Last Day in Taipei and Onwards to Seoul

Today we say good bye to Taipei and travel to Seoul by evening flight.

We still had a lot of time to kill from 9 AM to 4 PM.

So we decided to Venture out in the city and see some more places.

We had stayed at Ximending which is in walking distance of most places.

Started off with a breakfast at MOS burger.

The places to see today were 

• NTU hospital building, 
• Taiwan national museum and 
• The peace park around. 

There is also a presidential building nearby which adds up to the rich architectural heritage of the city. 

We later realised that the Chiang Kai-Shek building is also walkable from the hostel. 

What a shame, we travelled by MRT the day earlier to reach CSK hall. We could have just walked!

On the way we had some sweet cakes stuff with regular red bean or cream.

The bite makes others envious....

Prasha wants another round

Soon we reached the National Taiwan museum. There were no plans to see the museum. I personally don't like museums.

The park is just behind the museum and these are the things you can't do in the park.

Kids going home after school

They say, speak with the kids and God speaks back to you!

Working Class having their lunch boxes!

Some heritage building.

Presidential Building from a distance

Bought Doughnuts for mid-flight snacks...

By now it was already 3 PM.

With this we concluded our Taiwan trip. 

Headed back to hotel. Picked up our luggage and took the bus 1819 back to airport.

The station was at a walking distance from the hotel and took us 15 min with the luggage to reach there.

The bus ride took another 1 hour.

Soon were on our Scoot flight to South Korea!

Bye Bye Taipei...... Hello Seoul!

Took luggage off the belt. 

We did as the locals did. Rushed to the train station connected to the airport.

Bought a single journey ticket.

We wondered why everyone was rushing...

Looks like it is the last local for the day.... 

It was still 11PM and last local is at 12 midnight.

Once exited from Seoul city station took a taxi to Kimchee Guesthouse. It was eerily silent and dark, 

The Seoul tower shone from a distance on top of the hill.

It was then we realised it was already past midnight and we had travelled into the next time zone...

Getting late for the day... In the upcoming post will share our experiences of the new city that we just came in 

S E O U L !

Reaching Taiwan!

Passports !✔

Visas ! ✔

Taiwan currency ! ✔

Hotel Booking printouts !✔

Onward flights booking printout!✔

All set to fly to Taiwan!

It was an early morning flight to Taipei...

Changi airport was not that busy...

The flight left at 7 AM

We reached Taoyuan airport Terminal 1 by 12 PM. The airport was like a big prayer room, with tall sloping roofs, looked liked made of bamboos tied together.

Once out of immigration, there is a Sim card counter at the floor 1(ground floor). Image courtesy:- fellow traveller

  There is a convenience store at the basement on the way. If you are hungry then you can cook the ready to eat food offered by the shop. There are tables on the right for quick bite. Recharge yourself and your electronic gadgets at the charging points. The bus ticket can be bought before boarding the bus.

The bus station is at the basement; Bus no 1819 goes to the Taipei main station.

The buses are frequent and comfortable. An hour's ride over the tallest highways I ever saw in my life!

Source

We reached Ximending in time for lunch. Had our ready to eat Indian packet at hotel...

The 7-11 s in Taiwan allow you to use their microwaves for heating your food. So you can buy your favourite snack there; heat in your own microwave safe box and continue your trip. We had bought the ready to eat packets of Indian food at 2 SGD each.  The scenes from hotel windows here.

The Taipei MRT map looks something like the below. Source here

We soon headed for Taipei 101 as it was approaching sunset. But to our disappointment they had closed their west gallery and there was still one hour waiting time in the line. We decided to chuck the idea of going to the top. Instead wandered around to absorb the atmosphere.

Below is the Ximending Night Market....

We stayed at the Smart Hostel (Ximending Taipei).

It was a pleasant stay considering it is not a hotel. However the home like feeling  with home like fitting....

Sleep took over once I was done ogling at the Taipei 101 seen from the hostel room on 13th Floor.

A Short Taiwan and South Korean tour..

For those who interested to know where is Taiwan, see the map below.

I never heard any of my friends mentioning travel to Taiwan or Korea before.
But budget airlines do go there from Singapore.
So one fine day in December 2013, I said to myself why not....

There were different kinds of questions asked when i told someone about my plans. Like, where is Taiwan? Is it in China? Which Korea are you going to? What is t he food that you get there?

Most of them didnt knew where these countries are on world map, neither did I few years back. So why not see these places and come back with stories, bring back a piece of time I spent there to share with my extended family... I liked the idea...

The visa process was very simple.

Fill up and print the the Taiwan Visa Online form.

The South Korean visa rules in detail here.

I had to submit the forms with the letter from employer and my bank statements that I receive in my snail-mailbox.

The total process takes about 3-4 days. So allow yourself to plan well in advance.

Also the Taiwanese tourism authorities give goodies for people with Confirmed air ticket and accommodation reservations. Why not check these before you fly there too?  

Are you flying to Taiwan too?

Now the important part of planning is when do you travel there. The Spring and autumn are my most recommended times for anything above the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn. These are distinct seasons which can be enjoyed for a brief period of times near the topics.

So I chose the spring.... Start of April it is.... More to come in further pages....