On Accommodation

The first night there was rather haphazard. We reached the airport at about 6.30PM; from there we have to find our way to our hotel situated in Ximenting. We literally asked our way to our hotel and got the shock of my life. Not because of the conditions of the hotel, not because we could not find it, but simply because I got the date wrong. My trip was supposed to be from the 22 May to 29 May, but I booked the rooms from 22 Apr to 29 Apr. I cannot believe my carelessness and I never felt so stupid before. Fortunately, the lady from the counter decides to help me out by calling the agency which I booked the rooms from. With their help I managed to continue my stay in the hotel without having to pay extra money thus averting a "costly" mistake. I wish to thank the hotel staffs for their help and also the agency that allowed me to change date with such a short notice. (For those who are interested in the hotel, please refer to this site, for more details. And the site which I booked the rooms from is, Octopus Travel.) To add on, this hotel is quite a budget one. We spent 567 SGD for seven nights there. This breaks down to 40.5 SGD per person per night. The location is good, right at the heart of Ximenting. It is most suitable for those who are not spending a lot of time in the hotel.

Personal ratings for the hotel:
Service 4/5
Hotel quality 3/5
Location 4.5/5

Final comments, I would still choose this hotel if I were to go to Taipei again. It is quite worth the money and you cannot really find too many other hotels with a better location.

On Travel

When I am first there, I was quite shocked by their disorganized traffic. I must say that their road users are generally quite reckless. There are a huge numbers of vehicles on the road making things worse. Fortunately, in Taipei they have an extensive MRT system, locals call it 捷运. I find the MRT the most convenient way to move about in Taipei. You can reach most parts of Taipei City just by taking the MRT. There are tourist information counters in every MRT stations, so if you need any assistance you can just approach the staff there. Interesting enough, inside the MRT station, you would see a totally different sight as compared to their disorganized traffic. People inside the station move about in an orderly manner. For example, they would keep to the right when using the escalator so as to allow people who are rushing for time to move on the left. They would even queue up for their chance to board the MRT train. Inside the train there are priority seats allocated for those who are disabled or pregnant and etc. The people there would generally avoid taking up these seats even when the train is crowded. This is something which I salute them for.

Final comment, like I said before, the MRT is the easiest mode of transport and it is relatively fast as well. It is quite cheap as well, most suitable for travellers on a free and easy trip yet on a budget. If you want to travel to the outskirts of Taipei City, you may choose to transfer to a railway train.

On the Locals

The locals are generally quite helpful. They will help if you ask. But one thing to note is that, not all of them are fluent with English, it would be best if you speak mandarin. If not, the staffs from the information counters would be able to assist you in English, so fear not. The staffs from the information counters are very polite and they serve with enthusiasm. There was one incident when a lady went all the way to help us purchase our tickets for the railway train ride to one of the city's outskirts. This is how far they would go to help a total stranger, and I find it rather heart-warming.

On Food and Shopping

There are quite a number of places to eat and shop over at Taipei. I will just introduce a few.

Shi Lin Night Market

This is a place for tourists to try out the local delicacies. Food like (it is basically fried cockles with egg, sounds simple but it taste really good), 棺材板 (this is fried bread with some sort of fillings inside) and the XXXXXL chicken cutlet are some of the specialties here. There are still quite a wide variety of foods over at Shi Lin. You have to try those stalls along the streets; those are equally good as well. But those are up to you to find out. I would not want to elaborate further as there are simply too many to describe.

Other than food, you can also opt to shop for cheap stuffs over here. The whole area is filled with retail shops of clothes, shoes and etc. These items are all quite cheap. However shoppers would have to compromise in terms of the quality. Try not to make hasty decisions just because the stuffs here are cheap. Take a good look before you decide to but as some of the items here are in really bad shape.

I picked up a couple of T-shirts over here for just less than 10 SGD. So this is a must-go area for shopaholics.

Ximenting

Ximenting is a total different sight as of Shi Lin. In Ximenting you would not see as many street stalls. And the foods here are of an even wider variety. Not only you can find local food but also food from other cultures. The things here are not exceptionally cheap but if you spend some time walking around, you will still find shops that offer good price for some quality items. You can shop for souvenirs as well. There are shops that offer personalized souvenirs for you to bring home.

I think the most famous food stall over here is (it is a local type of vermicelli; it is very popular in Ximenting. Most of the time you would need to queue up for it). The "Bubble" Tea here is also a must-try. "Bubble" Tea is a special type of drink that originates from Taiwan. There is a long list of flavours for you to choose from. So take your time to try out the different flavours.

Please note that Ximenting is only alive after about 11.30AM. So avoid going there too early.

Jiufen

Jiufen is a place outside of Taipei City. It is not really simple to get there. You would have to take a train from Taipei railway station to reach 瑞方 (Ruifang) station. Then transfer onto a bus to reach Jiufen. Just approach the tourist information counters for help if you are lost.

Jiufen is more of a place for food than shopping. The local specialty here is the pineapple cookies and other Chinese-style cookies. If you intend to bring some cookies home, I would recommend that you place your order with the cookie stalls then start your sightseeing, as you would likely have to wait for 30mins to an hour for your orders. These cookies are freshly baked so I believed it is quite worth the wait. Other than the cookies there is still an interesting food called the 芋圆冰 (this is yam balls with ice.)

Danshui Old Street

There is a lot of food to try here but there are just a few local specialties. One of which is 阿婆铁蛋 (it is actually preserved egg). I did not try this as I do not fancy salty stuff. But my friend tried it and he said it is not very salty and the taste is not too bad. So if you like salty food maybe you can give it a shot. Other than the egg, another food I would like to recommend is 阿给 (the locals named it arcade. It is hard to picture it just by its name. It is basically beancurd stuffed with some kind of fillings and vermicelli.)

Danshui is not really a place for shopping as well. But you can find very interesting souvenirs over here.

Wulai

Wulai is situated at the outskirts of Taipei City, where the natives live in. So you can find really exotic food here. One food that I strongly recommend is the wild boar products over here. You can try out the wild boar sausage, it tastes really good. And if you are daring enough you can even try food like bees. Yeah bees, a kind of insects that collect honey. Haha... We tried the bees. Though it is not very appealing or appetizing from the sight of it, it tastes really good when we eat them. It is deep fried. So it turned out to be very crispy. You would not have a feeling that you are eating bees once they are in your mouth.

You can check out other products by the natives here. There are some other foods that taste really good as well.

Yong Kang Street

>This is the last place that I want to introduce. I must say that as compared to the places I mentioned above, the food here are relatively more expensive. However, you can expect a higher quality and service as the price get higher. The most famous restaurant here is 鼎泰丰, it is a restaurant serving Chinese cuisine. We did not manage to try it as it was extremely crowded when we were there. It was quite a pity. So I would recommend you call to reserve a place the day before, if not you might end up like us.

Fortunately, we still managed to taste another food that is quite extraordinary. The stall is called 冰馆 (it literally means a room of ice). The ice dessert here is quite huge. I would recommend 2 people to share one.

On Sightseeing and Entertainment

I think there aren't a lot of places with good sceneries over in Taipei. And the main focus of my trip to Taipei is not sightseeing, so I dare not comment too much on this issue. However I still have places to recommend, but they are really quite limited.

Yang Ming Shan

Yang Ming Shan seems to be a tourists' hotspot for sightseeing. Sad to say we did not go there simply due to the extremely hot weather while we were there. Temperature can hit 38 °C. So we decided that it was not a good idea to go there for sightseeing. Though we did not go there I still believe that it is a place worth going if the weather is not that hot. Maybe in the autumn it would be a perfect place for sightseeing.

Wulai

Yes, Wulai again. That is why I highly recommend this place. Not only is it good for shopping, it also have some pretty decent sceneries as well. I think the main attraction would be Wulai's waterfall. Though is not a very huge one, it is still worth going. You can just treat the journey there as an after-meal exercise.

Ba Li

Ba Li is a place near Danshui. You can take a ferry to reach there from Danshui. From there you can have a good view of Danshui and the sea. Once again the view is not exceptionally good but it is still better than nothing.

As for entertainment, I think I really cannot comment too much on this. There are quite a lot of hot springs in Taipei that serve as a form of "entertainment". However due to the weather, we did not go to any hot springs. (The weather is already hot enough)

I think in Taipei the main entertainment in Taipei would be shopping. You can go check out the clubs and their nightlife if you are keen. Other than that I don't really think there are any other entertainments. If you can find any entertainment that is worth trying over in Taipei, please contribute.

Conclusion

I went to Taipei for eight days and seven nights. There are several things I want my reader to take note of. I will list them in point form for easy reference.

1. The weather is very hot in this time of the year over at Taipei. I live in Singapore, a country that is constantly warm and humid throughout the year, so if I feel that it is hot over there then it got to be really hot. Temperatures can hit 38°C, making it very uncomfortable to sightsee in open areas. So I suggest not going for such a long trips during this warm period of the year. Maybe a 3-4 days trip would be enough. If you want a longer trip, then maybe go during autumn or winter period.
2. Taipei isn't a very big place. So I do not suggest people to go there on a package tour. The transportation system there is quite well done and convenient. So it is really easy to move about. The tourist guide and map provided at the airport is quite comprehensive and detailed, so you won't get lost easily. Furthermore, if you go on a package trip, you will definitely miss out a lot on shopping and the food over there. There are a lot to taste, see and shop, and I am very sure you would want to do it at your own pace.
3. I have to admit that the food there taste really good. But I think that is because most of them are spiced up with excessive seasonings and oil. So I believed that the foods there are relatively unhealthy. Anyway, I think it is ok to indulge in such food once in a while. Just like when you are there for a trip. Another thing to add on. I put on quite some weight from the trip. So I got to start exercising to get rid of those excess fats. lol...
4. This is a warning to shopaholics out there. Be prepared that you might spend so much that you may find yourselves with insufficient money to get back to the airport to catch your flight. Haha... I am not kidding. The things there are often much cheaper than you can find elsewhere. So I believed there is no point in asking you to bring more money just in case, as you will end up spending those excess cash as well. lol...