Every year, a bike expo is held in Taipei, catering to
manufacturers, distributors, and bike enthusiasts. My brother (a bike shop
owner) attended this year's expo. I grabbed the opportunity to join my brother
in Taipei, together with my mom and her friend.
Worm's eyeview of the Taipei 101
Two weeks before our flight, we settled our visa-free application via
the Embassy of Taiwan website.
If you own any of the following documents issued by Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, any of the Schengen countries, the United Kingdom, or the United States,
If you own any of the following documents issued by Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, any of the Schengen countries, the United Kingdom, or the United States,
1. Valid resident or
permanent resident card
2. Valid entry visa (may
be electronic visa)
3. Resident card or visa
that has expired less than 10 years prior to the date of arrival in Taiwan
then you are eligible to apply for a visa exemption, provided you also
meet other requirements. For our case, we hold a valid Korea Visa. Applying for
a visa exemption takes less than a minute! There's news now that Taiwan will be really visa-free for Filipinos, though.
With the availability of promo airfares, it's impossible to miss out
Taiwan. We bought our tickets last January for only ₱3,840 - round trip. I know
it can still go for as low as ₱1000 but the promo fares we got were already a
good deal. The downside was that buying a promo fare ticket means getting
either a super late night flight or a super early morning flight -- or both. We
flew to Taipei on March 21 at 11:10PM. Touchdown in Taipei at 01:15AM.
From the Taoyuan Airport, we went to the hotel located in Banqiao
District via the pick up service of the hotel,. We stayed in Sleep Taipei
Hostel and Hotel which I just saw via an online booking
site. The room we booked was a bit small but can accommodate 4
people. The hostel is just 2 blocks away from the Fuzhong Station in the
Bannan Line so it's really convenient. It's also situated in a commercial area
near different boutiques and restaurants.
Photo from website because I forgot to take a decent picture of our room (same as above) before we messed up the whole room. lol.
✔ HOTEL TIP: If you are
on a budget (like us), you can consider staying in hostels because it's cheaper
and still offers good services. You can check out where to stay via AirBNB and Hostel World because they have a
wide range of selections from fancy guesthouses to hostels to
dormitories.
I'm a fan
of countries with fast, convenient, and CLEAN transport system and Taiwan is one
them because of their reliable train system called the Taipei Metro. Daily operation
starts at 6:00AM and ends until midnight.
✔ GOING AROUND TIP: Plan your itinerary ahead of
time! Download the Taipei Metro App from Google Play
store to help you select your routes, find the station where to hop in/off,
where to transfer, as well as the time and fares of each station. Very useful
for Taipei-first-timers!
We were able to visit attractions which are mostly in the blue, green,
and red line (see Taipei Metro map above). We first bought an All-Day
Pass for NT$150 - for an unlimited use for the whole day. On the second
day, I decided to purchase an Easy Card for NT$200 (NT$100 for
the card + loaded it with NT$100). Easy Card is a reusable
re-loadable smart card that can be used in the subway, bus, taxi, and even
in shops. I re-loaded it twice during our stay in Taipei. I prefer the Easy
Card because it can be used in other mode of transportation and the remaining
balance can still be used or refunded unlike the All-day pass which expires in
less than 24 hours.
I wanted the trip to be a relax and easy trip since I don't want mom to
get tired and I opted for a Do-It-Yourself trip instead of booking a guided
tour via an agency. So my goal was just to visit the main attractions of the
city.
✔ GOING AROUND TIP: Don't forget to
change your currencies to Taiwan Dollar especially if you will stay in Taiwan
until the weekend! You can only exchange your money in the banks during
weekdays. There are some authorized money changer in the malls but they only
accept selected currencies such as US Dollar. You can also exchange your money
in the airport, though. If you don't want to convert all your Peso to New
Taiwan Dollar, then at least have some US Dollar with you. 😉
Click on the "day" to view the photo diary.
Our goal for the first day was to explore some of the main attractions
of the city and search for Cherry Blossoms. 🌸
Photo taken in Chiang Kai Shek
1. Longshan Temple
2. Chiang Kai Shek
Memorial Hall
3. Taipei 101
We explored the northern side of Taipei on the second day and went on
some souvenir shopping.
Mini stream taken in Xinbeitou
1. Yangmingshan National
Park
2. Beitou
3. Shilin Night Market
Went a bit south on the third day to see the pandas and different kinds of birds, and the whole Taipei
via the Gondola.
Pretty in pink flamingos in Taipei Zoo
1. Taipei Zoo
2. Maokong Gondola
Bad weather on the fourth and last day so we just opted to check out
malls within the stations (except Ximen). It's our last day and I did not have
an actual plan for the fourth day. 😛
Shopping district in Taipei
1. Banqiao Global Mall
2. K Underground Mall
3. Ximen
To give you an idea of how much to spend for your trip in Taipei, here
is a summary of all my expenses prior the trip:
Since I applied for a visa exemption, I did not pay the ₱2,400 visa
application, so all in all, in my honest-to-goodness calculations (lol) I spent around ₱18,000, inclusive
of hotel, air fare, airport fees, souvenirs, and going around Taipei for four days. 😃
Visit my blog to see the whole Taipei Photo Diary, click on the links below:
I've also shared some tips on how to get to specific places. 😉
