Taiwan Trip 2014 - Day 1 - Changi Airport - Taoyuan Airport - Sun Moon Lake
Itinerary
Day 1: Changi Airport > Taoyuan Airport 台灣桃園國際機場 > Sun Moon Lake 日月潭 (Ita Thao 伊達邵)
Day 3: Cingjing > Taroko National Park > Hualien
Day 4: Hualien
Day 5: Hualien > Taipei (Huaxi Night Market)
Day 6: Taipei (Jiufen > Gongguan - Retail Outlet & Night Market)
Day 7: Taipei (Beitou > Tamsui)
Day 8: Taipei (Shinkong Mitsukoshi > Ximending > Shilin Night Market)
Day 9: Taipei > Taoyuan Airport
Arrived @ Changi Airport to check-in and was TOTALLY shocked to see a long queue.
Our flight carrier Scoot was having a major system issue and everything stalled for i-don't-know-how-long. And everything was the manual style. Queued 2 hours plus before we managed to check-in when it was supposed to be our flight departure time. Announcement was only to inform us about the technical issue and no mention that flight will be delayed.
Reaching the gate, we saw many people also were waiting. Imagine the clock showed 1:00 am while the check-in system tv panel showed flight departure at 12.45am! Flight was delayed afterall!
We continued waiting for an hour before the flight departure timing was changed to 4am, with no announcement made! They only started to allow passenger to board @ 3.30am. And since system was still down, even seats allocation was being arranged in a manually style. First to go in was those who were in the scootbiz and those who had bought seats, then followed by the elderly and the children, followed by large group of passengers, followed by those in groups of 4 or 5 and the remaining ones.
With a group of 4, we managed to get in and sit together. Onboard, we waited for hours with announcement made that flight cannot take off due to blah blah blah (can't really hear cause I was falling in and out of sleep). Only by almost 7am that the flight took off, Totally worn out, wesleep throughout the flight.
With a group of 4, we managed to get in and sit together. Onboard, we waited for hours with announcement made that flight cannot take off due to blah blah blah (can't really hear cause I was falling in and out of sleep). Only by almost 7am that the flight took off, Totally worn out, wesleep throughout the flight.
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Finally reached Taoyuan Airport @ 11.50am!
As telco @ Taoyuan Aiport opens @ 8am (link here), we were able to grab our calling call followed by a quick brunch?, we quickly hire a cab to Sun Moon Lake - Ita Thao. Although it's a long ride, but it's shorter than the 3-4 hours ride from Chiayi to Alishan!
(I was told that the calling card is also available at Sun Moon Lake 7-11! Quite a surprise to me since the last trip we were told that 7-11 no longer sells the calling card but that was at Alishan.)
Almost 2pm: Finally Reach Cherng Yuan Hotel @ Ita Thao
Finally reached Taoyuan Airport @ 11.50am!
As telco @ Taoyuan Aiport opens @ 8am (link here), we were able to grab our calling call followed by a quick brunch?, we quickly hire a cab to Sun Moon Lake - Ita Thao. Although it's a long ride, but it's shorter than the 3-4 hours ride from Chiayi to Alishan!
(I was told that the calling card is also available at Sun Moon Lake 7-11! Quite a surprise to me since the last trip we were told that 7-11 no longer sells the calling card but that was at Alishan.)
Almost 2pm: Finally Reach Cherng Yuan Hotel @ Ita Thao
A quick view of the lake view double bedroom.
Cherng Yuan Hotel
- Location: very near to Ita Thao Ferry.
- Value: Very reasonable for the view, very spacious room and a fantastic bathtub with a small window for lake viewing while relaxing in the tub.
- Service: The lady owner is a nice lady but we only chat with her at the last hour when we check out. Very nice people!!
- Recommendation: If you are heading to Sun Moon Lake with light baggage, you might want to consider booking your accommodation with them. Because it is situated at Ita Thao, hence you will need to take the ferry to Ita Thao from Shuishe Visitor Centre which would be faster to reach the island. Alternatively, there are various buses or you can consider taking cab. Booking the hotel is easy via online. I booked mine through agoda.
What we did when we reached Ita Thao...
Eat, eat and eat. Just right out of the hotel, road side food stall are everywhere. We just followed the direction and make our way through the streets.
Red tea! Tea 18! That's one of the specialties of Sun Moon Lake!
Not satisfied with just drinking on the spot, I bought many tins of tea18 from 朝霧茶莊. Although we can order online with free delivery for NT$1000 and above purchases, but I don't stay in Taiwan and hence, the shipping and handling will be additional cost. In the meantime, I shall enjoy what I bought back till I am all done with it.
As red tea is their specialty, almost all things are tea related.
From the chicken to ice cream to egg roll, so many stuffs to try out. But!!
Always start off with the original, which is the beverage and see if the taste is to your likings.
It's chicken wing stuffed with rice but the seasoning makes it so delicious! I saw a similar store at Danshui but due to being too full, I didn't tried that.
Many flavors of freshly made mochi
Different seasoning - Grill Mochi
Similar to Singapore's Yam Cake, it is more juicy. We finished the Yam Cake within a short time but wanting to try out other stuffs, we didn't re-visited the stall. Seems like this is the only stall selling Yam Cake though.
We ended our first day in Sun Moon Lake after non-stop eating.
Food @ Taoyuan Airport & Sun Moon Lake - Ita Thao (台灣桃園國際機場 & 日月潭 - 伊達邵)
- Oden (関東煮) + Onigiri (饭团) @ Airport
- Wild Boar Sausage (山猪香肠)
- Yam Cake (芋头糕)
- Mochi (麻糬)
- Stuffed Chicken with Rice (飯飯雞翅)
- Suntory Red Tea Beer
- Tea18 Black Tea Ice Cream
- Assam Black Tea Egg Roll (阿萨姆红茶鸡蛋卷)
- Grilled Mochi (烤麻糬)
- Oden (関東煮) + Onigiri (饭团) @ Airport
- Wild Boar Sausage (山猪香肠)
- Yam Cake (芋头糕)
- Mochi (麻糬)
- Stuffed Chicken with Rice (飯飯雞翅)
- Suntory Red Tea Beer
- Tea18 Black Tea Ice Cream
- Assam Black Tea Egg Roll (阿萨姆红茶鸡蛋卷)
- Grilled Mochi (烤麻糬)
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