50/40 on our 40th in Taipei

[Bindibuys]

Firstly, Taiwan is my 50th country, my husbands 40th country, celebrating our 40th Wedding Anniversary.

Secondly, WOW, just how easy it is to get around the city, both in transport and that just about everything is in English (along with Taiwanese and Chinese)
For friends that have never travelled overseas, I usually suggest Singapore as an easy entry to international travel. Taiwan would now be my 2nd choice.

Like most of us we had booked a 2 week holiday in Taiwan during Covid, which got cancelled. We still wanted to go to Taiwan, so decided to make it a celebration trip, but this time only for a week and staying in the city.
We had also booked a full day tour to Hualien, but due to the earthquake earlier in the year, this day trip was cancelled by the supplier, so we decided to check out the fast train down to Kaohsiung for a day trip.

Flight: China Air CI52 Sydney to Taipei departing 22:10pm using Qantas Classic Rewards business class. SkyTeam lounge (no photos, basic airport lounge near gate 24)
Seats: 1/2/1 layout, no issues with the seating.
Food: sorry no pictures, we did pre-order our meals on-line on the China Air website. My only issue is that we did not leave Sydney until late at night, then around mid-night you are served "dinner" by this time all I wanted was to go to sleep. They did come around asking if you wanted to be woken up for the meal service, so I guess they have learnt that not many want to eat this late at night.
Breakfast: choice of Western breakfast (omelet, croissant etc) or Asian style. Served 2 hours before landing. Again, timing of meals is not great, but then that's what you get on an overnight flight.
Next time (yes, we will return) I would just skip both meal services and get more sleep.


Immigration: a good 45 minute wait while I guess 3 planes had landed and only 3 of the 24 gates open this early in the morning (6am?). Locals were getting thru SO much faster. Photo and fingerprints taken.

Airport to city: There is an express train from the airport to Taipei Main Station about every 15 minutes, same cost as the "commuter" train.
To purchase tickets you must have CASH, both at the ticket vending machines and at the counter. (ATM next to the machines)

We were very surprised at just how many "government" services would take cash only. Lucky I had done my money exchange weeks before, so I had about $400 on me.

We were offered at the ticket window a combination tickets of airport express return ticket and a 72 hour metro ticket, saved a couple of $$ by buying the combination. (they also had 24/48 hour card combos)







Accommodation: Hotel Resonance Taipei, Tapestry Collection by Hilton.
I chose this hotel because of the location right next to Shandao Temple station, just 1 stop from Taipei Main Station on the Blue Bannan line. Trains run about every 3-5 minutes, so getting around is VERY easy.

Room: was fine. No restaurant on site, they have sub-let to Starbucks where you get a credit to buy your breakfast each day. Now for us Starbucks does NOT do breakfasts or Chai Latte..... so we were very disappointed with the breakfast selections, I went so far as to get McDonalds one morning for breakfast (just across the road).
So if you are not a big breakfast fan, the hotel is ideal, if you do like to have a good breakfast, the Sheraton is in the next street, they may do a better breakfast option.

 

[elanshin]

Taiwan is great and I do urge everyone to try and get it done sooner than later if theres any desire to travel there.

I'd also recommend getting Chinese breakfast as its going to be ridiculously cheap and very delicious.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Along for the ride @Bindibuys and happy anniversary wishes to you both

 

[Bindibuys]

We arrived too early for check-in, but were able to leave our bags at reception and set out walking around.
Just down the street is the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, a monument to authoritarian leader Chiang Kai-shek. There is a changing of the guard several times a day. A free museum is inside with a display of his cars and a HUGE showcase of all the gifts he had received from world leaders.





Next we wandered down to the Presidential Office Building, apparently if you have your passport with you, you can go inside for a tour, but upon arrival it looked like it was closed to the public as it was all barricaded off and no one was entering the building. So we just carried on.


Next the 2-28 Peace Memorial Park.



The 2-28 Memorial Museum was closed for renovations, so we then headed back to our hotel.
Note: it was VERY hot during our stay.

 

[Bindibuys]

Next day we chose the Maokong Gondola - hoping it might be a bit cooler out of the city.
Metro to the Zoo station, then a short walk to the gondola station. There is a choice of normal gondola or the "crystal" which has a glass floor. There was a 30 minute wait for the crystal, so we opted for the normal, but were able to easily get the crystal for the trip back down.
Again, they would only accept cash for the tickets.











That night we opted for the Shilin Night Market. Now my husband will eat just about anything, must have been the boarding school diet, but chicken feet in 5 ways is NOT for me.
Lots of people about, kids "fishing" for prawns - if they catch one, it gets thrown on the bbq for them to eat. A bit like a side show alley, with plenty of food and games.

 

[Bindibuys]

The next day was our 40th wedding anniversary, I had booked on-line a week prior a restaurant at the top of Taipei 101, I asked reception to call and confirm our booking, only to be told that they never received the reservation and that they were fully booked. The other restaurant at the top was also fully booked by this time.
We were able to get a table at Ukai - a Michelin Star Restaurant located on the 46th floor in the building next to 101.
We booked tickets to go to the top of 101 at sunset, then walk across to the restaurant for dinner.

From the top of Taipei 101:





Above picture:
When a 7.4-magnitude earthquake rocked Taiwan on Wednesday, people inside the island’s tallest skyscraper, Taipei 101, were protected by a large yellow pendulum at the building’s center that helped absorb the shock.

Known as a “tuned mass damper,” the 730-ton steel sphere is suspended between several floors at the top of the building, where it can be viewed by the public. The observatory is a popular tourist attraction in the capital city.

The sphere moves back and forth during earthquakes or typhoons that regularly lash the island, absorbing the force of any “violent swinging,” according to the Taipei 101 website. The damper’s engineers say it can curtail the building’s movement by up to 40 percent, reducing the queasiness felt by its occupants.

Next - dinner was served, below they bring out a selection of the food we would be having - abalone, eel, wagu beef etc.



Husband chose to have the Sake matching each course, this was his favorite, now to see if I can get a bottle here in Oz.



The service was amazing, the chef plating each course in front of us, then describing what we were about to eat.
All up a $550.00 dinner to remember.

 

[Bindibuys]

Our next day was to have been our trip to Hualien which got cancelled, instead we took the fast train (280 - 300km per hour) down to Taiwan's 2nd largest city Kaohsiung and going out to their "island" beach and light house.

As mentioned earlier, it is so easy to travel around Taiwan. Zuoying is the high speed rail stop for Kaohsiung, then change to the metro system to get around the city.


At Formosa Metro stations is the "Dome of Light" and is a large installation featuring a stained glass roof depicting the four ancient elements is a mythical creation scene. There is also a light show on the floor a couple of times a day. If the floor show is on, just wait a few minutes, the dome will light up afterwards.

 

[Bindibuys]

Very short ferry ride out to the island.




A walk around the fort and light house, and one of the temples near the wharf.
We then headed north up to Lotus Pond lake and walked around the lake.
Just found that the photo from the lake have not come off the phone, will have to post later images around the lake.

 

[Bindibuys]

Next was our final day, flying out late that night.
Now, up till then we were not overly impressed with our accommodation, it was OK, but not worth the price. Then we found what made this place worth it.....
When you check out, (12pm) you may have the use of their "waiting room" on the first floor, a room with a lounge, 2 chairs, table, books a bathroom and SHOWER.
It was a god-send after an afternoon of wondering around, hot and sticky, now we had the ability to shower and change prior to going to the airport. (and a kip on the lounge)
Now I know there are showers in the airport lounge, but it had been noted that there were only 2 showers and that they were always busy, so being able to change, put our smelly clothes into a checked bag (instead of our carry-on) was wonderful. The hotel redeemed itself.

A few final pictures from various temples in the city.
As a final word - go to Taiwan - while it is still Taiwanese, if the Chinese take over, I don't know what would change.
We intend to return again next year, as there is so much of the country side that we did not get to experience, but would pick later in the year when it is not so hot.
A anniversary to remember.

 

[VPS]

Looks good and Happy Wedding Anniversary - I'm off to a friend's 50th WA this weekend - makes me feel really old

 

[cwd]

Lovely trip report, and a few places I'll have to check out next time I'm there.

Immigration: a good 45 minute wait while I guess 3 planes had landed and only 3 of the 24 gates open this early in the morning (6am?). Locals were getting thru SO much faster. Photo and fingerprints taken.

Your flight will have arrived before the Terminal 1 enrollment counter opens, but assuming anyone reading this has an Australian passport, it's possible to register to use the e-gates for immigration. There's a small counter to the side, and the process takes less than a minute, and the e-gate can be used immediately. The Terminal 2 counter would be open by then. Not sure why there's such a discrepency in the opening times!

Airport to city: There is an express train from the airport to Taipei Main Station about every 15 minutes, same cost as the "commuter" train.
To purchase tickets you must have CASH, both at the ticket vending machines and at the counter. (ATM next to the machines)

It's possible to use a contactless credit card for the airport express train. There's always at least one gate that accepts it, but definitely not all of them. But would want some kind of ticket for the metro in Taipei anyway, so may not be that useful.

 

[love_the_life]

Congratulations on the wedding anniversary and thanks for the great TR to a place I have never really considered visiting before.

 

[RooFlyer]

Lovely look at Taiwan - just encourages me more to go there. I've taken China Airlines once (also a QF award) and loved them.

 

[rbjhan]

I've been to Taipei twice, maybe it's time to plan the 3rd!
Want to explore the southern part....

 

[Bindibuys]

Hubby home, and now able to get the missing photos from his phone.
Below some images from our walk around Lotus Lake.











Our Business Class seats on the HSR (high speed rail)



Lotus Lake is only a short walk from the HSR terminal, but a fairly long walk around the entire lake.

That is a wrap, a fabulous few days, and will return to Taiwan.

 

[AIRwin]

Lotus Lake is only a short walk from the HSR terminal, but a fairly long walk around the entire lake.

That is a wrap, a fabulous few days, and will return to Taiwan.

Sun Moon Lake next time!

 

[Flyfrequently]

Thanks for your TR and taking us to 50/40 countries @Bindibuys
Another destination to consider and again congratulations to you both on your milestone anniversary