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Hello there travelmaniacs and Steemitians! I'm back once again for another one of my travel stories. This time, I'm going to share about my Taiwan experience for the first time.
It was July 2019. One night, my then-business colleague and friend Veronica asked me if I want to go Taiwan with her. The main purpose is to attend the Asia Blockchain Summit in Taipei. Since it's another opportunity to travel overseas, I give it a go. We booked our flight in advance via Air Asia.
Day One: I'm very excited for my first trip to Taiwan with Veronica. Since we are flying to Taipei, it would take us approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes to get there. After passing the immigration in the Taoyuan International Airport, I have bought a Taiwanese sim card with unlimited mobile data that would last 5 days.
We ride on a monorail going to the Taipei Station. I just realized that our hostel is just walking distance from the station, so it saved us money instead of riding a taxi. I just forgot the name of the hostel we initially booked, but it's quite affordable for both of us. To be honest, we're quite uncomfortable with the hostel we initially stayed.
Veronica opened her Booking.com app to find nearby hotels that are "not so expensive". Just like the hostel, I forgot the exact name of the new hotel that we are staying. I forgot to save my history, but it's fine.
As we booked in our new hotel room, it looks pretty nice! I just forgot to take pictures inside of our hotel room, but I'm much comfortable. As for the centralized airconditioning, we have one problem. All of the buttons are written in Chinese.
However, I have a brilliant idea. I browsed on Google Play, searching for "Photo Translator" app and I've found it. I installed and tried it on my phone. It ultimately worked after taking the photo and activated the Photo Translator app. Now I know which switches do I need to press for airconditioning in our hotel room.
While Veronica had a separate meeting somewhere, I was scheduled to meet Marco at Taipei 101 mall. I ride on a taxi alone going there at night and met with him. After that, he introduced me to his friends from Taiwan and Japan combined.
There's this guy named Walter. I was surprised that he speak fluent Tagalog to me while he is Taiwanese. We have fun together walking around inside and outside of the Taipei 101 mall. After that, we had dinner together in LA Pho to try Taiwanese dish for the first time.
After our dinner, Veronica and her business friend met us outside of LA Pho. Both Veronica and Marco are long time friends. Because our main purpose is to attend the Asia Blockchain Summit at Marriott Hotel Taipei, there's a welcome night party somewhere. I forgot the name of the place though, but we could have dinner there for free instead of LA Pho.
On top of that, I have met and connected with some various cryptocurrency enthusiasts from different parts of the world in that welcome party. As past midnight comes, we finished our activity by going in a rooftop bar (I forgot the exact name of it), but we didn't last long there. Veronica and I went back to the hotel and rest to prepare for the conference.
Day 2: To summarize this, I have attended the Asia Blockchain Summit at the Marriott Hotel in Taipei. After my chicken lunch at the Roots Cafe in a rainy day, I have a rare chance to join Binance CEO/founder Changpeng Zhao and TRON CEO/founder Justin Sun in the same elevator. After the first day of the conference, I joined their Binance Supermeetup side event at the same venue and after party.
I remember back then that both Veronica and I are hungry past midnight. We are looking for a nearby Taiwanese restaurant. Once again, I am using the Photo Translator app because the menu was all written in Chinese. We ordered some ramen with mixed vegetables with unlimited drinks and ice cream. After that, we head back to our hotel in preparation for the second day of the conference.
Day 3: As Veronica went to the Marriott Hotel earlier, I choose to roam around the streets of Taiwan for a while.
I eat my late lunch at a local Taiwan restaurant near our hotel and went to Marriott Hotel afterward. After the conclusion of Day 2 of Asia Blockchain Summit, Veronica and I went to Bithub Bistro during the night.
It's a cryptocurrency-themed restaurant with cocktails that are named after a specific coin or token. However, we choose to "vlog" around the restaurant and see some cryptocurrency logos hanging around the restroom. We ate dinner somewhere near the hotel and rest for a day off.
Day 4: For our day-off, Veronica and I went to the Taipei 101 Observatory. The standard entrance fee for going up to the observatory is 600 NTD or $20.00 per person. As we went up to the elevator, Veronica and I are amazed how fast the elevator goes up. For just under 40 seconds, we reached the 89th floor from the 5th floor.
I have to be honest with you guys, I'm totally afraid of heights (especially when I looked down from the top, my heart is racing). However, I choose to conquer that fear and enjoyed the moment. We explored around the Taipei 101 Observatory and bought some delicious popcorn before heading off to the Raohe night market by taxi.
From there, we tried some local street foods, buying cheap stuff, original jade materials for my family and play some interesting games. Unfortunately, I didn't take photos while in the Raohe Night Market because it's too crowded and some chances that I might get "snatched".
After the Raohe Night Market, we head back to our hotel, pack some stuff and sleep for a few hours in preparation for check out. On the following day, we left our hotel and head off to the Taoyuan International Airport by taxi to catch up our flight back to Manila.
At least I have shared to you my first Taiwan getaway. Filipinos like me are very fortunate because Taiwan is visa-free for us within 14 days. Although that we have limited time to explore some more in Taiwan, but it's absolutely worth it. I would be back here for sure. This is truly an unforgettable experience for me, especially visiting various places, eating Taiwan food and gaining new connections.
Thank you so much for your time in reading my travel story about my Taiwan escapade. I would really appreciate if you could leave an upvote. Stay tuned for my next blog post!
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