Re: Visiting Taiwan THREAD III

[ice_pink]

ximen or taipei main area.. they're also about an hour from Taoyuan zhongshan is ok too, i think though we didn't stay there.. everything is pretty accessible with their mtr

[paulavalerie]

ganda ng scenery sa cingjing park, nagstart na din mag cherry blossom! worth it visit talaga namin sa cingjing 😃

[minnie99]

Gonna backread this thread and the older ones! I have a US visa kasi so naisip ko might as well visit Taiwan din. Hehe.

[ninglovesturquoise]

Hi choco_loka,

Great post and great blog, enjoyed reading your adventures in Taiwan. We will be going to Cingjing Farm too this April with my family, was initially looking at the particular minsu you stayed in but chose another one after a friend's recommendation. I kinda like seeing the sunrise at Hehuanshan ...ummm, would you know how far it is from cingjing to hehuanshan? We will be hiring a driver for the Taichung leg of our trip, I will see if that can be squeezed in hehe... thanks a lot for the write-ups.

[kachich]

Trip Report:
Accommodation - Ximen District (taipeibackpackers)
Itinerary:
Day 0: Longshan Temple (and night market)
Day 1: Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, Presidential Office Building, National Palace Museum, Shilin Night Market
Day 2: Maokong Gondola, Taipei 101, Wufenpu, Raohe Night Market
Day 3: Yangmingshan, Mala Yuanyang Hotpot in Ximen for dinner (Midnight flight back to MNL)

Super enjoy mag foodtrip!

[ayami]

Hi mga sis pwede ba mag inquire dito re: visa. I read somewhere na pag may existing visa na from other countries no need to apply na raw. May nakagawa na ba nun sa inyo dito? Thanks

[choco_loka]

Hi @ ninglovesturquoise Sorry for the late reply as i rarely check GT unless i receive PMs. Our driver said it takes roughly 50 mins from cingjing to hehuanshan. Our hostel was a bit closer to he huan shan so it took probably 45mins. You'll enjoy your stay, especially in the spring time

Hi @ayami, no need to apply for TW visa if you have existing (and valid) US, Australian visa, pwede rin yata valid schengen visa, but you have to fill out an online form from the BOCA website, do a quick google search nalang

[ninglovesturquoise]

Thanks @choco_loka for the info, we are looking forward to the trip! Taiwan is one of my favorite places especially the vegetarian food, heaven talaga!

@kachich, okay ba ang Wufenpu puntahan? Am thinking of going there with my mom...

[kachich]

^I guess ok naman, kaya lang I have just recently been to Bangkok, 1 month apart sila ng Taiwan trip ko so medyo namahalan ako with Taipei goods, you just really need to look and haggle to get a good buy -- besides maganda and iba din naman ang binebenta sa wufenpu (more on korean clothes)

[vain_kixie]

^sis okay ba sa ximen district tumira for first timers? I will be with my 1 year and 4 month old son and hubby so gusto sana naman right smack in the middle yung hotel para we can easily go back when my son needs to rest. Also, madami bang ng mtr na naka stroller ala Japan? Stroller friendly country ba sila unlike pinas na super hassle naka stroller sa mall. Nakikipag unahan pa yung mga able bodied sa elevator kaya tumataba eh (hidden grudge).

[u8mypinkcookies]

@ayami: no need to apply for taiwan visa if you have a valid japan visa too.

[kachich]

^sis okay ba sa ximen district tumira for first timers? I will be with my 1 year and 4 month old son and hubby so gusto sana naman right smack in the middle yung hotel para we can easily go back when my son needs to rest. Also, madami bang ng mtr na naka stroller ala Japan? Stroller friendly country ba sila unlike pinas na super hassle naka stroller sa mall. Nakikipag unahan pa yung mga able bodied sa elevator kaya tumataba eh (hidden grudge).

Ximen District is OK for first timers --but I dont recommend the hostel where we stayed.
Hindi ko napansin strollers, sorry

[vain_kixie]

Thanks sis. Why wouldn't you recommend it? Baka mag rent nalang kami ng apartment (airbnb) if my mom will come with us. Gusto lang namin mag food trip kasi super favorite ng husband ko yung stinky tofu.

[choco_loka]

@vain_kixie

Visit Shenkeng Old Street if your hubby's a fan of stinky tofu

[ninglovesturquoise]

Thanks @kachich, will check it out.. hehe, btw, where did you stay in Ximending? 

I saw Rainbow Hotel in Ximending, considered it too but it looked so dark and dreary from the outside, so hindi bale na lang. I have booked two rooms from South Island Homestay. So far they have pretty good reviews and feedback, let's see.

@choco_loka, since you are based in Taiwan, just want to ask if you know of any decent accommodations in the Sanxia area...We're considering Fullon Sanyin, Gold Sand, Cing Cing and Aliya ...the last three are motels but we just need to spend a few hours since we will be arriving around 1 am na. So far, Aliya is the closest to Sanxia Old Street but not sure about their quality, e-mailed them several times but no reply. Actually, all of them have pretty bad reviews including Fullon Sanyin Hotel and their rates, for me, are overpriced.

[yabbikins]

Hello ladies, thank you for all your suggestions I am doing a draft of our itinerary. and I really want to include Juifen. sana feasible pa since 3 days lang kame

[choco_loka]

Hi @ninglovesturquoise

Sorry I'm not familiar with Sanxia area and the hotels you mentioned... Fullon Hotels however are regarded as good 4/5star hotel here in Taiwan, lalo their Danshui branch. Not sure lang din about Fullon Sanyin.

[runbarbierun]

Grabe super mahal ng hotels sa Taipei haha Can anyone recommend a nice (as in clean, modern) hotel that isn't too expensive? Last time we went to Taipei, we booked through Airbnb but we're travelling with a 1-yr old ngayon so I'm thinking a hotel will be much more convenient..

Good for 4 sana, around $150 a night if ever kaya

[u8mypinkcookies]

Booked via airbnb for our trip this labor day holiday excited ako to visit jiufen din!

[ninglovesturquoise]

Hi @choco_loka, thanks for the reply, we didn't push through staying at Sanxia, instead we stayed at Ximending and then took the mrt then bus to Sanxia, it was pretty convenient.

@runbarbierun, we just got back from Taiwan, for US$150 you can find a lot of good hotels in Taipei. When we were in Taipei, we stayed at Hotel 73. We got a four-person room for NT$3,900. We chose it because my mom wanted to visit Songshan. If you're looking at Taipei Main Station, Ximending area, you can try Via Hotel or Cosmos. Cosmos is around NT$5000 per night for their four-person room and is right smack Taipei Main Station, Via Hotel parang around NT$4k++ and it's in the heart of Ximending. For our last two nights in Taipei, we stayed in this homestay, called South Island, they had nice rooms, parang condo rooms, okay naman but wouldn't recommend it because there is no place to store your luggage when you check out, so super hassle, we had to find a place to store our luggage pa. So from now on, I swear, will never stay in an airbnb or homestay, no matter how affordable they are (in fact, their prices are not that far from good hotels).