Taiwan Trip 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
Last Day
Visiting Grandma
Our last day in Taiwan, we went and saw my grandma again. This time, we remembered to bring our camera. My grandma tends to stay awake throughout the night and goes to bed in the morning. So when we arrived at the apartment, she was pretty out of it. After the stroke, she hasn't been very responsive. It makes me sad to see her in such a state. I also feel bad that she never really got to meet Christy.
After the visit with our grandma, my dad's eldest brother and his wife took us out to lunch and then we went back to my aunt's house and took a quick nap before we had to leave.
¶ Monday, September 18, 2006 0 comments
Visiting Grandma
Our last day in Taiwan, we went and saw my grandma again. This time, we remembered to bring our camera. My grandma tends to stay awake throughout the night and goes to bed in the morning. So when we arrived at the apartment, she was pretty out of it. After the stroke, she hasn't been very responsive. It makes me sad to see her in such a state. I also feel bad that she never really got to meet Christy.
After the visit with our grandma, my dad's eldest brother and his wife took us out to lunch and then we went back to my aunt's house and took a quick nap before we had to leave.
¶ Monday, September 18, 2006 0 comments
Around the Neighborhood
About an hour before we had to leave for the airport, Christy and I took a quick walk around the old neighborhood. The old houses and buildings are disappearing fast. Replacing the old Japanese era houses are parks, condos, and Wal-Mart like shopping centers. You can see one of the Japanese era buildings that was left standing as a monument in the new community park. This is the block where I grew up. It is the block where my grandfather's store used to be. In the distance, you can see the President's office. It's sort of like the White House, only the building is just for administrative and not a domicile.
Here is a better view of the building from the same street.
In the afternoon, we took a taxi to Taipei Train Station and boarded a bus which took us to the airport. We told our aunt that we could do it ourselves, but she insisted on coming along. I really don't know what we would have done without her.
¶ Monday, September 18, 2006 0 comments
About an hour before we had to leave for the airport, Christy and I took a quick walk around the old neighborhood. The old houses and buildings are disappearing fast. Replacing the old Japanese era houses are parks, condos, and Wal-Mart like shopping centers. You can see one of the Japanese era buildings that was left standing as a monument in the new community park. This is the block where I grew up. It is the block where my grandfather's store used to be. In the distance, you can see the President's office. It's sort of like the White House, only the building is just for administrative and not a domicile.
Here is a better view of the building from the same street.
In the afternoon, we took a taxi to Taipei Train Station and boarded a bus which took us to the airport. We told our aunt that we could do it ourselves, but she insisted on coming along. I really don't know what we would have done without her.
¶ Monday, September 18, 2006 0 comments
Goodbye, Taiwan!
Christy said that we didn't get enough pictures of the streets of Taipei. She said that many people in the US probably don't realize that Taiwan is a fairly developed country with large metropolitan areas. So here are some shots we took our last afternoon in Taipei.
This is the alley where my aunt lives. It is right around the corner from where my grandpa's store used to be (one of my uncles now runs the distribution company). The rooms we stayed in on the 4th floor of the building actually used to belong to my parents. That's where Dan grew up as a wee tot 25 years ago.
Here's a view of the street in Ban Chiao where my grandma now lives. After her stroke, my youngest aunt and uncle from my dad's side moved in to take care of my grandma. In the picture, you can see the many scooters parked on the side of the street. It's a sight to see when all the scooters are zooming in and out of alleys and intersections. You can also see my middle aunt from my dad's side and my eldest uncle's wife (in purple) who we visited on the second day.
You can see here what a typical Taipei sidewalk looks like. Above the sidewalk there are usually apartments where the store owners live. And lining the couple of feet closest to the street are many, many scooters. Sometimes its nearly impossible to navigate through them to cross the street.
So we boarded the plane at 6 pm on Monday and arrived in Taipei at 1 pm Monday in Seattle. We went back in time! At the airport we bought some pretty neat framed paintings for our wall. And tried to pass the time. They confiscated our Nalgene bottles. We had to check them individually! Stupid liquid threats be damned!
Carolynn graciously came and picked us up at the airport and we arrived safely at home to see our dogs. They were very happy to see us.
Christy adjusted to the time switch much better than I did (possibly because she never really adjusted to Taiwanese time). I can't wait to go back. I don't know if the same is true for Christy.
¶ Monday, September 18, 2006 0 comments
Christy said that we didn't get enough pictures of the streets of Taipei. She said that many people in the US probably don't realize that Taiwan is a fairly developed country with large metropolitan areas. So here are some shots we took our last afternoon in Taipei.
This is the alley where my aunt lives. It is right around the corner from where my grandpa's store used to be (one of my uncles now runs the distribution company). The rooms we stayed in on the 4th floor of the building actually used to belong to my parents. That's where Dan grew up as a wee tot 25 years ago.
Here's a view of the street in Ban Chiao where my grandma now lives. After her stroke, my youngest aunt and uncle from my dad's side moved in to take care of my grandma. In the picture, you can see the many scooters parked on the side of the street. It's a sight to see when all the scooters are zooming in and out of alleys and intersections. You can also see my middle aunt from my dad's side and my eldest uncle's wife (in purple) who we visited on the second day.
You can see here what a typical Taipei sidewalk looks like. Above the sidewalk there are usually apartments where the store owners live. And lining the couple of feet closest to the street are many, many scooters. Sometimes its nearly impossible to navigate through them to cross the street.So we boarded the plane at 6 pm on Monday and arrived in Taipei at 1 pm Monday in Seattle. We went back in time! At the airport we bought some pretty neat framed paintings for our wall. And tried to pass the time. They confiscated our Nalgene bottles. We had to check them individually! Stupid liquid threats be damned!
Carolynn graciously came and picked us up at the airport and we arrived safely at home to see our dogs. They were very happy to see us.
Christy adjusted to the time switch much better than I did (possibly because she never really adjusted to Taiwanese time). I can't wait to go back. I don't know if the same is true for Christy.
¶ Monday, September 18, 2006 0 comments
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Last Night in Taipei/Taiwan
Here are some pictures we took with my aunt's family. That's my cousin, Jason, in the Yankees jersey. He's in high school and is a huge fan of Yankees pitcher Chin-Ming Wang. During our stay, he got up at 1 AM to watch the Yankees play.
(And the only thing he wanted me to bring back from the US was a Yankee cap. Christy and I had an adventure in Seattle when trying to find one.)
Here are some pictures we took with my aunt's family. That's my cousin, Jason, in the Yankees jersey. He's in high school and is a huge fan of Yankees pitcher Chin-Ming Wang. During our stay, he got up at 1 AM to watch the Yankees play.
(And the only thing he wanted me to bring back from the US was a Yankee cap. Christy and I had an adventure in Seattle when trying to find one.)
My aunt and uncle were great during our visit. They were very hospitable. Paying for meals and taxi rides. They took time out of their day to show us the sights. They also provided us with Taipei Rapid Transit passes.
And there was always fresh fruit and breakfast to fill our tummies.
And there was always fresh fruit and breakfast to fill our tummies.
Taipei 101 at night
We had dinner with my mom's side of the family at this great vegetarian restaurant. Christy's comment was: "Man, if the vegetarian restaurants in the US were this good, I'd be vegetarian".
I think it was her favorite restaurant out of them all.
After dinner, my aunts (3rd older and youngest sisters) and my cousin dropped us off at a subway station and we rode the subway home. While in the car, we took some highly imperfect, but somewhat stylish pictures of Taipei 101 at night.
Throughout our trip, as we bought snacks and water at the 7-Elevens, we were receiving these little magnets that featured the Japanese cartoon character Doraemon. He's a defective robot cat without ears. These magnets featured Doraemon traveling to different countries around the world. We got quite a few, but Christy wanted the two that had Doraemon in Taiwan.
So that evening, Christy and I went on a Doraemon magnet search. And after a search of several stores, we finally convinced a store clerk to just give us the magnets. (I'll take some pictures of them and post them on here later.)
¶ Sunday, September 17, 2006 0 comments
We had dinner with my mom's side of the family at this great vegetarian restaurant. Christy's comment was: "Man, if the vegetarian restaurants in the US were this good, I'd be vegetarian".
I think it was her favorite restaurant out of them all.
After dinner, my aunts (3rd older and youngest sisters) and my cousin dropped us off at a subway station and we rode the subway home. While in the car, we took some highly imperfect, but somewhat stylish pictures of Taipei 101 at night.
Throughout our trip, as we bought snacks and water at the 7-Elevens, we were receiving these little magnets that featured the Japanese cartoon character Doraemon. He's a defective robot cat without ears. These magnets featured Doraemon traveling to different countries around the world. We got quite a few, but Christy wanted the two that had Doraemon in Taiwan.
So that evening, Christy and I went on a Doraemon magnet search. And after a search of several stores, we finally convinced a store clerk to just give us the magnets. (I'll take some pictures of them and post them on here later.)
¶ Sunday, September 17, 2006 0 comments
Saturday, September 16, 2006
