Taiwan — my first business trip, my place of growth and healing, the perfect ending to my gap year. I initially wanted to stay in Taipei for a few days before travelling to Hokkaido but as luck would have it, all the cheap flights were quickly snapped up. Unwilling to pay more, I decided to stay and travel around Taiwan for 11 days, exploring the other counties that I've never set foot in, mainly Hualien, Taitung, Tainan and Taichung. Here's a brief itinerary of how I spent my time in Taiwan this summer!

I spent the bulk of my time in Taipei, and met up with my Taiwanese friends since I was starting school soon and wouldn't be travelling to Taiwan anymore for the next two years. Because of this, I had a good mixture of touristy stuff and local hunts in my itinerary, which I really liked since I got to see two sides of Taiwan. I also slowed down my itinerary since it was my upteempth time in Taiwan and I wanted to travel at a relaxing pace instead of rushing to places.

Despite everyone's insistence on spending more than a day in Hakone — even the passes were two or three day bus passes — I decided to do just a one day trip to the outskirts of Tokyo, Hakone due to the lack of time. If I were to return, I'd definitely stay in Hakone for a longer period of time, and travel to Fuji Five Lake (Fujigoko) so I could witness Mt Fuji up close but time wasn't on my side back then and a day trip to Hakone from Tokyo was my best choice.

I initially planned to set out early in the morning to catch the earliest train to Hakone but I was too worn out by then (my 5th day in Japan), so I snoozed for an hour before finally making my way to Shinjuku to collect my Hakone Free Pass.


Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center

Address
Japan, 〒160-0023 Tokyo, Shinjuku, Nishishinjuku, 1 Chome−26−13
(1st floor — Ground Floor)

Nearest Metro Station
Shinjuku Station (West Exit)

Telephone Number
+81-3-5321-7887

For our post-graduation trip, Joanna and I travelled to Kaohsiung for two main reasons. 1) Kaohsiung is a relatively small city, just enough for us to finish exploring at a comfortable pace when we only have 4 days. 2) I love love loveeee Taiwan, and I haven't been to Kaohsiung yet!

Flight (Singapore to Kaohsiung direct)


We decided to travel to Kaohsiung at only the eleventh hour so we didn't manage to secure good deals for our flight. Since Scoot only flies to Kaohsiung thrice weekly, and Scoot is the only airline that flies directly from Singapore to Kaohsiung, our choices were limited. To save cost, we decided to only check in our luggages on our way back from Kaohsiung (because we know we were going to be shopping a lot).

Our flight departed Singapore at 6:00am and we reached Kaohsiung at 10:20am.

Kaohsiung International Airport to Kaohsiung City


Compared to Taoyuan International Airport to Taipei City, it was way easier to get from Kaohsiung International Airport to Kaohsiung City.

There's a direct train from Kaohsiung Airport to Kaohsiung City, which costs about NT$20 one way. Take note that you can use Taipei's EasyCard (you-you-ka) in Kaohsiung, but you can't top up there. It takes only about 15 minutes to get to the hearts of Kaohsiung by Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corporation (KRTC). You should familiarise yourself with their KRTC system as it is Kaohsiung's main form of transport.

Is it possible to travel to Australia without a car? Yes, definitely. To fully immerse in the spirit of road tripping in Australia, a car is always recommended, however, if you're a noob who can't drive, here's what I did during my 6D5N travel to Gold Coast.

Note: I'm just sharing what I did during my week in Gold Coast, but this is NOT my ideal itinerary. If it was entirely up to me, I'd have packed my itinerary with activities instead of returning so early each day, but to each his own. (Make sure you travel with someone who shares the same ideal itinerary as you or your holidays might pretty much be ruined by tons of disagreements.)

Gold Coast Day 0


09:00pm — Checked in
10:25pm — Take off

Gold Coast Day 1
(+2 hours due to time difference)



08:00am — Landed early
10:30am — Reached our Airbnb apartment at Robina Town Centre
01:00am — Left for White Waterworld via bus and train
02:20pm — Reached White Waterworld
05:40pm — Left White Waterworld
06:40pm — Reach Robina Town Centre (most places were already closed and we had to get our dinner at a nearby 24 hours McDonald's)

Gold Coast Day 2


09:30am — Left Airbnb apartment
10:15am — Reached Robina Town Centre for some shopping
01:15am — Left for Dreamworld via bus and train
02:30pm — Reached Dreamworld
04:40pm — Left Dreamworld
06:15pm — Reached Airbnb apartment

Gold Coast Day 3


~9:00am — Left for Warner Bros. Movie World (Airbnb host drove us there)
09:40am — Reached Warner Bros. Movie World
03:30pm — Left Warner Bros. Movie World
06:10pm — Reached Airbnb apartment

Gold Coast Day 4


09:30am — Left for Habour Town via bus
~10:30am — Reached Habour Town
01:15pm — Lunch
03:00pm — Left Habour Town
~4:00pm — Reached Robina Town Centre for more shopping
06:05pm — Reached Airbnb Apartment

Gold Coast Day 5



09:00am — Left for Skypoint via bus and train
10:00am — Reached Skypoint
11:00am — Left Skypoint
10:30am — Shopping at Surfers Paradise Centre & Cavill Avenue
12:15pm — Surfers Paradise
12:50pm — Lunch
~1:30pm — Left Surfers Paradise
~2:45pm — Reached Robina Town Centre for more shopping
05:00pm — Reached Airbnb Apartment

Gold Coast Day 6


~6:30am — Left for airport (Airbnb host drove us there)
07:30am — Checked in
09:25am — Take off
03:20pm — Reached Singapore (in Singapore time)