With Taiwan’s government and private offices making late holiday announcements and Gerald not being in Taiwan, I had to think fast about where to celebrate New Year’s Eve at a reasonable cost. Surprisingly, the December 31st flight was relatively cheaper compared to the day before and after NYE!
Watching fireworks on the plane over Metro Manila—my first viral TikTok video!
The most-asked question is how to book the flight. It’s like booking any other flight!
- Go to your favorite price comparison website – Hopper App, Skyscanner, or Google Flights to get a sense of the price range
- Decide on the airline and book directly from their app or website. In this case, I booked Philippine Airlines flight PR895 on December 19, 2025, which cost me NT$9,861.
The price range for an Eva or PAL round-trip flight that I usually pay is between NT$7.5K–8.5K, so I thought this was reasonable. I remember paying NT$15K when I booked a flight close to the Lunar New Year.
The flight was scheduled to arrive on January 1, 2026, at 00:10. I couldn’t imagine where we’d be at exactly midnight, but I was sure we’d be seeing fireworks – and it would be epic!
And it was!
You can watch the full countdown experience on my Instagram. The sound was removed by Meta for some reason, so read the captions instead with a little imagination.
The traffic wasn’t bad leaving the airport. The roads weren’t empty after the countdown, but there was no traffic buildup. We were able to get home uneventfully.
Overnight stay at El Patio, Razon in Tanay, Rizal
After a few hours of sleep, I unpacked and repacked my luggage to drop off “pasalubong” at my parents’ house, then we drove to Tanay, Rizal.
We booked a Small Hobbit House, which cost us Php5.1K inclusive of massage and breakfast for two.
We brought our telescope hoping for clear skies, but unfortunately, we could only watch the moon. It was another cloudy night. The mountain winds were calming and gave us a really good night’s sleep after an hour-long massage.
Breakfast was filling! I had “cornsilog” (corned beef, sinangag, itlog) and a plate of mini pancakes, and I loved it. We spent an hour taking a morning walk around the resort before heading back to my parents’ place.
There, we planned our cycling route! This will be our first time riding together, the three of us—me, my father, and Gerald. Stay tuned for my cycling post in Manila.
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That’s it for now! Happy New Year!
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