We have some coffee and tea in the lobby area, but this morning William is craving a big breakfast. A hamburger or sandwich will not do. I extend my Google search and find N.Y. Bagels Cafe near the Taipei Main Train Station, a 20 minute walk per Google calculations. We get on our walking shoes and go!

The walk to the station is familiar - through the North Gate. City Mall is almost deserted, but the Q Square with it’s upscale stores has more foot traffic. We find N.Y. Bagels Cafe across from the Starbucks in Q Square. We settle in to a cozy booth and order American-style breakfasts, Steak and eggs for William and scrambled eggs and bacon for me. Mmmm. It’s a very expensive breakfast by Taipei standards ($34 USD), but worth every cent.

​Following breakfast we walk to Shandao Temple, the largest Buddhist Temple in Taiwan, then continue exploring the city heading back to the Roader’s Hotel. We arrive around 1 pm. This gives us plenty of time to take a short nap, shower and finish packing before we leave the hotel at 4 pm.

The hotel arranges for a fixed-priced taxi to the airport. It costs $1,000 TWD ($33 USD), a savings of $600 TWD ($20 USD) over what we paid on our arrival. Our temperatures are scanned as we enter the airport. We answer the mostly-standard questions about coronavirus at the check-in counter then breeze through security and immigration. Soon we are settled into the lounge, snacking as we await our flight.

EVA Airlines flight to Chicago is scheduled to depart at 8:10pm and arrive at 8:45pm - seemingly just 35 minutes but actually 13 hours and 35 minutes. The flight is delayed 20 minutes in boarding, but the staff is efficient once we are on the plane. But then, the plane is hardly full. We are two of the seven people in the Premium Economy section which holds 64. The flight attendants are so efficient that we feel rushed through our meal, with the ice cream for dessert arriving when our meal is only half-eaten.

We arrive at O’Hare a few minutes early. The International Terminal at O’Hare always means a 15-20 minute walk to Immigration. As we start to get close to the Immigration Hall we encounter a long line. OMG ... we have efficiently been processed through Immigration 12 times in different countries since January 9th. The worst is the US. The queue is at least 500 people. The sad part is that I don’t think the US is being more thorough or discriminating than a country like Singapore. William and I are happy we took extra steps a couple of years ago - we have Global Entry which allows us to use a kiosk and avoid the long queue.

We catch a shuttle to an O’Hare hotel for the night. We hit the hotel bar for an appetizer (chicken wings) and some beverages then grab some zzzzzz’s. I’m able to sleep until 8 am, but William only makes it to 6:30 am.

The sun is shining as we leave the Roaders Hotel - a good day to do outdoor tourist activities. We walk to the Red House Theater, an octagonal building designed and completed in 1908 under Japanese rule. It has a small artists market and cafe on the first floor, but unfortunately does not open until 11am. We check out the exterior and have fun watching two men photographing a pair of red and white athletic shoes against the building. Not sure why, but there’s probably a good reason.

Our next adventure is just a short distance away - the subway. We fumble a bit, but find the ticket counter and buy two one-day passes for a total of 300 Taiwan dollars (~$10 USD). We find the green line and take it two stops to Chiang Kai-Shek Station. The subway is clean, efficient, and not crowded at this time of day.

​As we exit the station we walk a short pathway to Liberty Square. It is a very large square with significant structures anchoring each side. Liberty Square Arch holds down one side while opposite it is the very dominating National Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. Along the sides are the National Concert Hall and the National Theater.

​On this windy day we walk around the square enjoying the architecture and taking photographs. Outside of the Concert Hall a group is practicing sword-fighting (it didn’t look like fencing). We make our way to the Memorial Hall and climb the stairs. Inside is a giant statue of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek. It reminds me a little of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Within the Memorial Hall is a museum. One of the more memorable exhibits is the Generalissimo’s study - complete with a wax model of the man himself.

​We are starving, but the cafe in the Memorial Hall has little to offer. As we are walking to the nearest subway stop we happen by Sole Mediterrano. We can’t really read anything on the menu outside, but there are photos that look appealing. We go in and are given the window seat and menus in Chinese and English and some pictures. We make our selections, I order at the counter and pay in cash. I order tea, but they do not have bottles water nor coffee for William, so I order what the hostess calls beer. William says it tastes more like bottled lemonade. It’s imported from Korea - maybe it is lemonade. Soon the waitress is bringing us delicious food. Smiles appear on our faces.

After lunch we walk to the subway and more confidently make our way to the red line. We get off by Taipei 101, the World’s tallest building from 2004 - 2010. We take a few photos then walk through the shopping mall at the base of the tower. Like the Petronas Towers in KL, this mall has most every luxury retail brand.

We wander over to the Hyatt hotel hoping that it has a good view of the tower from a restaurant or bar. As we are walking through the lobby we find La Casa del Habanos, the Cuban cigar lounge chain William has sampled in a few international cities. A glint appears in William’s eye. He selects a Monte Cristo No. 4, we order a scotch and red wine and settle into the comfortable chairs. When finished, it’s just a short walk to the subway and back to the hotel.

In the evening we return to the Ximengdin Walking District for dinner. We find a restaurant that specializes in gratins. William selects one with rice and clams. I choose one with Chicken, pesto and spaghetti. They’re okay, but could use more protein. As we walk around the market at night there are food carts. We stop by one and get a hot dog on a stick. That helps!

It was hard to find a restaurant open last night at 10 pm. We didn’t need much, but we did need something in our tummies to make it through the night. After searching a bit we found a Japanese restaurant with a menu including pictures. Yeah! William ordered a beer and chicken wings (apparently they are desirable in most all cultures). I had an order of deep-fried oysters and some sake. After we order I noticed the name of the restaurant - Dog Japanese Restaurant. Hmmm. Well, our food was hot and good - we’re happy we found the place.

This morning we meander down to the guest area with our electronics to catch up on e-mail and to drink complimentary tea and coffee. Last night when we checked-in they explained that breakfast is not included but every morning they put out hamburgers and sandwiches at 7:30. When they are gone, they’re gone. Sure enough, there are some hamburgers and sandwiches on the counter. After two cups of hot beverages we start to think about breakfast. A Google search doesn’t find anything nearby where we can get an order of eggs. We each grab a hamburger - they will have to do.

It’s raining so an indoor activity is the thing to do today. Taiwan’s National Palace Museum sounds do-able, so we signal a taxi outside our hotel. It’s about a 30 minute drive which takes us near the Fine Arts Museum, the Grand Hotel Taipei and Chaing Kai-Shek’s residence.

In 1949 when the Communists were bearing down on the Nationalists during China’s civil war the decision was made to send some of the most prized possessions from the National Beijing Palace Museum and some other museums to Taiwan for safe keeping. There were almost 3,000 crates shipped. That is how the Taiwan National Palace Museum ended up with so many exquisite Chinese pieces. The People’s Republic of China for years has claimed that the pieces were stolen and legitimately belongs to them. So far Taiwan has been able to fend off the claims.

​We start with a gallery of gorgeous gold and jade pieces. The work is intricate and amazing. In another gallery is a stone called banded jasper which has been carved to look like cooked pork belly. We walk through the floors, utilizing the wide red-carpeted staircases. In one of the second floor galleries there’s an incredible room divider with jade panels. We move along to the bronze and cloisonné treasures. Some of the last galleries contain a large number of Ming vases. Beautiful!

We have the taxi from the museum drop us off at City Mall. Unlike our experience in Jakarta, we do not find many restaurants. We’re starving so we settle for a local cafe. I order a beef soup bowl (I think the beef is tongue) and William has a gratin - basically buttered spaghetti noodles with baked cheese on top. There’re ok and take the hangries away.

​As we walk through the mall we see a large number of shops with mechanical games (like the claw games where you can win a stuffed animal). There’s also a few video game arcades with the prerequisite 13 year-old boys playing the hottest games. Interesting cultural difference from other places we have been.

​On our way back to the hotel we walk through the North Gate (Cheng’en Gate) one of the five old gates to the city. We then walk by a stone building from 1910.
 
In the evening we are ready for some non-traditional food. TGI Friday’s is in the Ximengdin Walking District, just a 15 minute walk away. We don’t frequent TGI Friday’s when we are in the US, but American food is calling to us. We share an appetizer platter and have happy-hour beer and wine. Our need for food from “home” is temporarily satiated.

Our original travel plans were to go to Hong Kong for four nights at the end of our South East Asia trip. The return flight I booked was Hong Kong -3 hour layover in Taipei - Chicago. With the evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, before we ended our Vietnam trip we decided we would eliminate Hong Kong and spend that time in Taipei. This had been our plan if the Hong King protests got out of hand, but Conspiracy Theorists would say that the coronavirus virtually wiped out that issue. So, for $500 in change fees and pricing differences EVA Airlines agreed to change our return ticket to originate in Taipei and terminate in Chicago, no Hong Kong leg. Same seats on the plane. Oy!

Our four days became three days when our Sunday flight from Jakarta to Taipei was canceled and we were moved to Monday. Lucky for us the Jakarta condo we are staying was available for the extra night.

Our taxi driver arrives a little early for our ride to the airport - great! We wear masks as we enter the departures area and are aware that our body temperatures are being monitored. We must not be running a fever, as we’re allowed through. The Jakarta airport is very quiet and the airport lounge is nice. Because of the flight cancellation for the previous day EVA is using a larger plane which has a 2-4-2 configuration and William and I settle into one of the 2’s. It’s a good flight which arrives a little early.

Again, temperature scanners are monitoring everyone who enters the country. We’re asked to fill out extra paperwork regarding our travel history and must attest to our health. We’re also given a paper explaining the symptoms of SARS, MERS and COVID-19 and what do do if we develop the symptoms. By the time we’re through immigration our masks are back in our backpacks. The CDC doesn’t advise using them unless you have symptoms or are caring for someone with the virus, but 95% of the people here are wearing them. The question is...is this their cultural norm, or is this due to the virus? Probably a little of both. When we arrive at the taxi stand they hand us masks before allowing us to get into the car.

When we arrive at the Roaders Hotel they must take our temperature before allowing us to check in. The desk clerk sanitizes an in-the-ear thermometer with alcohol then takes the temperature. Thank goodness they don’t have to use a rectal thermometer (as our brother-in-law likes to tease “the way momma used to take temperatures”). Of course we also have to provide our travel history and attest to our health.

​The hotel has the vibe of trying to attract people in their 20’s and 30’s. In the lobby there are couches, tables, complementary electronic bar games and a projector TV. There are bicycles and umbrellas which can be borrowed. Our room is simply decorated and oddly shaped with a curved wall - it will be fun for 3 nights.