Let's Just Go

A beautiful city with all you need just on the doorstep

I’ve arrived in Taoyuan airport from Hong Kong International Airport, and the skies are murky and rainy.

I’ve booked a hotel in the centre of town for my stay here, in the Zhongshan district, and so take the Taoyuan Airport metro to Taipei Central station. I take out some New Taiwan Dollars from an ATM at the airport to ensure I have cash, just in case – and also buy and top up an EasyCard at the airport.

The EasyCard can be used for transport but also for paying for goods at shops and restaurants – much like the Octopus in Hong Kong. You can also buy EasyCards that are loaded into a range of small toys, household appliances, plastic bananas and so on… As I’m only here for a few days, the credit card sized EasyCard will do!

Taoyuan airport is airy and modern, and I float through it very quickly. Out into the main terminal, the train to Taipei Main station is clearly marked, so I walk there. The metro seems to operate every 15 minutes or so, and the train I step onto is already busy but is due to leave very shortly. I find the only seat left on the train, and sit down – next to a window. We pulse through tunnels and are soon speeding along outside, along a metro line, but only stopping at a few of the stations on the way.

The first thing that strikes me about this country is – just like Hong Kong – how many roads, railways and infrastructure are created to be seamless, and are perched on bridges over gorges, forests and nature below.

The train makes a couple of intermittent stops, and some passengers disembark. It’s the start of early commuter time though, so it’s not going to be a quiet journey!

We arrive at Taipei Main Station on time and the very full train empties onto the plaform. The area we arrive into is just for the Taoyuan MRT but is breathtaking – even though a good few layers underground, there are pops of light and colour every so often up to street level. It’s a great place to arrive!

There are lots of lifts and escalators everywhere, making it easy for someone with wheelie bags to travel around. I take the long corridoors down to the main subterranean concourse of Taipei Main station, to access the red Tamsui-Xinyi line, and go one stop north, to Zhongshan.

I get totally confused by the maps at the station and end up taking the passenger exit to the West – I really needed the one to the East. I walk the wrong way for a good few minutes, realise my mistake, and then walk back in the correct direction. The road is busy, the city seems very well organised at this point with everything designed in blocks and roads perpendicular to each other. The road crossings have time countdowns at big intersections. I look around and see many western store names, as I am staying in a fairly shopping-y area.

It feels like an age to get from the MRT to the hotel – mainly because of my walking error – but I arrive, check in, drop bags, and settle for a little while.

I am staying in the Regent Taipei – mainly picked as it was close to the MRT, in an interesting district, and looked like an interesting place to stay. Lots of the reviews were good!

I’ve been allocated one of the Japanese rooms on the high floors – I have also lucked out and got a suite. The bedroom area is close to the windows, and features slatted blinds to close instead of curtains. There’s a futon, a small table and sitting area, and a bathroom containing separate shower, Japanese Bath and Japanese toilet – I am so excited for the Japanese bathroom experience, a Japanese toilet is such a wonderful thing 🙂

After the day of travelling – in the early morning, I left Macao – I was tired, and wanted to pick up dinner somewhere close to the hotel. There was an absolute abundance of options, but the thing I felt like most, was sushi!

Taipei has an abundance of everything, so there was no difficulty in finding good sushi. Just across from my hotel is Sushi Express, Linsen Branch – a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant, with plenty of sushi already on the belt to eat – which really hit the spot!

The fish and rice was fresh and tasty with items being made by the sushi chefs at the start of the conveyor. You could order items off the menu to be made by hand and delivered to you – or just pick from the selection on the conveyor belt.

Like most conveyor sushi restaurants, there was free hot tea (green and black at this branch), free cold water, little bowls for soy sauce and wasabi, and as much pickled ginger as you can grab – the ginger tub was on the conveyor belt!

I had a couple of cups of green tea and seven plates of sushi, including salmon sashimi, fatty tuna nigiri, a delicious tuna salad with mooli radish, a hand-roll and some grilled kobe beef with mushrooms and mustard. which added up to $312 NTD – this is just over £7 – an absolute bargain for the quality of sushi on offer.

I took a little wander around the area and stumbled back to the hotel (literally – the pavements are not very flat!) and saw my first FamilyMart. I also loved how the scooters are all parked up, in their little parking area, all neatly!

I laid down on the futon with a scrambled and jetlaggy brain, briefly checked in with friends (as they are awake at this point!) and fell asleep almost immediately after putting the phone down. Thank you for a first lovely day, Taiwan – there will be lots more fun tomorrow!