5/6-7
My mom and I arrived at the airport at around 5 pm for our flight at 7:50. It was pretty weird; I'd never taken such a late flight before. We first had to stop in L.A., which we arrived at around 9:50 (about 1 am, Michigan time) . By that time, I was already starting to get pretty sleepy, and my butt already hurt from sitting. From there, we had to transfer from Delta Airlines to China Airlines for our final flight to Taipei. It was a very hectic time period, even if we had a few hours in between, because there were sooooooooooo many people on the same flight. In addition, many of them were pushing carts full of giant cardboard boxes along with their luggage. When it was finally time to board the plane, it was already around 3 in the morning, Michigan time, and I was totally ready to pass out. I literally spent all 14 hours as a burrito, tightly wrapped in my jacket and airline blanket. However, even then, I could only slip in and out of sleep, which was already better than my previous inability to sleep on planes (or noisy places). The food was a little better than that of its American counterparts (broiled chicken with rice for dinner, congee for breakfast), but it still wasn't as good as Japan Airline's. After what seemed like an eternity of trying to force myself to sleep in order to pass the time, we finally landed in the Taoyuan International Airport. Instead of heading straight for Kaohsiung however, we decided to stop in Taipei to meet up with the grandparents on my dad's side. To do so, my mom and I took a bus to Taipei, which was about 40 km away.
View during the bus ride to Taipei.
Morning humidity...
We met my grandpa in front of Howard Plaza, and from there we took a taxi to a busy road, then walked behind some complexes back to their apartment. Unlike my mom's side, they have lived there since my dad and his siblings were children, and little has changed each time I came to visit.
We talked for a while, catching up on each others' lives, and made a plan to meet up with my aunt at the Taipei Railway Station for lunch before my mom and I headed for Kaohsiung.
For lunch, we went up to the second floor of the station where there were numerous restaurants and a Starbucks. I decided to eat from a smaller place that served 小吃 (small eats), basically the Taiwanese equivalent of tapas. My first meal in Taiwan was thus oyster omelette (蚵仔煎, a Taiwan favorite), along with my beloved minced pork over rice, soup with fish balls, and some green veggies.
The stall that we ordered from.
Mmmmm...
I ate this a lot during finals week...
I have a feeling that this blog will largely consist of food pictures...the food is a HUGE part of Taiwan. It is virtually impossible to stay in Taiwan and not encounter any delicious food.
Finally, we said goodbye to my aunt and grandparents, and headed down to the Taiwan High Speed Rail platform. Our train blazed past numerous landscapes, all of them now drenched in rain and mist.
There were many rice paddies in the rural areas.
The weather up north was indeed worse than that of the south. As we approached Kaohsiung, the rain disappeared and the sun shone brightly through the clouds. My aunt and uncle picked us up and brought us back to their apartment. My grandparents, who lived in the adjacent part of the complex, couldn't wait to see us though, so my mom and I quickly showered and headed over. There, my grandma gave us clothes she bought from Shanghai, as well as some old, vintage clothing.
Towards evening, my cousins came home from school and we all went out for dinner at one of the many small shops. This shop's specialties was food involving meat and dough, such as 小籠包, scallion pancake (蔥油餅), and, pot-stickers.
Sliced pig ear. It was actually pretty good!
Hot and sour soup. Not really spicy at all.
Potstickers!
Scallion pancake...pretty common in Chinese restaurants.
小籠包
Afterwards, I was starting to get sleepy from jetlag/food. We stopped at Ikea for ice cream, trudged through the showrooms, and finally went back home. Didn't stay awake long enough to finish this post until the next day...