Day 8:
The last day we stayed at the Century Hotel Taoyuan 桃園蜜月世紀大飯店.
At breakfast, Da's dad had a very nice long conversation with popo.
While people were getting picked up at the hotel to leave for the airport, our great long time family friend, Ricoh & Joyce Pascual came to the hotel to pick us up!
They took us to church, their church bldg was right next to the Taipei Temple! Da's dad get to attend church twice in our Taiwan trip.
After church, they took us to Taiwan's Golden Waterfall 黃金瀑布 in Jiufen. It's a pretty waterfall. Then driving along costal Bitou road Route 2 at the Bitou Service area with the typhoon causing some beautiful ocean waves crashing along the rocks!
They took us to Daxi Fisherman's Market 大溪漁夫市集. They picked up some fresh caught fish and had it cooked
After selecting some of the best fish, we brought it to Daxi Xiumei Fresh Seafood & Guest Cooking (大溪秀梅現撈海鮮/代客料理) and ate lunch there! It was super delicious!
This place a popular seafood restaurant and guest-cooking (dai-ke-liao-li) stall located right by Daxi Fishing Harbor in Toucheng Township, Yilan County
Joyce then took Da to eat ice cream at Ajon Babu (阿宗芋冰城). It is the same ice cream place the Pascuals took us when our family visited them back in July 2015.
Then it was time to say goodbyes and they dropped us off at the airport.
Sadly, I did not take any photos of the incredible amount of love (stuff) they bought for Jelica! It was basically two large suitcases of food, snacks, books, toys, and all kinds of goodies for Jelica and her children.
While at Taiwan airport, we were early for the flight. After all the passengers boarded the plane, Da took advantage of the plane not being full and found the last row to be unoccupied, so he asked the flight attendants to switch to the last row, so both of us has aisle seats! It was as very nice ride.
So.....
When we landed at Seattle airport, we.....missed the flight. So long story short. The tickets were given to us at the Taipei airport. When we landed at Seattle airport it was around 9pm, we went to the gate it was printed on the ticket. After customs and re-entering our luggage, we went to the connecting Alaska Air gate. After waiting a couple hours, Da realized they didn't call for the flight. He went to ask at the counter and they said he missed the flight. Da panicked and how he missed the flight.
It was late at night and gates were closing, Da went to the the Alaskan Air customer service counter to inquire. They said they can't do anything since the parent airline was Eva Air and have to call them. Then Da called Eva Air at 11pm, the representative answered and say they can't do anything since they are in Shanghai and I am in the US. I would need to call the agency that I booked the ticket, which was an online company. Da then proceeded to call Justfly.com, it went to an automated message saying a live agent will be available in 440 minutes!!! which is in the morning. So Da went back to the Alaska Air customer service counter and explained to them what happened.
So seems like many staff that work at the airport all say the same thing: Seattle Airport notorious for changing gates all the time. The printed ticket gate can not be trusted but rather everyone must look at the flight monitors on the wall. So the person at the counter felt bad, made a few phone calls and were able to rebook our flight to the next morning at 7:30am. With nowhere to go, Da and dad stayed at the airport overnight. It not a good night sleep. Da also informed Abbey not to pick up in the morning Eastern time.
The next morning Da did not trust the printed ticket that was issued. He went to the gate two hours early, and as predicted, the gates changed again! He checked the flight monitor and went to the most up to date gate. He kept checking every 15 minutes and finally the person at the counter confirmed it was the correct flight.
Da arrived back in IAD airport Monday evening.
All in all, this is one memorable trip. The tour is definitely tailored made all-inclusive for retired person who like to explore all of Taiwan, eat delicious food, with limited walking range, and good access to toilets.
