Dan Sui

Went to Dan Sui with 3rd and 4th aunty. I ate black Do Hua with ginger syrup and roasted peanuts. It was so good. Then I had more Taiwanese goodies of cake and slushes. I spent most of my time picking out earrings and hair accessories.

For dinner 4th aunty somehow decided she would host dinner. This was a surprise and a kind offer for my good bye party. She had many tips from other aunties on what to prepare and how to prepare. I made pine nut seaweed rice. Everything was delicious and the conversations were lively. The last time 4th aunty attempted this she hurt her arm cooking noodles and everyone pitched in to help her finish dinner. She's well know as the one in the family to injure herself while picking up a pencil or something really good like that worthy or bringing up to have a good laugh and never let her hear the end of it.

French Twist

Went to check out Taipei 101 Tower and the mall inside and the bookstore. Helen wanted me to buy her children's book for her kids and so I went to see what the possibilities were. I also looked at the travel books. I think travel books here have interesting things like where to go eat and where to go shop that is really on the money. They would also have interesting things like, "here is where they shot the scene for Hero," stuff like that is fun to know and to see too.

For dinner I decided I would go and have cabbage pot stickers, fresh sugar cane juice by Long Shan Si. The sugar cane juice here is from purple sugar cane. It is sweeter than the green ones from Mexico or Hawaii.

Then I went to the underground mall, there are lots of underground mall in Taiwan. I spent my time in shoe hunting and hair accessories. I mainly got things that could hold my French Twist.

Wine and Love

Went to Jin Gua Shi, Golden Gourd Rock. This is the home town of my mom by the sea coast and up in the mountains. There was once a lot of gold to be mined here. It was a booming town when the gold was getting mined and since the coast was near by it was a happening place.

I went to the Prayer temple by my mom's old home and walked on the steep steps that covered the mountain. The ones my mom always complained about and I see what she meant. I think walking like this every day because you have to can keep you in good health and great shape.

I decided to inquire on how to pick out a stick in the temple and ask my uncles and aunties the customs and methods. 2nd uncle and his wife as usual disagreed on how it is done. They are funny because they are famous for disagreeing on almost everything. At least after 30 or 40 years of disagreeing they are less atomic nuclear passionate in their debates.

Then we went to the near by Jio Fen old town to eat and to shop. It was fun. This is one of my favorite places to come to. The food famous in this area is great. I just love all the goodies here. I had fun looking at touristy craft stuff too. Pretty much each place in Taiwan has a few famous delicacies known to the area and they are distinctly different. So it is never boring and makes you feel the distance you travelled for is well worth it.

Went to Jia Le Fu with 3rd uncle and his wife. There was a red wine sale. The last time I was here she was into coffee. Now she's into red wine. 3rd uncle doesn't drink and refuses to buy her wine. But she insists that if he loved her and really cared for her he should buy her a case of red wine. I walked around and checked out what was for sale. I like to walk around and see what is in use in the lifestyle with people in the area I visit.

Then we went to 1st uncle's for dinner and it was filled with good humor and fun conversations. The food was good. I think both our families have similar taste in food and like similar things. 1st aunty in law has a classic Taiwanese touch in her cooking and I like that flavor. It tastes like home.

Run From Cops or Rain

I went to Eslite bookstore and looked books for most of the day. Another thing I enjoy doing is check out publications in the area I visit and see what people value and what is being communicated. I had a dinner gathering with friends at Lien Xiang Zai, another awesome buffet place. I stopped right outside of the metro and there was an illegal stand set up selling red envelopes for Chinese New Years. It was sprinkling when I arrived and I decided to put up my umbrella and shop. This particular stand had fun varieties of red envelopes. I ended up spending lots of money there. I was late to dinner but I didn't want to miss this opportunity. Since they were illegally set up and right in front of the metro they will not be here after dinner. They can't possible stay too long before the cops come to site them a fat ticket. Plus it was raining, they will either have to run from the cops or the rain.

My friends got me lots of gifts of snack munches that are specialities of Taiwan for me to bring back to US. That was sweet of them. They were things I wanted to buy but really didn't know where to go to. Since everyone was late, dinner was done in speed because the place was about to close for the night. We stuffed our mouths the whole time and conversations were muffled. We multi tasked.

No Instant Noodles!

Went to Jia Lu Fu with Chen Chen to mainly buy two luggage to haul all my stuff. I found something workable for 1800 yuan for two pieces. I also bought instant noodles my two favorite kinds. When I arrived with my things, I was prevented from my 4th aunty to carry the instant noodles back to US. She said that stuff is terrible for the health and wouldn't let me pack it into my luggage. Well, as it turned out, they didn't fit into my luggage along with another small carryon worth of stuff. So I had to leave the instant noodles behind. We ate some for midnight snack.

Yang Ming Shan

Went with 4th and 1st uncle to Yang Ming Shan along with their wives and 4th aunty. Yi Je is 4th uncle's son who also joined us. We headed for La Ku for hot spring. The facility had a hot and cold pool option for each room. It was 300 yuan per room. I really like the option of going in and out of each one. It feels great to go back and forth. The window has real bamboo plants for viewing. The facility also runs on A/C so you can be comfortably hot and cool same time.

For lunch we went to Chang Cun for lunch and had the buffet. I like buffets because you can have a variety of things. The trouble is there is just too much to choose from and then it is overwhelming. During lunch the affection of uncles and aunties were upfront. They really take good care of each other and respect one another. I see why they are all still married and have healthy families.

At night a neighboring toddler screamed an cried in the stairway. A passerby stopped to check up on them. Somehow the mother passed out on the way up the stairs to their apartment.

A week ago the top news was from a rising young actress who died in a car accident. She was in the passenger seat and she did not have a seat belt on. The driver was her manager and she had a seat belt on and was fine. The idea of wearing seat belts is still no embedded in people. It really saves lives. I personally knew of a woman who had the same thing happen, she died on sight. She was not wearing a seat belt when her husband drove off the road. Both her 12 year old daughter and her husband were fine and not even hospitalized. Yet she died on the spot all because she didn't wear a seat belt. It was sad and something that could have been avoided. Just gotta click it!

Ying Ge

Went to Ying Ge where it is known as the pottery district. This is where people come to get their ceramic goods from plates to vases. I ended up looking at lots of wonderful tea pots, and cups. I saw tea trays that I would like to get later when I can carry it and have a nice place to put it in my living space. I really like china and all the accessories that goes with it. I was there with 2nd uncle and 4th aunty. #rd uncle and his wife was there too. There were plenty of other shops that were selling hand made goods in crafts and textile. I had fun just looking at everything in detail. We had tea at a shop and sat down to rest it was just a fun outing. I seem to be collecting lots of that these days.

Afterwards we went to a Traditional Chinese Doctor recommended by a family friend who said she was very good. I noticed all her herbs were fresh and top quality. So she must have good resources and has a good turn over rate to keep it all in top quality. I ended up spending a lot of money at that place getting herbs for my body that she prescribed. The only part that was questionable in her diagnosis was she said I lacked fiber in my body. As a vegetarian I really eat a lot of vegetables and fruits. Hum......

This doctor was once with Yi Guan Dao and said she learned from that group all the bad things of other groups and stayed away until one day she came across a book by The Fruit Monk, Ven. Guang Qing and was so inspired that she realized what she was learning at Yi Guan Dao was all bogus. She then opened her mind to study and research to relearn what she had learned was wrong.

I was taken to a shoe shop because 4th aunty needed new shoes. While I was there, I attempted to buy vegan shoes, the owner proudly shoed me off saying,"we only have leather, if you want non leather you have to go to the street and not an official store to buy shoes!" It was funny to me how much pride he took in having leather shoes. In US to get vegan shoes you pay even more money than real leather shoes. Well, it's the opposite here, it's not called vegan it's called cheap.

Dairy Park

We got up for breakfast. It wasn't spectacular. I ended up eating a lot. This means that there would be no lunch and this would be it. As the day went on such intuition to follow was correct.

We went to a Dairy Park. It is owned by the Dairy Industry. I rented a bike and rode all over the garden. I checked out the herbal garden and rose garden. The butterfuly garden was full of beautiful butterflies flying in a large green house area. I had fun looking a the different variety of plants. I also went to the reptile area and it was full of snakes and other things. I discovered I have a fascination towards reptiles. Even so I still don't want to be near one. Some people have snacks for pets etc.. I could never undertand that. Then there was a bird zoo. I had the most fun here looking at different birds and the colors of their coats.

The uncles and aunties all rented a team bikes and couples bikes. They even went on the lake and paddled a boat. We stopped to have ice cream and then fruits at the fruit farm. The fruits were free for eating there. If you want to take home then you have to pay. I ate and ate and ate. I love fuits, especially in troical countries.



For dinner we tried to locate the restaurant in YiLan. 4th aunty was terrible with directions,"in my memory I recall it was this..it was that... or maybe this.... Well I think the worst part was she even got the city wrong. We weren't even in the right city. We finally called the place for directions. We finally found it and made it. We even found parking. Then we were told there was a private event and they were not open to the public. We insisted that we came all this way which we did and when we called for directions, the person on the phone didn't tell us they were closed. Finally the head chef was called for attention to this matter and said he'd serve us food and that we are to eat only what he served and pay a lump sum. We ended up with banquet meal for family group price because they were having a banquet there that night and the entire kitchen was on banquet mode. It turned out even better than we could have planned.

When we returned, 4th aunty for some reason had the stamina to grill me on why I don't own real estate again. I was very tired and was polite to sit through it all.

Taroko National Park

The drive to Taroko was long by everyone's standard. It was quite comfortable for me. We stopped at a MaZu Temple. The 2nd floor had images that were very strong with grounding energy. The whole place was grounded in a powerful way. It felt good to be there. This is a classic roof adornment in FuJian Style for

This is the view from the second floor overlooking the harbor.

This is the street the temple is on.


Here is my 3rd Uncle in Law filming his wife.

We took the scenic view drive and did the seaside route. It was a beautiful ride. I had to keep my eyes open and watch over the window and since I was in the back row, I had to be aware of car sickness on the very windy mountain road.

Upon reaching the park 3rd uncle turned on his video camera and stepped on his seat and stuck his body out the sun roof. Then everyone else decided they wanted to stick their body out the sun roof and feel the wind. I didn't. We stopped in vistas and walked everywhere. I really like being out in the nature. We walked through a tunnel and it wet and dark. On the other sidce was a bridge over a creek and a trail. We walked for a bit 3rd uncle in law headed back to the car for a nap since he drove all the way. He has this thing where he can't sleep if he is to go on a trip the next day. Usually he's the guy who plans it and is in charge. All my uncles and aunties were very tired and didn't walk far.



Here is my 3rd Uncle checking out rocks. He and I have a common interest in rock discovery.

My 4th Aunty and her husband, my Gao Shan Cha supplier.
There was a fancy hotel in the park and a youth hostel nearby. The hotel was voted down by 3rd uncle in law and the youth hostel was voted down by 4th aunty so we will have to go to Hua Lien city to stay at a hotel with a spa service that looked intereseting to everyone to check out.

We had lunch and dinner and by everyone else's standard it was expensive and not very good. I ended up with a hotel room all to myself. It was nice. 3rd uncle in law insisted I felt well taken care of with hotel room. It was very important to him that I really loved my room. He takes great satisfaction in that. I know when he is taking care of my hotel room, I'm all set. This hotel is newly built. My favorite thing about my room was the toilet, it's Japanese and the seat is heated, and full of buttons and functions. My other favorite thing in the room is the control panel, with one touch you can control the lights, A/C, sound system, TV, etc... The Spa set up had a sauna. It was hot. There was no one watching the place, I could like pass out from the heat and died or fallen into the swim size jet pool and died and no one would have known. So I had to be extra careful on my end.

We tried to go for a walk at night to locate the night market that was one of the fun attractions for staying in that hotel in this part of the town. Somehow we got lost and never made it. We just walked round and round and then decided to go back to the hotel.

During the walk, 3rd aunty pulled me aside and inquired about my single status and that she recommend that I get married and start a family that is the ultimate joy in a person's life. That life is hard by yourself. I have so many relatives and they all tell me different depending on what they admire. One tell me to be a monastic. The other tells me I need to stock up on real estate. The other tell me to get married and have kids. The other tells me never to have a family. The good thing is they all don't agreed and that's the humor in all of that is pretty good.

Tapioca Frog Eggs

Chen Chen and his girlfriend took me out for a day trip. We first tracked down a Cafe. His girlfriend gave the directions and it was like one without street names, right or left. It was good Chen Chen was patient or just used to this type of directions from her. I found it funny the whole time. I think there should be a comic show just on how people give directions. The fun part of this Cafe for them was drinks and cheese cake. All of which I was not interested in because I think I come from that world but it was fun for them.

We went to the sea side to Yuan Liuo. It's beautiful there. The water was a beautiful rich blue. I forgot to bring my camera. I'll have to come back a different time to just photograph. Chen Chen's girlfriend came with high heels to walk in the sand with and hike in. She must have a super back and super legs or not because afterwards she was out completely and we had to scratch the Ji Long Night Market idea.

We walked through the tourist shopping area and got drinks. There were these drinks that looked like frog eggs. It was tapioca. But it looked too weird to me. I tried it and it was chewy and crunchy in the center. Completely vegan but still was an acquired taste to me.

I bought a pair of wooden slippers with 2 inch heel, all hand crafted and carved. I like the carving the best. They were from Vietnam. It was 500 yuan which was cheaper than other places.

We headed to Taipei and the girlfriend slept the whole way. I really think she didn't have the right shoes on. But she looked really good in her outfit. The whole ride back Chen Chen kept looking in the rear view mirror make sure I had a good time and was happy. I would look back and smile to let him know I was. We ate at Chang Cun buffet. They insisted this was the best place for me to eat since I was vegetarian and they were not. It was 500 yuan per person. I really would have been fine snacking on the road here and there. But it was important for them to do treat me like this so I accepted in joy.

All For Tea

Got up early for day trip to TaiChung to visit my two cousins who are now Buddhist nuns at Chung Tai Monastery in Tai Chung. 4th aunty drove and 2nd uncle made really strong Pu Er tea. I think it required a bullet proof stomach to handle his tea. I can drink tea, but that was strong stuff. 4th aunty has never driven this far before. It quite scary to be in her car. She would suddenly slam on the breaks on the highway and be at a complete stop so she can think. No, she didn't pull over she just stopped middle of the road on the highway. Or she would stop right at the exit and figure out whether she wants to exit or continue. If we were anywhere else other than Taiwan on a very slow morning where there was hardly any traffic, I'd probably already have had 2 or 3 heart attacks from this. I managed to not get upset or be a back seat driver. I was so proud of myself.

Wei Xiang was in a different car with his fiance. The point of the drive was to introduce the fiance to the sisters. When we arrived there was a meditation retreat going on so the entire monastery was on a meditation schedule. I took a stroll through the garden. Then I was taken through calligraphy gallery to look at various artist's contribution to the monastery. I also went to the Vajra Tower area and then the Trippitaka Tower.

The restaurant is in the hotel. It was comforatble and the food was delicious. I like anything dim sum related, I didn't care for any of the other dishes that looked beautiful but tasted just average.

I finally saw my cousins. They looked happy and good. I was glad to see that. I has been 11 years since I last saw Han Jen and just 6 years since I saw Min Hua, the younger sister. I remembered the last time I saw Min Hua she was sad and worried that she may not be allowed to join the monastery because she's blind in one eye. I remembered when she blinded herself. I was there, I was 5 or 6 years old. It was very traumatic for me, there was blood everywhere.

After lunch we ended up going to the 50 Arhat Hall and the nun that 4th aunty was in contact with encouraged us to put coins in each arhat to increase blessings and affinities. It was fine, but somehow it wasn't. Hard to pin poin what was it that felt not right on.

The same architect who build Taipei 101 Tower also build this monastery. The building looks grey from a far but when you walk up to the granite walls, it's really pink granite. The grey feel really makes it gloomy to look at especially with the weather here.

Then we stopped by 2nd uncle's friend's place. He is a tea maker. He was once a tea judge by profession. He needed superb palet in order to do his job so he had to change his diet to maximize his sensitivity. He went vegetarian and he chucked out garlic, onion, shallots, leeks, chives, and alcohol. All those things interefered with his sensitivity and would interefere with his profession. Then years later, he got into meditation and became a Buddhist. Now he makes his own tea. He goes to China, particularly in the Yunnan Province to personally check out tea trees. He goes only for the organic. And if it is no longer organic then he know right away and he can no longer pick from that batch. He believes in only making and drinking organic. He makes really good Pu Er. I checked out his roasting machines. He poured us a lot of tea. I think I O.D. on tea today. He is a Sagittarian Virgo. I think this makes puts him in the right field of work.

He insisted on treating us to dinner. My 2nd uncle recently in the past few years became best of friends with him. We went to the same restaurant for dinner. He had two daughters the younger one was 7 years old and very mischievious. At the end of dinner she insisted there were ghosts in the restroom and she could not go that one of the adults will have to go with her. I decided to volunteer. She thought it would freak me out. Then I quized; her on what the ghosts looked like and where they were in the restroom, what did they sound like, what were they doing, etc.... I think I spoiled the fun for her. Well, if you are going to have me play this game then play was my opionion.

On the drive back 4th aunty was definitely tired. She wouldn't let anyone else drive her car. She was speeding and in Taiwan there are camera everywhere and they'll just mail you the ticket.

Manga! Manga!

I took bus 226 to the convention center by 101 Tower. After the bus drop off, I went into a narrow side street opposite of where the convention center was. I had a nose for wantons. I kept walking and then these narrow streets behind everything were hot beds for lots of hole in the wall shops that served delicious food for the locals. I found wantons and they were good so I had two bowls of wantons.

I then made my way over to the Annual Taipei Publication Expo. I was amazed at how most of the books were foreign. I found myself at art books. I walked by the Childrens' Book area and an Australian woman was illustrating artwork with pastel live on the spot and she handed me a finished work as a gift. I was really too old but I stood there and waited for one as if I was a child. In fact I had to compete with other children for one. There was one Tarot booth and I flipped through what they had. In the booth a woman was doing computerized Tarot reading for anyone who would pay her to do. I sat there and flipped through the samples of decks but was also multitasking to hear what she was saying and how she was reading. I found myself uninterested in how she read and then I walked away.

I then went to the anime section and entered the world of Manga. The place was packed, full of students all happily grouped around the floor to read the next issue of the particular manga they just bought or gaga over the the overpriced manga trinkets. I thought I'd get into the flow and be a consumer but I walked and walked, I even walked the entire place twice and still made no purchase.

The manga section of the exhibition was in a different building and I had to get directions from people. One of the person I asked told me it was really far and that I should take a shuttle. I walked and it was like 10 minutes away. May be he was most concerned about me getting lost. Walking there was quicker than taking the shuttle because of the lines during the holiday.

Then I came across a Tzu Chi tea house. It was set up for reading and tea. I found it to be peaceful and quiet. I really like it. It's in the midst of busy metropolitan section of the city, how nice to have a tranquil place to be in.