taipei trip - 17.18.19.20/5/2007

wow! the big city...yahoo...taipei here i come! mummy bunny and papa hunny tried to stick to my usual morning schedule because they know best and they didn't want to upset me too much because i can only handle change in small doses...plus the fact that it's pouring cats and dogs today on this gloomy thursday. my parents said that if it is raining so hard in taichung...then it is really bad in taipei!!! did i tell you, papa hunny and mummy bunny met in taipei of all places about 6 years ago. they have pretty much been to lots of places around the world but they met each other in taipei whilst studying mandarin at national taiwan university...the chinese language centre! then, they fell in love...got married and had me...so soppy...stop! btw, daddy fixed my playpen last night and i tried it out... slept in the bassinette because it was a very hot night (i made a huge sweaty print of my head on my pillow in the cot so mummy decided to move me) and we all slept together in the same room with the air condtioner on. it was really cool...temperature and playpen...and mummy was amazed that i slept for 8 hours. anyways, back to my taipei trip...so my cool papa hunny decided to take us to taipei via the high speed rail (hsr)...i got so excited because it's the first time for mummy and me. papa has been on it already...business trips! actually, i won't bore you, everything was a first for little ole me. even the taxi we took to the hsr station. the yellow taxi was driven by a fast driver, like he was a f1 driver and we got to the station in no time. we got there about an hour before lunch because we wanted to have lunch there. bunny and hunny had their lunch at royal host, a japanese family restaurant and then we were off. the train was spanking new and it was pretty packed with passengers. the ride was so cool and like the ride on the taxi...i was strapped onto mummy's front in my black aprica carrier. i do like it snug but sometimes i find my cheek stuck on mummy...no matter what...i still manage to sleep...because the "bullet" train was very smooth and zzzzzz. within an hour, we were in taipei train station and i noticed that taipei feels rather muggy and stuffy! my parents say this is normal. we hopped onto another taxi and headed off to the hotel. howard international house. so after we dropped off our stuff at the hotel, the 3 of us decided to take those silly pics of us together with mummy bunny holding the camera with her extra long arms and then we headed off to where hunny and bunny first set eyes on each other...like i briefly mentioned earlier...learning chinese! wow...tai da ( national taiwan univesity - ntu) has and is still making loads of money from people like my mummy and daddy...the whole place is so trendy and swanky now. my parents were shocked to see it now...

the classrooms have nice glass doors and all trimmed with dark wooden panels in chinese decor....how fine...beautiful. the students' common room is plush too! plus, by chance, papa hunny's ex-teacher had class and i met her. she is a very sweet lady and took a pictue of her holding me! next, i got on the #235 bus. my first time. so cool! and we trekked all along an-ho rd where papa hunny use to live. papa hunny was slightly disappointed because everything had changed...stores/restaurants etc. it generally happens a lot in taiwan. even the food court in the basement of far eastern hotel had changed and they no longer had 'their' favourite hainanese chicken rice or korean fried rice. so they had japanese don rice. on the way home before getting on the same bus, they got bk whoppers for our midnight snacks. when we arrived back to the hotel, mummy bunny sorted me out for bed whilst papa hunny ran along to the photo shop near the hotel to develop the right sized photos of me and papa hunny. so tired...off to bed.
i woke up in the middle of the night...mummy bunny fed me but actually, i was missing home and my soft cot. the cot that the hotel provided me with looks ok but the mattress is as hard as stone. mummy bunny was concerned about me banging my legs and head but papa hunny insisted it was good for my back. i wonder if papa hunny will trade with me!? then, i woke up bright and early in the morning, mummy tells me that she might have a clogged duct on her left breast. i am probably to blame too...i have not been sucking over her whole nipple...i like only the end part and i like to pull. mummy bunny always calls me her cheeky monkey. she is rather forgetful...i am tiny bunny silly! not a monkey! anyways, i couldn't fall straight back to sleep...new place etc at around 9, we ate breakfast in the hotel, la mode restaurant and then took some black & white photos.

then we took the taxi to the british cultural & trade office (bcto) to apply for my first uk passport and papa hunny's visa. all went well except that mummy bunny's birth certificate was the short one and they require a full one with my grandparents' names on it etc. so, mummy called grandma "s" in england to sort it out etc. we were done by 10 so papa hunny said this has greatly improved since last time...he says it makes sense...you have to apply for visas online first etc. saves time and money. this time, it was my first on the metro rail transportation (mrt) and we went to sun yet sen memorial and took pics there...and with taipei 101 in the background.

at the moment, it is the tallest building in the world. wicked! my nursery at home is decorated with giraffes...i have a thing for giraffes but seriously, this building is way taller than my giraffe!!! after pics, we managed to go up the stairs of sun-yat-sen memorial hall because i had to use the nursery room there to get fed from mummy and to change my nappy etc. papa hunny told me that he even got pics of the guards changing. actually, we later found out that the president of taiwan wanted to change the name of chiang kai-shek memorial hall to national taiwan democracy memorial hall. we should have gone there because it was the last day before the change over but we were too tired and we didn't know until later on the news.

so, as my parents had "emperor" pork/chicken rice, i had a small snooze. they were pleased it was still there. yummy! after lunch, they decided to go and stroll along chung shiao east rd...so much change again and they felt sad. the rain rubbed it in and it expressed my parents' feelings really well. oh well, time moves on i suppose so we legged it into a quaint french coffee house called i'lu and they had afternoon tea/coffee there with cakes. i was still tired and cranky...and i gave my parents a hard time. i decided to tell them with crying so, they hd no choice and took me back to the hotel. by now, i was way overtired and i started to scream and mummy bunny had too much of me...she was so tired by now that she insisted that she would flop over any minute...she was so angry with me that papa hunny rescued me and popped me in the stroller and walked me for half an hour before i slept for one and a half hour far away from an angry big bunny! he also gave me a mini lecture etc...i was so tired...what did you say...zzzzzz. the next minute, i saw my mummy bunny again and she is feeling better after her nap. papa hunny tells her that he saw his ex supervisor whilst 'walking' me! then they had dinner at this vietnamese place close by. it was still raining. friday night was the worse for me...i woke up every hour and caused mummy bunny and papa hunny a lot of grief. i felt lonely and uncomfortable. finally, mummy bunny realised this and after she fed me at 5:40, she put me sideways on her bed above her pillow/head and because i could see/smell mummy, i felt safe and slept well.

papa hunny went to the conference at around 8:30am whilst mummy bunny and i lazed around the hotel room. papa hunny popped in to see us during his lunch break and then he took us to where the posters were and we took pics with his poster presentations. my papa hunny is a very smart man and i want to be as smart as him when i grow up. i love my papa hunny bear!

then we ate at sizzler around the corner..american food with a great salad bar! i must also confess, i did 2 boo boos today...i wet papa and then mummy's bed...i am not to blame...mummy was too slow with the nappy the first time and the second time, i was on my side...so it just leaked sideways!!! the shocking thing was...housekeeping gave us a clean top sheet but just to "air" the duvet...poor guests after me!!! i think i did well...only woke once...but i did feel safe that i was near mummy and papa hunny!
sunday today and papa hunny and mummy bunny had t/a breakfast together...club sandwiches. mummy swopped hunny a nice toasted sandwich...he didn't have toasted ones! anyways, mummy bunny packed and got ready to check out whilst papa hunny went to the 2nd and last day of the conference. mummy bunny forgot to wait for papa hunny at the lobby at lunchtime because we got all excited to check out the nursery room in the hotel.

we stayed there for the rest of the afternoon. i slept a little whilst mummy chilled listening to the radio. it was nice that they had a radio system there. during papa hunny's lunch break, my parents had a slight "debate"...i think all 3 of us were really tired so i forgive them. being a baby...i have it easy. mummy bunny also called her mates, andrew and ben to say hi. they live in taipei. it would have been nice to meet them but it was raining the whole trip so maybe next time! papa hunny finished at around 5 and we talked a little before heading off to catch the hsr at the main train station. they ate a railway dinner box and sushi box whilst i was nursed in the nursery room at the station. adequate but not that nice. beggars can't be choosers! we were lucky going and coming back on the hsr. we all sat together...long story but if tickets are paid separately, the computer chooses the seats. mummy bunny asked the person sitting beside her and both times, they said yes. home sweet home at around 9pm and does it feel good? so good! i slept a solid 7 hours...impressed?! i am! and so are my parents! what a wonderful and chaotic first trip!!! can't wait for my next one! i see mummy bunny and papa hunny raise their eyebrows!!! talk soon...need sleep big time :) bye bye!