Early morning CST on January 25th, I flew alone from from Chicago to Taipei. I finally took the trip I have been talking about forever. O’hare’s international terminal’s process was easy, once I finally found the terminal. ORD’s international terminal is separate from the other ones, so it was a bit of a maze finding it. Once I got through security I had time to kill, so I passed the time making phone calls to my family.
After a long three hours, I finally boarded the plane. This was my first time flying EVA, but I was delighted to learn that it is *incredibly* safe. As of 2014, EVA was rated the third safest airline in the world. For someone who assumes the worst at even the slightest bit of turbulence, this was very reassuring.
The food was good and the plane was clean. The flight attendants were very helpful and I had no shortage of in-flight entertainment options. However, a peculiar thing is this airline’s affiliation with Hello Kitty. Everything was Hello Kitty, from the pillows to the barf bags (This is were I wish I knew how to post pictures in my text post).
We landed at 6:30 local time. After going through customs, I ordered a cab to take me to my (capsule) hotel.
During the half hour drive from Taoyuan to New Taipei City, I enjoyed nice conversation with my cab driver. While I have only been here a few hours, my first impression is that Taiwanese speak English better than their mainland counterparts. Once again, this is based on a few hours in Taiwan, but we shall see how true my observation holds.
I will be staying at a capsule hotel. Capsule hotels, which originated in Japan, are similar to hostels in that they offer cheap lodging with shared facilities, however, they differ in that each guest stays in a “capsule” or pod that is barely big enough for one person. I am excited to share pictures of my accommodations, however, I am unable to check in until this afternoon. I spent my morning exploring the area and I am now writing this blog post from the hotel lobby. Today will be a somewhat boring day. I am not as tired as I thought I would be, as the nighttime departure/ morning arrival has given me slight jet-lag. The fact remains, however, that I am fresh off a 15 hour flight. Tonight I hope to visit a local night market for food and I may go karaoke singing as well. I look forward to updating you with my next post. I will share pictures as soon as I am able.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, 再見 ！
