Taiwan

Taiwan turned out to be a pleasant surprise. When I booked tickets last year together with my friends, I pictured Taiwan as a small city with just the iconic Taipei 101 and delicious street food.

As I was doing our itinerary, I didn’t expect that our 3 full days would be too short. There’s so much to see in Taiwan that we tried to squeeze in as much as we could. The result? We ended up waking up at 6 am and getting back at around midnight! It was such a tiring trip but we enjoyed.

First off, not a lot of people know this but there are 3 types of trains in Taiwan – MRT (trains within Taipei City), TRA (stands for Taiwan Railway Association aka the provincial trains. Trains are not as frequent and trains are a lot slower), and the HSR (stands for High Speed Railway aka the bullet train version of Taiwan). Compared to HK and Japan, the railway system in Taiwan is not that easy to understand. It’s also not as easy to find a consolidated map! I highly recommend you download the Transit TW app – it’s a consolidated app for all of the railway systems.

Overall, Taiwan reminds me so much of Japan. Taiwanese are very helpful and are very courteous. They fall in line and they respect each other’s personal space. The place is also very clean and the trains are always on time. So if you get lost, don't be shy to ask! They might not be able to speak english, but they'll try to help you.

Jiu Fen

This used to be a coal mining area and has a lot of tea houses and specialty shops.

How to get there: From Taipei Main Station, take a TRA train going north, specifically Ruifang. Getting there is around 30 minutes. After alighting at Ruifang station, cross the street where “Wellcome” convenience store is then turn left and walk for around 200m. The bus stop is in front of the police station. Get on either bus numbers 788/1062/856 and tell the driver you’ll get off at Jiu Fen. Once you get off, walk along the highway for around 100m (to the direction where tourists are going). You’ll see a 7-11 and beside it is a small alley. Yup, that’s it!

It looks pretty underwhelming at first but keep on walking and explore. You’ll find a lot of unique things here J Don’t forget to take a photo at the A-Mei teahouse! Among all of the buildings, this is the prettiest for me.

Do try the taro ice cream wrap with crushed nuts and silantro! It kinda tastes weird but it tastes good. 

Also do try the taro dumpling dessert – it tastes like halo-halo with lots of mochi balls in it.

A lot of stalls offer free tea tasting. Before buying, do taste it! Some oolong tees taste sweeter than the others. Teas are priced at around NT100-200 per loose leaf  tea bag.

Specialty shops

 Xiao Long Pao woohoo!

 The grilled mushrooms were so big! It was too spicy for me tho. I suggest tell them not to put the chili powder.

Pingxi

How to get there: After Jiu Fen, you can ride the bus again back to Ruifang and take the Pingxi line to Shi Fen and Pingxi. Shi Fen is where you’ll find a lot of street food and specialty shops. This place is so touristy and gets really packed so we chose to pass on this one. From the looks of it from the train, it didn’t look that different from Jiu Fen. You can take a taxi for NT 100 from here to the Shi Fen Waterfall, though. I suggest you go straight to Pingxi, where you can release a sky lantern with your wishes handwritten on it. Plain lanterns cost NT 150 and you can easily buy (and release) one when you alight from the train. I also suggest waiting for the train to arrive so that you can take photos with the train. Don’t worry, it’s widely done here and it’s safe.

Raohe Night Market

After Jiu Fen and Ping Xi, you can visit a night market that’s on the way to Taipei – Raohe Night Market. You get off at Songshan MRT, Exit #5. You can visit Songshan Temple while you’re here too.

Raohe Night Market isn’t that big than the other night markets but has a lot of yummy food! We had torched Saikororo Steak, grilled scallops, grilled squid, mini pancakes, and  okonomiyaki. 

 There was no english translation for this one but was able to read the Japanese characters which read "Saikororo steak". It's soooo good omg!

The grilled squid looked so good but was kinda tough. A bad batch, perhaps?

This place gets really crowded though so better to leave your bulky stuff at your hotel. This place is open until midnight so eat away!

Chungshe/Zhongshe Flower Market

Another place of interest in Taiwan is Chungshe/Zhongshe Flower Market. It’s really far but if you’re into flowers, this place is worth it!

How to get there: We took the HSR from Taipei to Taichung. Fare is NT720 or around P1,200. You can book your tickets online ahead of time, and you can get as much as 20% off! Just make sure to book early and not be late as they don’t offer refunds. You can book it online at http://www.thsrc.com.tw/en/TimeTable/SearchResult and pick the time and date. You can just pick up the tickets at any HSR ticket booth with the reference code that they’ll send via email.

From Taichung HSR station, walk over to Xin Wuri station (attached to Taichung HSR station) and alight at Houli station. From there you can just take a cab to Chungshe for NT200. You can also alight at Tai’an station but you’ll have to walk along the highway for around 20 minutes. We actually walked since we really didn’t know that there are not a lot of cabs outside Tai’an station. It’s along the highway so it’s not exactly the safest, but it was a good experience nonetheless.

From the train station, walk to the intersection of Anmei Rd. and Fu'an Rd, then turn right to Anmei. You will reach the intersection of Sanfeng Rd. and Anmei Rd. Cross Sanfeng Rd. and then turn right. Walk for around 200 m, and you’ll see a green wall with flowers. Entrance is NT200.

Going back, you can easily take a taxi back to Houli station.

Taiwan National University

From where I’m from, Meteor Garden, a Taiwanese Drama, was a big hit back in 2003. So we really went out of our way to visit what we better know as “Ying De University”.

How to get there: Gongguan MRT Station, Exit #3.

This is where they usually have shots of driving cars. Unfortunately, there was en event that day so you really can't see the entire stretch. Overall, it was fun going around campus. It felt like I'd bump into the F4!

Shilin Night Market

Biggest night market for street food and shops

How to get there: Jiantan MRT (not Shilin MRT)

Torched scallops omg!

Elephant Mountain
You’ll get a good view of the Taipei skyline from here, and offers a good view of Taipei 101!

How to get there: Alight at Xiangshan MRT, Exit #2. Just follow the signs to Xiangshan Hiking Trail. It takes around 10-15 mins of walking to get to the start of the trail, and another 15-20 minutes to the top. 

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

Big compound. You’ll find the theatre hall here too.

How to get there: Chiang Kai Shek Hall MRT

Ximending

Place full of retail shops, flashy lights, and beauty stores. Kinda reminds me of Myeongdong of Korea. They also have a Starbucks here so if you’re the type who collects mugs, do get yours here!
How to get there: Ride the blue/bannan line to Ximen.

We also went to Somebody Café – it’s a nice cozy place for some light snacks and Taiwanese Milk Tea. They also gave us free postcards that they sent for free too! What a cool café!

Airport transfers

As for transfers to and from the airport, I highly recommend riding the Taoyuan Airport MRT. It just opened last March 2 so we were lucky enough to try it out. It only takes around 35 mins from Taoyuan Airport to Taipei Main Station and is only NT80! Do note that this doesn't operate 24 hours a day so if you're arriving in the wee hours of the morning, better take the bus to Taipei Main Station then just take a taxi to your hotel from there. Your other options would include taking the Kuo Kuang bus which would take an hour and a half and costs NT150.