Wandering Fel

Showing posts with label Taipei Main Station. Show all posts

"As I sing this song, I will go back to you."

The last day is always hard to go through but every trip must end and the time comes when we have to come back slaving in the reality. But if you love taking train in Taiwan, you have one more thing to try out now. Since March this year, the Taiwanese has finally completed the construction of its equivalent of Airport Express in Hong Kong. Yes, you now have the option to take train all the way from Taipei Main Station to Taoyuan International Airport. If you are scared to get lost at Taipei Main Station, you don't have to worry because there are signs everywhere which lead to Taoyuan Airport MRT line.

10D9N Taiwan Trip: How to take the Taoyuan Airport MRT?

The train looks clean and brand new because when we rode it, a week has just passed from the opening day. We were quite excited to board the train but we could not get seats. Being lazy to wait for the next train, we decided to just stand all the way since we will sit for hours on the plane anyway.

Taking the new Taoyuan Airport MRT in Taiwan

There are few stops to make before you will reach Terminal 1 or 2 of Taoyuan International Airport so it's better if you exercise patience and wait for the next train if you cannot stand for a while. The whole journey takes around 40 minutes-ish if I recall correctly.

The train passing by a lot of industrial and settlement areas. Kinda remind you of the HDB houses and the industrial area in Singapore actually. The whole trip only costs us around SGD 4 which is way cheaper than taking cab from Taipei city (which can cost around SGD 50). We love this train line already. Hahaha.

The view from Taoyuan Airport MRT in Taiwan

Since we manage to finish the check in procedure quite fast, we still had ample time to enjoy our last meal in Taiwan. We made our way to the food court area at the basement level and I was so happy to be able to find Formosa Chang and Coco Bubble Tea. Oh yeah, I'm not losing any chance to enjoy my favourite drink in the world, bubble tea. Hahaha.

Last meal in food court at Taoyuan International Airport Taiwan

This time around, I had my braised pork rice (lu rou fan) with pork chop. The size of the pork chop seems to be smaller compared to last time I ordered the same dishes but thankfully, the taste remains the same.

Lu Rou Fan and Pork Chop from Formosa Chang

Close view of the now-leaner pork chops. I wonder how do the Taiwanese fry their pork chop until they can reach certain crispness without losing its flavour.

Pork chop from Formosa Chang at Taoyuan International Airport

It was finally time for us to walk to our gate. We will miss Taiwan so deeply but I guess we'll see when we are going to come back to this lovely country.

Until then, zai jian Taiwan!

"Don't let your dreams be dreams."

Hello everyone! It's finally one day to Friday. Currently, I have no idea why this youtube stop playing in the background of my Ipad but until I figure it out I suppose I just have to be satisfied with Spotify for now. Continuing our journey in Taiwan, we are now ready to continue our journey to the next city on our list, Taichung. The fastest way to reach Taichung from Taipei is by taking the High Speed Rail (HSR). Do you know that you can actually book the HSR ticket online (with allocated seats) and then collect the tickets later one upon arriving in Taiwan? It was so convenient to buy the tickets at this website: https://irs.thsrc.com.tw/IMINT?locale=en and the best thing is, everything's in English. Yeay!

10D9N Taiwan Trip: From Taipei to Taichung

You would have to collect your HSR tickets from either convenience stores (e.g. 7-11, Family Mart, etc) or the ticketing machines at Taipei Main Station though. We prefer to collect the ticket at 7-11 (with handling fee charges of 20NTD per ticket) because the 7-11 staff is always ready to help us whenever we got lost in reading the traditional Chinese characters. After paying the NTD 20 fees, the 7-11 staff will give you the pink ticket like above where you can scan your way in to the train platform. Since there are many trains leaving Taipei (once in every 15 minutes), you have to pay attention to the train number and the destination before boarding the train.

High Speed Rail at Taipei Main Station in Taiwan

Within less than an hour, we have reached Taichung HSR Station. I was kinda having a mixed feeling because I love taking train and yet, I also like the fact that I don't have to waste time on commuting. Such a conflicting feeling. We stayed at Le Parker Hotel in Taichung and as expected, our bedroom was not ready when we arrived around 12-ish. 3 hours later, we finally got our twin bedroom key. The twin bedroom at Le Parker Hotel is definitely more spacious and comfortable than our twin bedroom at Diary of Taipei in Ximending. The room rate for Le Parker Hotel is usually lower than 100 SGD per night so I think this is quite a great deal to find for accommodation in Taichung.

Shower room is pretty standard and there is no fancy bidet on sight but we are quite satisfied with the clean bedroom and bathroom. Amenities such as tooth brush, tooth paste, comb, sanitary bag and hairdryer are available too.

Shower room at Le Parker Hotel Taichung Taiwan

While waiting for the room key, I managed to drink this popular convenience store item in Taiwan, Uni-President's papaya milk. It tastes so good and always makes me want to go back to Taiwan whenever I think about it.

Papaya Milk Tea from Family Mart at Taiwan

After we are done checking in, it's time for us to walk around the vicinity of Le Parker Hotel. The main reason for us to choose to stay at Le Parker Hotel is actually because it is located within walking distance to Fengjia University and Fengjia Night Market, which is supposedly the biggest night market in Taiwan.

But the night market is still empty in the afternoon obviously so we just spent our time walking around Fengjia University (weird post coming up) and convenience stores. Oh look, Gudetama biscuits. It seems that Gudetama is well loved here in Taiwan.

Gudetama Biscuits at Family Mart Taichung Taiwan

Le Parker Hotel is located at:

No. 16 Lane 234, Chih Shan Road, Situn District

Taichung, Taiwan

We had a situation here:

- Want to visit Kaohsiung but only have 2 days to spare
- Budget is kinda tight to prefer to avoid taking High Speed Rail (HSR) [if money is not an issue, taking a HSR is the best way to go to Kaohsiung as it only takes 89 minutes from Taipei to Kaohsiung).
- Willing to travel at weird hour (i.e. right after midnight)

If your situation is kinda similar to us, poor students, well this approach may be suitable for you.

1. Buy the cheapest midnight train ticket to Kaohsiung days before

Cheapest Train Fare from Taipei to Kaohsiung

1170NTD is the cheapest you can get if you want to travel by train to Kaohsiung. This is way cheaper than taking a HSR. A HSR ticket from Taipei to Kaohsiung costs around 3000 NTD. However, it takes 6 hours for the cheap train to reach Kaohsiung from Taipei. Make sure you book seats unless you want to regret it later like us (see below).

And that's the reason why we decided to take the midnight train. So we can just sleep inside the train and welcome morning sun in Kaohsiung. Sounds like a good plan?

2. Taipei Main Station at night

Taipei Main Station at Midnight Hour Taiwan

Since you are taking a midnight train, you must ensure you reach Taipei Main Station right before the end of Taiwan MRT's operation time. Just to be safe, we left our rented room near Taipower Building MRT Station around 11pm-ish. And this is how Taipei Main Station looks night at night.

And now, if you are a solo-traveller, there's a thing that you may want to be a bit careful...

Homeless people in Taipei Main Station Taiwan

Other than those passengers waiting for the train, there are some homeless people taking "refuge" (or "making-their-own-home") at Taipei Main Station at night. During the day, they stay mainly outside the station because the security will make them do so. But at night, they are allowed to stay inside. Although they most likely just sleep, it's not recommended to approach them or pick a fight with them. In addition, they are smelly. Well they don't have a house, so you don't expect them to take a bath now, wouldn't you? #harshlife

3. Making your way to the train platform

Taipei Main Station Train Platform from Taipei to Kaohsiung

When it's around 15 minutes left to the departing time, you can start making your way to the train platform to wait for the train and board accordingly.

4. The importance of booking a seat

Now, if you notice above, our tickets did not have seat number. And we only realised this when we are inside the train. This means, we can sit on whichever vacant seats as long as there are no people booking that particular seats. This created nightmare along our journey because we could not sleep peacefully as the train made a lot of stops (remember, this is the cheap train, peeps!) and hence, there is a risk whenever the train is making a stop that someone gonna come to us claiming him/ her seat. Oh my gawd. Some people has started sitting on the floor (yes, I'm not kidding you).

Thanks goodness, nobody book our seats until 3AM. So we can sleep peacefully after that until we reach Kaohsiung.

Lesson learnt, we quickly booked seat for the trip back to Taipei the next day to ensure that no such thing happening to us again. #lessoninlife

Fyi, no additional cost charged if you book seats. So BOOK YOUR SEATS! #important

Raining. Free time. Alone. Perfect activity? Take a stroll at Taipei Main Station. Why? Simply because there are a lot of things to see there.

When I just arrived in Taipei for few days, I did a mistake which is visiting the mall at Taipei Main Station too early (by early, I mean around 11ish in the morning). If you want to see all the stores opened, I suggest you don't come too early. Come after lunchtime. Really.

I feel like taking a stroll in the underground mall today especially since it's pouring cats and dogs outside. To spare you the agony of turning around in circles (I have lost my way quite a number of times in Taipei Main Station. U_U), you can directly go to exit M4 (the one beside Starbucks) and you will see the sign of Eslite (a famous bookstore chain in Taiwan).

Go to the level below and you'll arrive at K Underground Mall.

You can find restaurant, fast food stalls (KFC, McD), shoes store, clothes store, accessories store, etc here. Quite fun to go in and go out from each stores to find out what they are selling.

K Underground Mall Shops Taipei Main Station

I love this shop called 86shop. This is a heaven for ladies looking for skincare and makeup. Similar shop has opened in Shida Night Market but you have to leave your bag in the locker outside. So troublesome. You don't have to do that here.

86Shop Make Up Store Taipei Main Station

Bought a few eye masks from My Beauty Diary here. I love wearing these eye masks. So comforting although I'm a bit skeptical of whether it works for my dark circles/ puffy eyes. In addition, I bought 咖啡麵包 (Kāfēi miànbāo) or coffee bun from the small bakery stall just outside K Underground Mall (at the Taipei Main Station Z Area). The smell of the buns lured me in

successfully.

Best Roti Coffee Bun Taipei Main Station

Other than the original coffee bun, the one I ordered have sausage inside. Meat + coffee at one go. Nom nom nom. Yummy! Think it costs around 30 NTD if I'm not wrong.

If you are not tired yet, you can go to another section of Taipei Main Station, which is also full of stores. Awesome station, right? ^^

Find great hotel deals in Taipei here!

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )

Wandering Fel

10D9N Taiwan Trip: How to take the Taoyuan Airport MRT?

10D9N Taiwan Trip: Le Parker Hotel, Taichung

Taipei Eats: Sushi Shop, Gongguan MRT Station

Cheapest and fastest way to go to Kaohsiung from Taipei, Taiwan

I Love Taipei Main Station

Taiwan Travel: K Underground Mall at Taipei Main Station