Date of stay: 7th Jun 2013
Duration: 1 night
Booking Agent: Agoda
Paid: S$97.62
Wifi: Free (although there was a mini router in the room, the network was really bad)
Breakfast: Local
Going there:
Going there:
We took direct bus to Sun Moon Lake (SML), from Taichung HSR station, cost us NT190 for adult. Our boy rode for free. Bus ride was an hour, it'll stop right in front of the Shuei She Visitor Centre where you can either take a shuttle bus or a boat ride to Cherng Yuan. I called the hotel up to ask for direction, he told me that taking boat is easier, as they are right in front of the Itathao (pronounced as I-ta-shao) pier.
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| The whole of Sun Moon Lake - the biggest lake in Taiwan |
And so we took the 10 mins boat ride (NT100 per pax, children needs a ticket too). Surprised that the boatman actually introduced SML during the ride, telling us information. I'm not an audio person, so I didn't really pay attention to what he was saying, except the part, cable car was closed for maintenance on the day of our arrival! Boohoo!
The Place:
The hotel owner was right, the hotel was just right in front of the pier, merely a 50 metres away. It was my first homestay aka minsu stay. The hotel is relatively new, opened since 2007.
The Place:
The hotel owner was right, the hotel was just right in front of the pier, merely a 50 metres away. It was my first homestay aka minsu stay. The hotel is relatively new, opened since 2007.
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| Itathao Pier - and the 3 streets |
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| Could see our hotel signage from the pier |
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| Hawker food just beside the hotel |
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| It was kinda quiet in the day.. as well as the night.. as it was a Friday |
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| Right outisde the hotel, I found the bench attracts people who needed a rest, and owner was not particular about passerby taking a break on his bench |
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| The entrance |
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| Bar turned reception |
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| Cosy lobby |
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| R&R corner, with a PC |
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| Tea appreciation corner I presumed |
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| Corridor to the lift and washroom |
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| The staircase |
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| Visitors from all over the world |
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| The view at night |
We went for lunch and reckee around. There were only as many as 3 streets in Itathao, and so we went back to the hotel and asked if there was anything else we could do. I didn't have a back-up plan, coz I planned to take cable car on the very same day. (So, please check the maintenance schedule if you have limited time to spend in SML)
We decided to go to Ci En pagoda by shuttle bus.But we missed the bus as we reached the bus stop. Another boohoo! Next bus was an hour away, ya, one bus an hour.
We finally get our room after lofting around in the lobby for some time, taking pictures and pictures and dear son drank his milk. The room was situated in the 5th floor, the second highest.
It was HUGE! Especially if we stayed in a Japanese size room the night before, this room was tremendously HUGE!
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| The super huge room |
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| And spacious bathroom - no dumping of toilet paper into the toilet, the lady boss reminded |
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| View from our room (not exactly facing, but we could see this from the corner of our window) |
I was craving for coffee so badly, but we were told the coffee machine they had at the reception has not been used for some time, and they do not serve coffee. They suggested we go to Starbucks instead.
Breakfast was ordinary, I had my fair amount of coffee. They also served their signature milk tea, not bad. Breakfast was at the highest floor, the view was spectacular, facing the lake. Lady boss was there, doing some fresh flower decorations and manning the breakfast area.
Breakfast was ordinary, I had my fair amount of coffee. They also served their signature milk tea, not bad. Breakfast was at the highest floor, the view was spectacular, facing the lake. Lady boss was there, doing some fresh flower decorations and manning the breakfast area.
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| Beautiful bonsai |
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| Breakfast facing the lake, how cool! |
We found Itathao a bit too quiet in the day, as well as the night (we were there on Friday). We felt somehow, strange. But crowd started pouring in on Saturday morning, making the place livelier and better place to be.
Personal Touch:
On the hindsight: I was rather disappointed with the minsu. It was my husband's birthday when we checked-out but there was not even a birthday wish. Completely shattered my opinion about minsu or homestay for homely touch.
A very personal touch when lady boss helped to put on mosquito repellant on dear son as she said mosquitoes are fierce in the trekking trail.
For details:
Website: http://www.cherngyuan.com.tw/
Personal Touch:
On the hindsight: I was rather disappointed with the minsu. It was my husband's birthday when we checked-out but there was not even a birthday wish. Completely shattered my opinion about minsu or homestay for homely touch.
A very personal touch when lady boss helped to put on mosquito repellant on dear son as she said mosquitoes are fierce in the trekking trail.
For details:
Website: http://www.cherngyuan.com.tw/
Address: No. 117, Wenhua St., Sun Moon Lake, Nantou, Taiwan
Tel: +886492850062
All about our Taiwan trip:
Part 1: Taiwan: Taichung (6~7 Jun'13)
Part 2: Taiwan: Sun Moon Lake (7~8 Jun'13)
Part 3: Taiwan: CingJing (8~10 Jun'13)
Part 4: Taiwan: Taipei (10~12 Jun'13)
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