DAY 1

THE TRAVEL

When you are gifted with seven days in Taiwan, one must remember 2 days are spent traveling.

For short trips such as this there is no time for jet lag. I found myself in a somewhat semi-conscious state throughout this journey.

On Wednesday, the alarm went off at 4:00am.

Jumping up, I prepared myself for the trek.

A 6:00am black car pick-up had been arranged, I would be the first passenger, then we would proceed to pick up Michele.

Darlene had arranged to leave from an airport closer to her home and we would all meet in San Francisco and catch our connecting flight to Taiwan.

Things went smoothly and the first leg of the flight bearable, although I found myself in the dreaded middle seat. My tea made it somewhat bearable.

Somewhere along the route it was brought to my attention that I was to present on the first day! Ask me if this put me at ease…if you are still questioning, absolutely not.

Though I was comfortable with the material, I had not taken notice of the agenda so this was a surprise to me.

I fought of the shade of fear by saying to myself, Ok, so I will get this over quickly and be at ease for the next few days.

When we arrived in San Francisco I found myself wandering the airport and grabbed something to eat before the next flight.

The last leg of our journey’s start found me again in the middle seat and not comfortable enough to sleep.

I chose instead to catch up on movies I had not seen one being Jurassic World…more about this later.

 

 

When we landed, after a quick customs check, two lovely young hosts bearing signage with our names greeted us.

 

 

 

We were asked if we wanted to grab a bite, we declined the offer as exhaustion from the long flights begged for us to get to the hotel, that was about 2 hours away. I only wanted a cup of tea and to relax.

Note; it was now Thursday in Taiwan about 9:00pm and 9:00am New York time.

This meant I would have to force myself to rest, for Friday, 11:15am Taiwan time and 11:15pm NY time, I would be presenting.

THE HOTEL

The Zhida Hotel was just what I needed to rest my weary bones for the next few days of home away from home.

As soon as I entered the lobby I knew I was in for a treat. The tea table set for serving and the interior adorned with sculpture, pottery and artifacts created by local artisans. The vending machine filled with cold tea offerings.

The accommodations were wonderful and the staff amazing.

Our room was complete with tea bar, step down tub and bald eagle.

We crashed the first evening then awoke to have tea outside and a wonderful breakfast before heading out to the convention center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: the tea served most often was Sun Moon Lake black tea.

Segment 3:  International Forum on Tea Culture, Creativity & Science TAIWAN 2015, The First Full Day in Taiwan