Day 1- After I checked into my flight I proceeded to the VIP lounge. I was the first one into the lounge. The snack selection looks like it was bought at Sam's Club or Costco. This time, though, the lounge is offering bud light and miller lite in cans. Slowly the small lounge started to fill up. I noticed that now they have some power outlets and ethernet ports throughout the lounge.
When it came time to leave the lounge I proceeded on the long walk to the departure gate. Inside this holding area the business class and first class is separated from the economy class by vinyl straps. I boarded when they let the business class board the plane.
I had the entire 3 seat row to myself for about 30 minutes until someone moved to the other end of my row. At least I still had an empty seat next to me. I wasn't so lucky on the connecting flight to Taipei because the business class cabin was filled up completely.
The first meal was really delicious. I had the beef tenderloin dish. The second meal of a snack plate was OK. The meal on the next flight wasn't as great since I'm not much of a seafood fan. My choices for the meal on the Taipei flight was either a Japanese teishoku platter, veal, or shrimp in chili sauce. I ended up selecting the shrimp plate but I'm not that keen on spicy food.
The flight was pretty much on schedule in Taipei. I have an overnight stay in Taipei due to missing the connecting flight. I was put up in a hotel but this time it's a different one than the last time. This time you have to process out in immigration and you get to keep your passport this time. It's a long walk outside of the airport to the transit shuttle pick up point. It's really hot in Taipei now at around 90 degrees and I was sweating the 30 minutes I had to wait for the shuttle bus to the hotel.
Before I walked out of the arrival area I exchange $100 to NTD at the exchange rate of 31.17 which is about 1 full NTD lower than reported in the newspaper. There's a 30 NTD fee for cash or 100 NTD fee for traveler's checks. I didn't look around for a kiosk selling sim cards for my GSM cellphone. I'll try to look into it when I return back to Taiwan later in my trip. The Novotel is at the airport so there's no businesses nearby to the hotel.
When I checked into the hotel I was given a dinner, breakfast, and lunch coupon to keep my well fed. After freshening up I ate dinner in the restaurant on the first floor. It was a buffet style meal. I tried a little here and there but wasn't able to sample the entire selections since there was too many to experience.
I made a wake up call for 8:00 AM so that I'll be able to eat breakfast. Check out is at 12:00 noon and having lunch after that would work out good. Then I'll catch the shuttle back to the airport and check in for my flight to Singapore.
I'm still very tired since I didn't have any sleep on the day of my trip. I only have about 3-4 hours sleep per day the week before the trip. The lack of sleep is catching up with me. I hope to get to sleep before midnight.

August 12, 2010-Singapore-Taiwan
Day 9- I woke up at 5:30 AM and took a quick shower before heading out for breakfast. I decided to find a place to eat on Lorong 14 and Geylang Road. I had dumpling noodle soup for S$3.50. The dumplings weren’t as good as the ones on Lorong 25A. After the simple breakfast I went back to me hotel and along the way one older looking lady of the night was calling me from across the hotel. She said hey, so she’s probably been at this business for awhile since that’s an English word. I didn’t bother talking to her to find out the going rate since I didn’t have enough money because I spent too much at Orchard Towers last night.
I packed up and went downstairs to check out at 7:30 AM. I collected my valuables from the safety deposit box which is located in the luggage storage room. The hotel called the taxi for me and it arrived a few minutes later.
The 20 minute ride on the taxi to the airport cost S$13 for the fare and S$9 for the CDB fee (which is higher than the rate from the airport to the hotel for some reason) for a total of S$22. Tipping doesn’t seem to be required.
Check in at the airport was quick as there was no line. I got a VIP pass for the lounge due to my gold card. I quickly cleared immigration. There’s no x-ray machine in the airport until you get to the gate for your first security check. The bad thing is that since the x-ray machine is at the gate you won’t be able to bring water onto the plane but it’s quick going through the gate security unlike in Manila where it’s a mess.
I walked toward the gate and found the shared VIP lounge up the stairs nearby the boarding gate. A bunch of airlines share this third party lounge as China Airlines doesn’t have their own dedicated lounge. There are numerous snacks including fried udon which I went back for seconds. I also dug into the blueberry muffins and the fresh fruits. I had a Tiger beer inside here since I’ll be leaving Singapore. I found the large internet station on the other side of the lounge and had only about 15 minutes before boarding time.
I went down to the gate just before boarding and went through the security which was fast. While I was waiting for the boarding call I noticed that everybody had different color boarding cards which they use for the boarding process. They call the color and then you board according to the color of the card you are holding. Since I have the gold card with priority boarding I wasn’t given one of these color coded cards. I boarded when they called for the paragon, emerald, and gold cards.
The plane was full just as I expected. There seem to be a Chinese tour group and also a bunch of OSW (overseas workers from the Philippines) which filled up the plane. The flight was rather smooth with a few bumps along the way. There’s this one Chinese guy in the aisle seat across from me who after eating his entrÉe asked for another entrÉe and then after finishing that he asked for another entrÉe. So that means he ate 3 entrÉes and it looked like he was able to eat some more. I didn’t know you were allowed more than the standard fare. I think I made the mistake of taking the fish and rice (large portion of fish but the Chinese sauce was too much for me). I should have taken the chicken and potatoes as that should have been a tip off that it would be American style with the potatoes.
I got off the plane and exchanged some money for NTD even though I already exchanged $100 US over a week ago. I had to make sure I had enough money to finally fulfill my quest for a Taiwanese happy ending.
After passing through the customs (wasn’t stopped for inspection) I walked to the express bus counters. I looked for the Free Go bus window and I bought a ticket straight to Royal Castle Hotel. In hindsight I forgot to buy a round trip ticket to save a few NTD.
I rushed outside with my ticket as I was told the bus is going to leave soon. My luggage was put into the luggage stow and I went into the bus to sit down. A minute later the big tour bus with comfortable seats left Terminal 1 heading to Terminal 2 to pick up more passengers. The bus left the airport at 3:55 PM with only about a dozen passengers so I had my own row of seats. When we reached Taipei city at 4:30 PM we had to get off the bus in Zhongshan district and board a bus that looked like a regular city bus that they chartered to take us to the hotel.
I was dropped off at my hotel at 5:00 PM and had to lug my heavy suitcase from the bus. I checked into the hotel and paid the $4500 NT for the 2 nights using my credit card since I wanted to save my cash for the big night out.
I unpacked my bags and freshened up. I went downstairs an hour later and put my things into the safety deposit box. They give you an envelope and you put your things inside and then they seal it with scotch tape. You then sign on the scotch tape that’s covering the envelope’s opening. Then they put it into a safe. You are then given a large paper voucher to use when you want to go into your envelope again. I didn’t care for this type of safety keeping but it’s only for 2 nights.
I went outside after depositing my room key (required before leaving the hotel) with the front desk. The front desk is manned by the “twin sisters”. They look like sisters because they both wear geeky looking glasses and look like librarians.
My first order of business was to go to the 7-11 across the street. I got a sim card there but there’s a lot of paper work to do and 2 forms of ID are required. They have to make copies of the 2 IDs on an application. This took about 5-10 minutes to complete. I had them put the Far East Tone sim card in my cell phone and they activated the sim card on a kiosk. The price was $301 NT for the sim card and a bundle of minutes included. I’ll be calling China Airlines tomorrow to reconfirm my flight. I hope that maybe I can get some cell phone numbers from the girls but communication may be a problem.
I looked around for someplace to eat my dinner and found a KFC a half a block from my hotel. The menu is a little different here as they don’t have cole slaw, mashed potatoes, or potato wedges among other items. I just ordered the combo #1 which is 2 pieces of original fried chicken, fries, and a large coke for $145 NT. I walked upstairs to their dining area to eat my meal.
After I finished eating around 7:30 PM I walked back out to Cheng Du Road and walked to the Ximen MRT station about 4 blocks away. There are lots of neon lights along the street in Xi Men Ding. It looks like Manhattan with mostly young trendy people walking around. The side streets look like Soho.
I walked into the Ximen MRT station and went to the window to buy the yo-yo card which cost $500 NT. This card is good for travel on the subways and maybe the bus. When you’re through with the card you return it for the $100 NT deposit that’s built into the card. The other $400 NT is for the fare.
I was able to find the subway track going to Taipei Main Station. From there I navigated the corridor going up an escalator until I reached the train heading to Danshui. I got off at Minquan W. Road stop and walked out to the street. I walked about 4 to 5 blocks down and saw the sign for Shuangcheng Street which is a small street. I cross the main street and continued walking up Shuangcheng St. up to the small local night market. I took a quick look at the market and then continued up another 2 blocks to where the bars are.
Only 2 of the bars were opened and the rest opened up at 8:30 PM. I walked into Miami Pub first. I sat down and had a Taiwan beer. I was the only customer in at the time because it just opened up. The mama
san came by and talked to me and convinced me to buy a drink for one of the girls. The beer for

me was $100 NT and for the lady drink was $400 NT. There’s a 15% service charge. The girl drank her drink within 5-10 minutes. The mama san wanted me to talk with the other girl that’s staying with her. I reluctantly bought the girl and the mama san a drink.
After they finished their drink I decided that I’d better get out of here before I spend too much. I got my bill which came out to about $1500 NT. I decided to stop at one more bar and I figured that the Volcano next door was a logical choice because the owner is from Hawaii.
The owner wasn’t there but back in Hawaii at this time. The mama san is different from the last time I was in this bar 3 years ago and so were the girls. Three years ago I came with a friend and we only bought ourselves a beer in both bars and didn’t spend much but this time when I came alone it’s a different story.
I walked into the Volcano and there were only 2 girls working there tonight. I talked with the mama san and she does go to Hawaii several times a year. The 2 girls spoke very good English and we were able to communicate with no problem. I eventually bought a drink for the 2 girls and mama san while I had a Longboard beer. She said that she’ll buy be another beer (Big Wave) if I buy another round. I said why the hell and decided to make this my big night.
When I was almost finished with my beer she made a suggestion that I take the 2 girls to my hotel room for a massage. It’ll cost $4000 each but I didn’t have enough cash on me. She said it’s no problem and that they accept credit cards. This is something I don’t normally do and I had to think about it for a second. I guess this is as close as I’m going to get to experiencing Taiwan women.
I completed the transaction and off I went with the 2 Chinese girls. We walked to the Minquan MRT station and got off at Ximen MRT station. We walked down Cheng Du Road to my hotel. We went up and watched TV for awhile before beginning with the massage. I took a shower to get the sweat off me.
I got a massage from both girls. It wasn’t professional as I don’t think they went to any massage school. After the massage was over they asked me if I wanted a happy ending (not the kind I was thinking of). They said a tip of $1000 NT each for the hand job was the standard tariff. I don’t know why I said OK but maybe I was thinking it could lead to something more. They finished the hand job and wiped me off with tissue. I took a fast rinse off in the shower. I wanted to take a picture of them but they told me it was Ghost month and that it’s bad luck to take their picture at night. I guess I should have done more research to avoid these type of superstitious events. They got a call from the mama san saying their 2 hours is up so they left after I gave them their tip.
After they left AI was thinking to myself if I was better off calling up an escort service and maybe get full service for less than I spent tonight for a hand job.
I finally got to sleep around 2:00 AM I set the alarm for 8:00 AM so I can make it in time for the free breakfast in the basement.

August 13, 2010-Taiwan
Day 10- This is my final full day in Taipei. I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning for home. I woke up at 8:00 AM this morning and still feeling a little woozy from the beer last night and not getting enough sleep last night. I took a shower and got ready to eat breakfast in the basement. I went down to the restaurant and they had Chinese style breakfast buffet.
I read the reviews of this hotel and they said the breakfast was a miss and they were right. The breakfast sucks. They had luncheon meat, watery powered scrambled eggs, about 6 plates of Chinese dishes that I didn’t care for, porridge, toast, coffee, tea, orange and grape drink, green guava, and yellow watermelon. I was still hungry after eating what I could from the buffet. I think I’ll pass on the breakfast tomorrow and maybe eat at KFC.
I went back up to my room to check out the internet connection via their ADSL outlet. There’s a small computer down in the basement but I’ve heard that it’s very slow and doesn’t work good.
I finally went out to do some sightseeing at 1:00 PM. My first order of business was to eat lunch. I walked around Xi Men Ding trying to find someplace reasonable to eat. I finally settled on the McDonald’s right in the middle of the square. I ordered something easy to eat since I’ll be taking it out and sitting outside in Xi Men Ding and watching all the pretty girls walk by while eating my lunch. I took the 6 piece chicken nuggets with fries and coke for $99 NT. I found someplace to sit down and enjoyed the view while I slowly consumed my meal.
After finishing the filling meal I walked to the Ximen MRT station about 50 meters away and hopped on the train to Longshan Temple. It’s only one stop away so it’ll be a quick ride. I got off at the Longshan Temple stop and had to go through their shopping mall to make it out to the street and right across was the temple.
I took some pictures of the temple as I walked through the grounds. There were lots of Chinese people praying with incense all over the temple. After leaving the grounds I turned right and looked for the Huaxi night market also known as Snake Alley. I finally found the famous night market but since it was still in the afternoon the businesses were closed and nobody was around.
I walked back a different way to see some different scenery but everything looks the same with Chinese characters on the signs with no English. I walked back to the Longshan Temple MRT station and caught the train to CKS Memorial Hall. I just had to go back to Ximen station and then take the CKS Memorial Hall train for a couple of stops. It’s the shortest line with only 2 stops total.
I got off at CKS Memorial Hall MRT station and walked to the site. There are 2 identical Chinese buildings before you reach the CKS Memorial Hall. I took a few pictures and walked up the steep stairs to the memorial. I stayed there for a few minutes and then walked back to the MRT station where I went back to Ximen station. I walked back to my hotel room stopping at a bakery and the Family Mart along the way.
I did some mini packing for my trip back home tomorrow. I caught up with some internet activities before I started getting ready for my final night out in Taipei. I’m going to try and find the Brass Monkey which is located on Fuxing N. Road.
I got a late start leaving the hotel after 7:15 PM. I wanted to check out the Japanese restaurant that my friend & I ate at 3 years ago. I walked up Xi Ning S. Road to Paradise Hotel and then crossed the street and found the Japanese restaurant that I was craving for. Unfortunately the restaurant was busy at this time of the night and also it’s a Friday night so everyplace is crowded in the Xi Men Ding area. I was waiting for about 15 minutes and decided that the line was too long and that I didn’t want to sit at a table by myself when there are so many people in line for this small restaurant. The restaurant must have really gained some popularity since my last visit.
I walked around Xi Men Ding and couldn’t find any place worth checking out so I just went to the KFC there and ate the fried chicken combo. This time I didn’t say that I wanted the original recipe so I ended up with the spicier version. I went up to the 4^th floor to eat my chicken dinner.
After eating my meal I walked towards Ximen MRT station. Along the way Xi Men Ding is really hopping and there are young people all over the place. I caught the train to Zhongkiao Fuxing MRT station and got off. I had to walk through the Sogo shopping mall because the MRT station is connected to the Sogo mall. After finding my way out I walked along Fuxing N. Road about 20 blocks to find the Brass Monkey which is an expat bar mixed with some local Taiwanese.
I should have taken the MRT to Nanjing E. Road and I would have to walk only 1 block to get to the Brass Monkey. I ordered a bottle of Tiger beer. I stayed in there for about 30 minutes. It’s not quite my type of bar but it was busy inside with people that knew each other. The beer cost $150 NT plus 15% service charge so I gave the waitress $200 NT and told her to keep the change as tip. I left the bar and then walked around to see if I can find the small night market of Liaoning Street but couldn’t find it on that street.
I decided to take the sky train from Nanjing E. Road MRT station to Zhongxiao Fuxing station so that I don’t have to walk 20 blocks again. I then transferred to Yongning line for the ride back to Ximen station. The transfer station at Fuxing was very busy with Tokyo like mobs of people riding the subway. I had to wait for the next train because the first one was full. It was that crowded at 11:00 PM.
I finally made it back to Ximen station and squeezed my way through all the “ants” crawling around or should I say “cockroaches”. I guess my imagination was getting the better of me. I walked back to my hotel and it was 11:30 PM already.
I packed up some more things and will finish up in the morning. It’s getting late since it’s past 1:00 AM. I’ll have to go to sleep soon so that I can have enough sleep because I’ll be getting up early in the morning to prepare for my trip home.

                                                August 14, 2010-
The alarm rang at 8:00 AM. I took a shower and went down to the lobby to get my breakfast coupon. I went into the restaurant in the basement and grabbed what I could eat from the selection they had available. Instead of wet runny powdered eggs this time they had hard boiled eggs. I passed on that and took only the cooked cabbage, 1 slice luncheon meat, 2 mini sausages, toast, hot tea, orange drink, a slice of green guava, and 2 slices of yellow watermelon.
After eating in the hotel’s restaurant I took a walk to KFC and looked at their breakfast menu. I ordered the chicken and egg omelet croissant sandwich with lemon ice tea for $59 NT. I ate on the second floor by the window with a view of the street below. It seems that at 9:00 AM everybody’s still sleeping from staying up late in the trendy area.
I went back up to my room and brushed my teeth. I packed up my remaining things and rested until 10:00 AM. I then went down to the lobby and checked out of the hotel. The hotel staff got a taxi for me and I was dropped off at Taipei Station. The fare was $95 NT for the 10 minute ride.
When I went into the bus depot building where they had about 4 or 5 counters of bus companies. There was a line in the express bus counter but the lady in a counter with no line called me to her counter and asked if I was going to the airport. I said yes and she said the fare is $90 NT. I went in the bus which looked like a city bus instead of the other buses which look more like an airport coach bus. I waited in the bus for 20 minutes until it left the bus station. There were about 10 passengers on the bus so I had my own row of seats but it wasn’t as comfortable as the Free Go bus.
As the bus proceeded through Taipei city it stopped at all the bus stops picking up passengers who put their fare into the fare box. Some passengers got off at the bus stops along the way. After about half an hour of picking up passengers the bus finally made it to the highway. The traffic was heavy and very slow moving in the rush hour traffic.
The bus veered off at Taoyuan City and stopped at some more bus stops picking up and dropping off passengers. I knew by now that this is not an express bus and it’s taking a long time to get to the airport. If I didn’t leave early I may have missed my flight today.
Finally the bus reached the Taoyuan International Airport after 2 hours on the road and I got off at Terminal 2. We were dropped off on the street level which is the arrival floor. I entered the terminal and went up to the third level which is the departure level for check in. I found out that there were 2 different check in counters with one for economy class and the other for first and business class. Since I had the gold card I was able to check in at the business class counter. I got my boarding pass and then proceeded to immigration.
After clearing immigration I went through security and then headed for the VIP lounge. I had about 45 minutes before boarding so I had the noodle soup and ate some dim sum. I used the computer to access the internet until it was time to go to the gate. I arrived at the gate and waited for the call for the gold card members and then I went in to board the plane.
The plane left Taipei late as it was full. There wasn’t any empty seats in sight. Luckily I had an aisle seat so I didn’t feel as squashed as the person sitting next to me in the middle seat.
Since the plane arrived in Narita late so I hurried through security and looked for the VIP lounge to grab something to eat and drink. I found out that the lounge didn’t have any beer but had bottles of hard liquor. Darn, I should have had a beer in the Taipei lounge. I got word that the flight would be delayed about an hour due to our late arrival. I didn’t bother using the computer in the lounge because it’s a Japanese version and some of the keys are different so I didn’t want to waste my time trying to figure it out.
I left the lounge just before boarding call. I boarded the plane early with my gold card. It didn’t take long for the seat next to me to become occupied. The plane was full again with no empty seats anywhere.
After about an hour in flight we got our main meal. The choice was chicken and rice or fish and rice. I took the fish which was a large piece but I didn’t care too much for the sauce. The chicken did look better. Just as I finished eating my meal the plane started to run into moderate to heavy turbulence. The turbulence was so bad the flight attendants had to sit down for 2 hours as the turbulence lasted that long.
The flight attendants got up after the 2 hours and started picking up our trays but didn’t bring us coffee or hot tea because the turbulence was still too rough. About 30 minutes later the turbulence faded away and the flight became mostly smooth.
The breakfast before we landed was a simple one this time. Everybody had the same dish which consisted of a ham and cheese croissant, almond float, orange juice, and hot tea. This time we weren’t served the normal selection of either American or Chinese breakfast. I guess they were cutting back on the meals.
The plane arrived an hour late since we left an hour late from Narita. I got off the plane and cleared immigration. I waited at the baggage carousel for almost an hour waiting for my luggage to come out. When the final bag came out there was only a handful of people left at the carousel. My bag didn’t come out so I looked around at the remaining luggage that the porters pulled out and I saw my bag there all by itself. I didn’t know that my bag came out early and someone pulled it off the carousel and set it aside. I waited there a long time even though my bag was already out. I walked to the customs agent and he passed me through.
The trip to Singapore, Indonesia, and Taiwan was rather interesting. I got to see Singapore and Taipei city taking the MRT for transportation. I finally got to see Orchard Road in Singapore. I think Orchard Towers is a rip off in their 4 floors of bars. It’s better to stick with the chicken houses in Geylang. I got to try the PRC girls for my first time at the houses. I went back to the hostess bars in Taipei but I spent way too much and ended up with only a hand job. In Indonesia I got stuck with the old pro again. I regret not getting a booking girl there. I still have to go back there again to experience the booking girl process. I’m ready to plan for my next trip.