申請台灣簽證
這個weekend打算去台中玩兩三日，所以要申請台灣簽證。申請台灣簽證可以選擇在香港預先辦理或者到達台灣後辦理落地簽證。但因為去到台灣的機場時可能會有很多同一班機的人排隊，怕耽誤行程，而且聽說台中的機場很小，簽證櫃枱不多，所以還是在香港先申請好簽證保險一些。
港澳居民可以先在網上申請（https://nas.immigration.gov.tw/），輸入個人資料後幾秒鐘就可以拿到一個預先核准的編號。憑着編號就可以親自或者委托其他人去金鐘的中華旅行社或者機場的辦事處領取台證。
在機場的簽證辦事處位於Terminal 1，但我出發當天要從 Terminal 2 check-in。為避免臨上機前要在兩個Terminal跑來跑去，又難以預計要預早幾多去等，我就決定先去金鐘取證。
前兩日我上到中華旅行社，勁多人，大大話話有成百人在排隊。不知是不是大家都不去泰國旅行，所有人都轉移去台灣。短的隊是已經在網上申請，只是取證的，只得十幾個人排隊。長的隊是其他未在網上申請的人，個蛇餅打到看不到隊尾。好在我精明地已在網上申請，等了不到十分鐘就可以遞交申請編號，護照和身份證副本，取到一個號碼籌等叫取證。看到牆上告示說要等一小時才可以取證，告訴大家可以先離開，在當日四點半前再回去取證，我就没有留在那兒等。一個多小時後我回去，不用等，直接去取證的counter，出示號碼籌，付上７５港元，簽證馬上到手。
所以如果大家要申請台證，第一記緊要先在網上申請，第二可以在吃午飯前上去拿號碼籌，吃完飯去取台證，就可以減低等候時間。
Brunei – Practical Information
Planning a trip to Brunei is easy. I share with you in this blog some practical tips when planning a trip to Brunei.
Travel books
Brunei is not big in tourism, there is only limited tourist information on the country. I bought a pdf version of the Brunei chapter on the Lonely Planet website, which costs me only US$1.75. It provides sufficient information to plan the trip so I didn’t read the Borneo Lonely Planet guide.
Flight
Royal Brunei Airline codeshares with Dragonair and flies direct to Bangar Seri Begawan. I booked my ticket on Royal Brunei Airline’s website, which mysteriously costs less than the Dragonair flight, even though they actually are the same codeshare flight. It costs me only $1800 for the air ticket (including taxes and charges), while it uusally costs more than $3000. Just keep checking until you find dates that have cheaper flights if you are flexible. Flight duration is 3 hours, but flight times are not that good. Departure flight leaves HK around 3pm. Return flight leaves BSB around 11am. So there is not much you can do on the first and last days of the trip apart from flying.
Hotel
MUST STAY at the Empire Hotel. I stayed in Sheration and went to visit another 5-star hotel Rizqun Hotel. Empire Hotel is so much better than the other two 5 star hotels, but doesn’t cost much more. Empire Hotel is further away from the city centre, but it is served by public bus. It is worth spending the extra time to travel to the Empire Hotel. The sheer extravagance of the hotel makes it a tourist attraction in its own right.
For budget travelers, 3-star hotel costs around HK$400 a night. However, smoking is very common in Brunei, so don’t be too upset if your room smells of cigarette. You get what you pay for. [click title for more......]