Day 1 in Taiwan

We took the 1 am flight to Taipei. This decision was made after much consideration. We knew we would be unable to sleep during the short flight. We knew we would be very tired once we reached Taipei. But the ticket which was available to us was at this timing. Thus, we have no choice but to take up this offer.

J e-checked in about 48 hours before the departure time. Just a few days before our departure, J received a letter to inform him that his Kris Flyer membership was upgraded to Elite Gold and he could enjoy some privileges. We asked SIA to expedite his membership card and we received just a day before we departed.

At Terminal 3 after clearing the immigration, there was a lounge and there were many people there. There was food and drinks served. We had our supper before we left the lounge. By the time we were in the aircraft, we were very sleepy.

However, the cabin crew was extremely hardworking, serving food and drinks almost nonstop. Maybe I have taken my supper and I found the portion of inflight food served was huge. I had Singapore's Sling which I liked it very much.

There were quite a number of buses from the airport to taipei city. Besides the recommended FreeGo, there is Kuo Kuang, Ubus, Everygreen and we took Da You bus which charged us NT90 and NT45 for Isa, after showing her passport to declare she is only 11 years old.

The journey to Taipei Main Station took about an hour. Along the journey, the bus continued to pick up some passengers which didn't really bother us much as we were dozing away most of the time.

The hotel was quite a disappointment. The location was great, between Ximen and Taipei Main Stations but due to its age, the rooms and corridors were quite dull and old. D booked the Family Deluxe at S$103 which includes breakfast. We booked Business Suite at S$67.

(A waterfall in Long Shan Temple)

After dropping our luggages at the reception, we walked to Long Shan Temple. This is a famous temple and there was a praying session going on. From there, we took the subway to Yuan Shan station to look for Bao An Temple and Confucious Temple which are within walking distance from the subway station. The Bao An temple is to pray for good health and the Confucious Temple is for good academic results. Isa will be sitting for PSLE in 2011. Yuan Shan Station is also the "gateway" to Taipei Flora Expo. Maybe it was a weekend and it was crowded with people. I wonder if we should make a trip there.

The weather was also quite warm. There were little clouds and the sun shone brightly when there was no wind. We managed to find the free shuttle bus to The Grand Hotel to bring us there.

(Yuan Shan Hotel or The Grand Hotel)

This hotel really lives up to her name, so grand and posh. We wanted to have our lunch there - buffet lunch at NT770. After looking at this price, we thought we better give it a miss. On our way back to the hotel, we bought Japanese food to eat as lunch. I think the food was not too expensive; we each bought a bento at NT100. And we have bought the expensive types - with salmon. The cheaper ones in 7-11 can go as low as NT50 for a chinese style bento.

Though we were supposed to check in only after 3pm, we arrived such early and the hotel was kind enough to let us have our room as early as 1pm. We had quite a good lunch in our room.

I reminded Isa not to come here to eat Japanese food despite cheaper than Singapore. J already found a stall serving beef noodles and we have decided to have it as dinner.

We took a short nap in the afternoon. We were so sleepy and tired after the early hour's flight. We are here for a hol and not for a training. So we don't have to be harsh to ourselves.

We woke up nearly 5pm. We walked to the Taipei Main Station. In the morning around 7-8am, the place was quiet. In the late afternoon, it was such crowded that police were deployed to control the crowd. Opposite this Station, there are shopping malls. This Station has a subway, train and high speed rail. It is probably similar to Tokyo's Station.

We returned to that beef noodle shop. It was quite crowded. The prices for a big bowl of noodles (like udon) and slices of beef cost NT60 to NT66. We ordered 2 normal bowls plus a small bowl at a cost of NT176. A mistake AGAIN ! We made a similar mistake when we were in ShinOsaka station. During that time, we were such hungry and guess that we would gobbled up the noodles. We were wrong as both Isa and I could not swallow much the Japanese noodles at all. This time, I managed to finish half a bowl while telling myself that it was just normal thin noodles back home. J has to eat almost 2.5 bowls of the beef noodles. He said he might dream of the beef noodles during the night.

We walked past our hotel to go to Ximending. Yes, this is a place which is very crowded with mainly youngsters. We found the famous duck meat shop as recommended in one of the guide books. We bought a taiwanese bento at NT50 and a bottle of barley tea at NT17. I needed the rice before I could sleep. The temperature has dropped to about 18C, which was quite comfortable. The sun sets around 5pm. I recalled by 5pm, Japan was already totally dark but here, it was like 6-7pm back home. However, by 7pm here, it was totally dark.

There is plenty of food in Ximending. We guess we would be spoilt of choices of food available during our stay in Taipei.

We bought the store value card with a deposit NT100. This card works similarly like our ezlink card. However, the fare for a child is the same as that of an adult. I really wonder if it is better to buy an adult version (NT500) for Isa instead of her current concessionary type (NT300).

We were back to our hotel before 8pm. Isa was tired and preferred to remain in the room to watch her cartoon. This trip would be one of the most memorable one for her.

We have already informed D to call us once they were in the taxi from the airport to the hotel. I hope they would have no prob in sharing this room with us for a night.