Airport Buses

Where to board: The Terminal 1 bus platform is located on the southwest side of the first-floor arrival lobby. The Terminal 2 platform is located on the northeast side of the first-floor arrival lobby. Ticket counters are located in the arrival lobbies.

Ticket Prices: NT $100 – 140 per person (around Php 150 – 225)

Travel Time: 1 hour

Hours of operation: Approximately 05:00 – 24:00

Stops: Most buses stop at the Taipei Main Station and Songshan Airport, as well as near Metro stations and major hotels. However, the routes by the bus companies are not identical. Please double-check the map at the ticket counter.

Airport Taxis

Where to board: Taxis queue outside the north side of Terminal 1 and the south side of Terminal 2. Airport taxis charge a 15% surcharge to the figure on the meter, and highway tolls represent an additional charge.

Typical fare to Taipei: around NT$ 1,200.

Hours of operation: 24 hours

Telephone inquiries:
Terminal 1 Taxi Service Center: (03) 398-2832
Terminal 2 Taxi Service Center: (03) 398-3599

High-speed Rail

Unfortunately, I’ve never tried the train but I heard it is really convenient too.

Where to board: You can catch the 705 bus to the Taoyuan high-speed rail station from either Terminal 1 or 2.

Bus fare: NT$30

Time interval: 10 – 15 minutes during peak times

Hours of operation: 06:15 – 22:45

Inquiries: 0800-241-560

AirAsia flies to Taiwan four times a week, with fights departing Clark at 12:05 p.m. and arriving at Taoyuan airport at 2:00 p.m.

You can book your flights via AirAsia.com
Follow AirAsia on Twitter: @AirAsiaPH
Follow AirAsia on Facebook: facebook.com/AirAsiaPhilippines

For tours and hotel accommodations visit AirAsiaGo.com.
Follow AirAsiaGo on Twitter: @AirAsiaGoPH
Follow AirAsiaGo on Facebook: facebook.com/AirAsiaGo.ph

This is a go-to place for people who want to understand in a brief time, the history and culture of Taiwan.  It is located at the City Hall.

The center’s first-floor Taipei Impressions Hall displays the scenes of someo f the best spots in the city to begin a sight-seeing tour.  The second floor Special Exhibitions Hall arranges occasional exhibits on topics of interest.  The City Discovery Hall, located on the third floor, includes a variety of displays on Taipei’s culture and ecology.  Last but not the least, my favorite floor is on the fourth!  It includes the Dialogue with Time Hall, which outlines Taipei’s history and the Discovery Theater.

I learned a few things about how Taiwan came about. The Portuguese sailed here first calling the land “Formosa” and like us in the Philippines, Taiwan was under the Japanese regime.

Taipei is a lush city mixed with skyscrapers, ocean, rivers and mountains all together. It is said that the city of Taipei was designed in accordance to Feng Shui beliefs.

Taipei has a water reservoir up in the mountains and is said to have the cleanest water in the world.

The Discovery center of Taipei also has a scheduled film showing at the Discovery Theater which boasts a 360-degree screen. Ask the information desk about the timing of the film. It lasts for 17 minutes. It has a 360 degree view of different interesting things Taipei has to offer. The seats rotate around for maximum viewing pleasure.

ART: A Wall of Bottles

I’m not that short after all, I’m 1/2 as tall as Taipei 101 (yeah right!)

Strike a pose!

They had a fortune-telling machine!

It said “Happiness is already at your hand” ^_^

I also got another one and it said “It will be a great year for you!”

(I just didn’t know which year it was talking about – 2012 or 2013)

Check it out! A spiral bookshelf!

The Discovery Center 360 degrees theater.

Back in the day, Taipei was a walled city.

The walled city had 4 gates.

They made a miniature city! I’m stepping on a glass floor.

But it looks like I’m sort-of flying!

An ancient map of Taiwan that is made upside down.  Down is North. Top part is South.

AirAsia flies to Taiwan four times a week, with fights departing Clark at 12:05 p.m. and arriving at Taoyuan airport at 2:00 p.m.

You can book your flights via AirAsia.com
Follow AirAsia on Twitter: @AirAsiaPH
Follow AirAsia on Facebook: facebook.com/AirAsiaPhilippines

For tours and hotel accommodations visit AirAsiaGo.com.
Follow AirAsiaGo on Twitter: @AirAsiaGoPH
Follow AirAsiaGo on Facebook: facebook.com/AirAsiaGo.ph

Location of the Discovery Center of Taipei

No. 1, Shifu Rd., Xinyi Dist., Taipei City 11008, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
West Entrance of Taipei City Hall (facing Renai Rd.)
Tel: 1999 (other countries and cities 02-27208889)
Fax: 02-27232793
Website: www.discovery.taipei.gov.tw

We were greeted by the friendliest people of AirAsia Taiwan. All the passengers of the inaugural flight were givin a little present when we landed.

To celebrate the inaugural flight, Philippines’ AirAsia raffled off a trip for 2 to a local destination and another trip for 2 for an international flight!

One of the winner’s names is very close to my name and middle name which surprised me!

The trip from Clark to Taiwan takes about 2 hours. AirAsia offers meals onboard. When you order online, you will even save a lot for the meals! My favorite is the Chicken Rice.

Maan Hontiveros, AirAsia PH CEO, is very delighted to offer this new route from North Luzon. It is the first route from Clark to Taipei. There are also a lot of Filipinos in Taipei from the North.

What to do in Taiwan?

For only 3 days, We can only explore and enjoy the sites in the main city, Taipei. If I could stay longer, I’d travel east and south of Taiwan.

Our main itinerary would include Taipei 101, hot springs, National Palace Museum, Martyr’s shrine, Bao’an and Confucius temples, Shilin Market, Din Tai Fu restaurant and more. Xiao long bao and milk tea overload!

For more updates on AirAsia’s latest innovations, as well as promotions, activities and contests, connect with them via Twitter (@AirAsiaPH) or Facebook (facebook.com/AirAsiaPhilippines).

For tours and hotel accommodations visit AirAsiaGo.com.
Follow AirAsiaGo on Twitter: @AirAsiaGoPH
Follow AirAsiaGo on Facebook: facebook.com/AirAsiaGo.ph

Taipei Inaugural Flight AirAsia

AirAsia Philippines just added a new location to their roster of flights and is officially flying to Taipei today!

Exciting thing is, I’m going to be on the first flight ever to Taipei.

Details of the new flight are as follows.

Philippines’ AirAsia, the country’s newest low cost carrier, today launched two new exciting services from Clark to Singapore and Clark to Taipei in December 15 and December 16 respectively. The new routes further strengthen AirAsia’s commitment to drive tourism and trade in the Philippines by providing low fare, high value travel experience. 
 
Maan Hontiveros, AirAsia Inc. CEO says, “AirAsia’s newest routes seek to better serve our overseas Filipinos while helping drive tourist traffic by providing more low-cost options for travel.”
 
According to the latest data from the Philippine Embassy, there are 177,600 Filipinos in Singapore working as professionals and domestic helpers while there are more than 100,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan. Moreover, Taiwan is the country’s fifth largest source of tourism with over 155,000 of them visiting the Philippines as of October this year alone.
 
“The excitement is building up in Clark with our newest routes, AirAsia guests will benefit from our extensive network spanning across 85 destinations in 24 countries in Asia and Australia. Now, they can have a winter Christmas in Taipei or treat the whole family to a New Year merrymaking in Singapore or host a barkada beach party in Boracay, we will take them there and beyond with our signature low fares, reliable and on-time service,” Hontiveros added.
 
AirAsia is the only carrier offering 4x/week services on Clark International Airport – Taipei route with flights departing at 12:05PM and arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at 2:00PM. Taipei is the low fare airline’s fifth and newest regional destination following Clark-Singapore with daily flights departing at 6:10AM and arriving Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1 at 9:40AM.
 
To provide ultimate comfort for guests, Philippines’ AirAsia services the new routes using brand new Airbus A320, the youngest fleet at 11months age only. 
 
In addition to the new routes, AirAsia also increased flight frequency forClark to Hong Kong from daily to additional 3x/week evening flights every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday or for a total of 10x/week flights.
 
“Our newest routes and additional frequencies provide yet another opportunity for our Filipino workers from Central and Northern Luzon who are working in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei to have access to AirAsia’s low fare, high value travel experience,” Hontiveros said.
 
For more updates on AirAsia’s latest innovations, as well as promotions, activities and contests, connect with them via Twitter (@AirAsiaPH) or Facebook (facebook.com/AirAsiaPhilippines).

For tours and hotel accommodations visit AirAsiaGo.com.
Follow AirAsiaGo on Twitter: @AirAsiaGoPH
Follow AirAsiaGo on Facebook: facebook.com/AirAsiaGo.ph

All our bags are packed and we’re ready to go!

And I’m so excited I just need to write a blog post! Like I highlighted in this post, I will be staying in Kathmandu and Pokhara area. My mode for this trip is relaxation and maybe some slight meditation 😛

And so with Agoda.com, we booked the following hotels. Hotel accommodation is a huge part of my trip this time. Sometimes I hop from one place to another when I travel, but this time, since I want to enjoy the view and get comfortable, this is where I will stay.

Water Front Resort in Pokhara, Nepal

Hotel Dwarika’s in Kathmandu, Nepal

Kantipur Temple House in Kathmandu, Nepal

I wrote more about my trip here and how easy it is to go to Nepal these days also thanks to AirAsia new flights to Nepal!

Today, August 7, 2012 in Jakarta Indonesia, AirAsia Group launched their regional hub in Jakarta Indonesia – location separate from the operations of their different AirAsia headquarters, yet a place full of economic growth and opportunities as explained by AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandez.

I was psyched to be a part of the press con, together with other publications and media such as CNN, Al Jazeera, NBC, Fox and many more.  It’s a milestone event for me as a hybrid journalist/reporter/blogger.  Just as this day is a milestone for me, same is true with AirAsia asean who aims for the world to be accessible for everyone.  This expansion and a focused location for company strategies marks the beginning of AirAsia Groups growth and expansion plans.

Part of the press con was a pocket interview with one of the people behind the success of AirAsia himself, Tony Fernandez.

1.  What is your “dream destination.”

Tony: I wouldn’t say a destination really, but to see a football match in a stadium in Rio.  Hawaii would be nice too.

2.  Speaking of “dreams” what are your current dreams for AirAsia?

Tony:  Two things. (1) For AirAsia brand to be as well known as Coca-Cola in Asia, and that (2) AirAsia could evoke nice feelings from the people

3.  What is the secret of Tony Fernandez?

Tony:  Good people.  I couldn’t have built this without the fantastic people surrounding me.  It’s like a current, I give energy to the people and they give it back to me

4.  Tricky “Miss Universe” type question…

Tony: (laughs)

Me:  If you were to choose one: Quantity or Quality? Which is it?

Tony:  That’s a hard question! It depends, for passengers I’d want quantity!  But seriously, I would choose quality.  I would rather have 1 great marketing manager than 25, 1 great tasting fried chicken than 25…

5.  Any message to Filipino travelers?

Tony:  Yes, I think Filipinos were starved of international travel.  It’s either Hong Kong, Singapore but AirAsia wants to offer more destinations, more accessibility.  I want to make Philippines smaller, and also bring more tourists in the Philippines as well.

I enjoyed my interview with Tony as he is very accommodating, humble and honest.  I do hope that his noble dreams will come true, because as a traveler, I would want to have more direct flights and accessibility to different destinations in the Philippines and the world!

On another note, I think I like being a hybrid journalist.  Currently, I see it as a challenge I think I would be good at.  You know me, when something gets me interested, I’m all out with passion in going after it. 

Who says you can only have “One” dream?  Me, I dream a lot… and some of them, I have already achieved and once I do the feeling is GREAT! 

Keep on dreaming and achieving guys!

Much love,

Flaircandy

disclaimer: Interview transcript above has been paraphrased, essence of the thought stays.

Writing my dedication to AirAsia on the wall!

Congratulations AirAsia! I’m glad to be a part of your history!

AirAsia Philippines’ first flight to Kuala Lumpur!

We boarded Flight PQ 7455 at 3:15pm and arrived minutes earlier than the scheduled 7:00pm arrival.

This new daily route complements Malaysia AirAsia’s existing Kuala Lumpur –  Clark – Kuala Lumpur morning flights which have been in operation since 2005.

All aboard!

“The additional frequency to Kuala Lumpur provides yet another link for Filipinos and Malaysians in the areas of business and tourism.  But more important, we want to draw tourists from Malaysia to our amazing beaches and natural wonders in Puerto Princesa, Kalibo, Davao and here in Central Luzon.  If we are able to draw even a fraction from Malaysia’s 24.5 million tourists, this will impact on our tourist arrival record for 2012, which means more jobs, more food on the table, more opportunities for every Filipino” AirAsia Inc. CEO Maan Hontiveros.

True indeed, my friends from Malaysia Angeline and Satkuro have already flown early on from Malaysia to Clark, then hoppin on the plane directly to Kalibo!

The new route will be operated with brand new Airbus A320.

early on, AirAsia Philippines celebrated with friends from Media

It was great being a part of this! I made new friends!

With me on the flight is Upper Viceo of PHL360.com

I’ll blog more about my trip to Malaysia in the next post!

More photos here.

Book your AirAsia flight tickets online via http://www.airasia.com/ph/en/home.page

Philippines’ AirAsia call center also accepts booking of regular fares via +632 588 9999 from Monday to Sunday at 8:00 am to 8:00 pm (GMT +8)

Interact with AirAsia via:

Facebook: facebook.com/AirAsiaPhilippines

Twitter: twitter.com/AirAsiaPh