Taiwan Days 8 & 9

Day 8

On our last full day, we wanted to get more street food since we hadn't really had any at all. Our first stop was 西門町 (XiMen Ding), which was a terrible idea because there were smokers EVERYWHERE and it was crazy crowded. It was not baby friendly, at all. We pretty much decided to leave almost immediately, but not before getting some snacks.

Mandatory tea drinks:

KFC 蛋撻:

People watching while we waited for our fried chicken and green beans:

西門町tired us out so after our snacks, we went to rest in a breastfeeding room at the MRT station. J fell asleep while Mars and I played quietly. When we were ready to go, we decided to head over to 公館 (GongGuan or National Taiwan University) for more street snacks. We got a 掛包 (See pic below!) and a Sababa Pita (which was NOT AT ALL like I remember, this one was not tasty) and picnicked on the grass at the University where I studied back in 2006. 

Overall, it was a pretty laid-back day. On our way home, we got pineapple cakes and that was about it. My mom cooked a big dinner for us at home and my uncle and his family came over to join us.

Day 9

This was our last morning in Taipei so we had to eat all of our favorite breakfast foods. We went to two different places and I got a 油條 (Chinese donut) and a breakfast sandwich. Shortly after, we headed to the airport-bus station and said goodbye to my mom and aunt.

At the airport, we had such a pleasant experience. We asked the man at the check-in counter if we could have bulkhead seats and immediately, he was like, "Sure, no problem", and switched seats for us. He didn't give us the, "Hmm, I'm not sure, you have to ask at the gate" like at SFO, so that was nice. While waiting in the really long security line, a guard came up and told us that people traveling with babies can go to the special line...aka, no line at all! We walked right through a smaller security room where no one else was getting checked. Then, proceeded to wait in a special line for travelers with infants to get stamped out for immigration. By then, we had to change Mars' diaper so we headed into the diaper changing room where they had free diapers, warm wipes, filtered water, sofas, and cribs. Afterwards, we went to the children's play area where the ground was padded and there was a jungle gym for Mars to crawl around. Soon, we got hungry, so we had lunch at a restaurant where we got to sit on couches and Mars got to play next to the window and look at airplanes. When it was time to board the plane, we were told to get into the priority line again, AND a fellow passenger and crew member even waved us down because Mars had dropped his C3PO toy. It was probably the best airport experience ever.