Woke up pretty early, like 6am due to jetlag. Got myself ready, had to poop... and then headed out to grab breakfast. I ended up picking Good Day Brunch 好日子. Shop was easy to find and it was full. The weather is nice and pleasant and the wind is cool but not cold. The door was open. I went inside and they said for takeaway to order via QR code... and it was a website that forced you to sign up with a mobile number to be able to order. ANNOYING AS. I managed to get there though and got a French style big breakfast.
The wait was kinda long... there was a good breeze that came in from the door so I just stayed near the door. It took almost 30 mins for my food. Off back to alfar hotel I go. The food itself was really good. I wrote a review on Google Maps. My fries were crisp and fresh. The vinegarette dressing for the salad had a nice sour kick to it, and the salad was fresh. French toast was soft and fluffy with a hint of sweetness. Sausages were good average ones, and bacon was crispy but not dry and hard. Awesome.
Once done I packed up 小智's cheese into the box I brang and sealed it up. Nice and tight and snug lol the cheese weighed 4kgs.... LOL.
I went to 7-11 and someone was using the ibon machine. I looked around and got myself a pack of tissues. once the lady left I had a look and it seemed like I could only send frozen mode from the ibon choice?? So I went out and sat down nearby and tried to look up info on search engine. It seemed to indicate Black Cat Heimao Couriers could do refridgerated, and hinted it was do-able at 7-11. I remember seeing a Heimao option on the ibon machine. I ended up going back into the 7-11 after mucking around on the web... and asked for help from the shop assistant. She didn't know and got the other person. The other lady automatically chose print mode lol. They both laughed. And to find out if we can confirm refridgerated mode, you had to enter the address and everything for the receipient and sender first. I was a little pressured since I didn't know what the address was and had to like, piece together information from google maps and what 小智 has prev sent me before for the number and unit. THANK GOD for that cause I managed to logic the road and alley, but not the number. Phew.
That sorted and printed, I thanked the lady for her patience and left the store. I got back to the hotel and needed to poop again... lol. And packed up the rest of my stuff. Stripped the sheets for housekeeping and checked out 11am.
The way alfar hotel does their luggage storage is for you to set the locker pins and they give you a number card for you to return when you get your luggage. Neat.
I left for xpark and walked there, managed to find my way. I noticed that there were a couple of empty lots with remanants of building debris - those round stones and red earth and broken up concrete looking rocks, some broken red bricks. Since all the buildings around this place is pretty new, I wondered if this used to be juanchun or farmland...
I got to xpark and paid $300 for the entry. Full disclaimer... I ended up spending almost 6 hours here. The park isn't even that big LOL.
The first area were some projector on wall displays, then a fish tank with xpark on the top for the photo opportunity. The first few tanks had the garden eels! So cute!
One starfish was even on the glass wall of the tank, so we could see it clearly... blessed. Then the path opened up to a big water tank with heaps of different fish inside. Big and small! This was really cool to stare at it. The next area was a big coral area. There was a big tank in a panorama set up with projector lights on the floor. They had small tanks on the side detailing how they are growing coral from Okinawa waters and observing/researching them. I found this really neat and cool.
Then onto the Temperate sea area. I saw sea urchins eating on lettuce or cauliflower leaves that were fed to them...! That was really cute.
Then there was the rainforest area, and they had some reptiles! Also toucans!!
Then right after was the freezing zone... like bro the climate control energy efficiency?! They had a tank with sea leopards in it. The tank was kinda small though... felt a bit sorry for the sea leopards. They kept swimming around. It was quite cool in this area. One was taking a nap anchored to a rock structure.
The deep abyss area had some creepy looking isopods... and some giant ones... and giant crabs!! A small area with heaps of fish specimens preserved transparently was on display. They also had an explanation but I couldn't absorb the Chinese rip. After that, there was a show/exhibit area with projector and interactive screens with mini games (touch screen) placed over fish tanks. One was so hard yo had to guide the fish through a simple maze but you lose a life (total 3) if you bash into the wall too hard or if the moving obstable hits into you, or if you run out of time. I only got past the first stage and not the second. I wonder if there was more than 2 stages - they share the same timer... the projector show was really cool, it starts once you activate the touch on the walls.
Then the jellyfish area... super photogenic... I found a mutant jellyfsh with 6 petals instead of 4 in one of the tanks! They even had a jellyfish raising area. With tanks of baby jellyfish. At this stage it was like 1:45pm so I decided to head to the xcafé first to have lunch. I had carbonara pasta and black tea. They used 2 teabags for the tea... ooof so strong. There was a handful of diners but the air quality was always green so fingers crossed.
After lunch I went back to finish the jellyfish area and there was a whole room just covered in mirrors, and projector lights with several jellyfish tanks. It was really cool. The music was super loud. And there's a beat that sounds like the main theme of Kid Icarus but then it's not. I kept getting disillusioned (?). xD
After that was the penguin area. When I walked past to get to the café a lot of penguins were swimming around. Now I see there was only 1 smaller penguin swimming and an emporer penguin kept walking up and down the slide walkway but never went into the water LOL. They had a signboard showing different penguin profiles/bios and their likes and dislikes. It started getting real crowded so I left the area. It was about 2:40pm and there was a show that starts at 3pm. So I pretty much went (it's an outdoor area!) and sat down at the seats. There was a Japanese students tour group and it was a pretty full house. The breeze was really good. A staff was wetting the stage with a hose.
To start the show they rang the wheeled a gong out and rang it loud/hit it once. The staff were dressed in king-fu tops. They went through the safety information, asked us o put one open palm against the other hanf in a fist and shout shifu! for the animal masters. Shortly after Eagle shifu (or hawk?) made an appearance. They flew right past me!! I could feel the feathers/breeze. Blessed. That was really cool. The handlers were wearing gloves and got one volunteer from the audience to wear a glove and the eagle landed on them too. They flew back and forth through the seats a few times.
Then it was the sea lion's turn. They came and performed/demonstrated a midair plank whilst on their flippers. Amazing. And then swam a couple of times. The staff asked an audience volunteer to come, and leave all their 3C products behind. The staff asked if they were afraid of water or needed an umbrella. The girl was brave and said no umbrella. The sealion ended up splashing water with their fin onto the girl who got quite wet. LOL, She took her glsases and mask off to dry off. Good sport.
Next we had the goats come out and they were fed plants to chew and walked up and down the middle part of the seating area (wheelchair platform layer). the sealion hung around. There was also a parakeet as well but they didn't perform today.
On the big screen they showed you how to make the parakeet's fav toy, and some buoyancy toys for the sea lions and other animals, explained it increases their quality of life by bringing in dynamic environment exposure. The sealion reappeared and is now their free-time so they kept swimming around in the tank.
The show was about 25 mins and it was quite enjoyable!
After that I went to the outdoor area and looked at the land animals - the goats (2 of them), a binturong, who had their snack/meal time (good timing!) as a keeper came out to feed them and placed a bottle wth holes in it (food inside) as a toy near the viewing window.
They had a couple of capybaras too. They were just chilling around the pond. Then the other area had some big fish tanks, and a couple more reptile and aphibian tanks. I couldn't find the moss frog... the others I could all spot!
At this stage it was close to 4pm and I was pretty tired. The last thing to do was the fish tank show at 4:15pm so I sped ran the gift shop and got some postcards first. Asked a staff how to get to the main tank area, was advised to exit and re-enter the main entrance as the fastest way. I got lost looking for the entrance as the exit connects to the shopping mall. Lol. I managed to find it and had 2 minutes to spare.
So the announcement came and sad the show started. But I didn't know or realise what was happening. There was some music, but music is pretty common all throughout the park. Near the end of the show (probs about 5-7 mins) they had lots of bubbles come up over the viewing glass area and that ended the show. Oh lol. That's when I realised something was happening. It was also the last show of the day.
After that, I headed back to the gift shop and browsed through. I got a wooden fridge magnet of a carved whale, a jellyfish papercraft set, a washi tape for me, and a capybara burger plush as a gift for Meghan. Was thinking the jellyfish craft set might be OK for Lennon, but undecided. Maybe the fridge magnet for Bridget?
Let's head back to the hotel. I was pretty tired and realised it's almost 5pm now, I spent near 6 hours at the park. Lol. Wow.
A security guard asked me if I was waiting for a cab as I checked directions on Maps. I said, I am looking for direction to my hotel, it's near the park. He looked puzzled and I said, the calligraphy art park. Oh! And he pointed me in the right direction. I thanked hum and went.
I got back to the hotel and asked for my luggage collection. The hotel staff asked if I wanted to call a cab... I said I was planning to walk to HSR? They were like, it's a bit far 15 mins walk. I said I walked from Linghang last night - that station is closer but it's further to the HSR station. I thought for a second and decided OK, make it easier for myself.
Whilst waiting for the cab I asked the staff if they knew what this area was since there's a lot of new buildings. The lady said, before the HSR development I think it was all farmland. Ohhh. Thanks. This confirms my suspicion that it's likely juanchun land before.
The cab came and it was a short ride. About 5 mins, fare was $100. The breeze was real nice and the driver kept the passenger door window open. I was kinda dehydrated so chugged some water and swapped to a zimi mask before heading into the station. I managed to buy a ticket at the kiosk and also found the stamp at the information desk. Off to the platform.
Once the HSR came I managed to get both my luggage on an worked out how to stack them in the area at the back of the carriage so they don't roll on their wheels. Then I sat down in my seat and had a breather for about 10 mins before arriving in Hsinchu station. Prepped my luggage to get off and then managed. Found the elevator and got to the main concourse floor. Also found the stamp at the information desk (had to exit the gates) and also got directions to Liujia station.
Found a toilet less frequented and managed to pee (finally!) whilst struggling with my luggage.
Made it to Liujia, got my stamps, and then bought a ticket to get onto the train. Got to the platform, and a train was already waiting. Managed to get a seat and arranged my luggage. Liujia is a terminal station, and took about 5 stops to get to Hsinchu.
I've never taken the train into Hsinchu station before. The platform is really cute and has that old time charm. No wonder, for the oldest station in Taiwan (or one of them) that's still being currently used, it's amazing. I went up and down the station and didn't find the info desk for stamps, so exited and then found the stamps in a corner across from the ticketing kiosks. Had a quick look at the Famimart inside the station, but didn't see anything suitable for dinner. I exited and found 1 empty cab with the 空車 sign on. Not a 55688 cab but yellow with uber sign. The cab driver asked if I was ok to add $20 for my luggage since they are a hatchback car, and smaller. Yeah that's OK, I was just tired and desperate to get to my hotel.
The driver made some small talk and said that some cab drivers in a tiny hatchback would ask for extra $50 for luggage, which is a bit much. Since the boot is tiny they can't always fit.
When I was paying it was so dark I think I dropped some coins on the seat (fare was $155 + 20 = $175) and swiped it accidentally under the chair. I asked for the light but couldn't find it. I was worried it was one of the keys I put into the coin wallet. I couldn't find it and gave up, but could still see both my keys in there. I said to the driver if it's a receipt and he won the lottery, good luck lol. Thanked he driver and left.
I think it was a $1 coin after all (confirmed later). I went inside and managed to check in.
Got into my room, room 1212 (same room, just one floor up!) and discovered that it had a window that you could open!! WOOHOO!!!
Plugged my purifier in, and drank water, toilet, and went back out for some dinner. I stopped at the 7-11 just a few shops down and ended up getting cup noodles of 台酒 brand, and wanted some protein and fibre... added 2 boiled eggs, and some baby corn. Sweet. There was a small pack of bokchoy but I wasn't confident I could cook it thoroughly with just hot water from the kettle.
Came back and made my noodles. Discovered the plug points n the wall were quite dusty.... fire hazard...
The flavour was quite good!! It's a little salty, but good flavour. Once done I was pretty exhausted so wrote my postcards then went for a shower.
Not long I managed to blog my first day, went to bed, all before 10pm.
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