March 9th-11th
Day 1-ish
We flew out on the 11:50pm flight heading for San Francisco. For some odd reason United Air has to do a travel backwards in able to fly forward thing. Which meant the we arrived in SFO really early in the morning, so early that the International Terminals were not opened yet. Well, technically they're always opened, it's just that none of the stores were opened.
We hung around the domestic terminals for a while before we decided to just go head and go over to the int'l terminal to catch a cat nap. We were there so early that we don't even know which gate is ours because the monitors does not update that far ahead. So like many other travelers have done, I found a nice corner propped my head on the backpack and went to sleep right there on the floor. I really was able to catch up on my sleep, had a nice meal at the Japanese restaurant when it finally opened and did not have to wait much longer before we began boarding. I can never thank my mother enough for booking us on the economy plus section, there is a whole lot more leg room than regular economy!
Here's a little kicker for you future travelers on UA. Even though the travel agent you contact may tell you that it's a direct flight from SF to Taipei and even though your flight itinerary shows that you leave SFO and arrive in Taipei at so-and-so time. IT IS NOT A DIRECT FLIGHT! There is a layover in Nagoya, Japan in which you cannot leave your luggage on-board, you must take all your belongings and exit the plane, go through the Japanese Customs and re-board the plane. What a pain in the patoosh that was, although I was able to pick up a magazine and one of my favorite Japanese candy (Kuro-ame) along the way so I wasn't terribly upset. I was sadden by the nearly full bottle of water I had to toss away due to airport regulations.
Anyhow, a day loss to travel, we arrived in Taipei late evening. Hopped on the bus to get us into the city, oh yes the airport's technically in "Taipei" but it's really way out there, once off the freeway had to find a taxi to take us to my father's eldest sister's apartment. It's really not that hard to find a taxi in Taipei, they're all over the place.
My aunt lives on the 4th floor. We had almost 150lbs of luggage, there was no elevator, 'nuf said.
