waste o time place

Photos are probably the best way to describe certain things.
Instead here's a video:



But before we even got to see the room, our bags were taken from us and we were ushered into the open and airy lobby where instead of standing at a desk we were asked to sit down and handed some yummy sweet honey elixir. Then we were given cool towels to refresh ourselves and 5 minutes of neck/shoulder massage action.

Best check-in ever!

At the foot of the bed are two chairs and a table that face our door to the outdoor deck area - there's another area I'll call the outdoor patio area which has more chairs and a lounge you can stretch out in too!
On this table they have a bowl of fruit which is changed daily.
Water bottles in the room are constantly replenished (and free) however the chocolate snacks are yummy and can add up if you eat them all!
Oh and each night for turn-down service you get some kind of sweet snack too.

The shower and the bathtub are actually outside of the villa (within and enclosed space). I'm not that comfortable using it during the night however. I know there are mosquitoes around and I got bit about a dozen times in the space of an hour.
The hotel spa did set me up with some Eucalyptus oil which has been working like a super magic anti-bug potion. I'm going through the stuff like it's the water of life!
More resort review/blogging later. I need to get to the beach!

Pretty much an uneventful trip!
Richard got to SFO before I did and what a long line it was at the China Airlines check in queue!
Luckily when I arrived he was just about next.
We both had small bags to check too - both were carry-on sized!
Eventually we boarded the aircraft and settled in for a 14+ hour journey to Taipei.

The food was OK. There was a special request meal that looked good - noodles. Didn't figure out which dietary restriction I need to claim in order to get it though.
Slept OK for most of the flight. Got to watch a couple of movies from the international selection though which I wanted to see some time ago (Korea: The Face Reader & Germany: Hannah Arendt)



TPE was very quiet before 0600. Humid and warm and rainy too. Wasn't too impressed with the areas I saw.



Arrival at SGN a few hours later. Lots of crowds! Getting the VISA on arrival was no issue whatsoever. However the photo on-site fee was actually $5, not $2. Still the whole thing costs less than applying for one in advance!