Taiwan--Day 4 (He Does Cry)

Today we went for our interview at the consular offices to get Alex's visa so we can take him home.  There were a few glitches--Like, even though I woke up every hour during the night to make sure I didn't oversleep, we were running behind this morning, our taxi arrived late, and rush-hour traffic  had me worried we would miss our appointment altogether (I was planning out the phone call to tell our girls the bad news).  Leigh had accidentally left our travel alarm clock in his bag with our paperwork, and he got busted.  Actually, security didn't care when they found out it was just a clock, but cell phones and cameras are strictly prohibited.  Then we went to the wrong floor, and Alex got impatient while we waited for our turn.  I had to hold him and walk in circles around the room to keep him happy.  But somehow it all worked out, and they told us we can pick up Alex's visa at 11:30 tomorrow.  Now, we'd better not be late.

After our appointment, we went chasing rainbows.  From the consular offices (American Institute in Taiwan) you can see Taipei 101, the world's tallest building.  It looks so close.  We decided we could walk.  We really like just walking along the streets here.  But we walked and walked and walked.  Sometimes, we couldn't see our goal because of all the buildings around.  But then we'd see it rising above the skyscrapers, and it always looked the same distance away-just like when you see a rainbow that looks close enough to touch, but you never quite reach it.  We did finally reach it, but we didn't have our cameras, so we decided to wait to pay the admission to go to the observation area.  We'll go back tomorrow.  Leigh thinks we can walk from AIT again after we get Alex's visa.  It was a nice walk, but I'm going to push for a taxi next time.

We then went to a store to get diapers and something else big enough for Alex to wear.  By the time we got back to the hotel, it was past Alex's naptime.  He threw a screaming fit.  At first, he just wanted to be held, but after awhile, even being held wasn't good enough.  I was so relieved when he fell asleep.  Leigh and I got some rest too.  

Tonight we're going to try out the famous Fang's restaurant for dinner.  We've heard they have fabulous dumplings.