The Good of Traveling - Day 7 in Taipei, Taiwan

Day 7 : Wednesday 20 Nov 2013

It is said that not only is a vacation great for your mind, body and soul, but it can also help you become well-rounded. Whether you are going away for the weekend, or planning a vacation that will take you to the other side of the world, traveling can open you up to all kinds of possibilities.

The staircase leading up to 旅行, 時光Vintage Travel & Hostel, Taipei. The apartment is the first door the right.

The apartment's address.

Going for breakfast nearby.

Photo session on our last day. Mr. Young(a korean undertaking a chinese language course in NTU, my husband and Miss Weiting - who helped arranged our transport and dutifully answered all my emails. Young and us stayed here for 2 nights and we left the same day.

So many guests had their photo taken in this little window.

Miss Weiting and me.

A group photo.

 Have you ever heard that - 'Going away is one of the best ways to recharge our tired batteries. Not only is traveling invigorating, but it can also help you learn to become a kid again. Life can be stressful, and if you do not take time off to stop and smell the roses, you could literally make yourself sick.'

In the lobby of the Loft Hostel/Hotel, Zhongxiao East Road.

Relaxing in the lobby.

In the ladies bathroom of the Loft hostel.

A peek at the ladies bathroom.

The ladies shower stalls.

Since the Loft is a new place (opened in May 2013) most of the facilities are in working condition.

Well somehow this is not true when you traveled with kids. Kids have different mentality, to them their needs come first, and if their needs are not fulfilled, the parents will have to deal with their tantrums and bad mood. Lucky for us, our kids are quite used to traveling, there were ups and downs during our journey but we managed to pull through. As we spent most of the times on foot, we have to deal a lot with their complaints on 'oh! my legs are killing me!' 

They are clearly exhausted, fortunately Eslite bookstore, Dunnan branch 誠品書店 was nearby.

Buying books is the kids favourite pastime.

A work of art?

The Loft Hostel is just across the road in that Metrobuilding plaza ahead.

I never ever once thought I would make my kids walk like Ecuador's Jefferson Perez but that is what traveling is all about, walking, learning new things, one can even learn a new language; learning the basics like please, thank you and hello. An excellent exercise to one's brain. We took the kids along to expand their mind by traveling to places where they never been before. 

Finally, we are inside our room.

View from the room.

There are two sections of The Loft, one is a hostel and the other is a hotel.

There it is our room. Room No. 9

I just hope, my kids will one day begin to realise just how important traveling really is. I hope that they might have learned a few things like the geography of the country they traveled to, the culture of the people of that country and that it gave them a better understanding of the country they visited.

The Loft is located at the 7th Floor.

Doing laundry.

The kitchen stove.

A fully equipped kitchen.

The Laundry room from a different angle.

The kids in their tent.

We took the 'five beds' room.

2 sets of bunker beds. The beds and pillows were comfortable.

One thing I am very sure about is that the kids have eaten something that they have never tasted before and it is the best way to open up their mind to new possibilities.

A lively place, lots of people.

A busy and vibrant place.

Unfortunately, the kids could not let go of McD's ice cream.

The underground mall entrance is just by the hotel building (metrobank plaza) main entrance.

There are 3 'Sogo' within the vicinity.

Kay is clearly ecstatic. She loved the place.

I am glad I chose The Loft Hotel, the place is lively and very near to everything, there is even a cheap place to eat somewhere near 7-11 store behind the building. 

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” 

― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad/Roughing It

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends.

You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things: air, sleep, dreams, sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.”― Cesare Pavese

After days of traveling, we decided that a soak in the hotspring is good for the soul and sore muscles. My next post will be about our trip to Beitou Hotsprings and the beautiful Dansui (Tamsui).