Taiwan Trip from 13 to 18 August

Time to update my holiday, 6 wonderful days in Taiwan, Colin & I enjoyed ourself to the max

Day 1

Our flight is 8.25am, need to be at Changi Airport T2 by 6.25am to check-in at the same time eat our breakfast before the flight, my in-laws send us to airport with instruction from Colin to start our stream engine every 2 to 3 days cos the battery is going to die anytime, traffic to airport is a breeze, after checking in our luggage (Praise God I check-in online 48 hours before our flight, I needed front row seats badly as I had motion sickness), the best seats I could get is 33D & E, window seats, went to eat breakfast with my in-laws at the staff canteen & chatted with them till 7.20am before we went seperate ways. Took our own sweet time to walk to the boarding gate & the officers there notice we're wearing couple wear & commented that it was nice, boarding starting at 7.50am for first & business class passsengers, followed by parents travelling with young children & senior folk, next call was for passengers sitting from row 48 onwards, shortly after we started boarding.

The initially flight was pretty smooth for me, popping sweets into my mouth almost every hour, the last 30 mins was a total nightmare for me, the turbelence was terrible as the plane start to descend to prepare for landing, after the turbelence is over, I told Colin I really need to visit the loo badly but he stop me from going as we might experience another round of turbelence, he took out the motion sickness bag from the seat pocket & viola I vomit 1 mouthful, enough to freak him out from my pale looking face. The plan finally landed at 1.10pm & I finally sigh relieve from the overwhelming motion sickness, we clear the immigration pretty quickly & went to pick up our luggage from the belt. The transfer is already waiting for us & we reach Caesar Park hotel at 2.45pm.

After checking-in, we were told the rooms is not ready & only can get the room keys at 3pm. Went over to shingkong San Yue which is next to our hotel for a walk + kill time. 3pm sharp, went to get our room key & I finally get to rest for a short while and called my bestie, Fongyi & this girl couldn't believe that I'm in taiwan. We took a short walk at the underground mall & proceed to take the long 50 mins MRT train ride to Danshui for dinner. I miss the beef steak there, NT220 (about $11) per set includes free flow of drinks, 1 soup + garlic bread. I was so full & I could not finish everything. walk over to the night market for a walk & I bought 2 trendy shorts + a mickey mouse berms, happen to see a shop selling "branded" goods, not too sure if its authentic & I'm very very skeptical and the price is not cheap at all. 1 lesportsac tote bag after 20% discount still cost NT2000 (SGD100), I rather go elsewhere & buy.

Before heading back to hotel, bought some donuts from Mister Donut in case we get hungry at night. Another 50 mins journey back to taipei main station & take my much needed rest & shower.

p/s: I had a hard time falling asleep cos the bed is too small for us

Day 2

Weather is pretty good in the morning, we went to have breakfast in the hotel, Colin decided to go beitou for hotspring, when we reach beitou its already 3pm & we miss the free shuttle bus ride, took a cab to hotspring resort & cost us NT70 ($3.50), the meter got no chance to click and we're at our destination, paid the package NT1000 ($50) for both of us, its a 1 hr hotspring & we hang around at the premises for 2 hrs after that hotsrping, as expected my asthma attack came just 10 mins after I dip myself into the hotspring, no choice but to rest for 2 mins & tried again still the same, 30 mins later it started to rain cats & dogs, as there's no shower facility in the toilet, I quickly get up & shower before the 1 hour is up, we exceeded the time by 10 mins I think but the receptionist is nice not to charge us cos its raining cats & dogs, rested for a while at the lounge area before we proceed to wait for the shuttle bus to bring us to beitou mrt station. Went back to hotel to load off some stuff we proceed to shilin night market for our dinner & some shopping. Since its a rainy day, no illegal hawkers were seen, Colin notice a shop selling all t-shirts, jeans, shoes etc for NT100 ($5), its closing down sale and Colin had a good time choosing t-shirt cos its way too cheap, as we walk I saw a shop selling a really nice dress and the price tag says NT1080 ($54), quite expensive lor but I really like it, tried to bargain to NT100 ($50) but the lady say not possible, final price I give her $1030 take it or leave it, she give in to me, as we walk again I saw a floral top & ask the pretty lady the price, she say NT490 ($24+), I ask whats the best price she can give me, she say NT450 ($22+), I told her NT400 ($20) can or not, she ponder a while and ask how much I like, Colin knows me well & say I like it very much thats why I ask for price if not I won't even bother, finally give in to my request of NT400 ($20). The next door shop sells a really pretty floral dress and it caught my attention, I ask for the pricing NT790 ($39+) way too expensive, even after I bargain it'll sell be in NT700 range, I walk off & since we're going to wufenpu, I'm very very sure I can get it cheaper price, bought a drink before we head back to hotel to rest & shower.

p/s: just before we went hotspring, I called another bestie, Shijia, and this girl also thought I'm kidding with her when I told her I'm in taiwan calling her from my hotel room.

Day 3

Get up at 10am+, already miss the hotel breakfast hours, but we bought some food from shilin & ate it for breakie, get ready by 11.30am, we head to CKS memorial hall area to had Lu Rou Fan for lunch, this shop is only patronised by the locals & the staff there is quite surprise to see 2 tourist heading into their shop for lunch. We ordered 2 medium servings of Lu Rou Fan, they have different servings portion (small, medium, large), NT35 per bowl ($1.70) and I'm so so full when I finish the entire bowl, should not be so greedy to order medium servings. Straight after lunch is my spree time at wufenpu & I'm so hype about it, take the mrt back to taipei main station & walk to the train station to buy ticket, its 1 stop to SongShan station NT18 per ticket ($0.90), had a little bit of time we took a real slow walk to the platform and waited for the train. Praise God for good weather, the train ride is about 15 mins once reach wufenpu Colin leave me to visit any shop leaving this poor boy to carry all my shopping bags, he have a fair share in our shopping loot too, I saw the flora dress that I saw in shilin, exactly the dress and the lady quote me NT550 ($27.50), I bargain to NT500 ($25) & the lady agreed!! thats a $15 savings for me, really thank God I never buy at shilin if not I would have suffered a severe heart attack knowing the wholesale price. We continue shopping till 5pm cos we're meeting my 2 bestie for dinner at 7pm, reach the train station & bought 2 tickets back to taipei main station & when I ask the officer when is the next train, we only have 4 mins to reach the platform, I told Colin we have no time to dilly-dally cos we only have 4 mins & I'm panting like mad when I reach the platform, rest for a while in the hotel and board a cab to the meeting place, how I miss these 2 girls, its been a while since I last saw them, we had a good time chatting & they commented that I have a good hubby, I'm really blessed to have him but I warn them not to mention in front of Colin if not he'll be so happy until he can fly

After dinner, Colin decided to go shilin again cos in case the typhoon hits taiwan on thurs, everyday is high alert for typhoon & we can't go outskirt. We went to eat his favourite mango shaved ice. Happen to walk past this shop that does personalised keychain with names, went in & I told Colin I'll do this keychain with my chinese name. as we walk saw a illegal stall that sells real cheap handphone keychain, 5 for NT100 ($5), I have 20 staff so our budget for their gifts is max $5 per person if not we'll go broke, we choose 20 keychain & the lady gave us 2 free, continue walking in the alley saw a shop next to the shaved ice stall selling leather keychain & it caught Colin's attention, he wanted to get new keychain for the new car's keys & it can personalised names as well each keychain will cost average NT300 ($15), he also decided to get 1 for his bro & sis and he told me choose 1 for my bro & his gf since they bought gifts for me during their taiwan trip in May, I cannot remember the final price after negiotation. We went to eat shaved ice, I can't eat too much since my asthma is acting up on me ever since the motion sickness I experience during my flight to taiwan. On our way to the main road, saw a illegal stall selling baby's clothes, any 3 sets for NT500 ($25), I've not bought anything for Shyenne & Sherlise and decided to get it for them. We walk around and its past midnight, last mrt train is at 12am & we took a cab back to hotel.

Day 4

We went Ximenting for lunch, Colin found a place where they sell real good fried pork ribs rice and he decided to try, found the shop in a small alley it cost NT85 per servings (4.70) consider cheap for their servings & as usual I can't finish the rice, since the weather is good we decided to head to wufenpu again as we only combed 1/4 of the place. This time round I really took my own sweet time to walk and my legs nearly break into 2 at the end of the shopping & we only managed to combed 3/4 of wufenpu. Went back to hotel at 6pm & at 6.30pm went the the business center use the internet services to do online check-in for my flight on Sat, 30 mins NT150 (7.50), I keep looking at the watch to make sure that I don't exceed the 30 mins, rather stressful, Diana caught me online & oh my I miss chatting with her, wanted to print out my check-in confirmation and I was told it'll cost me NT50 per page ($2.50), no way I'm going to pay for it not as if their paper is made of gold. Diana keep reminding me the time & I kept a close lookout on my watch as well, thank gal, 1 min before I hit 30 mins I quicky went to the counter & told them I'm done, time indicated, login at 6.32pm & logout at 7.02pm, thank God I didn't sit for another min if not they'll charge me another NT150 & I'll definitely get a earful from Colin.

7.15pm, Colin decided to head to Liuchang nightmarket that my bestie is raving about, the escalator ride at liuchangli is not fun, from B3 all the way to 3rd floor, my legs turn jelly halfway cos I have height phobia, I can't look up & down & my dear Colin had a good time making fun of me! I was boiling mad but kept my cool and I told him later when we go back, I die die also don't want to take the escalator, I'll go find a lift or catch a cab to somewhere else. The nightmarket is a big disappointment, within 15 mins I'm done with the place, I told Colin, lets got rouhe instead. headed to rouhe & saw a orange plain dress that is really nice, and since its raining not much crowd is there, I ask the lady how much is the dress, she told me NT590 ($29+) and since its raining she can let go at NT550 ($27.50), my final offer to her is NT500 ($25) and she relants and sold it to me, 5 shops down I saw a betty boop bag, price show NT1000 ($500), the boss say since its raining she'll sell it to me at NT700 ($35), I tried to bargain to NT650 ($33) but failed, since I can use it as working bag I gave in to their offer of NT700 ($35). Its already 11pm actually intending to catch a cab back to hotel but Colin we shall walk to the train station and check if there's anymore train services, I went to the ticket counter & show and the next train is at 11.30pm, Colin decided to take train & I bought the ticket, since we got 30 mins to kill, we walk to nearby watson shop enjoy the aircon, I saw a bathroom slipper selling for NT60 ($3) and decided to get it cos I got no slipper to wear in office, 11.25pm I told Colin we better head back to train station in case the train is early, sat at the platform and the train will be late for 5 mins and thats the last train for the day. Walk back to hotel & my legs finally get to rest.

Day 5

The whole day is raining as typhoon already hit taichung, hualien & kaoshiung. I told Colin to call home to inform his parents that we might not be able to return on Sat cos I was not sure if the flight will be cancelled, and the call got his mum worried, nothing much we can do as SIA is also not sure if my flight is affected. I also called my parents to inform them if we're not able to return on Sat evening, I'll catch a morning flight on Sun & assure them I'm fine. We went ximenting to eat beef noodles, this shop has no sign board & the business is damn good, no tables available and we had to share, I dun mind at all, we order braised beef noodles & the soup is quite spicy but I still can take it, thumbs up for the noodles (each bowl is NT140, $7.50), worth every single cents. We walk around ximenting and walk into this shopping center, I saw this pokka dot skirt that I really like, price tag show NT2440 and there's a discount of 50%, NT1220, on 1 hand I really like the skirt but its goin to cost me $60 which I dun bear to part, after walking 1 round I decided to get it. We went to taipei Sogo, forgot which station is located and walk to admire all the brands, way way too expensive to buy anything, there's a underground mall nearby & decided to check it out, saw a poodle bag going for NT900 ($45), reminds me of my little darling who is isolated at my parents place now. We had dinner at Ding Tai Feng which we find that it taste a lot better than sillypore and we head back to hotel after dinner. Wanted to go shilin but its raining and we're not sure when exactly typhoon will hit taipei. Stayed in hotel & pack our luggage, there goes Colin's taiwan's saussage with garlic, spicy wanton soup, not too sure when is the next time he get to taste it.

Day 6

3.40am typhoon finally hit taiwan, I finally witness how typhoon is like, I called airport to find out if my flight will be affected, its unknown till 1pm, I need to checkout by 12pm. I ask the duty manager and he claims that the morning typhoon is worse and all SIA flight is not distrupted, mine is in the evening 99% will not be affected. We checkout and went to underground mall to kill 3 hrs of our time, the airport transport is at 3.45pm. Walk around and of cos spend money cos Colin say got excess NT$ better spend it off, got his instructions loud & clear and I bought some nonsense, 3.30pm went back to hotel & timing just right cos the transfer is there to pick up us. Headed to airport check-in & change my seats to row 32, I really have phobia that I'll vomit again after day 1 saga & standby all my sweets & sour plum. We walk in the airport and found a shop that sells authentic Lesportsac bag & I found exactly the one that I wanted to buy from the website, NT1900 ($90+), wanted to see if I can find any dvds for shyenne and all the dvds there will never catch her attention, she love musical dvds which I can't find.

After 4 hours, finally home sweet home, first thing first I called home to inform my parents we're back safe & sound.

Thats total up my 6 days holiday, I tried my best to write as much as I can remember the entire holiday, I bought 20+ pieces of tops, skirts, berms, trendy shorts & t-shirts, 3 bags & 1 pouch. Enough to last me for 2 years