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About Me

About Me
CrystalPhuong.net is a Personal Style & Travel Blog based in Singapore, written by Crystal Phuong. The blog was nominated FOUR times in Top 10 Best Fashion Blogs in the annual Singapore Blog Award from 2012- 2015, voted as one of the Best Lifestyle Blogs in Singapore in 2013 by Hotelclub.com, and Best Travel Blogs in 2016 by Foodpanda.com. Crystal hopes to connect and inspire young women to lead a healthy and happy life. Be confident, be positive, and be kind.
Showing posts with label taiwan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taiwan. Show all posts
4 DAYS IN TAIWAN

4 DAYS IN TAIWAN


Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Taipei city

In August last year, I visited Taiwan, a small island nation east of China with modern cities, traditional Chinese temples, beautiful hot spring resorts, and dramatic mountains. My first trip to Taiwan was in 2013 and it was great. But this time, it was even better as I had 2 awesome planners (Sarah & Ken) with me on this trip. Everything was well arranged from the airport pickup to hotel arrangements, what to do, where to go, during our 4 days there. I thought I should share with you in case you are planning a trip to Taiwan for the first time. Thank me later at the end of this post! You're welcome.

We arrived in Taipei city on Friday evening, checked into the Landis Taipei Hotel, and quickly went for dinner. We spent only 1 night in Taipei. The next morning, we woke up at 5am, had breakfast, and by the time we walked back to our hotel, our private driver was already there waiting for us.

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- View from Hualien Farglory Hotel

A few hours drive later, we arrived in Hualien, a home to several world-class scenic attractions located on the eastern coast of Taiwan. We quickly checked into Farglory Hualien, a 381-room hotel with a stunning view of the mountain on one side and a breathtaking sea view on the other.

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Hualien Farglory Hotel room

We spent 2 nights here and on the second day, we experienced a 5.5 magnitude earthquake in the early morning. While Ken felt the room was shaking, I was still sleeping like a baby. All I heard was his voice "I think there was an earthquake". I replied "OK" and carried on dreaming about something beautiful (not about an earthquake of course). In case you don't know, the average number of earthquakes in Taiwan is approximately 2,200 per year, of which 214 can be felt. That's crazy! 

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- View from Ch'ing Shui Cliff

Anyway, here is our itinerary of the day.

1. Ch'ing Shui Cliff

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Ch'ing Shui Cliff

If you are visiting Hualien, you definitely should visit Ch'ing Shui Cliff. It's one of the Eight Wonders of Taiwan. This is a 21-kilometer coastal cliff with the tallest peak, Qingshui Mountain, rises 2408 meters directly from Pacific Ocean. The view here will blow your mind.

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Swallow Grotto Trail

2. Swallow Grotto Trail

From Ch'ing Shui Cliff, our private driver took us to Swallow Grotto Trail along the Central Cross-Island Highway. It's considered the finest section of the entire Taroko Gorge with natural sinkholes, stunning rock formations, and spectacular scenery. It's truly heaven on earth.

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Walking under the rock in Swallow Grotto Trail

It looks unreal, doesn't it? That's how beautiful Taroko National Park is.

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Swallow Grotto Trail

3. Shakadang Trail

Shakadang Trail was our next destination on the list to visit. This place is well known as "Mysterious Valley Trail" for its crystal-clear turquoise water and stunning scenery. No swimming allowed though, but it's safe and easy to walk. If you love walking, jogging, and exercising, you'll enjoy it very much.

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Shakadang Trail

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Shakadang Trail

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Taroko National Park

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Taroko National Park

4. Eternal Springs Shrine

We stopped at Eternal Springs Shrine on our way back as James, our private driver, mentioned that this shrine is one of the most famous scenic spots in Taroko National Park. Besides, the story we heard from James about 212 workers who died during the construction of the Central Cross-Island Highway makes this place worth visiting. 

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Eternal Spring in Taroko National Park

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Eternal Spring

A long journey became less tiring with an ocean view on the right

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Ocean drive

and a mountain view on the left.

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Mountain view from Jiufen

Once in awhile, we just had to stop for a quick photo and soak in the fresh air.

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Ocean drive

5. Jiufen

On day 3, we decided to visit Jiufen, a popular tourist area with great views, historical market streets, and good food. The name Jiufen came from the Qing Dynasty, where there were only nine families in this village. They requested "nine portions" of supplies every time shipments arrived from town. Jiufen in Chinese means "nine portions" in English by the way.

If you are a food lover, you'll definitely love this place. Tiny streets filled with restaurants, souvenir shops, and food stores that sell varieties of Taiwanese products. Even if you are not into snacking or food tasting, it's still worth visiting.

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- View from JiuFen

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Day in JiuFen

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Ice cream sandwich

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Beautiful temple in Jiufen

A beautiful temple in a corner of Jiufen.

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- View of Jiufen

6. Ximending

Ximending is a famous shopping district that you shouldn't skip if you are a shopaholic like me. My first time visiting Ximending, I went crazy with shopping. This time, I didn't shop much. I was more interested in walking along the busy streets, hopping into a cafe, and watching local people walking by. It's so therapeutic.

We were just wandering the streets, having no specific place to stop in mind. The only time we stopped was when we saw a cute dessert and coffee shop. As usual, there is always time for dessert and coffee.

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Wandering in Ximending

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Street view in Ximending

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Taipei city

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Architect in Taipei

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Fruity dessert

7. Taipei 101

No trip to Taipei would be complete without a visit to Taipei 101, a 508 meter (1666 ft) tall skyscraper in Xinyi District of Taipei city. It was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010 until the Burj Khalifa, Dubai took its crown. (Read my blog posts about Dubai trip here and here).

Once you are at this place, purchase a ticket on the 5th floor of the Taipei 101 Shopping Mall. It'll take you to the observation decks on the 88th and 89th floors. The queue at the ticket counter might be long, but I can guarantee you, the view up there is a real treat to the eyes. Don't miss it!

Travel with Crystal- 4 days in Taiwan- Taipei at night

There you have it, a full list of what to do in Taipei for 4 days. I wish I could take more photos, but this blog entry is already long enough with almost 30 pictures and a video included. Hope it comes in handy when you are planning for your first trip to this beautiful country. 

Thank you so much for reading! 

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LAID BACK IN TAIWAN

LAID BACK IN TAIWAN


Travel with Crystal- Laid Back in Taiwan

Some time in mid of 2016, I made a short trip back to Taiwan. It has been 3 years since my first visit. The first trip to this beautiful country was in 2013. It was also the last time that I went on a holiday with a bunch of people (15 of them probably). It was fun, but it was also tiring as we were constantly on the go from one place to another. If you are like me, afraid of burning yourself out with a full itinerary "recommended" by a tour agency from the early morning to the late evening, you'd be better off planning your own trip. 

When my boyfriend and I travel, we are very laid back. We will pick one or two places to visit or things to do in a day and as soon as we cross that item off our to-do list, we pretty much go with the flow. That's what happened when we visited Taiwan. I'll share more details on what we did and where we went in another travel post. For now, here are just some photos of me, wandering the streets in Xi Men Ting at the end of our trip. 

No particular destination in mind. Just walked and enjoyed Taipei as much as I could. It's so incredible to see the familiar places with fresh eyes. 

Travel with Crystal- Streetstyle in Taiwan

Travel with Crystal- Laid Back in Taiwan

Travel with Crystal- Laid Back in Taiwan

Travel with Crystal- Laid Back in Taiwan

Travel with Crystal- Laid Back in Taiwan

Travel with Crystal- Laid Back in Taiwan

Travel with Crystal- Laid Back in Taiwan

Thank you so much for reading! 

::Outfit::
Cropped denim jacket- Thanks to Esprit
Mugler sunglasses- Similar here
Forever New culottes- Similar here
Jeffrey Campbell gladiator sandals
Vintage deep V-neck top- Similar here
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{TRAVEL}: TIL NEXT TIME, TAIWAN!

{TRAVEL}: TIL NEXT TIME, TAIWAN!


Hi everyone,

Suddenly, I don't know how to start this last blog post about #Taiwan trip. The feeling is like when I was in Taipei on my 4th day knowing that this was my last day in Taipei. It's getting emotional.

My flight back to Singapore was at 8pm so I had plenty of time to walk around the streets and to look for some souvenirs for friends and family. My hotel is located right at Ximending, one of the most popular shopping districts for young people. Ximending is the source of Taiwan's fashion, subculture and Japanese culture. It's like "Shibuya of Taiwan"



The streets at 12pm didn't seem to be very crowded and I had an entire street for myself for photo taking. 


Wearing the "Catch me if you can" cut-out T-shirt, jeans, sneakers and a denim jacket just in case I would be cold on the airplane later at night.



As you can see from the photos, most street shoppers are youths and the way they dress up is pretty similar to Japanese style.


Walking at the middle of Ximending street with my favorite frog hat that I bought for my nephew Miu the other day. It matches my sunglasses, don't you think?


Too much of walking and shopping around under the crazy hot sun worn me out, this was the last thing I wanted to do before leaving Taipei. 


Sitting in an air-con restaurant with a cool drink and looking over the vibrant streets, I knew my trip was complete! 






Taipei had been good to me from the moment I stepped into the city til the minute I left: the food, the scenery, the people (I love Taiwanese people already, why are they so friendly and helpful?), the culture, the vibrant city and the crazy shopping experience and many more. 

The city bid its farewell with this amazing picturesque view when I was on the way to airport, what should I say?


Good bye Taiwan! Til next time! 

I don't know how soon I will be back but I know I definitely will. Thank you for everything! I enjoyed so much my 4 days while I was there. Also, thank you Streetdirectory for filling up my dream-traveling-destination-list.

Thank you so much everyone for following me in my #travelingwithCrystal journey on Instagram & Facebook. It was so fun to share my traveling experience with you guys. I hope you enjoyed the blog entries about my Taiwan adventure. 

Love, 
Crystal
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{TRAVEL}: WANDERING IN TAIPEI

{TRAVEL}: WANDERING IN TAIPEI






Hi everyone,

Here goes day 3 of my #Taiwan adventure! Day 2 and day 1 posts are here in case you missed reading them.

After day 2 with full of sightseeing, back-to-nature itinerary, I decided to reserve my third day in Taipei to explore the city and to see what Taipei has to offer. I guess, growing up in a city gives me the curiosity and habitude to explore other places that are close to where I grew up. My comfort zone, I admit.

While everyone else went to other historical tourist place, an hour drive away from the city, I decided to stay in and to become a city wanderer for one day. No plan, no expectation, just go with the flow and see what would happen. It turned out to be a perfect day. 


I and my P.A Carmen started our day at a place called: The Red House: a Western-style red-brick octagonal structure in Taipei's Ximen space built in 1908. It is Taiwan's first public market and the most well preserved class III historical site. 





 Beautiful building, architecture, color and brightness (thank to the weather on that day) made a perfect backdrop for outfit photos and I couldn't say No to this offer. We had few photos (as above) taken here before we moved on the next location.






I love this photo Carmen took for me: a very typical street-walking fashion shoot. 

There is one place that everyone must visit whenever you are in Taipei. It's no other than 

Taipei 101!


Taipei 101 is formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building was ranked officially as the world tallest building from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. 



Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground and 5 floors underground. The building was architecturally created as a symbol of the evolution of technology and Asian tradition. The tower is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. Also, a huge multi-level shopping mall adjoing the tower houses with hundreds of fashionable stores, restaurants and club. 



From this corner, somehow it reminded me of Raffle City Shopping Mall in Singapore. Beautiful, clean and splendid. 



Walking outside of the mall, we found a small fountain at the center of a huge opening space, there was no way I would miss this chance for an outfit of the day photos as  not every day you could find water as backdrop for your outfit photo quite pretty like that. 



Wearing my favorite summer floral romper with denim jacket and the pair of sneakers I just bought in wholesales shopping market Wu Fen Pu a night before


















Leaving Taipei 101, we went to another shopping paradise called Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall. This is probably the weirdest mall in Asia with the shape from the outside looks like a gigantic golf ball being embraced by a stone sarcophagus.  





I didn't buy anything here except for a cup of ice green tea latte from Starbuck. That was all I needed at that time.

 Leaning onto Taipei101. You look so small there but You are quite magnificent here. 



A touch to remember! Taipei 101, finally we met. As this was the last night I spent in Taipei, I didn't want to miss a (probably) lifetime opportunity to see the entire Taipei at night from the 91 floor, I went back to Taipei 101 after Core Pacific City and went up all the way to its top. Taipei, indeed is an amazing and vibrant city. I always have so much emotion and thoughts whenever I'm facing the spectacular view like this. I felt so small in this huge city yet so big at the same time. From thousands miles away, I managed to be here, had my footsteps on this giant building and looked over the entire city. Taipei looked magical just below me, so near and yet so far.



This was my last night spending in this beautiful city, I was not sure when I'd be back here yet but til then Good night Taipei! 

::Outfit::
Floral romper: ASOS - Similar here , herehere and here
Denim jacket: Forever21- Similar here and here
Sneakers: Converse  Other colors: Blue, Green, Pink, Black
Sunglasses: Glossi Eyewear- Similar here
Accessories: Lovisa


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