Day 5 in Taipei

My last day in Taiwan!! Flight is at 6pm so I had the morning and a bit of the afternoon to walk around somemore before going home.. Aibek and Jane went off to work so I was on my own again.. I went to Xi Men to meet Jing Wen, Sherina, Shin and Yi Cui for breakfast!! Yup, another AIESEC Singapore gang were in Taipei and they were with Sharol from Soo Chow LC.. we visited their campus and AIESEC office before heading off to the canteen for breakfast.. I had what I ate on the 1st day (it's called Dan4 Bing3 in chinese but I dunno its english name) again and the gang tried it too, it being their 1st morning in Taiwan.. Sherina was trying to take photos of everything and Sharol was quite embarrassed sometimes.. hahah.. quite entertaining..

Anyway, they were heading off to Taichung for a day and since I was on a more rushed schedule, I went off 1st and walked around Xi Men.. most shops were still closed so nothing much to see.. then I dropped off at Zhong Xiao Dun Hua which Jane said was something like Orchard Road.. well of course the buildings weren't as high (cos of earthquake danger) and not as fanciful as those here.. it wasn't really what I expected until I found the underground mall.. it's like our City Link Shopping Mall, just a lot longer.. =) it even links to another MRT station.. I got bored walking there after a while since I'm not much of a shopper and went aboveground.. found a street and alley with lots of eating places and tried the pork chop rice.. this dish is really common and everywhere I go I see stalls selling it.. so figured I might as well try it before I go.. quite tasty la.. hahah.. I think generally Taiwanese eat quite a lot of meat, since most of the roadside stalls I had seen sell meat dishes..



After that, I headed home to pack and get my luggage.. Jane had kindly passed me her keys so I wouldn't have to go around in the morning with all my luggage.. then it was off to Taipei Main Station, taking the express train back to CKS International Airport.. and it was as cold as the day I arrived.. -_-" I was early so I had to hang around.. then I noticed that the queue in front of the closed check-in counter was getting longer.. I wonder if it's a Singaporean thing or a Chinese thing.. so Kiasu.. hahahaha.. even when at the boarding gate people were so eager to board the plane.. The seats are already assigned so I was wondering why until I overhead this guy saying they should board quickly so that there will be enough space in the baggage compartment for their stuff.. kiasu-ism at work.. but looking at the amount of stuff people bought, I won't be surprised if they don't have space.. I think I was the only person carrying 1 backpack… everyone else has a few more bags of stuff bought in Taiwan.. shopping la.. so Singaporean =)



Anyway, this time back I was lucky enough to get a window seat and since it was evening the sun was still bright enough for photos.. the view was great, with clouds below and above us.. further below us, I could see the lights of Taiwan and the sprawling mountains and greenery.. then the most unlucky thing happened.. my digicam battery suddenly died!!! So ironic I thought.. just when I get a window seat and a perfect view the camera dies.. so I got thick-skinned and asked if the people beside me had any batteries to lend.. they must have thought I was weird but I don't care they had batteries so I could take my photos happily.. the plane had passed by the more perfect view but beggars for batteries can't be picky so I took whatever I could see.. My last view of Taiwan was thus my view from the plane.. See in the following shot, you can see part of the mountains sticking out among the layer of clouds.. cool huh?



And that.. is the story of my 5 days in Taipei.. =)