Fish's Underwater World

Misadventures in Taiwan 1 July

We were all packed and ready to go. Taking China Airlines to Taipei. Let's start with a mini story of China Airlines.
Scene 1
Me: I am taking China Airlines.
K: China Airlines very bumpy ride. Old planes. Though Jetstar Asia is budget airline, the planes are new.
Me: My fren has taken China Airlines before. So should be ok lah.
Scene 2 (At the airport)
Mich: I dunno if i should tell you this.
Me: Huh? What?
Mich: Actually I din take China Airlines to Hongkong the other time.
Me: Oh no. Since we are here, there's nothing we can do. Both our first time taking China Airlines then.
(Read in subsequent blogs about China Airlines)

So the two brave gals boarded the plane and landed safely in Taipei. However, the real drama took place here. Our plane landed on time but the guide who was supposed to pick us up was nowhere in sight. We walked right then left and even walked a few rounds after that. No one with the sign "chenming tour agency". Instead we found an elderly couple who also bought the package from wingo in singapore. Again, we walked a few rounds with the couple. Still no guide in sight. We decided to sit and wait. About an hour had passed. Eventually, we tried paging for the guide (three times in total) over the broadcast system. But to no avail. The lady at the information counter helped me to call him on his mobile. This was our conversation in short:

Me: We have waited for one hour plus.But where is the tour guide?
Man: I am so sorry. He picked up the wrong passengers at the wrong terminal. Therefore, he had already left the airport.
Me: How could that have been possible? You mean there's no name list to check?
Man: You all take cab and will reimburse you tomolo.
Me: (tryin to say something)
Phone went dead.........

No problem. We could make our way there. Just that it was time wasted waiting for the guide. We could have shopped more and eaten more food. Since the hotel (rainbow hotel) we were staying in was in ximending (pedestrian area akin to our chinatown), the cab driver dropped us off at the main road and we walked in.

Our hotel room. Comfy enough.With attached bathroom as well. Once we had freshened up a bit, we explored ximending before the shops were closed for the day. A street in ximending: Bright lights and bustling.

What is the most common thing you can do in Taipei? Eat and eat. Obviously we started our trip trying out the various snacks.
Attack the smelly tofu. The tofu stinks but it tastes ok. Look at the pushcarts at the back. Some of the pushcarts are illegal. When the police come, all of them will disperse.

Another common stall selling grilled stuff. The squid is really HUGE. Cheap too. Me and Mich had the NT70 squid for two days. Ha but it's best not to see how the stall owners prepare the food. What you dun know wont hurt you.

Sausage with jiu ceng ta stuffed in it. Tasted like normal veg. Sausages are yummy. Best food during BBQ.

The BIG FAT JUICY squid. How i love you....

posted by sunkissfish @ 10:47 PM