We made it to Taipei, Taiwan

This is a picture of Hsing Tien Kong (Temple). This is 2 blocks from our hotel.

We arrived at 5:40am Friday morning Taiwan time. It is 13 hours ahead of those who live in Illinois. Our travel from Chicago to San Francisco was very stressful. Our Chicago to Denver flight was delayed 3.5 hrs. which would put us into Denver late for our connecting flight to San Francisco. That would have been the last flight going out of Denver to San Fran that night so we would have had to stay in Denver and catch an AM flight to San Fransisco and then catch a 6:30pm flight on Eva Air to Taiwan. When we got off the plane we went right to the departure board to see if by some strange chance our 9:20pm flight was delayed. It was not on the board, however the 8:15pm flight from Denver to San Fran was delayed and was to depart at 10:27pm.

Well God heard our prayers because the plane we were on was the plane that would have been going out to San Fran at 8:15pm. So, due to the delay in Chicago it was like a domino effect and delayed the Denver to San Fran flight. WOW! Do you think United Airlines would have seen that while we were scrambling around to find a flight to get us to San Fransisco by 1:40am to catch the EVA Air flight? Urggg. There were open seats on the plane and we made it to San Francisco with one hour to spare before boarding EVA Air at 1:40am. I am quit disappointed in United Airlines and will do my best in the future not to fly with them after this trip. They have no idea what they are doing and their customer service is horrible. On a positive note, we made it and the trip has been great so far.

EVA Air is an amazing, top notch airlines. It is so comfortable! You can recline your chair and there is a foot rest. You have your own personal touch screen TV in the back of the seat in front of you. You can watch a movie, listen to music, watch the flight information on navigation and you can play video games. I had a blast playing a game called ZUMA. I would play until my eyes got really tired and then take a nap. They provide you with a nice blanket and pillow. We also ate dinner at about 2:30am San Fran time and then at breakfast at about 4:30am Taiwan time. The food was surprisingly very good. Great flight!

After arriving in Taipei, Fion picked us up at the airport and took us to our hotel. We are staying at the Golden China Hotel in downtown Taipei. It is a very comfortable hotel. Paul and I were able to check in right away; which was great! We went up to our room and unpacked and took a long nap. At about 1:00pm we cleaned up and went down to the restaurant in the Hotel and had lunch. Except for in the Hotel most restaurants close from 2:00pm to 5:00pm every afternoon. After lunch we took a long walk around the block. Their blocks are not like our city blocks. There are a lot of little streets between each major street. There are open air food places and stores down every little street. There are scooters parked on the sidewalks and they just drive anywhere. It is crazy! I have to say I am amazed at how trusting everyone is. I'm not sure how to explain it, but the people are kind and there is a respect that everyone has for each other and for their belongings. The people who ride the scooters (there are a lot all over) they park and leave their helmets on the handles or the seat. If it is raining out and they have umbrellas they leave them in a little rack provided on the outside of the store. All of the open air restaurants that close in the afternoon are completely open. This is just not something we would see or do in the states. Here I walk into this new country so cautious and guarded to find such kind people. Don't get me wrong, I will continue to be cautious, and it is refreshing to feel safe. Hope that makes sense.

Downtown Taipei is an old city, and there is lots of construction and growth. You can tell they are working to make it look newer. The climate is HOT! When you think an 85 degree day is hot in Illinois, let me tell you it is like 3 times hotter here due to the humidity. When you walk outside the heat hits you in the face like a brick wall. While walking there is the beautiful smell of Primrose. Made me think of Hawaii. I actually picked up one of the flowers that fell off of a tree and put it in water in the room. I love the smell! It is so lush with greenery and their is mountains in the distance. So beautiful.

Back to Friday. After taking a long walk around the block we went to the Hsing Tien Temple. It is amazing there. Then we went to a bakery right by the hotel, picked up a few items and went back to our room. We watched some TV, fell asleep and woke up at 12:00am Saturday morning. We watched a few movies and went back to sleep at 3:00am and work up at 8:00am and got ready for breakfast.

This post is so long so I will fill you in on what we did on Saturday a bit later. It is now 3:15am on Sunday morning and I am wide awake. I am glad that we have HBO in the room so I have something to watch. I am going to go watch the Producers now. lol

Today (Sunday) Michelle and her husband will be in from Seattle. They are picking up their precious daughter Katie on Tuesday. We are staying in the hotel so we will be hanging out with them a little later today. Paul and I are going to go to Taipei 101 (tallest building in the world) and in the evening we are going to one of the largest night markets in Taipei. I believe Michelle and her husband are going to go with us. Things are rather reasonable here. I will talk more about the exchange rate in a later post.

One more day before we meet our Willow!!

Blessings to all,

Andrea