Greetings from Taiwan!

Arriving in Taiwan

This is the traditional 您ε₯½ post that I make each time I visit a new country. I arrived late at Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei, Taiwan and all of us made the 1 1/2 hour drive down to Taichung. I was quite surprised to see that the airport had an excellent feature – video cameras pointing towards the people exiting (on both sides) so you have visuals of arrivals.

Taoyuan International Airport

I have been to quite a lot of countries and never seen this feature – Australia, New Zealand and Europe (from England to Georgia – the places I’ve been to anyway) don’t have this. It’s very nifty, you can see the faces of people coming out on a big screen on both flanks with overlapping coverage.

Taiwan Vending Machine

I tried to get something from the vending machine too. I like to check out the vending machines in places I go to, every country has something different. Unfortunately, all I had was notes (it’s coin/smartphone only) and I didn’t want to keep everyone waiting so we made the long drive down to Yamay for the night.

Fullon Hotel Yamay

I’m staying at Fullon Hotel Yamay in Taichung. It’s a good thing that everything has been arranged in this trip. I would have to book hotels otherwise, which is a constant source of stress, as my better half can tell you. I ponder excessively over what hotels to stay in. You can compare hotel rates and find cheaper deals though the HotelsCombined search engine before planning your holidays. I just found out about it and it automatically checks prices at several of the popular hotel booking sites to see which offers the best deal!

Fullon Hotel Taiwan

My room has an awesome view too!

Yamay Dinner

Next up was dinner – it was pretty awesome, first meal in Taiwan and we had a 12 course veritable feast. Delicious!

Taiwan Dinner

I’ll post more about the trip soon. Taiwan has great free WiFi coverage in most major cities and that’s how I’m able to post this. Check out my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for live updates!

Posted: 12:01 am Taiwan time (GMT/UTC +8)

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16 thoughts on “Greetings from Taiwan!”

    • Yeah, and there was another 12-course dinner last night! πŸ™‚

      It’s rather lavish, had something I never had before – a bun made with gourd and stuffed with pork mince, mushrooms etc. Taiwanese have good hospitality, quite hard to decipher the etiquette regarding toasting for me though.

      Reply
    • Nice! It’s my first time here. πŸ™‚

      Taichung is primarily an industrial town, like Rotterdam in the Netherlands – there’s stuff to do but hard to find for visitors. I know Rotterdam has a great underground scene coz gabba/gabber originated there. Taichung has the largest night market in Taiwan.

      Reply
    • Thanks for reading! πŸ™‚

      Yup, I just posted another one today about where I went yesterday. WiFi coverage is spotty but I’m online after hotel check-in and sometimes on the road when the car WiFi is on. I’ll keep on updating!

      Reply
    • Thanks Rose! πŸ™‚

      Yup, indeed! A new country is fun, never been to Taiwan before, but have been to China once. It’s interesting to learn about the country, went to explore and participate in Taiwanese aboriginal customs yesterday.

      Reply
  1. HB, hope you get that big chicken cutlet that sell in lot of food stalls. Bottles soft drinks is what I always like to take pictures of due so many different kind since I from the states and people from states like to see and know what kind there is in Asia.

    I always like to check different Mcdonalds in Asia and their food special sold in it.

    Reply
    • I’ve seen it! πŸ™‚

      You mean the XXL type Taiwanese fried chicken cutlet? I haven’t tried it though but will try it next time coz it never appealed to me back in Malaysia, but I know the ones here are different, it’s the original. Yup, bottled drinks are awesome, too bad I can’t read Chinese.

      It’s so funny, I had to get people to translate stuff for me in Family Mart at 7-Eleven coz they’re ALL in Chinese – no English characters! Staff is polite though, I can speak Mandarin, just can’t read. I love McDonald’s in different countries too.

      Reply
  2. Reading your post really makes me reminiscent of my short getaway to Taipei. I remember two comical incidences: one was when I was queuing at the Customs in the arrival hall of Taipei International Airport. The lady customs officer had asked me to remove my spectacles because I looked different in my passport picture and gave me a weird glance because I spoke in tainted Mandarin.

    The other was when my parents were purchasing their dinner. The lady boss thought that they were local Taiwanese and spoke to them in Min Nan Yu. ><

    Reply
  3. The camera must be new because I don’t remember seeing them last year when I was there. Are you going to show us all 12 dishes you had for dinner?

    Reply

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