After a 17 hour non-stop direct flight from Newark on EVA Airline, my mother and I land in Taipei at 7:00 a.m. Normally, the flight stops over in Anchorage, Alaska but because of the recent volcano activity, flights are now non-stop. After moving very smoothly and quickly through immigration and customs due to the fact that the airport is virtually empty at this time, we make our way over to the ticket counter to purchase a bus ticket which will take us to the high speed rail train station for our next leg of our journey to Kaohsiung. Fortunately, two very nice and helpful Taiwanese women from New Jersey help guide us to the right counter to purchase tickets and then onto the bus to take us to the train station. What we would have done without them I’m not quite sure. We would probably still be at the train station struggling with our luggage. They are headed for Kaohsiung as well and help us with our luggage as we purchase train tickets and board the train.
The 2 hour train ride is very comfortable though the sights from the train aren’t particularly memorable. The terrain along the route is very flat and dotted with fairly uninteresting concrete block structures. After arriving in Kaohsiung we easily find the taxi stand at the train station where we catch a cab for the 15 minute ride to The Grand Hotel Kaohsiung, a very large and imposing Chinese looking building amid a sea of otherwise undistinguishable concrete buildings.
The hotel staff is so friendly and helpful, and the rooms are both comfortable and spacious and decorated in simple Chinese décor with a large balcony overlooking a lake. We settle ourselves in after our exhausting trip and wait for the phone to ring. After a short time, Grace, the translator calls to tell us that she will be arriving with Megan, Miss Kau, the orphanage director, and the nanny at 2:00 p.m. The moment we have been waiting for is about to arrive.
A couple of minutes after walking down to the hotel lobby, in walks Grace followed by Miss Kau, the nanny and Megan. Megan, who they call Intao which means cherry in English, is sitting calmly in her stroller. She is the most adorable and beautiful little girl ever (ok, I’m allowed to be biased). We hold her and walk with her in the lobby. She is just learning to walk and tightly grips my hand and my mother’s hands as we walk around the lobby. She is completely entranced with my mother’s necklace with large beads and keeps reaching for them. She lets us hold her and never once lets out a cry except for a brief second when she stumbles while walking on her own. We even walk outside with her and Grace while Miss Kau and the nanny remain in the lobby. Then, we spend some time watching and holding Megan while she plays with a couple of the toys we have brought for the orphanage. We also have an opportunity to learn a little about Megan’s schedule and what she likes to eat. I think we’re going to have to start learning how to make congee as apparently that is what they feed her now along with formula. Grace describes it as rice soup with vegetables made in a rice cooker with chicken broth instead of water. I hope David, my husband, is reading this and getting out the rice cooker now to start practicing.
Since my mother and I are visibly exhausted from our travels, they tell us to rest tonight while they take Megan back to the orphanage. As much as we want to spend more time with her, we are actually happy to be able to have an evening to rest. When we go back up to our room, we realize how very tired we were. If not for my mother convincing me that we really do need to eat a real meal that day, I probably would never have gotten up for dinner. We wrap up our day with dinner consisting of a wonderfully soothing noodle soup and shrimp and rice dish at the Chinese restaurant at the hotel. Grace is picking us up at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow so that we can stop at the orphanage before heading out to Megan’s doctor’s visit.
The 2 hour train ride is very comfortable though the sights from the train aren’t particularly memorable. The terrain along the route is very flat and dotted with fairly uninteresting concrete block structures. After arriving in Kaohsiung we easily find the taxi stand at the train station where we catch a cab for the 15 minute ride to The Grand Hotel Kaohsiung, a very large and imposing Chinese looking building amid a sea of otherwise undistinguishable concrete buildings.
The hotel staff is so friendly and helpful, and the rooms are both comfortable and spacious and decorated in simple Chinese décor with a large balcony overlooking a lake. We settle ourselves in after our exhausting trip and wait for the phone to ring. After a short time, Grace, the translator calls to tell us that she will be arriving with Megan, Miss Kau, the orphanage director, and the nanny at 2:00 p.m. The moment we have been waiting for is about to arrive.
A couple of minutes after walking down to the hotel lobby, in walks Grace followed by Miss Kau, the nanny and Megan. Megan, who they call Intao which means cherry in English, is sitting calmly in her stroller. She is the most adorable and beautiful little girl ever (ok, I’m allowed to be biased). We hold her and walk with her in the lobby. She is just learning to walk and tightly grips my hand and my mother’s hands as we walk around the lobby. She is completely entranced with my mother’s necklace with large beads and keeps reaching for them. She lets us hold her and never once lets out a cry except for a brief second when she stumbles while walking on her own. We even walk outside with her and Grace while Miss Kau and the nanny remain in the lobby. Then, we spend some time watching and holding Megan while she plays with a couple of the toys we have brought for the orphanage. We also have an opportunity to learn a little about Megan’s schedule and what she likes to eat. I think we’re going to have to start learning how to make congee as apparently that is what they feed her now along with formula. Grace describes it as rice soup with vegetables made in a rice cooker with chicken broth instead of water. I hope David, my husband, is reading this and getting out the rice cooker now to start practicing.
Since my mother and I are visibly exhausted from our travels, they tell us to rest tonight while they take Megan back to the orphanage. As much as we want to spend more time with her, we are actually happy to be able to have an evening to rest. When we go back up to our room, we realize how very tired we were. If not for my mother convincing me that we really do need to eat a real meal that day, I probably would never have gotten up for dinner. We wrap up our day with dinner consisting of a wonderfully soothing noodle soup and shrimp and rice dish at the Chinese restaurant at the hotel. Grace is picking us up at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow so that we can stop at the orphanage before heading out to Megan’s doctor’s visit.
No comments:
Post a Comment