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thediurnalowl · 7 years ago

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In my recent post entitled 3 Days in Taiwan, I talked about my experience in preparing for my whole trip. It involved a lot of firsts and a few mistaken turns, but in the end, it resulted to an enjoyable (slightly tiring) and fulfilling trip! Here’s what happened:

Just a few days before our trip, my friend and I were both so excited. We were then going over the list of things we’d like to do when something unfortunate happened. It turned out, my friend couldn’t go to the trip after all because of a family matter. I had mixed emotions but mostly, I just felt sorry for my friend. Then, I realized, there’s only the two of us who were supposed to go to this trip. Does this mean I’m going to Taiwan alone?

I tried asking my other friends but since my flight was in a few days and the third day of the trip was on a Monday, it became hard for them to file a leave, plus the plane tickets were a lot more expensive then. I told my brother what happened, and since he didn’t want me to go alone, he booked a ticket for himself! Some may feel bad for me because it seems like my family doesn’t give me much freedom, but really it worked well with me being on a budget because my brother paid for a lot of stuff in our travel. So there! Ha!

Day 1

At Ninoy Aquino International Airport just before we board our flight

When we arrived at Taoyuan International Airport

My brother and I arrived at Taoyuan International Airport at past midnight. Before our departure, I already coordinated with Yumi (our Airbnb host) and asked her how to get to her apartment. We took the bus since the MRT closes at 11:00 PM. After passing through immigration, we proceeded to the bus ticketing counters at the ground floor. We took the Bus 1819, alighted at the first stop and took a taxi.

We didn’t buy mobile sim cards at the airport but it wasn’t hard communicating with our Airbnb host because our bus has a wifi. All of the buses in Taiwan have a wifi! But if you’d like to purchase mobile sim cards, you ay refer to this link for your guide: Cell Phones and SIM Cards

Here’s the tricky part. When we were looking for a taxi, it was hard communicating with the taxi drivers since they barely speak English. I had Yumi’s address with me written in both English and Chinese, but I only saved it on my phone. Our driver had a difficulty reading it. But, it all worked out in the end and we arrived at Yumi’s apartment safe.

Although, if you’re travelling in Taiwan for the first time and you can’t speak in Chinese, I would suggest for you to have a printout of the important addresses that you need.

When we arrived at the apartment, Yumi showed us to our room and gave us the key. After getting settled, my kuya (older brother) and I went out to see the nearby stores. I have this thing when travelling to a foreign country, I always have to go to a 7-Eleven. Is that weird? I don’t know, I just really enjoy seeing a lot cool stuff in 7-Eleven stores, and they are always different from one country to another. Unfortunately, there were no 7-Eleven stores nearby. But, we discovered this famous convenience store in Taiwan called Hi-Life. They were basically everywhere, so I’m assuming that they are more famous than 7-Eleven. We went inside the Hi-Life store, bought some past midnight snacks, and saw a lot of cool stuff — including these cool soda cans:

Then, we went back to our apartment, ate a little something, and had a good rest.

Day 2

The following morning, I was so excited because our first activity was to go to National Taiwan University. You might be wondering why I was so excited about a university. Well, this was one of the two universities used in the iconic Taiwanese drama series called Meteor Garden. It was aired in the Philippines in 2001 and was loved by a lot of Filipinos — one fan right here!

As a matter of fact, while we were walking towards the facade, I played the Meteor Garden soundtrack on my phone. I forgot to bring my earphones, so yeah, I played it on speaker! I wasn’t even ashamed of it! Though, I turned the volume down when we were about to cross paths with some of the students. Oops!

National Taiwan University (Ying De University)

With the facade of my dear Ying De

We went there on a Sunday; still, the university was open and visitors are welcome to come in.

More than just a venue for a Taiwanese Drama, National Taiwan University is, in fact, the most prestigious university in Taiwan and one of the top universities in the world.

When we were there, I just loved how so clean and beautiful everything was. I was actually considering this school to be one of my choices for post-graduate studies.

National Taiwan University up close

Here are some more pictures:

I was meaning to find the lockers that was also used in one of the scenes in Meteor Garden. However, some of the sections inside the university were exclusive to students. Or so we thought. Maybe we were just too shy to ask. But still, I was just so happy I was able to visit this place. I felt like somehow I relived my childhood fantasy of going to the same school as the F4 and Shan Cai. Oh, how my inner kid was really so happy!

After our photoshoot around NTU, we took the train and went to Chang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.

Chang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

Chiang Kai-Shek Exhibition Hall

Visitors are allowed to go inside the exhibition hall, although, my kuya and I weren’t able to go inside. We got caught up with so much going on around the park. When we finally decided to go inside, it was already past 5 o’clock; and apparently, the exhibition hall is only open till 5.

Martial Arts practice

Entrance Gate of Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

In front of Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

After our sightseeing and picture taking sessions, we were starving so we went to the nearest restaurant/cafe.

The servers here at the Theater Cafe were very nice. We’ve spent around NTD 1,000 for our food. It’s a bit pricey, perhaps, because it’s located at the Chang Kai-Shek park. We could’ve looked for someplace else, but we were so hungry already. Not bad, though, the food here was actually good!

At the subway

After we ate, we went back to our apartment. We took the MRT again, as it is very convenient to use when going around Taipei.

Travelling by train is my favorite mode of transportation. I’m always fascinated about the subway system of the countries I visit. I love Taiwan subway in particular because it’s not too complicated. In this picture (to the left), I was looking at the subway map; and by this time I felt like I know all the lines by heart.

If you are planning on travelling to Taiwan alone, hold on to your maps and take a minute to study the subway system. Believe me, it will take you to places (literally).

Shilin Night Market

We reenergized and washed up in our apartment, then we went to Shilin Night Market. Taiwan has a lot of night markets. Read more: Top 10 Taiwan Night Markets

We went to Shilin because it’s one of the most famous ones and it’s near to where we were staying.

When we arrived, I was surprised because it looked different from the night markets I’ve visited before. Usually, in night markets, I see different stores/stalls aligned in one street. Shilin has three main streets that stems out from one point.

This one’s a bad picture, but this is all I have: (I’m not sure if you can actually the point where the three streets stemmed out)

Here are some of the stalls. There are also a lot of apparel stores, souvenir shops, and bubble teas!

One of the things that I really wanted to try was the night market’s Takoyaki! I know, it’s not actually a food that originated in Taiwan, as it is a Japanese food, but I heard that the Takoyaki here are very cheap. And they really were! I bought this for NTD 25.

We also tried this bread that tasted like honey-glazed donut. We bought five pieces for NTD 10.

The night market is a good place to buy souvenirs. We bought a lot of pasalubongs (souvenirs) here. Then, we went back to our apartment for a good night’s sleep.

That’s it guys for our first two days in Taiwan! We still had a lot of adventures on the third day so wait for it. I’ll be uploading it soon. Thank you for dropping by!

Check out my new blog post! In my recent post entitled 3 Days in Taiwan, I talked about my experience in preparing for my whole trip.

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