Taiwan Travel Adventures 2011: Day 2 in Jinguashi (Part 2) - The Four Joined Japanese-Style Residences

     My story is still about the Gold Ecological Museum and the attractions within the compound.  This time, I'd be taking you around some of the shooting locations of one my my favorite Taiwanese idol dramas, Corner with Love starring Show Luo and Da S, including the Four Joined Japanese-Style Residences

     While researching for places to go to in Taiwan, I came upon this blog which became my quasi-guide about Taiwan.  In fact, I wanted to go to all the places she featured in her blog, and I planned going to some of those places.  Like the Gold Ecological Park, the Monga shooting locations and of course, up in Yangmingshan to see the Calla Lily Festival.  Sadly, I was not able to go to the last one, and the museum for the Monga shooting locations was closed when I went there.

     Anyway, it was from the Perladipace's blog that I came to know that Show Luo's house in the Corner with Love is actually the Four-Joined Houses in Gold Ecological Museum, and that his grandmother's food stall is located somewhere near the area.  I was like, "jackpot!"  So, because of that, I decided to go to Jinguashi!  Yay!

     The Four Joined Japanese-Style Residences at the Gold Ecological Museum is the first attraction you'd find there.  The houses were so pretty that I took pictures in and out; I was like house-stalking but I didn't care.  I love the Four Joined residences so, so much and I'm thankful for those people and institutions who made its restoration possible.

Apparently, House No. 69 is Show Luo's home in Corner with Love.

     Since I came in early, I circled the area first and took photos of the Four-Joined Houses in all angles and from different vantage points.  It was quite fun, actually.  When it was time for the Four-Joined Houses to open (it's now a museum), I came in, and the friendly staff told me to sit and watch the video presentation.  The video was about the history of the Four-Joined Houses and the efforts put into restoring the place.  Knowing the history made me feel a certain attachment and reverence to the houses and to those who restored them.  Simply astounding.

     Because I have a short memory, I forgot when the Four Joined residences re-opened, but it was only recently, like in 2007 or 2008 only.  After the film showing, our guide, a middle-aged Taiwanese woman, took us around the house, narrating bits and pieces of history while at it. 

     Anyway, the tour was quick but packed with information, most of which already escaped my mind.  I remember the dont's of the place, though, like: 1) Don't use flash to preserve the house and the items inside; 2) Don't step on the sliders on the floor (the ones where the doors slide); and 3) Don't walk with heavy steps.

     Aside from all those "Dont's," the furnishings of the house triggered the memories when I was little.  It reminded me much of the furnishings and things found in my grandparents' house, even the water thermos and the sewing machine. 

     Anyway, I wanted to live at the Four Joined residences.  It's very, very pretty and calm and even the small back garden's a beauty.

This is a bomb shelter.  I feel as if Sadako would crawl out of this hole.

One of the kitchens.  I think that's a stone oven.

This is the study room if I remember correctly.

Cupboard with china.

I hate washing dishes but if the kitchen windows are like this, I can bear with it.

Real antiques (the washboard) and new items (the toilet and the toilet sink).

Dining room.  The rice on the bowl are just small Styrofoams!

Playroom!  With a wooden horse and is that shogi on the board?

They put modern plumbing, too.

The back garden and the view from the windows.

My grandmother had a sewing machine and an electric fan like those above.

The bedroom but not Japanese-style.  Apparently, these furnishings were inspired when the Chinese people were in Jinguashi after the Japanese occupation or something.  I forgot which decade, though.

A common cupboard during the old days (my grandmother's era).

Really.  Take out the Japanese-style windows and I'd think that I'm just at my grandmother's house when I was a little kid.  The thermos, the seats, the lamp and the crocheted thingy are very nostalgic.  I remember seeing similar items when I was a kid, again at my grandparents' house

The hallway!  So cute!  I want to live there.  The back garden can be seen from the windows.

     As for Show Luo's grandmother's food stall in Corner with Love, it's part of the alfresco dining area of a restaurant nearby.  It's where I took my lunch, too.  

Taiwan Travel Adventures 2011 - Day 2: Jinguashi Gold Ecological Park, Part 1

You'll find this on your right coming from the Rueifang train station.  

You'll pass by Jiufen first.

     Finally, I made it to the Gold Ecological Park!  Yipee!  And guess what?  The park was still closed!  Lol!  I got there around 8:50 a.m., and the museums there opens at around 9:30 a.m.  Even the Information Office was closed.  I was hoping to join an English-guided tour later in the day.

     There is a valid reason why I wanted to visit the park so much.  A few days before coming to Taiwan, I read a blog post saying that the park was one of the shooting location for Da S and Show Luo's Corner with Love tv series.  I loved that series!  And for some reason, I really like Show Luo (I've watched 3 of his tv dramas and I kinda like some of his songs). I watched Corner with Love way back and I even memorized Show Luo's friendship song or whatever, the one he sings to Da S to cheer her up.

     Apparently, Da S and Show Luo's Japanese inspired house, the one they're both claiming as owners, is the Four-Joined Houses restored to its former glory as a museum.  And, Show Luo's grandmother's food stall is located somewhere near the area.  So, yay! 

     All the museums are still closed and it won't open until 9:30 a.m., so, I just loitered in the park, following the sign posts everywhere.  Just in front of the Four-Joined House is a stone stairs going down.  The sign posts say that it'll take me to the shooting location of a City of Sadness.  It was enough to make me go down the steps.  I reached a level and saw a marker saying that the house with a gate is Mike Kikoniya's home.  I went further down since the gate was closed; I don't think it is open to the public.

 

 "During the Japanese Occupation, Japanese built high-class Japanses-style residential area, there are spaces allotted in both front- and backyard for floral plating.  The residence of the last mining director, Mike Kikujirou, has an enormous courtyard and broad view, making it the largest residence in the area."

     A little further down and I reached a fenced property, like a school.  But there were only a couple of students around, it was a Saturday, and a lot of adults. So I thought the kids were helping out with the park's visitors. I walked towards a small viewing deck with amazing views of the mountains.  I talked to a student and asked him what the place was, and he told me that it's a school.  I wanted to know what lies further down the stairs and the kids called their teacher.  He was very helpful, but his English is limited.  Whenever I ask something, the first kid I talked with would translate what I said and the teacher would reply.  After a couple minutes of conversation, I said to the kid, you can understand English well, how about talking to me directly?  He was too shy to speak in English, perhaps that is why he called the teacher.  I was like, kid, this is your chance to practice.  Lol!

The school I accidentally entered.  You can see the viewing deck on the lower left side of the photo.

     I was profusely thankful to the kids and to their teacher, and I bade them goodbye.  The kids were all so cute!  I think they're in elementary, around the 5th or 6th grade.  Or middle school in the 7th grade.  

    There was still a lot of time before the museums open so I set out on the main road and checked out the places I needed to see, like the Prince's Chalet, among others.  I came back to the Information Center at 9:30 am and I was given a pamphlet and a map and I was encouraged to participate in the gold panning and in the tunnel tour which are the only two activities with admission fees.  Everything else in the park is for free.

     In my next post, I'll write about in detail the Four-Joined Houses I mentioned, as well as the Prince's Chalet and my gold panning experience.

Taiwan Travel Adventures 2011 - Day 2: Riding the Train to Rueifang and the Bus to Jinguashi

   For this day, I planned to go to Shifen, to see the Shifen Waterfalls, which reputedly is Taiwan's little Niagara. Next would be Jinguashi, and last, to Jiufen.  I made all the necessary research on how to reach Shifen via train, the schedules, etc.  However, the night before going to Shifen, I found a blog with a photo of the waterfalls showing the way how to get there: via some sort of stairs at the side of the waterfalls.  Then I got scared.

     I have a quasi-fear of heights.  I don't have a problem going up, but I do have problems going down.  I always imagine myself tripping and falling at the stairs, which happened quite a few times already.  So, I chickened out when I saw that photo of the Shifen waterfalls.  Besides, I've read that I need to walk along the railway tracks to reach Shifen, and I was alone.  I didn't want to wander the railway tracks alone.  Perhaps, next time, when I'm with friends, I'd have the courage to go there.  Really, I was so disappointed in myself for being a sissy.

     Anyway, I got to Jinguashih by taking a regular train to Rueifang.  I bought my ticket at the Taipei Main Station and there was a car and seat number, plus the platform.  I asked the friendly Information staff the way to the platform.  Yipee.  I mean, really, its way better than trying to find the platform on your own.  Although there are screens showing which platform your train would be, it's better to be doubly cautious.

      So, I wandered to the correct train platform and I tried to find where I should board my specified car and seat.  In the end, I made it to the wrong car.  I boarded what I thought was car no. 5, but it was actually car no. 4.  My seatmates helped me find my seat, and an elderly lady led me the way (she was trying to find a vacant seat).  That was so nice of them!  Aww.

     About the train ride.  Since the trains and buses going to Keelung accept Easy Card for fares, those who paid using the Easy Card will have no assigned seats.  They just sit everywhere and when someone comes who has a reserved seat, those who used Easy Card will have to leave, of course, and find a new seat.  It was a Saturday, too, so the train was really, really packed.  A lot of people were standing on the aisles and some were standing at the doors.  It was a good thing that I bought a regular ticket; otherwise, I would have to sit and get up every now and then, as what I've seen some of the passenger do.  Or, I would have to stand up the entirety of the train ride, which lasts for about an hour or so.  Not too good.

  
     Anyway, the ride going to Ruiefang has some nice scenery, too, but it was kinda hard to see it because the train was really packed.  Besides, I was on my toes the whole trip. I didn't want to miss my station.  So, when it was finally time to board down at Ruiefang, I heaved a sigh of relief.  Yay!

     I have researched well enough to know where to board the bus.  Apparently, it's in front of the plaza and the police station.  I saw taxis lined up under the post that lists the fixed fare to Jinguashi, Jiufen, etc.  You have to cross the street to see a small post with bus schedules.  People were lined up there, so I lined up, too.  But I had to be sure so I tapped the man's shoulder in front of me and asked if I was at the correct bus stop going to Jinguashi.  I showed him my small note and pointed to the Chinese-written characters for Jinguashi.  He said yes and I asked him about the fare.  I remember him telling me it's NTD 12, or something.  I tend to forget about how much I paid for my fares, but I think it was really NTD 12.

 The plaza. Cross the road in front and wait at the bus stop.

     I was jittery the whole bus trip.  My savior boarded down some stops thereafter.  But I had another seatmate who told me that Jinguashi was still a lot of stops away.  He was speaking in Chinese, I was speaking in English.  We kinda understood each other.  I only know that Jinguashih Ecological Musuem is the the second-to-the-last bus stop.  Still, I was really, really anxious that I might not notice it.  Alas, my other savior got off some place.  I was so nervous that I didn't get scared of the narrow and hilly road.  Neither did I enjoy the amazing views.

     Then I saw a lot of people getting ready to go down.  By that time, the packed bus with standing room only was half empty.  I asked a nice lady and pointed to my small note, and she told me that I was supposed to get down, too, now.  Yipee!  I was so fixated on not getting lost that I didn't see the huge sign for the Gold Ecological Museum on my right!  But darn it, I was so happy!  Yay, me!

    

How to Check, Reserve, Buy and Cancel Taiwan Train Tickets Online [For non-Chinese]

  

      Perhaps you're wondering how I was able to buy tickets online and at the train station.  It was easy, but it took me a lot of research to be able to do it, and a lot of luck, too.  The power of Google translate made it possible for me to buy tickets online, yay!  I'm sharing the knowledge for you all, and I hope this could help you in your Taiwan travel planing.

       Train Travel in Taiwan from Taipei

     As far as I know, Taipei Main Station services the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) trains and the Taiwan High Speed  Railways (THSR) trains.  TRA has express and ordinary trains.  Express trains include Tze-Chiang Limited Express trains, the fastest, and Chu-Kuang Express, the second fastest.  Ordinary trains are the local trains, I think those are the ones that services the smaller branches or towns or something.  Like when I was planning to visit Shifen waterfalls, the only trains servicing Rueifang to Shifen station are the local trains.

     THSR trains are bullet trains.  They're really, really fast and you could travel from Taipei to Kaoshsiung (Zuoying station) in just around an hour and a half to two hours.

     In this guide, I'll be discussing only about TRA ticketing online because there's an English website for buying the THSR train tickets.

     TRA Trains

     There are three steps in order to buy a ticket online.  These are: 1) Checking the schedule; 2) Reserving the ticket; 3) Buying the ticket.

 Checking the Schedule

     TRA trains schedule are quite easy to check, but unlike THSR trains, the fares are not displayed.  You can check the train schedules HERE.

     For example, you want to go from Taipei to Rueifang because you'll be visiting the Jinguashih Gold Ecological Musuem, Jiufen or the Shifen waterfalls in the Pingxi line:

1.  Open the schedule browser HERE.  Choose FROM - Taipei (1st option) and then Taipei (2nd Option) as seen below.  Then choose TO - Taipei (1st option) and then Rueifang (2nd option).  There's a drop down menu and there's a bullet-type menu on the right side.  Choose from the drop down menu because I don't know what the bullet-type menu does, okay?

 

2.     Then, go down the page and select Express, Ordinary or All Types; the date and time of departure.  Just fix the time as is (00:00 to 23:59) so you'll see ALL the scheduled trains for the choosen date, including the earliest and the latest trains.  Choose All Types for the train types so you'd see everything.  See screen cap below:

 3.   When you hit  the QUERY button, you'd get a page like the one below.  You'll be given the train class, train code, origin destination of the train, departure and arrival times and estimated time of travel.  Choose the train you want, write down the train class and train code and don't forget the time, too, of course.  I choose the Tze Chiang Limited 1051 train for 6:30 am departure, and now, we're ready to RESERVE the ticket!

Reserving TRA Tickets Online

     1.     Click the Order Ticket button on the left side of the screen above (green side).  You'll be directed to the Internet Ticketing page HERE (http://railway.hinet.net/).  There'll be a huge ENGLISH button on the lowest left side of the screen and click it.  OR, just click this and you'll be directed HERE automatically.  You'll get this page:

 

2.     Choose "Order Tickets Using Train No." because I find it easier, then click.  You'll see the page below.  Fill in the necessary details, including your passport number, and the train code.  I put in the passport number and the train code, which is 1051.  Just find the station of origin and station of arrival from the drop down menu.  There are a lot!

3.     Click the "Start to Order" button and you'll be directed to the input-the-random-numbers page.  Click "Submit."

4.     You're done reserving our ticket! Yipee!  Remember that we put "1051" as the train code and we got the correct time for the ticket, which is 6:30 am.  Well, just keep in mind that the romanized spellings for the Chinese names of the stations varies, even on the same website.  So, our Ruifang above (#2) became Juifang below.  After reserving the ticket, we can now buy it online!

        Or, buy it directly at the station.  See the "Ticket-taking due date" below.  You must buy your ticket before the date and time provided.  If I remember correctly, you should buy the ticket you booked within 2 days or so, or something at the station. Not so sure.  If you don't want to pick-up your ticket beforehand, then, pay for  it online and you could pick it up 30 minutes before the train departs.  

      Buying TRA Tickets Online

     This is now the tricky part.  Checking the schedule and reserving the ticket is quite easy because there's an English website.  But for buying the ticket online, there's no English option.  But if you use Google translate, you could understand it enough to buy the ticket!  Yay!

1.     I totally forgot how I got the E-Payment website of the TRA but here's the direct link.  You'll get this page, and Google translate the page to English.  I couldn't "screengrab" for some reason, so, I just took photos of my screen.  Click the "I accpet" button.  While you're at it, read the important information on the booking process.

 2.    You'll be directed to the next page, which is this one below.  Google translate it for English translation. 

3.     Tick "One-way ticket" if you're buying only a one-way ticket, and if you reserved a return ticket, tick "Return ticket," too.  Tick the "Check foreigner."  Then fill the blanks, like the ID Number, where you need to place your passport number, and the Computer Code, where you need to input the booking code of your reserved ticket.  We have 947945 as booking code above.  Click the "Submit" button, or the left button, not the right button, below the page.

 4.     Then you'll get to the Credit Card Payments page.  Google translate it, and you'll have this page.  The details of your reserved ticket would be displayed.  You'll be asked to input the number of tickets.  Just click 1 in the "Adult Ticket Zhang."  I don't know what the other selection means, like the vote respect and love zhang.  Perhaps they're for senior citizens or whatever?  No idea.  Click the "Confirmation" button and you'll have a pop-up asking for some stuff which I presume is something like, "Are you sure you booked certain number of tickets" or something.  Click "Ok."

5.     Then it's time for the credit card payment.  Again, Google translate the page.  Fill-up the details required, like your credit card number, of course. After you're done, click the payment confirmation on the left (not the right).  You'll see the cost of the ticket.  Here, it's NTD 72.  Although it says yuan in the English translation, don't fret; it's in fact NTD.

6.  And wait for the confirmation page. You'll be shown a page, just Google translate it, and there'll be a button that you need to choose so you'd be shown your itinerary/confirmation receipt, like the ones below.  Don't forget to Google translate it so you'd know what it means.  Print the page in its original form and in its Google-translated form.

 7.  There you have it.  You've bought your ticket online.  Just go to the train station, in this case, at the Taipei Main Station at least 30 minutes before your train arrives so you could pick up your ticket at the station.  Queue at the ticketing station, and then show your confirmation receipt plus your passport (remember, you wrote down your passport details) and you'd be handed your ticket.  Yay! 

     Check the Status of Your Ticket Purchase for your Peace of Mind

     Yup, it pays to be doubly cautious.  To check your ticket purchase, go to this link HERE.  And Google translate it.   Or, just click the second button from the top of the left side bar menu E-Payment main page to get the "Credit card payment record check."  Fill it the way you booked the ticket (see #3 Buying tickets online).

 

      You can also check your ticket purchase at the website where you reserved it, HERE at http://railway.hinet.net/.  Click on the "Inquire booking records" and type in the necessary details (passport number and booking code).

     Cancelling Your Ticket for One Reason or the Other

     Yup, you can cancel your ticket and the fare will be refunded but a minimal cancellation fee will be deducted.  Go to the main page of the E-Payment page again, then click the 3rd button from the top on the left side menu.  Google translate it and fill-in the necessary details.  Afterwards, click the "Login Cancel Payment" button.