Today we depart Kaohsiung for Taipei. Megan sleeps soundly the whole night without waking up. What a treat to skip the sleepless nights the third time around! We go down for breakfast, and Megan eats a roll and a banana. We take an extra banana and a couple of rolls for the trip. We will have to make sure we bring some bananas with us for the flights home. Baby food isn’t available in Taiwan since parents prepare their own. It does make traveling a little more challenging, but we also have a large supply of formula which the orphanage kindly provided to us.
We had brought too much luggage with us which makes train travel a little difficult, but the hotel arranged to have a couple of bags sent separately by courier to our hotel in Taipei. We pack up those bags and deposit them downstairs along with the crib and baby things we had borrowed from the orphanage. Everyone has been so incredibly kind and helpful to us during our stay. At 1:00, Miss Kau and Mr. Zhen come to pick us up at the hotel to take us to the train station. They have brought “Strawberry” along to say good-bye. Strawberry is about 14 months old and is being adopted by a family in New York. Ms. Kau gives all the babies nicknames when they arrive in the orphanage. There is another baby at the orphanage she has nicknamed “string bean”. Of course there are tears all around. Ms. Kau has cared for Megan for the first year of her life, and she will miss her very much. Ms. Kau gives Megan a string of pearls and tells us it is for when she gets married. We stop briefly at the end of the hotel driveway so that my mother and I can take a couple of pictures of the hotel. Then we are on our way to the train station. We take a few photos of Ms. Kau, Megan and Strawberry, and then Miss Kau and Mr. Zhen help us to the train platform. More tears follow by all of us, except for the babies who don’t really understand what the fuss is about.
The train is express, and Megan sleeps peacefully in grandma’s arms for the 90 minute trip. Grandma, who Andrew and Julian call “Biba”, has been completely seduced by Megan’s charm. Megan has bonded with both of us, and there has been absolutely none of the separation anxiety we were expecting. Upon arriving, we easily find the taxi stand. The taxi driver speaks no English at all, but fortunately, Grace had written all of the places we needed to go in Taipei in Chinese. We arrive at the Hyatt in about 15 minutes. While we are checking in, the woman assisting us asks if Megan speaks English or Mandarin. I’m not sure if there is English and Mandarin baby babble, but we just say that she isn’t talking yet, though she probably understands Mandarin better. The room is very comfortable, and they have a crib made up in the room with a baby sized pillow, sheets and blanket. It is made up just like our beds only smaller. We rest for a little while and feed Megan a banana. We have a light dinner and then decide to take a short walk outside since there are sidewalks in the area where the hotel is located. I ask if there is a store nearby where I can buy some more baby bottles and they give us a map and highlight the route. Once outside, we realize that we don’t feel so comfortable walking on these streets after all. We don’t have any concerns about security, but the traffic is extremely busy, and all the scooters are a little scary. We’re afraid to cross the street. Scooters are the primary mode of transportation in Taiwan. There are many cars as well, but scooters probably outnumber cars. Whole families get around on scooters, and it is a little disconcerting to see very small children riding in front of their parents. Many don’t wear helmets either, even though it is a law here to wear a helmet. I can’t imagine driving here though I suppose it is what you are used to. Grace teasingly says the rules of the road are just “recommendations”. It’s not as bad as in some countries I have visited, but it’s a far cry from traffic patterns in the US, yes even Miami. We walk a short distance before turning back to the hotel without the baby bottles.
Back at the hotel, we head back upstairs to give Megan who is now fast asleep a bath. She doesn’t enjoy the bath tonight either, but we make it very fast so she can go to sleep. We’re actually all quite tired. Tomorrow is Sunday, and we don’t have to be anywhere in particular, so we think it would be a good day to visit the museum which we have been told is about 40 minutes away by taxi.
We had brought too much luggage with us which makes train travel a little difficult, but the hotel arranged to have a couple of bags sent separately by courier to our hotel in Taipei. We pack up those bags and deposit them downstairs along with the crib and baby things we had borrowed from the orphanage. Everyone has been so incredibly kind and helpful to us during our stay. At 1:00, Miss Kau and Mr. Zhen come to pick us up at the hotel to take us to the train station. They have brought “Strawberry” along to say good-bye. Strawberry is about 14 months old and is being adopted by a family in New York. Ms. Kau gives all the babies nicknames when they arrive in the orphanage. There is another baby at the orphanage she has nicknamed “string bean”. Of course there are tears all around. Ms. Kau has cared for Megan for the first year of her life, and she will miss her very much. Ms. Kau gives Megan a string of pearls and tells us it is for when she gets married. We stop briefly at the end of the hotel driveway so that my mother and I can take a couple of pictures of the hotel. Then we are on our way to the train station. We take a few photos of Ms. Kau, Megan and Strawberry, and then Miss Kau and Mr. Zhen help us to the train platform. More tears follow by all of us, except for the babies who don’t really understand what the fuss is about.
The train is express, and Megan sleeps peacefully in grandma’s arms for the 90 minute trip. Grandma, who Andrew and Julian call “Biba”, has been completely seduced by Megan’s charm. Megan has bonded with both of us, and there has been absolutely none of the separation anxiety we were expecting. Upon arriving, we easily find the taxi stand. The taxi driver speaks no English at all, but fortunately, Grace had written all of the places we needed to go in Taipei in Chinese. We arrive at the Hyatt in about 15 minutes. While we are checking in, the woman assisting us asks if Megan speaks English or Mandarin. I’m not sure if there is English and Mandarin baby babble, but we just say that she isn’t talking yet, though she probably understands Mandarin better. The room is very comfortable, and they have a crib made up in the room with a baby sized pillow, sheets and blanket. It is made up just like our beds only smaller. We rest for a little while and feed Megan a banana. We have a light dinner and then decide to take a short walk outside since there are sidewalks in the area where the hotel is located. I ask if there is a store nearby where I can buy some more baby bottles and they give us a map and highlight the route. Once outside, we realize that we don’t feel so comfortable walking on these streets after all. We don’t have any concerns about security, but the traffic is extremely busy, and all the scooters are a little scary. We’re afraid to cross the street. Scooters are the primary mode of transportation in Taiwan. There are many cars as well, but scooters probably outnumber cars. Whole families get around on scooters, and it is a little disconcerting to see very small children riding in front of their parents. Many don’t wear helmets either, even though it is a law here to wear a helmet. I can’t imagine driving here though I suppose it is what you are used to. Grace teasingly says the rules of the road are just “recommendations”. It’s not as bad as in some countries I have visited, but it’s a far cry from traffic patterns in the US, yes even Miami. We walk a short distance before turning back to the hotel without the baby bottles.
Back at the hotel, we head back upstairs to give Megan who is now fast asleep a bath. She doesn’t enjoy the bath tonight either, but we make it very fast so she can go to sleep. We’re actually all quite tired. Tomorrow is Sunday, and we don’t have to be anywhere in particular, so we think it would be a good day to visit the museum which we have been told is about 40 minutes away by taxi.
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