I'm still in Taiwan!
Well, I'm still in Taiwan, having fun and gaining weight X(! We didn't have fun getting here. We left home on a HUGE storm day both in MN and NY. My sister and her hubby were delayed for 2 hours, so they missed their connecting flight with us from MN to Japan and then Taiwan --;. They were SUPPOSED to get to MN 3 hours before the Japan-Taiwan flight left, but they ended up arriving just 30 minutes after our plane closed its doors and left the terminal. We were still on the runway when they arrived 8(, but Suckwest wouldn't allow them to make the connection. They ended up taking a flight to Los Angeles and had to spend a night there without luggage before taking a direct flight to Taipei, Taiwan.
Suckwest said they wanted to get our plane out on time, but we spent 2 HOURS just waiting to get our plane's wings de-iced and on the runway itself ;b! The worst part came later when we found out 2 of our 4 suitcases got LOST somewhere! I was lucky. My suitcase was 1 of the 2 that came safely, but both my parents suitcases were LOST! They're STILL without their bags 5 DAYS after we arrived here! What happened was that the day we left, the weekend before Christmas, all of Suckwest's experienced and veteran employees took the day off, because they knew it would be HELL, leaving the airline with only ROOKIE employees in charge. The %_#*!_*% guy who checked us in had NO CLUE what he was doing. He took 5 times LONGER than any other airline clerk to check us and another couple in. Both the terminal Dad used to check in and the other couple's were broken, so that STUPID guy had to do everything manually. We should have known to leave the line there and then, but we didn't. BIG MISTAKE! He ended up giving us 6 luggage tags for our 4 suitcases. Dad wanted to just keep all 6 tags, but the IDIOT insisted on 'correcting' his error and deleting 2 of the tags. HE DELETED THE WRONG TAGS! Dad has been spending every single day calling Suckwest and China Airlines, Suckwest's partner here in Taiwan, on finding the 2 lost suitcases >8(!
Unfortunately, all the way up until Dec 25th, Suckwest was only employed by rookies everywhere, so my parents' bags were just lost in the system. At one point, Suckwest told Dad that he had never checked in any bags o~O! Dad finally got some answers on Dec 25th, and it turns out that their bags went to HONOLULU, the place where the couple next to us in the check-in line was going! Dad luckily suggested Suckwest look there, and lo and behold, there were 2 bags sitting in the Honolulu airport for days and unclaimed ;P! Supposedly, they will be getting their bags in tomorrow morning if their identified correctly when they get here later this evening.
My sister and her hubby also had ALL their 3 bags LOST just until YESTERDAY! She was only able to ask for help via Dad's elite status with Suckwest. Otherwise, if she had just called Suckwest's normal number, NOBODY would have answered or helped her. Dad has a 'secret' code that he can enter when he calls to get help right away. She and her hubby had been miserable wearing the same outfit for the past 4 days. They were able to buy some extra underwear and socks later. Mom has been able to borrow my clothes or Grandma's. Poor Dad though can't find any extras here except for one extra shirt which we bought off the street for him yesterday ;b. Dad is going to maim Suckwest when we get back >;P!
Like I said, I was probably the only 'happy' one since my suitcase with all my clothes came safely ^^;. I'm upset that I didn't bring any short sleeve shirts though. Both Mom and Dad said it would be too cold here, but that's so WRONG! I've been sweating like mad because everyone has their heaters on, and the temperature is about 70° F! For me, that's HOT! That's not winter! It's spring near summer-like for me! No one is selling any short sleeve shirts now because it's winter too ;_;! There are T-shirts, but I usually don't wear those.
Besides the extreme heat for me, Taipei has changed a LOT since I was last here maybe 7 years ago! The area near Grandma's is still unchanged, but everything else is so new! There are a lot more shopping stores, restaurants, etc.. I just LOVE the stationery here 8}! I'm bringing at least a brick-load of cool cards home! I'm a bit sad I can't find much in terms of anime goods besides the more popular shows like One Piece which is everywhere! I can't even find Pokémon plush besides Pikachu ;(! There are tons of capsule machines and UFO catcher machines 8}! I just 'won' 4 UFO catcher toys today: 1 strawberry milk bank calendar and 3 tofu cellphone charms! It only cost me NT$250 = U.S.$8.33! I'm determined to try to get some Domo cubes at the UFO catcher machines at the main subway station when I go there again X}!
My sister and her hubby brought me to Shinsen, the big 'hip' shopping district, yesterday where I went a bit plush crazy at the big plushie store there 8}! It didn't have any Pokémon plush, but I got a huge spring tofu, a tomato/apple that's supposed to be a strawberry, and a Totoro dust mite pillow!
Besides the shopping, I've been stuffing myself silly with all the food 89! KFC sells AWESOME fresh hot egg custards! I had 2 days of typical Taiwanese breakfast consisting of hot salty soy milk and oily puff things to dip! We also went to the famous steamed dumpling place for lunch on one day, and yesterday, we ate at the Formosa Reagent Hotel as guests of Dad's business associates!
Taiwan TV has been fun to watch too despite the fact that I can't understand most of it ^^;. There's anime on somewhere all the time, so that automatically makes me happy! I've missed Case Closed and The Prince of Tennis! There's also tons of anime I've never seen before, and have no idea what they are, but I would like to see more of if I can! I've also been able to see for the first time Ah, My Goddess! TV series and xxxHolic.
Taiwan news has been panda crazy for the past few days because the Taipei Zoo got 2 pandas from China yesterday! There were cute panda graphics running across the screen all the time and, even when there was serious news, there was a special second screen devoted just for the pandas XD! There were even reporters covering how the pandas got upset when they were driven more than 40 kph and a special story when the pandas tumbled with each other just today! It's PANDAMANIA!
I'm off to the night market to look for bargains and street food!
Suckwest said they wanted to get our plane out on time, but we spent 2 HOURS just waiting to get our plane's wings de-iced and on the runway itself ;b! The worst part came later when we found out 2 of our 4 suitcases got LOST somewhere! I was lucky. My suitcase was 1 of the 2 that came safely, but both my parents suitcases were LOST! They're STILL without their bags 5 DAYS after we arrived here! What happened was that the day we left, the weekend before Christmas, all of Suckwest's experienced and veteran employees took the day off, because they knew it would be HELL, leaving the airline with only ROOKIE employees in charge. The %_#*!_*% guy who checked us in had NO CLUE what he was doing. He took 5 times LONGER than any other airline clerk to check us and another couple in. Both the terminal Dad used to check in and the other couple's were broken, so that STUPID guy had to do everything manually. We should have known to leave the line there and then, but we didn't. BIG MISTAKE! He ended up giving us 6 luggage tags for our 4 suitcases. Dad wanted to just keep all 6 tags, but the IDIOT insisted on 'correcting' his error and deleting 2 of the tags. HE DELETED THE WRONG TAGS! Dad has been spending every single day calling Suckwest and China Airlines, Suckwest's partner here in Taiwan, on finding the 2 lost suitcases >8(!
Unfortunately, all the way up until Dec 25th, Suckwest was only employed by rookies everywhere, so my parents' bags were just lost in the system. At one point, Suckwest told Dad that he had never checked in any bags o~O! Dad finally got some answers on Dec 25th, and it turns out that their bags went to HONOLULU, the place where the couple next to us in the check-in line was going! Dad luckily suggested Suckwest look there, and lo and behold, there were 2 bags sitting in the Honolulu airport for days and unclaimed ;P! Supposedly, they will be getting their bags in tomorrow morning if their identified correctly when they get here later this evening.
My sister and her hubby also had ALL their 3 bags LOST just until YESTERDAY! She was only able to ask for help via Dad's elite status with Suckwest. Otherwise, if she had just called Suckwest's normal number, NOBODY would have answered or helped her. Dad has a 'secret' code that he can enter when he calls to get help right away. She and her hubby had been miserable wearing the same outfit for the past 4 days. They were able to buy some extra underwear and socks later. Mom has been able to borrow my clothes or Grandma's. Poor Dad though can't find any extras here except for one extra shirt which we bought off the street for him yesterday ;b. Dad is going to maim Suckwest when we get back >;P!
Like I said, I was probably the only 'happy' one since my suitcase with all my clothes came safely ^^;. I'm upset that I didn't bring any short sleeve shirts though. Both Mom and Dad said it would be too cold here, but that's so WRONG! I've been sweating like mad because everyone has their heaters on, and the temperature is about 70° F! For me, that's HOT! That's not winter! It's spring near summer-like for me! No one is selling any short sleeve shirts now because it's winter too ;_;! There are T-shirts, but I usually don't wear those.
Besides the extreme heat for me, Taipei has changed a LOT since I was last here maybe 7 years ago! The area near Grandma's is still unchanged, but everything else is so new! There are a lot more shopping stores, restaurants, etc.. I just LOVE the stationery here 8}! I'm bringing at least a brick-load of cool cards home! I'm a bit sad I can't find much in terms of anime goods besides the more popular shows like One Piece which is everywhere! I can't even find Pokémon plush besides Pikachu ;(! There are tons of capsule machines and UFO catcher machines 8}! I just 'won' 4 UFO catcher toys today: 1 strawberry milk bank calendar and 3 tofu cellphone charms! It only cost me NT$250 = U.S.$8.33! I'm determined to try to get some Domo cubes at the UFO catcher machines at the main subway station when I go there again X}!
My sister and her hubby brought me to Shinsen, the big 'hip' shopping district, yesterday where I went a bit plush crazy at the big plushie store there 8}! It didn't have any Pokémon plush, but I got a huge spring tofu, a tomato/apple that's supposed to be a strawberry, and a Totoro dust mite pillow!
Besides the shopping, I've been stuffing myself silly with all the food 89! KFC sells AWESOME fresh hot egg custards! I had 2 days of typical Taiwanese breakfast consisting of hot salty soy milk and oily puff things to dip! We also went to the famous steamed dumpling place for lunch on one day, and yesterday, we ate at the Formosa Reagent Hotel as guests of Dad's business associates!
Taiwan TV has been fun to watch too despite the fact that I can't understand most of it ^^;. There's anime on somewhere all the time, so that automatically makes me happy! I've missed Case Closed and The Prince of Tennis! There's also tons of anime I've never seen before, and have no idea what they are, but I would like to see more of if I can! I've also been able to see for the first time Ah, My Goddess! TV series and xxxHolic.
Taiwan news has been panda crazy for the past few days because the Taipei Zoo got 2 pandas from China yesterday! There were cute panda graphics running across the screen all the time and, even when there was serious news, there was a special second screen devoted just for the pandas XD! There were even reporters covering how the pandas got upset when they were driven more than 40 kph and a special story when the pandas tumbled with each other just today! It's PANDAMANIA!
I'm off to the night market to look for bargains and street food!