Apple Chronicles: Taoyuan International and EVA Air Infinity Lounge

I arrived in Taipei with seven hours to spare. Realistically, it’s too short to really do much in the city, but it’s ridiculously long to spend inside an airport! Good thing that Taoyuan International Airport (桃園國際機場) is huge and should be able to keep me entertained.

Inside *Taoyuan International Airport* (桃園國際機場) Terminal 2.

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As with any international connecting flights, I had to go through security again. This was pretty quick as I was one of the first passengers to disembark our plane. Still, it’s quite inconvenient that you’ve already been screened and you have to go through it again. Afterwards, I found myself right in the middle of a busy terminal.

As with many major airports, there are so many things you can find inside the terminal.

My first agenda was to locate my gate so that I’d know where to go to when the time comes. Apparently, indoor navigation isn’t one of my strengths so I ended up walking all the way to the other end of the terminal. On the good side though, I was able to complete 10,000 steps of walking and got to see the interesting themes that distinguishes each gate from each other.

As I entered the central part of the terminal, a local company was giving out free bananas to everyone who passes by… it was quite impossible to avoid them and I don’t want to be a snub, so this became my first meal in Taiwan.

This is gate C1 with its “Taiwan Music” theme.

And this is gate C5 sporting an “e-Library” theme. Those details on the top are actually motherboards placed side by side.

In one section of the terminal, I found this exhibit about jade and how they sculpt it into interesting shapes and items.

In this section, live flowers are the attraction.

There’s also a section dedicated to the sights of Taiwan.

And of course, there are countless shops selling a variety of goods. These I found interesting as they look really cute, made out of wood, and the pieces move, presumably with magnets.

And without getting out of the terminal, I was suddenly at the beach!

I also found these interesting bags that look 2D.

One of the things that I noticed is that this airport does not seem to like foreigners seeing what Taiwan looks like. For one, windows are only in certain areas, and two, the windows are obstructed by stickers so you can hardly see anything outside. At times, I felt like I’m underground instead of in an airport.

Many of the terminal’s windows are like this, covered in film preventing you from seeing the outside.

This is one of the few windows I saw that allowed me to view the outside almost unobstructed, albeit the view is off-color still because of that film.

For some reason, Hello Kitty has a strong presence in this terminal. As far as I know, Hello Kitty is not Taiwanese so I find it quite intriguing. One of the gates is dedicated to Hello Kitty and right beside it is a store that sells everything Hello Kitty.

As expected, Hello Kitty merchandise are offered here.

After visiting practically every gate in Terminal 2, I decided to finally take a rest and eat, and go to my airline’s lounge.

The airport lounges are on the upper levels of the terminal.

The entrance to EVA Air’s lounges. I was so tired from walking that I didn’t even bother getting a decent shot.

This is the futuristic-looking hallway of the Infinity Lounge.

There are a lot of seats with power outlets here, free Wi-Fi, and of course food.

Not sure what I think about this section though.

View from the lounge: the atrium of the terminal.

One of the nice features of lounges of major airlines in their home countries or hubs is the availability of hot showers. This is definitely something that I really look forward to as I can get myself refreshed before embarking on another flight.

The Infinity Lounge has five shower cubicles.

And I got to use the one named, “Smile Zone.”

As expected, you have a lot of amenities at your disposal: you only need yourself and just about everything you need is provided.

But the highlight is definitely the shower!

Of course, food and drinks are available in the lounge, buffet style. For some reason, my appetite wasn’t really there during my stay so I only got the smallest sizes of some of the items that I found interesting. I didn’t even bother taking photos of what I ate. I did find some interesting Taiwanese drinks though.