Friday,
1 May 2015
I
left the hotel at 07:15 and walked to the station where I found that my 07:38
train to Taitung was delayed by three minutes. It was an express train and
stopped at many stations (a limited express would take less time as it stops at
fewer stations and costs more of course). Never mind. I had my novel to occupy
me and the scenery that flew past: towns, villages, paddy fields, distant mountains,
dry rivers. We finally reached an overcast Taitung at 12:45 and I went to buy
train ticket to Taipei for the following morning. This time, I bought a limited
express train ticket – the slightly cheaper ticket would take me three
additional hours before I reached Taipei and after today’s train ride of more
than five hours, I think I’d experienced enough. Oh don’t get me wrong.
Taiwanese train system is fast, efficient and reliable but I just didn’t fancy
spending more than seven hours cooped in one only 24 hours after being in one
for five hours.
After
purchasing my train ticket, I went to the Visitor Centre to ask for directions
to my B&B. It was really threatening to rain and I kept casting a worried
look at the sky as I walked. It took me 15 minutes to get to my B&B and I
must say the area around my B&B was a bit strange. First I walked along a
main road before turning into a lane (which turned out to be passable for
vehicles), walked a bit more before crossing another main road to a
neighbourhood which looked pretty new. The B&B I stayed at was around the
next left bend, a corner unit. It was actually a four-storey house and I later
found that a few rooms were let out to guests. The lady running it invited me
in and took my details. She didn’t speak English at all so we communicated
using a translator on her smartphone. I was then shown to a room on the ground
floor (phew!), the only room on the ground floor.
The
B&B lady’s friend who was there to visit spoke a bit of English and offered
to take me to the city. I thanked her and accepted the offer for I didn’t think
I’d be joining any shuttle tour be it the Rift Valley or East Coast tour due to
the discouraging weather. Indeed it rained just after 1 p.m.
We
left for the city centre five km away in the rain (I borrowed the B&B
owner’s brolly). She dropped me off at Visitor Centre near the old train
station (no longer in use. The one I arrived at is a new station for the city)
and I went into the Visitor Centre. The girl behind the counter gave me a
dining map and also the schedule for the bus back to the train station. Armed
with the map given by her and the one I picked when I arrived, I set off in the
rain. What little I saw of Taitung in the rain didn’t impress me much though
but I walked on. Then I went to find late lunch but the vegetarian restaurant
at the corner of Baosang Road and Fujian Road would only open for business at
16:30 so I walked off again and wandered around the fruit market before
returning at 5 for early dinner. I had bamboo shoot soup and noodles for
dinner. Then I walked back to the Visitor Centre to get the bus back to the
station. The bus was late by ten minutes and the driver didn’t give any change
(the fare was NTD25, I had NTD30. It was a good thing I didn’t give him a
bigger note).
From
the station, I walked back to the B&B. The rain had stopped by then. I came
back to an empty and dark house. I took a shower and rested in my room. Slowly,
the other guests came back from their day out.
Saturday,
2 May 2015
I
woke up at 6 and had a shower. I was eating bread in my room when there was a
knock – turned out the B&B owner’s husband wanted to drive me to the
station and wanted me to hurry. I quickly finished packing and went out. We had
gone into the car when I showed him my train ticket and he immediately relaxed
when he realised my train was only leaving in 40 minutes. We left for the
station at 07:40 and it was only when I was in the train waiting for it to
depart that I realised I’d left my newly purchased bucket hat behind in my
haste ;’( or rather when I was rushed off to the station. Dammit!
We
pulled into Taipei just before noon and after getting my bearings, I went off
to find my hostel. After checking in, I rested for a bit before setting off
again. I walked and found the Zhongshan Metro Mall (I somehow couldn’t find the
mall entrance back in September) and walked to Zhongshan station. At Zhongshan
station, I went out to explore the area before getting back into the mall and
walking to Shuanglian station before taking the metro to Shilin station. I had
dinner at the seafood stall where we had our meal in September before exploring
the market. I left empty-handed though. I took the train from Jiantan back to
Taipei Main Station and walked back to the hostel.
Sunday,
3 May 2015
I
left after breakfast today and decided to walk to Taipei Grand Mosque. Yes, I
walked 3 km there. I then went across to Daan Park to wait for Zuhor. Well,
that was the plan anyway and Zuhor was an hour away. Before long though, clouds
had gathered overhead threatening rain so I decided to leave and walk the 4.2
km to Taipei 101. There were a lot of people at Taipei 101 – turned out there
was a tower run today. I went into the mall and walked around before browsing
the boutiques.
I
returned back to the hostel, taking the metro this time. Before exiting the
station, I bought some sushi for lunch, dinner and breakfast the following
morning and some oolong tea from Sushi Takeout. I the stayed in for the rest of
the day as I had an early start the next morning. Oh, I walked at least 12.6 km today. Yeay me!
Monday,
4 May 2015
I
woke at 4 to the sound of rain. Oh no! I got ready, performed prayers and left
at 04:45 and walked to the Taipei West Bus Station for the bus to the airport.
It had already stopped raining by then phew. There were a few people about
already: the newspaper vendors and some early riser business owners. I bought
the 1819 bus ticket to the airport (there was another bus to the airport but it
would take 70 minutes as it stops at a few hotels en route). There was a long
queue to board the bus and I was lucky that I was the last four allowed up,
alhamdulillah. We arrived at the airport at 05:45 (it was already bright) and I
immediately went off to drop my bag. The check-in queue was really long – I can
never understand why people don’t just check in online prior to flying as it
saves so much time.
There
was another long queue to clear security (fast one though) and then it was
immigration check. My plane took off on time and I dozed off during take-off. There
was some problem with the inflight entertainment but I had stopped watching inflight
movies anyway – just not interested in the selection most times.
We
landed at 12:20 (ETA was 12:40, well done MAS!) and I was on the 13:00 train to
KL Sentral.
Will
there a fourth trip to Taiwan? Not in the very near future for sure.
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