ANOTHER WEATHER DELAY IN TAIPEI

Monday, September 11, 2017

Keeping an eye on the continuing weather formation to the south of Taipei, we have decided to review the weather in the morning once we are dressed and ready to go.

Peter and Molly

Pineapple fried rice - family style!

We gathered at 6:30am to review the weather as a group and decide the go or no go scenario.

no improvement at all, but rather the weather conditions are degrading

When the Journey Director arrives not dressed in uniform for the weather review, the message of go or no go is loud and clear - we aren't going anywhere today.

This means quite a few changes from our planned routing - our stop in wonderful Wakatobi in Indonesia won't be happening, the permits for Indonesia need to be revised, new permits for the Philippines are being confirmed.

Other routes need to be reviewed as alternates as this weather continues to develop. I look into the possibility of circumnavigating the weather via Macau and Vietnam before flying back to our intended route to the south of the Philippines.

G and the office back home are hard at work and looking into all the options. The time difference is not working in their favor.

In the meantime we learn that North Korea has launched another missile and the local population is concerned of the newest developments.

An additional night at the magnificent Mandarin Oriental is not a bad situation - much preferred even, compared to our alternate weather routing. In order to make the most of our time in Taipei, we have planned drone flying for the pilots and a gondola ride for the companions.

The pilots head to the DJI store, a drone manufacturing store, and sign up for Drone lessons and possible purchases.

Korean lunch was the choice! What would we do without electronics?

Some of the ladies made their way by subway to the scenic gondola ride up to Maokong area with scenic views of the sprawling city below. The Taiwanese transit system was easy to navigate and provided great ease in getting around.