Welcome to the next trip report of mine! I took a trip back then in end August right before I start my studies. I knew that I needed to take a break from work, to recuperate, to recover my energy from the taxing work schedule, furthermore I knew that I will be rather busy once school start. Being the ever wanderluster in me, I needed this trip! Again, it took me quite some time before penning down my thought on this trip. I have been packed and partly, procrastinating as well. I love sharing in a chronological order as well, so I have to finish up the Beijing trip first. Of course, speaking on the trip report name, No.24. It represent that I have again reach another milestone in travelling. Taiwan was country NUMBER 24 for me and the 60th & 61st city that I have visited. Let me share a little on why was it Taiwan that I have decided to go to! I knew that I wanna go somewhere. I had about 10-11 days. At first it was Bali and Penang, but my friends aren’t free. I wanted to head to Korea to visit a friends, but it is pretty expensive and I have been there before. Things were really getting more expensive since it is pretty last min. Australia was within my budget, but I can’t be driving solo! For Hanoi, I can’t take the cruise alone since the supplement is really high! So Taiwan it is, many of my friends have been laughing at me, that I have not been to Taiwan after being all around the world!
I found a nice period between my schedule at work and managed to got my leave. I loop along my parents since they were also eyeing on Taiwan for a couple of years now. With that in mind, I start to plan for a 10 days trip around Taiwan. I will also be heading to 2 cities, Taipei and Taichung. And with it being a normal trip, sorry guys, there is no Suites neither there is Business Class. There is however an experience, my very first trip on Scoot, despite it being around for quite some time. My limit for budget airlines are a distance of 4 flying hours so this fit nicely into my requirement. I am also trying to save a bit on the expenditure. I managed to grab seats on the 787 dreamliner, which is something Scoot is so proud of at about 200 SGD per person. Although after baggage fee, and credit card charges which by the way is hideous, it came to about 280 SGD per person. Stay tuned for that, which I will share more in the flight report!
Since I am headed to Taichung, Taiwan second largest city and also venue to the largest night market in Taiwan in addition to Taipei. I decided to take the High Speed Rail which I have heard much about. I will be doing a train report on this!
I have plan to stay 4 nights in Taichung and then 5 nights in Taipei. For our 4 night stay in Taichung, I stayed at the Splendor Hotel Taichung, frequently said as the best in town! It is pretty awesome with a superb location. I book the room through Citi Prestige Concierge and let me point out how nice Angel is over the phone! The total cost is 613 SGD, with the credit of 150 SGD refund by Citibank, that brought the daily rate down to 113 SGD.
For the 5 night stay in Taipei, I got an apartment on Airbnb, which is located right on the beating heart of Taipei, Ximending. The cost of the apartment was 546.88 SGD or 109 SGD per night.
Besides, travelling by ourselves around the city, I know that I wanted to head to Sun Moon Lake, a popular getaway from Taichung. I also wanted to visit something out of the outskirts of Taipei. I decided to hire a car, which is extremely popular in Taiwan, in fact almost all of the taxi drivers provides this service. Stay awaited.
Meals wise of course you can expect lot of food, street food, bubble tea. Taiwan is so famous for this and their night market, a one stop destination for shopping and food. I will also do a review of one of the highest restaurant in Taiwan and the world, Shin Yeh Taipei 101.
On the lounge review side, I will do a review of the Ambassador Transit Lounge at Terminal 2 and on the way back I will head to Plaza Premium Lounge Taoyuan Airport Terminal 1 which I was fairly impressed.
Here is a peak on what is to come on No. 24, Taiwan:
Introduction
Ambassador Transit Lounge Changi Airport Terminal 2
Scoot 787 Dreamliner SIN – TPE – SIN
Splendor Hotel Taichung
Sun Moon Lake
Taichung
Taking High Speed Rail in Taiwan
Ximending Airbnb
Day trip to Yeliu, Jiufen & Shifen
Car Hire in Taiwan
Shin Yeh Taipei 101
Taipei
Plaza Premium Lounge Taoyuan Airport Terminal 1
How much did I spend for 11 Days in Taiwan?
I shall not be sharing on the return flight back since it is a rather similar experience to the departing one and frankly speaking, there isn’t much to talk about on a budget airline, furthermore, I slept most of the way HAHA! I have also decided to do a post, sharing my expenditure for this trip in detail, since I am assuming it will be rather useful since Taiwan is such a popular destination for the locals. Food is good and cheap in Taiwan!
As we approach the end of 2018, hopefully, I will be posting this by the end of 2018! Or hey, 2019, this trip report probably sums out the travelling that I achieve in 2018. I started the year with a list of places that I would love to visit. Of course, I knew that it would be a year that I am taking it easy, nothing too ambitious. Sadly, I did not managed to head to places like Penang, Bali or Hanoi. But I am still glad to chalk off Beijing & Taiwan off my bucket list. So stay tuned for this series of posts that is coming your way!
Seeing The World In Steps 