Taiwan 2012 - Day 1.
I practically didn't get any sleep last night as I had to leave for the airport at about half past 5 and I just wanted to sleep throughout the flight. So the zombie me left home at about 545am and went down in search of a taxi. You would have thought that would I have gotten a taxi almost immediately at that kind of timing, but surprisingly, I had to wait for about 10 minutes before getting on one.
And whilst waiting for a taxi, I thought I'd take a picture of my new luggage !
So I got to the airport on time and checked in. After that, I went to McDingding to have breakfast.
I went for a quick puff after my hearty breakfast. Had to brisk walk it all the way I was running a little behind schedule. But I made it in time of course.
We took a few pictures on the plane before sleeping throughout the entire flight.
Made it there in one piece about 4 and a half hours later. It was a long ass walk to the arrival hall, but I got there in the end.
I had planned to buy a sim card purely for the data plan, but as soon as I stepped out of the exit, an old man approached me and asked if I needed a taxi. I knew the going rate to reach Taipei was 1200NT, but this guy offered a rate of 200NT lesser. But to be honest, I wasn't keen. But somehow, in the end, I ended up taking it. It was rather surprising because I didn't know what to expect, when a camry suddenly pulled in front of me
So the cab ride took about an hour odd. The cabbie had troubles finding the hotel when we got to Ximending. We went in circles before the cabbie alighted me and kept telling me that the hotel was just there. So I tried going "there", but I ended up walking a big round before realizing that hotel was really just "there". It was really hard to spot as there wasn't any English signage and the Chinese signage was not "BOOM in your face" either. I stayed at han she hotel. I was trying to look for hotels near the train station and this was the closest and available one. It wasn't too bad to be honest, and besides, we I needed to stay for one night.
So I rested for a little while before heading out. My first stop, wu fen pu. I've only been there once like a year ago, so frankly speaking, I'm quite amazed that I remember my way around. It took me about 5 minutes to walk to the train station. It was a straight train all the way to wu fen pu which took us less than half an hour.
Got to wu fen pu and walked out of the station. As familiar as it looked, I just couldn't remember how to walk to the place. I got lost trying to follow the maps they had laid out randomly and ended up asking the locals. I finally got there and did some shopping. I walked and walked for ages and came to realize one thing. If you see something that you want to buy, JUST DO IT, because you probably will not be able to find the same shop once you walk away. All the mini streets, oh my days !
My next and last stop for the day was shilin night market. I took the train back towards taipei main station and changed over to the red line. Apparently, I remembered wrongly and alighted at the wrong stop.
When I finally made it there, I walked in circles trying to find this lane with the most awesome food. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember how I got there the last time. They had the most awesome crab glutinous at that lane. But I just couldn't find it. I didn't have a proper dinner though. I just had mini bites to fill my tummy. The first thing I ate was this huge ass xiao long bao look a like. It was fandelicioustastic. It was like having a mouth orgasm. I also had pigeon eggs, corn dog, fish balls and other mini bites. I just kept walking and walking and somehow I ended up at that food lane I was talking about. I was over the moon. I had a big bowl of the pig intestine mee sua because I missed it.
By the time I found the lane and had the mee sua, I didn't have space for the crab glutinous rice, so I gave it a miss. That'll definitely be the first thing I eat the next time I visit shilin night market.
So after about 2 hours of walking around, I finally decided to call it a night. Just before I left, I made a trip to the supermarket to buy a few things.
Finally made it back to the hotel and enjoying my mini carton of milk.
Good night from Taiwan !
And whilst waiting for a taxi, I thought I'd take a picture of my new luggage !
So I got to the airport on time and checked in. After that, I went to McDingding to have breakfast.
I went for a quick puff after my hearty breakfast. Had to brisk walk it all the way I was running a little behind schedule. But I made it in time of course.
We took a few pictures on the plane before sleeping throughout the entire flight.
Made it there in one piece about 4 and a half hours later. It was a long ass walk to the arrival hall, but I got there in the end.
I had planned to buy a sim card purely for the data plan, but as soon as I stepped out of the exit, an old man approached me and asked if I needed a taxi. I knew the going rate to reach Taipei was 1200NT, but this guy offered a rate of 200NT lesser. But to be honest, I wasn't keen. But somehow, in the end, I ended up taking it. It was rather surprising because I didn't know what to expect, when a camry suddenly pulled in front of me
So the cab ride took about an hour odd. The cabbie had troubles finding the hotel when we got to Ximending. We went in circles before the cabbie alighted me and kept telling me that the hotel was just there. So I tried going "there", but I ended up walking a big round before realizing that hotel was really just "there". It was really hard to spot as there wasn't any English signage and the Chinese signage was not "BOOM in your face" either. I stayed at han she hotel. I was trying to look for hotels near the train station and this was the closest and available one. It wasn't too bad to be honest, and besides, we I needed to stay for one night.
So I rested for a little while before heading out. My first stop, wu fen pu. I've only been there once like a year ago, so frankly speaking, I'm quite amazed that I remember my way around. It took me about 5 minutes to walk to the train station. It was a straight train all the way to wu fen pu which took us less than half an hour.
Got to wu fen pu and walked out of the station. As familiar as it looked, I just couldn't remember how to walk to the place. I got lost trying to follow the maps they had laid out randomly and ended up asking the locals. I finally got there and did some shopping. I walked and walked for ages and came to realize one thing. If you see something that you want to buy, JUST DO IT, because you probably will not be able to find the same shop once you walk away. All the mini streets, oh my days !
My next and last stop for the day was shilin night market. I took the train back towards taipei main station and changed over to the red line. Apparently, I remembered wrongly and alighted at the wrong stop.
When I finally made it there, I walked in circles trying to find this lane with the most awesome food. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember how I got there the last time. They had the most awesome crab glutinous at that lane. But I just couldn't find it. I didn't have a proper dinner though. I just had mini bites to fill my tummy. The first thing I ate was this huge ass xiao long bao look a like. It was fandelicioustastic. It was like having a mouth orgasm. I also had pigeon eggs, corn dog, fish balls and other mini bites. I just kept walking and walking and somehow I ended up at that food lane I was talking about. I was over the moon. I had a big bowl of the pig intestine mee sua because I missed it.
By the time I found the lane and had the mee sua, I didn't have space for the crab glutinous rice, so I gave it a miss. That'll definitely be the first thing I eat the next time I visit shilin night market.
So after about 2 hours of walking around, I finally decided to call it a night. Just before I left, I made a trip to the supermarket to buy a few things.
Finally made it back to the hotel and enjoying my mini carton of milk.
Good night from Taiwan !
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