What we did in Taipei with kids: Day 1 | Greenworld Ecological Farm, Roader’s Plus Hotel, Shilin Night Market

On day 6 of our Taiwan holiday, we set off from Taichung and Miaoli for Green World Ecological Farm enroute to Taipei, where we will be spending 4D3N.

Day 6: Taichung Second Market > Hsinchu Green World Ecological Farm 綠世界生態農場 > Beipu Old Street 北鋪老街 > Check in Roaders Plus Hotel Taipei Main Station > Shilin Night Market

You can read about our yummy breakfast at Taichung Second Market in our previous post here.

On the way to Taipei we stopped at Hsinchu’s Green World Ecological Farm cos everyone say must go but I really regret going there! This was where I got stung over close to 70 times by the 小黑蚊 (generally called tiny black mosquitoes but they’re actually not mosquitoes but biting midges) even though I applied repellent. There were repellent stations all over the park too, which we utilised A LOT. Please wear jeans or leggings if you do go there. Maybe the midges issue would be better in winter?

Some of the bites appear days after the initial sting, so this was not even the full extent of the damage! Luckily I brought along my balancing oil to soothe the itch and reduce the swelling, if not it would have been so much worse. Seriously not kidding when I said my calves were ravaged!!

Anyway, I now know better! We were lucky to save on one ticket because a kind couple offered their extra ticket to us as it was expiring in a couple of days. In return, we shared our repellent with them! Hahaha.

The animals we saw there: swans, emu, sheep, alpacas (very skinny ones. Feel so emo!), roosters, peacocks, rabbits and that was about it. The rest were plants: orchids, cactus etc. Personally I feel if you are going to Zhang Mei Ama’s Farm, there’s no need to go to Green World. We didn’t enjoy the visit but maybe you will! An alternative is Leofoo Village Theme Park. We went last time with Cbb and it was quite fun for us.

The midges attacked Cdd a few times on his eye :(

Before leaving for Taipei we stopped at Beipu Old Street. Beipu was once known for tea production and coal mining, and now it is popular for its traditional Hakka cuisine, dried persimmons and yam pastry. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t much hustle and bustle on a Friday afternoon. The area was empty and kinda dead, so we just visited the Ci Tian Temple 北埔慈天宮 and a retro toy shop.

The kids enjoyed the retro toy shop the most lol. Very touristy and we did pick up a set of superhero toys for NT$120 (about SG$5.30). This made Cdd soooooo happy though and he took really good care of them throughout the trip.

Then it was check in at the amazing Roaders Plus Hotel, complete with not one but TWO indoor play areas that were enough to occupy the kids for ages. See alllll the fun we had if you haven’t!

And after settling down a bit we took the train to Jiantan station to walk around Shilin as I thought there would be more things for the kids as Raohe is too narrow and crowded and Ningxia is too small with only food stalls (although I do love the more traditional food there).