Day 9: 23rd Dec 2011

[befreetofly]

We went for breakfast at IS Coffee at Peace Bell Square today. Ordered the American breakfast set @ NT150 each, which comprised of scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, toast, orange juice and other beverage (奶茶／红茶）．My parents were impressed with the ambience :)

We then caught a cab to Chia Te Bakery, which cost NT100. 1st cab ride in Taipei! It's quite easy to hail a cab in Taiwan since they are yellow and ubiquitous. Think the starting fare is NT70 and Dad said that the meter only started ticking after a fair distance and increased every 5.5 lampposts.

Spent about an hour at Chia Te as everyone was spoilt for choice :) Think Mum and Dad ended up buying about 6 boxes, Sis 2 boxes and I bought 2 boxes. They packed Mum's into a cardboard box and taped it, ready for check in. Think they're used to tourists patronising their store.

Then we caught a cab back to Sogo so we could put down our Chia Te stuff in the rooms. Then we caught another cab to 普鲁士德国猪脚, which was featured on a variety show some time in Oct/Nov. The nearest MRT is 中山国小, but not sure of the way from there so we took a cab. This stall only allows takeaways and is very popular. I called before collection at noon just in case. They even have vacuum-packed services for bringing overseas, but you have to order 1 day in advance. One pork knuckle costs NT350 and is enough for 4 people if there are other dishes to go with it. If not, 2 would suffice. As it started to rain and there were no empty seats around, we took a cab back to Sogo food court and ordered a pizza so they wouldn't chase us away. Sis bought 木瓜奶昔 for both of us and it was great! All in all, it was a fabulous lunch.

Walked around for about 15 minutes more then went back to our place. Surprise surprise, the next tenant already arrived. It was only 330pm! He was supposed to arrive at 6pm and we were planning to leave at 430pm. We had to evacuate :( Then Micky arrived and helped us hail a cab from the main road. The cab driver was a friendly guy and we gleaned some tidbits of info about Taiwan from him:

• Taiwan land was sold to the private developers by Taiwan government so house prices are skyrocketing.
• Taiwan car plates are messy. First they started with 6-digit number plates. The 2nd-generation ones evolved into 4 digits then 2 letters and 3rd-generation ones were the reverse: 2 letters then 4 digits. Now the 4th generation ones have reverted to the 1st generation ones.
• Driving on the road shoulder (路肩) is legal between 4-7pm. Wonder what impact this would have in SG if it were allowed.
• Cars on Taiwanese roads are allowed as long as they are still functional. So they can be 30 years old!
• NIMBY (not in my backyard) syndrome is also evident in Taiwan. E.g. they want convenience, yet they don't want the highway to be near their house coz of noise.
• The runway is being reconstructed to accommodate the arrival of the A380 and T3 is in the works.

Reached the airport at 4.50pm and the Jetstar staff called us for early check-in :) We were the 1st ones to check in hee. Then we went in search of food upstairs. There was only a Mr Brown's Coffee and a 茶楼．The service at Mr Brown's Coffee was crap, only 1 menu at the counter and when I asked the cashier a question, she said it's all written there. I was like "ok, I'm not eating here." The last place one would expect bad service is at the airport. Coupled with the fact that the overall service standard in Taiwan is quite good, her behaviour was unacceptable. I felt like slapping her but I guess the small number of patrons in the shop was sufficent proof that people might have been turned away by her attitude. Went to the 茶楼 which was 200m away and packed. The boss served us personally and food was ok. Other than that, nothing impressive about the airport. :( T1 is undergoing upgrading.

One broad picture/overview thing is whatever happens on the trip / in future, think positive thoughts and control what you can.