Taiwan Travel 2015 [Day 3] – Taichung/Taipei High Speed Rail and Amba Hotel Ximending

We transferred from Taichung to Taipei in the morning of our third day in Taiwan. If there’s a downside to staying at Holiday Inn Taichung Park, it is that it’s far from the Taichung Station of the Taiwan High Speed Rail. We went to Taichung Station by taxi and spent approximately NT$85-100 per taxi that can ride 4 persons. As for our HSR Tickets, we just got them at the Station and did not buy them online because we did not want to set any time for our transfer to Taipei.

More Taichung Station photos below.

We reached the Taipei Station in about 40 minutes and the whole ride was seamless.

It was lunch time when we arrived so we looked for a place to eat and boy, it was a challenge! It seemed like everyone was lunching out and we could not find a place that can seat 8 adults and a baby at the same time (some can seat less than 8 so the rest will need to wait until a table frees up). Fortunately, tucked in one of the not-so-busy corners is a hot pot restaurant with enough space to accommodate us all. So hot pot for lunch it was!

We took the subway to go to Ximending. We stayed at Amba, a great hotel within the buzzing Ximending but a long walk from the Ximen Station. The rooms are hip and Zen-industrial so while it’s good for friends who travel together, I did not find it ideal for a family especially in my case with a 2 year old in tow. The rooms have an open bath layout that I actually dig but having a little one run from one side of the room to the other, the layout is definitely not the kid-friendly type. However, the lobby looks great and the vibe kinda reminded me of 126 Mansion in Seoul or Ace Hotel NYC.