TPE

Taipei Tourism wasn't designed with the foreigner in mind; instead, it's geared for the local market for the tourism that exists.

I ordered myself a "Chop", a signature stamp carved in stone or plastic. I guess tusk may be unavailable. I got the characters right, except the type-style was wrong. I was trying to order this with my very limited Cantonese where Mandarin is the spoken standard. Still, I was amazed that I did the transaction fairly well. The local food is generally very good and healthy, much better than the fast foods. Look for food vendors having disposable paper trays and food on steam tables or on display. These places charge either by the items on the plate or by weight. You can at least see what you're choosing to eat. I avoided these places at first, but once I understood their system, it was pretty easy and good.

The eating out at local places is very reasonable, but look for places a lot of people go to--the food turns over quickly, and it's a sign the people there like it.

It's almost overwhelming with loving kindness from their hearts. But its climate is generally too hot for my comfort except during their coolest months.

Quick Tips:

Weather has a humid, subtropical climate, a distinct winter season, temperatures of 10° Celsius (50° Fahrenheit)(January-February,) rising to 33° Celsius (90° Fahrenheit) in summer (June-August) when the rainfall is highest(May-September.) June to October is typhoon season. A 10-percent service charge is usually automatically added to room rates and meals. Other tipping is optional but rare, including for taxis.

The electrical outlets have 110V AC power.

People are very friendly and hard-working. These are good-natured people, helping us even if they didn't speak any English.

The market areas when it gets beyond 40% saturation becomes unbearable--too overcrowded--and personally, I need to just leave the crowds.

The best time to come is during their "winter" season when the temperature is still comfortable November to February, with November in particular. On my last visit in November, it was the coldest season in years, but it felt warm and comfortable for me from a temperate climate.

Resources: MD Travel Health, Map of Taipei

Best Way To Get Around:

Bus companies offer service from Taipei Airport to Taipei Main train station for a lot less than a taxi. Follow the crowds going to purchase bus tickets for the ride. To return to the airport, there's a bus station adjacent to the train station. The bus to/from the airport makes stops along its route, but not understanding the language, it's just easier to make your destination the Taipei main train station. Accommodations close by this train station make it easier. Limit your luggage to two carry-ons that fit under the airline seats.

They now have a subway system which, when I was last there, was a series of large, open trenches in the streets, as it was still under construction. MRT subway works quite well. The MRT Main Taipei Station is overwhelming, whether it's crowded or not, with its breath and depth. Don't bother with the day pass, as you have to go to the designated gate agent for entry and exit, which defeats the purpose of convenience. Buses work pretty well. Walking is also acceptable, but be on guard all the time for obstacles. Ask for help getting around whenever possible, and always be polite if possible.

Train travel is very common and recommended if you can figure out the timetable and schedules all in Chinese, doable by matching its destination with a Taiwan map in both Chinese and English. Trains run promptly on time.

Paradise Hotel is a decent hotel and interested in promoting its KTV room, which is a karaoke bar from midnight to 6am. The hotel also has a 24-hour restaurant and fitness facilities.

My impression of my room was that it was very dark, though I'm not sure if it was furnished with dark wood or if there was simply not enough light. The other thing was the humidity -- I constantly felt sweaty, no matter if I was in the hotel or somewhere else.

The convenient location of the hotel meant that it was fairly easy to get to other places.

Ferrary Hotel is located about a 30-minute walk from the Taipei main train station. This is a very nice hotel, and you will feel welcomed and comfortable during your stay. I liked this place on my very first visit. It has a restaurant, gym, and computer access. This is actually the most comfortable of the Taipei hotels I stayed at. Once you're inside, it is tastefully done.

The problem is not being familiar with where the hotel is. The taxi driver asking if you have been here before should be an alarm that they'll be taking you for a ride and rack up the meter or negotiate a fare that's unreasonably high. When that happened to us, my partner pulled out his pen and wrote down the taxi's license number, which is mandatory, boldly and clearly legible on the rear window. The driver saw that, pulled over, and took the pen and pad of paper with the information.

We stayed here in the past, once while they were remodelling, and another time after they finished remodelling but then boosted their prices, so we checked out to a cheaper place. We stopped by to check their rates and found they were "discounting" their higher rates and discovered we could afford to stay here again.

Their restaurant in the hotel serves a traditional Chinese breakfast with a pleasing visual display of jook (aka Chinese poridge or congee,) with several tiny bowls of condiments to add to enhance its taste, depending on your preferences, while overlooking the very familiar street traffic that's instantly identifiable as Taipei's with its Chinese drivers on motor scooters.

The staff had only a two digit number lapel pin to identify the employee by, no name tags.

Email ferrary@ferrary-hotel.com.tw

Keyman's Hotel is recommended in the Lonely Planet Guide, and our choice was based on its location -- walking distance from the airport bus, which stops near the Taipei Train Station and the MRT Taipei Main Station exit 6, Mall exit 3 or MRT station NTU Hospital. Not being familiar with the area or language, it's almost idiot proof selecting this hotel as it's the last stop of the airport bus. From there, a taxi driver told us after the driver called the hotel on his mobile phone to find out where it is. But we were tired and didn't want to find it on our own with luggage, so we hopped in the taxi for a two minute ride. And leaving for the airport is really close, with the bus terminal to the airport adjacent to the Taipei Main Train Station.

The hotel has eight floors with 77-rooms. The lobby has no visitor lobby seating. By the floor map, rooms ending in 09 and 12 seem to be the larger rooms. Our room came with a double and a twin bed, able to accommodate three adults. There were stains on the wall, a mini-fridge, TV, piped canned music available. There's a metal assembly bolted to the floor next to the sofa. This turned out not to be a fire escape but rather a hoist guessing for moving large heavy objects too big for the stairs or elevator. This place had seen better days. The beds are too firm, and I couldn't sleep very comfortably. We saw a smaller room done in Japanese-style.

There are lots of nearby activities available without having to leave the immediate area, and next to the entrance a Nova computer arcade which is the place to buy computer stuff. Lots of local food vendors and even a McDonald's nearby if you prefer that, else there's no need, as the Chinese food is great. This is an excellent central location to be based out of.

Best Things Nearby:


Best Things About the Resort:


Resort Experience:
Yun Hsien Resort can be done as a day trip. There's no need to stay at their overpriced accommodations. It’s reachable by the Hsintien Bus (Wulia Line), which starts at the Taipei train station. You then pay a fee to cross the bridge leading to the resort area, pay to ride the train or walk, and pay to ride the tram to reach the resort. It's a nice walk around the resort, but there are a lot of stairs on the grounds. There are boats to rent, a swimming pool (which was closed), and several waterfalls.

• Unit Type: Studio
• Activities: Not Available
• Amenities: Not Available
• Unit Satisfaction: Fair
• Family Friendliness: Not Available
• Service: Not Available

Dante Coffee is an upscale-looking coffee shop with reasonable prices, so the common person can afford going there, but it felt too warm inside. There are multiple locations for this chain.

Golden Square is on the second level of the train station, where there are plenty of restaurants waiting for your business. This particular one has a worker hawking for business. We didn't respond to her when she spoke in Mandarin Chinese. Quick on her toes, she showed us a menu in English and that got her our business.

Most of the dishes we ordered were already prepared. The fried rice, fish ball soup, vegetable dish, and a couple of drinks were served quickly and prices were very reasonable. There are plenty of nearby common tables, which are shared by all the restaurants.

Ponderosa Steakhouse is an international restaurant chain. This one happens to be located close by the Taipei Zoo entrance. It was mobbed with people when we went. You place your order and pay first with the cashier before being seated. Very little English was spoken, but the staff was very friendly.

There is a salad bar included in your entrée selection, unless you want only the salad bar, which may be the best deal. The entrée came after a long while and wasn't all that great, and it was accompanied by a very small, unripened cherry tomato. The salad bar is a pretty good deal. It includes such items as spaghetti, fresh fruits like watermelon, oranges, ice cream, coffee, tea, and artificial grass juice. You definitely shouldn't go away hungry. I recommend only the salad bar selection. Skip any entrée.

Previously named New Park, this is a popular spot for locals to come and enjoy the park. Subtle cruising also takes place here, mainly near the pagoda ponds after dark, but there's always an exception. There are pagodas, some large artworks, a couple of train engines, and the Taiwan Provincial Museum next to the MRT NTU Hospital Station. The park closes at midnight.

Fresh is a small multi-floor establishment for gay men. You begin at the entrance on the second floor, where chatting can take place at the main bar. The third floor has dancing with a small bar while the fourth floor is more of a lounge area with sofas and an opening to the outside roof. It's best to go with friends, and it gets busy after 10pm.

Phone: +886.02.23587706, Fax: +886.02.23587701

Email fresh0329@hotmail.com

Rainbow Sauna for gay men looks discrete from the outside with only a rainbow symbol. It's large, clean, but there’s not much activity (men come with their noses to the ceiling). There’s a steam room, warm and cold pools, and private areas. Admission TWD 400.

Babylon Sauna for men is the place to visit with a large bright sign in Chinese and English. The NT$400 admission price allows you to stay up to 20 hours. You are asked to remove your shoes before entering. The reason is immediately apparent as you descend the stairs and notice the nice wood floors. There's a very large pool, steam room (where the major activity takes place), a TV lounge where both Chinese and English speaking viewers may sit, private areas, and dark areas for sex play. Mature and chubby Chinese men are especially welcomed. Admission TWD 400.

email babylontaipei@hotmail.com

Phone +886.02.523.5898

Imperial Palace Sauna was once a better place than it is currently. There are multiple floors, but the lower level is to be avoided because it has a mold & mildew problem. There is a large lounge area, private areas, and some exercise equipment (but not for those serious about exercising). The owners have let this place run down considerably. It's close to the Paradise Hotel. Admission TWD 400.

Olympia has been in business since 1950 and has three locations. This has been one of my favorite bakeries since I first came across it over 10 years ago. They serve sandwiches, dim sum, baked goods, and desserts.

Phone: +886.02.2331.4578, Fax: +886.02.2371.1032

The Lantern Festival takes place annually and run for about 2 weeks along with the Chinese New Year celebration. People make different things out of transparent paper and have lights shine through them. Prizes are awarded for the best. We happened to come across it. There are some quite beautiful displays.

 

Top View is an observatory of central Taipei on the 46th floor of the Shin Kong Life Tower Building. You need to purchase an admission ticket (NT$150) prior to walking up to the roped elevator ride line.

You are greeted by uniformed staff member who takes your ticket and guides you to your elevator car. The ride is brief, about 30 seconds, but the wait for the elevator is much longer. An automated announcement is made in both Mandarin and English, but it sounds a little garbled and unclear.

You step out and see the city's outline through a haze of pollution; the view may look better at twilight. There are few people up on the observatory floor. I think it's good to go one time just to see it, but I don't think I would bother with this again, and I personally think you can spend your money better elsewhere. If you didn't plan in advance and purchase a cappuccino from McDonald's before coming into the elevator, there's an overpriced café, a tea shop, a snack shop with ice cream and stale popcorn, a souvenir shop, and a cultural display.

Hours: 11am to 10pm
Phone: +886.02.2388.6132, Fax: +886.02.2375.8902
Email

Cupid (Ming Fan) is a karaoke bar. The place was empty, except for a couple staff members. They were not very friendly and gouged us by charging for three drinks when we ordered two. Some very salty snacks were provided. There was no effort made to be friendly, so we promptly left.

Phone: +886.02.311.8585/8686

National Palace Museum has a huge collection of art from past centuries that was relocated from Beijing to Taipei during the Communist takeover of China. Start early in the day for this museum.

Hours: 9am to 5pm
Phone: +886.02.2881.2021
Fax: +886.02.2882.1440

NOVA, located near the Taipei Main Railway Station, is a four-story building full of vendors for computers, mobile phones, PDA’s, and digital cameras. In short it's a one-stop shop for all of your technology needs. It was very crowded the first time we visited. They have promotions and prize drawings, so students look for deals here.

It just so happens that the back entrance of this business center is next door to Keyman's hotel.

We went looking for a SIM card for our mobile phones. The price we found it for is the fixed standard price. But as we were shopping, comparing, we came across one vendor that wanted to charge more than the standard rate. The SIM card is common enough that even the 7-11 convenience stores will sell you one for the same price. But they won't fill out your paperwork or fax it in for you, as the vendor we ended up buying the SIM cards from did for us. The SIM card is good for up to 6 months from the last use, then it becomes deactivated.

Another item we went looking for was an extra battery for a laptop. We didn't find anyone who had this particular brand in stock, as it had to be ordered and would take a several days. I can understand that the vendors don't want to have the kind of items that aren’t big sellers.

Another item was a 512mb xD memory card; either the merchants didn't carry it or the price was more than what I was willing to pay. I'd check the price on Ebay for this item and bought it off Ebay after returning from this trip.

We bought a PCMCIA wifi 802.11b card from a vendor occupying the basement or lower level. They were kind enough to handle our transaction after their official closing time, install the card and its driver, and test it to see that it worked before we purchased it. Now that's service, and with a smile.

I completely forgot about looking for a cable Prolific offers that allows file transfers between two computers at the higher speed USB 2.0. I had bought their earlier PC-Linq USB 1.1 version and liked its software interface.

It was fun to look at this place, but it's even more useful when you have something in particular to shop for.

Monday to Friday 11am-10pm, Saturday 10:30am to 10:30pm, Sunday and holidays 10:30am to 9:30pm
Phone: +886.02.2381.4833

Shiau Chuan Yuan is a business that provides you access to their hot springs along the main road, where there are a lot of vendors and merchants before the bridge leading to the Yun Hsien Resort.

After paying the admittance fee, remove your shoes and descend one floor to the locker area to store your belongings. You're issued a set of towels on a tray. There's a sliding glass door to the shower and the communal pools. There are separate entrances and pools for men and women. Shower first to clean the skin and hair prior to entering the pools.

There are several pools; the largest pool has hot water, and two smaller pools have warm water (one with water jets and one with spouts from above, which provides a wonderful, vigorous, relaxing water massage on your head, shoulders, and body if you're under one of the four large spouts). I didn't try another pool. The water didn't smell of any minerals.

There's no limit to how long you may stay. However, check with the clerk about when the last bus leaves Wulai -it's sometime after 9pm; otherwise, you may check-in for a room for the night.

These types of hot springs are quite common all over Taiwan, and some have minerals. This is particularly nice. Though not really a luxury, I think of it being a luxury to treat yourself to this.

It's a long bus ride to this place, but I'd consider returning. It's quite nice and very relaxing. The Wulai bus will take you to the nearest MRT station from the resort (about 40 minutes), or ride it back to the Taipei Main Train Station, be prepared to stand on the bus most if not all the way.

E-Clean Coin Laundry, located between 159 and 161 Shida Rd./Roosevelt Rd. Sec. 3, is open 24 hours for doing your own laundry. It is very close to MRT station Taipower Building, exit 5. We spotted this place by chance riding the bus to Wulai.

There’s a coin changer. Laundry supplies are available for purchase from the vending machines, with scissors for cutting open the packaging. There's a small basin to rinse your hands and a small counter provided for folding your laundry if it isn't being used. There are front-loading washers and dryers. The washers do an excellent job of extracting the water out of the clothes at the end of the cycle.

A business that lets you do your own laundry is a rare find, and there's a fast food restaurant very close by, so you can eat while doing your laundry (the restaurant closes at 8pm).

Phone: 0952-76-3132.

Taipei MRT has brought some welcomed relief to the heavily congested traffic of Taipei. There is still a lot of stop-and-go and backed up traffic during heavy commute times. It's helped by reducing the amount of motor scooters on the road and its associated pollution. The MRT routes is heavily utilized by the people.

We purchased a day pass for NT$150, but this is not recommended. We had to show the pass at a designated gate for entry and exit, which is less convenient than buying a regular ticket and using any available fare gate.

You purchase the regular fare ticket by first looking at the start and end destinations to determine your fare, then selecting how many ticket(s) to dispense, depositing your money, and taking your ticket(s). The MRT helps getting around Taipei. It’s easier, cheaper, and cleaner.

Hours: 6am-midnight

Address: 7, Lane 48, Sec.2, Zhongshan N Rd., Taipei, TW

Phone: 0800-033-068, Fax: 2511-5003

TPE - Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport has two terminals and is located 40km southwest of Taipei.

Ground transportation offers buses and taxis. Bus service has destinations that include Taipei, Taichung, Banciao, Taoyuan, and Jhongli. Taxis operating out of the airport have been screened and approved by the Aviation Police Bureau.

After exiting customs, get cash from an ATM and follow the crowd to the bus booths selling tickets. We chose Taipei Main Railway station (the last bus stop), which is for us idiots who don't know. Our hotel was right nearby. There are a string of taxis we hopped aboard for all of a 2-minute ride after the driver called on his mobile phone to find out where it was and even pointed it out to us.