Day 1 Free and easy Taiwan trip at Taichung (Beacon hotel and 一中街)

I am back to Taiwan again since my last visit at year 2013. Taiwan is one of my favourite country which I will not grow tired of even though I have been there many times. The nice and cheap food in night market and the nice taiwanese people make me love this country. After a year plus without travelling, I decided to make Taiwan as my 2016 first holiday destination. I took scoot which I felt is one of the better budget carrier. Although there are no free food and entertainment, you can have it all prepared before hand. Download a couple of videos to watch during the flight and eat before you board the plane and have a empty bottle with you and top up before you board the plane at the holding area.

In a few hours, I reached Taiwan (Taoyuan international Airport) at early morning. We went down to 7-11 and get some bread for breakfast.

A few way from Taipei to Taichung:
1) By TRA (approx. cost: NT 380, travelling time approx. 2 hours)
2) By HSR (approx. cost: NT 750, travelling time approx. 1 hour)
3) By Bus (approx. cost: NT 240, travelling time approx. 3 hours)

Since we can only checked in after 12, we decided on the third option. We went to the basement to the bus interchange, bought the bus ticket to Taichung(NT240/pax bus number: 5503 建明客运). The bus is very comfortable and I took a nap throughout the whole journey. Our hotel at Taichung was Beacon hotel. You can choose to alight at Chaoma station and took a cab to the hotel (Approx. cost: NT 150) or alight at 台中火车站 stop and go to opposite bus stop take bus 35 (NT 20) and alight around 逢甲 area.

If you come to Taichung, staying at Beacon hotel is highly recommended. They have awesome friendly staff and most importantly, the hotel location is right beside 逢甲夜市. After checked in, we went down to search for food. First stop was this 古早味蛋饼 right next to the hotel. It was operated by a couple (lady boss quite pretty even with the mask on) and there were around 5 person in the line so I decided to queue and try the assorted flavour. The 蛋饼 (NT 40) was 外酥 with plenty of ingredients which include ham, meat floss, sausage and cheese. 味道还不错 and for the subsequent day, I always had one assorted 蛋饼.

Our second stop was to 一中街. We took bus 35 which is opposite the 24 hour Watson. The bus stop is very near to the hotel. When you exit the hotel, turn right and turn right again, you will see the Watson. However, if you are taking the bus 35, you should turn right and cross the road. Please take note. 

Please alight at 國立臺中科技大學. Cross the road and you will be reaching 一中商圈 in 5 minutes. There are so many things to shop over there: clothings, accessories, interesting IT products, bags, handphone case and many more. June bought a number of clothes over at various shops. After 1 to 2 hours of shopping, is time for food again. So we tried the famous charcoal grilled chicken, red tea and 卤味. The chicken was very tender and juicy. The only bad thing is it is not de bone. The drink was refreshing and the 卤味 was nice too. This is my first time to 一中街 and I love the shopping and food over there. Definitely I will include in my itinerary for the next visit. I will consolidate all my food I had at 逢甲夜市 in the following post.