In the end, I checked out the travel insurance from Changi Recommends and bought a policy using Papa's passport no. I received an instant confirmation via email. This is what I call a great service. You don't turn away your customers. So that would be my last time purchasing travel insurance with my usual agent. Do check out HyfeAssure at this link.
I have thought of renting a portable wifi for many years now. But there is a limit to the unlimited data. Not all countries are unlimited as some of the network speed will slow down since data usage are capped at 500MB per day. Taiwan is categorised under the real unlimited data usage so I rented overseas wifi from Changi Recommends for the first time.
Everything was swift. You will be receiving a sms reminder on the router collection a day prior to your departure. Note that payment are to be made upon return of the router after your trip. You may go to this link for wifi rental and also the specs on the data usage here.
~ Day One : Singapore - Beitou ~
I managed to book air tickets to Taipei at SGD448.00 per pax with China Airlines. Bear in mind that I'm visiting during the March school holidays and this is quite a good deal already.
Taoyuan Metro aka Airport mrt was finally completed in 2017. I was so glad to be able to board on the airport express to Taipei. As the tickets are not available for sale online, I got the tickets at Taoyuan Airport MRT Service Counter of the Arrival Hall in Terminal 1. Single journey ticket costs NT160 each (SGD7.20) from Airport Terminal 1 or 2 Station to Taipei Main Station.
I actually purchased the joint ticket of Taipei Metro 72 Hour Pass which is valid for unlimited travel on the Taipei Metro within 72 hours from the first use. It is only valid for one passenger at a time.
Passengers under six years old (please show the ID for children 115cm or above) can take the MRT free of charge if they are accompanied by fare-paid passengers. Each paid passenger can accompany two children 6 years old or under. Remember to board mrt from the Express platform (purple line) and not the Commuter platform. The latter takes a longer time with more stops in between.
The entire journey from Airport to Taipei main station took about forty minutes. We then boarded Taipei metro to Xinbeitou, and the train ride was around thirty minutes.
I was kind of disappointed as the train travelling between Beitou and Xinbeitou stations had changed to a normal mrt. There used to be an attractive designs trains introducing the history and also hot springs in Xinbeitou. Anyway, our hotel was just a five minutes walk from metro station.
Our room comes with a hot spring tub and a separate shower with sauna. I was wondering why the hot spring water did not have sulphur smell or come in milky colour. Turned out that our hotel uses an ordourless type of sulphur in their hot spring water.
We settled our dinner at Xinbeitou White Sugarcane Shabu Shabu. Our individual pots come with buffet appetiser and desserts which cost only SGD20.00 per pax. Remember to try the sugarcane broth.
Taoyuan Metro (Airport Mrt)
33743 No.251, Sec. 4, Linghang N. Rd., Dayuan Dist., Taoyuan City 337, Taiwan (A17 Linghang Station) | +886-3-286-8789
https://www.tymetro.com.tw/tymetro-new/en/_pages/travel-guide/dep-A12
Taipei Metro (Normal Mrt)
7, Lane 48, Sec. 2, Zhongshan N. Rd., 10448, Taipei City, Taiwan (R.O.C.) +886-2-2720-8889 | https://english.metro.taipei/Default.aspx
Beitou Hot Spring Resort
No.3, Jhongshan Rd., Beitou Dist. Taipei, Taiwan | +886-2-2898-8661
reservation-bt@tyq.com.tw | http://www.tyq.com.tw/en
Xinbeitou White Sugarcane Shabu Shabu 新北投甘蔗涮涮鍋
112, Taiwan, Taipei City, Beitou District, Quanyuan Road, 12號
+886 2 2894 1778
Operating hours: 11am to 9pm daily
~ Day Two : Beitou - Danshui ~
Our hotel served pretty decent buffet breakfast. Their herbal hard boiled eggs were yummylicious.
Our first stop of the day was to Beitou Thermal Valley. There was actually hot spring smoke rising up from the drain. If you were to stand on top of it, you could feel hot air between your feet.
After walking for about ten minutes from our hotel, we reached Thermal Valley. You could literally see the bubbles popping up on the hot spring lake.
Our next visit was to Danshui which was around twenty minutes mrt ride away from Xinbeitou station. Upon reaching the exit, turn to the left and follow the crowds to old street. You could basically cover Danshui within an hour or two. There was really nothing much to shop.
Do try out Traditional Freshly Baked Sponge Cake 古早味现烤蛋糕,Ah Mam Sour Plum Juice 阿媽的酸梅湯,and APo Iron Egg 阿婆鐵蛋. The cheese sponge cake was so soft and its cheese totally melted in your mouth.
We finally got to try the famous Man Ke Wu Ramen in Xinbeitou. Previously, we went to Man Lai Ramen and we thought Singapore's ramen was way better. This time round, Man Ke Wu surprised us with their super nice miso and clear broth with QQ noodles. I read online reviews that Man Ke Wu was the original Man Lai Ramen, but its shop name was registered by the current owner which was why they changed it to Man Ke Wu.
One of the reasons why I chose to stay back at Xinbeitou was due to this spicy stinky tofu in soup. This stall was located on the first floor by the road side. It is the same building as White Sugarcane Shabu Shabu.
Thermal Valley
Wenquan Road, Beitou District, Taipei City, Taiwan 112 | +886 2 8733 5678
Operating Hours: Tue to Sun, 9am to 5pm | Closed on Mon
Tamsui Old Street
Zhongzheng Road, Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 251
Operating Hours: 9am to 10pm daily
Man Ke Wu Ramen 滿客屋拉麵
110號, Wenquan Road, Beitou District, Taipei City, Taiwan 112 +886-2-2893-7958
Operating Hours: Tue to Sun, 11am to 2pm & 5pm to 8:30pm | Closed on Mon
~ Day Three : Taipei ~
Gonna miss this Taiwanese breakfast when I'm back to Singapore. Sigh..
We did absolutely nothing on the third day as Beitou Hot Spring Museum was under renovation for a year. So all of us went back to our room to soak the hot spring tub and enjoyed sauna before checking out.
Our hotel stay for the night was at Caesar Park Taipei Hotel. Once we reached Taipei main station, we exited from M6. Since it was still too early to check in, we went to Taipei 101 for lunch and some shopping. My initial plan was to drop by Ximending for Tian Tian Li Lu Rou Fan. I did not get to buy my masques from Xiao San Mei Ri too. Sigh pie!
So I had my Lu Rou Fan (braised pork rice) fix at Taipei 101's food court.
After shopping at Jason's Marketplace, we headed back to our hotel.
I was glad that I had planned to visit Shida night market where there were not many food stalls to try out. Our parents were literally full after a bolo bun (pineapple butter bun). We had another fried stinky tofu (not smelly enough), and went back to our hotel. Faints..
In the end, we had our dinner at Hotel's coffee house or we would have starved to death.
Taipei 101
No.7, Sec. 5, Xinyi Rd., Xinyi Dist., Taipei City 110, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
https://www.taipei-101.com.tw/en/index.aspx
Caesar Park Taipei Hotel
No. 38, Section 1, Zhongxiao West Road, Zhongzheng District, 100 Taipei, Taiwan | +886 2 2311 5151
Shida Night Market
Shida Road, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106
Operating Hours: 24 hours daily
~ Day Four : Taipei - Singapore ~
Our hotel at Taipei had more buffet varieties for breakfast.
On our way to Taoyuan Airport via Taoyuan metro. Till next time Taiwan!
Not to forget the lovely Godiva soft serve.
