As we close the chapter of 2019, it signifies the end of another decade. 10 years has passed, a lot of changes happened in our lives. 2020 is another blank chapter that begs to be filled.

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6 days before Christmas.. 🌲👪 It is our first time spending Christmas with just the three of us (and some friends who visited ). It feels different, but we are still grateful coz despite the distance, we are all together. #TeamPerezChristmas #holidayseason #becarol #xmas #merrychristmas #netherlands #family #seasonofgiving #love

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I have a lot of regrets these past 10 years, but there are also a lot of wonderful things happened.
I am hopeful that this 2020, as we begin a new decade, we may live our life to the fullest.

WARNING: This is a long read with details from our trip.

Traveling with a little kid is not ideal, so as most people say. A lot of factors have to be considered when traveling with a kid, especially with an infant. We opted to travel overseas (with the exception of Manila) as soon as Daxton starts walking. Taiwan is in our travel bucket list since forever. So when the news that Philippine passport holders get to travel to Taiwan visa-free, it made us much eager to go.


Taiwan is a small country situated above the Philippines. It holds a special place in my heart because it is the hometown of the best milk teas. A trip to Taiwan means fueling my milk tea craziness. Traveling with a small kid with dairy allergies in the land of milk tea was my ultimate dilemma, but it didn't stop us from conquering Taiwan.

There are a lot of places you can go with kids in Taiwan. Let me share our video from our 4N/3D trip to Taiwan:

GETTING THERE

Taiwan has three international airports, Taoyuan, Songshan and Kaoshing. Taoyuan and Songshan are in the northern part, and Kaoshing is in the southern region. Most airlines originating in Singapore has flights going to Taoyuan and Kaoshing only. Since most of our activities are in the northern region, we booked a direct flight to Taoyuan via Scoot. The travel time from Singapore to Taoyuan is around 4 hours and 35 minutes.


We chose a red eye flight (12:40MN) so as to make sure that Daxton will sleep the entire flight (since it is his bedtime). Unfortunately, our flight got pushed back 5 hours due to an engine problem. No other flights are departing around that time, so we have no choice but to wait until they get the engine fixed. It was a setback to our itinerary, and a major hassle to all passengers. Scoot compensated us with snacks and a $50 voucher for our next flight with them.

Looking haggard but still all smiles for the camera

The Taoyuan Airport is quite small and straightforward in our opinion. It was nowhere near the beauty of Changi Airport. We didn't explore the airport much as we are already tired and looking forward to our hotel to get freshened up. We headed straight to the Train station (which is conveniently near) after grabbing a quick bite.

WHERE TO STAY

Since we are traveling with a kid, we chose a decent hotel. As much as we want to save a bit on accommodation, a decent place for my kid to sleep on is a bit of a priority. This mama has to check every recent review to make sure. At Taichung, We booked an overnight stay at The Enterpriser Hotel, which is accessible to the main train station and bus stops. You'll be greeted by an old building facade, just a few meters from the main station of Taichung. Overall, The Enterpriser Hotel is one of those business hotels, running for more than a decade, with a decent facilities.



In Taipei, there are a lot of accommodations to choose from. We booked two nights at Diary of Taipei for its convenient location among the places we wanted to explore. The hotel is small, the rooms are small but has all the things you may need. I can say that I liked the Diary of Taipei better for the facilities and rooms are quite updated.



I can say that there are a great selection of places to stay in Taipei, as compared to Taichung. Taichung has that old town vibe, while Taipei is more of a bustling city, which is evident in the facilities you may see.

TIPS:

Taichung is just an hour away from Taipei via train and two hour by bus. If you don't mind the commute, I suggest booking your accommodations in Taipei and taking a whole day trip in Taichung. Taipei has more selection and affordable places to stay as compared to Taichung.

SAMPLE ITINERARY

Here's our original Itinerary for our 4 day trip:


With some unforeseen circumstances, we weren't able to follow the itinerary I prepared. We used it as a guide on which places we would like to go and check out. We did not pressure ourselves to tick all those places in our itinerary for it is exhausting not only for us parents, but for the kid as well.

PLACES TO CHECK OUT

There are a lot of beautiful places to check in the entirety of Taiwan. We decided to explore Taichung and Taipei for now. Traveling with a kid limits our ability to squeeze more places to visit in a day. We decided to choose the places wisely and to make sure both adults have enough energy throughout the day to care (and baby wear) our kid.

TAICHUNG

• Rainbow Village

Taichung may be an old village, but this village sure is a colorful one. Nested in a residential area, surrounded by building and houses, The Rainbow Village is a sight to behold. The whole village was hand painted to preserve the place and its history.

Aura mamsh!

Habulan with the kiddo

Saya mo Mamsh?!

It was surely a hit for Daxton because of the bright colors from the walls and lanterns. He had fun navigating through the alleyways of wall art. There is also a small play area for children situated just outside the Rainbow Village.

• Zhongshe Flower Market (also known as Houli Flower Market)

It is one of the must see places in Taichung. It is a huge flower garden that they turned into a tourist destination. The flowers were notable as each section of the field were filled with different colors. The place exudes happy vibes because of the amount of colors present from the flowers.








We went in July, which is summer season, so the Rainbow Village was a delight for there are flowers. I guess it looked better in Spring, for there were sections that the farmers are beginning to till, for the new set of plants to grow.

• Zhongxia Night Market

Night markets are a hit in Taiwan. It is where you can sample all sorts of Taiwan street food. The biggest night market in Taichung is the Feng Chia Night Market. According to Google, there was one night market a few blocks away from our hotel, which is the Zhongxia Night Market.

Wintermelon Tea with Gudetama cup

Tired from our delayed flight and afternoon of walking around Rainbow Village, we decided to drop by the Zhongxia Night Market. We were a bit lost as we walk through the streets to find it. We were expecting a street full of food stands along the road, bustling with a bit of happy food scene vibe. Zhongxia Night Market is not what we expected. There were just a few food stalls along the street and most of them had menus that are written in Chinese characters. Also most people only speak their local language (I'm guessing Mandarin, not too sure) which was a struggle for us.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

We allotted one whole day for exploring Taichung and since our flight got way too delayed, most of our activities got pushed back. We were only able to choose three main attractions to visit. Other places that is in our itinerary but was not visited are Gaomi Wetlands, Miyahara Museum, Taichung Park and a cute Totoro Bus stop. Taichung also have nice cafes that is also worth visiting.

* It is best to travel with data. We rented a wifi device to stay connected. Google Translate and Maps is a must. You need it for train timings, translating Mandarin, and of course, social media postings.

* It is helpful to know some Mandarin phrases (specially food!). Only a few stores had English translation of their menu. I was anxious for a milk tea, but had no luck picking for they have a wide selection, all written in characters. Google translate made no sense as we attempted to use it. I ended up memorizing the characters for wintermelon milk tea that I happen to get from one store that has English menu.

* The must see places in Taichung are far apart, travelling in a rented car is more convenient (specially if you have kids). Train stops are timed, so once you missed the train, you'll have to wait for the next one, which is usually 20 minutes or more. You have the option to walk, but expect to walk a lot.

TAIPEI

Taipei, being the main city, offers more sites to discover. We allotted two days to explore Taipei, dividing it between North Taipei and Central Taipei.

• First Day -- Central Taipei

After checking out in Taichung, we hoped on the train and headed to Taipei. The hotel we booked was within the walking distance from the Main Station. Fair warning that the Main Station is quite huge and there are a lot of pathways underground that will lead you to anywhere in Taipei.

Chillin with our haggard faces

After settling to our hotel and having a quick nap, we headed out and check out Taipei. It was bit late in the afternoon already, so we just walked around Taipei and checked out the milk tea spots and food stores we can try.

If there's queue, it must be good...not so much!

Strolling around Taipei Main Station

When dusk settled in, we headed to Shilin Market to check out the night market scene. Our disappointment from Taichung was instantly washed over. Shilin Night Market is exactly the night market I am expecting Taiwan to have.

Lakad pa more

Pila sa Chipai!

Pagod na, pero Gora parin..

We had loads of fun in Shilin Market. The selection of street food is like heaven for a foodie like me. My son's dairy/egg/chicken allergy restricted me from gobbling all the deliciousness that I can see.

• Second Day -- North Taipei

North Taipei is far, but pretty accessible by public transportation and car. We allotted one whole day to explore the Northern part. We opted to rent a private car with driver (I previously mentioned above the timings of public transpo) since time is of the essence on the trip. We wanted to see all three locations, Yehliu Geopark, Shifen Old Street and Jiufen Old Street. All of them is in the Northern part, but relatively far apart. The car was rented only up to 5pm, so we must be back in Taipei by then, otherwise, we have to pay extra for the exceeding hours.

Yehliu Geopark Tourist Center

Aura sa mga rocks!

Our first stop was at Yehliu Geopark. We started our day early, and the journey going there took around an hour, including traffic. Yehliu was packed with locals and tourists that day, it was almost impossible to get that perfect shout around the rock formations.

First stop palang, haggard na!

Our driver waited for us and gave us a time limit. We gave him the list of the places we wanted to see, and he told us it is possible if we limit the time spent on each location. The humid weather and the amount of people left us exhausted after an hour of looking around.

Palamig muna with Mango smoothie

Next stop was Shifen Old Street. It is an old town within the perimeter of the railroad. We opted top get our snacks here as per to our driver's suggestion. He said to try the BBQ stuffed chicken wings and other street food in the area.


Of course we wouldn't pass up doing the most touristy thing here, which is to fly a lantern. Our driver was very helpful in assisting us and talking to the locals. He gave us enough space to roam around the streets and at the same time assisted us in doing these activities we liked to try. Shifen Old Street was also packed with people, we opted not to visit the waterfalls because we would need to walk/hike a few meters, which would drain our energy more due to the heat (and babywearing a kid).

Pakak ang view ng kabundukan!

Our last stop was at Jiufen Old Street. Jiufen is situated at a hilltop. It was quite a trek to explore the whole area. A lot of steep steps combined with a herd of people going the same direction as you, will be the main challenge. We refueled here with an iced black coffee from a quaint shop and some street food we saw along the way.

Refueling with caffeine para more energy!

Who is the shiniest of them all?!

Despite the steep stairway navigating through Juifen, the view at the top was breathtaking! We made a good choice of making Jiufen our last stop for we were there at the golden hour (near sunset). Jiufen is the perfect place to buy those souvenir items for they have an assortment of quirky things for sale in every corner.

Tea break muna

Tsaa with a view si Madame

In Juifen, you will be advised to stop at a tea shop to refresh and try their wonderful mountain tea. We wanted to go to the famous tea house with a view (A-Mei Tea House) but there was a queue going in. We skipped the tea house and had tea at another place with a wonderful view of the mountains and lake.




After our trip North, we had an hour to spare before the night market opens. We wanted to go to Elephant Mountain Trail after but we were so exhausted from all the walking that we decided to check out Taipei 101 instead. There were packs of tourists heading to the observatory that we decided to marvel the building from outside. We wanted to have dinner in Din Tai Fung and have some xiao long bao, but the line in the Taipei101 branch was ridiculously long. We decided to check the foodcourt and ate this nice bowl of beef before binging on snacks at the Night Market.


After sharing one bowl of beef, the adventure continues! We headed out to Raohe Night Market for more street food. It seems like we tend to eat more snacks than a proper meal in Taiwan. What I noticed is that most night markets have the same kind of street food, with each night market highlighting one or two snacks that make them unique among others.


What I particularly liked in Raohe Night Market is their Wintermelon Tea with freshly cooked brown sugar pearls. I know that the combination is instant diabetes for wintermelon is naturally sweet, and the brown sugar pearls are like extra sweetness that not many will appreciate. And yeah, I drink wintermelon tea in Taiwan almost everyday for it is the closest I can order in milk tea shops (kid with dairy allergies dilemma), so I memorized the Mandarin character for Wintermelon tea.

I wish it was milk tea, but oh well!

• Last Day -- Memorial Hall Day

We woke up particularly early (7AM) to have an early breakfast at the hotel and check out the Ximending neighborhood. We walked from our hotel down to the Taipei Cinema Park and Red House. It was a bit of a walk, but we had a great time admiring the quiet morning in the neighborhood.


Most of the stores (milk tea stores in particular) are still closed, but we made an effort to drop by and try the famous Ay-Chung Flour Rice Noodle. I had one spoonful of the noodle for I noticed that it contains eggs (baby with dairy, chicken and egg allergy!). After that, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up and fix our things for checkout.


Since our flight is in the evening, we left our luggage in the hotel reception and headed out to explore Taipei more. Our first stop was lunch at Din Tai Fung. We chose the Din Tai Fung Fuxing branch for it is dubbed to have the shortest queue. We ordered xiao long bao, beef noodles and pork pao for Daxton. Xiao Long Bao is a must whenever you visit Taipei.


After a hearty lunch, we headed to Chang Kai Shek Memorial Hall and had a blast shooting photos and videos. Daxton was elated for he had a massive space to run around. Tired out, we decided to make our last stop to Shilin Night Market again before heading to the airport for our flight.

Sweaty froall m the running around Chang Kai Shek

There are still a lot of places we haven't ticked off our list in Taiwan. We are looking forward to return and explore more of the hidden treasures/scenery of Taiwan. Hoepfully, when we return to Taiwan, my kid had outgrew his dairy allergy so I can have all the milk tea I want. ^__^

What is your favorite place in Taiwan?

Share in the comment box below!

DISCLAIMER:
This is not a sponsored post. We paid for everything stated above. All of the photos above were taken by me (and my husband), otherwise, proper credits were cited in the photo. Everyone has different preferences and opinions. All opinions expressed are based on the my experiences. Indulge at one's own risk. ^_^

Singapore is a melting pot of culture which comprises of a lot of different races. With that, you can see a lot of different cuisines offered here. In Singapore, it's either you go big or go home. Meaning, food here are yummy (well, almost all). A business will not thrive here if their food is not good. So most of the cuisines here are done good or almost near authentic.


But before I delve further into the food scene, I want to share with you some of the local food you can try. These are food that you can see anywhere, from hawker centers, food halls and restaurants. I have tried all these, and I also included some honorable mentions which I haven't tried yet, but worth trying as well.

Here are some local Singaporean food you must try (I know I did!!)

• Chicken Rice

Chicken Rice (Hainanese Chicken) is a food staple here in Singapore. It is a moist chicken steamed in herbs and spices paired with rice that has been cooked in the stock used in cooking the chicken. It is served with soy sauce and chili on the side.


In all places you'll go in Singapore, this is one dish that you'll definitely see. Almost all chicken rice I had here are comparable. Chicken Rice can be served steamed or roasted. Somehow, I liked both.


If you want to know where to get the best chicken rice, try Maxwell Hawker Center. It houses the famous Tian Tian Chicken Rice, which is the best I've tried so far. It was juicy and uber moist (some may find it too oily). Unfortunately, Tian Tian Chicken Rice sold out fast and be prepared to queue for long minutes. If you missed out on Tian Tian, you can try the other chicken rice stalls in Maxwell as well. They are also notable.

*Soya Chicken is also quite famous here being the first hawker store to earn a Michelin star. Don't forget to drop by Hawker Chan at Chinatown Complex for their soy chicken rice which is delicious and at the same time affordable.

• Char Kway Teow

This is one of my comfort food here in Singapore. Char Kway Teow is a stir-fried noodle dish made with either seafood or chicken. It is stir fried noodles on a soy sauce concoction with a bit of leafy veggies, sprouts and cockles.


I haven’t tasted a bad char kway teow yet, though each dish from different locations differ in flavour. I learned that I liked mine with charred bits and a more pronounced ‘wok hei’ flavour.

• Ba Chor Mee

If  I'm taking a break from Char Kway Teow, Ba Chor Mee is another dish I always order. This also can be found in almost all hawker stalls and food halls. Ba Chor Mee (Minced Meat Noodles) is made of noodles mixed with chili sauce and has a soup as a side. The noodles can be customized based to your liking, I like the Mee Pok (flat type) but there are others like Mee Kia, U Mian, etc..


The soup is just where the meat and other ingredients boiled to cook. You can order it dry or with soup, they will just combine them. The sauce is simple, it is either chili sauce or tomato sauce with vinegar. I usually order the tomato one (created for children's consumption) because I can't seem to tolerate the spicy one. After pregnancy, it seems I cannot tolerate anything spicy anymore, which is sad.

• Laksa

The first sight of Laksa when I arrived here, I thought that it is just curry noodle soup. I don't like curry so I avoided the dish. But one rainy afternoon, my stomach was craving a savory soup and tea. The nearest option I have is Toastbox' Laksa. When the auntie let me try the soup to check the spiciness, I was shookt! It was good and the heat was bearable.

There are two types of Laksa here in Singapore that I tried, Nonya Laksa and Assam Laksa. Toastbox sells the Nonya type which I liked because it is creamy with a kick. I also tried Laksa in hawker centers and sadly most of them sells a watered down version. The best Nonya Laksa I tried is the 328 Katong Laksa, Toastbox Laksa came in as a runner up.


Assam Laksa on the other hand is different. It is more spicy, made with fish and veggies. It taste quite different than the Nonya Laksa. It has a fishy and sour taste, with a bit of a crunch from the vegetables. It is equally good but the fish scales and bones swimming on the broth just kinda bothers me so I prefer to order Nonya Laksa.

• Kaya Toast

• Carrot Cake

• Hokkien Mee

• Nasi Lemak

• Tutu Kueh

Kueh are my go-to snack when I'm craving for rice cakes. Tutu Kueh is a steamed rice cake with a sweet filling. I liked the coconut or gula melakah filling in my tutu kueh. When I'm craving for a snack and I don't like dimsum or pau, I usually go for their kuehs.


There are  a lot of types of rice cakes which can be found in Singapore (some similar to what we have in the Philippines). But since I am on a dairy-free diet, Tutu Kueh is my best option. I have yet to try the others but most of it has egg.

• Chili Crab

Trying Chili Crab is one of the touristy thing you'll ever do in Singapore. Almost all people who come here tries the Singaporean Chili Crab. I can't blame them for it is quite good. A fresh catch crab cooked in that fiery sauce, you won't mind getting your hands dirty trying to eat the crab.


If you can't tolerate the heat of the chili crab, you may opt to try their black pepper or white pepper crab. A fair warning, this dish is best consumed with friends for the price is quite hefty. Crabs are expensive, usually sold by the gram and the crabs here are big and heavy.

OVERALL

If you observe, most of the dishes I mentioned are noodle type. I guess Singapore does noodle dishes quite well and with a lot of variety. I have yet to try local dishes from restaurants, for hawker centers are just darn cheap and delicious. Don't get me wrong, there are A LOT of good restaurants here, Michelin Stars included but it'll cost you a bit of an arm and leg.

Above are the 10 local dishes I've tried and loved. It was hard to narrow it down to ten since most of the dishes here are good, and the variety of dishes are endless. There are still a lot of local food that didn't get on my list but are equally good as well like the Prawn Mee, Oyster Omelette, Chili Ban Mee, Rojak and more. There are also dishes that did not appeal to my palate but have been on every must-try list you can see on the web like Bah Kuh Teh, Roti Prata, Fish Head Curry, BBQ StingRay and more.


P.S
With the restrictions in my diet (as a breastfeeding mom with a kid that is allergic to dairy) I have stopped eating chicken and eggs (it is kind of a sad thing). But hey, you do what's best for your child, so this momma has to make amends or find alternatives to satiate my food cravings.

What local dishes have you tried here in Singapore?

DISCLAIMER:
This is not a sponsored post. I paid for all the meals stated above. All of the photos above were taken using my Iphone, otherwise, proper credits were cited in the photo. Everyone has different preferences and opinions. All opinions expressed are based on the my experiences and palate. Indulge at one's own risk. ^_^