Questions We Ask Before We Fly To Taiwan in November..

Help, we need Taipei travel answers!

While researching for tourist information and planning for a tour, there will be things we wish to find out. Things which are available to the locals, and best answered by them. We have a couple of friendly contacts in Taipei, and we posed them some questions for our coming Taipei trip..

These are essentially things we hope to make sure of regarding our hotel stay, and other tour-related stuff..

Kudos to our Taiwan friends! Xie xie!

Meanwhile, the responses are coming in quickly from our cheery and helpful Taiwan friends.

Here are our questions – and the answers, as they arrive. Do you have similar questions when planning your tour to Taiwan or elsewhere? Maybe you know the answers to some queries here? Will you shed us some light?

1. First questions first

A) What’s the weather like from November to December?

Why we asked?
My wife and I want to experience a weather cooler than tropical Singapore. But not Taiwan’s chilly December to February winter. Our last visit in end September 2006 saw us experiencing a scorching hot Taipei!

Our Taiwan friends answer..
“You’re planning your second trip to Taiwan? Welcome back! If you’re looking for cooling weather, the later in the year it is, the better the chances of lower temperatures. But temperatures can be erratic — 24C in early Nov., 13C for a few days in late Nov., then 23C in Dec., then 15C in late Dec. — it’s impossible to predict.

Rain is even harder to predict — sometimes we have weeks of beautiful weather, followed by weeks of rain. Happy plannning!”

“Mid-Nov to end of it, should be nice weather, about 20-25 degree Celsius, not winter yet, just nice and cool, a thin long sleeve and a thin jacket will do, if it gets very cold in early Nov. I will let you know, and yes, do check the weather forecast at www.cwb.gov.tw they are much more accurate than me!”
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B) Also, is it school holidays for the students in Taiwan in the yearend November onwards?

Why we asked?
For my nephews in Singapore, the months of November to December are yearend school holidays. Is it the same in Taiwan? So if we need to bear with noisy, boisterous groups of giant-sized school kids, it’ll only be in the plane trips to and from Taipei – hopefully not within touring Taiwan haha! ;-)

Our Taiwan friends answer..
“Oh, I see, so your next trip will be geared toward the nephews you mentioned long ago! What a nice uncle and auntie, making good on your plan to take your nephews to Taiwan.

There are no public holidays nor school breaks in Nov. and Dec., so you can plan for any time. Please note that Jan. 1 is a holiday, though.”
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2. Questions about our hotel stay

A) There are 2 adult channels in TS hotel cable tv programming. If possible, can TS hotel or we “block” these channels out during our 7 nights stay?

Why we asked?
Our 2 nephews in their early teens will be with us in our trip. Don’t wish to expose the youths to such influences at such close range. We gotta keep the sanity! ;-)

Our Taiwan friends answer..
“We can’t block the adult channel because we use the control panel, not regular TV remote, the channel is offered by the TV network, it is a legal channel.. I know it’s not kids-friendly, but it’s a technical thing we still doesn’t know how to block it, but we will try to find out if there’s a way.

Just for your info, there’s one such channel at channel 98, not two. Channel 14 is not on air anymore. And please tell your nephews that there’s nothing interesting after channel 80, it’s true, trust me!”
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B) Is there a laundromat in the vicinity around TS hotel? How helpful is it to use their service as compared to laundry service from TS (if any)?

Why we asked?
Instead of just the 2 persons, it’ll be 4 of us this time. We’ll need to see to our laundry needs, through our 7 night’s stay in the hotel..

Our Taiwan friends answer..
“There’s a self-operated Laundromat behind TS, just 1 minute walk, 24-hour service. As for other laundry store, it may take up to 1 week to get it back, express service costs money. We offer paid laundry service, to be pickup in early morning, about 6am, get back the next day, same day service costs more.”
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C) If there is, what are the tour packages TS offers for day tours in Taipei and beyond?

Why we asked?
One of the ways to make the most of a free-and-easy trip, is simply to tour with locally-organized tours. An arranged tour or two during your stay will be most economical (do your sums first please!), creative and enriching way to see the country for less, in less time too!

Going with tour packages suggested by your hotel will save you the hassles of searching on your own.

Our Taiwan friends answer..
“There’s a Jiufen and Yeliu tour: 08:00 pick up from hotel to,
1. Paoan Temple, Confucius Temple, Vigor Bakery House
2. Martyr’s Shrine
3. Jiufen (lunch is not included)
4. Yeliu (include admission)
18:00 Pass by Mrt Xinbeitou, Shilin Night Market, may choose to stay or return to hotel.

The fare is NT$700 / person, which includes admission to Yeliu, tip to the tour guide and insurance. All tours can be arranged one day prior to the tour.”

P.S. Ms Conney Su of TS hotel provided us the answer to this query. She has also included another list of 2 packaged tours. You can contact TS hotel to enquire about the tours.
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3. Questions about touring Taiwan

A) Where do we apply for the Youth Travel Card for discounts, for our 2 nephews in this tour?

Why we asked?
Our nephews are below 30 years of age, for which this Youth Travel Card has good discounts for travelling and admission fees and etc which they can enjoy in Taiwan.

Our Taiwan friends answer..
“Glad to know that you are going to Taiwan again which matches our slogan –Welcome “2” Taiwan. :)

For the Youth Travel Card, you can apply it @ Taiwan airport after going through the Customs and it’s just filling a form and getting the card immediately. Kindly refer to the following for the details:
http://www.youthtravel.tw/ke/ytCard/en/index.html

Pls note it’ll expire on 31/Dec/2008 and you guys are very lucky to catch the deadline. :-D”

“Oh, the Youth Travel privilege, it’s call Youth Travel Card, very useful for youngsters. Your nephews can apply the card at different locations, Taoyuan Airport, Taipei Main Station, Mrt Ximen Station, details at http://www.youthtravel.tw/ke/ytCard/zh_TW/index.html”
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B) To go to YehLiu Geological Park, a common route is to take the KuoKuang bus towards JinShan. Is it a better alternative route to do this: take railway train to KeeLung station, then take (what?) bus to YehLiu?

Why we asked?
We had taken the bus to Jinshan route, on a bus ride more than an hour + 15 minutes long! If we can start the trip to YehLiu in a faster, more comfortable way, that is by railway train, then we may be able to conserve time and energy for the touring ahead!

Our Taiwan friends answer..
“If you take alternative route, it should save you about 20 minutes. Train to Keelung, then KuoKuang bus or Keelung bus or Danshui bus, get off at Yeliu.”
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C) What’s a best way to address the local store operator / cabbie / bus driver and etc: lao ban? Tao kay? Si fu?

Why we asked?
We respect our host country and her locals. A way to display this is essentially to interact with them in their language – correctly. Starting with the proper term to address the people – is a great way to express respect and sincerity.

Our Taiwan friends answer..
“For store operator, unless he’s obviously the owner, in which case we’d address him as LaoBan, otherwise, mr / miss ie xian sheng / xiao zie would be the norm. For cabbie, i’d usually call them si ji xian sheng. Si fu is the term they use in mainland china for driver.

Regarding the wording, I think u don’t have to be too careful, people here are quite forgiving when it comes to tourists, n u guys would sure stick out as tourists, when u open your mouth the accent would give u away.”

“For store operator: lao ban (Chinese), tao kay (Taiwanese). For Cab driver: si ji xian sheng, yun jiang da ge.”
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D) What’s the correct word to say “take photo”: zao xiang? Pai zao? Or in minan dialect “heep siong”?

Why we asked?
Simply, we wish to understand the locals and be understood by them. Chinese terms can be used differently in different countries. In Singapore, a washroom is “che suo”. Whereas in Taiwan, to look for public toilet, we’ll seek out for “gong che” or “hua zhuang shi”.. I wouldn’t want to be mis-communicating in a time of urgent need for a washroom in Taipei! ;-)

Also, I take snapshots of the Taiwanese who are usually friendly and willing. Before doing so I’ll ask for permission, thus I’m clarifying these terms with my Taipei friends to be sure.

Our Taiwan friends answer..
“For washroom, I would usually said “si sou jian” hardly say hua zhuang shi, those are the words that indicate the washroom but we don’t usually say it when asking for washrooms.

Rarely use zao xiang, unless it’s stating “we wish to zao xiang”.

“Both pai zao and heep siong are fine.”