I Got My Wings And I Learned How to Fly!

First, a little personal history for non-family members joining in:  My husband and I are in Taipei visiting our oldest daughter.  She is a scientific editor for Academia Sinica, a research facility and has been in the city for about 6 months now.
Today marks one week we have been in Taiwan and up to this point we have done most of our exploring with our daughter.  She seemed a little apprehensive about us going out on our own--now the tables are turned and she seems to feel what I felt when she was a snotty teenager who thought she was too independent to let us know her whereabouts.  PayBack!!!!

This new age of technology makes it so much easier to venture out even when in a strange land with a very foreign language.  Picking a destination (Ikea) and looking it up on google maps, I asked for directions from our apartment to Ikea.  I then downloaded both addresses (in Chinese) to my tablet and the map from destination A to B.  So AndreAna goes to work and we take off.  First, hailing a taxi is easy.  Just stand on the corner and wave when you see one.  Get in, pull out the tablet and show the driver the address for Ikea and the map, and off we go.  We don't have an Ikea in San Antonio, but we have been to the stores in Austin and Houston. Taipei's Ikea is not much different except that there are no English descriptions or names on the products.  We walked around, bought a few things for the apartment, and had the typical Ikea lunch.  Hamburger steak with gravy and mushrooms, veggies, and fries were very much like the food stateside.   We shared one plate, a salad, corn chowder soup, and a drink for less than $9 US.  A full stomach and shopping successful, we go outside hail another taxi and pull out our map and directions.  Thirty minutes later, we are home.
 A good day!