Monday was the last day we were going to be in Hong Kong. However, our flight left a little after 5pm so we had a bit of time, theoretically. We got a taxi from the hotel to the Airport Express station, which is near central Hong Kong, where we were able to check-in and drop off our checked in luggage. Unfortunately, we learned they didn’t have any window seats left on the flight so we had to check Calvin’s car seat as well.
Once we did that, we took the MTR train to the actual airport where we dropped off a couple of our carry-on bags with a “left luggage” service. Then we got on a bus and with the plan of taking the Ngong Ping 360 cable car to the Tian Tan Buddha. Unfortunately, when we got there, it appeared that everyone else also wanted to take the cable car. The line was at least an hour and a half long which might have left enough time to make it across but wouldn’t let us do anything once we got there.
We ate the pastries I had gotten the previous night in hopes of it inspiring some great plan. However, the options available were not good. Eventually we wandered around the adjacent outlet mall looking for something vegetarian for a real lunch and couldn’t find anything. So, we found a bus to take us back to the airport. The upside of the journey is it was a double-decker bus and we got to sit on top at the very front. Calvin definitely enjoyed that part of the trip.
We got back the airport, grabbed our left luggage, and headed over to terminal one. We found a deli we had eaten at before and ordered some sandwiches. However, they were less satisfying than we hoped (The vegetarian sandwich consisted of a baguette with lettuce, tomato, and hard-boiled egg. I’m not vegan but I don’t like egg when I can taste it).
We wandered closer to security and discovered another restaurant that had vegetarian items clearly marked on the menu (a very rare event). We felt the needed to reward good behavior so we decided to eat there too. We got a little pizza for Calvin, a lasagna for me, and Jaeger got a curry. The curry was pretty good. The lasagna was completely overwhelmed by massive amounts of cheese. I do like cheese but this was going behind what I was able to
consume, especially since I wasn’t really hungry.
While there, we tried to get seats for our flight from Taipei to Hong Kong. Jaeger booked via United’s website but this leg of the journey was flown by ANA. Unfortunately, each airline claimed the other one was responsible for getting us seats. We called ANA, then United, then ANA and never got a satisfactory response. This is important to me because we do have reserved seats for all other legs and I really want to bring Calvin’s car seat on with us.
Our flight for Taiwan departed and was fairly short. We arrived in the Taipei airport and walked past a line specifically for disabled people and those carrying babies. We started to queue in the normal non-resident line but one of the immigration staff people saw us and indicated we should go in the almost non-existent carrying baby line. It is true that Jaeger was carrying Calvin at that exact point but we had thought he was a bit big for the exception. Due to the special line we made it through immigration faster than I ever have anywhere before. It was magical.
Most of our luggage arrived promptly except for our car seat which made me nervous. However, it did eventually arrive and we headed out past customs to find a driver for the hotel waiting for us. It was a fairly long ride to the hotel and Calvin fell asleep just a couple of minutes before we got there.
The hotel itself is very modern-looking, not quite my style. However, the staff are very friendly and so far seem to speak excellent English which is nice. Also, they have a tub! Our hotel in Hong Kong, while nice, only had a shower and as a result, Calvin hasn’t had a bath for too many days. It was too late for a bath the night we arrived but I am hoping that we’ll have a chance to use it later.
Our hotel in Hong Kong was a suite. However, the one in Taipei is only a one-bed room. However, the bed is a king bed so we’re all trying to sleep in it together as one big happy family. Calvin is ecstatic though the rest of us are a little less excited and hope it’ll actually work out.
Our Hong Kong/Taiwan Trip: