[Personal] Pre-Trip Preparation to Taiwan

Thursday, August 08, 2024

[Personal] Pre-Trip Preparation to Taiwan

Earlier this year, I made a personal commitment to travel at least 3 times. As luck would have it, I won a one-night stay for two at a farm resort in Yilan. With this winning being my motivation, I seized the opportunity to plan a spontaneous trip to Taiwan with my girl. This was definitely something new for me, in fact initially my mom suggested selling away the resort tickets but I was adamant to go ahead cause I believe if I won the prize, it's my luck and I shouldn't just sell it away. With no language barriers to overcome in Taiwan and the recent experience of the Hong Kong trip (though not planned by me, but at least I knew what needs to be done), I felt confident to go ahead.

Prior to the trip, I do have a lot of preparation work to do. First, I had to reinstall back the Line app to communicate with the resort staff as it was their preferred method of communication. I then confirmed the details with them and asked them to arrange for a car to pick us at the Taoyuan International airport upon our arrival. My idea was to go to the Yilan resort first before going to Taipei and fly back to SG from Taipei.

Next, I have to decide on the travel dates so that I can book the rest of the things like Changi Wifi, flights and accommodation in Taipei. The resort voucher expires in August so I'm left with not much choice but to book in August. Fortunately, there's National Day Holiday and also 2 days of Home Based Learning for my girl and thus the travel dates were confirmed from 9 Aug to 13 Aug.

I booked my flight on Scoot since it's just a few hours flight but encountered a slight hiccup when I realized I had misinterpreted the 24-hour flight timing format (booked the return flight for 01:30 on 13 Aug, means I will reached Singapore at 06:00 in the morning and wasted a day). Unfortunately, because of this, I had to pay extra to amend my return flight back. Good thing is I realized this mistake early while I'm still in Singapore. I ended up booking the last flight on 13 Aug departing at 21:45 and arriving back to Singapore at 02:45. Additionally, I had to adjust my travel insurance coverage by one day to align with my revised itinerary (since I will arrived at SG on 14 Aug instead of 13 Aug).

For accommodation, I prioritized good reviews, a bathtub, on-site meals, budget friendliness, airport shuttle services and convenient location. I selected a well-reviewed 3-star hotel on Hotels.com using the azgo app *(for cashback, I've gotten $16.35 cashback just because I booked using this app) that met these criteria. (*Download azgo, the best travel rewards app, and get SGD 5 when you sign up with my referral link https://applink.azgotrip.com/ZRpn/qf0n5cwy or referral code WZZ7AT!)

I exchanged the currency at Raffles Arcade, near my office with an exchange rate of S$1 to NT$25. Also, I visited the Taiwan Tourism Bureau at Ocean Financial Centre during my lunch time, where the staff provided invaluable guidance, helping me refine my itinerary with their expert map advice. This visit proved incredibly fruitful. I also took advantage of booking several attractions through Klook using the azgo app too (booking for Klook using this app earns cashbacks too), securing my travel plans. I also joined the lucky draw at Taiwan The Lucky Land that gives visitors a chance to win prizes.