The sixth part: WELCOME TO XIMEN!!!

The traveling Sepal mug's new home, the Ximen Loft. Yes, there is a sign on the door. We actually live above a store called OUTLAWZ. The owner, B-pan, is a Christian. One of my friends on the short term team three years ago actually met him.

There are a couple of beverages that Sepal was recently exposed to: pearl milk tea and almond milk.

Pearl milk tea is the most wonderful thing in the world. I get it at the place called Easy Way. It's basically iced milk tea with tapioca pearls. A party in your mouth.

The almond milk is made from almond drinking powder. Smells and tastes absolutely wonderful! Sweet like cherries, woody like almonds. Sepal was able taste that magic this morning. We'll see how well he does with his Taiwanese alternative to American coffee.

the FIFTH part: moving in upon arrival

The tedious travel is over, and new home always take some time getting used to. :)

Once the bags were unpacked and everything put away, the Sepal mug was settled into his new home in the Ximen Loft. He's kind of in a bad mood right now, since he hasn't tasted American coffee for a while. It's been a long weekend of jet lag and new food and even a job interview and a health check at the hospital, but he's been too grumpy to see it all. Caleb hasn't showed up for pics either. However, starting tomorrow, the traveling Sepal mug will be back on the road, XIMEN STYLE!

NUMBER 4: almost to the final destination

It was time to leave the Radisson. Sepal was jealous of the cup getting filled at the hotel's coffee maker, but he got over it. After getting all packed up, the Sepal mug headed back to the Los Angeles International Airport.

The line for international flights was a long one. Caleb was a good sport. This time around he wore a seat belt, to keep him strapped in on the carry-on.

We got a window seat. It was exciting, considering we were going to see nothing but Pacific Ocean for about 11 hours or so. Possibly 12 hours. It ended up being a surprisingly pleasant flight. Caleb read three different newspapers. I watched a Dragon Ball movie and loved it.

Finally, the plane landed in Japan. The traveling Sepal mug was not in Taiwan, yet.

Part the Third: getting around

The traveling sepal mug got around today. In the morning, he was refueled and ended up meeting a coffee he really liked...The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. You can check out their website at http://coffeebean.com/. Their coffee is direct trade and all their shops provide free wi-fi.

No wonder the traveling sepal mug was hooked. It must have been love at first sip.

Some sight-seeing of LA was in order for the day's activities, and he met a lot of different people at The Grove.

This is Jamie, one of the key leaders in this whole Taiwan business.

This is Kenji, who is from Taiwan and has been visiting America.

This is Michelle, another leader who actually works in Colorado.

This is Kelly, a dear friend from college who lives and works in LA.

This is Chris, the husband of the first key leader of the Taiwan deal.

This is Sarah, who is from Tennessee and is going to Taiwan as well.

This is Rachel from New Jersey who is also going to Taiwan.

This is another Sarah, who is going to school to be an Army psychologist.

Besides meeting all these people at the Grove, later that night the Sepal mug went to the Santa Monica Pier. He recognized the ocean, since it's the same Pacific Ocean he grew up on up in Cannon Beach, Oregon, at Ecola. But now he was experiencing it where movies are made!

At the pier, the sepal mug saw...BREAK DANCERS! Break dancers from Mexico who made dirty jokes and asked for money! It was awesome.

Caleb stayed at the hotel and read the paper.

I know. He's reading it upside down. Don't tell him, though. It will hurt his feelings; he really enjoys reading the paper.

Tomorrow, the scenery is about to drastically change. So is the time zone.

Phase 2: ON THE ROAD

The mug was up super early the

morning of the 20th and got re-fueled right around 3:10a.m. pacific time. He hopped on the shuttle that transported him from the Tulalip Casino to Sea-Tac International airport and found himself in the security line.

Keeping him company is his buddy, Caleb (Caleb's the name of the dog. He's actually a puppy).

Waiting in security was fun. Caleb got a free ride on the luggage. :)

After successfully passing through security, the sepal mug reached his destination gate: D 1.

Then they were on the plane.

Then they were at LAX (the Los Angeles International Airport).

THEN...the traveling sepal

mug was in the Radisson at LAX. That's right, folks. The Radisson.

The traveling sepal mug is traveling in style! For now, at least.

Introduction: First stop

Upon first glance, this is only a kitchen. However, upon closer examination, this kitchen is actually the first stop of the traveling sepal mug. 

The traveling sepal mug has a back story, and that back story actually begins in Cannon Beach Oregon...

A man named Jordan Sepal attended Ecola Bible College, a small school that uses the grounds of the Cannon Beach Conference Center during the school year. After his attendance as an Ecola student, Jordan returned to Cannon Beach to become an employee for the Conference Center the summer of 2008. After the summer ended, Jordan stayed on as what the Center calls a "conference assistant" (CA) and still works there to this day for the Housekeeping Department.

It was in the July of 2009 when his travel mug decided to get away. Jordan makes frequent use of his Ecola Bible School travel mugs, as he consumes a lot of coffee throughout the day. One day during the summer, his mug was kidnapped by another housekeeper.

On July 17th, the traveling sepal mug was placed into a bin, was driven in a Buick LeSabre

up to Washington State, and now sits clean of all coffee residue in

the dishwasher of this kitchen in Marysville, Washington, the home of the kidnapping housekeeper. 

What is to to become of Jordan Sepal's mug? Well, that's what this blog is all about. Rumor has it the kidnapper gets on a plane early Monday morning...