Shopping, Eating, Other Stuff To Do in Taichung

Shopping

1) Food/Grocery – Jasons (in Chungyo Dept Store), Carrefour (there are several branches including one in Taichung Central Dept Store), Capitan (wonderful supermarket behind Zhong Ke Hotel), convenience stores like 7-11, OK Mart, Family Mart (they have great frozen meals that you can have microwaved, such as pasta)

2) Clothes – Dept stores like Chungyo, Mitsukoshi, Tiger City, Sogo. Find English books and mags at Eslite Bookstore in Chungyo. If you love Muji, they have a branch in Chungyo. In case you see signs like 8, 7, 6 when you shop, these mean that they're 20%, 30% or 40% off respectively. We were trying to figure this out for the longest time. A salesperson who could speak English finally explained it to us.

3) Eating Out – Yakiniku next to Zhong Ke was our fave resto (all you can eat for just Ps700), but we recently heard that they've closed down :( Also try Napoli for their chicken and pizza. It's near the IVF Clinic. You can also have your hotel call them and order for delivery. Fastfood chains like McDonalds, Burger King, KFC (try their egg tarts). There's also Chilis and Cold Stone ice cream in Tiger City. Also Fridays across Chungyo. In front of Chungyo is a market area where you can enjoy dimsum, stinky tofu, etc. Enjoy bubble tea and the many bread stores in Taichung. Did you know that this is where bubble tea was invented? On our last night in Taichung, we went to Mr. Goose. It's near Tiger City. Order the goose and stinky tofu as pulutan, and enjoy with Taiwan beer.

4) Entertainment - You can watch English movies in Tiger City or Taichung Central. If you're booked at Zhong Ke Hotel, you can ask the lobby to print out the week's movie skeds for you.

5) Sightseeing - Check out the Museum of Natural Science (don't bother to watch the movies, they're all in Chinese), Botanical Garden. If you're willing to travel farther out of central Taichung, go see Sun Moon Lake and the Dakeng Scenic Area

6) Gym - This is especially useful for the husbands. There's Peri which is a 15 min walk from Alice Hotel (going towards the direction of Chungyo). You can sign up on a monthly basis (Ps2700/month). There's also California Fitness but I heard they're more expensive and are farther away from Alice Hotel.

7) Acupuncture - When I was in Taichung, a number of the Pinoy IVF couples were going for acupuncture at a clinic near Chungyo. Heard it's very good (both for wife and hubby), and pretty cheap (about Ps500/session lang). You can ask the lobby people at Alice Hotel for details (clinic location, number etc).

8) Mass - There's a Catholic Church that says Mass in English near Taichung Central. You can take a bus from Alice Hotel. Sunday Mass is at 11am. Mass is filled with Pinoy;s who work in Taichung.