Taiwan to me

Jetstar

To celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary, husband decided to bring me to Taiwan :) Like usual, esok nak pergi, hari ini baru la terhegeh-hegeh nak beli tiket T_T

I fly with Jetstar. Oh, yes, I fly alone.

Not bad lah Jetstar. The sole reason I chose Jetstar was because of the departure time. Dahla murah, lepastu departure time memang bagus sangat. Tak cepat sangat, tak lambat sangat. Most importantly, the foods served onboard are all halal :) I did not purchase meal at first because the travel time was just 3 hours. But because the departure time was my lunch time, I was so starving, I feel like merayu-rayu dekat flight attendant, please serve the food already!!I was really really starving! I don't know why, whenever I'm on journey, I always lapar gila :/ The journey back to Japan pun sama. But I was fasting, I really feel nk jatuh or nak makan orang yang jalan depan I >,<

Lagi satu yang bestnya Jetstar ni, nak change flight senang gila kacang. haha..Dia ada icon call them through skype (which is of course free!) So, kerja suami saya asyik nak tukar flight je T_T Asal lepas sahur tunggu azan je nak call Jetstar T_T Tapi dia tak naik Jetstar pun T_T
**disclaimer: Oh, btw, I don't know how the other airlines punya service. 

Leaving Taiwan on Jetstar..

Food

Awesome! I think mostly because I love chinese cuisine. But of course I could not try everything on the menu. We only gotta choose seafood, but still it was all worth it! Sedap macam makan di Malaysia :) Untung sangat kita di Malaysia majmuk and are allowed to preserved everyone's custom. Keindahannya, we are more diverse in variety name it food, thoughts, and tolerance. I really hope so, especially the tolerance to last longer :)

Chinese cuisine yang paling sedap yours truly have ever tasted:)

Public transport

Metro coins. Murah gila..We go from Taipei station to Taiwan City Hall (about 5 stops) cost us 20NT= 60yen >,<

This is from my observation la ye. I'm not sure I got it right on the fact. I think Taiwan is just like M'sia in its public transport system. They have a train system connecting cities like us, KTM komuter, and they have subways which resembles Singapore's MRT. But basically that's it. In addition, they also have bullet trains although shinkansen looks far better to me :P 

We stayed in Taoyuan. Yes, very near to the airport. If you want to come to Taipei, Taoyuan airport would be the main airport for international arrivals. Taoyuan is not really in Taipei. Also like KLIA right? So, to go to Taipei, we have to get onto a train like komuter, which took about 40 minutes. It was a nice ride nonetheless. A good chance to expose you with the locals. When you arrived to the city, there will be MRT and buses to bring you around town. 

Prayer room in Taoyuan Airport. So much better than in Kansai :')

Oh, btw, beza antara komuter and their train was that...they are really on time! really!hehe..

Price wise, in my opinion, it was really made to be affordable for the rakyat. Like us, from Taoyuan to Taipei, 40 minutes ride only cost us RM5.70 or 150yen! You know, 150 yen could not bring you anywhere in Japan >,< Not even to the next station >,< 

So, in conclusion, their public transport is affordable and efficient!

One of the MRT station. Taiper City Hall where Taipei 101 is located. Also, main sites for tourist.

People and safety

I walked around alone most of the time. Especially in the evening, hunting for food for berbuka. Before beli makanan tu of course la kita beli bende lain juga :D At first, husband was so worried to let me jalan sorang-sorang while he's at work (he is here for business). Habis takkan nk makan di hotel hari-hari. Tak Taiwan langsung lah kan. But I found the courage to step outside and interact. So far so good. Plus, I walk around the town, full with people. I think as long as I be around people, I should be okay :) 

Most of the people are very nice and surprisingly, friendly. For some, they have a considerably good command of english. For those who can speak, they speak with no accent! To ease your communication, you have no choice but to go to those high end areas. Especially in choosing restaurant for you to eat. Easier for you to explain your situation as muslim :)

But, do not expect hospitality like those Japanese. haha..

While walking I had so many times get stopped by the locals. They were fascinated by my appearance. Most of them knows about Muslim. That wasn't a surprise considering the many mosques you can find in Taiwan. And they are huge and nicely built. What made me a little uneasy was, how can they don't know the existence of Malaysia T_T Always they thought I came from Indonesia. One of the guy who talked to me even said, my scarf was different from Indonesian around. lol xp

Another thing fascinated me was..how plenty Indonesians in the town! There were even more of them in Taipei..and in the train alone! So, I think they would never feel foreign considering numbers of them have already populated the area. And yes, not a single M'sian I met there T_T

This photo was taken by a family if Chinese Indonesian. 

Surrounding

In Chung-li (Taoyuan), I really felt like staying in Jalan Tar. Seriously. Behind the hotel, there's Sogo complex. Surrounding it, there's a lot of street shops like in...Jalan Tar! xp

Deretan kedai yang tak ubah macam di Jalan Tar. Something you wouldn't see in Japan. When I saw this..waa....macam balik KL je perasaannya :')

A lot of stalls like this. They are mainly selling cut fruits and fruit juice! Murah sangat fruit juice depa :') Terharu sangat tengok kesenangan mendapat bekalan fruit juice di mana-mana. I was skeptical on the clenliness, but one day I pass by them and saw they were wearing gloves while cutting the fruits :') Maybe not all stalls but these stalls did :)

Waa..hisashiburi Watsons :') Kat Jepun takde Watson. Pardon my kejakunan :') Yea..hari-hari pegi sini walaupun takde beli pape :p

Tempat shopping selame 2 minggu >,< 

Many streets like this surrounding the town. Senang je nak tahu orang tu boleh cakap english tak..those who approach you. haha.

Attractions

Well, I'm sorry..I could not review on this area much..sebab kami hanya jalan-jalan tanpa hala tuju je. Because most of the attractions are zoo and temples which are so not our interest. hehe..

Taipei 101..was behind me

Muka hampir terbeli LV T_T

Weather

Feels like Malaysia! Except on the day of the typhoon. Tu macam kat Jepun.