CLASS TRIP.

Ok we have a few options on the table. This is a 6d5n price. The recommended dates are 30 Dec – 4 Jan. If u want a 7d6n trip instead (29 Dec – 4 Jan), it would cost an additional $40 thereabouts.

Book with a tour agency

The cheapest ive heard so far is 1033 (neway agency, however u pronounce this). However, the price of a double and triple room is the same when u book with a tour agency. Tour agencies work like this: they have a 4d3n package, and then u extend as many nights as u want. The rate of a triple room is cheaper than that of a double room when u extend, but not for the duration of the package. If u want to upgrade to sia, it will cost another $87. But the timing of the flight is pretty good, like 12am at night, so uve got the full day ahead when u arrive in taipei.

Book ourselves

Jet Star: $677 (for now. Prices are subject to change. The longer we wait, the more ex it gets.)

Royal Castle Hotel: $36 for quad, $43 for triple, $53 for double. Per night per pax.

So if u add it all up:

$857 for quad, $892 for triple, $942 for double.


The insurance cost, which isnt included in the quotations , about $30. However, if u are that desperate to cut cost, u can go without it.

TWO VERY IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE:

1. Jetstar tickets are selling out. I do not know how fast, but lets not push the limits.

2. Jetstar ticket prices are increasing as the departure date draws closer. I do not know how fast, but obviously it'd be best if we could buy them asap.

A few other things to note...

Royal Castle is just about the best hotel in terms of price and quality we can get in Ximending already.

If u want a cheaper price, we need to find a cheaper hotel. Obviously, this hotel is unlikely to be in area as hip as Ximending.

If jetstar has no more tickets on those dates, we have to accept a more pricey ticket on another day. Be assured that i have chosen the cheapest combination of air tickets already.

While the quad may be squeezy, it offers substantial savings. It is unlikely that all of us can fit nicely into quad rooms (which are subject to availability). Just for your info, I am for the quad rooms.

Please decide soon, since prices will fluctuate. I hope i do not have to recalculate the costs again and reevaluate our choices.

Video

Cost Details for Taiwan Trip

Here are some of the cost details jenhan, situ, ghin hoe and i managed to obtain when we went down to chinatown today

6D 5N Taiwan trip from 29 Dec - 3 Jan. (Hotel : Royal Castle)
Prices include air ticket, hotel, tax

Travel agent: Easyway
Cost: 1013 (subject to change) - we are not sure whether this one includes city tour
Airline: Jet star - 1 pm departure

Travel agent: Chan Bros.
Cost: 1080 (approx) - with city tour
Airline: China Air - 8 am departure

Travel agent: Focal Travel
Cost: 1060 -with city tour
Airline: Cathay (we need to transit at Hong Kong for this airline though) - early morning departure arriving around 2 pm in Taipei


The prices are quite expensive cos of the time we are leaving, it will be around 100 bucks cheaper in early december.


Taiwan Trip FAQ

1. Do we need to go for the city tour?

Ans: Yes. Anyway i think it would be good to see the sights/monuments we would not usually go to.


2. Why do the tour agencies fly specific airlines?

Ans: Very good question, I think it is because they block book certain airline tickets? And yeah some of them do not trust Jet Star cos Jet Star always changes their prices


3. Can hotel, airline ticket, group purchases be cheaper?

No. Though the Focal travel person said she could try to give us a better price


4. Is Hong Kong very far from Taipei?

Not really actually it is ALMOST on the way. Though the transit is about 1 hour long in HK


5. How many ppl are going for the trip

Currently 9 (me, jenhan, situ, ghinhoe, nic, ziming, zhu, tsai, shiting). Anyone else who is interested pls inform jenhan


6. Are we clubbing everyday?

No Nayr, we are not. So if you still can read this, pls consider coming along




OK , so please give your comments on the tagboard on prefered travel agent.

recommendations

how about me recommending the hotel that i stayed in when i was training in taiwan about a year ago. it's "crystal hotel" and it's located right beside huaxi jie1(huaxi street for fajoo). huaxi jie for those who do not know, used to be one of the more popular red light district( but that's not the most important point). it has now turned into a bustling night market selling lots of exotic meat( definitely not what you are thinking situ) such as crocodile and snakes and some others that i can remember. i remember i had one shot of snake wine in the one of the restaurants along the street and vividly tasting the snake meat and i remember i saw a python shitting. ahahaha.

and if you wanna buy some s*x toys(probably as gifts if u think u can bring them back), they are up for grabs at the many many sex shops there too. my group of friends were actually pulled into a sleazy shop where they showed us pictures of girls and asked us to choose and name a price but i was quick enough to escape because most of the females in the pictures look old enough to be our mums(though some are not bad). okay actually although what i said in front are all true, they are merely distractions. since i m such a food lover i m definitely gonna talk about the food there. i cant rememeber whether its along the same street but i know its in the same area where they had a street full of roadside hawkers. i had a wonderful time trying all sorts of food over there. the cakes made of pig blood, the oyster mee sua which is different from our singapore shih lin store, the barbecued squids, the smelly tofus, the different local noodles over there. awesome i tell you. okay i think its along the same street cos i remember after we finished our fried oyster then we got approached.

back to the hotel, its 2 or 3 mrt stops from xi men ding which is shopping heaven. if u watch enough taiwan shows, u will definitely know the place. crystal is quite a budget hotel though it was definitely a comfortable stay there. things i dun like included the tainted(am i right?) glass toilet without any lock. so you can probably look at each other silhoutte while you are lying on ur bed and ur roommate is bathing. if you feel the urge, u can always run into the showers since there is no lock on the glass door. sounds great??

and please go visit lava club. totally rocks.

some potential hotels

hey guys 4 days at taiwan is wayyyyyyy too short. extend! a weeks seems short too but i guess most ppl can make it. if wanna stay for longer hotel must be cheaper. here are some hopefuls. prices first followed by name. the price is in sgd, and in average cos the price varies at different time of the year and for diff suites. so i need people who are confirm going to help do research also. too many for me to do alone. i still got my bloody uni apps to do and xbox games to complete. and yes gerbert u can come challege me to soul calibre when u want cos i'm more free now.

http://www.hotelscombined.com/City.aspx?languageCode=EN&fileName=Taipei&pageIndex=0&sort=MinRate-asc&tabId=Details this where i got my info from but it does not give all the info needed. so u go to this website, find something u like, then go to the hotel's website and get more info and bookings and stuff. thx.

51 Lilai Hotel
54 Simply Life Hotel
56 Good Ground Hotel
61 Rosemary Hotel
61 San Sui Hotel
70 Friends Twin Hotel
73 Onestar Chang An Hotel
73 Paradise Hotel
75 Wan Tai Hotel
76 KDM Hotel
77 Baguio Hotel
77 Friends Yu-Lai Hotel
77 Royal Castle Hotel
77 Shin Shih Hotel
79 Meadow Hotel
79 ROyal Executive Suites
79 Shang Hao Hotel
79 Friends Spring Hotel
79 Liz Business Hotel
81 Dong Wu Hotel
82 First Hotel
82 Rainbow Hotel
84 Silken Hotel
84 Empress Hotel
85 Chair Man Hotel
90 Friends Yu-Yu Hotel
90 Kilin Hotel
91 Friends Star Hotel
92 Won Star Hotel
94 Friends Royal Room Hotel
95 Dolamanco Hotel
98 Zimei Hotel
99 73 Hotel
99 Joy Hotel

after typing all these out i feel damn stupid cos u can jus go to thte website and check out -.-"

taiwan

holiday destination: taipei, taiwan

date: 30 dec - 3 Jan

cost: unknown as of yet, but trying to be budget. still, expect to spend around $700-800 on travel and lodging. if anyone has a problem with the budget, pls find better deals instead of complaining abt the price k thnx.

whoever is interested, pls make ur intentions known.

so far those who are confirmed include gerbs ghin situ and yours truly.