72 hours @ Full Sun House 阳光满屋 @ Taitung (13th April 2014)

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Sunday, 13th April 2014

We bade goodbye to the city of Taipei this morning as we made our way to Taitung, some 366km away. This was a journey that lasted 5.5 hours on the fastest train that we booked the day before. Surprisingly, the long commute was not as draining as we had envisioned.

We were probably distracted by the scenic eastern coast of Taiwan and the rice-fields as our train passed through the countryside. In fact, this was a very comfortable ride experience as we spent our time chit-chatting and eating the "bian dan" we bought onboard.

Before long, we had arrived at the city of Taitung where we met up with the homestay owner at the train station. The 6km drive along the near-empty Mahengheng Boulevard was a pleasant one. Very soon, we reached the doorstep of Full Sun House, a nicely decorated European house located right opposite the Taitung Forest and Seashore Park. This was our home for the next three nights.

After discussing our travel plans with the owner, we decided to ditch our plans to Green Island since it was near impossible to do a day trip from where we stayed. The helpful owner did suggest other places where we could explore during our three days with them.

It was an amazing experience when we entered our spacious bedroom at level three of the house. Our large windows opened straight to the quiet road facing the forest. This was certainly a little nice place to unwind at this part of Taiwan amidst the tranquil surroundings.

At the owner's recommendation, we made our way to the Paposogan before ending our evening at the Sunday Night Market. The Paposogan is one of the newest landmark to be erected within the Seashore Park which overlooked the wide expanse of Pacific Ocean.

The weekly night market behind our homestay was a happening place popular with local people on Sunday evenings. While this was nothing compared to the many touristy night markets we had visited, it certainly evoked a strong sense of nostalgia as we passed by stalls featuring games and toys we played as kids.

And of course, the delicious street snacks that never failed to satisfy our taste buds as we retired for the night in eastern Taiwan.

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