{"id":8975,"date":"2004-01-20T23:08:00","date_gmt":"2004-01-20T23:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sch1auh0s7.site.nfoservers.com\/wp_lew1slau\/?p=8975"},"modified":"2022-05-03T23:45:34","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T23:45:34","slug":"first-trip-home-in-18-years-taipei-taiwan-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lewislau.com\/index.php\/2004\/01\/20\/first-trip-home-in-18-years-taipei-taiwan-2\/","title":{"rendered":"First Trip Home In 18 Years Pt. 2. Taipei, Taiwan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One side is HELLISH spicy (i.e. burn your tongue\/throat\/stomach\/intestine” HOT), one side bland. Sort of a ying-and-yang thing.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Did I mention Jess loves this place?<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I made the mistake of drinking a spoonful of the spicy side…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Delicious sliced meat for cooking in the soup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2004 is the year of the monkey<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Happy Chinese New Year!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Facial… on the street?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Yup – there you go – Chinese facial<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The girl (in pink hair band) is getting her face scraped by something that resembles dental floss<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Megan all dressed for Christmas but look like Pocahontas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I don’t think Megan was too cheerful that morning<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Taiwanese in-car GPS
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Beautiful Wu Lai Hot Springs Resort<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jess looking at the spa packages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The beautiful resort and its private rooms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nena (Megan’s nanny) and Megan
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Last allowable picture – sign for bathhouse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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… later that evening, Jesse getting a foot massage at home<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Megan helping with the massage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Megan (like all kids today) jumps from toy to toy within seconds…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Keeping herself occupied<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Is this your phone Lulu (Megan’s name for me)?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Playing hide-and-seek with my god-daughter Megan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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After days of hanging out with Megan, she finally warms up to me!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Lulu is no fun!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I’m leaving to play by myself, and you’re not invited!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Funny face time!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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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…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s a strange feeling to leave for 17 years and come back – somehow I feel like a foreigner here :o)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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People lining the streets for last-minute shopping (Our custom is to wear brand new clothes on New Year’s Day)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another line of people buying roasted duck for dinner this evening<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Megan is going to her grandma’s house for New Year’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Megan glued to the TV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Just like her dad, once she focuses on her activity, nothing can get her attention<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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At this moment, it is the Wiggles she loves to watch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Megan? MEGAN!?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Hide and Seek time!
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tom all ready for New Year’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jess in matching outfit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tom’s cool 54″ flatscreen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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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\u2026 Jess’ favorite restaurant in Taiwan is this place that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lewislau.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/DSCN0586.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewislau.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewislau.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewislau.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewislau.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewislau.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8975"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lewislau.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9161,"href":"https:\/\/lewislau.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8975\/revisions\/9161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewislau.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewislau.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewislau.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewislau.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}