It feels like life was put on fast forward ever since we found out about the final ruling. The first couple of days were like the 12 days of Christmas getting a few more photos, video, and info about Hannah Claire every day from my friend KB in Taiwan. I spent a lot of time on the phone sharing good news with family and friends... and what fun it was! Had to keep printing out photos, and send more and more to the grandmas and grandpas in Florida to keep them happy.
Then... it was the search for the airfare. I can honestly say that I spent more than FIVE HOURS looking for tickets. It was tough. One day plus or minus could means that tickets could cost $7000 MORE per person. YES! No type-o! I swear! It was crazy! In the end we got a great deal business class with Northwest, and it's the same price as it would be during a non-holiday week. Score! If anyone else is looking for business class flights to Taiwan, here you can see what the business class seats look like. Here's a map of the plane. I wanted to make a reservation for seats with a bassinet hookup, but the bassinet seats were all taken. Actually, there wasn't much of a selection left. We'll ask if there's a possibility of switching seats... but I think I'm just going to be happy with what we have, wear the baby carrier, and hope that Hannah will sleep on us on the way home. When KB visited her, she slept while being passed around the room and didn't seem to mind taking a nap on strangers. Hope this means good news for a relaxed baby on the way home!
I feel like we're booking this trip from the end to the beginning. I had to hunt for a hotel over New Year's as my first three choices were booked for New Year's. We have reservations for four nights at the Grand Hyatt Taipei which is right next to Taipei 101. I've requested a crib and a room with a view of Taipei 101... and mentioned that we were adopting... and hoped for a room with a view of Taipei 101 as we didn't want to go outside with the baby to view the fireworks. We'll see how that all works out.
I've made reservations for three nights at the Tayih Landis in Tainan for the weekend before we become a family of three. I hope I sleep, and don't wear down their carpet pacing back and forth until it's time to go.
For the front part of the trip, I've e-mailed a tour company and I'm going to see if we can make reservations for a three day tour to Sun and Moon Lake and the Taroko Gorge. We'll make the front end of our Taipei stay after the tour dates are set. This is the second tour company that I've contacted. The first didn't write back after four days. Grrr.
Let's see... I've also started filling my PINK suitcase with Hannah's things. Wow, babies need a lot of stuff... or at least first time mamas think that babies need a lot of stuff! Bottle warmers, bottle cleaners, diapers (I want to bring diapers from home with Velcro tabs rather than buy ones in Taiwan because I've read they have the old sticker tabs and this first time mama imagines herself having to readjust a diaper frequently until we get the hang of it), wipes, bottles, dish soap, clothes, lots of baby shoes (can't help myself), gifts, toys, donations, and the list goes on and on. Really, everything for baby is ready... and we just have to get ourselves packed when we get closer to the big day.
I've got lists for everything. Lists of things to tell Kevin to do. (He just loves that. Not.) Lists of thank you cards to write. Lists of places I want to go in Taipei. Lists of things to buy for other people. (Special nipples for Taiwanese baby bottles, Christmas presents for our families, and Taiwanese gifts for Hannah to open on special occasions as she grows older.) Lists of comfort foods to bring so we don't have to survive off stinky tofu from night markets alone. (That's supposed to be funny.)
So... if I've told you I'd do something for you before we heard of our final ruling and I haven't done it yet... or if you e-mailed me and I haven't responded... I'm sorry. My mind is mush without a list. Don't hesitate to call or e-mail me again to remind me... and this time I'll add you to my to-do list rather than try and remember.
And... if Santa is a follower of this blog. Thank you for checking your "nice" list this year and being extra good to Kevin and Sarah. You knew exactly what we wanted!
How exciting!!! I bet you'll be more calm and at peace the night before you pick up Hannah than you ever imagined. Excited with anticipation, yes. A heart that can rest easy at peace, knowing your baby will be in your arms before you know it!
ReplyDeleteWhen my oldest was a baby all the diapers had the sticky tabs-- it was not a problem to reposition them a few times. 2-3 re-sticks work fine, 6-8 the diaper's toast, 4-5 s hit or miss. If you need to take out some diapers to make room for comfort food, you'll be fine. My dear husband managed with the sticky tabs and the only thing he'd ever diapered prior to our baby was a stuffed monkey I made him try for practice. (note-- if you're going to practice, learn from our mistake, pick a stuffed animal without a tail!) ;^)
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to follow in your footsteps soon. Congratulations and have a wonderful baby trip!
First off I love the fact that you started filling "your" pink suitcase with Hannah stuff! Hehehe! Sounds like you are packing so much stuff! I'm just hoping you packed a bag boy too... LOL! As far as tour companies go I'd just wait until your at the hotels. They were supper cheap that way instead of pre-paying before you arrive. (Atleast thats what I noticed in 06'???) but hey... good luck!
ReplyDeleteAnd dont worry about the bassinet seat. (Trust me I didn't get one until we were leaving Taipei and it all worked out~if not you can totally pull down the trays in front of your seats and make a "make-shift" bassinet if you have to:)
Oh and Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy tears for you guys are free flowing here on my end!!!! You guys will do fabulously- you are far more prepared for this than I was with our first. But, every new mom and dad are entitled to figure it out for themselves and do the "first-time parent" thing of overpacking the diaper bag and having way too much stuff. Honestly, since you are forced to simplify (due to confining nature of luggage and being a world away), you certainly have one leg up on most parents coming home from the hospital with their bundles of joy. I absolutely can not wait to see that gorgeous girl in your arms... less than a month from now!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's great how you're planning your trip. When we went we planned Gotcha Day and played the rest by ear. Bad idea - we missed A LOT. This will be a great journal for Hannah, too.
ReplyDeleteexciting! take extra zip locks. it's good to be able to zip up those stinky diapers in the hotel room and on the flight!!!
ReplyDeleteYour post reminds me of our "first time parents packed to near the weight limit with baby stuff" suitcase. Just a few thoughts that might help you trim down:
ReplyDelete1) I'd skip the bottle warmer. People there tend to drink warm drinks, even water. So warm or hot drinking water is usually readily available for mixing bottles. You just need to get the ratio right to get the temp right.
2) Diapers in Taiwan also have velcro. We just got back from there on Friday (two week trip to bring Meg back to see her grandparents and aunt). Meg wore Merries brand diapers and they had velcro-style tabs. They even had numbers on the front where the tabs attach to help you get the attach that first tab to the right spot. You can get them at most grocery stores.
3) We visited a few "hot spots" for baby supply stores in Taipei to pick up what we needed for this trip. In general, they tend to be located around hospital with well known maternity wards such as Tai An Adventist Hospital (http://www.tahsda.org.tw/en/) and the Taipei City Hospital Women and Children's Branch (http://temp.tpech.gov.tw/cgi-bin/SM_theme?page=48d0a963). The english page doesn't seem to show the location. It's here on FuZhou Street here: http://maps.google.com.tw/maps?f=q&hl=zh-TW&geocode=&q=%E5%8F%B0%E5%8C%97%E5%B8%82&brcurrent=3,0x3442a99bd1adbcc7:0xc5ab69bb7491162a&brv=4.5&sll=23.63446,120.970459&sspn=5.201864,9.887695&ie=UTF8&ll=25.028815,121.519496&spn=0.005026,0.009656&t=h&z=17
Hope that link works. If not email me and I can send you an email. This is real near the GuTing stop on the green line of the subway (MRT) so might be the easiest to get to from the Grand Hyatt.
OK this is getting long but it's fresh in my mind as we just came from there. I'll be sure to add more if I think of things. Feel free to email us if you have any Taipei questions.
Kevin
PS. Bonus tip: Near the Women ad Children's hospital, there is a real good Children's book store co-op called Hsin Yi (www.hsin-yi.org.tw). We picked up the Chinese equivalent of a Leap-Frog Tag device book collection. You touch the pen to the book and it reads what's there, tells a story etc... We figure it will help with learning Chinese. It was not cheap - almost $300 US - but it seems like a good way to learn Chinese, even for adults.
Our travel agent told us that lots of seats typically open up 24 hours before travel, so you might want to see about getting better seats then...
ReplyDeleteAlso, NWA makes you take the baby out of the carrier on the plane, even if she's sleeping. They've done this to me about five times with the kids (despite my loud objections that she'll wake up and disturb everyone on the plane, which is what happened of course). Just a warning.
Good luck!
I can feel the rush of anticipation in your post -- it gives me the chills! Thanks so much for your great tips on airline tickets when we spoke on the phone! I never would have come up with those fares on my own -- and, as it turned out, we were able to bump up to business with miles ( of course we have no confirmed AIT appointment, so we may have to pay the hefty change fee if the dates aren't what I think!)
ReplyDeleteI'm bummed we won't be traveling together - -it looks like I'll be about 2 weeks behind you. But I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help and your great ideas on travel. xoxoElizabeth
I almost cried when I read the Santa part. You really did get what you wanted didn't you? That's awesome.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate any information on exact locations of tourist/shopping/food hotspots. We are bringing a Garmin GPS with us and the expansion card has a fairly recent (2006) map loaded.
ReplyDeleteSarah and I are fairly experienced travelers so we get around and plan in advance fairly well. Thanks for the tips, we appreciate them!
In case no one has told you this yet, you MUST eat at Din Tai Fung!!!!! They have the most awesome dumplings!!! The fried rice is also supposed to be very good, but we forgot to order it. We never had a problem getting hot water to make our bottles, so I agree with the poster above to forgo the bottle warmer. Sounds like you've got everything covered!! I'm looking forward to reading all about your adventures while you're there!
ReplyDeleteWe were just at Din Tai Fung this past week. It is good. When my wife was young, and it was a hole in the wall shop, her mom would send her there to get sesame oil. Now it's got tour buses full of people waiting to get in at lunch.
ReplyDeleteThe dumplings have some soup in them so be sure to hold them over your spoon with the chop sticks, bite a small hole in the skin and suck out the soup before biting into the dumpling itself. You'll ave yourself a stained shirt that way. The hot and sour soup is quite good as well.
Kevin
PS. I'll add some other eateries to your google map collection you emailed me
PPS. (can't edit comments). I think the Hin Yi store is the original Din Tai Fung.
ReplyDelete