Destination: Taiwan

At long last, summer vacation had arrived.  I completed my two weeks of English camps, and was granted almost two weeks of vacation time.  Melanie and I had originally planned to go to Thailand for our summer vacation, but budgeting concerns and truly tragic flight schedules axed that idea.  Our next choice was Taiwan: it’s much closer to South Korea, there is only a one hour time difference, and there are plenty of short, non-stop, and affordable, flights available.

We left Gwangju on August 8 and bused to Incheon International Airport in Seoul.  Our flight left early on the morning of the 9th, but Melanie’s English camp ran until 1:30pm on the 8th, so we opted to stay the night and leave in the morning.  Neither of us had ever been to Taiwan before, and like a couple of school kids we excitedly waited for our plane to depart.

Somewhere on that board was our flight to Taiwan…

There is something a little odd about the exterior design concept of the Incheon International Airport.  Koreans love to play golf, but really?

This is the first Subway I’ve found in all of Korea.  There is no better way to start your morning off right than with a 6-inch turkey sub with chipotle sauce (it’s called “southwest sauce” here).

Our flight finally began, and the trip itself was uneventful.  Being only exposed to North American airlines, there is a lot of be said about how foreign airlines remember how air travel used to be.  The meals are amazing (for airplane food), even economy class has leg room, and the staff are just happier to be there than the North American equivalent.  If you’ve never flown outside of North America, I highly recommend it.

We arrived at Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport, and after clearing customs (they actually stamped my passport!) and getting our bags, we hopped on a shuttle bus to take us to our hotel.  The ride was longer than I expected, and it’s entirely possible that the “shuttle bus” was actually just a regular city bus that followed a set route from the airport to the Datong district.  I’ve never been on a shuttle from an airport that picked people up at various places along the way.

On the ride to our hotel, I caught glimpses of red collared-doves and a besra along the highway.  These quick views counted as my first two lifers of the trip.  Did you honestly think I wouldn’t be hyper-vigilant once I set foot in Taipei?  Lifers could be anywhere, and I was on a mission.

In a round-about fashion we arrived at our destination, the Dong Wu Hotel in the Datong district of Taipei.  The hotel came highly recommended for quality service at reasonable prices, and its location 5 minutes from the Daqiaotou MRT station was ideal to quick travel around Taipei without having a vehicle.

Although it didn’t look like much from the outside (Datong is an older neighborhood), I was impressed with the service and facilities at the hotel.  All of the staff spoke excellent English, and were always ready to greet you, even in passing.  The rooms were what you’d expect from a decent hotel, and the free breakfast every morning included a combination of Chinese and Western options.  There is also a Family Mart next door to the hotel; think 711.

The Dong Wu Hotel at night.  I still don’t know why I didn’t get a shot of it during the day.

We spent most of the first day of our trip unpacking and unwinding.  We both had researched places and attractions we wanted to see during our trip, so for dinner we headed over to the Ximending Night Market (西門町).  The night market can be accessed from Exit 6 of the Ximen Station.

Taipei Metro map.  Ximen Station is circled in red.

One thing to say about the Taipei Metro system – it’s amazing!  Every station is clean and climate controlled.  The prices are insanely cheap: $500 NTD, or $16.50 USD, lasted me the full length of our trip, where we used the MRT every day we were in Taipei.  The trains arrive on time, and for the most part, although sometimes the trains can be very crowded, people are extremely polite and we were never bumped or pushed.  There is only one thing to know about the MRT – do not eat, drink, or even chew gum, anywhere in the stations.  Not a bottle of water or bagel.  Doing so lands you a fine between $1,500 and $7,500 NTD ($50 to $250 USD).  I’ve come to realize that Asia really has its act together when it comes to public transportation, at least Taiwan and South Korea do.

When we got to Ximending, we were a little overwhelmed.  Large crowds of Asians has long since ceased to amaze us, but we had gotten used to signs being written in hangeul, Korea’s alphabet, so that even though we usually don’t know what it’s saying, we can still read the words and maybe get lucky and have it being phonetic English written out in Korean.  But in Taipei, Mandarin is the official language, and the Chinese writing system is a whole new ball game.  So, back to picture menus it is.

Luckily for us we stumbled onto Sam’s Noodles Hong Kong, a pho style noodle house in Ximending.  The menu was bilingual, and the staff spoke relatively good English.  But the food was amazing.  I used to love going out for pho when I lived in Ottawa, and I’ve found a few good places in Korea as well.  Plenty of food, and the bill came to only $280 NTD ($9.34 USD).

One of the specials at Sam’s Noodles Hong Kong.  All that food for only $4.33 USD.

Ham and beef with noodles in a medium-spicy broth.  Add in hints of cumin and curry…hungry yet?

After dinner we walked around Ximending for a while longer, taking in the atmosphere of the place.  It’s a sign of the approaching autumn (and the lower latitudes) that it was getting dark at 6:30pm, so we returned to the hotel and watched some Chinese TV before calling it a day.

The adventure was just beginning…
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Day List: 2
Lifers of the Day (2): Red Collared-dove, Besra
Taiwan List: 2
Life List: 504