And the journey begins....

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This is my first official entry to the 'trio' blog! I can't officially say that I've kicked the jet-lag or completely acclimatized to this incredibly different culture. However, I can say that I'm loving this new adventure so far. We had a full day yesterday walking around the city...getting used to the sounds, crazy smells, and interesting food. Holli's friend, Au, picked us up at our hostel and acted as our tour guide yesterday which was great. I'll tell you all the details, but for now, I want to tell you about our journey from the states to our new-found home.

Our flight, as many of you know, was delayed by about 8 hours out of LAX due to a Typhoon hanging over Taipee. Holli, Luke, and I had just spent a few days basking in the LA sunshine and although we were bummed to have an added 8 hours onto our journey....it wasn't something a long game of Quiddler and a few drinks couldn't take care of. We flew China Airlines and, while the seats were obviously not built for 'giants' like ourselves, the movie selection was quite impressive. I watched a sum total of 4 movies with a few hours of sleep in between.

We were told by our China Airlines agent that we would miss our connecting flight from Taipee to Bangkok and would have to wait for an early flight the next morning. Because of this piece of advice, we decided to head straight from the airplane to immigration, and then race to the 'departure' terminal to have tickets re-issued. After waiting for around 30 minutes in the immigration line, we finally made it to the front (so far our ability to pick the slowest line out of the bunch is unrivaled!😉 I explained the situation to the agent and she immediately started radioing her supervisor and acting a bit flustered. We were getting a bit nervous when the supervisor took our passports and asked us to step out of the line. A thousand thoughts were running through my mind....'they're not going to let us through', 'Taiwan has become anti-american','they took one look at Luke's mohawk and assumed we were up to no good'...however, it turns out that we were supposed to go to the 'transfer' desk to see the agent about re-issuing our tickets. Transfer desk? This is a new concept to me!

We make our way to the Transfer desk, hand them our passports, and then all hell breaks loose. The tiny, seemingly shy, taiwanese woman comes alive. She hurriedly works on her computer, prints our tickets all the while screaming to a gate agent on a walkie-talkie. Luke, Holli, and I were staring at her with dumbfounded expressions. She quickly stops, throws down the walkie talkie and starts running. She screams after us..'you must hurry...they're holding the plane for you!' Her ability to sprint through the airport in heels and a tight skirt was amazing! We could hardly keep up with our flip-flops and carry-ons weighing us down while racing from one end of the airport to the other. The gate agents see us coming and wave us through to the plane. Out of breath and still a bit confused we hand our tickets to the stewards and they immediately bring us to our seats. The male steward giggles as he says...'Where have you been? We thought you took flight to moon'! Turns out a Typhoon can delay ALL flights. This is our first of many 'duhhhh' moments! Luckily this flight allowed for a few desperately needed hours of sleep and a safe landing in Bangkok at 4:45am.

So that's the first of what is sure to be many more adventures along the way. I will post some pics of our first days in this crazy city. Tomorrow i will explain the toilet challenges and why a thai massage can turn anyone into an acrobat.

Bye for now!

Anna

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