Saturday was both Chu-Wan’s mother’s and brother’s birthday. I was surprised when, first thing in the morning, her mother gave me a present. It was rather awkward as I didn’t really understand how to interpret this. The present was a very nice (and expensive) designer belt from Paris. Unfortunately, it was too big and we took it back to the Sogo Department store to exchange it for a smaller one.
Friday morning we were informed that the roads were still impassable because of the earthquake two nights before, so no tour busses were coming up from Chiayi. We had been planning on taking one of the tour busses around town to see the sights. Now we were on foot and on our own.
Apparently sunrises are a big deal in Taiwan, because they organize tour buses just to see the sunrise over Yushan, a neighboring mountain. So, at 3:40 in the morning Chu-wan and I were standing outside the hotel waiting for the bus to show up.
Wednesday we caught a train to Chiayi, which is a bit further south than Hualien, but on the western side of the island instead. I caught a brief look at the Taiwan Straits and the East China Sea, but couldn’t see the mainland. It’s apparently too far away. Chiayi is a large tropical town with lots of insects, and a McDonalds, where I discovered that the McFish Sandwich tastes more “fishy” in Taiwan, and that the Chicken McNuggets are just as awful as they are in the states.
We went around Taipei by bus to various stores and restaurants. I picked up a Mah Jong game set at a Mah Jong store. At the distinctive Eslite Bookseller I purchased a book on Mah Jong, including instructions (in English), some Chinese/English dictionaries and a couple of gifts.
On Monday, Chu-wan and I boarded a train for Hualien, a small town halfway down the eastern coast. We arrived and immediately caught a tour bus running up the East-West coast highway.
Sunday morning I awoke with a fever. Apparently, the shots and the 48 hours of being awake and hungry because of the plane delay caught up with me. After some mercy administering, I began to feel better. (The headache passed, at least.) Three of Chu-wan’s college classmates showed up: Nora, Judy and Min-Min. Nora had a car so we drove to Yangmingshan National Park, which is north of Taipei.
My first full day in Taipei was Saturday, and Chu-wan and I went sightseeing.
The flight finally took off around 2:00PM. For the next 14 hours I was confined to my cell. I was easily the tallest person on the plane, and, having a window seat, I was truly crammed inside the plane.
We were scheduled to depart Los Angeles at 1:00AM on May 14th. The Singapore Air flight boarded on time, but we sat on the runway for an unusually long time. After we’d waited about 45 minutes the pilot announced over the intercom that “(They’d) spotted a fuel leak in number two engine and were investigating. “