Taiwan2014之梅雨的季节- Jetting off,Arriving in Taipei & Enroute to 新竹(Hsinchu)

Managed to grab the promotional tickets from Scoot with the advice from my colleagues (i.e to book at 7am on a tuesday morning) and we decided to make a trip to Taiwan again despite me wanting to go to Korea.

Taiwan was choosen again partly because we missed the food and partly due to the fact the time to departure was too near and I didn't have enough time to plan a Korea trip.

So with much excitment, we took the 00:45 flight to Taipei which will touch down at 5.45am.

I must say I have reservations about flying with Scoot since the bad experience my bro had with them when travelling to Taipei too. I make sure I check my gmail everyday in case they rescheduled our flight at the very last minute.

The lady at Scoot check in counter was not welcoming at all. She just dismissed us by placing our passports on the counter without telling me check in has been completed. It was me who need to ask her. Jetstar's check in counter staff on the other hand would even wish you a safe & pleasant flight. Mr Love told me that you pay budget prices, you get budget service. Nice.

Anyways the flight was smooth and the seats were surprisingly comfortable, just like an economy seat in a normal plane. Jetstar's seat  by contrast had shrink significantly in the recent years and Mr Love got upset with it. But I cannot say the same for Scoot's cabin crew. Especially the one that I deal with. Saying she is rude was an understatement. Totally not professional was more apt to describe her. I got better service from the auntie in Red Star Restaurant than from her. That pretty much sums up their service.

Upon touching down, we went to Terminal 2 of Taoyuan airport and had breakfast while waiting for the telco to open shop. Previously, the 1 that I went to opens(台湾大哥大） at 8am sharp but the other day while walking around looking for the shop, we came across Chunghwa telecom （中华电信) opens at 7am. We happily brought a 3G SIM card from them @NT500 for NT150 worth of talk time and 7days unlimited 3G data. Cheaper than the other telco I usually buy from but I realised the coverage is not that good in some areas.

Touched down in TPE Taoyuan airport

We will be staying with 姗姗姐 for 3 days and will need to make our way to their home in Hsinchu. Lucky for us they will pick us out from Hsinchu HSR station. So we took a bus from the airport to Taoyuan HSR station where it is 1 stop away from Hsinchu. Tickets is at NT315 for reserved seats. Non reserve seats will cost NT5 cheaper but you will need find your own seat at the designated cabins.

Taoyuan HSR south bound platform

 I didn't bother to check the train timings as there will be a train every 30min or so. We brought the next train timing and will be expected to reach Hsinchu in 10min. Beauty of fast speed trains. Normal train would take an hr at least excluding waiting time.

Stations on South bound

Selfie on the platform

HSR train

姗姗姐 was there to pick us up when we reached. Their house is around 15min walk from the HSR station. I did have the map with me but since we are armed with luggage, this was no easy feat.

Liujia（六家车站） is just beside the HSR station

 Changed out of our jeans and begin our adventures that our host and hostess planned for us. Travelling with the locals, seeing Taiwan the way local do. How exciting!