Taiwan F&E

[marilyn_chh]

babe,

which hotspring place did you go? we're considering staying one night at one of the pretty hotspring resort..

by the way, i check the santos hotel internet rate is still not as cheap as yours leh.. mmm, now i wonder if i should go to chan brothers and do the booking from there..

 

[babywong]

Heh mrc,

See my comments posted before. The hotspring place I went to is in this website - www.sweetme.com.tw. Its realli nice. Maybe bec I was too tired after my Yang Ming San trekking so a hot spring afterwards was realli refreshing!!

I've also done my research using internet n I couldnt get any cheaper fr local agent so in the end I juz stick to chan instead.

Maybe u can check out more agents n compare prices, coz I only check out Chan alone.

 

[babywong]

mrc,

Juz recalled another hotel http://www.ffh.com.tw/08_ff/english/room.html
which is nearer to the MRT. Not sure no. of stars but the rates quite reasonable n 1 rm got massage bath tub. Sigh.. should have taken up tis one. Maybe u can still try.

 

[joylin_bb]

Hi all,
I will be going taiwan next month late may with my huddy and groups of friends. May I know how the weather like over there? Do we need to bring any jacket just for the night? And how much money do we need to bring per head? We will be going 8 days 7 night.

Thanks a lot.

 

[marilyn_chh]

babe,
thanks so much. Check out the hotel you mentioned.. Look nice and comfortable and rate very reasonable too and near the mrt..I think it's a small boutique hotel..but the rooms look nicely furnish..you seen the hotel yourself when you were there? roughly how many storeys huh?

mmm, treking at yang ming shan, then a hotspring dip sounds a nice arrangement

i think i shall do that too..heheh....

shilin MRT is where shilin market is, isn't it?

 

[marilyn_chh]

babe,
how to get to yangmingshan and then to sweetme hotspring resort? you drive?

 

[babywong]

mrc,

I merely walked pass n had a glance only. Fr memory, lobby is small n its not many floors maybe 3-5? So cant help u on this. But I know this place is definitely nearer than Santos to the MRT station.

Note that shilin is at Jian Tan MRT station not Shiling MRT station.

For my YMS (Yang Ming San) n Hotspring trip, I took MRT to Jian Tan first, then change to bus Red 5 to reach YMS Bus interchange. There's an internal bus (Think 108) within YMS tat time for travelling around all areas of interest. After all the playing, I took another bus at the interchange to reach Bei Tou MRT Station, then took MRT to Xin Bei Tou MRT Station (1 stop only) to go to the Hotspring. Note that once u step out of the MRT station, the hot spring is directly on the right side of the garden facing the MRT station.

Hope the above helps.

 

[babywong]

Its actually quite easy to find as the whole street are full of Hotspring shops. n the one tat I chose happen to be the nicest n prettiest.

There are only a few buses at the YMS bus interchange, so juz ask the pp there, they would direct u. As long as u can speak mandarin, u will not get lost. Most of the pp I met are friendly.

 

[marilyn_chh]

hi babe,
thanks for the info

yeah, sweetme look so beautiful! but we might be staying at springresort instead for a night or two. You pass by this one? they have a package which includes dinner, stay and free usage of all the facilities which we might want to take up..

by the way, the hotel you recommended (Friends Hotel), can you remember if the hotel look run down?

 

[smurfy]

hi gals,

I am also sourcing around for hotels in Taipei for end Apr trip.

Just want to add one point about the hotel that Babe recommended. Its actually a hotel chain with many hotels around Taipei area, click the link below to see more of its other hotels:
http://www.ffh.com.tw/english/index.html

 

[marilyn_chh]

hi all,
anyone went to taroko gorge in hualien? is it worth visiting? we're planning for free and easy trip and seems hualien is quite unaccessible and far from taipei.

 

[anne]

marilyn, shilin night market is at JianTan MRT stn. Brandon suggest u can consider staying at the hotel opposite BeiTou MRT stn. I think it is called "ZhongXing" We Don't have to price for it.

 

[anne]

U can shop around Taipei main stn..go to the underground shopping.
Worth buying all the cheap goods there..also can shop at Shilin market.

The place that we went is pretty near airport, tha place called Nankan, and another shopping mall is TaiMao. I'm not too sure how to go by public transport.

 

[marilyn_chh]

anne,
thanks for your info!

 

[marilyn_chh]

<font color="0000ff">hi people,

I've found a very good travel forum! Must check it out. Good recommendation and advice on transportation around taipei and other places..

Virtual Tourist Forum</font>

 

[smurfy]

Hi Babe,

I understand from your postings that you had stayed in Santos hotel before. May I ask if there is any airport transfer provided? Thanks.

 

[cherly]

Hi Teri &amp; deathstar,

When are you 2 going to taipei? Understand you will be bringing your bbs along. I just back from there few days back. I also brought my 1 yr old gal along, if you want to move around from taipei to other city like hualien, kaoshiung etc will be quite tough cos the journey is few hours drive. However, we join a local tour there and they are very good to plan the itinerary for us and we manage to tour the island for our 8 days tour. We did hotspring as well and must said we really enjoyed ourselves alot, my daughter and my mum too. Let me know if u need helps.

 

[barneymummy]

Hi Cherly
do u have the contact of the local agent
&amp; how much they charging you
thank you

 

[cherly]

Hi Jane

I do have their contact. Hmmmm...the price will be different if you travelling more pple, also depend what type of hotel u would like to have. The price they are charging me i think is reasonable, the most importantly is they are only take care for your group, unlike u join those tour with tour agency. However, I know them thru a frens.

 

[panggou]

hi all, i recommend shui3 du1 for hotspring, also at beitou mrt. very nice, can just buy a 2 hour package for a room and private tub and then good lunchie!!

 

[babywong]

Hi Smurfy,

Airport transfer think needs to pay ext leh. We book the hotel through Chan Bro here. Actually when u reach Taipei Airport, there's buses tat can fetch u to the hotels directly at NT$135? (Cant rem). We took Fei Gou (Free go) Bus fr the airport. So no prob with the transfer.

 

[barneymummy]

Hi cheryl
We have four persons, we going on a budget tour so hotel grading not v important
so if you have the contact, maybe we can email them to ask them to plan for us

do you have any itinerary to share?

thk you

 

[cherly]

Jane,

why don you leave me yr contact here and i send his contact to you. So that you can ask him to quote.
I also on budget tour and hotel grading doesnt matter to me at all, after all we stay in hotel for less than 10hrs per day. I have just threw away my itinerary.

 

[barneymummy]

Hi cherly
thks

my email:[email protected]

 

[obaesom]

Hi Cherly

May i have your taiwan contact too.

Thanks in advance.

[email protected]

 

[smurfy]

Hi Babe,

Do you mean that the Fei Gou bus brings you directly to Santos hotel free of charge?

 

[droplet]

I have make a booking to taipei with Jetstar Asia.
Anybody knows if i have make a booking of 4 person, can we check in separately at different time?

 

[deathstar]

Hi cherly,

thanx for offering help.

Yeah, came to know from my tour agent that travelling will be quite a problem, esp if we're getting from 1 area to another area. Guess I have to bring some toys to keep her occupied lor. =)

Anyway, did u visit those famous night markets i.e shilin? How's the weather over there? Was told by my tour guide that the average temp there is around 23-28 degrees but it might be kinda cold at night esp if there's wind coming ur way. Did you prepare any xtra clothings for ur ger anot??

Last thing, any great shopping areas to recommend?? thinking of buying some clothes for my ger and preggie clothings for my wife....

Thanks.

 

[cherly]

Hi Jane &amp; obaeson,

You got mail.

deathstar,

Yes travelling from 1 place to another will be quite tough especially you have a bb and on top of that, you have pram and luggages. FYI, i didnt bring any toys there and glad that my gal is co-operative enuf. Have you booked your ticket already?

On the last day in taipei which is 22 Apr, the weather turn abit hot, i guess its beginning of the summer already. I just let my gal wear a long sleeve shirt and the rest of us were on bermuda and t-shirts.

For the first few days of my trip, the weather was nice and cooling, just like genting maybe cooler than genting, i put on extra jacket for my gal. For adults, if is no wind still bearable.

Our guide brought us to few nite markets beside shilin, we went ximenting and when we reach taichung, he brought us to another nite market but beside shilin and ximenting, i cant rbr the name of the rest of nite markets.

Most of the shopping centre clothing, price are almost same as singapore, i bought some clothing from shilin nite market for me and my gal, very cheap.

 

[babywong]

Hi Smurfy,

Sorry din make myself clear. U need to pay abt NT135 ( cant rem exact amt) for 1 trip. It will fetch u to most of the hotels in Taipei. The Free Go is the name of the Bus Co tat we took.

When u came out of the custom after collecting your luggage, walk to the left of the airport (dun walk out first). At the left end of the airport, there will be some bus counters selling u tickets. We took the Free Go Bus Co or Fei Gou Bus Co (mandarin) and paid abt NT100+ for 1 trip. U can pre-arrange for them to come n fetch u on your return trip back to the airport.

 

[deathstar]

hi cherly,

thanks for sharing. yeah, booked my trip liao. Had it done during the last natas fair. booked with New Shan travel and paid 758 for a 1 week trip.

So, is there any makan to recommend while we're at the night market??

Will be staying at these hotels:

Kilin hotel - taipei
twin star - tai zhong
citizen - kao xiong
gold coast union - hua lien
shangri la - yi lan

any feedbacks on these hotels???

 

[smurfy]

hi Babe,
I just came back from Taipei. Transport is pretty convenient there. Manage to get to and fro hotel by Guo Guang bus. Thanks.

Hi dearthstar,
The greatest taipei shopping area that i like there is at Yongji road (nearest MRT stn Houshanpi) where there are a few streets selling clothes for any age and at reasonably cheap prices.

Shilin night market has the most variety of taiwan famous snacks. If you want to try something exotic, try the snake soup at Huaxi St. Night Market.

 

[marilyn_chh]

hi smurfy,
the shopping place you mentioned at the yongji rd is wu fen pu and raohe street market isn't it?

anyway, how's the weather like? heard that's it's getting pretty hot in taipei, something like singapore weather...

 

[smurfy]

hi mrc,

yup, but i think its liu fen pu, not wu fen pu ley.. not sure tho, anyway its near to raohe street market. Raohe night market really sells alot of lamb soup which are really tasty *yummy*

ya, its very hot in taipei, thot its hotter there until i got back and find sg no different, just as hot.

 

[marilyn_chh]

smurfy,
alamak! really that hot?? what abt the morning and night time?

 

[obaesom]

Hi Smurfy,

Can I check which hotel you stayed and what is the estimated travel time from your hortel to the airport?


http://home.trtc.com.tw/EINFO/bigmap.asp?number=bl15

This link showed you the Wufengpu Fashion Area ( Between Songshan Railway Stn &amp; Houshanpi MRT ) and Raohe St. Night Market ( Near Clyou Tample )

 

[smurfy]

hi mrc,

for me, really no diff, cos most of the nights i spent at night markets which are hot cos of the crowd. Except for the last night when i transfer to Beitou Sweetme spring resort, it rain abit and the night got abit cooler. Else its really very hot...

Hi obaesom,
I stayed at Santos hotel for the first 4 nights and transfer to Sweetme spring resort for the 5th night before i headed home. Travelling time fom airport to Santos hotel is about 1/2 hr i think. And time from Taipei main station to airport is about an hour.
oh so its wu fen pu, friend give me wrong information. the map i have only says "clothes shopping area"

 

[marilyn_chh]

hi smurfy,
you went hotspring? i too plan to go hotspring but i'm wondering if the weather is too hot for hotspring...alamak..

 

[smurfy]

hi mrc,

Since the hotspring is in the hotel itself, so don't really feel the heat outside. Its really relaxing to be in the hot spring. The resort is fully booked, so i guess its not uncommon to go hotspring under this weather.

 

[marilyn_chh]

hi smurfy,
now i'm a little relieve to hear that.. think i'll still go ahead with my hotspring dipping then..plan to go springcity resort cos they have 7 types of outdoor spring to try!

hotpsring resort fully booked? did you go to sweetme during the weekdays or weekend? we will go during weekdays to avoid crowd.. initially plan to stay one night but after counting the cost, it'll be cheaper to just dip for a few hours and move on to another tourist place..save time and money..hahah...

 

[obaesom]

Hi All,

Reservation can be done online at Sweetme Spring Resort, checkout the price.

http://www.sweetme.com.tw/English/home/home.php

 

[smurfy]

hi mrc,

Our first choice is spring city resort too but it was fully booked, so we ended up in Sweetme. Sweetme is more convenient tho. We went on weekend.

My colleague who dipped for an hour and move on find nothing great about the hot spring becos of the rush. I feel its better to stay one night and enjoy the hot spring to feel the effect of it.

 

[marilyn_chh]

smurfy,
may be weekend is crowded... probably the local also go there?

the thing abt hotspring resort is that there's no time limit for it's outdoor alfresco spa! so, we can hop from one type to another and stay for a few hours!

but i wonder if we can tahan the heat! after hotspring, we plan to go danshui for dinner and jalan jalan lah..not lingering around the resort

yeah, if i stayed in the resort, we will have to fully utilise the faclity. if not the money paid not worth liao..hahaha..that's why in the end we dropped the idea loh..

 

[smurfy]

mrc,

Then you better check if you can wear swimming costume cos some hotsprings do not allow unless you don't mind being naked in front of others.

 

[marilyn_chh]

hi smurfy,
thanks for highlighting and I did check liao. Can wear swimsuit cos it's unisex ....but my MIL will not be wearing one cos she's the conservative kind..so, just gonna wear those knee length track pants and a shirt..keeping my finger cross that they'll let her dipped in the pool..

 

[smurfy]

mrc,

Great! Hope you enjoy your stay there

 

[marilyn_chh]

smurfy,
thank you! will update this link once i come back for holiday..

 

[ms_pink]

Hi,

may I know what is the weather like in Taipei during late june to early july? which travel agency offer better rate for f&amp;e package?

 

[marilyn_chh]

hi pink,
heard it's super hot in june and july cos it's summer..only check out misa and chan brothers and chan brother accmodation is cheaper for the same hotel.

 

[ms_pink]

hi mrc,

their summer is until when? what is the temperature like? will it be hotter then in spore?

if i am only going to taipei, will 6 days be enough? which hotel is recommended? i am finding one which is more convenient and also hopefully the look and the cleaniness of the hotel be good.

which nite markets &amp; shopping areas are recomended?