my 1st trip to taipei

Weather: During that period, it is hot and wet. The average temp would be around 30C (86F). As it is during the typhoon season, frequently rainy days would happen. You should check ahead the weather forecast. Summer clothing and rain gear are necessary.

About traveling:
1. The cab fare from the airport to your hotel near Ximen Station) shall be 1,000-1,200NTD.
2. By renting a car, you are suggested head for Hualian County, Ali Mountain and Sun Moon Lake for fun.
3. By public transport, the National Palace Museum, Ximenting and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and others.
4. For shopping and dining, the Shilin Night Market, Taipei 101 and SOGO are good choices.

Hi,

I spent a month in Taipei end of last year and early January. I used Ms Zhou for taxi pick up. You can try her. The taxi she sent to pick us up was clean and efficient and the driver was very knowledgable. We went to Ximending - I cannot recall the cost but no more than 1200. The taxi can take 3 large bags. Her whatsapp is 886 989876376. She also does the daily tours. We did not use her as we didn't go touring. You can hire the taxis around Ximending where you are staying. We lived there for a month. The taxis are there from morn to late afternoon until the street is closed. However, it's luck of the draw. I did some enquiries on the SML and Alishan and the prices are competitive with Ms Zhou but I felt her car was clean and the driver smart and friendly without being pushy.
Taxis are relatively cheap and if there is 4 of you, it can work out to be cheaper than catching the MRT. The people are very friendly and it is the one area where I haven't felt being cheated by the taxi man. For example, if you wanted to go to Lung Suan Temple or Chiang Kai Shek Memorial from Ximending, you can easily catch a cab, could be cheaper than 4 MRT rides.
With regards to snow gear, we shopped around as we were went skiing to Korea but it was not cheap as compared to home, Sydney. In fact I found it expensive, probably because I only went to the departmental stores. Hopefully someone can point you in the right direction. This could be attributed to the fact that there is no skiing, perhaps it is cheaper in Sapporo. We did shop in Tokyo for some really nice ski gear but they were the nice brands so not cheap but I believe they had cheaper brands.
Have good fun.