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.

I have to start this post by saying that I’m not usually a fan of duck, but this experience was at Red Lantern Silks Palace was so good, it deserves its own blog post! I’m glad we decided to splurge a bit on this meal because it’s worth every cent of the NT$3288 (about SG$150 before service charge and tea) that we paid. The star dish of the night has got to be the Roasted Duck Nigiri!

You need to make advance reservations, so get your driver to help you call the restaurant, or make an online booking if you can read traditional Chinese (link below). The menu we went for was 櫻桃霸王鴨五吃 Cherry Valley Roasted Duck Cuisine in Five Ways:

The portion was just right for three adults and two kids. I didn’t get a pic of the first dish, the tongue, wings and flippers. The second dish, the roasted duck nigiri, was SENSATIONAL. This, ladies and gentlemen, is THE reason you visit this restaurant! Perfectly crispy skin bursting with juicy fat wrapped around grilled-cheese-topped tasty sushi rice, this was an outstanding dish which we’ll remember for a long time.

Next course was duck meat wrapped in light scallion crepe, using the fragrant san-sing spring onion from Yilan. The staff was very thoughtful to remove the spring onions (which can be spicy) for the kids.

We had a choice of either Three Cup Duck or Lettuce Wrap with Shredded Duck and Vegetable for the next course. We chose the lighter tasting lettuce wrap and no regrets! I loved the crunchy bean sprouts and I felt it balanced the oilness from the duck perfectly.

Cdd wasn’t feeling too well that day and was looking forward to the double boiled duck bone soup, which he enjoyed tremendously. The boys (our driver Hawk and my hub!) completely devoured this dish, including alll the duck meat, cabbage and every drop of the soup. It was that good! I wasn’t paying attention by this course because I was worried that Cdd would fall sick and all I wanted to do was go back to our minsu. I did have a small bowl and it was rich and light at the same time – I have limited vocabulary and don’t know how else to describe this. I think if I had to describe this soup, I would say it has soul!! Haha.

Now if only the roasted duck nigiri could be ordered ala carte……. a girl can dream, right?

Lunch:11:00-15:00
Dinner:17:00-21:00

Website: https://www.silksplace-yilan.com.tw/en/food_red.html
Booking: https://booking.silksplace-yilan.com.tw/redlantern/redlantern_c.aspx

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Check out my other Yilan travel posts and follow my Facebook and Instagram for my travel tales! Don’t miss my blog posts about our Taiwan trip 2023:

What we did in Taipei with kids: Day 3 & 4 – Taipei Children’s Amusement Park, Danshui, Kura Sushi | Read the post

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

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 Red Lantern Yilan 紅樓: Sensational Roasted Duck Nigiri! appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

First things first: the hotel lobby, indoor playground and ball pit

Cbb and Cdd went “Wow wow wowwww!” the moment the lift opened at reception (it’s at level 4) as they laid eyes on the carnival-themed decor and all the free snacks. And as they turned right past the check-in counters, they couldn’t believe their eyes – there it was in all its glory: an indoor playground! And if this wasn’t enough, there’s another indoor ball pit with basketball hoops at the other side.

The room

Now for the room. We stayed in the Deluxe Family Room with Taipei 101 View. It’s 40 sq m with two double beds, a sofa area, a large bathroom with bathtub, Taipei 101 view when it’s not cloudy and get this – YouTube!! I swear the kids will just stay in all day if they had a choice.

The toilet is super spacious with two basins so you don’t have to fight one another. There’s a shower area and a bath tub for a nice soak at the end of the day too. We got bath bombs from Ximending’s Don Don Donki and the kids loved using the bath tub every night we were there.

This was an invited stay, but I punched in random dates on the various hotel booking platforms and prices for our fabulous spacious room is around SG$300+ per night. There are other rooms that also sleep 4 but not so big at lower rates. And then there are the usual double rooms for SG$180 or so, you all play around with the dates and room type ok! I think it’s a great price for all the amenities, free snacks, free finger food during happy hour 2-4pm, the kids’ play areas that seriously can’t be beat, the newness and LOCATION, which I will talk about down the post.

The other stuff at the lobby: a food truck, tv screens, free snacks and laundry room

There’s no breakfast included but for about NT$100 (top up for a side and drink) you can get decent breakfast items like chicken burger, hotdog, croissant etc. We tried the chicken burger and hot dog + fries, salad and coffee while the kids played in the playgrounds on the second day. We had zero expectations but the burger actually tasted really good with super fresh ingredients. I didn’t forget to compliment the helpful staff at the food truck – she prepped everything herself! There’s a large space in front of the food truck where we can have our meals while watching shows on the big screen but tbh it’s hard to get the kids to sit still or even eat anything when there are two indoor playgrounds around!

Help yourself to the free Twinnings tea and more and fill up your bottles at the water dispenser before heading out. To make up the lack of daily housekeeping, the mineral water, toothbrush, razors etc are placed at the lobby for easy access. And if you need new towels, all you need to do is let the staff know and they will replace your towels anytime. The only thing we weren’t really used to was having to leave our rubbish outside our room or give the staff a call to come clear them.

And did I mention free snacks? Scan the QR code at the lobby to join their free membership and get unlimited free snacks anytime you want. The kids had too much potato chips to be mentioned. From 2-4pm, there’s even free finger food – sandwiches, fries, pizza and more. I thought it’s a really nice touch.

And yes, you can do laundry! Having laundry access is one of our top considerations when booking a hotel, so this is a major plus for us. The laundry room is complete with a number of washing machines, dryers, a small iron + ironing board, even detergent packets! It’s NT$50/~$2.50 per load, we would pay for the convenience for sure! There’s even an app to track in real-time how many machines are in use and how long more your wash is ready – my laundry loving husband is in paradise!

The location

Roaders Plus Hotel is conveniently located minutes from Taipei Main Station. It’s literally right in front of exit Z8 of Taipei Main Station’s underground mall and it takes us just 10 seconds to reach the front door of the building via a flight of stairs. If climbing stairs aren’t your thing, look out for the M8 exit and use google maps to reach the hotel, just 5 minutes away.

When making your booking, you may see “Roaders Plus Hotel – Theme” and “Roaders Plus Hotel – Taipei Station“. It’s just fancy naming. Both these “branches” are located in the same building, just different floors. Roaders Plus Hotel – Theme refers to rooms on the 5th to 12th floors and Roaders Plus Hotel – Taipei Station refers to rooms on the 24th to 35th floors.

When you reach the building, get into the lift and go to level 4 for the reception/hotel lobby. It’s where the check in happens and where the play areas are located. We tremendously enjoyed our stay here and will definitely go back again! I will be blogging about my Taiwan 2023 family trip, where we covered Yilan, Miaoli, Taichung and Taipei with two kids, 3.5 and 7yo. Check back on our travel posts or stay updated on our Facebook (it’s more fun there, I promise) and Instagram!

To watch videos of our stay, go to our IG highlights here (if you can’t access the link for some reason, look for “budgetpantry” on IG and go the “Taipei Hotel” highlights)

And btw read this post to see how to withdraw money from Taiwan ATMs at no foreign transaction fees: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid034PR9WgikaUPd6ZhZKSthsd7XcBki9UX9N2G4tXwrA7VRzAFEEiDRGs8CBW7VA9pEl&id=100044164222916&mibextid=qC1gEa

In short, if you’re in Singapore, download the Trust Bank app, open a savings account with my referral code D1ZTJ2N1 and wait for your debit card. Transfer money to your Trust bank account and activate and use your debit card for overseas ATM withdrawal at no FX fees or mark up. And you and I both get $10 Fairprice vouchers. Thank me later!

Address
Roaders Plus Hotel
4F, No. 80, Sec. 1, Zhongxiao W. Rd., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City, Taiwan

(In Chinese)
台北路徒PLUS行旅
台北市中正區忠孝西路一段80號4F

Contact them

Official website: https://roadersplushotel.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoadersPlusHotelTaipeiStation/
Instagram：https://www.instagram.com/roadersplusts/
Line: @roadersplus_taipei
Phone: +886 2 2388-6366 or +886 2 2331-1788

Reservation 
Theme- https://reurl.cc/EX5vgA
Taipei Station-https://ssur.cc/Qiazjxt
Or search for Roaders Plus Hotel via major hotel booking platforms like Agoda, Expedia, etc.

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Don’t miss my blog posts about our Taiwan trip 2023:

What we did in Taipei with kids: Day 3 & 4 – Taipei Children’s Amusement Park, Danshui, Kura Sushi | Read the post

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

The post Roaders Plus Hotel Taipei review: a playground for the kids! appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.