I had very little rest because I stayed up to watch movies with my cousins after the party. It was the party after the party. I had to get up at 6am to go for another outing and this time was with 3rd uncle, his wife and 4th aunty to Guan Wu. I slept the whole way. I didn't know I was being a party pooper. They were really exited about this outing and really wanted my participation in the car but I was passed out and when they tired to wake me up I was like dying or something and they found me to be offensive. Also my 4th aunty kept physically grabbing my arm every time we passed by a tree or something she was very excited of because she doesn't get out much. I was unhappy about that and told her I didn't like being grabbed. I had no idea I was being rude and a poor guest. I was just exhausted and needed to sleep in the car so I can be awake and functional when we arrived.
I finally woke up when we arrived and there was snow caps on trees. It was beautiful. The snow wasn't thick because most of it melted by now, there is just a nice layer of powered icing on top of trees. It was beautiful.
4th aunty wore her so called tennis shoes with 2 inch heels and she complained of sore feet and inability to hike. Well, I think it was the shoes, it was really heels disguised as tennis shoes, a once fashionable thing to somebody. It really did not equip her with trail hiking. We walked on a very pristine trail.
I really missed nature. As much as I love Taiwan and the fun and convenience of Taipei city, I love nature. I love easy access to nature and I love to hike. I love the smell of pine needles and soil and the scent of wild flowers.
We had simple but abundant lunch at the restaurant. Then we went into a tea room to over look the scenic mountain and sea of clouds blanketing the ridges. It's so beautiful this way. I love to just drink tea and look out into nature and just breath. I am perfectly happy to just park myself somewhere and just do that.
3rd Uncle talked about younger years. He said my mom used to collect coins in a can and one day he broke the can to buy wan gwei because a neighbor would always tease him about how he's too poor to buy it. He basically took my mom's savings and spent it on that. The most memorial part was this, he got an unforgettable beating from his dad afterwards.
The drive out of the park everyone fell asleep including the driver, I noticed this and opened my eyes real wide. Then all of a sudden he slammed on the break when a car raced by him and cut him off. It was a good thing it was the breaks he stepped on and not the gas. He asked me if I missed driving and I said I'd be up for driving any time. He was going to pull over except that one near incident really got his adrenalin rushed up and he woke up. It was better this way because then all the people in the car would be too nervous to have me drive and I would end up with many back seat drivers.
Along the ride I got to notice the aboriginals who live in their house and they would have a portrait of Jesus hanging in their walls. It occurred to me that most of the aboriginals were converted into Christianity. I think my father's ancestors were responsible for that. They were early Presbyterian missionaries of Taiwan and established churches all over Taiwan.
