Re: Visiting Taiwan THREAD III

[ataypool]

^there are sit down restaurants in Jiufen. Gusto ko sana irecommend the one I went to, it's next to where the tunnel is and restaurant siya ng mini-hotel but it's in the side where the steep stairs are located. Baka mahirapan ang seniors and since you have kids, they might not like the food because it's all vegies and fish seasoned with their local spices. I also went to a quiet caf? where they serve nice cakes and drinks sa peak na ng Jiufen, nice view.

[minatay91]

@ thank you sis rocky!!


Ano yung best food na I should try in Taiwan? Except milk tea? Masarap ba yung nougat and pineapple cakes? hehe

ma.stalk muna sa forum.. hehe
easy lang ba yung MRT nila? How does it compare to SG? I've read mas maganda daw kesa SG?

[rocky]

^comparable sa SG & HK yong MRT yong airport train nila maganda, pati yong station

[ataypool]

^^If you are adventurous with food, you?ll like their cuisine but if not just stick to department store foodcourts located in the basement and the big chain restaurants.

Nougats are very good, soft and chewy and not too sweet. Nakabili ako in Daan, small store near Din Tai Fung, may kamahalan but maganda packaging. Pineapple cakes laging Chia Te and Sunny Hills sinasabi. The one I got ganda packaging but konti pineapple considering I bought it from an upscale mall.

Cakes, pastries, matcha ice cream (got addicted to the one in Ximending), beef noodle soup (more aromatic than Pho but I like it), gua bao, fried chicken, oyster omellette, coffee, pork sausages. Pag may pila doon ka pumunta. Shinyeh is good if you want a sit down restaurant and kung madami kayo the better. Din Tai Fung, aside from their xiao long bao, okay din ang beef soup, fried rice and pork chop. Addiction Aquatic Development for seafood, fits every budget but the sit down resto has a minimum spend.

[IronLady]

^homaygad nakakagutommmm haha! Naeexcite ako sa kakainin don
Lol.

[minatay91]

@rocky

Awesome, thanks. I've read wonderful things about it, so confident ako mag.MRT and bus!! Thanks for the confirmation! Easy naman yung SG MRT. Mabait ba yung mga taxi drivers nila or scammers? (like sa Pinas and Malaysia? lol) Mabait ba mga tao dun? Accdg to my research, mabait daw yung mga Taiwanese, but this could be a whitewashed thing hahaha Reason why I'm asking is because I don't know Mandarin except for the basics, and English "daw" is not widely spoken.

@ataypool

Yay thanks! Wow sis thank you for laying out the specific dishes! Will watch out for those!!! Adventurous naman ako, as long as it doesn't look too disgusting I'm planning to eat din at a fine dining resto just to try, I think I'll look into Din Tai Fun or Yen Taipei

The food you mentioned po, are those in a night market? Or food center? What time do they generally close? Sorry dami ko tanong, just beginning to research po

[ataypool]

^The taxi drivers are nice, hirap sa English but at least they smile. Just give them the screen shot or the print out of the address in Chinese okay na. Taiwanese are nicer than Singaporeans and Hongkies, na ang friendly lang yata sa 2 countries na iyan nasa hospitality industry and taxi drivers. Malumanay most of them magsalita, iyong iba naman parang may country or probinsyano accent na medyo matigas na parang pasigaw.

The food you can find in the night markets or mga small shops. Ximending ang daming options for food (try the miswa with intestines where people line up). Filipino-Taiwanese friend ng sister ko always recommend mga restos sa hotel if you want fine dining. Yen is a good choice but Cantonese kasi which is everywhere you go that was why I opted for Shin Yeh because it is Taiwanese. Tresors De La Mer is a good choice for seafood, nasa Addiction Aquatic Development siya. I booked through my hotel concierge. The food's nice and the price not that bad for the quality. Paluto siya in a nice restaurant, not that high end anyway but some people dressed up to go there pero puwede na rin naman jeans and sneakers. Buffet in Grand Hyatt was also good.

[rocky]

yong mga taxi driver tingin ko mabait sila, though di namin na-try magtaxi. nagkakataon lang na sila lagi natatanungan namin & willing naman silang tumulong plus pa yong nakakausap mo sila ng english natuwa ako sa taiwan, una dahil sa mga tao. para silang mga japanese, ang babait nila. may isang kuya na nagyoyosi sa labas ng apartment namin, nagtanong ako kung san yong address tapos sabi ko di ko matawagan host at wala akong roaming. ayun, tinawagan nya sa phone nya & maya maya nanjan na sundo namin. sa tiangge kakahit di ka bumili naka-smile pa rin sila

highly recommended ko yong DTF orig branch saka mala yuanyang hotpot ximending. 2 yong branch nila sa ximending, yong malapit sa uniqlo yong kinainan namin, maganda ambience. masarap yong food & sulit pati haagen dazs gelato unli

[minatay91]

@ataypool yey thanks sis! Maghanda nalang ako sa locations in Chinese... hehe and pictures ganun...

Ahh sige para kaseng good experience ata yung Yen for a birthday? Hinahanap ko yung Shin Yeh comments daw is di mabait yung servers? ahaha I'll build my IT, try namin lunch sa Shin Yeh or high tea Thank you sis!

What are the other cities to stay in apart from Ximending? Yung mga malapit lang sa city center Mga 1-3 stations away siguro sa MRT Just wanted options baka mahal yung mga hotels...

@rocky

Glad to hear that Trauma kase ako sa taxi drivers sa Malaysia lol ang sungit buti nalang mabait It seems underrated yung Taiwan hehe


Would you sisses recommend staying in Kaohsiung? Parang mas gusto ko dahil mas cheap yung hotels... siguro maganda magside trip kahit 2 days lang hahaha

[ataypool]

^Wala naman issue when we went to Shinyeh's main branch but I got the impression that they wanted us to order more than 2 dishes for the two of us or there was an unspoken minimum spend which is okay lang naman kasi katwiran ko kasi naman if booking a restaurant, di puwede sobra tipid but it must be reasonable. Sometimes di ako agree sa comments sa service when mostly Singaporeans, Americans or Hongkies ang nag-review because I know they are cheapskates (sorry if I offended anyone).

Puwede ka tumingin sa Daan or Xinyi area in Taipei. Daan is hip, mixed of residential and business na may university, park and a small night market. Xinyi is upscale. I'm going to Taipei next month, and I booked hotels in Ximending, Daan and Xinyi. I'll post a review after that. Mas madaming hotels na affordable sa Ximending than those two. Try mo Ark Hotel in Daan, malapit siya sa Din Tai Fung or you can look at the subway map and check for hotels sa Taiwan Main, Beimen, Dongmen, Zhongxiao baka mas mura. Songshan area mas mura hotels pero parang nalalayuan ako.

[darna88]

mga sis do you use UBER taxi in taipei? is it more cheaper than the regular taxi there or same lang?...is it also in credit card payment?  ...anyone who had been to taipei children amusement park? from there madali lang ba makaget ng taxi? we had seniors kasi with us and sabi sama daw sila sa taipei amusment park pero pag nainip sila sakay na lang daw sila taxi pauwi sa hotel namin..may kids din kasi me kasama so like ko sila ipasyal dun kaso worry me sa seniors baka mabored

[ooh-la-la]

flight ko na next week (Dec4) and I don't have strict schedule since I am solo lang naman ako. May listahan lang ako nung mga mga pupuntahan pero hindi ko pa pinagsusunod sunod.. bahala na lang kung saan ako dalhin ng mga paa ko.. hahaha!

[IronLady]

^nice sis! Kwento ka! Sanay ka ba magtravel solo? Will be there on the 9th. Bahala na din sa pagdecipher ng mga maps at mrt don. Hopefully di mahirap gaya sa thailand ewan pero hirap na hirap ako sa bkk noon kaya taxi kami lagi 😂😂

[minatay91]

@ataypool

haha no worries sis, not offended. Stereotypes do come from somewhere! (I remember some SIngaporeans stereotyped Filipinos as maingay daw... my god, walang kwenta nalang some old mainland Chinese kaloka) I'm curious, why did you book 3 hotels sis? How long will you be staying?Wow nice yung Ark!!! Appreciate the suggestion po parang maganda sa pictures, and good location, everything is nearby!!

If you can sis, pwede share itinerary? I'm also planning to go to Nantou county yung owls hehe


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mga sis please share itinerary!! [grabe ang sobrang excited ko no, as if malapit na yung flight ko hahaha]

[kukii]

@darna88 we tried uber and taxi in Taipei to compare same amount lang if not mas mura pa nga uber, and yes you can pay with your credit card kung nakaconnect sa uber app. Medyo magulang yung taxi pag alam nila turista biglang ambilis ng takbo ng metro, from Taipei Main Station kasi lagi kami nagtataxi dahil no other way to our hotel (Xinshe Hotel sa may Sanchong District) na madali uber or taxi lang talaga. Same distance and same yung dinadaanan wala din namang traffic pero iba iba price, ang range lang dapat is 130-150 TWD tapos may 2 kami nasakyan na taxi (kasi walang available na uber) 210 TWD yung isa and yung isa 250 TWD ang siningil.

IMO mas okay pa din kung mag train, medyo nakakaligaw lang yung sa Taipei Main Station maliligaw ka paglalabas ka na sa Main Station as in walang time na hindi kami naligaw haha or shushunga-shunga lang talaga kami

[ooh-la-la]

^nice sis! Kwento ka! Sanay ka ba magtravel solo? Will be there on the 9th. Bahala na din sa pagdecipher ng mga maps at mrt don. Hopefully di mahirap gaya sa thailand ewan pero hirap na hirap ako sa bkk noon kaya taxi kami lagi 😂😂

sure! I would say medyo sanay na pero domestic lang . It's my first time to travel solo na overseas. sa tingin ko kakayanin ko naman ang Taipei MRT, dahil na experience ko na rin yung SG and HK so i think I am good.. hahahha! naka download na ako ng google maps, google translate, Taipei MRT just in case, and purchased a pocket wifi.. kung maligaw ako or magkamali okay lang! sabi ko sa sarili ko hindi ako mag taxi if ever maligaw ako lakarin ko na lang pabalik.. hehe 

[ataypool]

^^^ I stayed at Ximending before so for next month I?ll be there for 6 days, I thought it will be good for us to stay in the three districts. Mauuna kasi 2 seniors (mum and aunt) so I booked them a hotel at Ximending (CityInn Plus) kasi easy to navigate on their own. Nakita ko na ang Daan last time when I went to Din Tai Fung and tahimik kasi and madami kainan. Di ko na-explore ang Xinyi kaya I must go there too this time. We may go to Addiction Aquatic Development, Maokong, Songshan Cultural, Taipei 101, Eslite, Raohe Night Market, CKS Memorial hall, SYS Memorial Hall, maybe outlet shopping and that hotel na historic (sorry I?m too lazy to search the name).

Auntie kasi nakatira sa probinsya and mas gusto sa Taipei kaya 2 days of nature lang na one hour trip both ways via a private driver/guide to Yangmingshan, Beitou, Jiufen, Yehliu. Gusto ko sana sa Taroko kaya lang Taiwanese we know recommended against it due to the cold weather and baka daw ma-stress mga oldies sa biyahe.

[IronLady]

^^sis wala pa akong wifi 😭 Yan talaga problema ko. I think ivideo lang option ko since 130 ang dating namin sa t1. But i dont know what to pick dun sa rental dropdown ng ivideo! Pakadami choices haha!

[rocky]

^Taiwan Pocket WiFi CHT 4G LTE Unlimited Data kinuha ko sis, may extra batt na yan kaya keri lang kahit maghapon nasa labas

IMO mas okay pa din kung mag train, medyo nakakaligaw lang yung sa Taipei Main Station maliligaw ka paglalabas ka na sa Main Station as in walang time na hindi kami naligaw haha or shushunga-shunga lang talaga kami

actually sobrang laki nya talaga sis, 1st night don kami nagstay sa area na yon & ang layo ng nilalakad namin papuntang platform. dadaan ka muna don sa parang mall. hehe! buti na lang lumipat kami ng ximending, mas maganda location

[sherlock]

@IronLady

for the pocket wifi, ok kumuha s IVIDEO. meron sila branch sa ximending, order ka lang online then pick up sa branch nila then drop off puwede sa branch and puwede din sa airport kiosk nila.

@krispee_creme

sa ximending sis, very near the mrt is TOMORROW hotel. tapat lang ng exit 6 ng station. pero budget hotel lang siya and di sosyalin tingnan. with breakfast and the standard rooms with windows are good value na rin.

@minatay91

best place to stay para sa akin is XIMEN. lively ang place and maraming kainan and souvenir shops.



nga pala regarding IVIDEO, wala na kaming binayaran na additional pagdating sa store even if puro credits ginamit ko. bale 50pesos lang talaga (charged to card when booking) yun binayaran.