My 8 days Taiwan trip all under $800

I did blog before that i liked travelling. Most people would say that travelling requires a lot of money. However, the good news is that with airlines competing for customers and the SGD staying strong, travelling is by far getting cheaper and cheaper.

I calculated my total expenses for my 8 days Taiwan trip. Not just slightly below $800 but way below it. It came out to be $705/pax inclusive of airfares. I don't know if you think that this is expensive or cheap but i have many friends who say that they would never be able to achieve that. Is it because i spend little when i'm overseas and still save on food and shopping? No, you're absolutely wrong. I did not even think of saving money when i was overseas. I just spend and spend. I have included my hotel list and 8 days itinerary below. So read to the end to find out more. 
Well, the secret is to keep your initial travelling cost low. By that i mean cheap flights and cheap hotels. Most people travel on budget airlines but how many people get the flights on discount? I got my tickets at 50% discount during a 4 day promotion period at only $212. This is inclusive of both ways. I travelled by Scoot Airlines.

Hotel wise, i asked around for cheap and good hotels to stay in. It was through recommendations by friends and family that i got the cheapest deal. My hotel in Taipei cost only $35 per night per room shared by 2 person. This works out to only $17.50 per person per night. Well, its not exactly a hotel by an apartment or what they call min su in chinese. The location was near to the MRT line so it was not bad at all.

The break down of cost for my whole trip:

Airfare: $212/pax
Hotel: $156/pax
Transport within Taiwan: $202/pax
Meals: $62/pax
Buying stuff and miscellaneous: $73/pax

Total: $705/pax

For my meals, i'm surprise to have only spent $62 for the whole of 8 days. I had 2 days of breakfast and dinner provided by the hotel in Cingjing farm somewhere in central of Taiwan. I had another 2 days where breakfast was provided by the hotel in Hualien and Taipei. Maybe that's why i didn't spend much on meals. But i do know that every meal was good and i was very very full.

Transportation wise, i took trains and buses with occasional taxi rides because we were too tired to walk.

Places covered in Taiwan for 8 days:

Taipei (Ximending, wufenpu, shilin night market, rao he night market)
Taichung
Cingjing Farm
Hualien and Taroko Gorge
Yehliu
Jiufen
Jingguashi
Keelung
Beitou hotspring area
Wulai hotspring area
Danshui


This is my itinerary for the 8 days:

Day 1
Arrived at taipei at 6am. Proceed to hotel and spend one day in taipei. Went to wu lai hotsprings area and also bought the necessary train tickets for the next day to Cing Jing. Spend the night in taipei at Chen Tai minsu.

Wu Lai Hotspring 

Wu Lai Hotspring 

Day 2
Travel to cing jing farm. Took a train to taichung then a bus from taichung straight to cing jing farm. Tour the grassland at cing jing farm before proceeding to hotel to check in. Stay the night at cing jing farm at Winlu vacation farm.

See how comfortable the train seats are. This is the newest additional to the express trains in Taiwan. It's called Puyuma 

Qing Qing Grassland where the sheeps roam around freely

It was really foggy and raining on that day

Day 3
Continue tour at cing jing farm. Can tour the small swiss garden or just enjoy the scenery at the mountains. I was stuck at the mountains due to the typhoon. Stayed another night at cing jing farm at the same resort.

This was the view taken just outside Win Lu Vacation farm

Day 4
Hired a private taxi to pick us up from cing jing farm to Hualien. Tour package includes famous spots like hehuanshan and also taroko gorge. Lucky still could tour these places right after the typhoon pass. The water streams at Taroko Gorge were quite scary due to the rain but road conditions were still good though. After tour, proceed to hua lien to check into hotel around 6pm. Same taxi took us to night market in hualien and back to hotel again for the night. Stay the night in hualien at lien jian hostel.

Taroko Gorge

Qi Mu Bridge

Yan Zi Kou

Day 5
Had a half day tour of hualien with the same private taxi and toured various places including the famous qixintan beach area. Went to local famous mo chi place to buy some mo chi and pineapple tarts. After that, took a train back to taipei at 3pm. Upon arrival at taipei, went back to same minsu to put our stuff before heading to shi lin night market. Spend the night at chen tai minsu.

Yun San Shui, which literally means cloud, mountain and water. This was a private residential area bought by a very rich person

Yun San Shui

Qi Xing Tan, a beach at Hualien

Qi Xing Tan, a beach at Hualien

Day 6
Travel to yeh liu geo park by bus. Took a bus at taipei main bus station. After that, went to kee long for lunch before heading to jing gua shi and jiu fen. From jiu fen, took a taxi straight back to taipei minsu. Rest for awhile before heading to wu fen pu and rao he night market. Spend the night at chen tai minsu.

Famous Queen Head at Yeh Liu Geopark

Unique rock formations at Yeh Liu Geopark

Jing gua shi, a gold mine area near Jiu Fen

View of Jiu Fen

Rao He Night Market

Apparently, we met this young band called Beyond 5 at the night market. They were trying to eat smelly Tou Fu

Day 7
Transfer to another hotel near ximending. Hotel name is chair man hotel.  Went to ximending for shopping before going to the beitou hotspring around 3pm. After hotspring,  went to dan shui area for the old street and night market. Didn't manage to visit fishermen wharf area near dan shui. Stayed the night at taipei chair man hotel.

Ximending, a shopping district in Taipei. Similiar to Bugis or Orchard road in Singapore

Entrance to Ximending

The famous Ah Zhong Mian Xian at Ximending

Night view of Danshui

Night market in Danshui

Day 8
Had breakfast at hotel. After breakfast, went to ximending again for shopping before going back to hotel and check out. Proceed to airport for flight back to Singapore at 4pm.

These are the hotels that i stayed in:


Chen tai minsu : http://taipeichenhouse.blogspot.sg/2011/06/blog-post_4606.html
This is a cheap minsu. Place is quite small and no lifts inside. If your room is on level 4 you'll have to climb the stairs which is quite cramp. Room is quite small also with bathroom inside. It'll be a good place if you're on a budget. Location is good as its quite near the MRT station and one stop away from taipei main station. Many eateries around the area and minsu lady is very friendly. If its your first time staying there, do let them know so they can meet you on that day. No service reception in the minsu itself. Do note you'll have to book the minsu in chinese communicated by email.

Chair Man hotel
This hotel i booked in www.agoda.com. Got a family room for 4 person at S$90 plus. This is a simple hotel with breakfast included. Room is not bad considering the price and the location. Only 5 mins walk to ximending and taipei main station.

Lien Jan Hostel
This is the hotel i booked in hua lien through www.agoda.com also. Got 2 double room for S$80 plus. This is sort of a backpacker's hostel. There are lifts in it and room is quite comfy. I'm not sure about the location because i booked a private taxi throughout so location doesn't really matter to me.

Winlu vacation farm :http://www.winlu.com.tw/
This is the place i stayed in cing jing farm. Room is very spacious and environment is very nice like a resort. The owner of the place is very nice and they will pick you up anywhere at cing jing farm area to the resort. The location is quite secluded and is not accessible by public transport. Just make arrangements with the owner to travel around. Really breathtaking sceneries at the farm itself. Kids will love the qing qing grassland with sheeps roaming around freely.


It was an enjoyable holiday. A good time for me to relax. Now back to work and my part time studies :)

Travelling can be done in a budgeted way. If you'll like to know more information on transportation, hotels and other stuff on Taiwan, you can send me an email at sgyounginvestment@gmail.com. I'll be willing to share the information with you. 

P.S: Do like my Facebook page. I'll be posting frequent updates on the page itself. Click here to go to my page. Remember to LIKE it. 

Other travel escapades:
1. 8 days Hanoi, Halong bay Sapa trip for $600

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Recession Heroes Ep 2 - Trader with 17 years of trading experience still lose money

I missed episode 2 of recession heroes so i watched it online on catch up TV xinmsn. This episode is even more interesting and we can learn a few points from this female trader who shared her experience. I have also wrote about episode 1 here.

Here is the summary of episode 2:

This lady was retrenched during the 2007/08 financial crisis. She was a futures broker in a financial institution for 17 years. She worked mostly from 6pm in the evening to 5am in the morning trading futures market.

Why still lose money in trading?
After being retrenched, she thought she would be able to trade at home and have time to look after her son. But, within 10 months into trading at home, she lost quite a lot of money and stopped. Why did she lose money? She said trading in a financial institution allowed her to have tips and instant news to make decisions fast. Trading at home is different as most of the time the news is delayed. The second reason is trading an institution money's is different from trading your own money. The emotional and psychological aspect is completely different. Even with the experience and knowledge of trading, it is still highly possible to lose money.

My views on trading
After watching this episode, it confirms my view on trading. Firstly, I've heard that most people lose money in trading and it is said that only 5% of the traders in the world can make money consistently. I didn't believe it at first but now i believe in it. Secondly, i've heard that trading is a psychological and emotional game. If you can't control your emotions, you can't be successful in trading. This point is also confirmed.

So is it still possible to make money through trading? I think it is still possible to make money from trading but it will not be a lot of money. In actual fact, very few people are full time traders. Most trade on the sideline occasionally. You may not agree with me but i've traded before and know what it is like to lose money. It is really an emotional game. Want to make a lot of money through trading? Think again.

My views on investing
On the other hand, investing is different. Most people can make money through investing. The more knowledge and experience you have in investing, the more successful you can be. The longer time you have in the market, the higher the chance of having better returns. That is why i advocate investing more in my blog. The benefits of investing at a young age is great. You can read more on how to invest here and here.
Knowing the difference between investing and trading is important. Know which one you're more suitable for and learn as much as you can.

The story ends with this lady becoming a housewife and does some baking at home. She sells some of the cakes and pastry she bakes at home to friends and relatives. She has more time for her family and her son especially. As family income reduced greatly, she had to sacrificed yearly expensive and long overseas trips, dining out in fine restaurants at hotels and reduce spending on buying branded stuff. She is more happy now and lives a more carefree life.

You can watch this episode 2 of recession heroes on xinmsn here.

Related Posts:
1. How 27-year-ol​d S'pore woman lands herself in $100k debt
2. How to pick stocks (Part 1) - Economic Moats
3. Channel 5 new TV series - Recession Heroes