A Cold Spring in Summer: Taipei via Jetstar, Kavalan Whisky in Yilan

[yflyer]

Boarding took place on time…







A benefit of an all Y cabin (apart from the fact that toilets are available at both ends of the cabin), is that you get to peer into the cockpit during the boarding process.





Of course once doors were closed, the cockpit door was shut, and remained shut throughout the flight.

Take-off from TPE…





Great views of the western coastline of Taiwan…



Cabin service began soon after take-off, with pre-orders served first…



The Jetstar boarding pass includes several codes which tell the crew what you are entitled to (They have a separate system with all the entitlements listed as well, of course).



BG20 – 20KG of baggage purchased
MS03 – Preordered meal selection
V10S – S$10 voucher for inflight purchases
QFFP – The only indication that I was a Qantas Frequent Flyer…not that FF’s got any specific benefits on Jetstar, as far as I could tell.

I pre-ordered Nasi Lemak.



This was pretty good, but not as impressive as the Air Asia nasi lemak, I think.

The full flight was smooth and uneventful.

We landed a few minutes earlier than the 8.45pm arrival time, at Changi T1, and as always, we breezed through T1 arrival formalities very quickly, and got our luggage in double quick time as well.

[yflyer]

They have redone the T1 arrival pickup area since the last time I was there. There is now an air conditioned waiting area, where you can sit in air conditioned comfort while waiting for your car pick-up. Thumbs up for this concept – much better than sitting in the muggy Singapore air while waiting outside.





And that wraps up this TR on Taipei and Yilan.

Thanks for reading!

[Pinkfloyd]

Cheers for another great TR!

[SQGamespeed]

Excellent TR! I will be going to Taiwan again later this year and this has got me more excited for it.

From your description of the distillery it seems as if the coffee was more popular than the whiskey.

[banoffi]

enjoyed reading this! bookmarking for next year haha - trying to persuade my girl to visit Taiwan instead of USA post-PSLE.

Would you recommend visiting Yilan during December?

[yflyer]

Cheers for another great TR!

Thanks, Pinkfloyd!

[yflyer]

Excellent TR! I will be going to Taiwan again later this year and this has got me more excited for it.

Thanks, SQGamespeed! Based on this trip, I think Taiwan is the kind of place I would not mind returning to over and over again, just to sample more food, shopping and scenery.

The shopping scene is so much more lively than Singapore, and things are reasonably priced as well.

The local F&B is quite mindboggling as well!

From your description of the distillery it seems as if the coffee was more popular than the whiskey.

The Kavalan/Mr Brown facility seems to be a popular tourist attraction in Yilan, both for the Mr Brown cafe, and the Kavalan whisky. The stalls in the Visitor Centre were doing roaring business in King Car consumer products, whether Mr Brown coffee or other households products.

[yflyer]

enjoyed reading this! bookmarking for next year haha - trying to persuade my girl to visit Taiwan instead of USA post-PSLE.

Would you recommend visiting Yilan during December?

Thanks banoffi! Why not fly on Eva and stopover in Taiwan enroute to the USA ?

I think the weather in December would be quite cool and pleasant. You might still have days of rain, but it also rained in the afternoons when we were here in July, and it didn't impact our activities too much.

[mr_botak]

Wow - thanks. I'm inspired to go back. Jetstar looks pretty decent.

[dfs24]

Looks good! Great report as always.

[banoffi]

Thanks banoffi! Why not fly on Eva and stopover in Taiwan enroute to the USA ?

I think the weather in December would be quite cool and pleasant. You might still have days of rain, but it also rained in the afternoons when we were here in July, and it didn't impact our activities too much.

Can't be away for too long! ideally it'd be a 2 week holiday, but not keen to spend only 1 week in the US after flying all the way there, so possibly 9-10 days in Taiwan this time round? Also both my kids have been to Taiwan for immersion trips whereas the last time I was there was 30+ years ago! they are quite excited to show me around!

Am also keeping an eye out on where else to go in taiwan - eg Cingjing, Kenting. Am very pleased to see that they have *my kind* of accommodation in Yilan. haha. Friends have mostly recommended Minsu (homestays) but I am not sure it will work for me.

[yflyer]

Wow - thanks. I'm inspired to go back. Jetstar looks pretty decent.

Thanks, mr_botak! I'm keen to head back there too!

[yflyer]

Looks good! Great report as always.

Thanks, dfs24!

[yflyer]

Also both my kids have been to Taiwan for immersion trips whereas the last time I was there was 30+ years ago!

My previous visits to Taiwan were also many years back, and those were for work so I didn't see a whole lot. This trip was a real eye opener for me!

Am very pleased to see that they have *my kind* of accommodation in Yilan. haha. Friends have mostly recommended Minsu (homestays) but I am not sure it will work for me.

My kind of accomodation too! Mrs yflyer did mention that Minsu's were very popular, but she decided on the EHR resort in Yilan, because she has a thing for hot springs (and Japanese Onsens...) and she knew that I liked sea views, and staying by the coast.

[yflyer]

One thing to note about the EHR Resort in Yilan is that, apart from the online booking, Mrs yflyer had to do much of the interaction with the Yilan EHR resort staff on the phone and email in Mandarin, as they don't get many non-Chinese speaking guests.

But readers who don't speak Mandarin shouldn't let language be an obstacle -- get help from a Mandarin speaker/writer when making the booking.

It will be fine when you get there because there will almost always be someone around who can speak English to assist.