this Sunday evening.

As we just managed to get a stable wifi network, we are going to put up a rather short blog entry about our Taiwan trip thus far.

Background of Our Trip:

Baby and I have planned for this trip to Taiwan since a year ago and ever since our first trip to Taiwan together, we have made it a point to visit Taiwan every year.

For this year’s trip, it would be for 9 days 8 nights and we will be staying at 5 different properties. So far in our trip, we have put up at Ming Qin Min Su, Skylight BB and the Golden Spring Hotel. For the rest of our trip [that is tomorrow and the remaining days], we will be staying at Shui Wu and Vogue Star Serviced Apartment.

So far, the main attractions that we have visited thus far are Carton King, Swiss Garden, Green Green Grasslands, Guanyin Waterfall, 18 Degree C, Puli Winery, Guangxin Paper Mill, Liao Mayor Black Tea Shop, Sun Moon Lake, Ci En Pagoda, Car Accessories Shop in Taichung, Yi Fu Tang, Taiwan High Speed Rail, and Beitou Hot Spring. As for the rest of our trip, our itinerary is unconfirmed but tentatively, we would be visiting the Leofoo Village, Maokong Gondola, Shifen, Raohe Night Market, Shilin Night Market, Xi Men Ding, and Taipei Zoo.

Photography:

For this year’s trip, Baby and I are using two types of cameras to take photographs of our trip. One is the Canon Powershot S100 which I am personally using and the other is the Olympus EPL-3 which Baby is using. Because we take tons of photographs [up to more than 2 GB per day] everyday, we will put up two different links [one which has access to the photos that I take with the Canon Powershot S100 and the other which has access to the photos that Baby takes with the Olympus EPL-3]. Due to the huge volume of photographs taken each day, we will not carry out any image editing until we are back in Singapore. So meanwhile, all the photos that you see in the upcoming blog entries about our trip are all unedited.

+For a start, here are two links to the photographs that we have taken duing our first day in Taiwan this year.+

Melvin’s Perspective of Day 1 in Taiwan 2012 Using the Canon Powershot S100

https://picasaweb.google.com/110215472288411100692/Day1Taiwan2012MelvinSPerspective?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMiI6pXyo9KCxwE&feat=directlink

Jacqueline’s Perspective of Day 1 in Taiwan 2012 Using the Olympus EPL 3

https://picasaweb.google.com/110215472288411100692/Day1Taiwan2012JacquelineSPerspective?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIS3iYG_4ZeeNw&feat=directlink

Stay tuned to more updates from us!

God bless!

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