"Don’t date a girl who travels"

I found this article being shared by a friend who travels a lot and we even miss backpacking. Can you believe it, rather than hotel and tour we really really miss backpacking. The article is so relate-able! Not entirely but there is a reason why I much prefer the single life right now. The only guy who I would date is probably someone who can carry a backpack, sleep in a dorm, bath in a shared toilet and walk for more than 12 hours a day. Trust me, I asked many and not many like such lifestyle. Those who are rich wanted at least a 3 stars hotel, those who are lazy much preferred tour guides...but we somehow, at times, enjoy being lost?

She’s the one with the messy unkempt hair colored by the sun. Her skin is now far from fair like it once was. Not even sun kissed. It’s burnt with multiple tan lines, wounds and bites here and there. But for every flaw on her skin, she has an interesting story to tell.

Don’t date a girl who travels. She is hard to please. The usual dinner-movie date at the mall will suck the life out of her. Her soul craves for new experiences and adventures. She will be unimpressed with your new car and your expensive watch. She would rather climb a rock or jump out of an airplane than hear you brag about it.

Don’t date a girl who travels because she will bug you to book a flight every time there’s an airline seat sale. She wont party at Republiq. And she will never pay over $100 for Avicii because she knows that one weekend of clubbing is equivalent to one week somewhere far more exciting.

Chances are, she can’t hold a steady job. Or she’s probably daydreaming about quitting. She doesn’t want to keep working her ass off for someone else’s dream. She has her own and is working towards it. She is a freelancer. She makes money from designing, writing, photography or something that requires creativity and imagination. Don’t waste her time complaining about your boring job.

Don’t date a girl who travels. She might have wasted her college degree and switched careers entirely. She is now a dive instructor or a yoga teacher. She’s not sure when the next paycheck is coming. But she doesn’t work like a robot all day, she goes out and takes what life has to offer and challenges you to do the same.

Don’t date a girl who travels for she has chosen a life of uncertainty. She doesn’t have a plan or a permanent address. She goes with the flow and follows her heart. She dances to the beat of her own drum. She doesn’t wear a watch. Her days are ruled by the sun and the moon. When the waves are calling, life stops and she will be oblivious to everything else for a moment. But she has learned that the most important thing in life isn’t surfing.

Don’t date a girl who travels as she tends to speak her mind. She will never try to impress your parents or friends. She knows respect, but isn’t afraid to hold a debate about global issues or social responsibility.

She will never need you. She knows how to pitch a tent and screw her own fins without your help. She cooks well and doesn’t need you to pay for her meals. She is too independent and wont care whether you travel with her or not. She will forget to check in with you when she arrives at her destination. She’s busy living in the present. She talks to strangers. She will meet many interesting, like-minded people from around the world who share her passion and dreams. She will be bored with you.

So never date a girl who travels unless you can keep up with her. And if you unintentionally fall in love with one, don’t you dare keep her. Let her go.

article from: https://medium.com/better-humans/802c49b9141c, 

source: http://www.lovethesearch.com/

content is copyright of the origianl owner 

 

Just yesterday I was telling my brother that after 3 years I will take a year off from work, and he said that is impossible, how can I take long leave right when I just started? Like I will still be a newbie then. Like mentioned in the article, I might just turn out doing something out of the blue. I don't feel like settling down just for one thing. But it is the future and nobody know's what the future holds. And, somehow men tried to impress me on where they have traveled to (after knowing my joy for traveling), instead of telling me about their job or family background! Which is why guys who backpacks, definitely not luggage dragger, always impress me! But if you dress in Tom Ford suits that might impress too! ;D

5D4N Magical Bali

The rest of Taiwan posts shall need to wait a little more. Since Taiwan is a backpacking trip, my itinerary was very detailed with all the location and fees + how to get there.

So for Bali trip, I went with my Mum. My Mum is already 50 years old and I wouldn't want her to go on crazy backpacking trip with me. So in order to go on the Mother-Daughter trip, I went to the tour agency!

The agencies we used are: Sarawak Holiday Travel & Tours (Kuching based) and confirmed by Explorer Tourism Network (Bali based). So basically we communicated with the Kuching based agent and they helped us arrange everything with the agent in Bali.

Before that I have heard many good feedback of Sarawak Holiday Travel & Tours from my parents friends who went on holiday using this agency. After looking at the places to visited, we took the 5 Days 4 Nights tour. You can always ask your agent to buy your flight but to save some money, we decided to book our own.

Our flight using Air Asia was approximately RM400 round trip (KL-Denpasar Bali) each. Since we didn't want to miss the noon tour on the first day, and no point for us to stay in KL again (since we fly from Kuching), we decided to land in Bali a day earlier and slept at the hotel near the airport, which is "The Airport Kuta Hotel & Residences", located in Denpasar, really close to the airport that you can even walk! But they provided free shuttle so of course we just took it. Hotel staff are also super friendly! And, breakfasts were provided! The cost only RM40 for a private twin room! Too bad it is far from the city and beach.

So our tour route:

Denpasar> Uluwatu> Kintamani> Ubud> Tengalalang> Tampaksiring> Bedugul> Mengwi> Beratan> Tanah Lot> Turtle Island> Discovery Mall> Coffee Factory

Since it was not a private tour, another family & friends of 5 joined us. Thank God they are really nice people so the tour went smoothly! This is what I hate about sit-in-coach (SIC) tour, if you happen to be unlucky, your whole trip will be affected. 

Our tour guide: Mr. Wayan is also recommended, can email me for his contact. His children are all currently in university (like my age) so he felt fatherly to me. He is quite flexible, patient and really informative.

We paid around RM1600 for 2 person tour, including a 2 star hotel, transport and all the food (3 meals a day). So total sum up to approximately RM1000 per person for the whole trip including round trip flights.

Most of the time the journey itself takes so long so 7 days would be perfect for a relaxing tour in Bali. We didn't enjoy much at the beach because this is more like a sightseeing tour, and 5 days was just nice! If you plan to go to the beach, extend your stay on your own! I don't think you will need a guide for the beach right? Lol

So in order to make my page loads faster with all the photos heavy travel log I decided to make them into collage! Though it does seem more ugly but for less detailed (non backpack) trip like this, I'm sure it will do!

The itinerary given to us:
23 NOV   Airport Transfer In + Uluwatu Tour
24 NOV   Kintamani Tour + Ubud + Sukawati + Padi Field Tengalalang + Tampaksiring Temple
25 NOV   Bedugul Tour + Mengwi Temple + Taman Ayun Temple + Beratan Lake + Tanah Lot         
26 NOV   Turtle Island Tour + Discovery Mall + Coffee Factory       
27 NOV   Airport Transfer Out    
But of course we did some changes based on our interest and time constraint. 

Day 1 (23 November 2013)

This is our hotel! It's called Ibis Style Hotel, 

under the same management as Pullman and Novotel (by Accorhotels) 

We arrived hotel around 2PM so right after we took some time to relax, 

around 3.30PM we started our tour to Uluwatu!

Here we had to beware of the monkeys!

With the help of our tour guide it was okay but there was a group of teenagers,

from their talks I think they are from Singapore.

One of the girl in their group got "molested" and she was crying in shocked quite badly.

So be careful of your camera and sunglasses, and don't feed them eventhough it looks tempting.

At first they will be tame but when you run out of food, they will still keep following you!

For the dinner on the first night, we had fresh grilled seafood on the beach!

At a restaurent called Bali Cafe 21

And of course some Indonesian dance performance~

Day 2 (24 November 2013)

The first place we visited on Day 2 is the batik/ textile shop and next to the jewelry shop (silver is famous in Bali). Me and my Mum are not fond on these kinda things so we didn't get anything, our travel mates did :)

Since we are all non-Muslim so we requested the tour guide to bring us to the famous Babi Guling! 

This is not included in the itinerary so we had to take-away to our actual lunch place.

Babi Guling is a must have in Bali! 

This is where we had lunch, at Kintamani Restaurant. 

Kintamani is somewhere like Cameron. 

It is highland and slightly chilly, the weather was perfect!

Didn't take any food photo because they are almost typical Malay food,

only attracted by the Mango+coconut+Malacca sugar, I like it!

Our lunch here was buffet style Indonesian food!

After lunch we went to view the Batur Caldera volcanic crater! 

As a geology student, of course need to take photo with a cart on Geology of Batur Caldera!

After visiting the volcanic crater we went to the Holy Spring!

Or better known as Tampak Siring or Tirta Empul Temple.

There are so many temples in Bali that we actually had to skip some due to time constraint,

however this temple is a must visit!

Totally forgotten what was dinner for Day 2, it was one of those super hungry days. sao kao liao (eat everything) before I remember to take photos Lol.

Day 3 (25 November 2013)

Day 3 we went to a temple. So sorry because based on our itinerary there were a few temples but we canceled out a few. This was my first time following a tour so I kinda didn't bother much, just wanted to relax and follow the flow. Plus I was seating on the most back seat of the van and others were all Aunties. Ok so the point is, I don't know the name of this temple Lol

Lunch was at another highland overlooking the rice tarraces~

Forgotten to take the name as well Lol

After lunch we went to the famous Tanah Lot!

Because it is famous and we also queued for blessings so it took the whole day Lol.

After Tanah Lot we went to the Rice Terrace for a short visit because it was getting dark.

Day 3 dinner was at Kemangi! So many dishes the table was so full! This tour definitely worth it, every dinner meals were like table full of dishes! And this one also came with free Legong Dance performance from 6.30PM-7Pm and 8PM-8.30PM.

Day 4 (26 November 2013)

 Actually this was what I was waiting for, the Turtle Island tour, but it didn't turn out as expected. Both me and my Mum thought that the turtles are taken care while they are on their natural habitat, on the beach, the sandy beach. But it turned out that they have these pools for them. As much as I feel heartbroken that they are in cages, at least they are well taken care of and not exposed to dangerous predators (eventhough that is nature). The beach looks so nice but it actually smelt of benzene (engine oil), just look at the amount of boats.

Toom lunch at Pawan Pasundan, which served special Sunda dishes. Small portion but this is one of my favourite! And I really love tempe. One of the aunty with us doesn't eat raw food (this dish is filled with raw vege) so I think she ended up eating only the rice and chicken, while I sapu everyone's tempe. Used to hate it but I think I ended up liking everything edible Lol

Final stop before discovery Mall, was the Coffee Factory. Bali is famous for Kopi Luwak, but it was so very the expensive, they let us try the normal coffee though. If you don't plan to buy better don't go here. Because none of us are coffee drinker, end up buy nothing and the sales person face so black and towards the end a lil rude, we quickly rushed out wtf.

And also the Bali bombing at Legian Street back in 2002, this is the memorial Ground Zero Monument.

Discovery Mall, biggest mall in Bali, for now.

I saw one coming up nearby but not sure whether it is as big.

The end!

I hope to tour Indonesia's Java Island soon!

Blogshop complaint

Haven't CNY already make people moody. Lately there are so many online business. I always buy things online because it is super convenient! Like I just sit in front of my computer in my pajamas, messy hair, haven't brush teeth, wash face already start shopping also no one knows. And just now I just got my parcel, went out in pajamas and a towel around my neck, the postman just smiled Lol

Ok nevermind that. So I am still careful with online purchases. If good ones I usually will go back at least 3 to 4 times, the customer service so nice and delivery very fast ones. But some really spoil my mood. See the shop got own domain and bank accounts all under the shop name (not personal account) so means registered company right? But service can be very lousy.

No need to mention name, just need to know the owner surname is Ng Lol. So I made a pre-order purchase which was supposed to arrive within 14 days, not only item didn't arrive but the shop did not notify me on anything until I had to send in a complain. After complain also I still chill cause maybe item is on the way, few days late nevermind. But the owner reply like....rawrrr. In my emails I always have Hi/Hello and Thank you/Thanks. Thank you even if the person didn't help me do anything because it is a courtesy. 

I also ever get complain but I replied properly with loads of Sorry and thank you, I don't know whether the person felt better but to me I will! And this owner don't even have Hi/Hello and Thank you also wrote in short form TQ wtf. I know la almost CNY very busy, but I also busy leh ....

Replied my emails also bo lan bo juak, like it is not her problem if item delayed. She said will refund, and I asked to be informed if she refund but till now also no notice. Since they asked us to make payment within 48 hours after place order (I made mine right after I ordered leh) so I also wait 48 hours see she will refund or not.

I even attached the screen shot where it said the delivery will be made within 14 days to her. If wait till after CNY that is like a month after I ordered wtf. Luckily I don't really need new shoes for CNY, my shoe rack overflowing so not that mad. If it is for important function then really fire eh.

This kinda post seems like it suits Dayre more =.= Anyways, it is just something to remind the online shops out there. Customers make you earn money so please have some, even little courtesy like Hi, Hello or Thank you..make very big difference to many of us.

Anyways, the other I posted this on my Twitter, which many had interest in...I had like..5 retweets? Lol

It is something I always hold on to. When my Mum act like those sales girls and promoters are her slaves, I get very angry and I will tell her "How would you know? You ever work in supermarket? I had the same job!" Because instead of supermarket jobs, she experienced farming, like how she appreciates farmers, I also feel sad when people don't appreciate salesgirls or promoter. Hardworking ones la, not those kept chit chat and play handphone ones.

Go through some though time you will appreciate what you have. Like me now, I save up all my money for travel so I can see cultures and people of different places. I own a phone with a cracked screen (not Iphone and not Samsung just some ciplak phone), thank God I have laptop (Asus basic RM1.5k one), no Camera, no Tablet but I still feel happy as long as got money to eat and shop a little. Wahhh my bro after Dad got him a guitar (like more than RM1k one), bought him tab and now want camera! I die die ask him go save own money. His flight also I pay even though I haven't work =.=

Talking about this topic, now CNY very near so very common question from relatives. "Still studying?", "Working already?" Aiyooo thank God havent ask me when get married else I rage, people always think I am secondary school kid >_< Anyways, since I am now unemployed, these questions really difficult to answer. When I say "I'm waiting for employment", seems like I had been waiting forever and no job liddat. So I always add on "I just graduated" (even though that was 3 months ago *sobs)

Recently I am hooked up reading Gone Girl, there will be a movie adapted from the mystery-thriller novel soon starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike so I need to finish it before the movie premier in third quarter of 2014! Getting more and more interesting!


**update 29.01.2014

So it has been more than 48 hours since the last email and I have yet to receive a refund from the shop.

I know Chinese New Year is coming so I am trying to keep cool but I really want to settle this before CNY, want to happy happy guo nian ma.. And I also don't want the shop to be in debt with me for CNY. I mean this is a shop with 4 different bank accounts, so difficult to make a refund? I mean if she cannot refund just say cannot refund and I will wait for the item even if it comes after CNY right? But she said yes, cannot refund, but till now no refund =.=

If it's me I will want to settle of my business problems, make all my customers happy before celebrating CNY. How to celebrate CNY with all these guilt?? Anyways will update again if no refund. If up till 1 week no refund I might as well expose the shop name, warn people not to shop there. Ask people pay within 48 hours but they cannot refund within 48 hours?? *sigh

**update 05.02.2014

3 days before it is 1 month after my purchase, finally received refund. Seems like they are very busy with CNY and finally back to business. Anyways, despite all the trouble and felt cheated, still thank you for the refund.

Taiwan Part 1: Day 1~2 - Arrival + Hualien

Finally! Before I proceed with my travel plans, being hopeful here because I might start working in a month or two and that means less travel time. Let me finish all my Taiwan and Bali travel log.

This was what I wrote on my Facebook photo album on Taiwan, titled:

"Taiwan on a Shoestring"

And the brief and precise descriptions on our trip:

Travel date: 7 Nov-15 Nov 2013 (7 days). 

Total expense excluding flight: RM1600. 

Coverage: Hualien>Taitung>Kaoshiung>Taichung>Taipei. 

Transport: mostly by public bus, shuttle bus, railway train, bullet train, mrt, bicycle, 

once on ferry, twice on cable cars, countable on taxi and miles on our feet. 

Awesome country, especially if you're a geologist ;) 

missed out many places due to time constraint, will definitely be back^^

To save time I will cut down craps and go directly to our plans and itinerary. We definitely missed out many places because one, we were on budget; two, we went in a group of only 2 girls; three, we had very restricted time (we wanted to tour whole island but 7 days is not enough, make sure you have at least 10 days)

One thing to take note, most places are closed on Monday, so we tried to make our Monday to visit somewhere free (without entrance pass needed). And also emergency contact which must be saved into your phone: Toll-free inquiry 110 and Ambulance 119 (informed by our Taiwanese friend)

I will cover 2 days in a post so here is Day 1 & Day 2, check out next post for Day 3 & Day 4..and so on :)

***************************************************

Day 1 (7 November 2013, Thursday)

Taoyuan Airport > Taipei Main Station > Luodong Railway Station > Xincheng Station (Taroko)

• After arriving Taiwan Taoyuan Airport around 2PM, we took an airport shuttle bus -125NT$,50mins- to Taipei Main Station, but walked another distance to the building with bus service. It is best to ask for directions from the locals. 
• From Taipei Main Station, took a bus (Kamalan) -135NT$,1hour- to Luodong Railway Station (also need to walk from where the bus stopped). 
• From Luodong Railway Station, took a train -107NT$,1hour20mins- to Xincheng (Taroko Station). 
• From Xincheng, you can take taxi to the guesthouse. Please note that Xincheng station is quite a distance away from Hualien but is nearer to Taroko George. 

Taipei Main Station

We were lucky because we met very very friendly Taiwanese friends at Luodong Train Station. They were willing to even drive us to our hostel because we arrived really late, around 10.30PM after all the bus and train rides, plus getting lost finding the bus station. He said there are rarely taxi around that time and even if there is, it will be very expensive. Thus if you take this route, it will be better for you to arrive during daylight.

Our first night in Taiwan, we stayed at Hualien- Liwu Inn International Youth Hostel (reviewed here) which cost us 300NT$ per bed in a 4 person dorm. It is located right beside the bus stop to Taroko George but guess what we did? Check out day 2!! After we got a Phone prepaid -300NT$- with the help of our friend, we showered and slept.

Day 2 (8 November 2013, Friday)

Taroko George> Hualien (Chisingtan Beach> Random Food hunt > Ziqiang Night Market)

Initially when I planned for Taroko George, I was really confused on the route. I thought Taroko George is a stop and then all the others but I think all these Eternal Shrine, Tunnel of Nine Turns, Buluowan etc. are included as Taroko George. So here is a less confusing plan, if you have time, you will need one whole day to complete the whole Taroko George path. 

For Day 2, since we made new friends, they planed to take us around Hualien for half a day so our Taroko journey has to be only half a day trip.

There is a shuttle bus for tourist or you can also take Hualien Public bus, both of this bus passes by the hostel we stayed  (Hualien- Liwu Inn International Youth Hostel). 

立霧客棧國際青年旅舍 Hualien- Liwu Inn International Youth Hostel

The bus stop is right outside the hostel. We woke up very early to take the bus but notice no bus actually stopped for us. 

The bus stop for 台湾好行 tourism bus right in front of the hostel

After 30minutes, we saw a couple walked from our nearby hotel and decided to follow them. To our surprise, eventhough we had to climb a slight hill, it took us only 20minutes to arrive to the Park Headquarters, not including the time we stopped to take the breathtaking views. My advise, if you will be staying at Hualien- Liwu Inn International YH, skip the bus and walk to the HQ while enjoying the morning breeze.

When we arrived the HQ, the uncle on the information desk was surprise that these two little girls walked all the way up to the HQ. We told him what happened and he said we must wave to the bus to make it stop, which we didn't. We thought the bus will definitely stop at the bus stop (supposedly) so we were busy....taking photos :D

great view on our way to the HQ

If you are not using the bus, you can even stop (on your on time) to take photo!

And more photo!

Wonderful view of the signature bridge in Hualien

Taroko National Park! Weather was a breeze so had no trouble "hiking" up

The route of the shuttle buses:

Taroko Park Headquarters > Eternal Spring Shrine > Buluowan > Tunnel of Nine turns > Cimu Bridge > Helui Campground > Lushui > Tianxiang

(One day pass can be obtained only at Hualien Train Station, not Xincheng Train Station)

This is how the tourism bus looks like:

台湾好行 tourism bus

When we arrived at the HQ, we saw the couple again who walked up all the way like us. We waited for the shuttle bus together. 

The whole journey up to Tianxiang takes 30-40minutes, which was what we did. On our way up because we were squeezed till the end of the bus, we decided not to get down (we somehow can't exit) till we arrive Tianxiang. 

In the end we took so long time exploring Tianxiang, and the laziness kicked in because the weather was getting really hot. And the bus continued being super packed (like people have to seat at the emergency exit) and we were on the back seats on both ways. So, we decided to just make it an on-bus tour Lol. Plus, Tunnel of Nine turns was closed due to recent earthquake and rock falls, super unlucky.

If you have the time and patience, do stop by at all the stops. One of the stop has an aborigines village, I am not sure which maybe Buluowan or Lushui.

Taroko National Park HQ

From the HQ, you can get a flyer on Tourist Information for Taroko National Park. It includes the map of the whole park itself, getting there, the bus routes, emergency contact numbers, Campground sites information and park trails.

The park trails are divided into 2 types, the Scenic type and the Hiking type (time required and special features are also included in the flyer)

This was one awesome toufu! Sold by the monks there for charity,
a lil pricey (cause its meant for donation) but I read it was yummy so we tried, it is!

No, I am not the  觀音大士 (Guanyin) *lame

View of Tianxiang from the pagoda!

After Taroko tour (more of like Tianxiang tour), we went back to our hostel and this time we were smart enough to use the bus! Stopped right in front of our hostel. After we packed and checked out, our friend came and brought us for lunch and Hualien tour! For tour in Hualien you definitely need to hire a guide, or a taxi at least. Because there is no proper public transport to move around.

Friend brought us to buy the famous "檸檬冰" (directly translated as Lemon Ice)
It is like a Lemonade. Perfect for the sunny day!

Missing Hualien's fantastic view!

Our friend told us that Shihtiping has nothing really breathtaking so they decided to bring us to Chisingtan Beach. Being a geology (rock studies) student, first thing I notice was, rocks! More like pebbles but I was very amazed. Instead of a sandy beach like here in Malaysia, the beach was covered with pebbles and cobbles!

I was so excited I had to take a photo with my beloved rocks Lol

After Chisingtan Beach we went to a Fish museum! It is called 七星柴鱼博物院  "Chihsing Tan Katsuo". Our friends brought us here, nothing much to see but loads of Hualien local products sold here! We bought some and our friends bought a lot! :D

entrance is 40NT$ per person and if I am not mistaken, 20NT$ can be rebate to purchase items there

There were dead (modeled) fishes and also life fishes on display

After that it was food hunting time!! Because coincidentally our friends are also the food-hunting type (always looking for good food) so we had the chance to try the best of Hualien!

This is probably the best food we had during the whole Taiwan trip! Also because we were on our own at all the other cities so we just took (ate) what we were given (found).

I think this is called 蔥油餅 (directly translated as Onion Oil Biscuit) but it is more like a Deep fried pancake roll? Adding egg is a must, and you must tell that you only want the egg half cook, which makes it the best!

We tried other 蔥油餅 in Taipei and the style is different! Those in Taipei were so dry, we missed this one so much. Too bad we were so hungry I didn't manage to get the address, but the next time we go to Hualien, I will definitely call up this friend for another round.

Tapao (take away) some Taiwan pau and brought them to a dessert place!

 Even though it didn't actually go well but we had Taiwan small pau with this Taiwanese dessert 包心份圆, something like Snowflake here but of course Snowflake comes from Taiwan and the originals in Taiwan are still the best (obviously duh)

After dessert we went for more food!! This time is 扁食. Trust me, my Mandarin is terrible. Initally I thought it is some kinda dessert like Snowflake too! And it turned out to be dumplings/wonton. I have never heard people saying 扁食 until that time in Taiwan.

yummy!!!

The symbol of Hualien! Friend said if you have not seen this, you have not been to Hualien~

After all those, we went to play some indoor baseball and did some souvenirs shopping to digest all the food~ Next stop was the night market! Taiwan is so famous for its night market, that we ate night market food everyday. On the last 2 days, I needed rice so badly we had to "hunt" them. One of my Malaysian friend said her Mum was feeling the same when they were in Taiwan, we needed rice/ carbs. No wonder the Taiwanese are so slim >__<

After eating, our friends dropped us at our 2nd night hostel! Luckily it is not very far away. It is  Hualien CYC International Youth Hostel -350NT$- (reviewed here) and what surprised us was it looked like a school! And our friend asked us how did we even managed to find such a place to stay, he was surprise on how cheap it is and how fun we can live with other young adults and share experiences. We exchanged contacts and after doing some budgeting and planning for the next day, we slept. Bed was awfully hard and probably our worst stay.

Stay tuned the continuation posts on Taiwan! :)

** Update: when you arrive Taoyuan International Airport, you will see a tourist information counter at the entrance. First thing, take all the pamphlets and flyers related to your tour. Also take note of the events going on in Taiwan, whether you want to join or avoid those places (crowds).

All kinds of pamplets, the High Speed Rail (HSR) schedule and maps of different regions of Taiwan!

After getting the pamphlets, make sure you register for Taiwan WiFi! Did you know that Taiwan became one of the first countries in the world to offer free Wi-Fi on a mass scale for free? Read on here! For foreigners/ tourists, you will need your passport to register, all can be done at the Information Counter at the airport.

If you are under 30 years old, you can also register for Youth Travel Card (check it out here) which will give you discounts on certain tourism sites! Also for some transports and accommodations. The card is free and you can get it on the spot. If you travel a lot using the metro/bus, do purchase the metro/bus card as well because it is cheaper using the card and buses have no-change policy.

Here is how the foreigner/international youth card looks like:

For Taiwanese youth, the card is blue in colour :)

For more info on my Taiwan itinerary please email meilinxo@gmail.com