Taipei Trip 2023

Scoot started having its Tuesday promo, and we found a relatively inexpensive deal! After hubby mentioned it to a few friends, we found ourselves an additional companion for the trip and a free Taiwan SIM card plus free MRT rides between Taoyuan Airport and Taipei Main Station. 🙂

It was K’s maiden trip to Taipei, and she wanted to try beef noodles and do more scenic visits, so this trip deviated a bit from the 8-meals-per-day kind of itinerary, haha! Hubby wanted to eat a lot of braised pork rice, so I die die squeezed in 4 meals of beef noodles and braised pork rice into the itinerary. Happy bellies, happy companions 😛

This time, we decided to stick to our our usual hotel stay in 新驛旅店台北車站 CityInn Hotel Taipei Station. Note that Branch II and III are just side by side, and we have stayed in both before. Both felt the same.

Taiwan the Lucky Hand Draw

A week prior to the trip, we signed up for the Taiwan the Lucky Land lucky draw, for a chance to win NT5000 e-vouchers. The lucky draw is from 1 May 2023 to 30 June 2025, with the most number of prizes in 2023.

We did the lucky draw at the arrival hall of Taoyuan International Airport, and my lucky hand got us a pre-paid EasyCard with NT5000, valid till end of this year. Remember to click the coin within the 10 second period and not wait for the countdown!

I personally think the hotel voucher might be more useful (if you haven’t already paid in full for your hotel), as it was quite difficult to find shops or restaurants that accept EasyCard payment (EasyCard Wallet is an entirely different thing!), except convenience stores and Cosmed. I ended up stocking up a lot of facial masks, lol!

e-Gate

Singapore e-passport holders are among the few countries eligible for enrolment to use the e-gate to clear customs. We simply signed up at the counter to receive a stamp in our passport (valid till passport expiry), filled up the online arrival card and proceeded to the e-gate for clearance.

Our itinerary:

Day 1 – Friday

• Touched down at 桃園國際機場 Taoyuan International Airport 4:15pm, exchanged our passes for the free express train ride from 桃園捷運 Taoyuan Metro Express train to Taipei Main Station
• Dinner at 大稻埕魯肉飯
• Coffee break at吃咖 Chikafe
• Checked in hotel
• Supper at 寧夏夜市 Ningxia Night Market [see previous trip]

Day 2 – Saturday

• Breakfast at 小王煮瓜 Wang’s Broth
• Check out 艋舺龍山寺 Bangka Longshan Temple
• Coffee at 咖啡帶 The Coffee Belt
• Lunch at 半島牛肉麵 Bandao Beef Noodle Restaurant
• Checked out 誠品, A13 and 四四南村
• Tea break at 豆花森
• Climb 象山 Elephant Mountain and waited for sunset
• Dinner at 四川吳抄手 信義店 Chili House Restaurant

Day 3 – Sunday (Engaged driver)

• Breakfast at 老圓環食品 Old Yuanhuan [see our first trip here]
• Grabbed coffee at Cama Cafe [still as good as before – see previous trip here]
• Day trip to 正濱漁港-彩色街屋, 象鼻岩, 南雅奇岩, 陰陽海, 九份, 十分瀑布, 十分老街
• Dinner at 饒河街觀光夜市 Raohe Night Market [see previous trips]
• Facial mask shopping

Day 4 – Monday

• Breakfast at 寧波生煎包
• Last minute shopping at 快車肉乾 nearby
• Coffee at 彼得好咖啡（南門店）Peter Better Cafe
• Lunch at 根久川味麵點
• More facial mask shopping
• Took 桃園捷運 Taoyuan Metro Express train to 桃園國際機場 Taoyuan International Airport with early dinner at homee KITCHEN at the airport since the flight was re-timed from 3:50pm to 5:15pm.