Travel: Taiwan - Taipei

[atrecord]

Just came back from Taiwan this week. Agree that it’s important to be ‘rain-proof’ when there, else could really spoil the mood. We were caught in drizzle for 4 days, and heavier rain on another 2, and good weather on another 4. It helps a lot if your shoes are water proof. We wore track shoes for comfort, but they became soaked on the day with heavy rain, and I ended up spending 2 hours in the hotel later using hairdryer to dry everybody’s shoes… as we needed to wear them again the next day. If you do not like to carry umbrellas, best option would be long jackets that are water-proof (or at least resistant), on top of keeping warm.


And if you’re there, other then the many different types of Taiwanese snacks, i’ve one recommendation: you should try 姜母鸭. I do not take ginger at all, but took our guide/driver’s suggestion to try this, and was pleasantly surprised by the unique taste of the soup. Even DS who’s 7 liked it. It also supposedly helps to ward off the cold and help the body to keep warm. Quite affordable too, with my family of 6 (4 adults + 2 kids) spending only ~NT1300.

Must also be prepared for earthquake. We were warned by our guide/driver as we travelled from airport->hualian, and sure enough, experienced a Ritcher 5 earthquake in the middle of the night. It lasted barely seconds (at most 10), but the electricity went out, and didn’t come back on till morning… Apparently it’s very normal to have minor quakes. But what we saw at the earthquake museum was a totally different monster… they have a simulator there too.

Had toyed with idea of driving around there, but DW said better not. Having gone through the trip, I agreed with her completely…

[Www]

SarChar:

if you have time in taipei before you start your tour around Taiwan, you may want to consider to change your $$$ at DBS Taiwan.


The exchange rate at Taoyuan Airport was S$1 = $23.31 but DBS Taiwan was S$ 1 = $ 23.596. In Singapore the rate was $23.22-23.30.

Only if you need to change a lot of money then can see the saving. Only DBS Taiwan have better rates. We had to change $$$ for 16 people so we had some decent saving.

For the local line, we did not buy the package for unlimited usage. Unless you need to be on data plan 18hrs of the day, then maybe worth to buy the unlimited usage. It was NT1000 at least...

Instead my Taiwan colleague suggested to me to buy the SIM Card from any 7-Eleven for NT300. Very cheap. To buy the card, you will need your IC AND passport. We bought 2 of these cards. At the end of 16 days, using the phone to call local calls and my private driver, I still had NT200+ left on each SIM Card.

Honestly at every minsu and also hotel, wifi is available everywhere. Personally i dont think we need to buy the data plan if you are not always on FB etc.

Need to bring IC or passport to exchange money in DBS Taiwan? Pay in cash?

[BigDevil]

Bring passport. I made that mistake and had to go back when the kids were napping in the afternoon.


How else do you plan to transact? Write them a check :?

[Www]

BigDevil:

Bring passport. I made that mistake and had to go back when the kids were napping in the afternoon.


How else do you plan to transact? Write them a check :?

Credit card?

[mummyv]

hi ter_wen


yes 7-11 also sells shoe covers but I did not buy them. Rain boots a must unless your kid is old enuf to avoid puddles and step very, very carefully. Try w 2 pair of socks as rain boots have no cushioning and are not comfortable to walk in for long. 2 pix from 7-11 for thermal wear and rain equipment... http://i46.tinypic.com/2u46luf.jpg\">

[mummyv]

another pix http://i49.tinypic.com/2u9ofbk.jpg\">

[ter_wen]

thks v much mummyv.

the pics are useful.
i got pvc covered shoes for them, pvc material = waterproof hor.

is thermal wear a must?
the only place that seems to be really cold will be hehuanshan ya?
i intend to layer them as we go up, with wool pullover then winter jackets and gloves. got heat packs too.
enough ma?

we are skipping hualien.
will be driving up to hehuanshan from puli instead.
cos part of the su-hua hwy is closed due to landslide.
hai.

[Busymom]

ter_wen:

keroppi:

[quote=\"mummyv\"]hi keroppi


Enjoy your holiday. We certainly enjoyed ourselves. Kids had bubble tea/milk tea everyday. 7-11 is everywhere so do not worry about not having an umbrella. Readily available for sale. Their instant meals are surprising quite good. Fresh juices & veggies were amazing. It was eating and snacking non stop. Interesting eats are lotus flower hot pot, bird nest fern, jellied pig/duck blood, fried chicken outlets even sell chicken necks... Temp at hehuanshan is 6 deg, Cing Jing 11 deg otherwise Taipei is like Genting except wet, wet, wet.

Thanks, mummyv. I'm printing this snippet out. Wow wow wow ... you make me feel flying off this instance.

me too.

wanna check again, for kids shoes, should i bring those rain boots?
or i can buy something like shoe covers in taiwan?

what kind of waterproof shoes can i get for kids?[/quote]Actually, one of kids was wearing suade boots and another track shoes (has more PVC material type). Their shoes didn't get very wet, maybe because if the rain was too heavy, I actually gave them an umbrella on top of their raincoat. As what some said, umbrellas are readily available and cheap. Think NT69?

[Busymom]

ter_wen:

thks v much mummyv.

the pics are useful.
i got pvc covered shoes for them, pvc material = waterproof hor.

is thermal wear a must?
the only place that seems to be really cold will be hehuanshan ya?
i intend to layer them as we go up, with wool pullover then winter jackets and gloves. got heat packs too.
enough ma?

we are skipping hualien.
will be driving up to hehuanshan from puli instead.
cos part of the su-hua hwy is closed due to landslide.
hai.

To me, thermal is only needed if it is sub-zero or close to zero. With enough layers, it should be sufficient and more flexible. With thermal, it may get too warm.. unless you want to wear only thermal in the car?

[Busymom]

BigDevil:

Bring passport. I made that mistake and had to go back when the kids were napping in the afternoon.


How else do you plan to transact? Write them a check :?

DH forgot to bring his passport.. but he managed to get someone to help him exchange. :boogie: