After I got my Green Card the first thing I did was get my paperwork ready (from a Taiwanese Resident to a Taiwanese Foreign National) to head back to Taiwan and visit my family. Finally in January of 2004, after 18 years away, I was home…
Jess’ favorite restaurant in Taiwan is this place that served MA-LA hot pot (Chinese Fondue). Literally MA-LA translates to “numbingly spicy”. Great for cold winter evenings, bad for the stomach the morning after… Tai-He Palace, Taipei. I love it, yet I hate it.
Walking around the Dee Hwa Street Night Market with Tom after our super-spicy hot pot experience. What better way to calm the stomach down than a bowl of Taiwanese shaved ice? While at Dee Hwa Night Market we ran into a lady doing face-shaving facials right on the street. Now that’s a true “ghetto spa” if there is such a thing…
I LOVE hot springs – I can sit in one for hours on end (if I find a way to not pass out from the heat) . Tom decided to take the family to Wu Lai, famous for their natural hot springs. Nothing compares to soaking in hot water while the air around you is a breezy 50 degrees F or so… the evening closed with a visit from Tom’s private foot masseuse who gave me an one-hour foot reflexology treatment… whoever invented this type of massage must be a masochist… it hurts so bad, yet it feels so good (afterwards)!
Being away for almost 18 years from Taiwan, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I visit anymore – so I end up going to Tom and Jess’ and hung out with my god daughter Megan. Fortunately Megan enjoyed my company (being her private pony) as well…
My First Chinese New Year’s Eve Morning In Taipei in 17 years… I spent it walking around Taipei by myself around the computer mall near old our old house, reminiscing about all the geeky summer jobs I took without pay back in the day… and of course hanging out with Megan afterwards…
