DAY NINE: Back to Taiwan

We all dragged ourselves out of bed and got ready to go. I relished Pizza Hut for breakfast one last time, though someone had put it in the refrigerator, forcing me to microwave it. We went to Mutia's parents' house to rendezvous. While we waited for everyone to get ready, we relaxed in their sitting room, and hung out with her brother, Ari, and their dad. I only got to talk to him for a total of half an hour the whole trip, but I can tell he's a really cool guy. I wish I'd had more time to get to know him. Mutia had told me that he loves golf, and I'd been secretly hoping for a chance to play. I guess I'll try that the next time I'm in Jakarta.

After everyone got together, we all set off for the airport. The trek was every bit as arduous as when I'd arrived, and I renewed my vow never to drive in Jakarta. Mutia also told us that getting a driver's license in Indonesia involves basically sending in your information and some money, then waiting for them to print you a license: no written test, no vision test, no road test. And yet none of us had seen any accidents the whole time we'd been in the country.

We got to the airport without incident, checked in without any problems, and said our goodbyes. Mutia hadn't seen her parents in about a year, and I think it'd been two years since she'd visited Indonesia. Her mom held it together okay, which, just like with my family, kept everyone else from losing it. We did some souvenir shopping, first scoffing at the ludicrous prices, then eventually giving in and buying some. It's not that we're cheapskates--I think anyone would agree that $30 for a box of 24 small generic sugar cookies in a box colorfully labeled "Indonesia" is a bit unreasonable. We were especially blown away because we'd gotten so used to things being so cheap everywhere. That, and it's kind of hard to haggle with a department store.

The airport was a lot prettier in the daytime, and our departure lobby looked pretty new. There were no problems with the flight, and we had our own little TV screens with on-demand movies this time. I managed to watch Dan in Real Life, Rambo, and part of Charlie Wilson's War. We also passed over a thunderstorm, and the four of us tried in vain to get a good picture of it.

We got to Taipei without any problem. Mutia had worked out the same overnight layover as we had the first time. We hailed a cab, noticing once again that all the cabs in Taipei seem to be new Toyota Camrys, and headed back to the Eight Elephants Hostel again. We spent most of the hour-long ride doing a crossword I'd snagged from the newspaper on the plane, then we discovered our driver spoke really good English. He insisted on taking us right to the door of the hostel, which was kind of tricky on account of all the tiny side streets.

The hostel was a lot more full than the first time, and we spent a little while listening to the awesome stories of the folks there. There were two girls who reminded all four of us of all the bad stereotypes of sorority girls. Zoe was exhausted, so she turned in for the night, while Rachel, Mutia, and I set out in search of food. We gave up on finding a tasty noodle shop and settled for McDonald's. Avoiding the same chicken thigh sandwich we'd seen at Burger King, we settled for more ordinary McDonald's fare. We were all tired, so we went to bed early.