Taipei On A Filipina’s Budget

I’ve just come back from my 4 day-3 night getaway to Taipei (lol that sounded like a rap), and I’ve somehow managed to bring back half of the Taiwan Dollars that I brought with me for my trip. Thankfully so, because the amount of moolah I had to give up for my flight coming home is just ridiculous.

It’s not that I kept a tight grip on my money the entire time. I guess I just didn’t really feel the need to buy anything. I’m not the pasalubong kind of girl. I’m more for the immersion. If I don’t get to experience it in some kind of meaningful level, then I don’t care for it.

If you’re anyone like me – cheap but also constantly needing a taste for life, I’ll share with you my 4 day Taiwan itinerary and how I spent 3,110 TWD (5,442.50 PHP) for the entire trip. That is, of course, excluding my airfare but we can forget about that and move on. My flight booking was a last minute decision, after all. Also, please keep in mind that I will be emphasizing the times that I walked during the day because for one: it saved me fare money and; it was the only way I could get a workout in

So… for lack of a better transition, here it is:

DAY 1 – Apr. 12

I arrived at Taiwan’s Taoyuan airport at 9:30 am. Right after immigration, I proceeded to look for the United Traveler’s booth to get the pocket wifi that I rented for 4 days. This was booked online via Klook for 55 TWD a day. I then went down to the basement where the bus ticketing counters are and bought a ticket for the Xingtian Temple bus stop at 125 TWD.

I walked to my hostel just 300 meters away from the Xingtian Temple bus stop. I checked in at around noon and paid 880 TWD for the 3 nights.

By 1 p.m. I walked my way to Li An Tai Old House for a quick look around. Stayed there for almost an hour, walked back to the hostel and slept until 4 p.m.

By 4:30, I walked to the nearest MRT station just 400 meters away from my hostel, bought an Easycard for 100 TWD and topped it up with 100 TWD worth of bus/train fare. Then I made my way to Shilin Night Market. Once there, I looked for the famous fried chicken by Hot Star which is 70 TWD and got Taiwan’s staple lemon jelly drink for 40 TWD.

The Breakdown: 
pocket wifi: 220
bus ticket: 125
hostel: 880
easycard: 200
dinner: 110
TOTAL: 1,535

DAY 2 – Apr. 13

First thing in the morning, I had breakfast c/o of our hostel. It was a simple bread and butter breakfast with my choice of coffee or tea.

By 8:30 a.m. I was showered and ready for the day. Again, I walked my way to the nearest MRT and started my little adventure from there. First on the day’s itinerary was the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial hall, which I stayed at for almost two hours -enough time for taking pictures and waiting for the changing of the guards, which happens every top of the hour.

At Chiang Kai Shek’s MRT station, I navigated my way to the next’s destination’s MRT which was at Taipei 101 where I had lunch in Din Tai Fung. I arrived in Taipei 101 a few minutes after 1 p.m. but was only able eat at around 2:30 because of the long waiting time. My lunch costed me 192 TWD for an appetizer and a 5 pc. Xialongbao, enough for my little stomach (lol yeah right).

Then, because I needed a little bit of exercise, I walked a whopping 2 km to the start of Elephant Mountain and climed another few hundred meters of stairs to get to the first level viewing deck. By the time I got there, it rained. So after a couple of pictures and a few minutes of staring at the city, I decided to find the nearest MRT and go back to the hostel.

The Breakdown:
breakfast: free
Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall admission fee: free
Din Tai Fung: 192 + free tea
entrance to Elephant Mountain Hiking Trail: free
top up on easycard: 100
dinner right by the hostel: 50
TOTAL: 342

DAY 3 – Apr. 14

Now on my third day, I spent a little bit more since I had gone Jiufen, which is a 2 hour bus ride from the city. Like yesterday, breakfast was free and as usual, I walked my way to the MRT and started from there (you’ll know more about getting to Jiufen also on my next post). I already knew that the one way bus fare was going to be around 100 TWD but since I had already used the previous day’s top up, I put in another 200 TWD into the card. The bus fare might have been 100 to 120 TWD; I failed to look since other people were waiting to tap their cards after me.

Once I got to the entrance at Jiufen, I saw a cute little shop that served drip coffee for 70 TWD, so I got my hands on that. I’ve also been seeing these grilled sausages everywhere in Taipei and decided to try it here for lunch. That was minus 40 TWD from my pocket. After an hour of walking around and taking pictures, it was time to go to my next destination of choice: Houtong Cat Village. I rode both a bus and a train going there, so everything was deducted from my Easycard per usual.

Houtong is a place to play and look at cats, so nothing worth buying really appealed to me. After an hour, I went back to the city via train. I stopped at Shilin Night Market for dinner, which consisted of spongecake and milk tea (healthy, I know) all for 150 TWD. I then went home to my hostel.

The Breakdown:
breakfast: free
top up: 200
coffee: 70
lunch: 40
milk tea: 60
spongecake: 90
TOTAL: 460

DAY 4 – Apr. 15

For my final day in Taipei, I decided I’d take a good look at the city one last time (poetic). But since I didn’t want to pay 600 TWD to go up the observatory in Taipei 101, I opted to go to the Starbucks on Taipei 101’s 35th floor.

The minimum order to stay there is 200 TWD, and I got my order of a breakfast burrito and a large coffee for 205. On this day, breakfast wasn’t free.

By 10:30, I went down and out the tower and proceeded to go to Ximending for the day. Apparently, Ximending is Taipei’s shopping district but, once again, I didn’t feel the need for that. Instead, I looked for cute spots where I could take amateur photos and do a little fashion shoot.

Hey, I may not shop but I’m still somewhat vain.

Once I got the pictures that I wanted I “re-centered” myself towards the busier streets and looked for beef noodles at 2 p.m. I found Lao Wang Ji and had beef noodles for 220 TWD. Once I got out of the restaurant, I remembered that Taipei sold yakult that’s bigger than usual so I decided I wasn’t going to leave without buying one and showing it on social media. I did that for 8 TWD. At 4 p.m. it was time to go back to the hostel to prepare for a dinner invite but most especially for my flight at dawn.

The Breakdown
breakfast: 205
lunch: 220
yakult: 8
dinner at a sushi bar: 150
easycard top up (within the day): 190
TOTAL: 773