Heard the great news that travelling to Taiwan offers free
visa. But sadly after booking to this place, the free visa was moved/delayed. But good
news was, they instantly approved Visa in just one to two days! Just make sure
your email ad is correct. Print and secure your Visa.
Cebu Pac Ticket: PHP 2624.01 round trip
Travel Period: October 5 to 11, 2017
E-Visa: TWD 1,632.00 (PHP 2,835.85)
Day one
Taichung
Tired and hungry so we stayed at the airport for a while to
sleep and research the place. Getting to a foreign country without any plan was a messed. You may want to buy E-card for TWD 100 (PHP 180.00) at
the airport or any convenience store. You can buy goods from the convenience
store, tap it when you pay for the bus ride coz they won’t give you a
change, ride a train, other tourist spots’ entrances and many more. You can
reload also at any convenience store.
Zhongshe Flower Market
Why we headed to Taichung? Have you heard of the famous Taichung flower farm? Yep we planned to visit that place but we do not have enough time. When visiting the farm, you may go there through bus, train or rent a car. The bus going to the farm starts at 11 AM and we don’t have that much time. Plan A gone wrong, so we proceed to our Plan B.
Just wanted to give you a tip. Always ask for the price before ordering. We were shocked that our bill for these meals (excluding the shakes) were 500 NT 😞. My dad loves the food though especially the cold bamboo shoots with mayonnaise.
Day two
Botanical Garden of National Museum of Nature Science
To make our stay at Taichung bit more productive, we researched places to visit at Taichung before we head to Taipei. The place was good, relaxing and not that bad since it was a bit educational.
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| But first, breakfast time. The picture might not look appetizing but this is a must try. The pancake look like is made of flour and the hot soya milk and mantao is a perfect pair. |
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| Took a bus that was called free bus and thought the bus fare was free. The bus driver can't understand us and he just dropped us here without letting us pay since we insisted that it says free |
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| Taipei milkteas are so good. |
Taipei Zoo
I didn’t expect the zoo will be too big to explore. Abundant of
wild life creatures and even animals that I haven’t heard are there. Cute
pandas, koalas and red panda are too adorable. And to my surprise, their
souvenir items wasn’t that expensive. Even their food chains inside, the price was just the
same outside the place.
Entrance fee: 60 NT
Paying a visit to the famous leader of Taiwan. My dad was the one who really wants to visit this place 😁 Too bad the place was already close when we went there at 6 PM. There will also be an event on the 10th of October at this place.
Visiting Taiwan won’t be complete for first timers like me
without visiting the tallest building, Taipei 101. The tall skyscraper was once hailed as the world's tallest from its opening in 2004 until 2010 completion of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. This is also an icon of Taiwan so expect a lot of souvenir items with this kind of form or a tiny replica of this building.
We were told that XiangShan or also know as the Elephant Mountain will be the best place to go if you want to see the perfect view of Taipei 101 for free, but we don't have enough time so we just got inside and explore the place.
Elephant Tower
Shilin night
market
Been so drained due to the long walk so I advised you to
bring or wear comfy foot wear. My dad was wearing slippers on day 3 because he was
wearing painful shoes on day 1 to 2. But the endless walk must go on even though he was
already having some tantrums 😅.
Shilin Night Market is also a famous place if you want to go
shopping but Ximending was more cheaper when we compare some of the goods.
Enjoy some stinky tofu and other delicious looking food there.
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| The smell was a bit awful but they say, it was yummy. I researched how it was made and sadly there's a meat! |
Chiang Kai Shiek
Memorial Hall
A national monument in memory of the former leader of China and Taiwan. This is also a famous tourist destination and there is no entrance fee. The place is located at Zhozheng disctrict at Taipei.
The place is so wide and a very peaceful place with great view. The two sets of white stairs each with 89 steps represents Chiang's age at the time of his death, lead to the main entrance.
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| you can bring some food to feed the birds at the area! |
Shopping time. I recommend this place when you want to buy cheap souvenir items. We visited this place thrice since it is just a few meters away from our hostel.
Longshan Temple
Paying a visit to the nearest temple on our last day.
Taiwanese are very religious and I am so amazed that they carry the teachings
outside the temple. Not surprised people here are so friendly, respectful and
helpful. The place is a haven for a vegetarian like me or even vegan coz
outside the temple, there are lots of no meat food but you should ask the
seller if there is no meat coz some of them are using pork oil. Honest seller
instantly said do not eat at their store because they used pork oil.
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| I so love this radish cake |
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| Meat soup |
You may also want to visit the below places I wanted to visit
Rainbow Village
Yehliu Geopark
Taichung
VIP Hotel – I
highly recommend this place. It was just near the bus stop and the room was
so cozy and spacious. The bathroom was also clean. Staffs are friendly and very polite. You
can also ask them for directions coz some of the staffs knows how to speak English.
Taipei
Fun Inn Taipei – the
place was good and staffs are also friendly. It was also just few meters away
from the train/bus stations. Hostel type wherein boys and girls were separated
but there was also a mixed one. But I booked the separated one at Bookings.com
coz they do not have any available room. Maybe that is the only thing I do not
like about the place since I was separated from my Dad and brother. But
overall, the place was good.
Realization: At the end of our trip, I was a bit frustrated that we didn't explore a lot of places. I blamed that we didn't prepare any itineraries, my dad having tantrums and frequently got mad when we buy some stuffs or buy some expensive looking food (because he doesn't want us to spend a lot of money). But then I realized that this trip is not meant for good photos to post on social media. It is about how I should have enjoyed the trip with my family and to let my dad feel happy and made this trip enjoyable for him. How I should had understood that he is making his best to keep up on all the long walks even though his feet were already sore. How he had those short tempers because he is already tired but cannot express them cause me and my brother were on hype on going to places to another. How exhausted he felt during the climbing of stairs just to go to the subway. How he felt irritated when we got lost and to walk a long distance just to get back again to our original destination. I should had realized that. But then trips always give us life lessons. Not just on how we comply with the rules of the place we visit, how we plan the itineraries, budgeting or any other trip related lessons. But we should also be conscious on how we make a bond and enjoy every moment with our travel buddies ❤. Time to patch things up and make up with my dad. Waiting for the piso fare and book another flight with my family ☺❤.
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