Above: City God Temple by night.
Leaving Manila
The alarm went at 0345. I had a surprisingly adequate sleep aided by the anti-histamine tablet that have been legally re-purposed for sleeping.
After a quick shower, I walked to the airport getting to the check-in area around 0420. The place was buzzing. I found the check-in for my flight and was about to join the long queue.
Fortunately, an airline staff pointed me to the no-bag queue which did a document check before giving me my boarding pass. Strangely, they didn’t ask to sight my onward ticket from Taiwan.
I decided to check the money changers as to how much I’d get for my remaining pesos. There was a bit of a wait to do this and the rate turned out as bad as what I’d get for it in Taiwan, where I was able to check the bank’s rate online.
The money changer didn’t have enough notes here and wouldn’t be able to take all of my pesos, so I decided to do it in Taiwan where I got nearly the exactly the same amount.
I got airside around 0445 and couldn’t find the lounge that I could use. Looking a second time, I found it. It was unmarked when closed and my second attempt was just after it had opened at 0500.
There, I had a good breakfast of steamed buns and congee. I had less than an hour there before I had to go for boarding. It just shows that if I had bags to check, arriving 3h before the flight wouldn’t have been too early.
The Cebu Pacific 0700 flight appeared to have been upgauged from an A320 to an A321neo. It wasn’t very full even if it had been operated by the smaller aircraft.
As with my flight yesterday, the crew were very courteous and professional. They are well equipped with tablet computers which show the passenger seating and names plus the meals ordered. I had pre-ordered a chasiu chicken with rice to finish up some airline credits, not knowing that I’d get a good feed before the flight today.
Arriving in Taipei
We arrived in Taipei about 10 mins after the 0915 scheduled time. The part of the terminal we were using was very rundown from the outside. It required a long walk to get immigration located in the more iconic building.
Fortunately, there was no queue this time! I had prepared myself for a horrific wait that I had once endured.
The money changer, cash withdrawal (sans local fee) and buying an Easycard (transport card) all went smoothly.
It’s no longer necessary to mask-up indoors in Taiwan but most people are still using masks indoors and outdoors. I’ll take a pragmatic approach outdoors and go with the norm indoors.
Continuing to Lukang
With the early arrival in the country, it made sense to travel out of town as no hotel in Taipei will be ready to accept a check-in.
I left the airport around 1020 by metro to Taoyuan High Speed Rail station where it was a short wait for the train to Taichung at 1110. It took about 40 mins to take me one-third the length of the country, so it’s definitely faster than the metro!
Arriving at 1150 at Taichung, I had about an hour to kill before the bus to Lukang. I followed the signs to the bus station, not realising that there was a bus station within the High Speed Rail station and an attached bus station.
I went to the latter to confirm the location and return to the train to get a coffee and kill time. Back at the bus location, I saw a sign showing that some buses actually leave from within the rail station which I had missed.
Fortunately, I had discovered the error before it was too late. And after discovering the error, I also noticed the information counters which would have been a great help.
The 1300 Tourist Shuttle to Lukang was rather empty. It partially takes the highway whereas the normal bus would make multiple stops taking about 30 mins longer.
I got dropped off amidst drizzle for the short walk to the Lucky Hotel. It was closed and unattended at 1400 as their check-in starts at 1500. Fortunately, I had noticed a shaved-ice place nearby where I was able to kill some time and keep dry.
Initial explorations
Around 1600, I headed out with a poncho in my bag in case the weather turned again. I explored most of the route recommended in my guide book, starting towards the north of my accommodation. I walked along Lukang Old Street and made it to the Matsu Temple with other sights and temples in between.
From there, I made it to the south, finishing at the Longshan Temple. It didn’t look particularly attractive but I only realised next day that I had only visited a third of the complex!
The city seemed quiet with many food places closed. I chose a place that had a seafood soup and dumplings. It turned out to be an awesome choice. The thickened seafood soup (with optional rice noodles) had large pieces of a squid that must have been huge, large pork balls, crunchy lardons (I think). And the pork dumplings and vegetable dumplings were good. And everything tasted better with lashings of chilli and black vinegar!
Mess, mess, mess
I love Taiwan and that’s why I’m back. But I’ve never noticed the place being so messy before perhaps of the choice of my previous destinations.
On the train and bus rides, I noticed that people build homes with just long-run roofing metal as their walls. There’s lots of ad-hoc add-ons to homes and buildings, disused machinery etc.
And Lukang was very messy too with unused hawker carts, unwanted stuff, stuff in storage. It’s like aesthetics, tidiness and order isn’t a consideration in life.
I’m not complaining but describing. I don’t expect Taiwan to be like Singapore but as a fairly developed country, I hadn’t expected it to be like this. And it’s strange that I hadn’t noticed it on my previous visits.