Sunday 20 July - Day 1: Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3



My first time time at Terminal 3 thus initially I was so excited about going to Terminal 3. But after being inside the departure hall, I was so disappointed. The shops inside were so miserable. Not the full range of DFS shops I would say, just chocolates, perfumes, electronics and alcohol section and the rest of the shops there were branded labels boutique like Coach, LV, Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo, Hugo Boss, Fendi, etc. Average Singaporeans won't even want to shop at such places. My dad needed to get a tie for a Taiwanese friend, we went into Hugo Boss and Ferragamo. We then finally decided on Ferragamo tie though both shops had 40% discount, the ties at Ferragamo was made of silk. We had breakfast at Burger King before we headed to our departure gate at 11.30am. Thee plane was really empty compared to the time where we booked the tickets. Perhaps many people had cancelled their flights to Taipei after hearing the typhoon in Taiwan. We had empty seats in front and the back of us, so my dad and brother both chose the seats they want.







We spotted the A380 plane parked beside our gate and everyone saw it and recognised it immediately cause it was so much larger and wider in size.







Our Boeing 777 plane that we are going to takee to Taipei, see the difference in size and design?







The toilets in Terminal 3 are so nice and pleasant to actually be in there...I had to take a picture of it...










That's my Mum and me on the plane before departing for Taipei...



When we reached Taoyuan International Airport, it was already 5.20pm. My dad's Taiwanese friend, Rendle picked us up from the airport. There were so many people there holding cardboards which written people's names on it, I really felt like I'm watching those taiwanese dramas which I am definitely a fan of it so i'm quite familiar of the places to go in Taipei (but not the street/roads names). It was about an hour's drive from Taoyuan to Taipei's Shi Ming Avenue where Miramar Garden Hotel, the hotel we'll be staying in, will be. The exterior of the hotel was so majestic and grand and their service was very good. The staff there were very friendly especially the bellboy and all are very young, energetic, hardworking and most importantly good-looking people. Even the Reservation Manager was a young good-looking lady. My dad's another Taiwanese friend, Patricia has already arrived at the hotel. The hotel was priced at NT3000+ per night for locals while the public rate was NT4000+ thus our two single rooms were booked under Rendle and Patricia, so we got the cheaper rate. This was a 5-star hotel and in the end we paid around SGD$200+ for a 5-star hotel so it was really cheap as we got to stay comfortably. Dinner was at Ding Tai Feng - authentic Taiwanese name. In SG, it is rather expensive but in Taipei, the variety is more and much cheaper. The staff here were mostly young ladies who are very polite and good-looking.













The exterior of the restaurant, look at the standard of SG and Taipei itself? No wonder SG charges so much higher, and surprisingly in Ding Tai Feng and most of the expensive restaurants here (for e.g, restaurants in Taipei 101) don't accept credit card...My dad treated all his Taiwanese friends (8 of us) for dinner as they had helped us booked tickets, rooms, etc as a gratitude.

Then after dinner, it was already 9+ on a Sunday night. Patricia suggested going to Wu Fen Pu but when we got there, I was rather disappointed cause most of the shops were either closed or are closing soon. I briefly walked past some of the shops to see if there's any clothes that interests me to enter the shop. I heard of this place won't attend individuals who buy just 1-2 pieces, they'll only be happy to entertain people who buys in bulk like wholesales. Every shop I enter to look at the clothes, they are starting to close. Until I passed by this shop and I was attracted to this lgiht blue striped skirt. I went in and asked how much it is. NT590 but the salesman said he offer me NT550. But the other three ladies (Xiuling, my Mum and Patricia) said if can go any cheaper like NT500? And he tried to disagree until I spoke to him in Mandarin, "Boss, I walked past so many shops but none had interest me. Only until I saw this skirt hanging on display which attracted me to look at it then buy it, so give me at NT500" and then he obliged. (Fyi, NT500 is around SG$25) They said that Wu Fen Pu can bargain prices but you must be able to sweet-lipped and act gentle for male salesmen. Then after that, I decided that since most of the shops are closing soon, I might as well come back another day. So we returned back to the hotel.

I never get bored whilke back at the hotel. I get to watch so many channels of Taiwanese channels. Sunday nights especially have the dramas that I normally watch it in SG. I get to watch it first-hand here in Taiwan. And I get to watch their variety shows here while my Mum is usually busy calculating her spendings for the day, packing her stuffs, etc. Anyway she doesn't really know Mandarin or watches Taiwanese dramas so I get to hog the TV to myself. My dad loves watching the news, so my brother dun get to watch HBO in that same room as my dad.

Okie, will update more on Day 2 in the next few days...

Labels: holidays, updates

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