We met up with Catherine and families at the Hyatt hotel’s buffet.  Thanks for inviting us!  The food was good and it was nice to meet up with all you guys, some for the first time.  Catherine promised to “make Lorelai a playmate” soon.

As we are getting ready to pack up, Lorelai and Emma had fun playing with the luggage.  Seeing that we are about to leave, we tried to go out and eat as much as we could.  This Japanese-style all you can eat BBQ only cost about $9 a person for lunch, and oh it was so good…  We stuffed ourselves till we could hardly move.

Our adventure to a different night market.  These particularly uptight buttholes people got really upset when I tried to take their pictures (they sell some dessert items).  I went ahead and took their pictures anyway while Dad stared them down.  We later sent Mom to get some desserts from them to check it out since there was a long line of people trying to get some.  It didn’t suck, but it was nothing extraordinary.  We didn’t understand what the big deal was.  Not far away was a boba stand with another long line.  We waited to try it out, and we all agreed that it was the best boba that we have ever had, EVER!  Sooo good…  It was less than $1 a cup.

We met up with my aunt and cousin’s family, whom I haven’t seen for years, at an awesome Japanese restaurant.  There we had real wasabi roots for the 2nd time in our lives and the food was just, awesome!  It cost about $30 a person there, but a similar meal would probably cost about $150~$250 here.  Ok, I think I am babbling too much about food here.  It was awesome to see my cousin and her family again!  Thank you guys for meeting us up!

Here we are back again to the night market for stinky tofu and us guys chewing down on the pig blood rice cake.

Our last day in Taiwan :(  We went to a local Japanese restaurant for a quiet lunch.

We had lunch with my aunts and uncle whom I haven’t seen for all 17 years!  They rode buses for 1.5 hours just to come have lunch with us!  Thank you aunts and uncle for coming!  It was great seeing you guys again!

Emma & Lorelai, now BFFs, had lots of fun “calling” each other on toy phones.  They just kept saying “hi” to each other and laughed their butts off.

We tried to take some family photos in the basement.  These are unprocessed and didn’t really come out that great.  I’ll definitely have to work on them some more before printing.  We all had fun though!

Our neighbor got winds of our return and insisted on taking us out for lunch.  It was a really nice contemporary Asian food that has 12 courses (maybe?  I lost count) and took an epic 3 hours to finish.  I didn’t think I would be full at first looking at the sizes of the dishes, but after the 5th one we were all stuffed (but still managed to finish all 10+ dishes).  Oh yeah, and for the first time, we tasted real wasabi roots, not the horseradish powder stuff!  Things we’ve only seen on Iron Chef!  Oh so good – it has the wasabi taste, but it’s not hot/spicy at all!

On the way back Dad found this store that he heard about on TV that sells slow cooked chicken/duck innards.  Of course we had to stop by and get some.  Hearts, tongues, gizzards, and feet were purchased and enjoyed with alcohol.

We ventured out on a rainy day to the subway system that I’ve never been on.  It sure beat driving in traffic.  Didn’t really do much that day except enjoying some pan fried dumplings.  Oh yeah, check out the special boba carrying plastic bag!

Since I’ve been away for so so long, it was only fitting for me to visit my grandparents’ graves.  Dad drove mom and I through the winding roads that lead up to the mountain.  I remembered coming here every year as a kid with the whole family, and many times we hiked there since the roads are so narrow.  I am amazed that after so many years it still looks exactly the same as I remembered – very well kept.  We burned some paper money and said our prayers.  A small lizard fell down from the tree due to all the smoke.  I think it died…  LOLz?

Jeannie, Lorelai, and I took a cab ourselves to see the current tallest building in the world.  It is very impressive to see it in person.  It was very windy that day so we didn’t stay long outside.

Since we have Lorelai in a stroller, we got to cut in front of the line!  Yay for special treatments!  It cost NT$400, or about US$13, to go up, and the elevator was crazy fast!  It went from the 5th floor to the 88th in about 36 seconds!  I didn’t really feel it though, it was very smooth.  It was very cloudy that day and we couldn’t really see much, but we got to see the damper ball on top.  Pretty cool.

Later we went down to the 101 food court to browse around.  Check out the ice cream with croissant in the middle.  That was too much for us, so we went with the strawberry mochi.  Yum!

One thing we loved to do while in Taiwan was going out for soy milk breakfast.  No, not the vanilla Silk soy milk stuff, but the traditional Chinese soy milk.  They also sell different kind of steamed buns and pastries – all yum-o.  Since we had jet lag and usually wake up early, we went there a lot for breakfast.  It usually only cost us about $6 or $7 for 3 or 4 of us to get REALLY full.

A block away from our home there’s a dusk market right by the streets.  Fresh kills and lots of other stuff.  People got really nervous when I take pictures thinking I was from the Health Department or something.  The seafood lady actually asked my mom and we had to quickly explain that I am just being a tutorist.

Ryan & Amy took some time off to take us out and about.  Thanks guys, we had lots of fun!  Here we are at a flower farm.

Lorelai was such a poser and running around for Emma to chase.  Afterward we went to the ceramic district where they sell lots of nice stuff for tourists.  I really wanted to buy something, but controlled my impulses and decided against it.

I am going to do the trip recaps in parts since there are just so much.  I’ll get started.

Let me first say that traveling with a 1.5-year-old on a 14 hour flight is just no fun at all, especially when there are some open seats at the back and the flight attendant kindly asked the person next to us if they wanted to switch to give us more room and THEY SAID NO!!!  ON BOTH FLIGHTS!  THANKS A LOT BUTTHOLES GUYS!!!

It was another hour ride from the airport to home, and on the way you can see lots of new moderm buildings mixed with many old old ones while the streets are just as crowded as ever.  The street where our home is on hasn’t changed much though.  Check out just how narrow it is, with both sides packed with bikes and cars!  My dad’s car barely fits though.  I still remember playing on this street when I was a kid – it felt much wider then, it probably didn’t have all the parked cars. Driving in Taiwan, in most cases, is not very convenient – just try to find parking when you get to your destinations…
Walking around the neighborhood you still see lots of street venders that I thought would surely be gone by now.  The funky smell sure brings back memories.  We got some sweet treats 1st night.  We liked their chewy taro stuff.

Parents took us to a popular restaurant for lunch on the 2nd day.  Good thing we went early, it was packed!

There was a flower fair at the park near the restaurant.  Check out the 2-old-guy band… and the girl who was playing music using a saw!?  She was quite good!

Dad got Lorelai a Hello-Kitty figure, and Lorelai checks out kids catching fish.

Traveling with Lorelai was/is extremely tiring, especially with the 13 hour flight.  It took Lorelai 4 to 5 days to adjust for the jet-lag, and even with adjustments she’s still extra cranky.   We are very tired, but Taiwan is fun with lots of good food! Picture updates later when we get back.   In the mean time, have a safe and fun winter break!

The TECO office in Santa Ana is open one Saturday a month, but it’s really just a small library/meeting place.

Afterwards we stopped by the OC farm and flea market, where Jeannie takes her school kids for field trips each year.  It was hot!

Then we stopped by the Mitsuwa Japanese Supermarkets for some shopping and food.  Lorelai fell in love with a Hello-Kitty jar and wouldn’t let go of it, so we gave up and got it for her.  The ramen at the food court was pretty delicious I have to say.

After a whole day of running around, Lorelai was beat!

Taiwan law provides for compulsory military service. Men between the ages of 18 and 36 who were born in Taiwan or who have ever held a Taiwan passport should be aware that they may be subject to compulsory military service in Taiwan, even if they are also U.S. citizens, and even if they have entered Taiwan on U.S. passports.

So I guess that means that there’s a chance I won’t be able to go back even after I become a U.S. citizen…  Eh?  Sucks.  I guess I’ll be going in to the local office to find out for sure this weekend.

Godspeed.

P.S. Yes I am currently a Taiwan passport holder.  LOLz?