My trip to Taiwan - Day 1

It was a Cathay Pacific 747-400 that we took from HKG this morning at 10am. Arrived at 11:30am. The seats in the economy class were upgraded. We got more leg rooms. Brand new individual entertainment screens with tones of programmings to watch. OK, if Cathay can do this, why AC cannot? I had to suffer all the same reruns in AC from YVR to HKG because I watched everything from YQR to BOS! Go figured! Anyway, back to Cathay and its econo seats. More leg rooms, yes. A little wider so my ass could fit in. Then the reclining. Rather than the seat back reclined, the seat itself slid forward. It seemed to be comfortable enough, but I guess my Paul and Shark jeans was not stretchy and was made of the European high end fashion cut. Looked good standing up; but couldn't worth anything if you wanted to sit down. So could not comment on the seat comfort as I had to keep adjust from side to side. I will wear shorts this Friday coming home and leave the jeans back at the hotel.

Sorry, sorry, I kept digressing. Yes, Cathay service. It was good. But I believed the high fuel price really bit the airline. We had a quick lunch. It was a nice egg and ham sandwich, a bowl of fresh cut fruits, Apple juice, water, coffee and tea. That was it. No more soft drink available. I guess the added weight of the tin cans. Flight wasn't full. The night before I went online and booked our seats. I blocked a row of 3 seats for ourselves.

We were early arriving at TaoYuan airport outside of Taipei. Took us about 45 minutes from the airport to hotel. We booked a private car as it was cheaper than taxi. The private car had cost us TWD1,000 (US$31). Cheap. We are staying at the Grand Hyatt which is next door to Taiwan's 101 tower. Hotel food was expensive as expected. The hotel was very grandiose but someone had forgotten about a gym. We went to the gym floor and discovered that it was a series of existing rooms with walls knocked out and furniture removed. Then the gym equipment were placed. Yikes. Room compared to Shanghri-la was better; but in the hall way I have noticed that someone had skipped vacuuming the edges of the carpet all along the hallway. Dark and dusty. Not good.

Food and grocery were cheaper than I expected. Food, outside of hotel that was. We had a quick eat in the food court in Taiwan 101. Expected to cost an arm and a leg; but our meal total came to half of one of our meals at lunch time at the hotel! Half! TWD360 (US$12) for two Bim Bim Bop. They are Korean rice with a very hot rock rice bowl. One of Audrey's favorites ever since our Seoul visit. See the picture here:



At this food court, there were so much good food. A stall specialized in clams. Lots of Japanese and Korean food stalls. Cheap, cheap, cheap!

Next to this food court, there was a super market. I think I have decided on what I would have for lunch the next couple days. Baggette, cheese and wine. Haha... We got some groceries there: a 20L water, two huge mangos, two cans of coke. The cost came to TWD294 (US$9.00). Then we bought some famous local pineapple cake for desert. For 8 of them, the cost was TWD184 (US$5.70). Take a look of our shopping here:



Will take some pictures on Tower 101. It has been raining here. And both of us still trying to get over the jet lag. We already went to Ci--os' training center as well. Man, talk about messiness. I had to help clean up the room for iron-wife to teach tomorrow. Apparently there was no cleaning crew to clean up. Half emptied bottles, nuts from leftover fruits, half drank liquids in paper cups. Lights on everywhere. Where's that corporate value in saving the planet or saving the expenses?