Taipei Trip

We've never been to Taipei before this & the only things we knew about Taipei were these.

 And not as pleasantly, this, as well.

So we didn't really know where to start plus it was going to be a Chinese New Year trip, & that felt like a scary experience. But I was fortunate enough to bump into this blog by Kampung Boy & City Gal who gave pretty good advice about where to go & where to stay.

Contrary to what some people may tell you about Taipei during Chinese New Year, we'd like to set the record straight:

1) All shops are closed. NOT ENTIRELY TRUE. 

We got there on the second day of CNY, some were open, even more opened from the 3rd day onwards. The night markets were opened throughout. We had no problem finding food at all . And we're talking about GOOD FOOD.

2) Everything is expensive during CNY. NOT TRUE. 

In fact, you might be able to find better deals during that time, even with hotels. I don't know why that happens but I think businesses think differently over there. It probably has something to do the significance of ensuring brisk business in the first few crucial days of business in the new year.

3) The whole place is empty. NOT ENTIRELY TRUE. The night markets & museums are CRAZY PACKED with people, mostly mainland Chinese, some from Hong Kong.

But when we were there, there was some kind of typhoon somewhere in Asia, & that came with a rainy spell. That brought down the temperature to about 11 degrees plus rain the whole time we were there, which made sitting down for hot food a heavenly experience.

Unlike our Korean trip, I did a lot of research for this one. The hotel rates were surprisingly reasonable during this gargantuan Chinese holiday period. However, a lot of the good hotels including City Inn were fully booked. These were hotels near the Taipei Main Station. You'd want to stay near the main station cos it makes all your travels easier.

Now the great thing with the internet nowadays is the availability of Google Maps & Street View.

I found a hotel called See You Hotel, which was about 4 blocks away from the Main Station (Click on the map & you'll see what I mean). I didn't realise how close it was, cos it wasn't really possible to imagine from the map, until I went down into the Street View.

It was amazing. It felt like being there without really being there. And that helped a lot with the navigation once I got to the actual place. 

See You Hotel was even closer to the Bus Station where you could take a bus ride straight to/from the airport for only RM15, luggage & all. Alright. You can pick up your jaw now.

One thing I learnt about picking hotels. It's not about the number of stars. It's about how new the hotel is.

An international 5-star hotel with big, dark-lit  rooms, smelly old beds & expensive old furniture cannot compare with a small inn with a squeeky clean, minimally furnished, spanking new room.

This baby only cost us about RM267 per night during the Chinese New Year, & it comes with a mini bar, daily complimetary bottled water & cookie.

Even the bathroom passed Nee's almost impossible approval standards.

See You Hotel is located right amongst convenience stores & 3 of Taipei's top 5 beef noodle shops are just downstairs within shouting distance.

We didn't really have much time to look for food on our first night in Taipei cos when we got into our hotel, it was almost 10pm already, and we didn't want to go anywhere else, and the closest thing was this Family Mart/7-Eleven store (I can't remember which) which served hot soupy meat balls & stuff.

And noodles & meat buns.

Next to the hotel, like immediately next door,  was a dessert place which opens late into the night.

Little did we know that this was going to be our usual stop to cap the night off for the next few days. Our days would soon start off by eating our way to the MRT, to get to some other place to eat, & then eating our way back to the hotel.

Hot tofu fa with yam balls.

Sweet potato with yam balls.

And these were really good, for a franchise store like this that probably started from a grandpa & grandma's recipe.

Singapore Day 5: Banyan Tree Bintan Island

We stayed at Banyan Tree resort Bintan Island for 2 nights. Anymore than that & you'll find Greg & Nee washing plates & slave-waitering on the island for 14 years. Hmmm, interesting thought though.

This was the restaurant that we went to for our daily breakfast.

Breakfast was included in our package & we'd take our time so that by the time we finish, it'd last us the whole afternoon. If you didn't know what that was, it's a Malaysian thing.

The spread here was excellent. Obviously they do not scrimp. I can't imagine them scrimping cos we paid top US Dollars for these.

Though a lot of it are not in the pictures, there were fresh juices for breakfast. And we're not talking about the bottled or syrupy ones that you'd get for hotel breakfast. These were freshly squeezed papayas, oranges, grapefruits and so on. And the amazing thing was the free flow champagne for breakfast. We didn't try. Can't imagine getting tipsy at 9am in the morning.

Eggs are their specialty on the menu item. Usually you'd get them cooked in three different ways, daily, straight from the kitchen to the table. Really something to enjoy.

After packing it in, we went exploring the surroundings & the beach.

This was the infinity pool.

As I've mentioned it before, Banyan Tree doesn't have much of a beach, at least from this vantage point. It was more like a short stretch of sand.

There's a power point which stood up from the rocks on the upper left section of this photo. That's where we almost had a romantic candlelit outdoor dinner for two on the rocks with the crashing waves. For USD99/person, they could make it a really romantic experience I suppose. But for USD99/person, they'd better make sure that it is.

We decided against it cos as romantic as it sounded, it depended on how windy/rainy the night was. Can't equate wet hair & hair-in-the-face to romance. But highly recommendable if you go during the non-moonsoon season. Especially if you're just married!

After conquering the beach, we took a shuttle down to a small 'market' called Pasar Oleh-Oleh. It wasn't much & it certainly wasn't authentic, more like a commercial pit stop/trap with shops catering to tourists selling food, spa-massage & Polo T-shirts. Yes, Polo T-shirts were everywhere on this island somehow. In this little market itself, it had 2-3 shops selling the same Polo Ts, and they're like almost opposite each other.

It's at this little market that we begin to feel the pressure of being in Indonesia, 'agents' bombarded us with tour packages, taxi rides & spa-massage packages. And you couldn't tell if you were about to be conned. And if you decline, they'd stare at you from the tip of your hair down to your toe nails. It felt like we were back in Johor Wild Wild West.

But we had time to kill cos we sort of missed the bus & decided to try out  one of the foot massage packages. The 'agent' walked us through the back of the market, & through the resorts staff quarters, & we emerged into another commercial 'centre' with about two blocks of commercial shoplots & a food court. And there we experienced our very first foot reflexology.

No polished smiles, just sincere ones & super-duper hands-of-steel foot massage. I screamed & Nee screamed & we both felt like crying & laughing at the same time. And this place was cheap, about S$20 each for one hour of pain.

Dinner back at the resort was at another one of their restaurants. This was more Thai fushion.

Banyan Tree's complimentary birthday cake for Nee which was an excellent double chocolate.

That night I didn't have to pay for the singing. The waiters came out in full force & belted an Indonesian-accented Happy Birthday song.

That night Nee got her birthday wish, & I, got the double chocolate delight. It was an excellent cake. And believe me, when I say it's excellent, it's excellent.

This was our very first 5-star & beyond resort holiday. It came with a price, but with the price also came great service. In the end, it left us with a memorable experience of what being grossly rich felt like. It also left me with empty pockets & a realisation of how small our Ringgit was.

Next post: Our Taiwan trip!

Singapore Day 4: Banyan Tree Bintan Island

This was the day. This was the big day when we would be going for our very first do-nothing, all-relaxing  sleeping, eating & spa-ing 5-star holiday.

But wait. I could be wrong. We did something like that before on the Star Cruise last time. And the last time we did that, we almost became human pigs like the ones in Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away.

But that morning before we set off, Sarah brought us to a food court almost next to her apartment. In Singapore, food courts conveniently go together with  the apartments. That's how good their town planning is. In Kuching, you'd be happy if you can find a tiny children's playground in a housing estate.

The food there was surprisingly good. We didn't expect that cos we were used to the proliferation of  bad hawker stalls & food court in Kuching. The mushrooming of 1001 food centres in Kuching gave us the impression that everyone who can cook Maggi instant noodles  & fry an egg want to get into the food business. You don't see as much passion anymore in this craft.

These were what we had:

Vinegar Pork noodles which I can still taste in my mouth ~ Fresh noodles with lots of minced meat ~ S2.50 or 3.00, I think.

Wanton noodles that you'll never find in Kuching. Springy noodles with nice big wanton ~ S2.50 or 3.00

Fish bee hoon ~ S5.oo with real fresh fish slices. Seriously good.

And after that, we carried that bit of Singapore over to Bintan Island, Indonesia. We took a cab to Tanah Merah ferry station. The one-way ferry ride cost about S$24.00 & I think it took about an hour. It was a very new & modern vessel, much like the ones in Macau-Hong Kong, with relatively comfy seats, Singapore TV drama series & food-drinks concessionary.

When we got off at Bintan Island, we were greeted by by a welcoming committee from Banyan Tree.

They even had a waiting area at the ferry point. I was wondering if they'd start the foot massage at that point but they didn't.

The hotel van then zipped us to Banyan Tree which was unexpectedly only 15 mins away (I heard 50). When we alighted, we were welcomed by the gong  (here in Kuching only YBs get gongs), cold towels & cool ginger honey tea while they prepared our check in.

A friendly Korean staff, who spoke English & Indonesian, personally attended to us. She actually knelt/sat down on the floor next to Nee while she explained the rooms & services to us, & that felt like a 5-star treatment. I think if she had prostrated herself on the floor, it'll bump up the stars beyond 5 to a 10. But we're glad she didn't cos we can't imagine what that would cost us.

The Banyan Tree resort is built on the contours of the island & therefore the pathways snake up & down the hilly slopes connecting the individual private chalets. Walking is obviously possible from chalets to restaurants & the small beach, but a trip from the lobby to the chalets would require a buggy ride.

Anyway, the rides were many and the buggies were everywhere. If you don't see them, you can pick up the phone & they'll zoom right up to the front of your doorsteps.

All rooms here are in the form of villas ~ garden or jungle view, ocean view, villa on the rocks and those with your very own private pools too.

This was the first chalet that we stayed in, the Ocean View Villa. Yes, I said 'first chalet'. You'll know why soon enough.

Most of the architectural designs here are Balinese in nature. with high slanting roofings. The bed sits right in the centre of the room looking out towards the sliding doors & the sea. So you can lay down and watch the sea the whole day.

The sexy bathroom opens up to the front yard. So husbands in Bali are usually pleasantly surprised every time they come home through the main gates.

All villas were equipped with Banyan Tree special aromatheraphy incense and oil.

You can see how the villas maintain their privacy even though they're next to each other. This was the Ocean View Villa & it came with our very own private spa on the balcony. So if you're an exhibitionist, you'll love all this stripping down & skinny dipping in nature.

This is the stretch visible from the verandah. I don't think Banyan Tree is famous for its beaches. It had more of a resort in the jungle feel.

We signed up for a Health Spa package for couples which came with a healthy 5-star price tag of USD$120, foot scrub, body scrub, steam bath, rain shower (where you practical shower lying down) & massage. The masseurs were well trained & extremely polite but  I thought the whole thing was too gentle & commercial for me but Nee liked it.

When we got back to our villa, we found that 'something' had bitten through the candle holder & the wax candle was missing. Our first thought was 'things' from another dimension, but then we calmed down to a more rational thought. Maybe it was just rat. But the idea of a rat was reason enough not to stay on in the same villa. It didn't matter if the rat was a 5-star resort rat, we didn't want it with us under our sheets when we're sleeping.

With one phone call, the resort staff teleported to our chalet and we we were then upgraded to another villa. The rat turned out to be Indonesian squirrels which came down through the roof. Now that I can take. Think Alvin & the Chipmunks.

Our 2nd villa is another level up ~ Villa on the Rocks.

Villa on the Rocks was situated on the rocks (hence the name) by the sea. When the tide is up the chalet basically looks like it's on water and when the tide goes out, it's clearly on the rocks. 

This room was definitely brighter & seemed to have been refurbished recently.  If I remember correctly, we would have paid around USD700 per night for this chalet. Every night the resort staff will come up and put down the mosquitos nettings and light some incense in the room. That's 5-star service, I suppose.

This villa also came with His and Hers vanity top and a  sexy shower which overlooks out to the sea plus the usual fruit basket.

And of course, there's the little private spa on the balcony, which is the signature of this place.

There are 3 restaurants at Banyan Tree. This one is called Tree Top which had more of a Western menu.

We didn't know if this was the off-peak season but it felt like the resort staff was more than the guests. But we were not complaining.

We had nothing to complain about the food either but of course they came with a 5-star USD price. Really can't afford this sort of luxury all the time although it's nice to pamper ourselves once in a long while. Guess it is really, really nice to be rich.

Complimentary mayo and butter for the bread.

Ceasar salad

Deluxe Burger

Pizza with nice crispy thin crust

A word of warning & a reminder. Everything here in this resort is in US Dollars. So to have a full experience,  it's important not to think about it. Otherwise, it'll feel like you're eating US Dollars for dinner.

Nevertheless, Singaporean dollars still work on another level. I was able to bribe these guys to come over to sing a couple of songs for Nee. Singapore still got power but the Ringgit was nowhere in sight.