Day 4: Three Village People Flew to Taiwan....

~ 17th March 2014~

Our flight number...

Our flight was at 0905hours. Two hours before to check-in and one hour of bus ride to Hong Kong airport and another extra hour to wait for the bus. Smart me made all the time adjustment so that none of us would appear in the news where you see three people dragging three luggage running along the highway of Hong Kong trying to catch after a plane. We were up and awake by 5:45am plus some snoozing time. My travel buddy and I are two wonderful people. We were quick and in less than half an hour, all of us were out of the house and walking towards the bus stop beneath the flyover. It was a long wait. The bus did not come immediately like how when we went to Disneyland. Finally, the bus arrived.

Our big breakfast in Hong Kong....

Upon arrival at Chek Lap Kok Airport, which was actually the name of the location of the airport, an island on its own, our cash starting flowing out of our pockets, damn fast. There was spelling error to mi mama's name on the printed flight ticket. I was 2000% sure that it wasn't Pinky's fault. Pinky booked all of our flight tickets and she screen shot all our details before hitting enter. I was 2 million percent sure there was no spelling error, so who's fault? Hong Kong Airlines... care to explain yourself? We were very nice people, so we did not want to create a ruckus early in the morning at the airport. We paid HKD300 to rectify the spelling error. That's cut-throat expensive! I was imagining that our RM is as big as a bullock cart's wheel so HKD 300 should be just the size of my gold ingot dug out from my nose.

We had ample of time to kill all of a sudden. Few years back when we traveled together, we would forego any meals to save money and save time. Walking around is of utmost importance. I guess we're growing old already. We need our meals and breakfast of all is more important than anything. Nothing is cheap at the airport and the breakfast was really huge. I'm not a morning person. I would just wake up and leave the house to work so having such heavy breakfast is like stuffing three meals at one go. I don't remember the price but I'm very sure mi mama has a record of our expenditures.

The screen....

This is where how we ended up calling ourselves village people. No doubt our mode of transportation in meeting each other is through hours of flight, we are still like people walking out of the jungle into a big city. You see that screen. I fly AirAsia most of the time so the only time I look at such screen was when I was flying for the first time to Melbourne where I stared at the little plane one the screen with the duration of time left before I arrive Tullamarine airport. And the second time I look at such screen was when I was on China Airlines but we were busy watching a movie. We were wondering whether it should be a touch screen or not. Or should we just press on the arrow buttons. We're so technology inclined and declined both at the same time.

Searching to plug-in

We were looking for the holes to plug in our headsets. China Airlines has the holes in between the seats. We were both molesting the seats all over but we couldn't find any holes. That smart travel partner of mine started searching for holes in between the cracks. Then, we started looking around to see who has plug-in their headsets. No one has done it except for an old man. We were starting to tell each other how on earth an old man of around 70 years old could find the plug-in holes when both of us were still searching for those holes. Damn... we were about to tear the seats apart.

We know the drill....

While we were still searching high and low for the holes, the air-stewardess were going over the emergency drills which no one was paying attention to. Truth be told, in times of emergency, no one would remember anything and mostly panic will strike the whole plane. Maybe I'll be praying in tongues and hug each other to the end of everything. Let's not dwell on such thought. The air-stewardess finished the drill. Is she not going to show us where the plug-in holes are?

Out pop the panel aka game console...

My travel buddy started pressing every single button and pressing on the screen and all of the sudden, that panel came popping out. We almost screamed out loud, thinking that we have successfully destroy a fraction of the plane. Then we were laughing so hard because that panel also acts as a game console. Gone case for both of us. We're two craziest people on the flight, if not the noisiest. No one was bothered though because almost everyone speaks purely Chinese while we both speak 'rojak' language. 

That nasty hidden holes...

Finally, we found those holes~! And frankly speaking, the screen was not that sensitive that's why we couldn't get to press anything *sigh* I started taking photos. That's what I enjoy doing. 

Hey, pretty~!

Ahh... I'm still whispering my gratitude to the Lord for sending her along my path. Two people from two different countries getting along better than anyone else.

The sky.... God's wonderful drawing block...

The sky. My favourite colour is not blue but I like the blue of the sky. It looks so perfect and natural. Just picture perfect with the formation of clouds. Sometimes it feels like God is drawing and having fun while making those cloud formation. Or is it just purely my wild imaginations?

The delicious bun....

We had a hearty breakfast and then came the in-flight food. For AirAsia, we need to pay so I have the thinking of being an AirAsia loyal customer. I did not order any food, did I? Oh, well... it comes with food whether you like it or not. Then I remembered about the terrible food from Shenzhen Airlines and I was thinking of abandoning the bun. But food shouldn't go to waste and I wouldn't want to stuff the huge bun into my bag. There's no room for anything in my bag. All important documents are with me so I cannot carry anything that's not important. I better keep the bun in my stomach. I believe sometimes I have four stomachs like the cow. The roast pork bun was very delicious. Good pick, Hong Kong Airlines. Whichever company is supplying the food, well done~! All three of us suddenly grew four stomachs and we started eating before the plane landed on the ground.

Taoyuan International Airport...

Finally, we've arrived in one of the counties. The international airport is in Taoyuan County. Errmmm.... why are the buildings looking so run down? We've spent one solid month not having enough sleeps clicking on the Internet, travelling with our eyes before we arrive in person. One solid month looking at Taiwan from the Internet and I'm going to tell you, what you see, is not always what you get. Most people will pick the most beautiful photos and tell you only about the sweet encounters. Anyway, if you're going with a tour group, obviously they will bring you around to the best place, hidden from anything that's not suppose to be seen by the world.

The arrival card.... 

I don't remember what I filled in. If we were to write down the hotel names that we're going to stay, that space wasn't big enough. Seriously, don't remember holding this piece of paper. Short term memory loss.

We're a different sort of traveler altogether...

Welcome to Taoyuan International Airport...

We're totally and completely lost. Like a deer from the jungle stepping into the modern world. I grabbed every map that's printed in English. And I've three sets of our agenda, printed in colours. Taiwan Tourism, kindly change the maps you have there. The map is OUTDATED and we got so confused upon arrival. By the time we boarded the MRT, we realized that the printed map from the Internet is the most accurate. *sigh* Please.... I know your country is a Chinese-speaking country, but mind you, there are Chinese like me who are bananas. I read no Chinese and speak no Chinese any formal way.

The Post Office...

We spent an hour plus at the airport. Pinky needs the Post service to sent away things to her friend. Then, I asked for a smaller change. I felt like carrying NT$1000 was too big a piece of note. I'm not used to spending a thousand dollar at one go. The lady told me that I could finish NT$1000 in no time at all. I told her I wouldn't do that. That's too much... I forget to do mental conversion as NT$1000 was actually around RM100. Many people told us that things in Taiwan are cheap so we didn't carry that much NT$. Anyone who tells us that things in Taiwan are cheap, I'm going to tell you things in Malaysia are way cheaper, if not the same.

Once you arrive, you need to get your phone card if not you would have trouble searching for a public phone and with NT$1000, you couldn't possibly shove the whole big note to make a phone call. Be warned: The queue to get a phone card will be very long so don't waste your time, get the phone card from somewhere else.