Welcome to Villa 32, a hot spring haven set in a scenic location and highly recommended by a Taiwanese friend. The guys had wanted to bathe in the public pools initially, but most of us girls were shy going naked with each other, so we chose to soak in the private hot spring rooms. At 2,800NTD (S$120.38) each, it was a splurge for 90 minutes of relaxation. But there's a high price to pay for privacy.

60NTD (S$2.59). That's the entrance fee for the Taipei Zoo, also known as the Muzha Zoo. What about the Singapore Zoo? S$32. WHATTT!!

The weather was cooling in January, and we decided to take public transport and walk. Bus signs in Taiwan are all written in Mandarin so we took awhile to find the stop we wanted to alight at Danshui Fisherman's Wharf, here we come!

The Top? At the top of Yangmingshan? A very aptly named café indeed. If you want to hike up the mountain, it's possible if you're good with directions and like to work up a ravenous appetite before reaching The Top (屋頂上). Us? Not so much. We took the easy way with the 8 of us splitting into 2 cabs. The ride up from Shilin station took about 15 minutes.