One particular evening in Dec 2017, hubby joked that he could be sent overseas (like Taiwan or US) for work trips just like his colleagues. 2 days later, he received a call from his boss which really required him to be in Taiwan for 2 weeks, spanning across Christmas and New Year. Afterall, that was our 1st Christmas and New Year that we were about to spend together as a married couple. So I decided to book my flight to join him after Christmas for New Year countdown together.
Last minute tickets are horribly expensive. What’s more, I was travelling during the new year period. I got my return tickets on Eva air at about $800. No choice. Most of the other airlines were fully booked!
I was really excited to fly there to meet my husband. It was my first flight alone! I’ve been to Taiwan twice. So, I was not worried at all. That afternoon, I went to the transit area earlier and enjoyed some window shopping on my own.
After approximately 4 hours, I’ve finally touched down at Taoyuan International Airport. However, the queue to immigration felt horrendously long and I was anxious to meet hubby! Luckily, I had already bought my travel SIM card so I could contact my hubby to let him know that I would take some time because of the queue, not because I was lost! Afterall, he would still have to work on weekdays. So, I needed a SIM card which I could contact him while travelling on my own.
After queuing for approximately an hour, I finally cleared the immigration. We took a taxi back to the hotel where hubby was staying which was just 20mins away from the airport. Holiday Inn Express Taoyuan is located along the main Chunri Road in Taoyuan which had frequent bus services to Taipei.
By then, the sky has already turned dark. We decided to head to the Tao Yuan Night Market, a 15mins walk away. Stalls lined both sides of the streets. By then, we were already quite hungry and headed straight for my favourite 卤肉饭! It’s so much cheaper than those sold in Singapore! And because it was in Taoyuan, it was also cheaper than those in Taipei! With our stomachs filled, we walked down the streets of the night market in search of other hidden treasures. Compared to the night markets in Taipei, I felt that this was smaller, nonetheless still very authentically Taiwan!
Perrine Travels 