A quick journey to Taipei was not meant to be. Rather than get up with the chickens at 430am in the Thai village I am staying in to catch a van to Suvarnabhumi Airport to catch an 11am flight, I opted to take a a van into Bangkok a day early at a reasonable 3pm departure. I didn’t catch much sleep that night due to three women next door partying like it was December 31, 1999.
The day of my flight, I left my hotel at 8am for the airport. The new passport scanners when departing the country made passing through immigration quick and seamless. My flight from Bangkok left promptly at 11am and stopped in Hong Hong – where the flight was delayed 3.5 hours. After landing in Taipei, I quickly caught the airport express to Taipei Main Station and hobbled to my hotel, CHECK inn Taipei Main Station due to painful lower back issues, normally a 10 minute walk, but in my weakened condition, it took me 30. I arrived at my hotel at 10:15pm, some 14+ hours after leaving Bangkok. I should have just paid more and took a non stop flight, with a flight time duration of only 3.5 hours.
The walls were paper thin. I identified three distinctive voices in the room next to mine, two guys and a woman. Despite my exhausted state, sleep was difficult to find until at least 1am as they were loudly laughing up a storm. Then the voices ceased for a few minutes and quickly turned into grunts and squeals as the vocalizations became one of a sexual nature. From my intimate perspective, it appeared that all three individuals were physically enjoying each other.
The next day I met up with a friend who was in town on some wine related business. We connected at Taipei Main Station and randomly walked down side streets arriving at Sando House, a very popular sushi joint at 1050am, 10 minutes prior to their opening. We sat down, the first arrivals. A long line soon formed. Reluctantly we stood up and situated ourselves at the end of the line, but the server quickly motioned for us to move to the front.
We ordered sashimi and ramen. The quality to price ratio here is remarkable. We ordered another plate of sashimi, gorging ourselves. All locals dining.
Bidding my friend adieu, I casually wandered over to the Ximending Walking District. The selection of diverse and unique products in the tiny shops in this district is remarkable. The cute factor of some of these shops appealed to me. Growing up in the 90s I remember visiting video arcades packed with teenagers. I don’t see many video arcades anymore. So it was cool to stumble upon a space simply called Video Arcade. Sadly only a few teens were here.
After another lunch of beef and tendon I took Uber (by the way, very inexpensive here) to Grand Mayfull Hotel Taipei, a significant step up in accommodation featuring a grand exterior and interior entrance. There would be absolutely no external noise coming my way this evening; the room is spacious and insulated like a fortress. But the one commonality between the cheap hotel and this expensive hotel are the toilets. The warm seats are always a treat as are the wizardry of options to choose cleaning positions for stool or urine, temperature and other comforting services.
After a quick gin and tonic which put me feeling fine with the world, I ambled back to the hotel, drew a bath and end up falling asleep munching on the provided Pocky chocolate sticks and Magi Planet popcorn.
Sounds like you had quite an adventure getting to Taipei! It’s always a gamble whether to spend more on a direct flight, especially when you factor in the added stress of connections. Hopefully, once you arrived, the city was worth the journey!
Nano – yes, my inner Asia flights often are adventures in and of themselves! The city is always worth the visit. This winter I hope to also visit Sun Moon Lake out in the country.
Even going somewhere for a few hours is worth it if you’ve never been there before. I cannot wait to visit Taipei. I’ve heard so many great things about the food (which is my main reason for travelling anywhere!)
Hi Julia – re the food, likewise, especially in Asia 🙂 You won’t be disappointed. Ill be back in Taipei sometimes next month or perhaps February. Hopefully an easier flight this time from Thailand.