The clues for the fifth destination are as follows:

• Difficult for Jennifer – This place has four official languages.
• Medium for Alexander – Thirsty? Want boba?
• Easy for Charlotte – Please do not come home with another Mimmy stuffy!

Take a moment to venture a guess before scrolling down past the envelope picture to reveal the answer.

The fifth destination is Taipei in Taiwan, Republic of China! The first clue mislead us to Singapore, which also has four official languages (English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil), but this destination couldn’t be the answer because it was already part of the original Secret Trip. The second clue related to boba made us think of Taiwan, where the popular tapioca drink originated. The third clue referencing Mimmy (Hello Kitty’s twin sister) confirmed the location where Charlotte picked out a Mimmy plushie during a brief layover in Taoyuan Airport a couple years ago.

Similar to Sydney at the beginning of Secret Trip 2.0, we were only in Taipei for an overnight stopover on the way back home from Kuala Lumpur to The States. The Taoyuan Airport MRT express train conveniently transported us from the airport to the Taipei Main Station, where we hailed a car to take us the rest of the way to our hotel.

We stayed at the Shangri-La Far Eastern hotel in Taipei for our one night stay in the city. We booked a Horizon Premier King Room that includes lounge/breakfast and were upgraded to the Plaza Suite at check in. The views of the Taipei skyline from our suite on the 31th floor showcased the Taipei 101 building.

We took advantage of the evening happy hour at the Horizon Club on the 36th floor for drinks and appetizers as well as breakfast buffet at the Cafe at Far Eastern on the 6th floor in the morning.

Alexander and Charlotte were huge fans of the rooftop pool on the 43rd floor and opted to go for swims twice (once after dinner the first night and again the next morning after breakfast) during our short one night stay. The depth of the pool ranged from 1.3 meters to 1.95 meters, and the kids enjoyed swimming around with pool noodles provided by the hotel. The lounge chairs around the pool area also offered scenic views of the Taipei skyline, including the Taipei 101 building.

Our activities in Taipei revolved around food and beverages. On arrival day, we walked over to The Mall in the Far Eastern Plaza connected to the hotel and headed down to the food hall on B2. We ordered braised beef noodle soup, xiao long bao, wonton in chili oil, and spring onion pancakes at Zhu Ji for dinner. I followed this with a peanut brittle grass jelly tofu pudding dessert from Sweet Dot.

On departure day, we took a taxi from the hotel to Taipei Main Station to drop off our luggage at the In Town Check In available when flying China Airlines, EVA Air, Cathy Pacific, or Starlux. From there, we walked about a mile to the Ximengding Walking District for some refreshing Taiwanese treats. We found reprieve from the humid heat with fruit shaved ice from Ximen Mango Shaved Ice and freshly-made brown sugar boba from Xing Fu Tang.

And that wraps up our final destination on Secret Trip 2.0. Thank you for coming along on our journey and sharing our love for adventure!