Best coffee in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

To all coffee lovers, coffee is mandatory even when travelling. Late nights, early mornings are inevitable when you want to experience a city as much as possible. So while checking out Kaohsiung, my friends and I reviewed 7 coffee joints and tasted their lattes to find out which has the best coffee in Kaohsiung.
FYI, we are generally latte drinkers, with no sugar. We pride soy over the usual milk, but clearly Taiwan does not have a culture of drinking soy lattes.

We reviewed our coffee in terms of how much we liked it, and included factors such as how strong the coffee taste was.

1. Starbucks

The first thing that appeared when we Googled 'best coffee in Kaohsiung' was Starbucks. We were really skeptical but still went ahead with trying it since you can find Starbucks virtually everywhere.

Soy Latte

Rating: ⭑⭑⭒⭒⭒

Actually the Soy killed it for us :( The soy milk that Taiwan's Starbucks uses is probably the Asian Soya milk, aka 豆浆 (dou jiang), not the Western Soy milk, so do take note! Other than that, the coffee is generally the same as most Starbucks elsewhere. 

It might be better without soy milk in Taiwan, but we didn't pass by anymore Starbucks to try it.

2. CRAFT @ XinJueJiang Shopping District

We were definitely in need of coffee when we were shopping in XinJueJiang Shopping District. Craft was tucked nicely in a corner of the shopping district and we decided to give it a try. 

Iced Mocha

Rating: ⭑⭑⭑⭒⭒

The Iced Mocha was a little sweet, but the coffee taste was not drowned in huge amounts of milk and coffee, which made it a great refreshing drink to energize our day. (with a little sugar rush)

3. CRAFT @ XinJueJiang Shopping District

We went to XinJueJiang Shopping District for a 2nd time to shop for more stuff, since it was the only day shopping street we could find in Kaohsiung. I guess locals in Kaohsiung prefers shopping in huge malls.

Iced Latte

Rating: ⭑⭑⭒⭒⭒

We honestly thought we could give Craft a 2nd try since their Mocha was quite good, so we got another Iced Latte. There was too much milk in the latte which covered the taste of the coffee :(

 4. APEULS COFFEE @ Formosa Boulevard MRT station

Since we stayed near Formosa Boulevard MRT station, we grabbed a cuppa coffee from Apeuls and gave it a try.

Black Coffee

Rating: ⭑⭑⭑⭒⭒

The Americano was a little watered down tbh; a little disappointed but nevertheless, we still finished a 0 calorie drink :)

5. Aunt Stella @ Han Shen Department Store

Chanced upon a shopping mall so we went inside to shop and found this little cafe at the basement of the mall.

Black Sugar Macchiato

Rating: ⭑⭑⭑⭒⭒

Although the drink sounds sugary, we were pleasantly surprised by the sweetness of the drink. It was not too sweet, which is perfect for people with non sweet tooth. The downside of this was just that the drink was a little watered down, like most of the other coffees in Kaohsiung. 

6. Tea Boutique & Cafe @ Pier 2

Prior to getting this cup, we TRIED hiking up Shoushan but then we gave up halfway cause it was too hot. So we ubered back down again to Pier 2 to grab a pick-me-up.

Black Coffee

Rating: ⭑⭑⭒⭒⭒

Same old, same old -- watered down :( But it was another 0 calorie drink so we finished it ;)

7. Brought Coffee and Tea @ RuiFeng Night Market

We headed to Rui Feng Night Market on one of the nights and that was definitely a time where we needed coffee after exploring Kaohsiung for the whole day.

Brought's Specialty Coffee

Rating: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭒

It's a specialty coffee for a reason. There's alcohol added to this mix to give it a unique taste. Although the coffee was not as strong, we felt that the mix of alcohol, coffee, and sugar definitely deserves 4⭑ :)

 8. Sunny Day Cafe

Basically we were attempting to walk from our place to a 豆浆shop (soya milk shop) which took us nearly an hour, so we dropped by a cafe to grab a cuppa in the morning.

Iced Latte

Rating: ⭑⭑⭒⭒⭒
We were actually disappointed :( The latte only had a very distinct taste of milk, making it seem like milk-flavoured coffee instead of coffee with milk :(

BONUS: BERNACHON COFFEE (from 7-11/Family Mart)

To be honest, we practically lived off 7-11. The 7-11 in Taiwan had so much variety in terms of food and drinks that we could never decide what we want every single time. But we always took coffee.

Rating: ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭒

Honestly, this was one of the better coffee I've tasted in Taiwan. This version of Bernachon Coffee is not as sweet as the dark blue bottle, and the coffee taste in this 'Golden Cup' is actually quite strong. TBH, this is my 2nd favourite, behind Brought Coffee & Tea's specialty coffee ;)

Maybe I guess there was a reason why Starbucks was dubbed the 'Best Coffee in Kaohsiung' by Google, no matter how many times we tried googling. 

If you're looking for good coffee in Kaohsiung, I would highly recommend popping into a 7-11 store or Family Mart. The wide selection of coffee (and the price) in there would NEVER disappoint. :)

TINGZ @ BINTAN 2D1N // Itinerary + Tips

Hello again! :-)

*UPDATE*

Vid is up!! :-))) sorry for the unstable vid ; i realised stabilization is useless sometimes :-(

Link HERE :-)

Have y'all always wanted to go on a short getaway and run away from all your problems just for a little while? Going to Bintan for a short trip was my D R E A M and this trip was supposed to be a 3D2N trip with Janey Waney (some of my closest JC friends), but due to some issues, I had to end my trip early. It sucked but I had to make enjoy my 2D1N to the fullest so here it goes!! :-)

TBH if you are looking for a cheap getaway, Bintan is NOT the place to go. Although it's only a 1h ferry away from Singapore, the food in the resorts and restaurants here are insanely expensive (for something that is from Indonesia, since it's mostly catered to Singaporeans).

T H E L I F E ♡

DAY 1

We took Bintan Resorts Ferry (link here) from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal (SG) to Bandar Bentan Telani (BIN) at 5pm (rly sad that we had to go late cause of issues too :-( ). It's a short 1h ferry ride to Bintan and there's a small DFS shop at SG's ferry terminal so you can get alcohol and duty-free products there. (take note you can't get DFS when you are coming back since there is no outlet at the arrival side) Bintan's time is also 1h behind Singapore's, so effectively we gained an hour and reached Bintan at 5pm Bintan time. 

APPARENTLY, Mozaic Ferry Lines (the one that goes directly to Bintan Lagoon Resort) is still working although the website said 'they don't operate in December during the monsoon period'. So ya, do check first!

Back: Pris, Lars    Front: Me, Shihui

Shihui!

There's even a table here!

Shihui's dad had a friend working in Bintan so he drove us from the ferry terminal to Bintan Lagoon Resort, which took us around 15min. Checking into the resort was a breeze as there was no one and the service was wonderful. We stayed in a seaview deluxe room, and the view was amazing. (but it's not really the sea tbh, it's more of the interior of the resort)

View from our room

My name order is wrong HAHA

Restaurant Kampoeng Nelayan

Our tour guide drove us to a restaurant called Restaurant Kampoeng Nelayan outside the resort and everyone, please be prepared to bring loads of money. The food in Bintan is generally CRAZY EXPENSIVE unless you go to those hawker centres. You'll definitely spend less in Singapore (Bintan is mostly catered to tourists) but on average we spent around S$20+/meal. Food was alright but prices were a lil' cray for 4 LOL. 

Mango Chicken

Fried Rice (S) -- it was already enough for 4 of us girls

Hot Plate Tofu

Garlic Kang Kong

Total: ~S$24/pax

We then headed for the mama shop beside which sold really cheap beer, ~S$5. (apparently the beer in the resort is twice the price so if you want to drink, get it outside) The beer was really good (the Bintang one) and I really liked the lemon flavoured one. It tasted a little like lemon juice, with a teeny bit of alcohol in it. 

Since it was really late once we reached the hotel, we had a mini tour around the hotel and went to the resort's leisure centre to play billiard. The staff there was really nice, and he even gave us some tips and tricks ;-) We ended the night lounging around and chilling in the room and brought back many fond memories in JC :-)

DAY 2

Woke up really early for the buffet breakfast which was I N C R E D I B L E. There was a really huge variety and the food was actually good. Lars and Pris didn't join me and Shihui for breakfast cause there wasn't enough :-( and if you are thinking of paying for 1 breakfast, it's ~S$28. :-(

lounged around the resort after breakfast!

Trekking @ Mount Bintan (aka Gunung Bintan Adventure Trek) (~S$35)

Before going on the trekking tour, we actually tried googling more information about this trek, but nothing much showed up--apparently it wasn't really THAT popular. But either way we wanted to try something different so we just went ahead with the plan.

We headed out to trek at Mount Bintan and TBH once we reached the top, we nearly died (LOL). The trail was CRAZY steep and slippery since it rained an hour before. Our guide was really nice and made sure we were all safe. We took TONS of breaks, while climbing up, and it took us a total of 3h to climb up and down the mountain. At some point I really wished I could just roll down the mountain to get down asap HAHA. But we persevered and finally reached the top! Our guides were really nice and they actually carried bottles of water for us up till the summit and passed it to us there! :-) ♡

road back ♡

The summit was actually really tiny with not much of a view to boast, but personally, the act of being able to climb to the top was accomplishing enough :-) Climbing down was really ALOT easier, although we were more prone to falling as it was slippery and steep. There is also a tiny waterfall near the foot of the mountain when you are climbing down but we didn't enter cause we didn't bring a change of clothes :-(

OUR GUIDES!

cldn't fit myself in in time :-(

I climbed Mt. Batur in Bali, Indonesia previously and it was actually more tiring than climbing Mount Bintan, but Mt. Batur's temperature was lower so we did not feel the fatigue as much compared to climbing Mount Bintan.

Lars!

Bought an isotonic too cause we were DEHYDRATED :-(

Mount Bintan: 400m above sea level (SIZE OF A RUNNING TRACK)

Mt. Batur: 1717m above sea level

Here's some Mount Bintan trekking tips:

1. Wear comfortable walking shoes

    -It'll make or break your climb. Get a pair that has more friction/trekking boots so that it is easier to walk.

    -Your shoes will become REALLY gross and dirty, so make sure you are willing to let your shoes become muddy. (it can be washed off anyway)

2. Wear long pants

    -There's mosquitoes and insects there and although your pants do not provide full protection, it reduces your chances of getting bitten.

    -In the event you fall (that was us all the time), at least you have a little coverage on your skin.

3. Pack light

    -Unless you want to strain your back while climbing, I suggest packing light. Just a bottle of water, a camera/phone (to take photos) and tissues will suffice.

4. Bring water

   -Don't bring too big a bottle of water in case it is too heavy. You'll definitely need it due to the humidity and you'll be sweating buckets. It's really hot from the start to the end of the trek. Hydrate yourself! 

5. Don't wear glasses

   -HAHAHA just needed to put this in. I stupidly forgot to bring my contacts so I was stuck with glasses and it was T O R T U R O U S. My glasses kept sliding down my nose cause of my sweat, and it got really dirty cause of the mud everywhere. So if you wear contacts, JUST WEAR THEM.

6. Insect repellent

   -You'll probably definitely need it, unless your repellent repels certain insects and attracts others.

We headed back to the resort later for lunch and decided to eat at a restaurant in the resort since the prices were more or less the same :-( (and they were actually SG's restaurant/cafe price) Yes, you should be splurging and enjoying yourself while on a holiday but, the prices were just too overboard for budget people like us :-(

The Terrace

Settled down at The Terrace near the lobby which sold cafe-like food at cafe prices so we decided to give it a go. 

Terrace Menu -- 1

Terrace Menu -- 2

Got the Sriracha Fish Tacos: RP 185 000

It was quite good, or maybe cause I was hungry, but the guacamole could have been better :-)

2 Egg-cellent burgers, a bintan burrito, and a sriracha fish tacos!

The price was around cafe price and everything added up to around ~S$24 depending on what you ordered. There was also a darts place where you can play darts for free heh. We tried it for a while before heading down to the beach.

All them shag faces after trekking

Bintan Lagoon Resort's private beach

Maybe cause we came on a weekday, and it seemed like it was about to rain, but the beach was p r a c t i c a l l y empty. It was so calming to see such an empty beach, but all the water activities were closed as it was about to rain. :-(

We had a chat with some of the friendly staff there and apparently, you can surf in Bintan from December to April (monsoon season) ?!?! I never know that! I've always wanted to go Bali to surf since it was the nearest but the flight is actually quite expensive, so I guess Bintan can always be an option! :-)

Took some photos before moving on to the resort's pool to chill for a while :-)

The photos turned out really lovely so I'm really glad for them :-)))
Here are some heh (if not it would really be too much of a spam LOL)

us and those 2 being slobs on the chairs

We left early since it was starting to rain so we bathed and decided to go for our last dinner together before I have to leave :-( 

Miyako

Wanted to eat at Fiesta for their buffet dinner but it was ~S$38???!?! Even with the 'buy 2 get 1 free' offer was still not worth it. So we decided to go to Miyako, a Japanese restaurant right beside for cheaper ala-carte food. 

They folded it so nicely!

TBH, the food in Miyako was also quite pricey -- a normal set meal costs at least S$20+ and above. So the aunties in us decided to just get udon and cha soba :-( but they were actually good!!

Got the chawanmushi for ~S$5 

Cha Soba for ~S$12 

Really pricey right? Well we expected it since it's a resort and all. 

So, my 2D1N trip was a really short one but it ended on a good note which made me really happy. :-) If you are going to stay for a few more days, I'll definitely recommend the water sports offered by the beach, and do go for trekking! It's something out of the ordinary and the experience is really one of a kind :-)

Total expenses:

Bintan Lagoon Resort (booked from Expedia): S$635.76 (if you want the cheaper option, you can get the normal deluxe room which is equally good!) :-)

Food: ~S$75/pax (avg S$25 per meal) (Day 1 Dinner, Day 2 Lunch and Dinner)

Trekking: S$35/pax

Hope this helps with your planning for your next short getaway to Bintan! :-)

Luv, Tingz