Location: Taipei, Republic of China (ROC)
As a background, Taiwan which is officially the Republic of China (ROC) is the 11th country I visited. It has an total land area of 35,808 square kilometers (13,826 square miles) with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two thirds and plains in the western third, where it is highly urbanized population is concentrated. (Wikipedia) As far as I knew, Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations because China considers it as a renegade province and it is imposing to the whole world the One-China policy, which means that all countries in the world should only recognize China as a country and Taiwan as one of its provinces and should not be considered a country.
This Taiwan trip of mine is actually in Taipei, its capital and has the largest metropolitan area as compared to the country’s other cities like Kaohsiung, Taichung, Tainan and Taoyuan. Now, I knew why its international airport is called Taoyuan because it is located in this city. From Manila where I came from, it took my flight via Air Asia for 2 hours and 15 minutes to Taoyuan International Airport of Taiwan. The cost of my round trip airfare was P5,243.
Setting foot in Taiwan had impressed me so much for it is so modern like Japan where I already visited twice. I am so excited to visit China also, since it is one of my dreams to travel to this emerging world superpower. If Taiwan is just a province of the mighty China, then I would be expecting more from the latter.
Visiting tourists like me were alternating to take photos on this part of the airport. This part is before you reach its Immigration Checkpoint. Just from this point, I already expected something in store for me when I reach my destination in Taipei. While there, we had changed our peso currency to Taiwan Dollars. Peso to Taiwan Dollar (NT$) is 0.49 while US$100 was exchanged to NT$3,084. So US Dollar is equivalent to NT$30.82. I was forced to exchange my Peso currency because I was thirsty then and I wanted to buy a bottled water from the Vendo machine where I bought one bottle for NT$28 or P57.14. Just to discover later that their was a drinking fountain as I explored the airport, but I do not have glass and bottle and, so I was obliged to buy bottled water.
The drinking water dispensers as you see above provide the guests with drinking water where it can be found in some strategic locations at the airport. If you are travelling to Taiwan (just for backpackers like me), bring with you an empty glass of water or a refillable empty bottle of water, so that you can conveniently drink cold water or even make a hot coffee or hot chocolate most particularly if your arrival is at dawn where you have to wait for the morning in leaving the airport.
Our flight arrived Taoyuan Airport at 1:30 A.M. and since it was on unholy hours, we decided to sleep on some comfortable benches at the airport. It was so clean with free drinking water. Besides, the airport has a free WiFi connection. We stayed there till 5:00 A.M.
It is advisable that the tourists if nobody will pick-up them from the airport should book through Klook where ours was done like that. It was Kuo-Kuang (Taipei Main Station) Round Trip bus ticket for a cost of P200.50 single journey for one person. The bus was just accessible outside the airport. We just claimed our tickets at the airport from its company office based there. Another thing, it would be difficult to travel around Taipei without an internet connection. With this, we also booked online from the Klook and claimed it from the airport for a 4G WiFi good for 4 days for four persons for a total amount of P336.
Taipei Main Station
Taipei Main Station is a major transport hub located in Taipei, Taiwan. It is served by Taiwan High Speed Rail, the Taiwan Railways Administration, and the Taipei Metro. It is also connected through underground passageways to the terminal station of Taoyuan Airport MRT and the Taipei Bus Station. In 2017, it was the busiest station on all three rail systems, with a total of 190 million entries and exits. (Wikipedia)
Locating our accommodation in Ximending Shopping District
Our arrival in Taipei was very early because our check-in time was at 3:00 P.M. Actually, our package provided us a free shuttle bus ride from Taipei Main Station to Ximending but we cannot find our bus, so we decided to take a taxi which it cost us NT$ (Taiwan Dollar) 100 per taxi cab and each taxi cab accommodates three persons only and so being in a group of five, we took to two taxi cabs going to Ximending. Being three in the taxi cab, I shared NT$35 or P71.43. From Taipei Main Station to Ximending is only 2.7 kilometers or 10 minutes taxi drive. By the way, the flag down taxi rate NT$70.
While in Ximending, we looked for benches along the busy road near Emei Street and rested. It was just a walking distance from our accommodation but we were told with the strict policy of 3:00 P.M. check-in. After all, it was only around 8:00 A.M. then.
To make use of our time, we have been roaming around Ximending. We were exploring the area to look for toilet and something to eat for our breakfast. We were able to find the KFC but it was still closed. Since I was thirsty again, I bought another bottled water which was NT$28 or P57.14. Mind you, it is so difficult to ask the locals because they do not speak English.
Good that KFC was closed by that time because I was able to explore and see the drinking fountain as shown above. It helped saved me 6 bottles of bottled water at NT$28 per bottle in a daily basis.
In search for breakfast where establishments were still closed, we found a street food vendor where it has a bacon and egg wrapped with a local sandwich, I suppose. It cost us NT$40 or P81.63. In fairness, it was yummy!
My shoppaholic companions were very insistent to have a shopping in Daiso and through asking where we had it in a very difficult way, we were able to locate the place. Daiso is a cheap network of stores originated from Japan where we have been shopping a variety of items in our two visits in Japan. It was honestly a very long walk going there.
It was almost lunch time and walking still clad with our travelling bags, we've found a restaurant in the name of Yoshinoya and we rested there for almost two hours.
Yoshinoya is a Japanese multinational fast food chain, and the second-largest chain of gyūdon restaurants. The chain was established in Japan in 1899. Its motto is "Tasty, low-priced, and quick".(Wikipedia)
After settling in our Ximending accommodation
By the way, we had an apartment-type accommodation good for five persons along the busy street of Emei booked through Agoda amounting to P11,425.11 for 3 nights with my share amounting to P2,285.02. I have been asking the administrator of its address or name of the building but I do not know if he understood me because he was just smiling and shaking his head.
Ay-Chang Flour-Rice Noodle House is the busiest food establishment in Ximending where lots and lots of customers fall in line the whole day with the customers only eating while standing in the middle of the street and within the vicinity.
Busy nightscape of Ximending
There are also Family Mart branches in Japan and they gave me convenience when I wanted to buy food when I have no enough local currency on hand and I made use of my credit card. In Ximending in particular, Family Mart does not accept credit card.
The same is true with 7-Eleven in Ximending, it does not accept Visa and Mastercard though there were around three local cards they accept. However in Japan, 7-Eleven branches accept Visa and Mastercard.
I had my dinner alone at KFC Ximending just a block away from our accommodation amounting to NT$175 or P357.14. You see! Taiwan's cost of living is just almost the same with Japan.
To summarize my expenses for the first day with accrued expenses on accommodation and WiFi rentals:
| SN | Particulars | Amount |
| 1. | Round trip airfare thru Air Asia | |
| 2. | Bottled Drinking Water (4 bottles @P57.14) | |
| 3. | Share in WiFi Rental for the first day | |
| 4. | Meals and snacks (Yoshinoya and KFC for lunch and dinner) | |
| 5. | Share in 5-pax room accommodation for the first day | |
| 6. | Bus fare from the airport to Taipei Central Station booked thru Klook | |
| 7. | Share in taxi cab from Taipei Central Station to Ximending | |