Hot and sweaty

That's how my trip to Taiwan is starting out.

First of all, when I went through Customs, I got selected for a random patdown. The Customs officer was nice enough, though. Asked me if I was wearing a belt ("Um, no, it's just... fat." "Hahah, if you're fat, then what am I... obese? :p") She actually did pat down the entire body, including around all sides of the bra...! and checked the bottoms of my shoes, too.

My 02:55 flight got delayed to 03:40, because the incoming flight from NYC was late. Just trying to stay awake during that extra hour was quite difficult. I always request an aisle seat, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the seat next to me was unoccupied, leaving me lots of lots of leg room and space to put my stuff, and no interruptions from a neighbour to use the toilet.

The Cathay Pacific plane was a new design. The seats are now placed on an arc: to recline, the seat slides forward and the headrest downward, but the actual frame is fixed, meaning the person behind enjoys the same amount of personal space. The inflight entertainment system - wonderful improvement: over 100 movies to choose from, ranging from new releases, to classics, to Disney movies, to Asian films. And then there are tv shows: drama, comedy, documentaries etc. Lots and lots of options. And then of course there are games and other forms of entertainment. There are also power outlets for laptops and stuff! The only complaint I have about Cathay Pacific is that their food is still terrible. (Breakfast is acceptable, but lunch and dinner are horrible.... Eva Air actually has good airplaine food.)

So during that flight to HK, I watched The Other Boleyn Girl (Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson) and Horton Hears a Who. Then I watched an episode of CSI and one of CSI: Miami. Then as I was struggling to stay awake (in an effort to minimise jetlag), it finally came time to sleep. I couldn't sleep that well, but I felt okay when we landed in HK. The flight was an hour late, landing at 08:00, and when we stepped off the plane, Cathay Pacific ground staff handed me a ticket bumping me from my 08:35 connecting flight to TPE to 09:10. It was 08:15 when I made it through the transfer area, and I bolted to see if I could still get my original flight. Alas, though the display flashed "Last call", the staff member told me it was too late to board. :( So I sulked to the gate of my new flight, grateful that it was only a 35-min delay. Pulled out my laptop to fire off an e-mail to my family to let them know... except that the laptop battery didn't last 3 minutes after bootup, allowing me just enough time to find the HK airport free wireless internet and enter the e-mail recipients, but not enough time to actually finish the e-mail! Ah well. I'm going to have to get a new battery.

The rest of my arrival went fairly smoothly: took a bus into TPE where I waited 25 minutes to get picked up. Compared to when I took this bus almost 4 years ago when I came to Taiwan, there was a sense of familiarity, and of "home" this time. Had a bit of pizza with my cousins before I hurried off to the District Administration Office to take care of a few things and renew my medical insurance. Hung out with my brother before he left for a weekend in Macau with his wife, and then after finishing a movie, I came back to my cousin's where I'm staying... and sulked. Honestly, walking through some familiar places where I'd been with my mom, finding myself alone - with no internet access.... Couldn't stay up very long, and by 21:35 I was in bed, out like a light.

Today, I was up at 06:30, went out for breakfast at 07:30. 豆漿, 油條, 燒餅夾蛋. Anyone who can read that would understand why that was the first meal I went for! :D Instead of coming back to an empty apartment, I decided to just eat there and watch all the people coming and going.

I'm just hanging out for a bit now, waiting to meet someone; we're going to go watch 划龍舟 (dragonboating) and then go window-shopping with another friend. It's not that sunny outside, but I'm still dreading the heat and the UV rays...!