Angel Macaraig: September 2018

Panda World: My First Encounter With Pandas

By Angel Macaraig - Saturday, September 22, 2018

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Preparing for our Taiwan Trip

By Angel Macaraig - Saturday, September 15, 2018

Family, couple, BFF trips, name it! I always take charge with planning. It's not that I'm complaining, in fact, I'm enjoying the process. I get to decide which places will be part of the itinerary. Suggestions are always welcome, but I usually have the final say (that's the good part of it 😈😈😈).

Photo Credits: lingerabroad

Anyway, this coming October, PJ and I will be going for another adventure. The past few years, we've traveled to several local destinations, and this will be our first out of the country trip together. We're both very excited to experience Taiwan - for sure, food trip galore (si PJ pa ba? haha)! Can't waittttt!!

So, how are we preparing for this trip? Or should I say, how am I (yes, "I")...

Ignore my hugot. PJ, help me kasi! haha!

Just like what I did in Seoul, I made sure to book our accommodation near the MRT station. Most tourist destinations in Taiwan are accessible via Taipei MRT, so it's convenient to stay somewhere near the stations. Most blogs I've read recommended hotels/ accommodations near Taipei Main Station or Ximen Station. We booked ours at Ximending (near Ximen & Beimen stations). I'll review the hotel after our trip. I booked it via Agoda. You can also check Traveloka or Airbnb for options.

Next, Internet!

When I went to Seoul last year, it was really a wrong move that I didn't avail the pocket wifi from the airport (rented one from the hotel). So I had no connectivity from the moment I left Incheon International Airport til I reached the hotel. When I got off at Jongno-gu station, I was literally lost (oh, no!!). Didn't expect that the hostel was so hard to locate. Imagine, at 12 midnight, winter season (it was so cold!! grrr!), I got lost in Seoul for about an hour. Take note that it was a solo travel. I wanted to cry that time! haha! Felt so helpless! 😞😞😞

Unite Traveler 4G SIM Card via Klook

Anyway, since I don't want that to happen again, I purchased Unite Traveler 4G Sim Card via Klook (lesson learned). The 5-day SIM card package costs around 525. Hotspot sharing is available for this sim, so we just availed one. If you're travelling in group, it would be better to avail the pocket wifi.

Pre-booking some activities

PJ & I don't want to pre-book most of our target activities because we wanted everything to be flexible. It's a bit pressuring when most of the activities have a fixed schedule. We just want to have a relaxed pace.

Northern Coast Shuttle Bus via Klook

We only booked Yehliu Geopark, Jiufen and Shifen Shuttle Bus from Ximen to avoid any hassle. The Northern Coast Tour is scheduled on our 4th day.

Metro Taipei Subway

Metro Taipei Subway Apps

Make sure to download the Metro Taipei Subway app. This will make your life easy. I find some of the metro taipei subway apps not that easy to navigate. The one I easily got used to is the Metro Taipei Subway app by Wu Quiping. Just plot your origin and destination, then you're good to go. Refer to screenshot.

What to wear?

To be honest, I haven't really planned about this yet. Per checking, it will be autumn season and estimated temperature will be around 22 to 26 degrees celcius (according to accuweather). I guess light jackets will do!

5D4N Taiwan Itinerary

For our 5-day itinerary, I'm sharing it in advance. Please take note though that I haven't finalized this yet, but I think it's pretty much useful already. Please click here to download.

Please look forward to my Taiwan blog posts in the future. I'll definitely share our stories here!