Taiwan Day 1: Taipei to Tainan

Left Singapore around 1pm to fly over to Taipei.

Well, I was flying JetStar Asia, the seats are quite uncomfortable, the table and the condition of the seats are quite badly maintain and it seems like it's gonna fall apart soon, there weren't any much space for your legs to stretch so overall I give it 2/5 for comfort level. That's what you get for "budget" airlines.

Once we reached the airport, we took a taxi to Taipei main train station, any taxi from the airport to places in Taipei will be charging a standard taxi fare of about NT$1100(S$50+), abit expensive, so Singaporean better don't complain that Singapore taxi fare expensive ok! The taxi drivers there are like rally car drivers, they have the speed and the guts to weave in and out of the heavy traffic, I have to hold on to the passenger seat handle to keep myself steady most of the time. What I don't like about the driver was that he was chewing betel nuts and his cab smells very stale! After chewing the betel nuts he will spit the juices in a plastic cup and when it is about full, he will throw it out of the window, the scene is quite gross so I won't elaborate further. Comfort level 1/5. Choose a better taxi type like Toyota Camry or Wish, comfort level will be definietly higher.

Upon reaching Taipei main train station, we were quite lost about getting our way to Tainan. We went around asking people but apparently still quite lost, until we asked upon a beautiful girl which showed us the direction and gave us instruction on how to get there, then finally we saw the light! We are not "hum sup" ok, is just that we need some morale booster to help us through difficult times...

Bought our tickets, which cost around NT$1350(S$67.50), and off we go to Tainan, where we will meet up Dhana's father's friend Xiao Kang. There are business class seats but we of course choose the cheaper one lah, but it doesn't compromise the comfort lor. It is much more spacious compared to budget airline seats, which allow you to have more room for your legs to stretch. For a family of four you could even turn your chair around to face each other, amazing but true! The journey from Taipei to Tainan with the bullet train takes around one and a half hour compared to the old train system which will take around 4 hours to reach! We left Taipei around 715pm and reach there around 9pm. Along the journey there will be a lady(some of them quite pretty lor...hehe) pushing a cart selling drinks and snacks to passenger. If you do not wish to buy from her, there are also vending machines located at different parts of the train. Comfort level 4/5.

Upon reaching Tainan, we met up with Xiao Kang and from there he brought us around Tainan to have dinner. He suggested we don't have a heavy meal because he will bring us to a night market to try out different local delights. The first eating place we went is this famous noodle restaurant call "Du Xiao Yue" where we ate their famous dish "Dan Zai Mian". I can tell you this is the best noodle I ever had in my entire life! The portion is not very big but the taste and flavour of the soup and noodle will definitely lingers around in your mouth for a very long time! We also tried some of their famous side dishes but nothing beats their Dan Zhai Man! Next we proceed to their night market and tried various local delights like BBQ squid, "Tian Bu La"(is actually called Tempura but Taiwanese called it that way), ice cream ball and much more. Sorry I never take much photo on the food because I was too busy munching away!

I don't really know how long we were walking around the night market but I guess the tiredness starts to kick in. We then checked into the hotel that Xiao Kang have arranged for us. The hotel that we checked in was unbelievably beautiful! Check out from their website and the photos I took. Because Xiao Kang have corporate dealings with them therefore the rates are lower. I really felt very paiseh because this entire Tainan expenses(hotel stay, food, transport and showing us around) was covered by Xiao Kang, really owe him a BIG one! I guess this is how Taiwanese show their hospitality to their guest. Also show how "BIG" thier face are, not in a bad way. Comfort level 5/5!

Ok that wraps up for the first day...stay tuned for more...