Well here I am in Taiwan. We had our 14 hour and 45 minute flight and it was pretty smooth. I slept a bit but not enough on the plane.
When we landed and got off the plane I was anticipating some heat but not a lot at 4:30 in the morning. As we stepped outside to the bus the stifling heat hit us. 27 degrees and high humidity at that time of day.
Our bus had air conditioning but it was still warm during our 30 minute drive to the hotel. The landscape outside was very green and lush. Lots of trees. As we got closer to the hotel it became a much more urban setting with large buildings and concrete everywhere.
We checked into the hotel which is very nice and immediately we were scheduled for breakfast. It was a good breakfast with hash browns and bacon with eggs as well. I tried one of their pork sausages as well but it wasn't the best. There was some nice bread as well as some ham which was all pretty good. Breakfast was quick though as I headed straight to my room afterward.
Some of the staff wanted to walk and explore but I headed to my room. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was asleep and I slept for about 3 hours. I woke up after my nap and had an incredible shower. It felt so great to shower after what seemed like 8 days of travel.
Once I showered we headed off to lunch. It was onion soup, pasta, chicken balls (like popcorn chicken) potato salad and a number of other choices. I took a small portion of what was called "Chefs Choice Beef and Chefs Choice Lamb. Neither of those were any good. Luckily some mango ice cream saved the day and the meal was complete.
After lunch we began some player meetings to set the course for our games here. We finished about 6 of them and then headed to practice. It was about a 30 min drive to practice in a thunder and lightning storm. There were some nasty claps of thunder and heavy rain. The weather didn't hamper the traffic though. Taiwan has to be the "land of the scooter" there are PILES of them on the road. It is nothing to see 20-30 or even more at a stop light. They are everywhere and the streets are littered with shops selling the scooters and the helmets for them.
We made it to our practice gym for 4 pm and had a pretty good practice for an hour. The girls worked hard and sweated a lot in a humid gym. After practice we came back to the hotel. A quiet 30 minute drive as everyone is exhausted. As we get out of the bus in the rain, one of the girls noticed something on the sidewalk and it was maybe the biggest snail I have ever seen.
After a few pics we were off to supper. More of the same as there was the same soups with a few different ideas. I tried some fried sole and sweet fish balls which were different but not bad. More chicken balls and past followed by some incredible Creme Brûlée ice cream.
Following supper we finished up our player meetings. They all went well and the girls seem focused for the coming games.
Tomorrow we have the morning off then we have practice in the afternoon followed by a visit to the night market. Should be fun but right now I am so exhausted I am falling asleep as I type. I need to go get some sleep and get ready for tomorrow
Until tomorrow
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