Taiwan 2019 - Part 1

Day 0 - Thursday, October 17, 2019.

We flew to Taipei from Manila with Philippine Airlines at Terminal 2. Our flight departure was scheduled at 5:40 in the afternoon. Steve and I already met at the condo in Makati and so we met Grace at the airport because she came all the way from Baguio City (though Steve came all the way from Isabela, much further!). I booked the flights on March, and probably PAL had a sale that time and each roundtrip ticket costs 135 USD per person (already with 25 kg free baggage allowance, a hot meal and 10% Mabuhay miles credit).

Departure from NAIA Terminal 2

Ready to board! PAL flight no. PR 894 bound to Taipei.

Mandatory groufie inside the plane 💙✌

"Hot meal"

We arrived at Taipei International Airport Terminal 1 at around 8 PM. After clearing immigration, we collected our rented pocket wifi from Klook which was super cheap (and definitely useful for the trip!) and bought train tickets to head on to our accommodation.

你好! 😁

Train token

I can't remember what time we arrived in the room that we rented from Agoda (probably around 10 or 11). But we stayed in this room. It's located super near the Taipei station. It says good for three to six persons, has two beds (each good for two persons) and a sofa bed (can also fit two persons). There were only three of us but Steve and I shared the same bed, Grace took the other one because apparently, the owner would charge us an additional fee if we would use the sofa as a bed. So we decided not to. But the place is cozy and homey. We were also provided with the necessary items: toiletries, hot shower, slippers, towels, etc.

Before settling in the night, we thought of grabbing a midnight snack. The hot meal provided in the flight wasn't enough for us as dinner. So we walked around the area, mostly the shops were already closing, but fortunately we found this soup shop that was still open.

Looking for a late night meal

Misua soup?

In all fairness, it was delicious, comforting and filling. Tired from the flight, we ordered one each and we ate it at our room. One reason why people visit Taiwan is not only for the beautiful places, landscapes and sceneries but I think most especially for the gastronomy (not to mention prices of commodities are relatively cheap compared to other East Asian countries). And this was a wonderful introduction and welcome meal to our gastronomical adventure. I remember it was a bit sour, savory, and with coriander that I personally don't like but surprisingly went well with this soup.

Tummies and taste buds satisfied!

After eating, we prepared for bed then drifted off to dreamland. On the next day, we joined the Yehliu, Jiufen, and Shifen Day Tour with Taiwanese Pastry Making tour we booked on Klook.