2018aug27 • 轉機快閃TPE Day 1
Given the circumstances, this wasn’t a legit trip since it was just a “stopover”, and despite really looking forward to it, I probably shouldn’t be blogging about it. But it’s my blog. And they have enough to hate me for. It’s nothing more or less than what they’d think of me anyways. So I guess I have nothing to worry. Damn the world. If anyone can do that, why not I. But i digress. It was a fun and chill trip, and I enjoyed it.
10:59 These two weeks of almost harder than physical work, waking at all hours and sleeping barely winks, I was actually looking forward to leaving, although I was missing the vast carpets of our Richmond apartment more. My parents both accompanied me to the airport to see us off, both praising the growing up I’ve done and the role I played these two weeks, at least someone’s grateful, it means a lot in these times. We got there earlier than planned, thanks to the short taxi ride then the express bus all the way to the airport. Although I usually sleep on bus rides, I spent most of it chatting with mom and dad, probably an annoying bunch to most other passengers of the upper deck on that bus, heh. And because of our great timing, we had some time to do a bit of light chatting over a cup of Starbucks each and shared a blueberry muffin and blueberry yogurt. Happy times.
12:09 Checked in all our luggages. Mine was 21.1kg despite all my frenzy shopping, Ron’s was 23.3kg after adding uncle’s stuff within, but Kelvin’s was 26.6kg. Thankfully we had room for 4 pieces of luggage and Eva Air staff said it was okay if one person had only one piece of luggage for it to be up to 32kg. Wow. Don’t quote me on it though. On a side note, i must have cracked my monitor protector, as there’s a weird light effect on all the photos taken with the front camera now, aww.
13:10 Planned take off time
13:29 Comfortably seated
14:18 Fare thee well HKG. Thanks to early online check-in, I got a window seat, yay. I just love watching the plane take off and the beautiful scenery as we climb higher and higher. I probably have tons of these views of clouds and birds eye view of the world below, but I still spend a considerable portion of in-flight time taking these pics. Not that i could miss anything, the flight was too short for sleeping, and there was no in-flight movies, nor even a screen, couldn’t even charge my phone. Oh good thing i charged my phone full the night before, teehee.
Not long after, tea was served. Two pieces of marble cake, green tea and chocolate, looked legit but maybe i wasn’t hungry so it tasted so-so. Some taiwanese snacks. But no hot tea, turbulence or something..
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15:39 Start decending.
16:12 Our first purchase in Taiwan. Phone sim card with unlimited wifi for 3 days and a bonus 1 day (though that was useless for us) for $230 NT.
16:30 Got through customs. Once again, I can never get my finger prints with their machines! I’ve tried warming my fingers, wetting my fingers, licking em, drying em, it just don’t work! Oh well, at least they let me through relatively hassle free.
16:41 At the MRT counter on the ground floor of the airport.
We found out about Taoyuan Airport MRT (Airport MRT 桃園機場捷運), a rapid line of Taoyuan metro (TY metro 桃園捷運) which only stops at Taipei Main station and Airport in 38 minutes, on our last trip when we barely made check-in and almost risked missing out flight. This time, with 3 huge oversized luggages in tow and late flight the last day, we were willing to splurge a little to avoid the troubles. We can also in-town check in our luggages from 06:00 to 3 hours before our flight, which should make our last day more enjoyable. But more on that later.
Figured we might get a discount if we purchased a round trip here, turns out they don’t sell discount tickets. But the staff was nice to point us to the counter right outside MRT station on B1 level where tourists can get a discount!
16:46 On our search for MRT station, we got side tracked by the 統一超商美食廣場 PCSC Food Court on B1 level of the airport. This was where we got the 肉丸餃子meatball dumpling (hehheh) last trip, but this time we went for 度小月.
16:47 度小月 Duxiaoyue.
擔仔麵 Dan Tsai noodle $65 NT.
祖傳肉燥飯 Ancestral braised pork with rice (S) $35 NT.
So we’ve eaten this quite a few times on our previous trips, but mostly as take out. Even cold, the noodle was really good. And this time having it fresh and hot, it was really good and much better than the rice. The portions are quite small, which was great for us since we wanted to go night market later on, but might not be enough for most.
17:14 With a lovely meal in my tummy, we regained some energy to drag (yes, the darned wheels on a wheelie luggage not working) our overstuffed luggage to the MRT station. At the MRT discount booth (don’t know it’s actual name), located just steps away from the MRT customer service office. One way ticket $153 NT (originally $160 NT), Round trip ticket $279 (originally $320 NT). There is also a 易飛好有禮 (創意和果子手信坊大方贈), a coupon for some taiwanese souvenir snacks, but we didn’t have the time to find the store.
18:21 A1 Taipei Main Station. What should have been few steps, according to google maps a 5 minute walk, ended up taking an hour while dragging our luggages. Along the way we had many odd stares as passerby and railway staff alike wondered whether we must be carrying DB or gold bricks. Thankfully we booked a hotel so close to Taipei Main Station. Walking along the underground mall, we had to make quite a few rest stops, but it was still easier than walking above ground. Firstly, it was pouring. Secondly, there was just no way to run with any of the luggages, much less all three. Thirdly, we had no umbrella, hah.
19:29 Morwing Hotel. Deluxe Room with no window, 140 square feet. Yeah, don’t expect too much out of these almost hostel like rooms even if they say “deluxe”. And to be fair, we were just looking for something cheap, just enough for sleeping as we had planned to be outside most of the day (and night market) anyways. Our room was on 2nd floor and had a kitty cat theme. After standing our luggages along the wall, there was just enough space to slip in sideways. There’s a full length mirror behind the door, although that was rarely used because the doorway space was so limited, and just not handy in general. There was a flatscreen TV (heh, no room for CRT, don’t worry) above the desk, which had a list of rules, a menu book, a hot water boiler, a bowl of two bananas and slippers. The first drawer held toiletries, teabags, snacks, and cups. Underneath it was a mini fridge which held two bottles of water. Behind is a double bed with a small bedside table which also held a mini safe. The washroom, though small, had a bidet toilet and a comfortable shower stall. I rather liked the shower because you can control it to come through the tap, the moveable shower head or an overhead shower. And the controls were easy to understand. Body wash and shampoo is provided, conditioner you will need ask for at the front desk. (Morwing Hotel).
21:25 Cosmed, Dr. Wu $399, Avene $299, 試用裝好便宜。台灣的藥妝店好多選擇喔！
21:30 咪噠 MiniK. The first I’ve seen of these mini karaoke stations, can fit two person and you can pay for as little as one song or up to 60 minutes
包歌 包時
1 song $50
3 songs 15 minutes $130
30 minutes $200
7 songs $250
10 songs 60 minutes $400
Although it’s still cheaper and comfier to go KTV if you plan to sing longer, but these self serve mini stations are quite interesting, and might be a good rest stop between shopping or while waiting.
22:00 劍潭站 Jiantan station, also the closest to Shihlin night market, right across the intersection. I’ve never really noticed, but there’s a diagonal crosswalk similar to Shibuya crossing, with its own traffic lights and all! But only during certain hours.
22:07 王子起士馬鈴薯。Still love eating this, but too much line up at the moment.
22:09 火焰骰子牛。Another all time favorite, and despite all their branches/stalls, the quality seems quite standardized, and yummy! My favorite 玫瑰礦鹽 flavor
義大利香料 日式照燒醬 新疆孜然 辣味
22:17 邊走邊吃，來到B1美食區。肚子餓朋友來這邊一定可以填飽肚子。除了選擇多，他們份量也不小氣喔！可惜 我好像過了大吃大喝多年紀，比較專情幾家喜歡的。
22:41 頂好香。很愛吃的滷味店，選了菜色後可以加熱！天氣冷吃很舒服，但我好像什麼季節都愛吃耶！不過好像搬家了，幸好鄰居攤位幫忙指路。
22:55 忘了名字的耳環店。位於「頂好香」舊址的巷子裡，他們耳環選擇雖然沒有很多很多，但很多都很漂亮，主要還可以免費幫我換成夾耳式的！而且有透明，銀色和金色的夾耳夾（吼 不會說），但我選的三款他們都建議用透明的。
個人之前試過透明和金色款（金色銀色是一樣款的只是不同顏色）。透明款的是用有軟度的塑膠，可以輕輕拉開夾耳珠上，但因為開口大小不能調整，所以感覺有點緊（也許是好事，畢竟夾耳式的好像好容易掉落喔）而且怕拉太用力會斷。相比，金色銀色款的可以調整螺絲鬆緊，再拉開夾上也很順手，但機關多也許容易壞吧。這麼說好像有點「小人之心，度君子之腹」，但感覺透明款的可能便宜點吧？這只是我個人猜測啦，可以試清楚，自己喜歡就好。
23:53 大苑子 Dayung。買了最愛的
新鮮水果茶 L $70
鮮榨葡萄柚綠 XL $100
買 XL 還可以送瓶子喔，蠻漂亮的，呵呵。
00:02 王子起士馬鈴薯。幸好關門前有趕上去排隊，有買到！
00:43 回到酒店房間，吃宵夜。
Hehe,
Hi!da 