When Taiwan became a visa-free country for us Filipinos, my best friend Trixie and I immediately checked the airlines going to Taiwan. Luckily, we found a round trip tickets on sale for around PHP 3,500. Why Taiwan? We all know Taiwan because of Meteor Garden, Milk Teas and Hot Star Large Fried Chicken but I am also excited to see the Cherry Blossoms! 🌸

Taiwan is a 2 hour and 15 minutes flight from Manila. We arrived at Taoyuan International Airport around 1 am and stayed until around 5 am to pick up our KLOOK Portable WiFi. One thing I like when I first arrived in Taiwan, it’s safe! 🙂

12 places to visit in Taiwan:

1. Taipei 101
No.7, Sec. 5, Xinyi Rd., Xinyi Dist., Taipei City 110, Taiwan
Taipei’s skyscraper and formerly the tallest building in the world. You can appreciate the view of the entire city. There are also restaurants and shopping mall inside where you can shop. How to get there by MRT, take the MRT Tamsui–Xinyi line (Red line) to Taipei 101 / World Trade Center station Exit No. 4

My best friend Trixie and I at Taipei 101.

Instead of going up in the observatory, we decided to go to Starbucks Taipei 101. You need to call and make a reservation a day before your scheduled date. There is no entrance fee, but you need to purchase a meal or drink worth 200 NTD per person.

Starbucks Taipei 101
35F., No.7, Sec. 5, Xinyi Rd., Xinyi Dist., Taipei City 110, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Tel: +886 2 8101 0701   Opening Hours: 7:30am – 6:30pm

2. Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall
No. 21, Zhongshan South Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan

3. Taipei Zoo
No. 30, Section 2, Xinguang Road, Wenshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Entrance fee: 50 NTD

4. Yeh Liu Geo Park
No.167-1, Kantung Road, Yehliu Village, Wanli District, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Entrance fee: 80 NTD

How to get there from Taipei?
At Zhong Xiao Dun Hua Station near MANGO store, take the Bus 1815. Bus fare: 96 NTD.

5. Jinguashi Golden Waterfalls
Jinshui Road, Ruifang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan

6. Jiufen Old Street
Jishan Street, Ruifang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Jiufen is similar to Macau, an alley of different kinds of local delicacies and souvenirs items. It was raining all day in Jiufen, we didn’t get a chance to roam around “kaya nag-food trip na lang kami” 🙂 One of my favorite is the meatballs with noodles soup for only 100 NTD!

7. Ping Xi
Zhonghua St., Pingxi Dist., New Taipei City
Write your wishes and send it up to the sky. You will choose the color you want and write your wishes on the lantern using a “mopit” paint brush.

8. Beitou Hot Spring
How to get there by MRT, take the Red Line to Beitou Station transfer to the pink line for just 1 station of Xinbeitou. From Xinbeitou station, take a 5 minute walk

9. Yangmingshan National Park
Finally, Cherry Blossoms!
How to get there by bus, take bus S230 from Beitou MRT station to Yangmingshan bus stop.

10. Ximending
One of the most popular tourist spots among both local and international travelers. There are alot of shopping store, restaurants and many more. These are my favorites food stalls: Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle for the Taiwanese Oyster Mee Sua,  Hot Star Fried Chicken, and Coco Milk Tea.

11. Rainbow Village
408 Taichung City, Nantun District, Taiwan
How to get there: from Taichung HSR Station, take bus 56 going to Rainbow Village.

Huang Yung-Fu, the artist who created Rainbow Village.

12. Zhong She Guan Guang Flower Market
Houli District, Taichung City, Taiwan
This is one of my favorite places in Taiwan because of the beautiful flowers and also the BBQ and Hotpot! You can purchase the entrance fee and BBQ zone at around 240NTD. How to get there? There are 2 options, from Houli Station, ride a taxi for 100NTD or from Tainan station, take a 20 minutes walk.