I tried the public hotspring at beitou. take MRT to Xin Beitou station, the public hotspring is approx 5 mins walk away. NTD 40 per pax, need to bring swimming costume, own towel, shower cream, etc...
place is not that big, and they dont separate by gender. A lot of locals go there, but mainly old aunty/uncle. Something different, dont expect this to be a high class spa or hotspring, but definitely a good experience.

yeah...they hav everything cheap and nice there.

Many clothes and also some quite nice. But the price is not as good as Bangkok and don't go during winter or quite cooling season like now because the clothes will not be appropriate.

Went there when I was there last week and I was out of it within 15 minutes. I am quite a shopaholic..as those that know me in real life would be horrified with my spendings. Haha. But I really couldn't get anything there. Still prefer my lovely (but now chaotic) Bangkok

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Added on April 12, 2010, 11:46 pmnot quoting me but im very free now. haha. so i answer you. it's actually about 1hour+ bus ride from Taipei Main Station to Wulai. Once at Wulai last stop, you need to walk about 5 minutes up the small hill to the Wulai old street.

Faster way, take MRT to Xindian station and switch to Wulai stop bus (very frequent) for about 30 minutes (without jam). The ride up in the bus is magnificent. Very nice and you'll be seeing a lot of pinang trees.

There's open air/public hotspring where it's NOT separated and you DO NOT need to strip for it.
Most private baths start from about NTD300 onwards per pax. They have twin and triple sharing.

This post has been edited by andrienne: Apr 12 2010, 11:46 PM

hi, i will go taiwan on the end of april till 8th may, planning to go tarogo as 1 day trip (1st may) and 日月潭 (3rd may).

may i know the public transport to go tarogo from taipei main station? And is there any tour to go 日月潭 as one day trip (日月潭,伊达邵,埔里酒厂)?

any suggestion that go to 日月潭 by public transport or rent car self- driving if we dun join tour trip?

thx^^

There's no public transportation such as bus to go to Taroko. You could however hire cab drivers for a one day trip. They will pick you up from Hualien TRA station.

You could take TRA (their fast train) from Taipei Main Station. Please be sure to book the tickets in advance(through their website) as the shorter train duration (2hr 15mins to 2hrs 30mins depending no peak/non peak hrs) are usually fully booked and u wouldn't want to risk walking up and down finding seats with your standing tickets(yes, it's very tiresome and annoying to other riders too as I have personally seen people walking up and down, sitting at other ppl's seat and ended up being shooed away).

There are also day trips to go on those places you have mentioned. Please do look around travelling forums for cab drivers details as they are the most common way for you to travel around places for one day trips in comfort.

Self driving is not recommended as they are left handside drivers and Malaysian drivers might need to have quite a few 'adjustments' to make to drive around for own self tour.

Hmnnn this confirmed what my driver told me during my trip in hualian..No bus servicing Taipei-Hualian.. At 1st i was shock. no way no bus to/fro Taipei..So only train services available..No wonder the ticket everytime finish wan!

When I couldn't get the TRA tickets on the intended day, I was devastated and the cab driver suggested that I book from the next few train stations along the stop as some people might have booked the available seats from Taipei to that stop. Once I get the tickets, then I can find out how to travel by public bus or cab to that particular station. This is very troublesome and time consuming man!

So, I changed my plans and woke up at 5am the next day to get tickets for the following day (coz the day before, I dilly dally reach office only start to book at 8am+). Booking starts at 6am and I so happily able to book but the problem is passport number is required when booking and they don't allow more than 6 tickets per passport at anytime. So I had to use another passport number to book.

Then when come to payment, I tell you I was @#@#%$^^& coz they won't accept Malaysian credit card (I tried a few credit cards from different bank and credit limit is not a problem, in case you are wondering, and I have made online payment as far as Europe ler). But I read in travel blogs that Singapore credit cards no problem one. So again, I was tearing my hair out coz the tickets booked needs to be paid within 48 hours. Luckily I got my old classmate staying there and I SOS her to pay and collect the tickets for me. Note that the credit card used to pay for the tickets is required to be presented for verification upon collection of the paid tickets. So, if you book online, need to be cautious also. Alternatively, can get your hotel (if they are willing) to go collect/pay for you and you reimburse them lor...the hotel I stayed in was willing to but my classmate beat them to it.

The Tze Chiang train (Tarako Express) very comfortable ler...wide seats and spacious...the most annoying part are those which bought standing tickets whereby they tried to get my daughter's seat when she was just moving opposite to my side...I bought a ticket for her though she don't need one.

Upon arrival at Hualien or Taipei, they will keep your tickets either manually or via the machine...I should not have given my daughter's ticket to them in Hualien and keep as souvenir....stupid me.

The day trip bus for Tarako costs about NT750 per person and it goes to less places/stops and limits the time as opposed to having a cab driver at your dispense to go/leave as and when you wish. Normal charge is around NT3,500 per a cab (Toyota Wish 7 seater including driver). So if you have more person, it will be cheaper or your could get the normal sedan car (up to 4 passengers without driver) which I think can start from as low as NT2,000 as documented by some forums/blog.

This post has been edited by McCabePlace: Apr 13 2010, 02:57 PM

FYI: I think the credit card transaction could be case by case. I have not encounter any credit card transaction problem in Taiwan/Taipei. Not sure other area(s) in Taiwan.

When using credit card physically in Taiwan no problem. Can select to pay in RM also! The problem I faced is paying the TRA tickets online from Malaysia ler...


This post has been edited by McCabePlace: Apr 13 2010, 02:40 PM

Oh I see. Perhaps the website restricted it.

Enjoy your great trip there. n_n

Where I went and what I did in Taiwan 2 April 2010 to 9 April 2010:

Part 1: 2 April 2010 to 5 April 2010

2 April 2010 - Arrival, took Guo Gang bus to Taipei Main Station (TMS), check-in, rest and dinner. Walked half way to Ximending but patah balik due to the heavy rain. Spending: NT230 for return Guo Gang bus, buy umbrella NT120 and NT70 for dinner = NT420

3 April 2010 - Breakfast, Load MRT card, SYS memorial hall, walk to Taipei 101 (rain/cloudy, didnt go up), Lunch at Taipei 101, free shuttle to Cityhall station and National Palace Museum (NPM, MRT Shihlin station then Bus Red 30 or 255), Shihlin Night Market (Jiantan station, only go entrance then patah balik coz heavy rain and so sesak with people, umbrella and stalls) and back to hotel for dinner nearby. Spending: Breakfast NT45, MRT reload NT500, Another umbrella NT150, Bought Clothes shaver NT450, Lunch NT150, Souvenirs at NPM NT800, Dinner NT70 = NT2,165 ~ NPM free entrance after 5pm on Saturdays, otherwise it is NT180.

4 April 2010 - No breakfast, MRT to Cityhall station and walk to Taipei 101, lunch, Free shuttle to Cityhall station then MRT to Wufenphu (Houshanpi station, out within half hour), MRT to Zhongxiao Fuxing then changed to Nanjing East Road. Was supposed to walk only like one block to the Miniature Museum of Taiwan but then we got a stupid map and made us walk a very far and long route but we still managed to find the museum (NT180). It is interesting and the attention to detail is superb. Amazing Race once had one of their challenge there and that is how I got to know of this museum. After visiting the museum, we asked around at the bus stop on the next street and found bus 307 which stops right in front of Taipei Main Station (TMS)! Haiyor, if we would have known, it will save our half hour of walking. After resting our sore feets, we walked to Ximending cum dinner. Spending: Taipei 101 entrance NT400, Souvenir photos NT600 (expensive but for fun-lah), Taipei 101 souvenirs NT980, Postcard from 101 NT42 (still havent arrive till today wor), Lunch NT100, Shaved milk from Three Brothers Sisters NT120, Ah Zhong Mee Sua NT60, Yoshinoya beef bowl NT90 (try for fun to see same with Malaysia or not and Malaysia punya tutup kedai jor ma) = NT2,392

5 April 2010 - Breakfast, MRT to Xindian then bus to Wulai, Jalan-jalan in Wulai and hotspring, Lunch, back to TMS by bus from Wulai to be above ground to view Taipei city, say hi and bye to CKS memorial, visit malls near hotel (Shinkong, Nova, etc) and dinner. Breakfast NT45, Bus to Wulai (use MRT card NT40), Log train to/fro Wulai waterfall NT100, Hotspring NT300 (1 hour private room), Lunch NT90, Snacks at Wulai Old Street NT90, Bus to TMS (use MRT card NT75), Dinner NT99 = NT724

Not much shopping for me as most not suitable for me. Don't ask me how much the MRT costs for the various stop, I just touch and go with the MRT card but if you want to know exactly, then the Metro Taipei website got show. At the end of my travel, I got NT99 refund from the NT500 I loaded.

My hotel was NT1,500 per night for weekdays and NT1,800 for Saturday. Double room. no breakfast. So if you wanna count per person cost, just divide by 2 lor.

Part 2: 6 April 2010 to 9 April 2010 to be continued.

This post has been edited by McCabePlace: Apr 18 2010, 01:09 AM

sorry i dono bout that, cos the locals said is not very convenient to go wu lai so i chose to go Xin Bei Tou by MRT. i went to Quan Du hotspring hotel, those are private rooms. NTD899 per room. u can get cheapest till NTD790 too. depending on room.

hahaha... ya is me... i'm not the ambassador.

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Added on April 13, 2010, 7:03 pmi did not get cheap clothes in WuFenPu... mmost of the cheap clothes are like China clothes which is not nice. Those with nice fashion also need like NTD390 and above. So, i found it as normal price instead of cheap price.

However, i can really find cheap boots there! i bought a pair of boots for only NTD500. my fren bought a set of coat + pants + vest for only NTD3700. this is really a good bargain.

This post has been edited by jamince: Apr 13 2010, 07:03 PM

plan to take around island package for 7 days...but would like to ask is kaoshiung safe for travel now?i scared earthquake...any advice?

oh, ya.. i found out that using credit card there is cheaper than u use cash. but i heard tat is jus local bank credit card has cheaper exchange rate.

eg: I've used PBB credit card for the motel which is NTD3800. if we were to use cash which the exchange rate for tat time is RM11: NTD100 = RM418. But the CC only charge me RM395 (RM10.4 : NTD100) So don't bring too much cash there, those hotels can use CC to pay. but remember to use local bank CC. i think citibank / hsbc will not be having tis rate.

Yes, using cc much cheaper rate as they let us choose the RM equivalent and the exchange rate is shown there.

However, not all places let you choose RM, example retail outlets.

Do not go to the Everich DFS at Min Chuan Road, waste of time as they tell you even cheaper than airport bla bla bla but all lies leh. Coz you can't choose to pay in RM, so they will convert NTD to USD then USD to RM to charge your bank and the prices all same with airport. Some more, you can't take the items immediately unless pink price tag but then you have to check in if you bought cosmetics like me lo.

When I went to airport, I saw same price and can choose to pay in RM. Ish!!!

SK2 users out there, it is definitely much cheaper to buy in Taiwan, especially at duty free shops. I just bought recently during Isetan sales, haihs...but buy again. Next time my friend coming back from Taiwan, I will ask them to buy for me....hahahaha!

Longchamp lovers, it is also cheaper there especially the seasonal Le Pliage range like Eiffel Tower as compared to Malaysia. Longchamp is not so popular there, so got lots of stock and I am kicking myself for having bought one recently before I went as it was a hot item, I scared reach Taipei will be out of stock. Taiwanese generally like monogram bags only so that people can clearly see what bag they are using. He he he...

This post has been edited by McCabePlace: Apr 13 2010, 11:55 PM

Dear all,

I am going to Taiwan coming August. may I know where should I visit when i visit to Tai Chung as I planning staying in Tai Chung for 2 nights. So far I know must visit Feng Jia Night Market only...haha...

thx for the info...

thx thx...

Hi all,

I need some suggestions on accomodation in SunMoonLake and Alishan and I got additional 1 day i dunno want overnight in Taichung/Tainan/Chiayi.

My plan
Day 1-3: TPE
Day 3-4: SML <--- got a few but is those "lovers" package but i dowan.. i wan normal de
Day 4-5: Alishan <--- dunno sleep where T_T net kenot find
Day 5-6: Chiayi or TaiChung or Tainan <--- dilemma
Day 6-7: TPE
Day 7-9: Hualien <---- stay at roseland
Day 9-11: TPE

Please help !! Thx !

This post has been edited by chezzball: Apr 16 2010, 02:25 AM

wah..why taipei so many days wan?

regarding the youth card, which of the hotel acknowledge it's usage as of discounts will be given?

It would be great if there's a list available for reference