Leaving Taiwan for Bangkok

Well, we finally arrived in Taipei, Taiwan after the long flight over the Pacific. Christa and I were immediately greeted by Elliott and Ruben after deplaning, and after two (horrible) meals on the flight over, we were craving some authentic asian cuisine.

Now, let me remind you: we arrived in Taipei at 5:50am, but we still hadn't adjusted to the numerous time changes, jet-lag, and swollen extremities. However, to be in such a unique airport with so many options for food with doors opening at 6am, we could not pass up another chance to eat. So, we found ourselves some tasty breakfast.

Cut us some slack! I know you might just, in fact, be questioning our choice of beer with breakfast, but we are on vacation AND it was around 5pm California time. PLUS, it's not like we were drinking the beer we've been enjoying the past two semesters in Berkeley. Just saying.

We had enough time to relax at the airport restaurant and to catch up on the frustrations of flying. As we took in our new setting, we couldn't help but laugh at how many times our order had been called by the little lady at the pick-up counter. She announced every single order through a microphone in three different languages--the last in English. By the time we figured out when one of our numbers had been called, she was nearly shouting the translated announcement.

As we thoroughly enjoyed our first dish of authentic asian cuisine (and real food within the last 16 hours), we suddenly realized that we were not the only ones who had been confused by the shouting lady at the pick-up counter. After our first few bites, we noticed her walking around the entire restaurant with cup of noodles on a tray repeatedly asking, "Number 59? Number 59?" (again, in three languages) while she examined every table. I was #50. I was reminded of my order number when I finally approached her commanding stance at the pick-up window, and she took my ticket, smiled, and said, "Ah! Number 50!!!"

With the longest leg of our trip to Southeast Asia finished, we came to the conclusion it was an excellent decision to leave SFO in the middle of the night since we managed to catch a few solid hours of shut-eye. Now, with full stomachs and a few Singhas later, we made our way to the gate at the Taipei airport destined for Bangkok.

Next up on The Dandygram... "Cab Rides, Curfews, and Curry!"