A sign at the 溼地野生動物保護區 (Gaomei Wetland Preservation Area) about "...visiting egrets soaring through the skies..." | ||
April 17, 2026 
At 4:40 AM, we locked Room 802's door for the last time and made our way down to the lobby
to checkout. We liked the room so much that Mei-O plans
to ask for it the next time we come.
Our ride to the airport in Taipei wasn't due to arrive until 5:00, and anyhow, we had to wait for...
...Meihui who was coming to see us off. She showed up about 4:50, in plenty of time to
exchange a few gifts. Mei-O gave her the honey, ginger,
and shampoo we had left over, and she gave Mei-O a couple of books that Wenshuang had illustrated.
And then it was time to leave. We were picked up by a young
man in a white Tesla (which was arranged by Meihui. Once again, much thanks to her), and
headed north on our hour-and-a-half ride
in the darkness to the Taoyuan Airport in Taipei.
As we got closer, the sky lightened and the traffic
picked up.
Around 6:30, we arrived at the airport and pulled up to the
Departures terminal.
The line to check in - get our boarding passes, check our luggage, etc.) - wasn't too bad, and
everything went smoothly and relatively quick. Once we were through with that, and after an easy pass
through security, ...
...we needed to find some breakfastnoteIn past years, because our hotel room included the all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast
(which didn't begin until 6:30), the hotel provided us with a bag breakfast to take along on the ride to
the airport. It wasn't much, something like a ham and cheese sandwich, an apple, and a cup of coffee,
but this year we got nothing. ! One of the things I wanted to eat during this trip was
牛肉麵 (beef noodle soup), and I never got the chance, so, even though it was breakfast time, we decided
to eat here at 老董牛肉麵 in the airport's food court, ...
...where I had a really great bowl of 牛肉麵 while Mei-O,
not wanting to eat too much before our long flight home, just had some 水餃
and vegetables.
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