Do you love flowers? Do you love being out in the countryside and taking instagram-worthy pictures with interesting backgrounds? Are you up for an adventure on the Taichung public transportation system? Then read on.
The Zongshe Flower Farm (also sometimes called the Chung She Flower Farm or Houli Flower Farm) makes for a nice day tour outside of Taichung. It’s located about about 30km north of Taichung City. The flowers bloom year-round and the farm grows different species of flowers depending on the season. Tulips in the winter, sunflowers in the summer. The lavenders bloom all year round!
To go from Taichung City to Zongshe Flower Farm by bus, take bus 55 to Fengyuan Station. Ride the bus all the way to the end of the route, Fengyuan Station. In the same bus terminal, transfer to bus 6606. Bus 6606 is bound for Taipei city.
The bus ride on bus 55 from Taichung City takes about 45 minutes, while the ride from Fengyuan Station to Zongshe takes about 25 minutes. The bus 6606 stop is right across the road to Zongshe. Just cross the road and you are there! You can take bus 55 from Taichung Station Minzu Road, Gancheng Station, Taichung Park, Fengjia Night Market/National Taichung University or opposite Chungyo department store. There are frequent bus 55 trips, however the bus 6606 only travels once every hour. Zongshe is the 6th stop from Fengyuan. When you board the bus, you would have to pay the bus fare in cash, and remind the bus driver to inform you when the bus is at Zongshe.
To go back to Fengyuan, take the bus 6606 which stops right outside Zongshe Flower Farm.
The best time to go is in the afternoon, an hour or two right before the farm closes at 6pm. If you are taking the bus back to Fengyuan, do note that the 6606 passes by at around 5:30pm and 6:30pm so you will either have to leave the farm earlier, or wait for the bus for some time.
Alternatively, you could take the TRA, the regional train. You would be riding on the Taichung line or the Mountain line. To go to Zhongshe Flower Farm by train, take the TRA from Taichung Main Station to Tai’an Station (8 stations away). From Tai’an station, you would need to take a taxi to Zhongshe Flower Farm as it is too far to walk! The taxi fare is fixed, usually the drivers ask for NTD120-150 fares each way.
Lots of Flowers and Lots of Props Makes for Lots of Photo Spots
Have a great time at Xongshe taking lots of photos. We visited in the summer and they had manicured flower beds of great big sunflowers, colorful daisies, dainty lavenders and sweet rose bushes. They also have lots of props, like a white piano in a sea of lavender blooms, romantic white swings, arching bridges and Holland-inspired windmills. There is also a pond full of lotus flowers.
The surrounding fields are planted with rice and vegetables, and in the distance are the mountains. You can really enjoy the wide open space here.
Entrance Fee: NTD120; NTD150 during tulip season. If you are eating lunch at the farm’s outdoor barbecue restaurant, they have promotional prices for the two activities combined.
On Taichung’s western coast is a vast tidal flatland where the sea intrudes into the land and creates the marshy wetlands of Gaomei. Here you can watch spectacular sunsets over the vast open space, breathe fresh salty air and walk with the sea critters that live in the watery coastline. Its not your usual tropical sunset over a beach with a defined surf. Instead its vast and expansive, its flat and its water logged, muddy and wet.
There are big wind turbines lining the side of the winding road, and its in the eye of the beholder whether you think the wind turbines add or detract to Gaomei Wetlands’ appeal. On the opppsite shore there is a 800m boardwalk through the marshes so you can get up close to the sea environment without trampling on the mud or destroying any precious ecosystem.
How to go to Gaomei Wetlands from Taichung City by Bus
To get to Gaomei Wetlands from Taichung City, the most straightforward way is to take the bus 309. The bus stops along 3 places in Gaomei Wetlands before it terminates at Wuci Fishing Port: Gaomei Wetland Shansunlun Road, No. 18 Wind Turbine and No. 9 Wind Turbine. We suggest that you alight at the middle stop, No. 18 Wind Turbine. From here you can cross the blue Gaomei Wetlands bridge to the visitors’ centre and to the boardwalk.
On weekends, you can also catch bus 655 from The Rainbow Village or Xinwuri TRA Station (the Xinwuri station is adjacent to the Taichung HSR). This bus also terminates at the Wuci Fishing Port and stops in front of the visitors’ centre and No. 9 Wind Turbine.
Bus 309 originates from Taichung Station and terminates at Wuci Fishing Port. The bus pass through the main thoroughfare Taiwan Boulevard so you can catch this bus at the 2nd Market bus stop, the National Museum of Natural Science bus stop (near Sogo), Taichung City Hall bus stop or Shinkong Mitsukoshi/Top City Department Stores bus stops. Travel time takes 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on traffic conditions. When we took the bus, it took us 1 hour to reach Gaomei Wetlands but the return journey took only 30 minutes.
Most people go to Gaomei Wetlands to watch the sunset. The overhead sun can be scorching so the best time to visit would be past 4pm. If you happen to arrive earlier or you still find the sun too high or too hot for your liking, or suddenly feel hungry, don’t alight at the wetlands. Instead take the bus all the way to Wuci Fishing Port which is the last stop of the bus and only one bus stop away from Gaomei Wetlands. There is a market selling fresh seafood (but of course), restaurants and lots of shops selling foodstuff. The port is worth a visit if only to pass the time before sunset. When you are ready to head back to Gaomei Wetlands just take the returning bus 309.
Spend sometime in Wuci Fishing Harbor …and try out the spicy seafood…or an ice lolly.
One disadvantage of taking bus 309 though is that you will alight along the main road and from here its still a good 30 minute walk to the boardwalk.
Take bus 309 on the opposite side of the road to return to Taichung City. The last bus leaves Wuci Port for Taichung City at 7:30pm during summer (April-September) and 6:30pm during winter. This is a pity actually as we would have liked to linger longer but we have to catch the bus back. Still we were grateful to have been to Gaomei Wetlands and see its unique environment.
Rainbow village is instagram paradise. If you don’t know yet, Rainbow Village is a cluster of houses in Taichung covered in cartoonish drawings of dogs, cats, chickens, birds, bunnies, people, pineapples, flowers and characters on bright swatches of red and blue backgrounds. Its not technically a village, since there are less than 10 buildings adjacent to each other and you can see the whole place in 5 minutes tops…if you don’t take any pictures that is. The paintings are colourful, quirky and evoke childlike wonder made even more surprising when you realise that the painter is no spring chicken himself.
As the story goes, Grandpa Huang, a former soldier and security guard who lived in the military housing complex, started painting his and his neighbors’ houses to give the area some spot of colour and life in 2010 when he was already 86 years old! The colourful houses inspired the students of the nearby university to petition to protect the former military housing complex from being torn down and replaced by condos. The rest is instagram history as today, millions of people visit Rainbow Village every year for the endless photo ops available.
If you are lucky, you may even get to meet Grandpa Huang as he still makes an appearance once in a while. We actually have the good fortune of seeing Grandpa on the day we visited but he looked so frail now we did not have the heart to disturb him.
Rainbow Village opens at 9:00 am and closes at 6:00 pm. The best time to visit is at 4:30 – 5:00ish in the afternoon when the sun is near setting and there are no shadows within the building complex. You won’t bake in the hot Taichung sun and the lighting at this time of the day is great. If you get there around 5, you will still have a good hour of scrambling for spots for great photos. Just be prepared for the crowds as it’s a really popular attraction. Its free to enter but do be respectful and keep the noise down as people still live in the houses, and if you can buy a souvenir or some food or drink to support the place, why not?
How to go to Rainbow Village using Public Bus?
You can get to Rainbow Village from Taichung City by first heading to the Taichung High Speed Rail Station. At the ground level of the station is a bus station. From the Taichung High Speed Rail Station, take buses that go to the nearby Lingtung University such as buses 70, 26, 800, 617, 56 or 74 (do note that buses 56 and 74’s stop is not in the HSR but located opposite the Xinwuri TRA Station which is adjacent to the HSR). These buses stop right across the Rainbow Village. Rainbow Village is about 15 minutes away from the HSR station.
Alternatively, you may also take bus 56 from Gancheng Station in downtown Taichung which heads the opposite way. Bus 56 terminates at the Xinwuri TRA station. However this bus runs only once every 30 minutes. Travel time from Taichung City to Rainbow Village by bus takes about 1 hour.
Rainbow Village is located in western Taichung. There is nothing in the area to see except Lingtung University and the Taichung High Speed Rail Station. The closest mall is Ikea so you may have a late lunch in Ikea then head to Rainbow Village. Given its proximity to the High Speed Rail, you may schedule your visit to the Rainbow Village around the time you arrive or depart Taichung City. You may leave your luggage inside the paid lockers in the station.
On weekends bus 655 run between Lingtung University and Gaomei Wetlands. If you finish early in Rainbow Village you could squeeze in Gaomei wetlands’ sunset. Journey time is 1 hour.
Do make time to visit Rainbow Village. Its not a large area but the place and its story is inspiring. Its how a single man can make a difference, how creativity knows no age, how joy abounds in unexpected places, and and of course how instagram can draw crowds.
Rainbow Village address: 408 Taiwan, Taichung City, Nantun District
Colourful, vibrant and quirky…It’s not a large place!
See more of our how to use the public buses in Taichung series:
For our second IVF attempt, we went to Lee Women’s Hospital in Taichung, Taiwan.
This hospital is fast becoming a popular option for Filipino couples looking for IVF treatment because of Lee Women’s Hospital’s high success rate, Taiwan is only a 3-hour flight from Manila, visa-free for 14 days, and the costs is comparable to IVF procedures in Philippines.
How much does IVF in Lee Womens Hospital cost?
We paid in total NTD117,650 (equivalent to PhP229,500 or USD3,800) for one cycle. Here is the breakdown of our expenses:
First Visit to Taiwan/Initial consultation (duration 3 days stay): NTD10,000 (doctor consultation, ultrasound, blood tests) plus NTD30,000 (medicines for stimulating follicles good for 8 days).
We informed the clinic on day 1 of my next menstrual cycle and was told to visit the clinic on day 8.
On our second visit to Taiwan (duration 30 days stay) our medical expenses were:
Day 8: NTD4,500 (ultrasound, blood tests and more medicines) plus NTD800 for semen analysis
Day 10: NTD6,000 (ultrasound, blood tests and more medicines)
Day 11: NTD5,000 (ultrasound, blood tests, urine test, and more medicines)
Egg Retrieval: ND30,000
Embryo Transfer: NTD60,000 (including fertilization by ICSI and laser assisted hatching)
Pregnancy Test: NTD1,350
Our Total Expenses: NTD117,650.
Please note that the above figures are based on our own experience only, for one cycle and using fresh transfer embryos.
The actual costs of treatment will depend on what tests your doctor will order and what kind of medicines you need. It may happen that follicles may not grow as rapidly as hoped, in which case your doctor may change or adjust the dosage of your medicines. Lee Hospital’s approach is to produce as many follicles and embryos as possible. Therefore, for older women able to produce only a few follicles each cycle, you may have to do a back to back retrieval, in which case your cost of medicines and egg retrieval will be multiplied as well (say total may go up NTD200,000 or USD6,500).
The clinic does not accept credit cards or debit cards so payment is a bit of a hassle. Payment is cash in NTD or USD, or USD telegraphic transfer only.
How about the accommodation costs? We stayed at Alice Hotel where they charged NTD30,000 for a 30-day stay. Taxis cost NTD85 flag down and to go most places will cost you only NTD160 (USD6) or less. Buses around Taichung are free for the first 10km provided you have an easycard. Food in mall foodcourts cost NTD150 per meal on average. Alice Hotel has stoves and a microwave so cooking your own meals is an option.
Including flights, accommodation costs and expenses, the grand total could rack up to P500,000 (USD9,500). Not cheap at all!
Visas (for Filipinos)
Taiwan allows Filipinos to visit visa-free for 14 days. If you need to stay longer, apply for a visa in Manila by going to the Taiwanese consulate. Visa when processed in Manila cost Php2,600.
Otherwise, to extend your stay in Taichung, you need to go to their Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fee to extend the visa once you’re already in Taiwan cost NTD3,200, which is more expensive than when processed in your home country.
The visa requirements include documents to support why you need to visit Taiwan, birth and marriage certificates from PSA (NSO) and income and financial evidences such as bank statements.
Baby Dust to Every Hopeful Parents Out There!
IVF is expensive, invasive to your body and emotionally draining. Before going, arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible and prepare your wallet, and your heart for a roller-coaster ride of hope, disappointment, despair, frustration, and hopefully a happy pregnancy and a healthy baby at the end of it.
My husband and I have been trying to have a child for years. We have done everything, we have seens lots of doctors and taken lots of tests already and nobody still could say what is hindering us having a child. Its called unexplained infertility. Infertility is nothing to be ashamed of. Lots of couples experience it and its a medical condition, meaning its a disease, its not your fault, and its treatable. IVF is the last solution for couples who have been trying to have kids on their own but with no success.
IVF stands for in vitro fertilization. In vitro is Latin for “in glass”, it means outside of the human body. In IVF the fertilization, the meeting of the egg and sperm, is done in a laboratory. Its also called sometimes test tube babies, but actually the fertilization is not done in a test tube, but in a petri dish, and the baby is still grown inside the mother’s womb for nine months, not in a laboratory!
In the Philippines, there are several clinics that offer IVF. In Manila there are 4 clinics: Carmi at St Lukes Hospital, Kato Repro Biotechnology Center, CARE and ART Victory. There are also clinics in Cebu and Davao. We chose to go to Kato for our first IVF attempt as they are cheaper than Carmi. The IVF cycle at Kato takes place over two months. The first month is to collect eggs from the ovaries of the woman, and the second month is the transfer of embryos into the woman’s womb.
How much does IVF in Kato costs?
In total we paid P296,000 (USD5,800) for the costs of procedures at Kato. This is staggered over the 2-month period and payments are based on actual costs of procedures done during each clinic visit.
Here are the expenses that we incurred:
Initial consultation with a doctor (no tests done): P1,680.
After the initial consultation, we were told to text the clinic on day 1 of my next menstrual cycle, and to visit the clinic on day 2.
Here are the expenses for the first month:
Day 2 visit: P38,000 (ultrasounds, blood tests and medicines good for 8 days)
Husband Sperm Analysis: P5,000
Day 7 visit: P10,500 (ultrasound to check if the follicles are growing and more medicines)
Day 9 visit: P6,000 (ultrasound to check if the follicles are growing, blood tests and more medicines)
Day of retrieval cost: P62,160 (covers cost of operation to pick up the eggs) and P89,600 (fertilisation and freezing of 1 embryo)
Total of P212,940 for first month
In Kato they do not transfer embryos right after retrieval. They allow the body to rest after retrieval and for the medicines to wash out of the woman’s body first. They say that this allows for higher chance of success. In the meantime, they would freeze the embryo (baby) first.
We came back the next month for our transfer procedure. Here are our expenses on the second month:
Day 2: P6,000 (consultation, ultrasound, blood tests)
Day 10: P7,500 (ultrasound, blood tests, medicines)
Day 13: P3,800 (medicines and consultation)
Day of transfer: P60,416
Pregnancy test after 7 days: P5,000
Total of P82,716 for the second month
Not cheap at all! Payments were staggered over two months and the clinic accepts credit cards and debit cards, except for the P89,600 cost of fertisation which is payable in cash.
Do note that the above figures are based on our own experience only and the costs for patients depends on the tests that need to be done, and the dosages of the medicines. Sometimes it can happen that the follicles do not grow as fast as desired, so the clinic has to change or adjust the medicines. If you happen to produce more than 2 follicles/embryos that is good for you, but you need to pay for additional cost of freezing of embryos.
The above figures are based on Kato’s minimal stimulation IVF program. They have another, cheaper program, Natural IVF, where no medicines are used. In this program, the patients only pay for the costs of ultrasound, blood tests, doctors visit and egg retrieval. Natural Cycle IVF is for younger women who are still able to produce good quality eggs. It costs around P60,000 per cycle. After the transfer, and in the happy case of a successful pregnancy, there is an additional cost of P100,000 so total costs only about P160,000 (USD3,150).
Don’t miss the public buses in Taichung. Riding public buses is a great way to know a city, and feel its energy. Where better to take public buses than in Taichung? Some of the buses may be a bit old, and crowded, and the aircon not so great but never mind all that because the buses in Taichung are free! Yes, free. Its the only city in the world we have ever been to where the public buses are free. Even in Taiwan’s main city, Taipei, you have to pay for bus rides in Taipei.
I can not say it enough, Taichung buses are free to ride. Well at least for the first 10km, but as most of the well loved destinations would be within 10km of each other anyway, its no issue.
Get an Easycard
The first step to enjoying Taichung’s free public buses is to get an easycard. You can get the easycard from any convenience store. It cost NTD100 just for the card itself plus NTD100 deposit, so initial cost NTD200. You may want to add more cash value to it because you can also use the easycard in trains, inter-city buses, and to pay in shops.
Download the Taichung Bus App
As I described in my Taichung Survival Guide article, the Taichung Bus App is a livesaver. With this app you can plan your route, anticipate the arrival time of your bus and once on board you can track the bus you are riding to see how many more stops before your desired bus stops.
Things to know:
The buses only stop at designated bus stops.
To hail a bus, bring up your arm and keep it up. This is a Taichung quirk, the locals don’t wave their arms up and down like we do when hailing a bus.
Most buses have two doors, front and rear. You can enter and exit either doors. Whenever you board and get off a bus be sure to tap your Easycard. If you don’t tap out, your card will be charged the price of the entire bus route until terminal!
To get the bus to stop and alight, press the stop button.
The bus stop shows you the bus numbers that stop at that particular bus stop. Using your Tachung Bus App you can find out the timing of the next bus thats coming your way.
The app has a route planner. It can give you suggestions on what bus to take from one place to another.
Most buses have onboard flashing tickers and audio recordings that tell the approaching bus stop. The flashing screen and audio together with your bus app will help you navigate and figure out where you are at any given moment.
Using the route planner
First you need to put in your starting point. Your starting point will by default be your current location (the app will use GPS to figure out where you are), but you can type over this the name of a place or a specific landmark as your starting point. Secondly, put in the place where you want to go. The app will then give you suggestions on the closest bus stop and how far it is, and which bus number to take. A note of caution though, some of the suggested routes are complicated or involve you walking long distances. You have to understand that the app is an algorithm not a real person and you can game it. You can play around with your starting point such as using current location or different landmarks such as a department store or park you are familiar with to get the best route.
The bus stops are named after the road where they are in for example XYZ intersection, or a building for example ABC Department Store. There will be signage that show the name of that bus stop, the buses that stop at that particular bus stop and bus routes. However, only the starting point and beginning point of the route will be in English! The middle stops will be all in Chinese. Now what? Thats where your app will come in handy.
Where it again gets a bit complicated is when you realise that bus stops on opposites sides of the road, that is buses going opposite directions, have the same descriptor. For instance you can have “Taichung Station Taiwan Boulevard” on the bus stop this side of the road, and on the opposite side is also “Taichung Station Taiwan Boulevard”. To go around this conundrum, look at the bus routes pasted on the bus stops to help you figure out if the buses on your side of the road are going in the direction you want to go.
After sometime you will get the hang of the Taichung bus system. Buses originate and end mostly at Taichung Park. Two or three stops away from Taichung Park (areas around Gancheng Station and Taichung Station) are the historic and touristic sites such as Taichung Bus Station, Taichung Railway Station, Miyahara Ice Cream and ChunShuiTang Pearl Milk Tea). Beyond Main Station is Taiwan Boulevard, the main road that will bring you to the Natural Science Museum, Fine Arts Museum, Taichung City Municipal Hall, Sogo Department Store, Mitsukoshi/Top City Department Stores and Tiger City department store. Public buses that are in the 300 series (300, 301, 302, 307 etc) ply this main route. To go to Fengjia Night Market or Chungyo Department Store from Taichung Station Taiwan Boulevard, you can check out buses 82, 201 or 901 among many others. Bus 55 is also a favourite to go to Chungyo/Night Market but its bus stop is at Minzu Road.
Want to get off the bus? Press the red button, duh. In newer buses the button may be located along hand rails and poles.
Onboard a typical Taichung bus. Note the flashing screen overhead front where the next stop is shown. In this bus the stop buttons are located on the poles (yellow plastic protrusions).
Typical bus stop showing the buses that stop by.
Bus route. It’s all in Chinese except the starting and end points but don’t worry the bus app will help. In this picture, bus 33 is heading towards Overseas Chinese University.
Route Planner. I want to go to Ikea.
Bus tracker. I’m onboard the bus and it’s 6 bus stops to Ikea.
See more of our How to Use the Public Buses in Taichung:
Flying in to Taichung There is no direct flight from Singapore or Manila to Taichung. The only direct flights I found originate from HK and Macau. If you are going to Taichung your best bet is to fly to Taipei. More accurately, fly to Taoyuan International Airport which is located outside of Taipei. Taipei is 50km north of the airport while Taichung is 140km south of the airport. Fun fact Taichung actually means central Taiwan.
How to go to Taichung from the Taoyuan International Airport? There are four options how to go to Taichung from Taoyuan airport using public transportation: taxi, high speed rail, bus and provincial trains.
Taxi or private car: I had a quote for the one way trip at NTD3,000. This is an option if you have a lot of luggage.
By MRT and High Speed Rail The Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) is the bullet train, similar to Japan’s Shinkansen trains, traveling with speeds of more than 250kms per hour. To get to the high speed rail, you first have to take the MRT from the airport.
To go to the High Speed Rail Station, take the MRT from Taoyuan Airport. Taoyuan HSR station is 5 stops from Terminal 2.
After exiting the immigration area, turn to your left and follow the signs to the MRT. The MRT station is located behind the check in counters of airlines. You can buy a token for NTD25 from the machines or use your pre-paid easycard. Enter the station and take the train bound for Huanbei/Zhongli. Note that at this point, you are travelling away from Taipei going southward. Alight from the MRT train at station: Taoyuan High Speed Rail Station. Exit the MRT station and walk to the adjacent High Speed Rail station. You can buy a ticket from the machines at the station (input the origin and destination in the machine: Taoyuan/Taichung) or buy from the ticket counters. Cash, debit and credit cards are accepted for payment at the high speed rail. THSR fare Taoyuan/Taichung costs NTD540 one way for a reserved seat. There is an outlet mall with a foodcourt near the station and a McDonalds next to the THSR so you can have a meal before boarding your train. You may also bring food and drinks into the high speed trains.
There are two kinds of seats at THSR reserved and non-reserved. Reserved seats costs NTD20 more and as the name suggests guarantees you a seat and gives you a seat number like you would get in a plane when you check in. Sometimes, such as during rush hour, trains are packed, the first train in would not have any reserved seats left. If you are in a hurry or want to save money just buy the non reserved seats. You may board the train of your preferred timing just that you may not be seated together with your companions or even have to stand if the train is packed.
When going to Taichung from Taoyuan board the southbound trains. When you get your THSR ticket, note the departure time, train number journey number (the train number) and your carriage number. Reserved seats normally board carriages 1-9, while non reserved seats are located in carriages 10-12. Look at your ticket and follow what it says.
Taiwan High Speed Rail
I find the high speed rail the most comfortable form of public transport from the airport to Taichung. The high speed trains are clean, have captain seats with good legroom and eating is also allowed onboard. It takes less than 2 hours from the airport to Taichung via MRT and high speed rail including waiting times. The trains are also frequent, with trains running every 30 minutes or less. One disadvantage of high speed rail is that the Taichung station is outside of city centre. There is a bus terminal located below the station however and you can take buses to Taichung proper. Take any of the buses terminating at Taichung Park to bring you to the city proper, journey takes about 30 minutes. If you are going to the Beitun area (Lee Hospital/Alice Hotel) take bus 33, journey time 1 hour because this bus route is a bit winding. Taxi from the THSR Taichung Station to city proper costs about NTD400.
Airport Buses: the bus ride from Taoyuan Airport to Taichung takes 3 hours and costs only NTD300. The bus terminates at the Taichung Bus Terminal near Taichung Main Station. You can find the bus terminal at Basement of Terminal 1 or right outside Level 1 of Terminal. You need to purchase a ticket from the ticket counters prior to boarding the bus. Airport buses are very roomy, have captain seats and drink holders. They are comfortable except I sometimes get motion sickness so I still prefer the THSR.
The buses run once every 1.5 hours so you may have to wait a bit for the next bus. The airport bus is the cheapest option for public transportation. Other advantages are that buses are end-to-end, there is no need to transfer trains and buses like you would if you use the THSR, and the buses bring you right to the city centre.
Provincial train: TRA trains. I have not tried this option. Based on what I read on tripadvisor you have to take the MRT all the way to terminal station Huanbei then take a taxi to Zhongli TRA. I will update once I have tried TRA personally.
Language No Chinese? No problem as long as you have your phone!
Google directions and maps will help you navigate your bus and walking routes. Google translate can try to translate Chinese menus too, but sometimes the results can be funny.
Older folks in Taichung generally do not speak English however the younger generation (20s and younger) speak very good English. Most taxi drivers will not be able to understand you if you give directions in English. What I find especially useful is to have screen shots of the address in Chinese and a picture of the building to show to the driver. For instance I screen shot my booking in Agoda as the hotel address was in Chinese and showed it to the driver. Once you have checked in your hotel the hotel staff may be able to help you write down place names in Chinese. Also keep a hotel calling card with you at all times.
Restaurants in malls will usually have an English menu however some food court stalls may not. In this case, the screen shot trick also works. I took pictures of the food I wanted to eat to show to the store owner to order.
Necessity is the mother of all invention, and you will find a way to communicate, do not worry. Never fear to approach the locals, the Taiwanese are very friendly and warm so you will be alright.
Public transportation There are taxis, buses and trains you can use to go around Taichung. Taxi flag down price is NTD85 and to go between most places within the city will cost NTD165 (USD6.00) only. Buses are essentially free around Taichung if you have an easycard. (Buses only charge fare beyond 10km.). Tap your easycard against the reader as you enter and exit a bus. Push the stop button when you want the bus to stop.
Get an easycard. As soon as you can, buy an easycard from any 7-11 or other convenience store. The cards themselves cost NTD100 plus NTD100 deposit. Add cash value because you can use this card at the trains as well as to pay in restaurants, supermarkets and convenience stores. The cards work everywhere in Taiwan.
There are other versions of the integrated card (IC) that are used in Taiwan, the icash (usable mainly in 7-11 stores), iPass and HappyCash but some bus lines do not accept them. Just be careful that you get the EasyCard which has the widest acceptance.
Buses are the most popular travel option for locals. Hey, it’s free! It’s a must to download the Taichung bus app especially if you don’t speak Chinese. The Taichung Bus app was my lifesaver when I stayed in Taichung. Input the bus number and the app will show you (in English) the next bus stops and estimated time of arrival in real time. This app helped me to find out how soon my bus will arrive, and once onboard showed me when my destination is near. In addition, the bus itself has a screen and audio recording that tells the next bus stop in both Chinese and English.
Money Exchange I would advise that you plan your cashflow well. Outside of the airport, it’s not easy to find money exchangers. Only banks may exchange money and some banks only accept USD, HKD and Euros to exchange to NTD.
Alternatively you may also set up your atm cards to enable you to withdraw money locally.
Local SIM cards and other deals You can find good SIM card packages from Klook. One package we tried was phone with wifi for 10 days that cost less than USD10. You may collect (and return) the phone in the airport. The booth is located on the left, end of the hall, near the signage for the MRT.
Weather Taiwan experience four seasons with November-March being the coldest. Check out the weather before you go so you may bring appropriate clothing.
You may find navigating around Taichung a bit tricky because of the language barrier. Don’t let that stop you from exploring the city and getting around. When we let ourselves be open to new experiences, that’s when the adventure begins.
Lee Womens Hospital in Taiwan is fast becoming a popular option for Filipino couples trying to conceive. My husband and I first heard of friends of friends who had a baby at Lee Womens Hospital in 2018. We considered going to Taiwan for our first IVF cycle but chose to stay in Makati and try Kato. For our second IVF attempt we decided to go to Taiwan.
The success rate at Lee Womens Hospital is quite high with their fb page claiming success rate of 80% in one cycle. Indeed when we visited the hospital, my husband and I met several Filipino couples in the hospital who either just got good news of a positive pregnancy test or already had a first baby at Lee Womens Hospital and were trying for their second already. Do take the success rate with a grain of salt because there are so many factors that can affect your own success rate such as the woman’s age and medical conditions. In addition when clinics quote success rate they usually mean a positive pregnancy test, not necessarily a live birth. Anyway suffice it to say that because of the success stories we heard we were encouraged to go for another IVF cycle.
We emailed Lee Womens Hospital and scheduled an appointment. They asked us to scan and send them copies of our passports, marriage certificate and a second ID. We were given choices of 4 doctors and we chose a lady doctor. Most Filipino couples that we met chose to go with the hospital founder, Dr Lee.
We flew from Manila to Taipei one hot and humid May morning in Manila and landed in Taiwan which was experiencing some gusts of winds and thunderstorms that time.
Lee Womens Hospital in Taichung
We met with the lady doctor and she asked us our medical history. I had blood tests done for hormone levels and a hysterescopy. My husband had a blood test and a semen analysis. All the tests were pretty standard. After speaking with the doctor and getting our results we decided to go with their IVF program. We bought the medicines needed for egg stimulation to bring to the Philippines back with us. For our initial visit, we spent 3 days in Taichung. We were asked to come back on the 7th day of my next menstrual cycle.
The medicines that our doctor prescribed were Letrozole, GonalF and Menopur. In Kato I also took Letrozole and GonalF, however I immediately noticed that the dosage for my medicines were much higher at Lee Womens Hospital than at Kato. At Kato I only injected myself once a day for 5 days. At Lee Hospital I injected myself twice a day for 10 days. So I thought to myself that this clinic is really aggressive which explains their higher success rate.
Once my next menstrual cycle started I informed the clinic and began taking the medicines and injecting myself with the follicle stimulating hormones. I went back to Taiwan on the eighth day for ultrasounds and blood tests. I was asked to come daily until eleventh day for blood tests (yes more pricking as if I didn’t have enough injections already) and ultrasounds to monitor the growth of my follicles. I had two big follicles and 2 medium sized follicles. On the evening of day eleventh I had a Pregnyl shot to trigger the maturation of the follicles. The follicles were harvested early morning on day 13th.
I arrived at the hospital very early on day 13th and went straight to the operating room waiting area. I put on the gown and hair net and an IV was put in my arm. I was also shaved down there. A nurse came to me and walked with me to the operating room. I noticed that all the nurses and anaesthesiologists were women. Arms and legs were put in restraints and anaesthesia was put in the IV and I went to sleep. I woke up and I was back in the waiting area already. I didn’t feel much discomfort after my egg retrieval. After I woke up from the anaesthesia I rested a bit and soon the IV was taken out and I was allowed to leave.
Because of my low ovarian reserve, we only got 3 eggs. Of the three eggs one egg was immature and not usable. The other two eggs were fertilised by ICSI. My doctor recommended that we freeze these embryos and we do another round of egg retrieval. She wanted me have as many eggs as possible as their clinic recommends 4 embryos are transferred each time for women in my age group (40s).
My husband and I talked about it and decided that we will go ahead with the transfer using my existing 2 eggs. So my transfer was arranged for day 16 of my cycle. Our embryos were 3 days old then.
On the day of the transfer we found out that both embryos have made it so far (day 3) and had good morphology. Hubby and I were so happy. An ultrasound was done to check my lining and one final blood test to confirm good hormone levels and all checked out good. We were proceeding with the transfer.
The transfer procedure at Lee hospital was the best part of our IVF cycle. I stayed at a private room (the staff called the rooms VIP rooms) and was given a 30-minute massage by the hospital masseuse to relax me before the transfer. Unlike in Kato, I did not have to leave the room to go to an operating room for the transfer. The doctor came in and wheeled in an ultrasound machine. The transfer itself was done in my room. The tube containing the embryos were inserted inside and the embryos released into the uterus. It was over in less 10 minutes. I was told to keep my hips up over a pillow and my knees raised for the first hour after. Legs were straightened on the second hour and I moved to either side for 30 minutes each after the second hour. All the while the hips were kept elevated. My transfer was at 10am and my husband and I stayed in the private room up to 5pm. It was quite cozy.
Cozy VIP room for transfer
After the transfer was the dreaded two week wait. It’s up to God now. Will the embryos stick? Will we finally be parents?
After the transfer, I was given aspirin, anti-rejection drugs, progesterone and estradiol tablets. I also had Pregnyl injections every 3 days. After the transfer it’s up to patients whether they want to go back to their home countries or have the pregnancy test in Taiwan.
These are the most frequently asked questions about Lee Womens Hospital.
1) How many visits do I need to make to the hospital?
You should schedule at least two-three visits. The first visit is for consultation. This usually lasts 3 days during which you meet the staff and your doctor. During this visit you may decide to buy the medications for follicle stimulation.
The second visit is for the actual treatment. You may begin your medications in your home country (as the clinic may direct you) and only visit the clinic on your 8th day. Follicle retrieval will be anytime between day 10 and day 14 usually. You may do a fresh transfer straight away or opt to freeze your eggs or embryo as you go through another round of follicle retrieval.
One thing to note about Lee Hospital is that they are all about increasing your chances to conceive. Therefore they encourage women to retrieve as many follicles as possible through multiple cycles. For women of advanced age and/or low egg count like myself this may mean that they have to take follicle stimulating hormones and undergo multiple retrievals in so many cycles to achieve a good number of follicles. This means of course more rounds of payments for the medicines and the retrieval procedures. The clinic fertilise all the follicles so I’ve encountered couples who were already pregnant but with 5, 10 or even more embryos still kept frozen. This can be problematic if you believe (like the Catholic Church does) that the embryo is a human life from the moment of fertilisation.
The treatment schedule will look like this (days stay in Taichung):
Consultation: 3 days
First cycle to retrieve: 7 days minimum (day 8 until retrieval on say day 14).
Second cycle to retrieve follicles and transfer: 14 days (day 8 up to day 14 for retrieval second time, then transfer on day 17 (3 day old embryo), and 3 days rest).
A lot of the couples I met in Taiwan are really committed and many of them stay in the country for months at a time. Couples may choose to stay in Taiwan for the pregnancy test (two weeks after transfer), up to when heart beat is present (further two weeks after the pregnancy test) and even beyond.
2) How much does it cost?
The short answer is it’s not cheap, NTD200,000 thereabouts.
The long answer is that it depends on your own medical conditions. The clinic does not really give an itemised breakdown of costs but here’s what I gathered based on my own expenses:
Initial consultation: NTD10,000
Medicines for follicle stimulation per cycle: NTD20,000. (You may need more or less medicines depending on your response to the follicle stimulating hormones)
Ultrasounds and blood tests: NTD5,000
Retrieval: NTD30,000 plus NTD10,000 for freezing
Transfer: NTD60,000
If you have to undergo 2 cycles of retrieval, total costs for one IVF procedure is NTD200,000
Costwise its very close to what Kato costs.
The clinic does not accept credit cards or debit cards so payment is a bit of a hassle. Payment is cash in NTD or USD, or USD telegraphic transfer.
How about the accommodation costs? Westayed at Alice Hotel where they charged NTD30,000 for a 30-day stay. Taxis cost NTD85 flag down and to go most places will cost you only NTD160 or less. Buses around Taichung are free for the first 10km provided you have the easycard. Food in mall foodcourts cost NTD150 per meal on average. Alice Hotel has stoves and a microwave so cooking your own meals is an option.
3) My impression of Lee Hospital and Taichung
I can not speak Chinese at all. Despite the language barrier, my husband and I did not have a difficult time in Taiwan. This is primarily because the Taiwanese are super friendly, polite and accommodating. Filipinos are an important clientele for the Lee Hospital and as such they have a team of coordinators specially for foreign patients. The coordinators will welcome you and translate the medications and usage for you. All the doctors at the clinic actually speak English but nevertheless the coordinators are also present when you meet with your doctor, and you can ask them to clarify in case you miss something. The nurses in the operating room waiting room have bad English but they are very friendly and will put you at ease. They are the ones who put the IV in your arm and also shave you, and they are all very considerate.
Waiting time at the clinic is not so bad. They have queue systems for everything: ultrasounds, blood tests, medicine education and doctor visits. It does get busy sometimes especially Monday morning appointments and you may have to wait more than 1 hour for ultrasounds, medicines education and doctor visits. Whenever you have to use injections, the coordinator and a nurse will brief you (medicine education) on the proper use and administration. There is a central ultrasound room and most ultrasounds are done by ultrasound technicians. However at critical times like just before retrieval and transfer, your own doctor may do your ultrasounds so that they can check out your eggs and uterus personally. For ladies used to ultrasounds in the Philippines, it may come as a shock that there are no separate dressing rooms or privacy curtains in the ultrasound rooms. You strip in front of the technician and only get a towel to cover yourself with during the procedure.
Our first IVF attempt was at Kato in the Philippines. The clinic is located within an office building, Enterprise Towers, in Makati. There are two well known IVF centers in Manila: Kato and Carmi which is at St Luke’s Hospital in BGC. We chose Kato as its the cheaper option of the two. It also has the added advantage of being a specialised fertility clinic located in an office tower so we won’t get exposed to diseases as we would inadvertently be in a hospital setting.
Kato’s principle is to use as little medicines as possible. They work with the woman’s natural body rhythm to ensure a gentler approach. They also discourage multiples (twins, triplets etc) as they only implant one embryo at a time and counsel couples to use up all the embryos they produce.
Kato has two IVF protocols: the natural cycle IVF where no follicle stimulating hormones are used and therefore the cheaper option (costs about P160,000) and the minimal stimulation IVF where follicle stimulating hormones are used and therefore more expensive (P300,000++). The natural cycle IVF is an option for younger women who still produce good quality follicles during their monthly menstrual cycles. We underwent the minimal stimulation IVF as I am older and need some help to produce follicles.
The most distinctive feature of Kato’s IVF procedure is that they retrieve follicles and transfer embryos in two separate cycles. They said that this allows the chemicals from the follicle stimulating hormones to wash out first out of the woman’s system before the embryo transfer. For example, the egg was taken during the January cycle. The follicle(s) are fertilised and are then frozen once the embryos reached the 5th day. The earliest the embryos will be transferred will be during the February cycle.
Kato has a team of three lady ob-gyn doctors who do the consultations with patients during the initial visit and during follicle monitoring. These ob-gyns also personally do the ultrasounds to monitor the growing follicles so you may ask them questions on how fast your follicles are growing. Notwithstanding that there are several doctors in the team, the medical director, Dr Mendiola, is the only one who does the egg retrieval and embryo transfer procedures.
If you are going to Kato, be on time for your appointment. The waiting time can be very bad, the longest I waited was 2 hours to have an ultrasound. However they are trying to be more efficient now by having patients come in hourly appointments. As soon as you exit the elevator, the security guard will check your name and appointment and give you a card to give to the front desk.
Kato has an in house laboratory for all the blood tests. During the follicle monitoring stage, you have to undergo ultrasounds and blood tests. Your doctor will wait for the results of the blood tests before she will see you. It takes about 1-2 hours for the results to come out. Each appointment usually takes 4 hours to complete. You pay as you go, that is you pay only for the medicines and tests that you undergo each visit. I noticed that compared to private laboratories like Premier, their laboratory charges were less expensive. Doctors consultation was also cheap at P560 only. Where you pay big time are for the medicines and for the cost of procedures.
The nurses and staff at Kato were all very sweet. They will tell you patiently how to use your medicines. Consultation time with the ob gyns tend to be quick but they will gladly answer any questions you may have. Their ultrasound rooms have curtains hanging from the ceilings for your privacy. They also have nice insulated bags for the medicines, these are in purple which were so feminine looking. If you are a bit shy, be prepared for a male doctor during follicle retrieval and embryo transfer, and that there would be male embryologists inside the operating room.
After our initial consultation at the clinic, we were told to contact them again once my next menstrual cycle started. We informed the clinic on my day 1 by text message. We visited the clinic on day 2 for blood tests and ultrasounds. After ultrasounds confirmed that there were growing follicles, one of the ob-gyn doctors prescribed me follicle stimulating hormones: oral medicines for 5 days (days 2-6 of my cycle) and GonalF injections for 3 days (days 4-6). I was told to come back to the clinic on day 7 for ultrasounds to check how well the follicles were growing.
I injected myself on the tummy with the GonalF injections every morning of days 4-6 of my cycle. GonalF was changed to Menogon on days 7-8, also tummy injections. GonalF injections were easier to use because they came in pre-filled “pens” and the needles were very fine so they didn’t hurt so much. Menogon was more complicated as I needed to mix two vials of powder with one vial of water using disposable syringes. GonalF however was also more expensive than Menogon.
I had to go to the clinic for ultrasounds on days 2, 7 and 9. Finally I had the trigger shot Ovidrel (also self injected) on the evening of day 9. I had 5 dominant follicles based on my ultrasound, the largest measured 21mm. The amount of medication was much lesser than what was used at Lee Hospital in Taiwan. I only had to use 1 GonalF pen of 300iu, 2 Menogon shots and the final trigger shot Ovidrel at Kato.
My follicles were retrieved on day 11. Kato refers to the procedure as OPU (Oocyte Pick Up). My husband and I were asked to arrive at the clinic 7am. Kato’s recovery room is partitioned into cubicles separated by curtains. I changed into the operating gown and cap, and laid down in a bed to wait for my turn. There were about 6 women scheduled for retrieval that morning. As I only had 5 follicles, I did not need to be sedated. Women who had substantial number of eggs had to be put under general anaesthesia. While I was in the recovery room, my husband went to the andrology lab to give his sperm.
The recovery room had pink wooly blankets but lights were overhead so I just laid there with my eyes closed. When my turn came, I was lead to the operating room by a nurse. Inside the operating room, I had to lie down with my legs up in stirrups. I was given a stress ball to hold and a nurse stayed by my side to tell me what was happening during the procedure. There were a couple of big TV monitors on the walls and I was able to see the ultrasound images of when the catheter was inserted and then the needles sucking in the follicles.
I felt a slight discomfort during the procedure as I felt the catheter piercing my ovaries. Two pieces of gauzes were put in and I went back to the recovery room to rest. After about 30 minutes of rest I was told to go to the restroom and pull out the gauzes. The nurse inspected them and as there were no excessive bleeding, I could go home. I was told that some spotting was to be expected after egg retrieval but to come back immediately in case of bleeding.
We found out later on that the clinic managed to retrieve only 2 mature follicles. These follicles were fertilised with my husband’s sperm via ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection). We had two embryos initially from the two follicles, but only 1 made it to day 5. The embryo was frozen and stored. The embryo transfer will only happen the next month.
Day 5 Blastocyst
Upon the start of my next cycle, we informed the clinic of our intention to transfer that month. I visited the clinic on day 2 for baseline blood hormones and ultrasound. As we were not retrieving follicles this month, I did not have to take follicle stimulating hormones. I did have to undergo ultrasounds on days 2, 10 and 13 to check how my uterine lining was growing. The doctors decided that my transfer should be on day 17 of my cycle. I was given a nasal spray to use on day 10.
On day 17, we were asked to come to the clinic by 8am. Before the transfer was confirmed I had to have one last ultrasound to check that my lining was thick enough and a blood test to make sure hormone levels were correct for embryo transfer. Thereafter, the embryo was thawed and underwent laser assisted hatching to prepare it for implantation.
Embryo transfers were done at the clinic after lunch. Similar to follicle retrieval, the embryo transfer was done in the operating room. The ladies change and wait in the recovery room and when it was my turn for transfer, a nurse came and lead me to the OR. They had strict procedures for identification and you will hear your name and birthday said several times in the operating room. I guess this is to make sure that there will be no switching of embryos. I was able to see the ultrasound images on the screen when they placed the embryo in my womb. Afterwards they also showed the microscope image of the catheter when they check that it was now empty. Sometimes the embryo might get stuck in the catheter and they have to put the catheter back into the womb. It was very heartwarming to see the embryo being implanted in my womb and I whispered a prayer and a “welcome baby” to my embryo. I was given an ultrasound picture and a sheet of paper summarising how many follicles I had, how many embryos were transferred and how thick was the uterine lining.
After the transfer, I had to get up and walk back to my bed in the recovery room. I rested for about 30 minutes and then a nurse came and told me it’s ok to go. I was prescribed progesterone pills and suppository, and estadiol pills. Pregnancy test was scheduled one week later.
One thing I appreciate at Kato was that they are able to tell you if there is a pregnancy or not after just 7 days through a blood test. They check if hcg levels are high. If hcg levels were elevated then its considered a positive pregnancy test.
It’s not easy to undergo IVF treatments. IVF is expensive, complicated and invasive. Most of the procedures involves the woman’s body and these procedures can be painful: she would need to inject herself with hormones. They are invasive: think numerous transvaginal ultrasounds and guess how they collect the follicles and transfer the embryos? yep with a catheter through the vagina, baby. Its time consuming: you need to make numerous trips to the clinic. In addition IVF is expensive and the chances of success are pretty slim. When you go for IVF be prepared to go on an emotional rollercoaster ride of hope and disappoint. It may take many cycles before you conceive. It’s also possible that even with IVF you will not be successful.
In case you don’t know yet, baby making, biologically speaking, may be divided into 3 phases: ovulation where the woman produces an egg from her ovaries, fertilisation where said egg is joined with a sperm and develops into an embryo, and implantation where the embryo gets implanted in the uterus and grows. The IVF process closely follows the natural cycle: basically produce an egg(s), take the egg(s) out of the woman, fertilise the egg (s) with sperm in a laboratory then put the embryo(s) back in the woman and hope for the best.
There are 5 basic steps to the IVF process.
1) First step is to stimulate the development and release of follicles from the woman’s ovaries. In this stage, the woman takes oral meds and injections to stimulate her ovaries to produce as many eggs as they can. If you decide to do IVF you will get familiar with medicines like GonalF, Puregon or Menopur which are follicle stimulating hormones. As the name suggests these medicines stimulates the development and release of follicles. Inside a follicle is an egg. Depending on the dosage and her responsiveness to these medicines, a woman could produce up to 10 or more eggs in one cycle. Younger women (under 30) are able to produce as many as 25 eggs while those in their 40s may struggle to produce even a single egg per cycle. The follicle stimulating hormones are usually taken daily from day 2 to day 12 of the woman’s cycle. Depending on the clinic’s protocol the woman may need to inject herself up to twice a day. She may need to visit the clinic on days 2, day 5, day 8, then daily afterwards for ultrasounds and blood tests. The development of the follicles is monitored by transvaginal ultrasounds to measure the size of the growing egg and blood tests (yes more pricking) for hormone levels.
2) The second step is to retrieve or harvest the eggs. Once the follicles are at least 18mm in size (as measured in an ultrasound), the woman gets her trigger shot. Within 36 hours of the trigger shot, the eggs are retrieved. The egg retrieval is usually done in an operating room. If there are numerous eggs the procedure may be done under general anaesthesia. Your legs are going to be strapped in stirrups and the doctor is going to puncture your ovaries with a needle and suck out the follicles. There is going to be some blood and maybe a little discomfort during and after retrieval.
3) Third step is fertilisation. The husband (or whoever male is your sperm provider) would have to masturbate in a clinical environment and ehem, collect the specimen for the IVF clinic’s handling. The sperm is put through a centerfuge and only those healthy ones are used. There are two ways to fertilise the eggs in the laboratory. The first one is by putting collected egg and sperms together in a Petri dish and one of the sperms get to be the lucky one to fertilise the egg. The second method is ICSI short for Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection in which a single sperm (don’t ask me how this single sperm gets choosen) but this one lucky sperm is injected directly inside the egg thereby fertilising it, that is there is no need for the sperms to swim for the egg, a lucky one is shoved in the door. The embryo (egg and sperm together) is then grown in the laboratory for 2-5 days. The embryo may then be transferred to the uterus (fresh embryo transfer) or frozen for future use.
4) The fourth step is transferring the embryo into the woman’s uterus (womb). After fertilisation, the embryo grows form a single cell to become two, then four, then eight cells and so on. Within 2-5 days of retrieval, the embryo is transferred to the womb. Similar to the egg retrieval, transfer may be done in an operating room with the help of ultrasound. Blood tests will be done to check that hormone levels are good and ultrasounds will check that the uterus lining is ready before the transfer is confirmed. Injections of progesterone may also be given before and after transfer to support the uterus lining.
5) The fifth step is the dreaded wait between transfer and pregnancy test. Hormones supplements especially progesterone are taken to support the pregnancy. Within two weeks of transfer, blood tests can confirm whether there is a pregnancy or not.
Chances of pregnancy generally goes down with the woman’s age. Not every IVF procedure results in a pregnancy, and not every IVF pregnancy results in a live birth. Before deciding to do IVF, be sure to arm yourself with as much information as you can. It’s physically, emotionally and financially draining. There are many success stories and they are inspiring but it’s also important to be realistic with what IVF can do for you.
