Day 1 Taiwan Trip

Touchdown at 5.30 am, half an hour ahead of schedule. Cleared custom by 6 am. 

Have to take the airport bus to the arrival hall.

Inside Guo Guang Bus. Heading towards Taipei Main Station. Reached TMS at 7.30 am. Super early. What can we do at this hour? Our train to Hualien is at 11.40am and the shops are not opened yet.

Bf at Yoshinoya at TMS. Not very nice.

Collected our train tickets at  TRA (Taiwan Railway Administration) counter. We booked the Taroko Express ticket in advance when we were in Singapore. 

Chillax at Star Bucks at Q Square

Waiting for the shops at Taipei Underground Mall to open at 11 am. Only managed to shop a few shops as we need to catch the train at 11.40am.

At 7-11.  Buying our lunch to eat in the train. Love the 7-11 at Taiwan and Japan.  They have so much to offer that our 7-11 do not have.

Waiting Zone fo Female passengers at Night

Our train to Hualien. Arriving on schedule

Our train details with reserved seat

Our lunch - 便当 Bento (NT$60) from staff pushing cart in the train.   

Standard stuff in the Bento - Pork Chop, salted vege, braised egg, beancurd skin, pickles and rice.

From 7-11. Pig blood cube and radish. 

Had a quick bite at Hua Lien station and took a cab to our Minsu. Cab fare at Hualien is quite ex. Starting fare is NT90 and the meter jump very fast. A 5 to 10 mins ride cost us NT200.

Will be staying at Errantry Lodge & Studio 怡然居攝影風格民宿 for our next 2 nights of stay. It's ranked no. 1 minsu in Hualien and our stay confirm the rating. Although we arrived before the check-in timing, Theresa graciously welcomed us and served us Chinese tea while we waited for our room to be ready. She was always cheerful and smiling and even helped us with the luggage.

Our Greece theme room (NT3600 on Thurs and NT4100 on Fri). The room is cosy, spacious, nicely decorated and immaculately maintained. This is the first time we stayed in a Minsu. We give thumbs up for Errantry Lodge. We experienced 2 slight earthquake while we were in our room. Theresa even came up to check if we are ok.

Complimentary Mochi for us

Complimentary Tiramisu Cake.

What stood out to me about this Minsu was the fact that they provided a free photography session for all their guests. Arthur has an interest in photography and has a studio in the Minsu. We had the photography session that evening. Photos dont look very nice as we had a sleepless night the day before. Puffy and tired eyes. Arthur told us that he will email the compressed version of the photos to us and send us a CD of the photos within 2 week.

Map of Hualien Town. Theresa recommended us all the nice food around Gong Zheng Street(公正街) and Zhong Zheng Road(中正路) area and also at Zi Qiang Night Market (自強夜市).

Arthur even helped us to book a taxi to go to Hualien town. One way trip to Zi QIang night market only cost NT120 which is cheaper than the normal rate of NT180 if it's by meter.

At Zi Qiang Night Market. It's actually a small night market that sell mainly food and more food. Not much of shopping there. We rushed to the famous BBQ meat stall, 第一家烤肉串. There are many varieties of meats to choose from, mainly from beef, pork, chicken, fish and many more. The price is indicated on the meat's tray. We were early so the queue is pretty short. 

Duck parts - very sweet. Still prefer the Sg version

Taiwanese are dogs lover. Can see the owners with their dogs almost everywhere we went. The owners are all very friendly and they do not mind that we play or touch their dogs. Not like Singapore.

妙不可言果汁店

Our first taste of smelly Toufu for this trip.

As the night market is very small, we finished the place within 2 hours. Went back to our Minsu to rest. 

Taiwan Beer to keep us company for the night.

Day 0 of our long waited holiday.

A normal working day for us since we will be taking a night flight. Mad rush in the office as we need to clear all outstanding work so that there will be no disturbance from our office for the next one week. Fetched kids from Mil's place and rushed home to do final packing. Took a cab to Airport. Can choose to take a train but was worried that the train will break down. Better pay more than to miss the flight.

Checked in at SATS Premier Club Lounge Terminal1. Free Premier lounger access by Amex. Shiok. Free drinks (including alcoholic drinks), food and a place to rest before our flight.

Overnight Flight via Jetstar 3K723 to Taoyuan Airport T1. The plane took off exactly at 0115am without any delay. Kudo to Jetstar. Didnt get to sleep much as my back is very pain make worse by the limited leg room.