Hello everyone! We're back after a long hiatus with our #5sahaidakmhodjapan trip. Today, we're returning with a fancy trip name called #taiwansweetkidney (which translates to "Taiwan Sweet Kidney" in Thai, just in case anyone didn't get it 5555555). This trip took place between May 8th and 14th, 2016, with an increased number of members to 9 people. And our destination this time is none other than Taiwan! ◡̈⃝

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- Our rough plan for this trip - ♡

day1: taoyuan airport - chiang kai shek - long shan temple

http://pantip.com/topic/35163286

day2: yehliu - jiufen

http://pantip.com/topic/35167028

day3: beitou - tamsui - din tai fong

day4: taroko national park - hualian night market

day5: qixingtan beach - ximending

day6: sun moon lake

day7: taipei fish market - BKK



- Summary of the approximate expenses of this trip (excluding food and shopping) - ♡

- Round-trip airfare per person is approximately 6,400 baht

- Bus fare from the airport to the city center is 125 NTD per person

- Accommodation for 3 nights at Holo hostel is 1,951 NTD per person

- Accommodation at mini voyage hostel in Hualian city is 573 NTD per person

- Accommodation for 2 nights at Triple Tiger Hostel is 1,088 NTD per person

- HSR round-trip train fare to Sun Moon Lake is 1,015 NTD

- Day pass at Sun Moon Lake is 720 NTD

- Round-trip train fare to Hualian is 880 NTD

- Taxi fare to Taroko is 666 NTD per person

- Other miscellaneous transportation costs 500 NTD

- Onsen fee at Beitou is 40 NTD per person

- Bus fare plus entrance fee to Yehliu Geopark 100 + 80 NTD = 180 NTD

Total approximate expenses = 6400 + (7738 NTD*1.1) = 14911.8 baht

For the owner of the post, the food expenses are about 600 NTD per day, but there are meals that eat seven every day. And I don't go to expensive restaurants often. Most of the money is spent on snacks in the night market.



- Preparation - ♡

Since our school break is not very long, our trip has to fall in May, which is the beginning of summer in Taiwan. This means that the weather is quite similar to Thailand (which means it's hot to very hot 555555555).



Visa application

Taiwan visa is not as difficult as you think. Especially if you are a student, it is quite certain that you will pass. The current visa fee is 1,700 baht.

Location for visa application: Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, 20th floor, Empire Tower, 195 Sathorn Tai Road, Bangkok 10120

Documents required for Taiwan tourist visa application:

- Passport with at least 6 months validity and a copy of the passport as well.

- 2 passport-sized color photographs (white background recommended).

- One copy each of house registration and ID card (copy + original).

- Documents for booking flight tickets and accommodation.

- Certificate of employment or business registration certificate if you are a business owner.

- Financial statements from the bank or passbook with 6 months of transaction history (copy + original).

- In case of students, a certificate of education and a certificate of employment and financial status of parents must be requested.

- In case of children traveling with adults, a copy of the house registration and ID card of the father and mother must be attached.

- Taiwan visa application form, filled out completely from the website and signed 1 set.

(Reference from: http://www.flymetotaiwan.com/taiwanvisa-วีซ่าไต้หวัน/)

Each document is very important, do not forget to print it out. Because when the owner of the post went to apply for a visa, a friend forgot to print the flight ticket booking document. There is a printing service in the Empire building, but it costs 300 baht per set.



Clothing

For those who are traveling to Taiwan this month, I recommend that just short-sleeved shorts, like going to the beach, is enough 555555555. But if anyone plans to go to Taroko, you might want to bring a thin jacket just in case. Most importantly, don't forget to bring an umbrella or raincoat!



Accommodation

It is recommended to book accommodation near Taipei Main Station because it will be convenient to travel to other cities. Or if not really, Ximen area is another place that we recommend because it is close to the shopping area and is still considered close to Taipei Main Station. The website we used to book this time is www.booking.com, which is a booking and then pay at the hotel on the day of check-in.◡̈⃝



Flight tickets

This trip, we chose to use the services of low-cost airlines Tigerair and NokScoot, which averaged out to about 6,400 baht per person (including about 10 kg of weight per person). On the way there, we were divided into 2 groups (because the group that booked later happened to have a NokScoot promotion). The Tigerair group arrived at 00.05 am to explore the airport as pioneers. The NokScoot group will arrive in the morning. On the way back, we all took Tigerair together.



Train tickets

- Since our plan includes traveling by High Speed Railway (HSR), booking tickets in advance, or what is called Early Bird, will give you a discount of 10-35% (http://www5.thsrc.com.tw/en/). This makes the price not much different from the regular train. For those who have a fairly fixed plan, HSR is a good travel option.◡̈⃝

- For TRA or regular intercity trains, if you are traveling to major cities, it is recommended to book your tickets in advance as well. This is because the seats will be full, so if we go to book, we have to take a chance that we will be able to sit or stand all the way 555555. The booking method can be done either online or at the counter at the train station ( http://www.railway.gov.tw/en/ ).



Pocket wifi

We use the service of http://wifi-taiwan.com for 200 NTD per day, which can be used for up to 10 devices. If you book in advance more than 21 days, you will receive an additional 15% discount. The pick-up method is to pick it up at the HiLife store at the airport, any time. But when returning, you have to return it through 7-eleven. If you return it through Hilife or FamilyMart, you will have to pay an additional shipping fee of 55 NTD.


Easy card

Taiwan's Easy Card is like a Rabbit card in our country that has been upgraded a lot 555555555. That is, it can be used to tap and pay for transportation fares in almost all types of vehicles. Especially for paying for MRT, you get a 20% discount on top of that. Another special function is that you can tap and pay for your purchases at convenience stores. You can buy an Easy Card at both train stations and convenience stores, but if you buy it at a train station (only the blue line, except Taipei Main Station), you can exchange the 100 NTD deposit for 80 NTD back. In simple terms, we will only pay 20 NTD for the card, but if we buy it at a convenience store, we will not be able to exchange the deposit in the card back.



ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔʕ ·ᴥ·ʔʕ·ᴥ· ʔʕ♡˙ᴥ˙♡ʔʕ≧ᴥ≦ʔ



- #taiwansweetkidney Taiwan Sweet Kidney: Day 1 - Ni Hao Taiwan.♡ -


00.05 am

The first group of members arrived at Taoyuan Airport safely.

After passing through immigration, we rushed to find a place to sleep for the night. As other threads had suggested, we decided to sleep in front of the Starbucks (cr: http://www.1000milesjourney.com/sleeping-in-taoyuan-airport/). However, when we arrived, we found that all the sofas were already taken. We were so disappointed! The five of us had to wander around looking for a place to stay for the night. We ended up at the food court on B1.



Our accommodation for the night had electrical outlets and a bathroom where we could wash our faces and brush our teeth. The only downside was that the chairs were small and hard (there was an area with sofas, but there were no electrical outlets there).

This is the sofa area. One side is a sofa, the other side is a regular chair.


After securing a place to sleep, it was time to go out and find food. Our refuge for the night was the HiLife convenience store on the B1 floor. This floor had a huge variety of drinks to choose from.

Recommended milk tea brands with a mild tea flavor and a stronger milk taste, perfectly balanced.


Black sesame bun, fragrant sesame, not too sweet, delicious when eaten hot when hungry.


Late night meal (a lot) tonight


This brand of beef ramen comes with a pack of dried beef, which tastes great.


Chicken rice balls? Basic taste, enough to fill the stomach


Hey Song Sarsaparilla (the name is a bit of a mouthful) tastes like sarsaparilla, with a slight fizz.


Get ready to wash your face and brush your teeth before the rest of the members arrive. Find breakfast to welcome the first official day in Taiwan with hot pork congee with century egg at the first shop in the food court. The price is affordable at 75 NTD.


Others rely on the basic menu of the bakery on the food court floor, such as sausage bread.


Green tea mochi, but not quite to my liking.


8:05 AM


The remaining 3 members have arrived at the airport. Yay!

We are ready to leave the airport by bus of the company Gongguan (I think that's how you read it). We bought tickets at the counter on B1 floor. There is a bus leaving every 15 minutes. Our luggage will be tagged and stored under the bus.


We will leave our luggage at our hotel for the first 3 nights, which is Holo hostel ( http://www.booking.com/hotel/tw/holo-hotel.th.html ) located at Taipei main station exit M6 (but actually exit M5 and cross the street is closer). The accommodation will be like an apartment building.


After packing our things, it was time to explore Taipei. Our first destination was the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, a must-see landmark when visiting Taiwan. It's incredibly vast, and we only saw a few tourists because it was a scorching hot day.
How to get there: Take the MRT and get off at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station.

Walk up to the white building with the statue of Chiang. There is a changing of the guard ceremony every hour.


An aerial view shows a vast landscape, looking magnificent.


Capture the landmark with a Polaroid photo ◡̈⃝


After walking for a while, everyone was tired from the hot weather. It was time to find something to eat, so we explored the surrounding area.


I came across a Taiwanese restaurant that felt a bit like a banquet hall, so I decided to start my trip with a Chinese meal (打咔生猛活海鮮 - 羅斯福路一段43號 - http://4sq.com/Q1QKnc) The Taiwanese-style pork knuckle was huge. Here, they mainly focus on eating the pork fat, but the taste was really good. Dipping it in the garlic sauce helped cut through the richness, making for a perfect balance.


The glass noodles stir-fry with something has an unfamiliar taste. It's still delicious, but the noodles are a bit oily.


The next landmark we will visit is Longshan Temple.
How to get there: Take the MRT to Longshan Temple Station. Once you get off the train and go up to street level, you will see the temple right in front of you.

Upon entering the temple, we paid our respects to the Buddha and made offerings according to the ceremony. As far as I observed, the way to pay respects here is as follows: they will distribute 3 incense sticks, and then we will pay respects at the 3 designated points, where we will throw 1 incense stick into the pot at each point.


Close to the temple, there is a market called Banka market, which is full of food shops and stalls lining the way.


We started at a famous dessert shop first. It's a shop with the number 1920 in its name, if I remember correctly. 5555555 (龍都冰果専業家


https://goo.gl/maps/cw3WyMtCSfQ2) At first, we intended to eat mango flavor, but the shop told us that it will only be sold from June to August, which is the (very) hot season in Taiwan. So we missed it as usual.

So let's order other menus instead. Let's start with the first menu, topped with 3 toppings: strawberry jam, custard pudding, and sticky rice ball.

The next menu is a mixed nut menu. I think it must be the shop's signature dish because I secretly saw that every table ordered it. I've never eaten anything like this before, but it's still delicious. 5555555


Strolling through the market, I came across a shop with a long queue. I decided to join the line and found out that it was a stall selling stewed dishes and fermented soybean soup. The flavors were quite strong, and there was a wide variety to choose from. However, the most delicious item, in my opinion, was the radish. Even though it was a hot day, the hot radish was incredibly tasty.


And with a sweet, slightly bland taste, the water has a jelly-like texture when sucked up, with a hint of lemon scent. It's a great way to cool down on a hot day.


The next stop we'll take you to is a shoe shopper's paradise, the Carrefour Chung Xin branch, which houses outlets of famous shoe brands.


How to get there: Take the MRT to Xianse Temple Station, Exit 2, and walk for about 10 minutes.

There are many shops inside that offer discounts that are quite cheap (cr: http://travel.sanook.com/blog/96255/ชวนช๊อป-outlet-รองเท้าผ้าใบใน/) But when we went, brands like Onitsuka Tiger only had ugly designs left, which was a shame. But both the author and her friends managed to pick up a pair or two.



For dinner, we ate at Sushi Express inside Carrefour, a sushi restaurant with branches all over Taiwan. The taste is average and the price is not too expensive.



The first day of #taiwansweetkidney is over. It was a long day. Our accommodation for tonight is holo hostel. We chose to stay in a private room with 8 beds and 1 bathroom. Overall, the accommodation is okay for people who sleep easily, but the bathroom might not be up to par (the author found mushrooms growing in the bathroom). The beds are also not very clean. Overall, I would give it a 6 out of 10.

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