[TW; 2016] PART 7

April 04, 2017

[TW; 2016] PART 7 - Taichung

Itinerary: Chiayi Train Station 嘉義火車站 > Taichung Train Station 台中火車站 > Cartoon Painting Lane 動漫彩繪巷 > Smart 19 Bakery > Taichung HSR Station 台中高鐵站

DAY FIVE

Chiayi Train Station 嘉義火車站 > Taichung Train Station 台中火車站 > Cartoon Painting Lane 動漫彩繪巷

Taichung was our stopover between Chiayi and Taipei. Little did I expected, the normal trains were fully booked on Sundays from Taichung to Taipei! But we still decided to go head our few hours plan in Taichung, as there were still HSR and coach options.

I wanted to ride a bike, and my sister assured me she was fine with riding the bike. But when we rented the youbike, she backed out. Anyway, the youbike station is just opposite the old Taichung Train Station.

So we walked over to Cartoon Painting Lane 動漫彩繪巷, it was a 30mins walk from the train station. Actually there are buses running between the train station and the cartoon painting lane. But then we just chose to walk.

Lots of fun photos to take over there!

There was this stall at the side selling some handicrafts.

Cartoon Painting Lane 動漫彩繪巷 > Smart 19 Bakery

We had so much fun taking photos, that we decided to take the bus back instead. We took Bus 25 back to the train station from Zhongxin Elementary School 忠心國小; the bus stop was just 3mins walk from the lane. It was the first stop for the bus service heading to train station direction. So if you're taking from the train station, this should be the last stop.

And how silly were we, the bus ride was free plus it was less than 10mins ride. HAHAHAHA

We wanted to go for the famous ice-cream in Taichung, 宮原眼科, but the queue was like no ending.

So we settled down at a bakery shop nearby.

Smart 19 Bakery, https://www.facebook.com/bakery.smart19

They are quite famous for their cake in a jar.

It wasn't very costly, and my sister really enjoyed the cake so much that even now she is still craving for it. Great atmosphere and kinda friendly staff. Quite a good place to chill and wait for the next available train.

Smart 19 Bakery > Taichung HSR Station 台中高鐵站

We picked up our luggages at the luggage room at Taichung Train Station, then we took a train ride to Xinwuri Station 新烏日車站, walked over to the HSR Station to take the train to Banqiao HSR Station 板橋高鐵站. I disliked the messy Taipei Main Station, so I decided to alight 1 stop earlier to avoid the crowds; pros of banqiao station (1) no crowds, (2) straight forward directions, (3) the HSR tickets are slightly cheaper by NT$30 XD

The tickets were generated from 7-11 i-bon machine; we bought them at a 7-11 next to the Cartoon Painting Lane. There will be a NT$10 handling fee collected from the convenience store.