Taipei - Part 2

The perils of cheap flight tickets...

"If you want to get around cheap, chances are: you will be made to fly at unGodly hours. Yeah, I said about it and my five-day whirlwind tour of Taipei is drawing to an end. I am looking forward to hit Kuala Lumpur, fill my lungs with suspended particles from the burnt peat swamp and endure the sweltering heat.
Truth to be told, I am not a big fan of the cold..." - Samo

Wet, wet, wet...

Taipei experienced constant showers throughout my stay.
Every day is a wet day and the cold temperature that sunk in didn't help.
I took time off to explore downtown Taipei and ended up at its Central Business District near the Taipei 101 tower.
This is a landmark which is a "must see" if you ever hit Taipei!
I made my way to the Taipei Central station to take an MRT ride to Taipei 101.
This was a straight-forward process and takes less than 15-minutes to get there.
I got off at the last station and walked in the rain and all I found was a tower covered with clouds.
Taipei 101 is like how we admire our Petronas Twin Towers. It's an architectural achievement and a symbol of a country's financial might.

Covered in cloud: The Taipei 101

A wet day in Taipei

A clearer day

Taipei's Central Business District

Easy card

If you can get hold of the Taiwan's Easy Card, do make it a point if you want to travel with bus and rail around the city.
This can be topped-up (minimum NT$100, max NT$5,000) at any MRT stations or at 7Eleven outlets.
I get around with the MRT and for the first three days, its from Ximending to Nangang Exhibition hall.
Savings is the key here as it costs much more for taxis.
To sum it up, the route is simple to follow and if you frequently use the subway, Taiwan's tube is a piece of cake.

Want-list

I had a couple of things to look for.
Unfortunately, they did not appear on my radar.
High on my priority list: was a set of large wristbands for my fitbit flex. Na-da!
Then, Snowpeak camping gear. I wanted a stubby titanium spork. And I found out that the concept store is in Taichung. That's pretty far.
Prior to my visit to Taipei, I had no idea that the island republic is so large!
But, I did find something that caught my fancy.
I have been looking for a pair of New Balance shoes and ended up with a pair of black 990s.
These came in 4E width and is made in the USA.
For foreign customers, one can claim VAT refund (5%) and best of all, the sales person will help you claim.
That's strike one and I guess I'll have to look for the Fitbit stuff when I visit the US.

Walk, walk, walk..

The best way to see parts of Taipei is on foot.
I don't mind this and one of the requirements is having a pair of good footwear. And also make it waterproof!
On the average, I take about 3,000 steps a day. 
Here in Taipei, my daily steps is above 15,000 and my record was 21,000.
I measure with with an apps on my Android phone. Its called "Noom Walk".
If I had my Fitbit fitness monitor, it will do the same and vibrate to tell me that I have achieved my daily goal. 

Ximen's wet market

A variety of Tilapia found at the market

Good street food along Kunming street

Fair weather, at last!

Sunday was my last day in Taipei.
I plan to head off to the downtown area to score my shoes.
Then, the rest of the day was to round up some Chinese Ham for my double-boiled soup project at home.
I took a walk to the Ximen market which was just behind my homestay motel.
Its an interesting place and I spent some time there snapping away with my camera.
Seems that the sea fishes here are the same variety found in tropical waters. Only with the exception of farmed large-mouth bass.
Then, I found a stall and ate their "squid thick soup".
It turned out to be a delicious bowl of Lam Mee with sotong. 
Later, I set out to the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store to round up my gear.
When that was done, I went to the Far East Department store in Ximen and had late lunch at a Beef Noodles shop. 

Spicy chicken feet

Taiwan beer!

It seems that the Beef noodles shop is an award-winning food outlet and the fare was pretty good! 
I was amazed with the starter dishes: spicy chicken feet and smoked pig's ears. Totally awesome.
The beef noodles was tasty and the meat scallions that came with it was cooked to perfection.
After a good meal, I went shopping for some knick-knacks to bring home and made my way back to hotel to pack my stuff.
For a last sweep, I headed by to the Taipei City Mall to look around and ended up treating myself to a nice dinner at a steak house near the motel.
That was the highlight of my stay in Taipei.
Back at the motel, I try to catch some sleep and managed to squeeze in about two hours and how time flies.
By the time I woke up, it was already half-past midnight.
Since I can't get back to sleep, I updated this blog and completed the second and final installment of my Taipei trip.
It's time to head to Taoyuan airport, check-in and wait to board my flight back to Kuala Lumpur.
So, that's it! This Samo, signing off from Taipei...

Taipei - Part 1

(This is the journal of my stay in Taipei, Taiwan, where I attended the Taipei Cycle 2014 trade show and spent two extra days chilling out in this awesome city)

A planned trip...

Onboard the MAS 737-800 on the medium-haul journey to Taiwan

I hardly travel to international trade shows.
My last was a gun and knife show in Las Vegas, USA. That was back in 2009 where I spent two weeks in the US with my wife.
We toured the Grand Canyon as well as parts of Arizona and Nevada.
Some months back, Joshua Hon of Tern Bicycles invited me to the Tern Social Ride at the Nangang Exhibition Hall in Taipei and I thought that it was a great opportunity to catch up with the man behind one of the most respectable folding bike manufacturer on this planet.
So, I worked on trying to source for a cheap return flight from Kuala Lumpur.
On the average, a Malaysian Airlines ticket would cost between RM1,300 to RM1,900 depending on the day you depart.
There was an offer on the Taipei ticket and I managed to score a return ticket at RM950.
But, there is a price to pay for this.
You leave on unGodly hours.
Nevertheless, I've secured my ride to Taiwan and what that was left to do, is a place to crash.
I am used to budget travel - especially when I have to boot the expenses myself..
So, I combed the internet for the best rates and was told by my colleague that "homestays" in Taipei are pretty affordable.
I gave it a shot by signing-up with Booking.com and found a cosy little place to bunk at the Ximending district.
This is said to be a lively place with food around the clock.
I booked a room for RM750 for five nights.
On the average, that's the price for a room for one night at any three-star hotel in Taipei.
With my airplane ticket and accommodation settled, its a matter of getting some pocket money and that was no real issue.
My flight departed from the KLIA on March 5 at 1:45am.
When I arrived at the Taoyuan international airport in Taipei, I was struggling with sleep deprivation.
The plane touched down safely at 06:15am and the slow process of reclaiming baggage and clearing Customs and Immigration begins to roll.
By 7am, I was on a bus bound for the Taipei City Terminal.

Sunrise over Taiwan

Rolling out from Taoyuan international airport

Lost in translation...

One of my biggest regret is not learning Mandarin.
That's the official language in Taiwan and it is a struggle for me to get about and around.
Lucky for me, my colleague Ng Kok Leong, The Star's Photo Editor helped out by getting me some brochures and an empty Easy Card for use with subway travel.
The rest was observing polite gestures and Taipei surprised me a lot. The people here are friendly and some do speak English.
I asked a train commuter on how to get to Ximending and was told to take the Bannan line and get out at the first station - Ximen.
From there, its locating the hostel that became another daunting task.
I walked around, trying to locate Xining Street. Nada.
Then, I asked a Taiwanese guy and was shown the right direction.
It took me about 20-minutes to locate the reception of the motel and once I got there, I was told that I could only check-in after 12-noon.

Loading up

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. 
In the aircraft, I had some noodles and chicken. That kept me full till the wee hours of the morning.
There's no shortage of food in Ximending.
Plenty of takeaway stalls and streetfood made this the perfect place to crash.
I found a shop selling Goose noodles and ordered a bowl.
The man who served me asked if I wanted to NT Dollar 100 or 200 serving.
I opted for a larger serving since it was my first meal of the day and when the noodles came, I was rather disappointed. 
It was a bowl of soup noodles with a piece of meat in it.
"200 bucks and only a piece of meat?", I thought out loud.
Then came a plate of Goose which was a relief. The meat was really salty and I guess you are supposed to dunk it into the noodle soup and down it. So, that was breakfast...

Goose for breakfast

Soup noodles with lots of beansprouts - just love it!

Apart from small eateries, you can find food at any convenience store.
They serve Oden (Japanese Yong Tau Foo) and a typical hot bowl costs around NT60 (four pieces of fishball, beancurd and so on..)
There's family mart, 7-Eleven and some homegrown companies offering food and essential items around the clock.
In Ximen, there's literally one 7Eleven at every corner of a building block.

Shopping, shopping, shopping...

We Malaysians and shopaholics.
If you go on a tour and omit shopping from the itinerary, you will end up with a riot.
That's a fact.
Ximending is a open pedestrian mall and for a dinosaur like me, I am lost.
Plenty of shops catering for the hipsters rather than an adventure nut like me.
So, I didn't bother much with the shopping bid.
But I did explore the street opposite Ximen where there is a row of shops selling cameras.
And most of the goods are similar to what we have in KL. No big deal.
But if you are into portable electronics, there are some surprises in store!

The lucky cat

Camera street

I didn't explore much of the sights and sounds in Ximending.
This is purely a food and shopping paradise.
My first three days in Taipei was focussed on the Cycle Taipei show and when it's over on my part, I managed to check out at the Taipei 101 tower...