After leaving our relatives in Taichung and making our way to Taipei, we rounded out the last of our trip by spending two lovely days at our favorite hotel in Taipei, the Grand Hyatt. We always do the corner executive suite with the connecting twin room, which provides us with nice views of Taipei 101, three bathrooms, a living room, a soaking bath tub, walk in closets, and just generally more space to chill. This time we also opted for club access for the second room. The kids also love their playroom. My favorite part of the hotel is probably their Japanese style spa - hot pool, ice plunge bath, steam room, sauna. We do it every night we are there. I dare you to go through those iterations and not come out feeling completely relaxed (if not a little woozy). The kids had their own version with a bath bomb per night in the soaking tub.
On our first full day in Taipei, the kids took a swim in the outdoor pool which I am told was freezing, then went on a hike to Elephant Mountain (taking the MRT train there). Lola sped all the way up, always ahead of the group, while the boys complained and whined but eventually made it all the way to the top (184 meters!) and then all the way back down.
After the hike, we meandered the streets: picking out a toy at the local 7 Eleven, trying various snacks and street food, viewing an interactive art exhibit that included many items the kids love (the moon, a bus, and rainbow lights), all on the walk home. It was an impressive amount of walking for the little ones and it was probably to no one's surprise that Al fell asleep at dinner with a forkful of cheese still clutched in his hand, halfway to his mouth.
On our second (and last) full day in Taipei, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at a nearby Japanese yakiniku restaurant, bought the boys new Adidas sneakers (they are wearing the same size shoe as Lola now), then went to visit our friends who recently relocated to Taipei from Hong Kong.
The kids played together for a long time in the basement playroom before we all piled into cars and headed for Daan Park, one of the biggest and prettiest parks in Taipei. Then we finished the night at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant with a boisterous crew of 13 people.
Before we knew it, it was Saturday morning and our time in Taiwan was over. We had a quick breakfast in the lounge (Lola read the South China Morning Post headlines, which is both as impressive and cute as it looks) before heading to Taoyuan Airport. We enjoyed the VIP check in services and the luxurious and very nicely appointed Cathay lounge (honestly, no one wanted to leave and we all hoped for our flight to be delayed!) before an uneventful and very timely departure got us into Hong Kong, and home, before 2 pm.
Nothing beats the efficiency of the HK airport, especially for residents. We touched down at 12:32pm and were on our way home, all bags in tow and all people accounted for, by 1:15pm.
Home sweet home. It was Michael's first time back in Hong Kong in exactly 49 days, or 7 weeks. Wowza!
Nothing beats the efficiency of the HK airport, especially for residents. We touched down at 12:32pm and were on our way home, all bags in tow and all people accounted for, by 1:15pm. 
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