Thanks Dad

Woke up early on Sunday morning to have breakfast buffet with Dad. We had a longer than usual breakfast where we spent time talking over a long leisurely meal. He explained a few things to me, and shared with me more tidbits about Robert and Gilbert my half brothers. I guess the one thing that I felt sad about was the fact that they have decided not to introduce me to them until they are adults because Dad feels they may not be able to understand his life prior to the life with them.

Anyway, after breakfast, I went to the local convenience store to stock up on chewing gum and some snacks. We boarded the bus to the airport early as it was raining again and we wanted to be sure to get there on time. Dad's flight was 2 hours earlier than mine and he had to go into the departure area earlier as he had to get some passport issues sorted out. So it was that we checked out of the hotel before noon and arrived at the airport by 1:30 pm. After checking in his luggage, we went and had lunch at the overpriced food place at Terminal 2. Fortunately, this time I had curry beef omelette rice which wasn't that bad.

Bus stop where we take the bus to the airport

Arriving at the airport

We had a slight argument after lunch as Dad was complaining that having 5 pcs of luggage for just 1 person was too much. I manage to fix the situation by unpacking my red handbag and putting its contents into my laptop bag so that I only had 4 pcs of luggage. However, he wasn't convinced and almost wouldn't let me buy the "Tai Yang Bing" (Sun Biscuits) that I had promised Irene and Godma. Fortunately, we found smaller boxes of Tai Yang Bing and so I ended up buying the smaller boxes as a compromise.

BEFORE - What I arrived in Taiwan with

AFTER - What I left Taiwan with

We managed to spend some more time chatting before he had to go in at 3 pm. It was during this chat that I realised the extent of his illness over the past year and I'm glad he has recovered since then. I hope it is a full recovery and that his health remains good for the next few years. After he had gone in, I wandered around the airport on my own, managing to log in and waste some time chatting online before it was time for me to check in. My new luggage was 22.5 kgs and since I was taking Jetstar Asia, they wouldn't let me check in overweight luggage unless I paid for it. So I had to remove some items and put them into my hand carry luggage. Fortunately it was only 2 kgs overweight, so I managed to work it out by just removing some small items.

After checking in, I walked around some more before heading to the departure area. It was in the departure area that I saw the coolest smoking lounge ever. I think if Singapore made such smoking lounges, people would be flocking to them cos its just so damn nice!

Entrance to the Smoking Lounge

Bar with a view of the planes

Comfortable sofa area complete with built in ash-trays and air purifiers

I had an adventure on the plane which I shall share in another post. I have to say that this Taiwan trip was very good for me. I came back to Singapore feeling relaxed, refreshed and comforted. The father and daughter bond has finally been established after so many years and I look forward to more vacations in the future.

I love you Dad.

Thank you.