It’s time for Taipei Children’s Amusement Park, the most value-for-money activity for kids everrrr. We were supposed to go on Day 7, but because the kids COULDN’T leave Roader’s Plus Hotel, we moved our visit to the next day.

We took the cab from our hotel around Taipei Main Station (it was around NT$250 ~ SG$11) as there was no direct MRT train. We could have taken bus 756 from Taipei Main Station but we had to wait quite a while cos the bus intervals in Taipei are quite long and the journey would take around 50 minutes. The amusement park is near Shilin so can also take train to Shilin and change bus.

This time, I’m prepared! Spray on alllll the repellent before stepping into the park – it worked – I only had 3-4 bites on my arms! This brand in the pic is quite good, and easy to apply, recommended by the pharmacist in Taiwan. Thank you to the bestie for getting it for me and delivering to my place before I flew! I also quite like this one from Tiger Balm – easy to spray, plant-based, natural and no deet. My eczema baby didn’t get any allergies with this. Mosquito patches don’t really work for the xiao hei wen in Taiwan.

We got tickets from Klook (like we literally booked from Klook while we were standing outside the park haha) and it was NT$176, save SG$1 per pax = SG$4 per family 也是錢 ok! We love booking activities and transfers with Klook and we use the platform all the time, not just in Taiwan. If you’re new to Klook, sign up with my link to get a US$5 promo code as soon as sign up is completed. If you’re not new to Klook, input my code “budgetpantry” and get 5% off your cart (minimum spend US$50, discount capped at US$10, code valid till 31 December 2023).

It was so easy to redeem the tickets. Just look out for the redemption booths to the left of the entrance, scan the QR codes and receive the tickets in the form of a dated wristband that you wear throughout the visit.

Cdd was in wonderland! This amusement park is pretty small-kid friendly as there are many rides they can go on and there are various indoor activities to entertain them too. At 3.5 years old in June, Cdd was above 98cm and he was able to go on quite a few rides like the Ocean Carousel, Ferris Wheel, Orbiterra Starship, Crazy Bus, Telecombat, Wave Swinger, Spinning Teacups, Spinning Chairs and the Transformers (the height requirement for all of these rides is 90cm). For information on height restrictions, go to this page by Taipei Amusement Park – it’s really informative! If you child hasn’t quite met the height requirements, there are many other things for them to do – there’s a playground, a sandpit, indoor rides and more.

The Klook ticket gives you unlimited rides on 13 rides during the date of visit. The facilities include: Ocean Carousel, Poli Ferris Wheel, Monorail (Single Rail Train), Crazy Bus (Flying Bus), Wave Swinger (Radial Flying Chairs), Telecombat (Spinning Aircraft), Spinning Tea Cups, Spinning Chairs (Swiveling Chairs), Swing Ship (Pirate Ship), Magic Star Trek (Roller Coaster), Dancing Fly, Bumper Cars, and Drop Tower (Free Fall). Whether you buy from Klook or over the counter, there are some premium rides/plays that you need to pay extra for (around NT$80, can be paid with Easycard), like the Transformers one that we paid but it’s totally not fun at all haha.

We didn’t spend that much time at the park because it started raining and many outdoor rides were starting to be suspended. We didn’t want to go indoors because if go inside then totally no need to go Danshui. So off we went to Danshui to spend our last night in Taiwan. We took bus 757 from the amusement park (cross the road from the main entrance, turn right and walk straight. Use google maps!) to Danshui and reached there at around 5pm. The kids had a mister donut and milk tea break at the train station and off we went to explore Danshui Old Street 淡水老街。

I’ve always loved Danshui cos It’s a mish mash of old and new. Touristy shops on one side and 老店s on the other. Old streets on the right and scenic waters on the left. It’s a place where you see artists with their paintbrushes and street performers with their guitars. Where you taste street food like fried squid 炸花枝 (with 熟悉的朋友—五月天— blasting in the stereo) and traditional food like 阿給 A-gei (glass noodles and minced meat encased in a fried tofu puff, sealed with fish paste and served with a tasty light gravy) all in one place.

Danshui is so vibrant and touristy but not that touristy till there’s no identity, you know what I mean?

Someone was REALLY happy with her cotton candy! Makes me smile just seeing her joy.

There’re so many types of street food along the old street. Here’s what we tried:

Looking at the 炸蛋蔥油餅 (fried egg in onion pancake/prata lol), I’m missing Hualien! And very soon it was sunset.

We took a walk towards Starbucks and we (especially Cdd!) were captivated by 街頭藝人郭育豪 and his guitar (look for him on IG: haohao__co), and when he asked if anyone wanna 點歌, I asked if he could sing 那女孩對我說 cos my daughter loves this song. And she enjoyed his rendition while practising gymnastics next to him. 一邊聽那女孩對我說一邊練習 gymnastics. Lol I dunno what combination that is but it is a good combination.

Our 3 hours at Danshui was only scratching the surface. In the short amount of time, we didn’t even cover the entire Old Street and there are SO MUCH more to explore. If you’ve never been to Danshui before, you need a full day here.

We were also running a bit low on cash, and with tomorrow being our last day, I decided to withdraw NT$1000 from the First Bank ATM. As usual, zero withdrawal fees and zero foreign transaction fees when you use Trust card linked to your bank account. With even better exchange rate than any money changer you can find. Download the Trust bank app and use my referral code D1ZTJ2N1 when prompted and get an in-app scratch card with guaranteed cashback of S$5 up to S$1K!

And since it was getting late and there’s a flight to catch the next day (at 5.45pm, so it’s not over yet!), we started making our way back to Taipei Main Station. But not before we walked past a pair of elderly performers playing Chinese oldies, and Cdd exclaimed, “Mummy, it’s quite a nice day!” And not before we impromptu-ly bought two kites and sent them soaring in Danshui’s night sky.

We left Danshui with promises of visiting Fisherman’s Wharf, Lover’s Bridge and Fort San Domingo the next time. And we’ll look forward to the next time. What a glorious way to spend our last night in Taiwan.

Day 9: Kura Sushi > Taipei Main Station > Taoyuan International Airport > Home Sweet Home

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Don’t miss my other posts on our Taiwan 2023 vacation:

What we did in Taipei with kids: Day 2 – Indoor Playground, Ximending, King Food Hotpot, Carrefour | Read the post

What we did in Taipei with kids: Day 1 – Greenworld Ecological Farm, Roader’s Plus Hotel, Shilin Night Market | Read the post

皇家帝國麻辣火鍋吃到飽 Taipei King Food Spicy Hot Pot review | Read the post

What we did in Taichung and Miaoli with kids: 3D2N itinerary | Read the post

What we did in Yilan with kids: 4D3N itinerary | Read the post

Red Lantern Yilan 紅樓: Sensational Roasted Duck Nigiri! | Read the post

How to withdraw money from Taiwan ATMs at no foreign transaction fees | Read the post

Roaders Plus Hotel Taipei review: a playground for the kids! | Read the post

The post What we did in Taipei with kids: Day 3 & 4 | Taipei Children’s Amusement Park, Danshui, Kura Sushi appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Day 6: Taichung Second Market > Hsinchu Green World Ecological Farm 綠世界生態農場 > Beipu Old Street 北鋪老街 > Check in Roaders Plus Hotel Taipei Main Station > Shilin Night Market

You can read about our yummy breakfast at Taichung Second Market in our previous post here.

On the way to Taipei we stopped at Hsinchu’s Green World Ecological Farm cos everyone say must go but I really regret going there! This was where I got stung over close to 70 times by the 小黑蚊 (generally called tiny black mosquitoes but they’re actually not mosquitoes but biting midges) even though I applied repellent. There were repellent stations all over the park too, which we utilised A LOT. Please wear jeans or leggings if you do go there. Maybe the midges issue would be better in winter?

Some of the bites appear days after the initial sting, so this was not even the full extent of the damage! Luckily I brought along my balancing oil to soothe the itch and reduce the swelling, if not it would have been so much worse. Seriously not kidding when I said my calves were ravaged!!

Anyway, I now know better! We were lucky to save on one ticket because a kind couple offered their extra ticket to us as it was expiring in a couple of days. In return, we shared our repellent with them! Hahaha.

The animals we saw there: swans, emu, sheep, alpacas (very skinny ones. Feel so emo!), roosters, peacocks, rabbits and that was about it. The rest were plants: orchids, cactus etc. Personally I feel if you are going to Zhang Mei Ama’s Farm, there’s no need to go to Green World. We didn’t enjoy the visit but maybe you will! An alternative is Leofoo Village Theme Park. We went last time with Cbb and it was quite fun for us.

The midges attacked Cdd a few times on his eye :(

Before leaving for Taipei we stopped at Beipu Old Street. Beipu was once known for tea production and coal mining, and now it is popular for its traditional Hakka cuisine, dried persimmons and yam pastry. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t much hustle and bustle on a Friday afternoon. The area was empty and kinda dead, so we just visited the Ci Tian Temple 北埔慈天宮 and a retro toy shop.

The kids enjoyed the retro toy shop the most lol. Very touristy and we did pick up a set of superhero toys for NT$120 (about SG$5.30). This made Cdd soooooo happy though and he took really good care of them throughout the trip.

Then it was check in at the amazing Roaders Plus Hotel, complete with not one but TWO indoor play areas that were enough to occupy the kids for ages. See alllll the fun we had if you haven’t!

And after settling down a bit we took the train to Jiantan station to walk around Shilin as I thought there would be more things for the kids as Raohe is too narrow and crowded and Ningxia is too small with only food stalls (although I do love the more traditional food there).

The post What we did in Taipei with kids: Day 1 | Greenworld Ecological Farm, Roader’s Plus Hotel, Shilin Night Market appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.