One of my favourite countries to visit is definitely Taiwan. It was always so exciting when I get rostered for Taiwan during my flying days. It is only a 4-hour plus flight, one meal service and we get to stay in a nice 5-star hotel. I love having Shabu Shabu (I love soupy meals) and fried chicken cutlets, taxis are much more affordable than in Singapore, many cheap & pretty shoes in Ximending, I can stock up on my favourite skincare brands For Beloved, My Beauty Diary facial masks and this clinical brand of red wine mask in a tub.
But sadly, I only get to be rostered on a Taiwan flight once in a blue moon. Reason being, there has to be a Taiwanese and a Japanese stewardesses onboard, due to the route the flight covers, so there aren't much vacancies left for local stewardesses. Divide it by the probability that we get a Taiwan flight out of the 5000+ stewardesses...sigh.
Ironically, the best tips I have for those who are visiting Taiwan are not from my flying days. When everything is arranged nicely for you, there isn't much to plan and compare.
I was really happy to be able to go Taiwan again this year for my pilgrimage with my family after a 6-year hiatus. Nothing has changed much in Taiwan. It is still as adorable. Some of its cab drivers are still very angsty when broaching on the topic of domestic politics and when they know we are from Singapore, the politician they remember most vividly is Mr Lee Kwan Yew.
Not everyone like Mr Lee or agree with him, but I think it is none of their business to comment on how things should be run in Singapore and start putting our forefathers down. I'm sorry but if what you know is from hearsay and misleading media, then you are not more suitable than me to comment on Singapore. I don't see why I should be paying for your taxi service and yet put up with condescending words about my country's politicians. I got into a verbal disagreement that has me raising my voice at a Taipeitaxi driver who dislikes Mr Lee for a particular comment Mr Lee once made and the taxi driver wishes for Malaysia to start a war on Singapore. 就是為他出一口氣. I was like what the fish @$%#*. How many innocent people are going to die because of one puny selfish thought of yours? Do you know how many Singaporeans have relatives in Malaysia and vice-versa? Did you just advocate killing of human beings to satisfy your silly pride??? My mum was pulling my arm, telling me to leave the topic to the men (my Husband who was in the front seat and the taxi driver) and I told my mum that when it comes to defending my country and, for goodness sake, innocent lives, everybody has a duty. I'm not going to let my gender determine that I should always play the damsel in distress. (I must say standing up for what I believe in gets easier with age. Don'tknow why on earth I'm so timid to speak up during my younger days.)
So yes, tip no. 1 will be never to broach on the topic of politics with the cab drivers. Totally spoil the holiday mood.
TIP #2： BEST PLACE TO CHANGE SGD TO TWD
If you think the best place to change Singapore Dollar to Taiwan Dollar is in Singapore, you're wrong. Not even Chinatown has the best exchange rates. As a air crew, I used to change my Singapore Dollars at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after touching down. There is no difference in the rate between the various money changers of different banks at the Taoyuan airport.
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| Exchange rate at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, 11 April 2014 |
The exchange rate was 1 SGD to 23.56 TWD. It was 0.3 - 0.4 more than Singapore money changers. There is also a processing fee of 30 TWD to change money at the Taoyuan Airport. It is not reflected in the receipt above, because just before this transaction, I changed S$2100 and the money changer treated both transactions as one, hence I was only charged 30TWD once.
I went Taiwan twice this year. Once, I touched down at 5plus am. Recently I reached Taiwan at 5pm. Both times, there were money changer counters open.
So if you are changing more than S$100, then it certainly makes sense to save the commuting to the money changers in Singapore and do it straight at Taoyuan Airport. The rate difference will more than cover the 30 TWD processing fee, and hey, you save the transport fares you could have spent in Singapore!
But ladies, the best is yet to come. During this trip, by a stroke of luck, my mum & the Husband discovered the best place to change our Singapore Dollars to Taiwan Dollars!
Surprise surprise!! Turned out to be our local bank, DBS! They have many branches in Taipei and whole of Taiwan.
It can be pretty hard to change money upon leaving the airport. Money changers are not available everywhere, unlike in Singapore, where we know there is at least one in a shopping centre. But not for Taiwan. At big department stores like 新光三越, they provide money changing services for currencies like Japan Yen, USD, China RMB, Hong Kong Dollar, but not our Singapore Dollar. Why??
And while in Taipei 101, we went to the bank at the building, thinking that we can change for TWD there. Most disappointed to learn from the bank counter staff that of all the banks in Taiwan, only Bank of Taiwan accepts SGD to change for TWD. What a strange policy when at the airport, there were several money changing counters of other banks!
So my family was walking along the street, looking for Bank of Taiwan with road directions from the hotel staff. When they saw DBS, they walked in, just wanting to try their luck and BINGO!! Turned out DBS has the most favourable exchange rate for SGD to TWD! I'm pretty sure because the bank is patriotic in a foreign land and this is how they show they love Singaporeans! Hahaha!
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| Exchange rate at DBS Taichung Branch, 14 April 2014 |
Exchange rate at DBS was 23.92, OMG! Compared to the 23.56 at Taoyuan Aiport 3 days ago and no processing fee at DBS Taiwan!
Things to note:
1) DBS banks in Taiwan are open till 330pm from Mon-Fri. The banks are not opened on Saturday, unlike in Singapore.
2)
My personal experience is, don't rely on the hotel staff to tell you
where the bank
branch is because Taiwan is really a big place and some of the staff
might not be so aware of a foreign bank location compared to their local banks.
Check out online where the DBS bank branches are. Then, ask the hotel
concierge which branch is the nearest to your hotel.
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| http://www.dbs.com.tw/personal-zh/deposits/other-services.page |
I would recommend reading the DBS Taiwan webpage in Chinese, because the English version will show the street addresses in hanyu pinyin and that will be tricky if we pronounce the road names wrongly to the taxi drivers. If you are not proficient in Chinese, at least you can get the hotel staff to look through and write it down for you.
In the above screenshot, the first 3 words circled in blue indicates the city. So if you are in Taipei, look out for addresses beginning with 台北市. If you are in Taichung, look out for addresses beginning with 台中市.
3)
Taxis in Taiwan are affordable, even more so when you are in a group.
It cost about TWD115 ( approx. S$4.80) for a 10-15min cab ride for us.
We wanted to go to a department store at Taichung, so we went to the DBS
branch that was nearest to the department store, to save us unnecessary
travelling time and cost. No point travelling to a different direction,
if there is a nearer branch to our next destination.
4) To make a better comparison, you can always check out SGD to TWD exchange rate from DBS Taiwan website:
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| http://www.dbs.com/tw/zh/personal/deposits/pages/fe3.aspx |
There's
a warm feeling of home when we stepped into a DBS bank in Taiwan. The
familiar logo, the corporate colours and layout...I don't get that
homely feeling when I go to DBS in Singapore. Just crowded & noisy. Oh well, you can't take the Singapore out of a Singaporean, can you?
TIP #3: CONTACT LENS ARE CHEAPER IN TAIWAN!
I
can't believe all these years I didn't know this from all those years of
flying!!! We all know beauty brands from Taiwan are the cheapest in their countries, but guess what??
For years, I've been buying contact lens from Malaysia, mainly
bought by the Husband when he goes over for work trips. For Acuvue
Define daily disposables, the Husband buys it at 100 Ringgit per box (usual retail price is 110 Ringgit).
But the Husband has not been going to Malaysia for the past few months
and my lens supplies were nearing zero. So at Ximending, I walked into a
random optical shop to check on the prices. I wasn't expecting much as
hey, it was at Ximending, Taipei's Orchard Road. It couldn't be that
cheap right? My jaw nearly dropped when the staff said a box of Acuvue
Define daily disposables only cost TWD850 (approx. S$37). It cost a deadly S$62 in Singapore and still more than $6 cheaper than Malaysia!!
This is only a portion of the lenses I bought. And it's not just Acuvue that is cheaper. A friend of mine bought another brand from the same shop as I and also remarked that it was cheaper in Taiwan too. I checked out the prices at quite a few optical shops and prices are fixed.
Read from the box and daily disposables are known as 日抛式隱形眼鏡. Interesting to know its translation in Chinese.
I bought one box of Acuvue Moist (normal daily disposables) because daily wearing of the cosmetic lenses can be tiring for my eyes. The cosmetic lenses are thicker and prevent more oxygen from getting to the eye, and in comparison, the Acuvue Moist lenses are such a relief to wear. Phew.
Things to note:
1) Your preferred brand of lenses in your degree might not be available. So don't wait till the last day in Taiwan to buy. Go earlier, so that you have time to go check out another optical shop or at least the optical shop can order for you. It takes about 1-2 days.
2) There is liquid in the lens containers. I'm unsure how strict the airport staff will be but if you are buying ALOT, please check in the loots instead of bringing them all onboard the plane.
TIP #4: MY FAVOURITE HOTEL IN TAIPEI
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| 西悠飯店 CU Hotel Taipei |
This is the only hotel I have stayed in Taipei during my personal trips. Previously as a crew, I have stayed in Grand Hyatt but the neighbourhood is not as interesting compared to that of CU Hotel. And I would highly recommend CU Hotel in Taipei!
Daily breakfast is provided by the hotel, but when you stay at a food haven, why would you want bland hotel breakfast?
The best thing about staying in this hotel is that cheap & good food is easily available at all times of the day because of the Ning Xia Night Market 寧夏夜市 just beside the hotel and the food stalls all around. The hotel is situated above 雙連市場, a fresh food market.
For me, food accessibility plays a important role. Grabbing some food before starting the day is great, as I can brush my teeth in my room after food (yes, I'm protective of my teeth). After a long day out, it's nice to put down my load in my room and head down for some dinner/supper before calling it a day.
My mum would go to the fresh fruits stall to get her bittergourd juice in the morning, the Husband loves to have the mee sua for breakfast at the stall just beside the hotel entrance and I love to have the baked potato for supper from Ning Xia.
Real baked potato! There are other versions in other night markets that sell a skinless, deep fried potato. It was yucks, yucks, yucks as that version is like some very creamy and buttery mashed potato which is very thick. This Ning Xia version is so much yummier! I always forgot to opt for no pepper and garnish. Oh, Baked Potato of less than S$3, how I miss you sooooo!
It was strawberry season when we went to Taipei in February and I had a cup of these Taiwan strawberries almost every night from Ning Xia. 不輸給韓國的草莓哦！They're smaller than the USA strawberries, just as sweet as their Korean counterparts and it's just so nice!!! At less than S$3 a cup (I think TWD50), it was my comfort 'fruits' almost every night.
Such a poetic chopsticks wrapper. We visited this 滷肉飯 joint - 鬍鬚張almost every other night. It closes at 1am and it was great for supper after a busy day out. The little eatery is lined along the Ning Xia Market.
There were of course lots of other food at Ning Xia Market and the various eateries that line the neighbourhood, like the 古早味desserts stall, a soyabean milk stall, a 四神湯stall and the nearby convenience stores. I'm not a eat-everything-and-try-it-all girl, so as long as the place has food that I like, I'm contented.
CU Hotel Taipei have friendly counter staff. The rooms are small but new (started in 2013), clean, come with free Wifi (yay to usage of Watsapp) and accessible with a 10-15 walk to the nearest MRT station, 雙連 Shuang Lian. While walking to the station, there are lots more other cafes and eateries, a 24-hour Watsons, Macdonald's, telco shops (for you to buy or top up a Taiwan phone card) and optical shops. Definitely keeping you occupied even while walking.
(p.s. since this is such a long-winded post, I decided to publish this first and add on more later, just in case Blogger eats up my post and I will dieeee after spending more than 6 hours on this entry! Will tweet once I add on to this post!)
Daily breakfast is provided by the hotel, but when you stay at a food haven, why would you want bland hotel breakfast?
The best thing about staying in this hotel is that cheap & good food is easily available at all times of the day because of the Ning Xia Night Market 寧夏夜市 just beside the hotel and the food stalls all around. The hotel is situated above 雙連市場, a fresh food market.
For me, food accessibility plays a important role. Grabbing some food before starting the day is great, as I can brush my teeth in my room after food (yes, I'm protective of my teeth). After a long day out, it's nice to put down my load in my room and head down for some dinner/supper before calling it a day.
My mum would go to the fresh fruits stall to get her bittergourd juice in the morning, the Husband loves to have the mee sua for breakfast at the stall just beside the hotel entrance and I love to have the baked potato for supper from Ning Xia.
Real baked potato! There are other versions in other night markets that sell a skinless, deep fried potato. It was yucks, yucks, yucks as that version is like some very creamy and buttery mashed potato which is very thick. This Ning Xia version is so much yummier! I always forgot to opt for no pepper and garnish. Oh, Baked Potato of less than S$3, how I miss you sooooo!
It was strawberry season when we went to Taipei in February and I had a cup of these Taiwan strawberries almost every night from Ning Xia. 不輸給韓國的草莓哦！They're smaller than the USA strawberries, just as sweet as their Korean counterparts and it's just so nice!!! At less than S$3 a cup (I think TWD50), it was my comfort 'fruits' almost every night.
Such a poetic chopsticks wrapper. We visited this 滷肉飯 joint - 鬍鬚張almost every other night. It closes at 1am and it was great for supper after a busy day out. The little eatery is lined along the Ning Xia Market.
There were of course lots of other food at Ning Xia Market and the various eateries that line the neighbourhood, like the 古早味desserts stall, a soyabean milk stall, a 四神湯stall and the nearby convenience stores. I'm not a eat-everything-and-try-it-all girl, so as long as the place has food that I like, I'm contented.
(p.s. since this is such a long-winded post, I decided to publish this first and add on more later, just in case Blogger eats up my post and I will dieeee after spending more than 6 hours on this entry! Will tweet once I add on to this post!)
Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu
