One Month Anniversary

It was one month ago that we met our son at St. Lucy’s in Taiwan. God has blessed us, and we are grateful beyond words. He’s bonding well, showing leeriness towards strangers and preferring his mama to others. When we first met him, smiles were hard to come by (unless we tickled him). Now he lights up and flashes his toothy grin regularly for us. Four new teeth have poked through his gums since we brought him home…he fussed a little about that, but not too much. There have been family adjustments and new routines, and a few tiring days for us as we continue to get used to one another. Our church has blessed us with meals every other day since arriving home, which has been wonderful – I will eventually have to return to the grocery store, probably this weekend Here are a couple of photos from our first month at home.

First trip to an apple orchard: I wonder if this thing will fit in my mouth?

I'm loving this avocado!

Review: Park Taipei Hotel

This is the fourth post in a series about the hotels where we stayed in Taiwan.

After returning to Taipei, we stayed at the Park Taipei Hotel. This is a new hotel and has only been open since about June. We chose it because of its proximity to the American Institute in Taiwan, where we had to go to obtain our son’s visa to come home. Overall, it’s a nice hotel. We had a couple of issues with the front desk and housekeeping which I will explain below. I am happy we stayed there, and it only took us about 10 minutes to walk to AIT. Like the other hotels where we stayed, it offered free wired Internet access, a good breakfast buffet and the location was perfect for us. It was close to an MRT (subway) station and we were able to walk to the Jade and Flower Markets on Saturday.

Front Desk: Late Check-out Request

The hotel staff was service-oriented and very helpful, which is why I was surprised at the response to our request to check out a couple of hours late. We had told the front desk upon check-in that we may only stay two nights instead of four nights, depending on how quickly our son’s visa was issued. Once we received the visa on Friday afternoon, we told the front desk we would be checking out on Saturday, and requested a late check-out of 2-3pm, since our flight departed that evening. They said no. The room had originally been reserved by us for two more nights, so I was surprised they said no. I told them I was willing to pay a fee to check out late. The front desk manager then offered to let us check out late if we paid 50% of the room rate. I told her that was unacceptable and the most I would pay would be $50. She checked with her manager and said that would be fine. When we checked out, they decided to waive the fee.

Housekeeping

We had designated “Do Not Disturb” on our door at the hotel while our son was napping. It was about 10am when housekeeping knocked. Before I could get to the door they had already entered our room. The woman did not understand English and she kept motioning that she wanted to clean our room. Perhaps it would be helpful if the hotel wrote their “Do Not Disturb” signs in Mandarin so the housekeeping staff could understand it.

Would I stay at this hotel again? Probably. It was worth it to be so close to AIT, especially when the visa officer called to tell us we could pick up our visa early. And it is a really nice hotel. It was the most expensive of the four hotels where we stayed, at a rate of about $180/night (including occupancy and government taxes).

Our room at the Park Taipei Hotel

Another view of the room

Review: Hotel Tainan

This is the third post in a series about the hotels in which we stayed while traveling in Taiwan.

Hotel Tainan was our third hotel in Taiwan, located in Tainan near the train station. We stayed there for two nights at a rate of about $75/night. It was not the newest or fanciest hotel in Tainan (I think that’s the Tayih Landis Hotel where we had dinner one night). However, it is a great value for the price. I would compare this hotel to an older Marriott or perhaps an upscale Holiday Inn with a doorman and bellboys. The least appealing part of our stay was the view from our room, which was an old, possibly-abandoned building across the street.

Pros:

• Good breakfast buffet, offering some Western options
• Easy to find a taxi; helpful doormen and lobby staff
• Reasonable rates
• Free wired Internet access

Cons:

• Small room, even smaller bathroom
• Location not as convenient for sightseeing or shopping
• Warm room: we lowered the thermostat, but the room stayed warm at about 25 degrees Celsius (about 77 degrees Fahrenheit)

If we returned to Tainan I would compare the rates of the Hotel Tainan to the Tayih Landis Hotel. The Tayih Landis Hotel was closer to some stores where we enjoyed shopping, and is the hotel where we had our special dinner before our big day at St. Lucy’s.

Our room

The view from our room

Review: Parkview Hotel in Hualien

This is the second post in a series about the hotels where we stayed while visiting Taiwan.

Our stay at the Parkview Hotel was a last-minute booking, the result of a desperate call to see if the hotel had any availability after we arrived in Hualien at the homestay/bed-and-breakfast where we had made reservations. We realized the homestay was not what we expected. We opened up our Lonely Planet Guide and found the Parkview Hotel. We were surprised when we called to find that the rate was only NT$2999/night (about US$90). That was not even close to the rate listed in the Lonely Planet guide. We later learned we probably received a special rate because of Ghost Month, since traveling is apparently taboo during the month.

If we had to plan our trip again, we would have spent an extra day or two in Hualien at the Parkview Hotel. The manager spoke excellent English. They arranged a private tour of Taroko Gorge for us with a local taxi driver. The breakfast was included in the room rate, and offered several Western options. The hotel provided wireless Internet access. There was a laundry room on the first floor where I was able to do our laundry. The amenities offered on the hotel property were enough that if we returned with our children, we would not need to leave the premises to enjoy our vacation. I could go on and on. . .but instead I will just post a couple of photos of the hotel.

Parkview Hotel Room

Pool area

Review: Feeling Hotel in Taipei

We stayed in four hotels while in Taiwan. I am going to share my opinion on those hotels in the next few posts. I hope this information will be helpful for others who are in the midst of travel planning.

We stayed at the Feeling Hotel in Taipei for four nights, when we first arrived in Taiwan. It is located in the Tienmu area of Taipei, near the Taipei American School. The closest MRT (subway) station is about a 5-10 minute cab ride away. We thought we may be able to walk to an MRT station, but it’s too far.

Pros:

• You’ll probably meet other adoptive families. We met two families while we were there and we enjoyed chatting with them about their adoptions and meeting their children.
• The hotel staff is helpful. One of the front desk clerks speaks pretty good English.
• Free wired Internet access (don’t forget to bring an Ethernet cord with you to Taiwan.)
• Convenient to ex-pat import shops, where you could find Gatorade and Kellogg’s Raisin Bran and other familar items.
• Quiet.
• Empty refrigerator in the room.
• Hotel was inexpensive, only about USD$50-60/night, a little more on the weekend nights.

Cons:

• It’s an older hotel. I would compare it to an older Motel 6 or Super 8 Hotel.
• Breakfast did not look appetizing to us. We opted to buy Raisin Bran and milk and keep it in the refrigerator in our room. We also bought disposable bowls and spoons, all at the Wellcome Market near the hotel.
• Cabs are a must if you want to see the sights in Taipei while staying at the Feeling Hotel. They’re inexpensive but the drivers do not speak English, so take a taxi card with you and be sure and pick up hotel business cards for the return trip.