It was a Sunday, so first: Church!

I had touched-base with a Taiwanese friend, and asked for his church’s location, and their service schedules. Of course, it was a great opportunity for us to see him as well. And so we left the hostel really early on that Sunday morning so we would make it in time for the 10:30am service.

We did not expect that the church, Bread Of Life International “The Hope,” is in a nightclub. They rent out OMNI Nightclub on Sundays to hold their services there. I think it’s the coolest thing!

Every time we’re in another city or country, we always try to find time to visit a local church. It’s really wonderful for people of different tongues to come together and just be one in worshiping God. And since they were located in a nightclub, they had an awesome lights and sounds setup, which made it even more wonderful.

 

 

 

The preacher was so charismatic and the interpreter was so animated. I love it!

 

 

It was a rather slow day for us. Like, our energies weren’t quite present. After church, we just had lunch at some random subway station and decided to make our way to Taipei 101 for our 3pm reservation at the highest Starbucks in the world–on the 35th floor of Taipei 101. Perhaps, one of the priciest too.

It’s true. Getting an appointment to that Starbucks is quite rigorous. It’s a very popular tourist spot with a very limited seating capacity, so expect that a lot of people are trying to make their appointments as well. You’d have to make it passed the waiting period trying to get into their phone line. If you’re in the city for a short time only, you may not be in the position to be so choosy. You’d just have to make-do with whatever schedule’s available. Of course, our very kind Airbnb manager took care of that and made the reservations for us. ❤

 

At the lobby of Taipei 101, you will find a long line of people queuing up. Chances are, you are in the same time-slot as they are. A Starbucks attendant will hand out some number slips to each one in line and will assist you to the high-speed lifts by batches. Once up there, you will be given only 90 minutes to enjoy this sought-after attraction, before they clean the whole place up, ready to receive another batch of diners.

Here’s the catch. For a chance to visit the highest Starbucks in the world, one will have to shell out 250ntd for food or beverages. I tried being strategic with my orders so I would only have to pay 250ntd flat, or just a little bit more, because spending that much for Starbucks is beyond me. Woe is me for mathematics and I aren’t quite acquainted, I miscalculated my orders. It fell $5 short. The guy asked me to change my order because they don’t accept anything lower than 250. Not 200, not even 249, but 250ntd! Woe is me again for I don’t even drink coffee. Good thing they had this appetizing pasta dish so that’s what I got, plus a frappe. Normally, I also only step into Starbucks for client meetings. Other than that, you wouldn’t see even my shadow near a coffee shop. Because…why? HAHA

While the other guests hurried to the counter to place their orders, we just hung out for a while, taking in all the view we can. I thought, “hey, I’m gonna savor every minute in here because this view didn’t come cheap!” 😛 Nonetheless, it’s still actually better than paying the 600ntd Taipei 101 observatory fee and get nothing at all. In the 35th floor Starbucks, you only pay 250ntd–all consumable. Besides, I also like to be amongst skyscrapers more than to be looking above them. Gives me that 3-dimensional feel.

 

 

From my blogs, you would probably know that I/we try to travel really cheaply. But we also make sure to experience the best of both cheap and luxurious worlds, so we always go out looking to have some fancy experience in a country we’re visiting.

For a few days, we had been researching about semi-upscale dining in Taipei. Unfortunately, most of what we found were way up the higher end, and so we had steak instead in the very busy Ximending youth district. It came with rice, side dish options, soft drinks, coffee, and ice cream. All unlimited! Pretty worth it!

We capped the night off at Shilin Night Market with a close family friend who coincidentally was also vacationing in Taipei.

I got the 8oz. ribe eye

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EXPENSES

Day 4

543.50php – Airbnb/pax/night
20ntd         – Jiantan to Zhiongxiao Station
120ntd       – Lunch. Beef bowl
16ntd         – Zhiongxiao to Taipei 101 Station
300ntd       – 35th flr. Starbucks at Taipei 101
20ntd         – Taipei 101 to Ximen Station
280ntd       – Dinner. 8oz. Rib-eye Steak
20ntd         – Ximen to Jiantan Station
=                     776ntd
x                     2 (php per ntd)

=                     1,552php
+                     543.50php (Airbnb)

Day 4 Total =   2,095.50php