Happy trip to Taiwan (18 December to 23 December 2025)

17 December 2025  

It has been so hectic at work that I am really so looking forward to this break! Compared to last year, this year was really crazy at work from September to December 2025. Lexuan is having school holidays but I don’t really get to spend time with her as I am so so so busy at work. By right December should be quiet, there are still so many issues every where. 

I managed to find time to pack on Monday and today during lunch time. And I was working all the way until 7.30pm. We then took a cab back home. We finished the packing and showered. Then we settled down to watch the 9pm show - Under the net! It’s the final episode today! It’s Lexuan’s first and favourite MediaCorp drama! She watches every episode and will keep re-watching the episodes on match. 

We then called the cab at around 9.40pm. Traffic seems pretty okay. We reached about 10.20pm. We did self check in and departed our luggage. We need a baggage tube for Jianhui’s back pack and we couldn’t find one nearby. So Jianhui got to go to the counter to find one. 

Then we went to eat Burger King. It’s strange that there is no mushroom Swiss double in airport. Then we realized we needed to get a stamp for our boarding pass. Luckily we didn’t have to queue to get the stamp. 

At the same time, my family has touched down from HK at T2! We are at T1. 

Then it was quite a long walk to D48. Airport is busy at this time. We boarded at 12.45am. 

I was very sleepy (as usual now) while Lexuan is still very energetic. 

18 December 2025 

Lexuan fell asleep quite fast on the plane. I slept at around 2am+. Around 4.35m, lights are on for landing. 

We touched down about 5.10am. We submitted arrival card online. There was a queue at customs. 

We wanted to find McDonald’s but realize it is at T2. We ate some bread before we took the sky train to T2. T2 is much more crowded and busy. We found McDonald and bought sausage McMuffin meal + McNuggets meal. 

We went 5F to look for 7-11 but ended up it has familymart only. 7-11 is at north wing. Haha. Then we bought train tickets to go Taipei main station. We took the 9am train. It’s so comfortable that I had quite a good nap. I just find the journey too short. Haha. 

We walked like super super far to reach Bannan line (板南线) which Lexuan calls it banana line. Hahaha. We took one stop to Ximen and walked a short distance to our Orange hotel! 

We cannot check in yet so we deposited our bags and then we took uber to Wanlin’s house. Her house is about 6.7km away but it  is 20 mins car ride. We picked up my race pack, went to the 7-11 near her house then we uber back to xi men. 

Lexuan wanted to eat from 7-11 so we went there first. She bought cup noodles and we bought original and cheese hotdog. The hotdog is normal. Then we walked a bit to cosmed. I bought masks, bath bombs. It’s value for money and I could get tax refund on the spot. 

Then we went back to Orange hotel. The room is not ready so we went to the lounge to eat more snacks. Haha. Luckily we can finally check in at around 2.15pm. 

Yeah! We can finally shower! The room is very small though with limited space. And only 2 pillows so tonight think we need tonight for pillows. 

It was really cold in the room. And the best part is, i forgot to bring my sleeping pants. Both Jianhui and I took nap while Lexuan was happily snacking. 

We woke up around 4pm+ then we slowly got ready to go for dinner. We decided to eat hotpot. So we walked to Xi men and we chose this Shabu Le Wagyu Hot Pot 涮樂和牛鍋物 西門旗艦店. It cost NTD2190 which is pretty okay right? They serve a lot of beef, pork, fish, prawns and free flow of usual steamboat stuff like hotdogs, vegetables, yam, free flow of a variety of drinks and alcohol. Ice cream is amazing - Haagen Dazs and soft serve. The soft serve is really good.  We had a satisfying dinner for sure. 

We went Popmart for a while before we went back. While Lexuan and I were shopping at Popmart, Jianhui saw sports camp Raymond. 

Then we went back to our hotel to rest. We slept early at 9pm. 

19 December 2025 

It was a good sleep as we could sleep all we want. So we woke up at 9am and started to get ready. 

We then left hotel about 9.30am to redeem our breakfast at Mos burger. Ham and egg sandwich is not bad. We waited very long for the beef and egg burger. Lexuan had some grape jelly drink which is quite nice. The hashbrown which looks like 田 is normal. I bought ready made mushroom and corn soup individual pack. I hope it’s nice! 

Then we went back to the room to relax a while. We are planning to go Qingtiangang Grassland 擎天崗 today. We booked uber to go there - about SGD32 for 50 mins car ride. 

Weather is a bit gloomy but at least no rain. We reached about 12.30pm. Nice fresh air over here. So proud of Lexuan who also walked quite a bit with us. Quite a nice place to hang around. 

We walked and relaxed until about 2pm.

Then we called uber. I was sleepy in the taxi so i slept quite a bit. I came Taiwan to catch back on sleep. Haha. 😛 

We dropped at Xi men to buy my fried chicken - JiGuang fried chicken. The fried 鸡排is nicer! The fried chicken cubes and sotong normal only. 

We went to our hotel longer to enjoy our takeaway. We relaxed a while. 

Then we went out around 5pm for dinner. Lexuan chose Japanese today so we chose ramen. We ordered 2 bowls and it cost only SGD25. Pretty affordable. We saw that the mala hotpot beside the ramen shop serves a while range of alcohol. Then we bought Taiwan beer from 7-11. Lexuan ate her favourite tang Hulu. There are street vendors tonight too. 

Lexuan and I walked to the Sanrio 7-11 while Jianhui went to new balance shop. Lexuan walked without complaints. Sadly, there is nothing much to buy at the 7-11. We didn’t manage to call uber so Lexuan and I walked back. I am so proud of this girl. She walked back without complaining. 

We had a mini snack party of the tidbits w brought from Singapore. Before we slept, we came to know of an assault incident near Taipei mrt station. We slept around 10pm tonight. 

20 December 2025 

We woke up at around 7am+. Then we went to breakfast around 9am. We decided to eat McDonald’s. We had sausage muffin meal, double sausage McMuffin meal, hotcake + 1 ice cream cone and it’s SGD12. Very filling breakfast. 

We walked around carrefour and played a bit of claw machine (with nothing caught). We came across a name sticker machine and we were so happy. Because it is Melody x Kuromi version! We also made one in 蜡笔小新. 

We slowly walked back which seems relatively new. I drank my papaya milk while Lexuan drank her mos burger jelly drink. Jianhui went to the lounge for his me time coz he finds the room too small. We then checked out at 11.15am. 

It was a short walk to the station but got a lot of stairs. Poor Jianhui. We reached Taipei main station at 11.40am. We took photo with the Christmas tree.

I tried walked around to find 花田喜饰 and I cannot find. Then I finally found it at level 1.

So near yet so far. So the shop at basement no more. So happy I can buy hair accessories for my sis and XX. 

We bought bread papa for snacks. Our train no. 0133 departing at 1331. We are expected to reach Zuoying at 1505. We are some snacks and soon we reached Zuoying. I always like to take HSR as it is so comfortable. 

Then Lexuan wanted to eat the Guo tie we ate last year when we were here. Lucky I got take photo of the shop and so I asked Jianhui to find it on Google. For record purpose, it’s called 金口祿小館. I bought 20s of 锅贴 and 10s 煎饺. Each box is NTD70.  Even Jianhui is shocked that I bought so much. I waited quite long for the order to be ready. 

Then we went to take metro to 高雄站. Lucky we don’t have to walk far to reach our hotel Joho. It’s a nice hotel! And most importantly, it is spacious and has bath tub! Lexuan is overjoyed as she loves bath tub. 

We had a good bath… then we rested a while before we made our way to the night market nearby - 六合国际观光夜市! It has a lot of food with games stall too. Lexuan had fun at the dart game which she won 50 points. She got to redeem a soft toy and a  toy. We bought 4 tries (each try 7 darts) free 1 for NTD200. 

We had fried chicken (the one at xi men is nicer), peanut soup soy bean (yummy), cheese pull coin pancake (nice), iced honey lemon juice. We played claw machine and we managed to catch 1 fry. After thinking a while, we decided to go back and catch more fries. In the end, we caught one more. 

We made our way back. Lexuan played the dart game one more time and now we got a pair of dog soft toys. 

We slowly walked back and it doesn’t seem that far. 

We have a king size bed tonight! So shiok! Love the size of the room and the toilet! I realize space is very important to me for a hotel. 

21 December 2025 

Not sure if I am too excited or what. I woke up a few times and dreamt a lot of weird stuff that I can’t really remember except that I was disfigured on the right side of my face. 

I woke up at 5am to get ready. We taking the 2nd ad hoc train service at 6am. The train gets quite crowded as we approach the sugar refinery station. I wanted to oh no, so I queued at the station toilet. For some reasons they all prefer squatting so it’s my turn relatively fast. 

So the cat, Mikan became famous and so this race is for Mikan! I must say the merchandise is really cute! So glad that it’s a 10km run so not so stressed for me. 

I started it slow and within first km, there’s water station and a lot of fruits and food. I didn’t eat the food though as I am not used to eat meat during run. Nothing interesting along the route except the food station. They gave hair tie at one of the station. When we are left with one km, I feel that I could still run so I speed up a bit until the finishing line where I saw Jianhui and Lexuan.

Then I went to collect my medal and goodies! Lucky no queue for 10km run. They gave us Bao, mochi, drink, picnic bag and a cute big paper bag. Other this, we got a big bag too. Thank you Jianhui for finding this cute race for me (he knows that I like this kind of cute race) and thanks to my bff, Wanlin for helping me to pay and receive the race pack. 

We took some photos then we left. We played with the Photo Booth and got newspaper article printed of us. Haha. 

Then we took train back. We got seats so it seems faster. Jianhui went to buy McDonald’s while I brought Lexuan to 7-11 as she wanted her slurpee. I also bought cheese hotdog for her. Jianhui ended up being faster than us so he waited for us at the lobby. 

McDonald’s here is really value for money. One meal + burger + pancakes = $9. 

We then showered and relaxed before we got to check out again. We are taking train to zuoying then I can shop for Mikan’s merchandise! Hehe. 

It’s quite amazing I spent about $180 at the merchandise. Ops! Think we need to buy luggage now. 

Then I quickly went to buy Lexuan’s favourite 锅贴. This time round, I dint have to wait for long. Lexuan simply loves this so much that she can finish one box of 10s herself. She wanna save it to eat it on the train.

Our train is departing at 1.15pm. Lexuan happily enjoyed the 锅贴 and I am surprised she can finish it all. This is simply her favourite food! I enjoyed taking HSR and time seems to pass to quickly! We reached Taipei around 3pm. Then we exit the station and walked to our hotel. 

Halfway there, we had to cross the overhead bridge. Strong Jianhui helped to carry the luggage up and down the bridge. I must say Lexuan has been a good girl this trip. She has been walking a lot and helped to push the luggage. 

We are staying at Hotel Resonance and it provides ✅looks so new! The room is new and spacious too! And it has bath tub! Definitely a good one for our last night stay in Taipei. 

Jianhui’s Taiwanese friend, Alex brought us to 热炒美食餐厅. He ordered a lot of dishes.

Lexuan ordered her popcorn chicken and fries. The food is nice. We all drank Taiwan beer draft. 

Then we walked back to our hotel. It’s such a nice room that I don’t want to check out. 

We slept around 10pm. I kept on dreaming weird dreams and kept on waking up.

22 December 2025

Good morning! Our last day in Taiwan! 

We decided to ask the hotel if we could extend our stay. They are charging SGD195 for half day till about 7pm+. This works fine for it! Yeah! Was happy that we don’t have to rush to check out.

Lexuan wanted to eat the cheese from family mart so we went there in the morning. Jianhui loves the McDonald’s so we are there eating again. Then we went back to our room.

While walking, we saw a Popmart machine. We bought The monsters supermarket series and we are so lucky to get the fried shrimp! Haha. ✅

Then we walked to Syntrend Creative park for my Joguman pop up store! So happy! 

Then we walked to train station to take to 

三重 station. We are going to New Taipei Metropolitan Park. It is a nice park with playground! It is a fun place for the kids. Lexuan enjoyed herself especially at the 

Waterfall grass ski park where we slided down many times. We had great fun here.

Then we took train back. We wanted to pop by Giant shop to see if I can buy a bike back. This is when Lexuan started to get unhappy and only wanted to go back hotel straight. We played claw machine to cheer her up but she’s still not that happy. Claw machine here is more affordable as each try is NTD10 (about SGD0.40) At least when we reached Taipei station, she is back to her happy self. We found the giant shop and was told that we needed to pre order and then arrange the delivery back to Singapore. And there isn’t much variety so we didn’t buy.

We saw the Japanese restaurant and decided to have our late lunch/ early dinner here. Overall, the food is not bad. 

Then we took one stop to our hotel so that we don’t have to walk that much. It’s good that we still have hotel room so that we could still shower and relax a bit. I thought we would have a lot of time to nap but ended up we didn’t have much time to rest. 

For dinner, I went to get hot dogs, beef noodles and Guo tie for them. The beef noodles and Guo tie is normal. Lexuan had Maggie mee too. 

We checked out at around 7pm and relaxed at the hotel lobby. Our flight is at 0015. We got an uber which cost us SGD50. 

We reached airport about 9pm. At first our counter 5 is not open yet but after waiting a while, the staff is getting ready to open counter and so we went to queue. We didn’t have to wait for long then it’s done. 

We then went to departure gate. Everything is cleared very fast too. Jianhui tried the e gate and it works. 

Then I am very focused to go Sanrio shop to shop for my sis! Haha. After shopping for cute stuff then it’s my pineapple tarts - Jiu Zhen Nan (旧振南), my personal favourite. It is expensive though. The pineapple tarts cost $23 each box. The price remains the same compared to last year. 

Jianhui is hungry so we tried to find food. We walked all the way to A, the usual area where you find McDonald’s but all the shops are closed. Jianhui bought a crepe cake and sandwich. It’s not bad. 

Then we went gate B4. We didn’t have to wait for long before we could board. Boarding is a breeze and soon we are seated. Lexuan and I went to toilet on the plane. 

We’re ready to sleep! The moment we are in the sky, Lexuan fell asleep. I woke up a few times. I wanted to buy the Dabao Milo plush but it’s sold out. Nowadays my knees will hurt when I take plane. Really getting old Liao. Lucky this is a short flight.

We touched down at around 4.40am. After collecting our luggage, we can’t really find anywhere for breakfast. So we ate coffee bean and it cost us $50 for a breakfast set, one slice of rainbow cake, iced mocha and iced vanilla. The breakfast set so-so only. 

We went to take cab at around 6am. Home sweet home! 

All in all, it was a good family trip. Lexuan has been a good girl who has been helping us with the luggage and whenever she can. Travelling in December is always good because of the festive mood with all the Christmas decoration everywhere. It’s a good time to spend time with family as we are spending 24/7 together with no work/housework distraction. I just hope that I have more days of leave and can spend more time with Lexuan for December holidays. There are so many things to do with so little time. And now, we are just 8 days away from 2026! I am definitely hoping for peaceful days at work! 🙏🏻 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Oh ya! We managed to squeeze everything in the small pink luggage!