Just got back from Taiwan a few days ago and here I am, rushing to complete my Trip itinerary report before life gets really busy for me. Now that I look back, this had been my 4th trip this year or perhaps 5th (if I include the 2D1N Batam trip on 1st Jan). The last time I travelled so tightly was back in 2014 when I was in between jobs and now that I’m doing it again.. seems like somewhat of a pattern trend I guess?
Alright back to the trip. This trip was really different as I was on the road with my mum. The last family trip I had was the self-drive in Perth last year but it was different because there were 6 of us but for Taiwan there was just the 2 of us. This was somewhat a ‘first time’ for me since I started going and paying for my own vacations after earning my own money. Anyway, so for this trip, it was not a budget trip as we stayed in accommodations which cost about $130/night. If I were with my friends or alone, I think it will definitely by $80-90/night or less. Food-wise, we didn’t explore the hipster cafes but we did indulge in a Japanese seafood meal (damn awesome LOBSTER SASHIMI seafood don at – 二男小家料理) for 1800NT (83.92 SGD) and some famous beef chain (Kanpai).
My airfare was also pretty affordable as we booked during Scoot’s Tuesday promo and I realised that flying in to taipei and flying out of kaohsiung gave me cheaper tickets. Oh, and we only booked the tickets 3 weeks before the trip so it was kind of last minute too. Furthermore, I had $50 scoot voucher from my previous flight delay to Korea so.. yep – tickets under $200 despite visiting during school holidays + booked last minute.
Once again, Thank You Scoot for your Cheap Tickets.
Anyway, the weather has been pretty unfortunate for my trip. It rained almost throughout the first 4 days. Taiwan was having some torrential rain which was supposedly ususally in May but it got delayed till June. The rain was most of the time light but there were a few times that it poured. The rain only stopped for my last 2 days in Kaohsiung, good enough for me to try out that awesome Gokarting! We ended up buying rainboots on the second day because my shoes were drenched from the rain and puddles on the ground.
Note: exchange rate used in calculations would be 1 SGD = 21.45 NT
| Details | Price (NT) | Price (SGD) |
| Airfare (Scoot)
Singapore to Taipei | Kaohsiung to Singapore |
$197.04 | |
| Travel Insurance
(MSIG, 50% Promotion) |
$28.25 | |
| Accommodation (Average Price per pax per night: $67.87)
2 Nights Taipei – 3* VIA Hotel (Xi Men Ding) |
$339.35 | |
| Transportation – High Speed Rail
Taoyuan – Taipei |
$6 $50 |
|
| Transportation – Easy Card (6 Days Transport)
Collected free card (with 50 NT) from Taiwan Tourism Board |
552 |
$25.73 |
| Transportation – Taxi (divided by 2) *We took taxis 3 times in Tainan |
197.5 | $9.21 |
| Food + Drinks Approximately 3 Breakfasts, 6 Lunch, 5 Dinner |
4335 | $202.09 |
| Attractions Fortress in Anping – 50NT 85 Sky Tower in Kaohsiung – 180NT Go Karting in Kaohsiung (VERY FUN) – 650NT |
880 | $41.03 |
| Shopping Only bought 1 shirt, 1 Timberland Shoes (most exp purchase) and 1 Rainboots and 3 Pennies from the Penny Machine, Spent 30NT at the arcade and that’s about it? |
3889 | $181.30 |
| Total | $1,080 |
Note: The only thing that’s possibly missing from this summary is “Data Wifi/SIM Card”. I had it sponsored for my trip by GlocalMe (a wifi device that gives you roaming across 100+ countries). I will be doing a review of the product in a separate post.
If you remove my shopping expenditure, I guess a 6D5N trip can set you back at about $900 and this is somewhat pricey as I chose better accommodations in my this trip since I was travelling with someone more than twice my age.
Day to Day Itinerary
Day 1 – Thursday (Taipei)
[5:37am] Arrived at Taoyuan Airport
[6:16am] Took bus from Taoyuan Airport to HSR Taoyuan Station
[7:10am] Board Train bound for HSR Taipei Station
[8:01am] Dropped Baggage at VIA Hotel (Xi Men) and had breakfast
[9:00am] Breakfast at Fu Hang Soy Milk (long queue)
[10:12am] Took bus to Jap Food Place in New Taipei District
[10:50am] Arrived at Jap Food place and waited for the shop to open.
Note: We were the first in line and the other customers started streaming in from 11:10am.
By 11:30am (when the shop opens), there were about 20 people in the queue. When we finished and left, there were at least 30-40 people waiting outside. The queue
[11:30am] Lunch at 二男小家料理 (long queue)
[12:55pm] Took bus back to Xi Men
[1:36pm] Check-in at VIA Hotel (early check-in due to room availability)
Had afternoon nap in comfortable Hotel Bed
[9:02pm] Walked around Xi Men area and had street food
[10:10pm] Back to Hotel
Day 2 – Friday (Taipei – Shifen – Keelung)
[9:25am] Left Hotel for Muzha Station
[10:18am] Board Bus #795 bound for Shifen Waterfall
[11:24am] Arrived at Shifen Waterfall
[12:40pm] Arrived at Shifen Old Street
[1:46pm] Took Train to Rui Fang
[2:11pm] Had Dessert in a random shop
[2:42pm] Board bus for Keelung
[3:13pm] Arrived at Keelung and explored Miao Kou Night Market
[5:47pm] Took Train from Keelung back to Taipei Train Station
[7:02pm] Back at Xi Men
[7:46pm] Explored Xi Men area again (The rain finally stopped)
[9:00pm] Back to Hotel
Day 3 – Saturday (Taipei – Tainan)
[10:00am] Depart VIA Hotel and take MRT to Taipei Main Station
[10:59am] High Speed Rail from HSR Taipei to HSR Tainan
[12:17pm] Arrived at HSR Tainan
[12:51pm] Took train from HSR Tainan (Shalun Station) to Tainan Train Station
[1:20pm] Arrived at Hotel Tainan
[1:40pm] Taxi to Anping area
[2:04pm] Lunch at Fish Skin Restaurant @ 王氏魚皮店
Please order everything that I’ve ordered – from the oysters (70) to the egg (20) to the fish skin soup (90) to fish stomach (90) and the lu rou fan (20).
We paid 290NT for everything in the photo below.
I remember it being so delicious that I wanted to order everything again but we were obviously too full.
[2:40pm] Dessert at Pudding Place (beside fish skin shop) @ 紅磚布丁安平店 Red Brick Pudding
[2:50pm] Walked to Fort Zeelandia
[4:09pm] Ate Beancurd @ 同記安平豆花
[4:36pm] Bus back to Tainan Hotel
<afternoon nap because it was pouring outside anyway>
[8:00pm] Took bus to Wu Sheng Night Market
Market was closed even though it wasn’t raining at 8pm+
Took taxi to Hua Yuan Night Market
[8:27pm] Hua Yuan Night Market – 40% shops open
[9:30pm] Took Taxi back to Tainan Hotel
Day 4 – Sunday (Tainan – Kaohsiung)
[9:15am] Depart Hotel and walk to find Breakfast
[9:27am] Breakfast at Beef Soup Place @ 西羅殿牛肉湯
It was yummy and delicious and super value for money (110NT). I guess Tainan is really well known for its delicious food! I don’t usually eat heavy breakfast but for this beef soup, i would.
[9:54am] Bought famous biscuits from 連得堂餅家
[11:28am] Back to Hotel to collect luggage
[11:50am] Train from Tainan to Kaohsiung Station
[12:57pm] MRT from Kaohsiung Station to Famosa Boulevard
[1:14pm] Luggage drop off at Hotel Dua
[2:29pm] Explored 85 Sky Tower
[4:00pm] Had Tea at Shopping Mall
[5:30pm] Back to Hotel Dua for Check-in
[6:45pm] Left Hotel for Rui Feng Night Market
[7:06pm] Arrived at Rui Feng Night Market
If you have time and stomach space for only one thing in Kaohsiung, this is the highly recommended fried chicken from ‘Angel’s Chicken’. It is super juicy and tasty. I ate it twice in my two-night stay in Kaohsiung and I’ll eat it every night. There are 2 outlets – 1 at Rui Feng and the other at the shopping district xin jue jiang. Trust me, queue for it and you won’t be disappointed. Recommended this chicken to a few of my friends and they have been addicted as well.. #willreturntokaohsiungforthischicken
[9:12pm] Back at Hotel Dua
Day 5 – Monday (Kaohsiung)
[10:51am] Left Hotel Dua after a nice breakfast buffet
[11:26am] Visited Pier 2 Arts Center
[12:49pm] Went Taroko Park (New Shopping Mall with many sports facilities and theme park)
[2:00pm] Played GoKart at Suzuka Circuit (Super fun!)
[4:20pm] Left Taroko Park
[4:40pm] Arrive at Xinjuejiang Shopping District
[5:20pm] Dinner at “Kanpai” Beef – premium meat at value for money pricing
Note: 10% Off if you dine before 7PM
[6:45pm] Went back to Hotel
[8:30pm] Explored Liuhe Night Market (nothing much tbh)
[9:30pm] Back to Hotel
Day 6 – Tuesday (Kaohsiung)
[11:00am] Check-out and Left Hotel (Luggage storage at hotel)
[12:00pm] Arrived at Dream Mall (a super huge mall. sadly theme park was closed when I was there)
[3:00pm] Left Dream Mall and went back to Hotel
[4:00pm] Depart Hotel for airport (Super early, ikr)
[4:40pm] Arrived at Kaohsiung International Airport
[8:20pm] Flight depart (flight delayed slightly)
[00:33am] Arrived at Changi Airport
I’m not sure when I will have enough time to finish writing the individual posts for my trip but feel free to ask me any questions if you can’t wait!
(Sorry for repeating but iit’s like an information which needs to be repeated) There’s one food that I truly recommend in Kaohsiung – Angel Fried Chicken (branch in Rui Fang Night Market and Xin Jue Jiang Shopping District). It’s the most amazing fried chicken I’ve eaten my whole life. Its served pipping hot, super juicy and tender meat and the fried part (batter) is quite thin. I ate it twice during my trip and oh gosh, it’s so tasty that I am somewhat salivating while thinking about it..