Above: My awesome meal was a great way to finish the trip!
Brief exploration in Taipei
My flight back to New Zealand departs at 1835 today. I had worked it out that if I left the hotel at 1100 for Taipei, I’d still get to the airport around 1400, meaning I’d have spare time for any travel hiccups.
Last night, I thought I’d leave at 1000 so I could grab an Indonesian lunch in Taipei. But after breakfast this morning, I was all ready. I made an on-the-spot decision to leave at 0900.
The bus to Taipei’s Beimen area was supposed to take about 1h25 but only took an hour. It would have been less if it hadn’t been for some traffic in the last block of the ride. I found Exit Y28 of the underground mall (joining the Main Station and Beimen) where several Indonesian eateries were located. As it was only after 1000, it all looked pretty quiet and I wasn’t ready for food yet.
I killed over 2h walking around, with my 7kg pack, exploring the Main Station area which was the hub for various modes of transport. I had never had a good look at Taoyuan MTR station, the TRA and HSR stations and also the bus station.
Sadly, I also noticed many homeless people in the area. I don’t recall this on previous visits.
My tummy was hungry enough to eat after 1200. After surveying the different eateries, I went back to the first shop that I had seen. What an awesome meal! What a way to finish the trip!
Pleasant surprise
I took the 1330 express train to the airport, getting to the counters about 4h before the flight. Some thirty minutes later, the staff turned up to prepare for check-in. There was a queue already but being on standby, it is usually pointless to check-in early as they can’t issue a boarding pass.
I explored the airport thoroughly, from the rooftop area to Skytrain over to Terminal 1 and back. Terminal 1 wasn’t as I remembered it when I visited as a child. With the help of Google, I realised that it had been extended on both sides.
At 1535, 3h prior to departure, I joined the queue. It moved quite quickly until some people had documentation issues. It only took me 30 mins to get to the counter. The check-in agent, like in Manila, wanted help to find my arrival stamp in my passport.
From there, I had a pleasant surprise and was issued a boarding pass straight away! That’s despite the flight was quite full today. I’ve previously been asked to wait for flight close-off even when there were 30 spare seats. To top it off, I was given my space-available paid upgrade to Business Class as well. Today felt like the perfect ending to the trip!
I spent about an hour in the lounge before boarding the Air New Zealand B787. It was great having the extra space in Business Class but my new antihistamine-based sleeping aids aren’t as effective. I didn’t really sleep but dozed for about 4h. I’ve had better sleep in Economy Class without any sleeping aids!