Taiwan Day 1: Touchdown

Got back from Taiwan on Tuesday and I've been feeling so sad that the vacation has ended! It was shortened by a day and night because we missed our flight ha-ha. This's the second time that Darren and I have missed flights, first was when we went to Phuket when I brought the wrong passport and now this because we were stuck in traffic (how original). I'm now the official do-not-travel-with-her person amongst friends and they'll never stop teasing me about it. My travel life is so dramatic :'(

Anyway, I loved everything about this vacation. Best was of course the company. Because this was my birthday trip, I was queen the entire time mwahaha!

Weather: Transitioning into Fall temperatures. Windy at times so it'll be best to wear a cardigan. I was so worried it'll be rainy and dreary but lucky me, I picked the right dates. The weather makes night markets more enjoyable too.

Hotel: I stayed at Swiio Hotel and loved it. Minimalistic boutique decor and suited my needs. Wanted to be selfish about this location ;)

Food: What I went to Taiwan for and wasn't disappointed.

Shopping: Not my kind of style but did get a few items from Shilin Night Market and Ximending. And I'm a shopaholic :(

Breakfast at Changi Airport

Hello Taiwan, I'm back!

Very important to get a SIM card at the airport

Instead of taking a taxi to the hotel, we decided to try public transport which was so much cheaper. It was quite an experience to take a bus from the airport to Taipei Main Station. From there, we took a short taxi ride to Ximending where our hotel was located. Was happy to find that our hotel was right smack in XMD!

Welcome sign outside our door

Size of the doorway haha

Loved the clean bathroom

See the rainforest shower thing on the ceiling

Very thoughtful bathroom necessities

Muji(?) soap dispenser that we didn't use

Flat screen entertainment every night

International socket

Environmentally friendly = PLUS POINTS

Bedroom slippers provided

'Closet' and 'pantry'

Safe + cute fridge

Accessible switches by the bed for lazy people like me

HAHA

It was around mid-afternoon when we were there so we just explored the area a bit.

Black Beauty

The golden retriever's name is 阿毛 (Ah Mao) and she's the owner of her own risotto cafe. More photos in a later entry. She's super cuteee.

XMD outlet

To be honest, I didn't really like the mee sua at the XMD outlet. The Shilin outlet was so much better! Also, it was so awkward eating there because there were a couple of guys trying to sneakily snap photos of Darren?!?! Dislike.

Dude went crazy at Nike and it's only the first day

Blinded by lights every night. It also took me awhile to get used to the layout of XMD because everywhere looked the same to me. I think I suffer from night blindness...

Famous boiling hot grilled mochi

LOVED THESE FISHBALLS CURRY FLAVORED

"It's a store and more" only applies in Taiwan, seriously.

Happy camper with a huge Yakult drink and didn't wanna share haha!

I love dogs what can I say

Some onion biscuit thing 葱油饼 I think

Humans

We want your body... HAHA

This gym was right opposite the hotel much to Darren's delight. We went on an inside tour by a nice consultant called Bell, and it was like a club decided to include equipments and call it a gym. There was a room where you could watch a movie and exercise at the same time! They even have a listing of what movies are going to play at whatever time. Needless to say, Darren spent most of his mornings there while I buried myself in bed. He paid 650TWD (S$28) per entry, which is considered costly compared to other gyms there. The amount he paid during the span of our vacation, could maybe buy him a monthly membership lol.

A nightly affair

Behind the shades is actually the bathroom. There's a huge glass window there! I open it when I need light from the bathroom when I'm doing make-up on the bed. The room doesn't have a window which might explain why I tend to sleep in more than usual...

Day 2 of Taiwan coming right up!