February 9-10: Where did the time go?

Days 2 and 3, February 9-10

Yep, this post covers 2 days because of the 13-hour time difference and the length of time that we were in the air.  We boarded our first plane in the afternoon of the 8th of February as described in our initial blog and we arrived in Taipei, Taiwan our first official stop on this journey in the late afternoon of February 10, 2024.  This type of international travel across multiple time zones and the International Date line does lend credence to the adage “where did the time go?” The 9th of February was just obliterated in the air.

When we arrived at the airport in Singapore, we were whipped!  Thankfully, due to our flight status we were able to recuperate at a magnificent lounge which looked more like a large gourmet cafeteria in the midst of a library lobby.  There were lovely chairs with computer charging stations and fantastic offerings of Asian foods to enjoy along with a variety of teas and coffee.  These folks are serious about their tea and coffee!! 

I think that maybe the fact that it was the Chinese Lunar New Year probably added to the spectacular offerings that were available to us.  However, the two of us were so tired that we did not have much of an appetite.  I had a cup of decaf coffee along with water, two cabbage and shrimp dumplings, a small croissant, and two fried hashbrown sticks.  Doug had a bowl of pho (pronounced “Furh”) with chicken, two cups of French Earl Grey tea, two cabbage and shrimp dumplings. We were able to spend our 3-hour layover in style!

Needless to say, when we finally arrived in Taiwan, got through agriculture inspections, immigration clearances and finally customs, we were ready to just turn in for the night. 

However, we were met at the airport by Rashad and Espy (short for Esperanza) and they had planned for us to go out to dinner at their local Taiwanese restaurant, Dian Shui Lou.  They had pre-ordered a delicious Peking Duck dinner for the four of us and the duck was served with incredibly crispy skin created by flaming it with Cointreau.  It was then sliced very thinly by a skilled chef and presented to us with rice pancakes and plum sauce.  The food was delicious. We added some dumplings and bar-b-que pork buns to round out the meal.  Doug made it through the meal.  No longer able to fight the effects of jet lag, Patrise ended up putting her head down on the table to sleep at the end of the meal.

When we left, the party took a cab back to Rashad’s beautiful apartment so that Patrise did not have to walk back.  We immediately crashed and hoped that the jet lag would be better in the morning.

Here are a series of photos of our arrival, early views of Taipei, Rashad and Esperanza's neighborhood, and our first dinner.