Touchdown October 2012 @ Taiwan
My posts on my Taipei trip will be long and numerous. It was a 7d6n trip but the amount of things we managed to do is astounding.
With an hour's sleep, I was sustaining purely on adrenaline as I waited to board the 7.05am flight from Singapore to Taiwan on the 21/10/2012.
Nevermind, I'm leaving my graveyard shift behind for a week of adventure!! Not to mention I can barely read 20 words in Chinese and I'm going to Taipei where 90% of information I will need is in Chinese! Did I mention I was travelling alone and meandering the streets of Taipei for the 1st day of my week long trip? Sometimes getting lost is good.
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| Raining in SG. Hope no typhoon in TW |
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| Over the South China Sea |
1. Get luggage off carousel
2. Get Taiwan Youth Card
3. Get Taiwan Prepaid SIM Card
4. Figure out how to get to Taipei PigHome Apartment
Taiwan Youth Travel Card
I found out that not many people know of the existence of the Taiwan Youth Travel Card. I think it is a great thing that the Taiwanese Tourism Board implemented to promote youths travelling on a budget. I mean, travelling around when you have the physical fitness for it is a really good way to know a place better. Not everyone has the means to splurge but we all need to soak up new sights and sounds.
Anyway, the Youth Card is a key chain like thing that enables those who are 30 and below to get discounted rates at museums, galleries, other state owned facilities, freebies/discounted rates at restaurants and certain shops. It's somewhere in my room. I'll post a picture of it when I find it. Otherwise you can Google it.
Application is F-R-E-E. All you need to do is to go to the listed Visitor Information Counter around Taiwan and apply for it. You have to produce your passport for age verification. The information counter should pass you a booklet which lists all the places around Taiwan where a card holder could use the benefits of the card.
I did mine at the Visitor Information Counter at the Arrival Hall itself. After travelling around Taipei, this is the most convenient place to get it done. It is almost the first thing you see once you get past the sliding doors to the family area.
Taiwanese Perpaid SIM Card
You may ask why get a prepaid card in Taiwan? Trust me, it is way cheaper than applying for roaming from your home country.
I realized that it is really hard to find a mobile shop that sells prepaid data SIM cards. Again, the airport is such a convenient place to pick up touristy needs like this. For a tourist/visitor to buy a prepaid SIM card data or normal SIM, you need to produce your passport AND some sort of identification card. For Singaporean and Malaysian we have the NRIC. Driver's license ain't going to cut it.
The great thing about the prepaid data SIM is that the price of it depends on how many days you will require the data facilities. You get to use unlimited data within those allocated number of days. You can Viber/Watsapp/Youtube on the move to your hearts' content. The data SIM package also comes with some free talk time/SMS thrown in. After the credits for talk time/ SMS is used up, you just can't use those functions anymore but still able to receive incoming calls/messages.
Unfortunately data SIM package only available for Android/Apple phones. I carry a Blackberry so I got a normal prepaid SIM package from myfone instead.
My ride to Taipei
Next item is to catch my ride to Taipei Main Bus Station. My dear friend, KV (who makes a pilgrimage to Taipei every year) advised me to take the bullet train (HSR) all the way to Taipei Main Station as it is more convenient for a single traveler with an oversized bag.
Following the signboards in Taoyuan International Airport, I made it to the shuttle bus which ferried me to the nearest HSR station. It costs TWD30. Buy a ticket at the ticketing counter before you board and keep it with you until you get off the bus. There seems to be no shortage of shuttle bus so I decided to have my first meal in Taiwan!
I got the luk-luk (or Oden to you J-drama people) from a Hi-Life convenience store near the shuttle bus area. Luk-Luk is actually processed food like fish balls, beef balls, sausages, fish cakes, tofu, etc boiled in a broth. All you need to do is to pick up a container and fill it up with as many sticks as you want. Prices is dependent on which stick you choose. Remember to take some broth as well. It is really tasty from the soaking of the various foods. It tastes better than I described it in case you were wondering, "Eww, how could you leave food in that soup out in the open?"
Back to transport.
Taoyuan International Airport Shuttle Bus ► 25 minutes ► HSR station. Get your tickets from the ticketing counter. They speak decent English. I took a look at the ticketing machines and couldn't figure what it required me to do!
There are a few options when taking the HSR. You can choose either to go Economy or Business class. I tried Economy as the trip wasn't too far.
Taoyuan HSR ► 40 minutes + ► Taipei HSR Station = TWD160
You can buy a return ticket at the counter too. There is a option to make your tickets reservations online. However you gotta pick it up the day before your journey. A little redundant for the Taoyuan HSR if you are flying in only on that day itself.
There will be a couple of platforms after you get the tickets. The wordings only indicate North or South bound trains. If you are heading towards Taipei, look for Platform 2. On the platform, look at where your designated coach and seat will be. It's listed on the ticket. So you walk over to the area indicating the coach number and wait.
While you are waiting, look at the train conductors and officers of the HSR. Such eyecandies!
Once I reached Taipei Main Station, it was surprising to see the train "stewardess" helping the elderly folks out to the platform and carrying their luggage for them. How's that for service? Very impressed.
It's off to look for my crib in Taipei at Taipei PigHome Apartments!
Taiwan Youth Card (Taoyuan International Airport)
Address: No. 15, Hangzhan S. Rd., Dayuan Township, Taoyuan County
Tel:Terminal 1 (+886) 03-3982790
Terminal 2 (+886) 03-3983341
Opening Hours: 7:00 - 23:30 (all year round)
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