Last day today.

All our backs were packed and we were ready to explore a little bit left of Taipei with the time we had. We left the hostel at 9:50 but left the luggage there so we didn’t have to carry those heavy items on our last stroll in Taipei.

Itinerary of the day: National Taiwan University and SOGO.

National Taiwan University had the old school feeling going on. I loved it. The atmosphere was relaxed. The students were riding their bicycles in the cold weather that morning along the parks lined with old trees with the aerial roots hanging. There were students enjoying their breakfast, rehearsing dance moves, practicing drama and just sitting down chatting with friends. There were some small kids learning to ride a monocycle too. I visited the place to see the university atmosphere in the country. Universities are the think tank of the world and soon I will be a part of it back in Singapore. Who knows I will be furthering my studies or just become an exchange student here in the future! Unfortunately for me the souvenir shop was closed! We ate brunch at a cafe there, served by the part-timer. The food was okay, nothing special. We left the university at 1130hrs. By the way, NTU is near Gongguan MRT station.

The next place we went to was for us to get some last minute shopping done. SOGO Department store is located near Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station. The prices there were almost the same as those in Singapore. Branded goods are like that, I guess. I didn’t buy anything, but there were a lot things I want to buy though. After getting what we need/want, we ate lunch at Bellini Pasta Pasta, a cool italian restaurant with some seriously commendable pasta.

We went back to the hostel to get our luggage and left for the airport at 1630hrs. We checked in our luggages as per normal procedure. We asked to change our seats which we bought for SGD5 each, we wanted to ensure that we sit together on the plane. Our mistake was to book the ones just in front of the seats near the emergency exits. Those sits are not reclinable. Those are seats no.11 on airbus A320. We paid for those seats on the flight to Taiwan and had neck and back pains by the time we arrive. We didn’t want the same thing to happen again. Fortunately, the person behind the counter was very kind to change our seats to row no.5.

Taoyuan Airport was pretty much satisfying. After we checked in, we went straight for immigration clearance. Just to be clear, do tax refund before immigration clearance. After immigration are duty free shops (loads of them), but there are no more tax refund counter.

Our flight back to Singapore was on time. They let us board the plane at 1950hrs. It was a smooth flight and we landed at 0040hrs, 15 minutes earlier than scheduled.

My friend’s mother picked us up at Changi International Airport at 0130hrs.

I am back at home safely.