It’s been a while since my last trip because, oh boy, adulting is no joke! Since my little sister, who lives in Australia, will be coming to Taiwan for her birthday, we decided to meet there to celebrate.
Taiwan, located between the Philippines and Japan, is just 2 hours from Manila and 3 hours from Cebu, making it a great destination for Filipino travelers.
This will be my first time in Taiwan, and I’m really excited to meet my sister and explore the country. Originally, we have a 5-day itinerary in Taiwan but because of a super typhoon that will hit the country on the same week, we have to change our plans. *rolling eyes*
I’m also a bit anxious about how Taiwanese people differ from Hongkongers, since I had some bad experiences during my trip to Hong Kong. I know I shouldn’t be this judgmental, but once trauma hits, it tends to stick with you. LOL
Anyhow, I arrived in Taiwan at around 10am and met my sister in the Taoyuan Airport. Took the express train to Taipei Main Station then checked in to our hotel around Ximending area, which is a popular tourist destination here in Taipei.
On our first day, we strolled around Ximending, looking for anything that caught our interest. Surprisingly, people here are super nice and friendly compared to Hongkongers or even Singaporeans. Their culture is somewhat similar to Japan’s as well.
It was a tiring day for both of us wherein my sister had a long flight, and I came straight from work — so we called it a day… for now.
The next day, our itinerary focused mostly on the northern part, around Keelung City. Our first stop was Yehliu Geopark!
Yehliu Geopark consists of rock formations sculpted by sea waves over thousands of years. We really had fun exploring the area, but due to the rain, we weren’t able to see the other rock formations. But look at the beauty of nature!
Next stop is Jiufen Old Street, which is an hour away from Taipei and resembles the famous village in Spirited Away — almost! I’m a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s works, so I’m both excited and a bit confused since we don’t know where to catch the bus to Jiufen. The downside of DIY travel, haha!
But thanks to the heavens, we figured it out and we arrived there in time! Time to get drenched by rain. Yep, it was raining so hard we had to wear raincoats while exploring.
But worry not as we still enjoyed exploring Jiufen although a little bit uncomfortable and irritating LOL. Then we reached the famous spot which resembles the village from Spirited Away movie. Turns out it was a tea shop and we need a reservation before we can go in *creys* so all we could do was take photos from outside.
We had late lunch here and this seems to be famous around here so we tried it. It’s called braised pork.
While strolling around, I noticed that the town looks similar to Baguio, isn’t it?
The next day, our itinerary focused more on the city side of Taipei. We woke up early, gathered our stuff, and set off to explore Art Street.
If you’ll google “art street in Taipei”, it would be easier to find it so skip the hassle and look it up.
At night, we decided to go to the Elephant Mountain, a hiking destination by the locals. This is known for the best view of Taipei 101, which is the world’s tallest building from 2004 to 2009. With approximately 600 steps (yes, I counted it loljoke I just googled it), you’ll reach the boulder where you can see the panoramic view of the city. It’s really really steep so you need to be extra careful especially if you’re planning to go there at night just like us.
Nope, that’s not he-man, that’s me *laughs in HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA*
This is supposed to be a secret because you whoever-is-reading-this-bless-your-soul weren’t there anyway BUT we didn’t reach the top LOL. We just want to have a look at the building and that’s it!
The next day, we went to Taichung, the second-largest city in Taiwan. It takes about an hour to get there via their HSR (High Speed Rail). Sooo… what’s HSR again?
Well, HSR is like the baby sister of Japan’s Shinkansen, or bullet train. It operates at speeds of up to 300 km/h, which is almost comparable to the Shinkansen that reaches 320 km/h. Super fast, right?
Since the Philippines doesn’t have anything like it, I’m pretty unfamiliar with this kind of train and really excited to ride it. The HSR has its own dedicated platform, separate from the regular ones. The platform is quite narrow and small, so it can’t accommodate all passengers at once so you’ll need to go there about 5–10 minutes before your departure time.
Our trip in Taichung is a mix of a booked tour and DIY exploring. We booked a half-day tour in the morning, and our first stop is Zhongshan, where a popular ice cream parlor can be found.
For the DIY tour, we took a cab to Rainbow Village, a free tourist spot owned by a former military veteran. It became popular among locals because the artwork, painted by the owner, makes the entire place look vibrant.
Next is the famous bus stop in Dali District. We visited the fan-made Totoro bus stop and just took some few photos.
Then went back to Taipei.
We were supposed to go to Alishan on the 5th day, but as you may remember, I mentioned that the trip was shortened to 4 days instead of 5 due to an incoming super typhoon that week.
Since we still wanted to celebrate my sister’s birthday, we flew to Singapore instead.
This is her booking our flight via Scoot.
I will continue sharing about our next adventure on a separate blog about Singapore. You can check it here. But before leaving Taiwan, don’t forget to buy milk tea!
