Taiwan June 2008 Day 1

Hello all! In Taiwan now.. Brought my laptop along so now I can update about the trip daily instead of one whole lump later.. Haha.. The weather's pretty hot now just like Singapore..

Day 1- 11 June 2008

Sat China Airlines to Taipei.. Expected the plane to be full as the price of one ticket had risen to about $1015.. However, it was almost half empty.. The landing was bad.. The plane actually had to make a U-turn to land at the airport..

My father's company hired a chauffeur for him and his colleague to drive them from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to work.. And I was just the calafare again.. Haha..

And this is the car that they hired for us.. And guess what is the driver's name? Georgie! Haha.. I'm not kidding! That's what my father calls him and I heard him introducing himself as that too..


And this is my hotel.. I arrived around 1pm but had no chance to take pictures until at night.. It's called San Want Hotel and the hotel's theme revolves around that Wang Wang biscuit so my entire room is covered with the Wang Wang boy.. Haha..

Unpacked and headed next door to an underground shopping centre for a late lunch.. Ate some beef noodles that wasn't that nice and took quite a long time to come..

Then, my father and his colleague headed off for work leaving me alone on the streets of Taipei.. So I walked down the streets and started to reminisce as I also stayed in the same hotel about 3 years ago.. The Watsons, Mcdonalds, Rose CD Shop & Big 5 CD Shop were still around but a lot of shops have changed I realised.. Nothing much to buy though as everything was quite expensive and almost similar to Singapore's price..

Decided to head back to the hotel to rest.. Stopped by at Starbucks to get this Chocolate Chip Cream Blended Ice.. As the internet was free, I decided to use it for a while.. The speed in the afternoon was real fast but dunno why it slowed down terribly at night.. Maybe more people using?

Waited for my father to return before we headed to Ximen Ding with his colleague.. Took the MRT there as it was just like 4 or 5 stops away..

And I was so surprised to realise that the Single Trip ticket is actually a token.. How cute is that? It'll be cuter if it rolls out of your pocket and disappears.. Haha..

Ah.. The streets of Ximen Ding.. It was bustling with life and lots of things to eat and shop there.. And I got another minor shock while roaming the streets.. We saw a busker singing on the streets and decided to stop to listen.. Surprisingly, I saw the back view of someone awfully familiar.. Look at the person I circled below.. My GV friends probably should already guess who I thought she was..

Yes! I thought she was Fion! Haha.. But then, I went in front and realised it was just a mistake.. Haha..


Stopped by this little eatery at the corner for dinner.. I love the oyster omelette! It really puts Singapore's version to shame.. Saw a group of Ang Mohs trying to order as well and my typical father went up to talk to them.. Haha.. But they were quite grateful to us for helping them place their orders.. Haha..

Walked around abit more and headed into this shop that sold lots of posters and stuff.. It used to be my 5566 haven and it still is but not them anymore.. Haha..

Took the MRT back after that to our hotel area and walked over to this Cheng Ping Bookstore to get some books.. It's the 24 hour bookstore that is frequently promoted everywhere.. And their array of books was wow wow whee.. So many things to see and buy.. However, they're English books were rather expensive..

On our walk back to the hotel, we saw this rather funny scene.. The black car was parking illegally along the street and the traffic police and toll truck is called in to remove it.. The whole process of taking photos as evidence to getting the car onto some rollers for the toll truck to pull away took less than a minute and away the car went.. Haha.. Imagine if that was your car.. Come back from some outing to find it gone!

Ok.. That's it for Day 1.. Going to roam around Taipei tml myself again.. Now, I'm going to watch Fated to Love You Episode 13 before Ah Ma comes after me.. Haha..

And a short note to Beilin: Hey! You have gotta meet me when I get back to Singapore.. Bought something you'll definitely like.. Haha..

Ok.. Good night!