Losing weight has been my biggest struggle ever since I entered puberty. As much as I love food, I have a sedentary lifestyle. It did not become better when I went to adulthood. My weight was a yoyo, I was losing weight (if I am disciplined) and gaining more weight (when I am a mush of a lazy ass). As I grow older and older, I can feel my body aging as fast as I am eating. It is not a pleasant wake-up call.

It is our first winter here in Europe, and I am excited to see some snow! (even experience white Christmas!). Unfortunately, snow in the Netherlands is unpredictable. I have been listening everywhere for hints of snow, and even asking around, but none was futile. It is zero degrees in the Netherlands with an accompaniment of chilling wind. Frost is visible in some days, but a speck of snow wouldn't show up in December. Some locals are hopeful it'll come in January or February, and most are not expecting any snow.

We decided to explore other EU countries that have visible snow forecast in December. A quick Google search shows 3: Austria, Switzerland and France. Those three countries have snow all year round. We debated and decided to go to Switzerland. Why? Well, because of the Matterhorn.


Switzerland is majestic during the winter season. It is also expensive during the Christmas holidays. Our budget a bit tight, so the option of exploring Switzerland is out of the option. We narrowed it down to one town to visit so we could experience snow for the first time. Zermatt is a unanimous choice because of the infamous Matterhorn.

Zermatt is a small town at the foot of the Matterhorn. If you are living under a rock, Matterhorn is world renown as the mountain inspired by the Toblerone logo. You can also visit the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. It is Europe's highest and largest skiing region, even during summer season. So yeah, they have snowy Alpine mountains all year round.


HOW TO GET THERE

There are three airports in Switzerland which you can choose to fly in, Geneva, Zurich, and Basel. You can get the cheapest airfare by landing in Geneva or Basel Airport. You can opt to travel by train and overnight buses if you are reducing your carbon footprint.

Long travel time is not ideal when you have a baby/toddler, so it was a wise choice for us to fly. Flying to Geneva took less than 2 hours and the train to Zermatt took around 4 hours. Traveling by bus and train will take 15 hours with stopovers in Frankfurt and Basel, so it was not an option for us.


ACCOMMODATIONS

There are a lot of options for accommodations in Zermatt. You can choose a hostel, hotel or your chalet. A chalet would be nice if you are planning for a ski holiday. The convenience and access to the slopes are right outside your doorstep. Hotels and Hostels are situated in the town proper so it was accessible and convenient.



Accommodations in Zermatt are on the expensive side (or anywhere else in Switzerland). We chose to book one family room for four adults and one kid. We booked the Hotel Alpine Resort for it was the most affordable one at that time. Luck was on our side because we were given a family room with a gorgeous view of the Matterhorn (IKR!).


THINGS WE DID

Since Zermatt is a small town, you can explore the whole town in one whole day, plain sightseeing. Our itinerary is as follows:


The train ride going to Zermatt was an epic prelude to our anticipation for snow. It was one scenic ride with a lot of snow-capped mountains. Daxton was entertained for good 2-3 hours by admiring the snow and mountains.





We left our luggage in the hotel shortly after arriving (our room was not yet ready even though it is already 4 PM). Landing to Geneva and the train to Zermatt was a bit hectic, so we had snacks and pastries in our journey. We decided to get a proper meal and explored several restaurants. Meals are on the expensive side if you go to a restaurant. Too hungry to explore, we opted for fast food (McDonald's) for a quick bite.


We explored the town proper to check out the snowy chalets and museums. We passed by the Zermatt Matterhorn Museum, St Mauritius church, and Gemeinde Zermatt. The Matterhorn was majestic as the sun started to set in. It was a good thing that it was sunny the whole day and the skies were clear, so we got to see the Matterhorn for all its beauty.








We decided to head up to the viewpoint as soon as the sun starts to set. It was a steep flight of stairs up to the viewpoint. Cold weather and a lot of stairs to climb up is plain torture for my lungs, as my lungs expand like there was no tomorrow. But once you reached the top, the view of the town and Matterhorn was surreal.


As we started our descent, we passed by a lot of chalets, which seems to house no one. Our walk and trek to explore the town left us too famished. Good thing the viewpoint is near our hotel, so we decided to freshen up a little bit before heading to dinner.





We had our dinner at Grampi's, a pizzeria with notable Google reviews. Reservations are mandatory at the best restaurants in Zermatt. Most of them are at the chalets up in the mountain ridges . I am aware of the European cuisine and customer service in the Horeca industry so my expectations are a bit low. We had a good meal of pizza and pasta and decided to head back to the hotel to rest and chill.

Our room's view during the night

We bought snacks and booze from Denner, the nearest supermarket from the hotel. The prices in the supermarket are also a bit steep, compared to the Netherlands. We hanged and talked and drank at our room while admiring the Matterhorn.



We did not expect the view of our room. Imagine sleeping and waking up top the view of the Matterhorn smiling at you. IT WAS PHANTASMAGORICAL!! It was expensive, but the view was so worth it.

This is the view that greeted us in the morning.. WOW!

The next day, we decided to head up to the mountains to visit the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. Unfortunately due to weather conditions, it was closed that day. We did not do the Gornegrat Bahn due to time limitations. Instead, we decided to head up to Trockener Steg instead to have a glimpse of the snowy Alpine ridges upclose.

Trockener Steg is 2,939m high and has a large sun terrace. You have an up-close view of the Matterhorn and all its glory. An Ice Bar and Ice Buffet in the station is perfect for famished people from skiing or hiking up the mountains. The weather that day was cloudy with strong winds (100++kph!!). Good thing that the cable cars are still working, though you can hear how ferocious the winds are.


After our trip up to the mountains, we decided to head back to town to check out from our hotel. We spent the rest of our hours exploring the town and buying souvenirs while waiting for our train to Milan. It was one tiring 2D1N trip because of the weather, which is always below 5degC. Imagine wearing layers of (heavy and puffy) clothing to keep warm, then trekking the mountains and walking through snowy paths. It was a test of endurance and stamina for our bodies.


TIPID (FRUGAL) TIPS:

• Dress appropriately for the weather. It is wise to check the weather ahead so you can plan your outfits (and luggage space) accordingly. There is a saying "There's no bad weather, just inappropriate clothing". Which was true because you need to feel comfortable to truly your vacation. I recommend to layer wisely, avoid bulky and heavy clothing. For the top, I was wearing thin thermal base, thin knit turtle neck, fleece second layer and a trendy trench coat. For the bottoms, a thin thermal base, denim pants and thermal socks under my Doc Marten boots. I have a chunky knit scarf to cover my neck and a bit of my face. It was not the wisest outfit, but it did warm me up a bit even though I was feeling stuffy from all the clothing I have.

• Winter Sport activities such as skiing, sled riding, and snowboarding are expensive. And the cost tends to pile up. Aside from snow specific clothing, you need different gears for different activities. There are also passes to cable cars, different ski areas, and resorts. Renting gears is convenient if you want to try it for fun. But if you want to make it as a hobby, it is sensible to buy/bring your gears.

• Meals in Zermatt ranges from 15CHF and above. You will be tempted to have a hot meal/drink all the time because of the frosty weather. Affordable food is a sandwich if you don't mind eating cold sandwiches and pastries. If you want to try traditional Swedish cuisine, you might want to book in advance and place a reservation.

• Pray to the heavens for clear skies so you can adore the beauty of Matterhorn. They say that the Matterhorn is a bit shy and often hiding in the clouds. But the probability of seeing its beauty is around 60%, which is pretty high. But will involve some luck and prayers.

• If you plan to hike and explore around in the snowy countryside, make sure you prep your body. Increase your stamina and endurance for there are a lot of slopes and hike up. But if ever your body decided to betray you (and give up), you can ride the electric buses that go around the town. It may be a bit costly, for it is around 2-5CHF depending on your stop.

Our dear family, freezing but was grinning from ear to ear ^_^

Generally, Zermatt is magical and I would want to see its beauty during the summer. Here's a quick video recap of our adventure:





I hope this "semi" guide had inspired you to go and travel Zermatt.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SPOT IN ZERMATT?

DISCLAIMER:
We paid for everything on this trip. I inserted some Agoda affiliate links in this post. It will cost you nothing if you click on it. But if you do feel you want to use the link to book your accommodations, I get a small amount from Agoda.

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

A post shared by Carol (@carolranas) on Dec 19, 2019 at 12:37am PST

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. ^_^