Another new adventure; visiting another country! This time it is Formosa (historical name) also known as The Republic of China (ROC) as Taiwan is officially known.
Our flight (Singapore Airlines) took off from the IGI terminal at New Delhi at 10.15 pm and we landed at Singapore’s Changi airport at 5.45 am (Singapore time is 2.30 hours ahead of us). This is a huge airport and it is quite easy to get lost. We took a metro from our terminal on to terminal 3 and then looked for our gate. Our flight to Taiwan took off at 8.40 am so we barely had time to explore the airport. I had heard a lot of how good this airport was.
At 12.40 pm we landed at Taipei and immigration was quick. Our baggage, though, took a long time to come and we were able to get to the car at 1.40 pm. The journey to the hotel (Regent Taipei) was a beautiful drive through hills and greenery till we hit the city where the concrete jungle emerged. We were at the Regent Taipei by 2.25 pm. Our spacious room was on the 11th floor and soon after we went to the Brasserie on the ground floor to have our lunch. I have never seen such a huge spread of food. Each type of food had a huge counter and it was mostly non-vegetarian. However, when I asked one of the staff there about vegetarian food, she simply showed us to our table and said it was coming. Sure enough, in 10 minutes a tray loaded with vegetarian food was placed before me and I had a great time sampling each of the dishes.
It was drizzling and it was cold, but we decided to step out at 6.30 pm with our umbrellas to take a walk around the block. We were quite full with the sumptuous lunch, so for dinner we picked some food from the Family Mart at the hotel and crashed for the night.
Next morning, we just about managed to reach the lobby for breakfast by 10 am. The journey seemed to have taken a toll. After breakfast we explored the hotel and discovered a shopping area and several restaurants. We left our hotel at 1 pm in a car which dropped us 10 minutes later at the Evergreen Convention Centre where Tathagat was attending the Haematology conference. After an hour, we walked across the road to visit the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, the Liberty Square Archway, the National Theatre, National Concert Hall, all located in the same area known as Liberty Square. We then returned to the Convention Centre which houses the Evergreen Maritime Museum in the 4th and 5th floors. Being an island nation, Taiwan depends heavily on its maritime activities and is known for its lucrative ship-building industry. The founder of the Museum, Chang Yung-Fa has collected various model boats, maritime paintings and nautical equipment and it took us quite some time to take in the remarkable exhibition. On the ground floor are some majestic life size boats as well.
We walked from there for about 15 minutes to Sriraya Coffee next to the Taiwan National Hospital and Nursing school. Interestingly, this cafe had a buffet as well, selling typical Chinese food. I stuck to coffee, quesadillas and pineapple buns. After this late lunch, we walked back to our hotel in 30 minutes and it was fun walking because the pavement was wide and there was no pollution. Most people drove two wheelers which were electric. After a breather, we walked to the Ningxia Night Market which is 750 meters away from the hotel. Like all night markets, this one was full of people, lights, sound and aroma of various kinds of street food. I had fresh guava juice without sugar and sweet potato roundels fried and in different flavours and colours. We returned to the hotel at 9 pm and had dinner at the hotel restaurant, Brasserie.
Next morning after Tathagat left for the conference, I went down for breakfast and left for the convention centre at 12 noon. Even though it was a brisk 35-minute walk, it was exhilarating and fun. Tathagat and our friend Jasmita were waiting and we booked an uber and were off to visit Taipei 101, the tallest building in Taipei with 101 storeys. We had booked tickets for the 2pm -3pm slot to go to the observation deck right at the top. We had time in our hands so we decided to explore the area round and explored the Breeze mall where I had a delicious YOGO strawberry yogurt.
We entered Taipei 101 and climbed to the 89th floor in less than 40 seconds where we stopped to look out of the glass enclosure. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day and we could not see much of the surrounding area. Next, we climbed to the 93rd floor and then on to the 101 floor. Thankfully, the clouds shifted a little and we looked down upon the earth. It was like looking down from an airplane window! In fact, Alex Honnold, the famous rock climber, climbed this skyscraper without any support in one hour and 36 minutes the very next day of our visit!
We were allowed there for a certain time and then it was back to the 89th floor which is the place to shop and eat. We bought a few gift items from the souvenir store. Sitting next to the window on the 89th floor, I had a double brown sugar milk Boba tea. The entire place is decorated with the flora of Taiwan, but only in plastic. Back on ground, we explored the Mall a bit more and returned to the hotel to get ready for the Presidential dinner. Amid great conversations with doctors from all over the world, a 6-course meal, we were lucky to listen to two very talented musicians, one on the Chinese flute and the other on the violin.
The next day I walked to the Guang Hua Digit Plaza, a 30 minute walk from the hotel. This is the place to buy all kinds of digital stuff and I bought an SSD storage drive. This was a new route for me and I was able to see the quieter lanes of Taiwan. The area around the plaza had a park resounding with the laughter of children accompanied with parents enjoying a sunny Sunday. I walked from here to the convention centre (another 30 minutes). This time, Jasmita and I walked to the National Theatre building and had a delicious lunch at Cafe Tattoria along with interesting conversation. On our return to the venue, Jasmita left for the airport while I attended a session that Tathagat was moderating. After returning back to the hotel we decided to walk towards the river, Tamsui which was a 30-minute walk through flea markets decorated with fairy lights and attractive shops lining the road. The Dadaocheng river-front wharf was beautifully lit, and the wall next to the wharf was replete with murals. There was singing and dancing and people generally out to have a good time. Pets were out with their families too. The entire area was full of food carts and we sat and had pizza and coffee at No Worries cafe, enjoying ourselves immensely.
The next day, after a relatively early breakfast, we packed our suitcases and then went out to explore Linsen park right behind the hotel. This tree lined sanctuary really mutes all sounds of traffic close by. Our cab picked us up at 1.30 pm and we were at the airport in 40 minutes. At the airport we bought some tea, cakes and toffees to carry home. Our flight took off at 5.45 pm and landed at Changi airport at 10 pm. This time we were able to navigate through the airport without feeling lost. Our flight was at 1.25 am and we had enough time to visit the Butterfly Garden (at night!) and the cinema hall which was showing Frozen and it was house full! Our flight took off on time and we landed home at 5.50 am.
Our trip to Malaysia coming up next!
Thought-process 