[TRAVEL]: Splendid Taipei!

For months and months we planned and thought of all the possible places we could celebrate our birthdays together in advance. If you have been following our travel blogs, each year since 2011 we made it a point to fly out of town for our birthdays. For this year on the other hand, we decided to step it up a notch – we decided to fly to Taipei.

We had an amazing time during this trip and lots of stories to tell, so I've decided to breakdown my blog into a series of entries. Our adventure starts here ….

Day 0.5

February 9, 2013

At 8:35 PM - EVA airline called for boarding. Both Jcel and I couldn’t stop grinning at each other as if we were drugged of happiness. When we finally got on the plane, there were more grinning and giggles seeing that the whole interior of Eva plane that we were on was Hello Kitty themed. All the seats have Hello Kitty Headrest, even the headsets, and the paper bags. It was as if we were on a kiddie ride to Taipei.

At 8:47 PM It was ready for take off. The thought of the plane taking off always makes me feel nervous especially that I've just watch the new movie - FLIGHT. The thought of it ... Gosh! How nerve-racking!

After take off, they served our dinner. Fish fillet and rice together with sautéed vegetables and some meat salad plus a tetra pack of all natural 100% orange juice. The main event on our meal was the utensils; they were Hello Kitty and come in pink colour. They were very cute and kind of gay for the “macho” passengers. Dinner wasn't bad at all; I actually enjoyed it and it tasted good, better than the food I've tasted from other airlines. Coffee and tea were served right after.

The flight only took about an hour and a half, it was as if we only went to Shenzhen. But before we descended, I decided to go to the loo; just as I entered I just can’t stop smiling. The toilet was so adorable! Hello Kitty’s everywhere! The mini cups, the tissue papers, I’m telling you; it was Hello Kitty madness on that plane - but in a good way! :)

You must be thinking where are the pictures of the toilet I'm talking about?But no, I did not take pictures of the toilet, I think it's a little too much if I did that. :).... hehehe

An hour and a half later, we landed safely in Taiwan and the first thing I saw was a firework on one of the buildings that was near the runway. It was as if, welcoming us to the country. There weren't that many people as we were lining up at the immigration so it didn't take long before we headed to the luggage carousel. A similar event happened in regards with our luggage. Jcel's bag came in a little later than mine. Thought her bag was lost again. hahahaha

According to our research our hotel should be near the airport. But we were mistaken. Initial thinking was to take a cab, but I was a little worried about the safety. Nevertheless, we lined up for a cab. A cab officer then approached us and asked where we wanted to go. We showed him the paper we printed out from the website and he then listed the place and address in his record book and told the cab driver. On our way, random fireworks were visible as they were celebrating the CNY as well. But aside from that, the road was very quiet and not what we expected it would be. It took about half an hour before we arrived in the hotel. 

When we arrived, we were welcomed by a very cheerful woman at the front desk. She was  friendly and made sure we've got everything we needed plus she speaks English quite well so communication wasn't a problem.  On the other hand, we were told that we won't have our free breakfast for two mornings because their cooks were on holiday for the CNY. :(

Our hotel was standard. Actually we were expecting it to be worse  but thankfully it was decent enough. They offer you all your basic needs sans the glamour but all is well nonetheless.

So I'll end this blog here, but watch out for more Taipei adventures! 

Cheers!
-= bex =-