Day 1:
The day started abnormally early as we had to be at the airport BY 6am to catch the 8am flight out of Singapore to Chiang Kai Shek (CKS) International Airport. As I've mentioned, CKS is situated in Taoyuan, one entire state away from the nearest major city, Taipei. The flight was uneventful although I would say that the food served by SIA was well..... nothing fanciful this time round (I've had better food on Thai Airways and Air New Zealand).
On arrival at CKS, we spotted our tour leader, Ah Xiang (xiang as in fragrant in Chinese). After a long wait at the airport for the remaining 28 people in the tour group (some of whom would serve to irritate me for the rest of the trip), we loaded our luggage and set off for our first destination; the tallest building in the world (for now), Taipei 101.
Taipei 101's shopping area from the inside
Taipei 101 was basically just another shopping mall that we could see in Singapore, except that it happens to be the tallest building in the world. Shop-wise, it is extremely similar to Suntec City, for its sheer size and the type of shops seen in it. Very expensive stuff in there as well, plus the food wasn't all that impressive. We have better food in Suntec City =P
Martry's Shrine
After spending time in the world's tallest building, we head over to Martyr's Shrine to watch the hourly changing of guards ceremony. For one, I think they look weird marching.... they march with ONE LEG raised 90 degree whenever that foot took a step with the other leg moving normally. They were famed for the precision shown whenever they threw their rifles in the air (supposedly) but we saw none of that. To me, it was a little boring, I've seen better at foot drill competitions at the secondary school level in Singapore. Lol. However, it was a great honour for those selected to perform duty there so I've really got nothing to say. I was hoping for something a little more spectacular and impressive and didn't exactly get that.
By the time we were done there, it was about 4.50pm and it being early winter in Taipei, the sun was barely in the sky. We took the bus over to Shilin Night Market, arriving past 5pm by then the sun had already begun setting. I must say though, the things in Taiwan cannot be considered cheap because they are not. The prices there are comparable to Singapore. We were there at the wrong season so all the thick woollen clothing and long sleeved shirts came out, none of which were suitable for Singapore's climate. The shoes were horrendous looking (which came as a major disappointment as I came home with NOT A SINGLE pair of shoes). After hardly spending ANY money in the shopping area of Shilin, we headed for the food section. Here's what we tried:
1. Chicken Steak : Nice, very nice, especially, in the cold weather, has lots of bones though
2. Da Pao Bao Xiao Pao (Big bun wrapped around a smaller bun?): We tried the one with peanut BUT couldn't taste ANY peanut at all and were left wondering if they added peanuts in the first place. Nothing fanciful.
3. Guan Cai Ban (Coffin board?): It's this bread that has been deep fried, after the deep frying process, a flap is removed to create an indentation. Some filling is then used to fill this indentation. The flap is then replaced. The fillings then to differ according to the type of meat used. It was ok, but my family didn't really like it. I found it ok, neither liking it nor disliking it.
4. Oyster Omelette: After hearing all the hype about this particular delicacy from the tour guide on the bus, we decided to try it and was disappointed. It was waaaaaaay too starchy and the oysters didn't taste fresh.
5. Mango Dessert: On the verge of defeat, we decided to give the food at Shilin one last chance at redemption and settled on dessert. It was basically lots of mango, shaven ice and one big scoop of mango ice cream put together. And it was heavenly. Easily the best item of the day. Despite the valiant effort put in by this particular dish, it wasn't enough to salvage all the misses made by the other dishes earlier on. In the end, I would give Shilin Night Market a score of 2/5.
Overhyped and not particularly enjoyable.
We then checked into out supposedly 4* hotel only to find that the facilities and the room resembled a 3* hotel. As we found out on Day 2, the food in the hotel.... was not the least bit satisfactory. Definitely a 3* hotel.
