Kratzke: June 2015

Vacation was all fun and games, but all good things must come to an end. Traveling home to Austin was going as well as it could have been, and then there was the Chicago O'Hare layover. After a few hours in the Taiwan Taoyuan Airport, a four hour flight to Narita, a four hour layover there, and an 11 hour flight to Chicago, the last thing we needed was drama. At 21 hours in, we were beyond exhausted, and United Airlines had given us about 45 minutes to do the impossible. Gate C6 was two gates away from the very furthest it could have been from our arrival point.
First, there was customs. Although we had already filled out a customs form, we had to wait in line to do the same thing electronically. After that, we had to wait in another line to answer the same questions for some guy with a stamp. Then we had to retrieve our previously checked bags in an overcrowded area and wait in another line to answer the same questions to another guy. How can this possibly be necessary? It's certainly no more secure; if we had wanted to lie about something, we could have just done that four times.
Then there was the shuttle bus. At this point, our flight was boarding, and we were carrying a 30 lb toddler, 50 lbs of luggage, and two bags of airport merchandise as we ran towards the shuttle. Two attendants yelled at us to run onto the bus, so we did, and the shuttle door promptly closed on George's leg. The outer two doors closed on me, causing a pregnant lady with a toddler and two bags to fall onto the floor. Having my feet swept from under me, I had fallen on my back, which hopefully protected both babies. George struggled to remove his leg from the departing shuttle, I nearly lost my right shoe in there, and Drakeson's travel diaper had somehow gotten ripped off. It was horrible and dramatic. To add insult to injury, the same two attendants told us that we "shouldn't have done that." What a helpful comment. We got onto the next shuttle, and of course had to wait until the last stop for terminal 1.
Then there was security. Although George had purchased TSA precheck, nothing like that matters when you're coming from Narita. The security line was extremely long and extremely slow, and we were in a total panic. Somehow, a guardian angel of some sort showed up behind us, and asked three different groups of people if we could cut in line. We never would have made it without him. Once we had gotten that far and unsuccessfully begged two TSA people to let us through, we took it upon ourselves to run up to the front of the line. We felt horrible, but we were so desperate. George told me to go first, put my shoes on, take Drakeson, and run to C6. Even though we had made it to terminal 1, we had arrived in the middle of the B corridor. I didn't have time to tie my shoes. I grabbed Drakeson, saw a sign for C pointing to the left, and I ran. After carrying Drakeson through crowds of people and giving myself an asthma attack, I was at B1. There was no C corridor. It was a moment of total defeat and despair. Twenty pounds over my normal weight, needing about 14 hours of sleep, and tremendously out of shape, I put Drakeson on the ground and dragged him by the arm until we found the turn I had missed. We yelled at people left and right, and ran up an escalator to arrive at a long hallway with two moving walkways. Where the hell was C? Drakeson was crying and asking me to pick him up because "it hurt," which absolutely and completely broke my heart. Eventually, we arrived at the C building, but at C17. There were still several gates to pass, and each felt like another mile tacked onto a race from hell that I hadn't signed up for. In these moments of eternity, we saw George begging to get on the plane. They had already closed the doors. He pointed at his haggard wife and crying son, and the gate person reluctantly let us board. We had only been a minute behind George; he hadn't taken the wrong way, but had gotten caught up in security due to the fact that we had a bottle of sunscreen in our (previously checked) bag.
We had made the flight. Despite our booking requests, United Airlines had reserved three separate seats. Drakeson was overtired and not afraid to show it, which I'm sure annoyed plenty of people. I didn't have it in me to care; my body was reacting to the stress and fatigue with asthma, nausea, dizziness, and a bladder infection. As a final gesture of professionalism from United, they misplaced our child carrier. Welcome to the US.

Nightmare Prologue
Taiwan Part I
Taiwan Part II

One of George's favorite desserts is shredded milk ice, and we ordered three bowls at the high speed train station on the way back to Taipei. Once we arrived, we checked into our final hotel, the K Hotel, and walked a couple blocks down the street for a meal of rice, pork, rice noodle soup, vegetables, tofu, and shark. Although we were plenty full, it was difficult to resist strolling by the local night market and ordering a salted starfruit juice for dessert.
May 27th was our first full day in Taipei, but just like every other day of our vacation, we mostly spent it overeating. It's common for hotels in Taiwan to offer buffet breakfasts with at least 25 options, and our four-star lodgings were no exception. I indulged in heaping portions of stir-fried squid over rice, deep-fried fish cakes, and two plates of guava and mango. Drakeson is a bit of a chip off the ol' block, if mothers can be blocks. He finished three packages of seasoned seaweed with a few whole dried fish over rice, completing his meal with two large bowls of mango. Szu-Hua and Hsin-Cheng met us at the hotel, and the five of us took the Taipei Metro to Daan Park, which has the largest playground in Taipei. After George and I explained that we were too full for much of anything, Szu-Hua took us to a restaurant and ordered five main courses with six side dishes. She's completely out of control. Overstuffed and very thirsty, we went to a juice bar and tried to order water. Apparently nobody does this in Taipei, and a confused cashier reluctantly delivered two very small paper cups of hot water. We also ordered a kiwi juice and a kiwi vinegar juice, which although refreshing, were very filling. The toddlers played together at Szu-Hua's house, but before very long, they were ready for naps. In the evening, George, Drakeson, and I met Szu-Hua, Hsing-Cheng, and Yu-Cheng to take a bus across town and meet Ching-Lung for steamed buns and more shaved ice. These restaurants were under Szu-Hua and Ching-Lung's previous apartment, which we visited during our visit in the fall of 2010, and sharing a meal there brought back fond memories for all of us.

Train Station Mango Shredded Milk Ice

Taipei Metro

Hsin-Cheng, George, & Drakeson in the Taipei Metro

Daan Park

Szu-Hua & Hsin-Cheng at Daan Park

Daan Park

Szu-Hua, Hsin-Cheng, Drakeson, & Lan at Daan Park

Kiwi Vinegar Juice

Hsin-Cheng, George, & Drakeson

Drakeson & Hsin-Cheng at Szu-Hua's House

George, Drakeson, & Hsin-Cheng at Szu-Hua's House

May 28th was the first day we tackled the country without Szu-Hua's help. From our hotel, we were able to walk to Flora Expo Park, which provided a nature-filled walk in the middle of the very busy city. Because the Taipei metro is very affordable and easy to navigate, and because Drakeson loved riding the "choo-choo" so much, we went to the nearest station with no plans in particular, and decided to return to Daan Park. This time around, we walked around the Ecological Pond before playing at the playground. It was a busy morning, and we were happy to return to our hotel and put Drakeson down for a long nap in preparation for a late evening with Cô Liên and Uncle Bill. They arrived that afternoon in Taoyuan to stay with Bill's friend Shaun, but immediately took a bus into Taipei because they missed their nephew so badly. Or maybe it was because Shaun had work. Our first destination was Tamsui, which is a large seafood market where the Tamsui River meets the Taiwan Strait. Although the area is supposedly known for historical attractions, I can't imagine spending time that way instead of walking through the markets and eating the fresh seafood. On our way back to the metro, we bought ice cream cones that were roughly 18 inches tall - twice the height of an American ice cream cone! Our next destination was the Nangang District Hiking Trail. Also known as Elephant Mountain Hike, this is a rocky set of stairs rising about 656 feet and requiring about 15 minutes to climb. I had the unfortunate experience of catching a fly in my throat, which was gross for me, and grosser for Liên, who had to witness my efforts to hack it up. I failed. Anyway, once we reached the top, there was a beautiful view of the city and its famous well-lit skyscraper, Taipei 101. Our next plan was to walk there and ride the elevator the top. We arrived a few minutes before 22:00, and were told that the last ride ascends at 21:15; I had misread the first ride as 21:00 instead of 9:00! Even though we had just seen a beautiful view of the city and enjoyed the hike, it was a bit of a disappointment for everybody. Looking back on that evening, I don't really understand why we felt that way; I don't think any of us really would have wanted to stay up much later. Liên and Bill rode back into Taoyuan, and we stopped at a 7-Eleven on our way back to pick up a little dinner to take back to the hotel. 7-Elevens in Taipei aren't anything like 7-Elevens here. Although they are convenience stores, the food is truly worthwhile. We ordered an assortment of four differently stuffed rice balls, a few hot fish cakes, a beer, and some apple milk for Drakeson. Eating a Taiwanese 7-Eleven dinner late at night with your family on a hotel floor is almost a magical experience, and something I think everybody should try at least once.

Flora Expo Park

Maji Square

Taiwanese Indigenous Cultural Center

Kisses

Daan Park

Angel & Mama

Ecological Pond

Daan Park

We awoke the next morning to what would be the most exhausting day of our trip. Meeting Szu-Hua and Hsin-Cheng for a visit to the Taipei Zoo in the morning proved to be a very big deal. Not only did travelling on the metro require an hour, but we explored the zoo for no less than three hours to cover no more than half the grounds. The tremendous zoo was well decorated with beautiful trees, well groomed pathways, and fresh orchids. We were not able to visit all the areas, but to give some scope of the size of this place, they were: the panda house, the formosan animal area, the insectarium, the children's zoo, the koala house, the asian tropical rainforest area, the desert animal area, the australian animal area, the african animal area, the bird world, the amphibian and reptile house, the temperate zone animal area, the education center, and the penguin house. Our personal favorites were probably the pandas and the green water dragon, and it would be very easy to spend an entire day to see all the animals. Admission was $2 per adult.

By noon, Szu-Hua and Hsin-Cheng went home, while George, Drakeson, and I rode the Maokong Gondola to the top station. From the bottom station to the top, the gondola rises over 900 feet and covers about 2.5 miles, zigzagging up and down and weaving through the green mountain ranges. Depending on the weather, the ride lasts between 20 and 35 minutes. Once we reached to the Maokong station, the gondola shut down due to nearly undetectable "strong winds," and we were stranded. This makes two out of two gondola experiences in which we were stranded at the top; the first was during our Washington trip this past January. At the top of the mountain, we walked by several street merchants, took a small hike, and settled into a restaurant overlooking miles of mountains for another meal of delicious squid with Thai basil and chilis over steamed rice. Eventually, we gave up on the gondola, and waited in a long line for a scenic bus ride to the bottom of the mountain. Although we were extremely hot and tired, we stopped at the zoo one last time for a little gift shopping. Traveling back to the hotel took another hour, and Drakeson fell asleep just long enough to convince himself that he had taken a reasonable nap. We showered and met Liên and Bill for a return trip to Taipei 101, the city's landmark skyscraper. This building was the world's tallest building between 2004 and 2010, and it stays upright partly due to the world's largest and heaviest visible damper. A building damper is a large weight that creates a counter spin to weather forces that might otherwise topple the building. The 728-ton damper and a 360° outlook of Taipei were located on the 89th floor, and the high speed elevator transported us there from the 5th floor in a mere 37 seconds. Next to the damper was a video showing the effects of Typhoon Soulik in 2013, and the footage was both fascinating and terrifying. We walked up another two flights of stairs to the 91st floor, which stands at an impressive 1,282 feet high, to get another view of the city. After a long line to return to the main floor, I was ready to sleep, but it was time for the big night market. The food was unbelievable, just as I had remembered it, and we spent a small fortune on a variety of grilled seafoods and fruit drinks. We were stuffed and exhausted by 23:00, and Liên decided to crash with us in the hotel instead of going back to Taoyuan. She stayed up to rub the crunches out of my feet, which must have contributed to the fact that I slept like I was in a coma.

Hsin-Cheng & Drakeson

Taipei Zoo

Elephants

Starfruit Juice & Sugarcane Milk Tea

Maokong Gondola

Shang Yang Teahouse

Damper Baby Taipei 101

Night Market

Taipei Metro

May 30th was our final day in Taiwan. We woke up well rested, and Cô Liên helped to shower Drakeson. She really is a very, very loving aunt when she wants to be. We skipped our final all-you-can eat breakfast, packed up, checked out of the hotel, and walked to Szu-Hua's. From there, Szu-Hua, Ching-Lung, Hsin-Cheng, Liên, George, Drakeson, and I headed to Mala Yuanyang Restaurant where we met Bill, Szu-Hua's dad, her sister, and her brother-in-law. It was a party of 11 for another endless buffet. Our meal at Mala proved to be our favorite of the entire trip. We ordered countless trays of seafood, meats, and vegetables off the menu, and had our fair share of assorted desserts, fruits, ice creams, dipping sauces, and beverages including wine and beer. Drakeson and I split a small mango beer float, which makes for a very sweet memory. He pronounced "mango" more like "flamingo," and to Drakeson, there's nothing better than flamingos, ice cream, and beer.

From the restaurant, Liên, Bill, George, Drakeson, and I ventured off into New Beitou, the home of many local hot springs. Our destination was Millennium Hot Spring, which is a perfect option for lazy tourists. Not only was it very close to the metro stop, but it was also very inexpensive, allowed coed bathing, and required swimsuits. A hot springs water source fed into the top two pools, which measured up to a scalding 113° F. Excess water from there heated the next pool, which was somewhat cooler, and water from this pool heated the lowest pool, which felt more like a typical American hot tub. Off to the side were two cool pools to soak in, and these were my favorite. We only got yelled at in Mandarin a few times. After the springs, we walked through Qinshui Park on the way back to the metro and headed home. Liên and Bill went off to ride the Maokong Gondola, and George, Drakeson, and I stayed with Szu-Hua's for an evening of family time. Ching-Lung watched Yu-Cheng and bought beer, snacks, and desserts, while George played games with Hsin-Cheng and Drakeson, leaving Szu-Hua and me free to play duets. It was a truly perfect ending to a perfect vacation.