Day 7 -- Tomorrow is Malia Day!

Abbreviated posting today -- for the very good reason that we've got some organizing to do tonight!  This is it!  We're here.  After 7 ½  years of waiting, tomorrow morning we meet Malia.  Here's a brief chronicle of our last day as a family of four!

Start off with scenes of our walk to the MRT station.  We've started cutting through the side streets on the way to the station to get a bit more local flavor.  Even though the streets are mere alleyways, there is business going on everywhere.  The alley behind our hotel, for instance, looks somewhat dingy from the main street, but if you walk down it, there are several high end salons and a flooring sales/showroom (with a very nice Mercedes conspicuously parked outside).  Fascinating to see the constant juxtaposition of high- and low-end living.

In addition to the business, there is a constant bustling of everyday life in the back streets. Here are some older men playing Go just a block off the main road.

Here's a view of our "home" MRT station -- Dongmen Station as the train pulls in.

For lunch today, we went to Din Tai Fung, a well-known dumpling restaurant that marks the start of the Yongkang Street food scene I've written about.  The boys tried a variety of foods, which makes their parents proud.

Waiting -- you place your order while waiting outside.  When you get seated, the food arrives relatively quickly.

Picturesque alley (foot traffic only) off of Yongkang Street.

Who knew?  A little slice of Maui right here in Taipei.  Unfortunately, it's under construction.  We're not even sure exactly what the Maui Lounge will feature. Thoughts?

Before dinner, we hiked up Elephant Mountain near Taipei 101.  Hike is a misnomer; it's basically a long stair climb for about 500 vertical feet to a wonderful overlook.

This was just the beginning, so Ryan's doing a little posing for the camera!

Now it's getting a bit steeper!

The climb only took 15 minutes or so, but you could definitely feel it!  The view at the top was great.  We arrived just at dusk.  The cloud layer was too thick for a true sunset, but we watched as the lights of the city came on.

A photographer capturing the scene.

Night falls on Tapei 101.

And we head home to get ready for Malia Day!  I'm surprised the kids have actually gone to sleep.  They were so excited they couldn't calm down.  Ryan was bouncing off the walls so much he bounced right into the corner of a table and went to bed with an ice pack on his head (he's fine, just a bump).

Off to get the clothes, paperwork and ourselves organized.  We meet Malia in under 12 hours!  We'll leave you with a couple of our favorite photos of her from when she was 14 months and 16 months old.