Presidential  總統府

Somewhat recovered from the massive banquet of the previous evening, although not quite fully, it was now time for … another one!  This time in celebration of Ashley and my wedding + first year.  Ray booked a private room for us at 晶華軒 Silks House at Grand Formosa Regent Hotel. We made a quick drive-by viewing of 總統府 Presidential Office Building on the way to the restaurant.

Double Circles & Double Happiness

Our room was decorated with a large 囍 character that Ashley and I were to sit in front of.  It means double happiness. Our room also had a double circle above us and as the table.  All of this, including our menu, are a cultural tradition specifically for the occasion. Since this meal celebrated us and not my Grandmother, Aunt Kerri from my mother’s side joined us for this meal.  We would have liked to visit her house and spend more time, but our schedule wouldn’t allow for it.

After the banquet, we split into two cars driven by my dad’s brother and sister…. In Taiwan, this is a guaranteed adventure.  The Hsia family who are brave enough to drive in Taipei are masters beyond adeptness.  From my aunt’s mouth as she zipped left and right through traffic, “driving in Taipei is like fighting a war.”  Traffic lanes are a mere suggestion, horns are used liberally (but never out anger), and traffic lights mean very little.  Then, just for kicks, throw in the hundreds of mopeds all around you that weave around you in circles.  An hour early for a meetup with my Aunt Chieng, Ashley and I killed a bit of time at the Taipei 101 shopping mall.

CX Business Class

Aunt Chieng was going to take Ashley and I to visit Hong Kong where she now taught at City University in Kowloon Tong.  As a Cathay elite, she upgraded us into the business cabin with lie flat seats!  This was quite a treat, given that even as we are skyteam elite with Delta, a trans-oceanic upgrade into 777 lie-flat is a very rare thing and typically only done for operations (and not being an elite).  Our 90 minute flight served a meal beyond anything ever seen in a Delta Business Elite seat, and at one point I accidentally walked into the First Class bathroom.  The lavatory was at least the size of four regular lavatories, and a quick peak into the FC cabin showed that their lie-flat seats were bigger yet.

1010 at HKG

On arrival into HKG, we all cleared customs and continued to the Octopus Card counter so that we could pay for transporation (and even purchases like coffee) through the trip.  A mandatory stop at 1010 was also made, so that we could pick up prepaid SIMs for our phones.  $88 HKD ($10 USD) a piece got us going on a 7-day unlimited data plan.

We headed out to the taxi queue, and away we went toward Kowloon Tong. My aunt chatted away with the driver, as Ashley and I stared into the lights and buildings of one of the world’s most densely (per mi^2) populated cities.  Ashley likened the night drive to what entering Gotham City must be like.

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