Day 17

We are nearing the end of this trip, and today we traveled from Taipei to Hong Kong. Fortunately, we were able to spend the first part of the day with White in Taipei--until mid-afternoon--and then onto the Taoyuan airport we went...to Hong Kong.

We woke up and Taipei, making sure we had enough time for breakfast in the Midtown Richardson Hotel (did I mention what a crappy hotel this is?). The breakfast buffet was jam-packed, with at least 100 people there at the time we went down. They were out of watermelon, my favorite, and I had to have my mango juice in a coffee cup. However, I did like the noodles, and pineapple is always tasty. In our hotel room, we finished packing and listened to both Teen Titans and a period drama of some sort, both in Chinese, of course. After packing, we left our bags in the lobby and waited for White to show.

White took us to a nearby restaurant for lunch. She had to write what we wanted on a piece of paper and hand it in. I was amazed that we got a table so quickly there even though they were so crowded. Selections to eat included pork over rice, pork belly, and green vegetables. We just drank our own drinks. It really wasn't that expensive; "Welcome to Taiwan!" White said. And she was right---EVERYTHING is cheaper here. 

White then asked us if we wanted to go to a cafe after lunch, and we readily agreed. She found this place called the Cho Cafe (she'd never been there before), and it was really cute. I got a lemon cake and Kerry got a chocolate one; I also got an iced milk tea. It was a nice place; Starbucks without the attitude. 

One the way back to the hotel, I took some final pictures of Ximending, and White took one of us standing on this large "TAIPEI" Pride flag sign. It's so nice to see such support for the LGBTQ+ communitiy so openly here.We got back to the hotel, called an Uber, and then hugged White goodbye. Our driver was a woman, interestingly enough, and I even got to speak some Chinese with her! That was fun.

We were very early at the airport, so we waited around a long time for our two-hour flight. But it was a private waiting room area, with not many people around, so that helped. I remember not being super impressed by the airline food--I'm sort of getting sick of meat on top of rice at this point. 

We got in very late to Hong Kong, and we couldn't figure out where to go at first. I was told that we could take a shuttle to our hotel by going to one hotel first (the "airport hotel"), but when we got to this hotel, we were told that the shuttles had already ended. So we had to take another Uber to our hotel. I might also mention that I found it challening to get my huge suitcase and carry-on down the escalator of the initial hotel--the only option--but this old British man came out of his way to help me. I was so grateful!

When we got to our hotel, it seemed beautiful in the lobby, but we were chagrined to see that all of the restaurants were closed, and none of the vending machines took American credit cards: they only took things like AlliPay. And, of course, we didn't have any HKD on us, so we had to make do with candy for dinner: leftover Candy A-Go-Go from Tokyo, Pocky from China, Oreos, and honey-roasted cashews from Taipei. An international feast, indeed.  

Then it was time for bed. Tomorrow is our final day--with two flights. But our last two.