Taipei: Inside the City
Finally, my first
international travel this year! After Bali last November, this is the next
international travel I had because of many factors. Well for one, and I've said
this countless times in my blog already, it's because I resigned from my previous
work and had a new work starting December 2018. Apparently, this company does not
allow VL's and even SL's for the first 6 months. Should you be absent for any
reason, then it will be tagged as leave without pay.
Also, I took this as an opportunity to stay in the city because I feel like I am always planning to go somewhere. The only time I got to go out or have getaways is during long weekends (see my Sagada, Baguio, and La Union post here).
A lot of things
happened. I resigned from work last June because well.. Let's have another
post for that. And I am in a new company again which I would say has a very fun
and challenging environment. I am definitely learning not just the technical stuff but
I am discovering some stuff about myself as well. If I were to rate my working
experiences so far with all of my 4 employers, this one is by far the best...
And I am only here for just almost 2 months. :D
So yep. I booked
this Taiwan trip months again because I take into consideration the leaves I
will be getting especially that I am in a new job and back when I am booking
this one, I didn't know yet that I'll in another company after 6 months.
Luckily for me, my new work allows us to advance as many as 10 leaves.
I was hesitant at
first because even though they allow advance leaves, I am relatively very new
to the company when I went to Taiwan. I'm just working for this company for
just 3 weeks. So yey... It's a piece of evidence they do support work-life balance. Lol.
This trip also is my
first time to take a PAL flight because I am a cheapskate traveler. I only rely on seat sales until this trip and I took
the liberty to book this one because in my mind "this is my first travel
of the year - it's okay to splurge on airline tickets once in a while".
Which is true, right? :D Together with me is my boyfriend and my father which I
find to be very weird now that I am writing it. I remember my workmates
laughing at me when they found out that I will be with my father and boyfriend
for this trip and I couldn't get why at that time they were laughing. Turns out
it's a really weird setup, huh?
In my defense, I and
my father only see each other once a week, sometimes we can't even meet up, so
I make it a habit to have a trip with him at least once a year. Then I also
included my boyfriend because whenever we travel together, it's always the beach,
the outdoorsy stuff so I wanted for him to experience traveling in a city
setting.
This isn't a cheap trip because first the flight tickets, then next is the hotel accommodation. There aren't
many cheap hotels. There are cheap capsule hotels but I don't like spending
nights in capsules so I really look for one that's in a good location plus not
really expensive. Also, it needs to have 3 single beds. LOL. Coz it would be
very awkward if not.
Our arrival in
Taiwan is around 8PM. I was thinking of arranging an airport pick up but it's
good that I didn't because Taiwan's transportation infrastructure is so good.
Their MRT is very easy to navigate and their airport MRT is very convenient.
The only arrangement I got to do prior to this trip is our tours. And can I
just say that arranging itineraries for backpacking and for this trip is soooo
different. When I arrange itineraries for backpacking, it needs to have the
tiniest details like the time of train/buses, where to get tickets and such
because it needs to have proper planning or else everything in the list can be
compromised.
On this one though
since we will just be staying in one country and don't need overnight buses,
it's easy breezy planning. LOL. The hard part is choosing which tours to
take. I think this is the second travel I and my father did that doesn't involve
backpacking or overnight buses to a different place, the first one being Hong Kong
last 2011. There's a lot of difference on this trip. Hehe.
Soo... As I've said,
we arrived at 8pm. We exchanged money then claimed our sim cards in the pickup
area before heading out to the hotel. We chose sim cards instead of pocket
wifi so we could also call one another if one gets lost or if we need to meet
up at certain places. The MRT ride on the way to the hotel is very hassle-free,
I mean when can we have that kind of transportation here in Manila? From the
airport MRT, we alighted at Taipei Main Station. There are a lot of MRT lines in Taiwan but if you already experience MRTs in HK and SG, then this one
should also be easy for you. Our hotel is near at Longshan temple so our last
stop was Longshan Temple terminal. From there, we walked our way to the hotel.
I think the only
challenge riding an MRT from the airport to your hotel is figuring out their
ticketing system. Taiwanese are very friendly compared to Hongkongers so it's
not really a problem asking for help from someone.
Speaking of money
changers, it's best to change your money one-time big time because money
changers in Taiwan, which usually are banks, have an exchange fee of 50TWD per
transaction. If you're in groups, it's also best to exchange money as one so
you only need to pay one transaction fee.
As for the hotel,
girl did I book a good hotel! Our hotel is just directly above the night market!
You know, prior to this trip, I am very excited about the Taiwanese food because
I really like Chinese food. What I mean by Chinese food though is dumplings, noodles,
and braised beef not the traditional super Chinese-y food. So imagine my
happiness when I saw the night market directly in front of our hotel. LOL.
We arrived at the hotel already past 11 and I had to finish work-related stuff before sleeping
and all of us are so tired we didn’t have the energy to look for dinner even
with the night market in front of the hotel. The room is soooo spacious and the only downside is it doesn't have a bidet installed (it's a deal-breaker if you
would ask me but whatevs, still a good deal).
First order of
business upon waking up the next day is breakfast. I don't eat breakfast but
it's for free so I might as well eat and try. The choices are western and Chinese
food. There are some that I don't even understand the taste, there are some
that look really weird so in the next 4 days, I only ate egg and sausage. Free-flowing tea and coffee too.
Our itinerary for the day is just purely city tour. We'll have a free/tip-based history walking tour, Go and see Taipei 101, hike our way up to Elephant Mountain and have our dinner at Shilin night market.
Free/Tip Based
History Walking Tour
Lucky for us, the
meetup place for the walking tour is at the entrance of the MRT Longshan Temple
terminal so we can just leave the hotel at 9:30, because meet up is at 10, and
we'll still be early. I would say this is tour is so good. I really learned
a lot from Anita, our tour guide. She's very nice, speaks English very well,
and she really knows what she's talking about.
Longshan Temple
Our first stop, of
course, is Longshan Temple. She discussed the 4 buddha Gods you can see in this
temple and what they symbolize. This is actually one of the most popular
temples in Taipei that the government had to regulate the number of incense
being lit up in this temple to 1 because it is already causing too much
pollution in the area. And this is also special because it's not just for one
religion but rather it's a temple for more than 1 religion, Taoism,
Confucianism, and Buddhism. Isn't that cool? You don't need to build a temple
for each one. One of the reasons why it's also popular is because of the 4 Gods
here that the locals are praying to. The Gods are believed to be praying Gods for
studying, childbirth, transportation, and lastly matchmaking.
If you have a wish for let's say to pass college entrance exams, locals here go to the Studying God, offer baskets of food, flowers, and other stuff, bring their college entrance exam documents and pray to God to let them pass. One cool thing too is that offerings can be eaten by anyone. If no one is getting the food, it is distributed to the homeless. Near the Longshan temple, there is a park, Bangka Park, for the homeless where they are allowed to sleep in the park from a certain time. I guess this is where they distribute the uneaten offerings to the Gods.
Bopiliao Historical
Block
Next stop is
Bopiliao Historical Block which has a very good architectural design. This
used to be one of the busiest areas during the late Qing dynasty.
Ximen Red House
There is so much
cute stuff sold inside the building... Just like a bazaar but it also houses a
small section for a mini-history exhibit.
Next is we also went
to the Presidential Office Building where the Taiwanese people first have their
female president. I don’t have a picture
of the building but Anita did surely narrate their long history with China and
told some stories about Chiang Kai Shek. Spoiler -- not a fan of Chiang Kai
Shek. Across the presidential office building is the so-called Ketagalan
boulevard or is sometimes dubbed as democracy blvd. because this is where
usually people hosts rallies regarding political issues.
I am really amazed
by how Taiwan is suppressing China just like how it is in Hong Kong right now. If
you guys are visiting Taiwan, please take this historical walking tour and
learn their history, the difference between ROC and PROC. You can surely somehow
relate to their stand with China. It's a long history but really worth knowing.
See, I am now learning the history of Taiwan and not just the Indochina history
stuff. Hihi.
Along with
Presidential Office Building, we also visited Peace Memorial Park then off we
go to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. We didn't really enter the vicinity
because it was raining so we just decided to go back on our last day.
The walking tour
surely is very tiring! The weather is also not cooperating as it would rain one
minute then it will get sunny. The weather in Taipei when we went there is not
so great but thankfully we could still go on with our plans. Again, please please
please take this tour when you're in Taipei.
So after the walking
tour, we went to Taipei 101 and met up with Mike. I'm glad Mike did really went
to Taipei to meet up with us LOL. He is on vacation with his parents in
Taichung and it just coincidentally coincided with our trip to Taipei so I made
him meet up with us. LOL. The usual Mike, even his porma is like his porma in
the office. :D
As for lunch, we
decided to eat at Ichiran. My father recommended this place and it's quite
famous among people who go to Japan as they said this has one of the best ramens. I
was thinking of eating at the original Din Tai Fung branch in Taipei 101 but we
only have this chance to try Ichiran because we don't have it here in Manila.
My verdict? Just so-so. I don't know if it's because of my high expectations
because I often see this on my friend's IG stories who are in Japan or it's
not just that really good. My boyfriend and I had a unanimous
verdict that Mendokoro's ramen is better.
verdict that Mendokoro's ramen is better.
Taipei 101
Observatory Deck
After lunch, we went
up to Taipei 101's observatory deck. We got out tickets from Klook so we don't
need to line up. The view above is cool. There are presentations about how the
building was constructed and how the tuned mass damper keeps the building at ease
during strong winds.
We even got the chance to go to the outdoor deck that was opened minutes later to the public. I find it really cool that I get to go up to one of the world's tallest building. When we were in elementary, we were always asked on what is the tallest building and we always answer Taipei 101. I only see this building in photos and now I am literally in its observatory deck.
Mike didn't go with
us to the observatory deck instead he went to Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall then he
just went back after we were done on the observatory. Our next stop was the
Elephant Mountain.
Elephant Mountain
This might be a lack
of research but we did not expect the elephant mountain to be so high. I only
know that instead of rough trails, there's a flight of stairs so I thought it
would be an easy climb but boy I was so wrong. Our attire also didn't help because
we were wearing jeans while Mike is also carrying his overnight bag. My
boyfriend, on the other hand, feels like he wants to curse me already for making
him go up. Haha! It's a good exercise though, we just burned those ramen calories from Ichiran. LOL.
The view on the
elephant mountain is different from what you'll see on Taipei 101's observatory
deck because, in elephant mountain, Taipei 101 is part of the view. It's like
the border of the outdoor and the city. The view is like how it is in Victoria
Peak in Hong Kong. Mountains on the side then city in the center.
We waited for the
sunset before going down. We rest for a while and just look at the view. One tip
I can give you when you're going up is to wear leggings or anything that's long
because there are a lot of mosquitoes. I saw some travelers where their whole
legs have bites of mosquitoes.
We went down then
grabbed some refreshments on the nearby store.
Shilin Night Market
As for dinner, we
headed to Shilin Night Market and it's pure chaos and foodie's heaven at the
same time. Mike went to his hotel to drop his belongings first while we wait
for him at Shilin. Funny thing was, he doesn't have mobile data! So we waited
for him, I couldn’t contact him because I didn’t know his number then luckily
when we were headed back to the hotel, we saw him walking towards our
direction. LOL. It's pure luck we saw him that night.
Shilin market is chaotic because there are so many people. It's very chaotic that
you can't walk without bumping into other people. It wasn't even a weekend when
we went there so what more if it's weekend right?
There are shops
everywhere. I also said this is foodie heaven because there are all sorts of
different kinds of food here. I don't have a list of what to try but if you're
there, you will want to try everything.
We saw a stand of
hot star chicken like it is just literally a small stand but here in Manila,
it's like a whole restaurant. LOL. I even remember the time when people used to
line up for hours for their big ass chicken.
This day I guess is
the most tiring because of all the walking and hiking. But all in all, it's definitely fun. :D
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