Day 1 (14/6) : KaoHsiung

Our flight was scheduled to leave Changi airport at 1.50pm, we had booked a high speed rail at about 9+pm already factoring in massive buffer time since we would only take 4.5hours to get to Taoyuan airport in Taipei. Everything, the contingency plans have all been carefully analysed and catered for.... or so we thought. For Jetstar dropped the bomb on us when they delayed our flight by a groundbreaking 4+hours!!

We panicked and tried calling the high speed rail hotline to inform them of our flight delay and to hopefully change our train tickets... but I supposed everyone else was doing that because I was on hold for a good 15mins before I gave up... twice. Based on good faith, we decided to just let "nature takes its course". We weren't sure if we were going to make it for the last high speed rail, nor were we certain that we could change the timings of our tickets, but we had prepared for the worst case scenario... to spend the night at the airport and to fork out another S$60+ per pax for the tickets.

Don't be deceived by the happy looks on our faces, we were smiling because of each other's company and not because of the inconvenience Jetstar gave us...

And we did get travel insurance too... just that Jetstar was "cunning" enough to delay it by 4 hours knowing that one of the clause to claim our insurance was a consecutive flight delay of 6 hours straight. So, to sum it up... we didn't get any compensation, had to spend an additional 4 hours breathing the air in Changi airport, was forced to buy water and food on board the cramped up plane because no drinks were allowed on board and the water cooler provided shot out murky waters. Spent a good S$20+ on board, lost a few strands of hair, flactuating blood pressure and a loud, noisy and shaky plane ride greeted us before us even setting foot onto Taiwan.

All was not lost for thankfully, all the rushing and running in Taoyuan airport, we did manage to flag a Daytona cab seemingly recklessly yet skilfully got us to the high speed rail station in 1 piece just in time for the last train. Brought a bottle at a convenience store (7-11 I think) in the train station and tried some tea eggs to fill our stomachs.

When we finally reached Kaohsiung train station in the wee hours of the night, we dragged our luggage around, exposing ourselves to the prying cab drivers. We were greeted by one such cab driver who asked us if we need a ride. We rejected and said our hotel was nearby (which was indeed so thanks to the pre-planning) and he asked where we were going... said he could help direct us towards the correct direction. We rejected politely, said it was alright and he tried asking again. We told him where we were headed and he pointed us to that direction... without asking for anything in return... and that was... our first encounter with the amicability of the locals.

Throughout our trip in Taiwan, we were indeed hounded by loads of cab drivers hoping to make that extra buck out of us but there were a couple who were sincerely there to help us. So don't be too paranoid about aggressive cab drivers approaching you because some, not all, are really just there to make that difference in your life.

When we did check into our hotel, it was already 2am in the morning and we took a bath and slept not too long after. The hotel looked fine, was a little gloomy though, but the toilet was extremely spacious. It was almost half the size of the actual room itself and they provided new toiletries everyday. Had a big LCD tv mounted to the wall... and a hairdryer which we used to blow our hair dry before turning in. It wasn't perfect though, the toilet had a faint pungent smell (similar to that of the sewers) whenever we came back in the nights to come and that is the only complain I have about that hotel.

It was probably a sleezy hotel because they were broadcasting porn channels, and they provided condoms everyday. The hotel was situated near the train station, about 10 mins walk away and its located along a pretty dark and narrow street. The location of our room was pretty good because it was directly opposite the water cooler, was on the 2nd level (didn't have elevators there) along the corridor. And so, we took our beauty's rest to recharge for the next day...

Happy Hotel Ratings: Commerce Room, $980NT/night

Value for money: 3.5/5 (provided 2 bottles of water everyday, very much self contained but lacked hangars in the room)

Cleanliness: 3.5/5 (pretty clean decor apart from the mild stinky toilet)

• Location: 4/5 (near train station, walking distance to Liouhe night market)

Staff: 3.5/5 (willing to help but didn't appear too friendly, spoke relatively limited english)

Breakfast: 2/5 (good that they provide but the food was below average)

Overall, we were satisfied with the accommodation and like the name suggests, yup, you'll be pretty happy staying there during your stay in Kaohsiung.