Taipei 2008 - Day 1 (Unexpected surprises & So-so food)

Yes! It's time to blog about this trip to Taipei, that was nothing short of enjoyable and exciting.
Basically, we decided to travel around Taipei only, opting for a very relaxed itinerary (it's free and easy mah...) and the main focus of the trip would have to be shopping and eating!!!
Of course, Taiwan consists of other nice places to visit such as Taichung, Hualien, Taitung, Kaohsiung etc. But as mentioned, Taipei would be the main focus here (haha, because that's the only place we explored! hee =P)

Service onboard a Singapore airlines' plane was good as the flight attendants were attentive and polite. A small menu was given to every customer, describing the selection of food and drinks available. Opted for the international selection: Pasta with chicken. Taste was so-so and rather bland. The movie selection was good as it included hits like 'The Dark Knight', 'Mamma Mia', 'Wall-E' and many others. Spent my time watching 'Wanted' starring the quirkily cute James McAvoy and foxy Angeline Jolie as well as 'Wall-E'.
Arrived in Taipei about 4.55pm (Taipei time is the same as Singapore, so no worries about jet-lag there) and had to sign up for the Youth Card at the tourist information counter located right in front of the arrival gate, which is free and entitles anyone 30 and under special discounts at various hotels, restaurants and places of interest. A pity that the Card's only valid till Dec 2008. For exchange rates, we realised that the rates were better at the money exchange counter at the arrival hall of Taoyuan Airport, S$1 to NT21.75. However, we had changed our money in Singapore at the low rate of NT21.3 (beating my chest in regret & trauma). Nevertheless, I will survive (with the heartache of losing out on a good deal).

After taking various brochures at the tourist counter, we headed right to take the 國光客運 Bus 61 to Taipei Main Station.
Cost: NT125 Time taken: 50 minutes

Upon arrival at Taipei Main Station, we proceeded to find our hotel- Miyi Hotel (chosen because of its prime location at Taipei Main Station), which is located near Shin Kong Life Tower 新光人壽保險摩天大樓 (but people would probably identify it as Shin Kong Mitsukoshi 新光三越 as the building housed a department store by that name, which is well-known in Taipei.)

Unknown to us, an unexpected shock awaits us at the hotel.
My cousin had booked a room at NT1980 for 2 pax, plus NT500 for an additional bed, which would add up to NT2480 per night. Apparently, the hotel staff had mistaken our arrival time and thought that we would be arriving between 12-1pm instead of 6-7pm (which, by the way, was the actual arrival time) and had given our room to another guest (who, ironically was the one who made an actual mistake as he had given the wrong dates to the hotel, saying that he would arrive on 26 Nov when he actually meant 26 Oct instead). Imagine our shock and chagrin! So, there we were, tired from the flight & carrying large luggages and having the unforseen stress of wondering where we would be spending the night (while my aunt's face's getting darker by the minute).
Nonetheless, I believed that God's in control and all things work together for good. In the end, they gave us a room at the rate of NT1880, without charging us for the extra bed. So...that means we got a discount! Yeah! We will be staying at this hotel room at the rate of NT1880 for 2 nights before moving to our original room for the next 5 nights (and surprise! we got a discounted rate of NT2300 instead of the original NT2480 per night. Haha! Great savings...for shopping later *rubbing hands in glee*) God is good! So, things worked out fine in the end, as the blur guest got a room to stay while we got our room at a discount =)

Hungry from the settling of accomodation, we proceeded to the shops nearby, in search of food to satisfy our rumbling tummys. Then we came across...

The food wasn't fantastic as seen by the rating given, but we were hungry so we still gobbled it all down. The beef tendon was tender though and the soup stock was quite fragrant but taste-wise, it wasn't impressive enough to be memorable. My clam & winter melon noodles soup tasted bland but it was healthier than the beef noodles =P
Walked around the area a bit before heading back to the hotel for a good night's rest.