Thursday and Friday - April 28 & 29th: Update on Taiwan and my adventures

Finally, a few minutes to post to my blog since leaving Detroit on Wednesday. Did I mention my flight was scheduled to leave at 3:30 BUT did not leave the gate until after 6:30PM?

We arrived in Tokyo to find out it was Golden Week, a week-long national holiday, when most everyone takes time off. Our flight to Taipei was cancelled.

AND we had crossed the International Date Line so it was now Thursday night. Delta put us up in a hotel, arranged a bus to take us there and gave us complimentary food. Everyone we had contact with apologized over and over again. We met a new friend, Jennifer, who is in the military and she was same position trying to get home to family.

We stood in line at one hotel, only to find out when we got to the front desk that they were out of rooms. Then we boarded another bus to another hotel - which was not as nice as the first choice. The best I can about that hotel was breakfast was great and the view of sunrise was awesome!

Good Morning Tokyo!

We stayed in Tokyo overnight and had some time so what to do? Stay at hotel? Airport? Go explore? I was on the plane with Ed and Josh, so we decided to eat the breakfast and head to downtown Tokyo. Let the great adventure begin!

Mini-Group SA Trip:  L to R  Ed - Pat - Josh

 We saw Tokyo Stock Exchange (it was closed due to holiday), an underground mall and saw plenty of differences between home and Japan. 1. The people we very friendly and accommodating. 2. They went out of their way to offer help. 3. The streets were clean and the people quiet.

We rode the Sky Bus and had a tour of the city - which was very interesting

Needless to say, counting my blessings. The trip got off to a rough start - but the day in Tokyo was an amazing eye-opening experience. Next stop -- Taipei and meet up with the whole group!