Yan-Shih and I waited for the big green bus, yet she needed to go teach. Waiting alone the bus came, and I asked to a girl behind me, in my crap Chinese, “does this go to the --” “airport” she replied. I jumped on and started the journey. Tonight my dad and step-mom, Cathy, would arrive in Taipei. It was rush hour, so I attempted to leave enough time to get out on time. Around 5:45 we started waiting, however the bus didn't come until almost 6:20. Leaving Taipei was painful, the streets were like a parking lot. Finally the bus jumped on the freeway, and 7:00 came (about the time my parents would arrive), and we were still 20 minutes away. I was somewhat relieved, as I knew they would need to pick up baggage, fill out forms, and go through customs. To my dismay the bus left the freeway and toured Taoyuan, a city near the airport. Once again in a parking lot, we twisted around busy streets dropping people off. The bus was almost empty, and stopped at a red light. The bus driver actually got out, walked into a store, bought dinner, and got back on the bus. At almost 8:00, a mere 1:45 minutes after boarding the bus, we pulled into Terminal 2.
My parents were merrily, at least, as merry as you could be after a 13 hour flight and being stood up by your son. Hugs were exchanged, threats of losing my inheritance ensued, and we bought our bus tickets back to downtown Taipei. Another hour later I was back where I started, yet with parents and Yan-Shih smiling happily at us.
We walked a few blocks over to their hotel, which resided halfway between the Nanjing East Road and Zhongshan High School MRT station. We checked them in, went up to their room, unloaded their luggage, and immediately walked out onto the street. Food time.
Just down the street we found a nice place. Our plane was to ease my parents into food and life in Taiwan – a new diet too quickly could make them sick. We ordered our tea, and five types of dumplings. My parents began to fade and we walked them back to their hotel. The next day would bring more adventures, more food, and new sights.
This entry is from my journal and was written on April 24, 2007. It's been tagged with Travel and Yan-Shih. There have been 0 comments so far.