台北

taipei. we were still suffering from jetlag, so we got up early for an easy run along the keelung river this morning. it was super windy, but it was a pretty peaceful place for a run. i like exploring new routes, and along this run, we actually ran past my grandma's neighborhood and around the songshan airport. there was also a route on the northern side of the river, which we'll have to try another time.

at 8am, we arrived to 奶奶's place for breakfast and she was up and dressed, and all made up! it's been a while since i've seen my 95 year old grandma in such a good mood, dressed up, and even with lipstick on :) after breakfast, my 大姑 picked us up and we drove out to 金山 to visit my grandpa's gravesite. it started pouring right after our run, and continued raining hard throughout the morning, but my grandma was determined to take us to the gravesite as it was kevin's first time to pay the visit. we fell in and out of sleep during the hour long drive, catching glimpses of the pacific ocean and the gorgeous taiwan shoreline to our right. it reminded me of driving along the 1 in oahu.

it was raining so hard and very windy when we arrived at 金山, and we had to walk four treacherous flights of stairs up the mountain to my grandpa's grave. i was very worried about my grandma, but with kevin and me by her side, and my uncle and auntie in front and back, we made it up and down with no problems. that is the last time i will let my grandma take us on a rainy day though - i regretted it immediately as we were trying to come down the mountain side.

after the tomb sweeping, we stopped by 野柳 (yeh liu) to bargain for dried seafood, and bargain we did. between my grandma, aunt, and me, we left with +20 kilos of fish floss, scallops, sakura shrimp, and various other types of dried seafood cooking products. i can't wait to put them to use!

for lunch, we dined at the taipei 101 鼎泰豐 (din tai fung), and met my close friends from tokyo days at 雞窩 (gwoo) for dinner. after being suckered into eating an obscene amount of food at breakfast and lunch, we were glad to sip on delicious chicken soup and the light-flavored dishes at dinner.

it was actually emily's last night in taiwan before her month-long australia trip, so a few of her friends came out. they were so so so funny ... after dinner, we all had drinks at a speakeasy-type bar, ounce, where PDT bartenders from nyc were mixing drinks! feels like tokyo days ...

員林

yuanlin. our plans to get out for an early 6 mile run along a relatively newly paved road around yuanlin folded when we awoke groggy-eyed on sunday morning. a horizontal sleeping surface was what the doctor ordered!

after enjoying the yuanlin grandview hotel breakfast (DELICIOUS!!!!), we drove about twenty minutes to the northern part of city to the site of the first cheng ancestor's gravesite (kevin's grandfather's grandfather). it was pretty interesting because we parked on the side of the street, and then kevin's relatives turned left and proceeded to walk between a cement wall and 3-4 ft high grass, some of them hacking the unruly, long greens with machetes along the way, creating a path to the gravesite.

we met many of kevin's relatives that he didn't recognize and hadn't met before - it was really refreshing and unexpected how kind everyone was and genuinely interested they were in getting to know us. for us, we were very interested in getting to know them as well, but we definitely felt a little uncomfortable with our own mandarin and taiwanese language skills (no taiwanese for me at all). in total, there were probably 40 or so relatives at the grave site, and another 20 or so at the mausoleum afterwards.

at the mausoleum, my FIL showed me the area with his relatives tombs were located, and in particular, his parents' tombs. this may seem morbid to some, but actually my FIL is very laid-back and relaxed, so it felt like a very humbling, intimate experience for me.

in the afternoon, we were off to taipei ...

best: although i grew up my entire life in the US, taiwanese breakfast are by far my favorite. a couple years ago, kevin introduced me to the concept of taiwanese hotel buffet breakfasts ... it was a whole new world. at the grandview hotel, i enjoyed two large servings of 稀飯 with 魚鬆 and an assortment of taiwanese breakfast sweet and savory side dishes.

worst: uhm, my FIL was set of getting us a local cell phone card and we walked what felt like 2 miles from the hotel stopping by multiple cell phone shops before we found one which sold temporary SIM cards. we were also rushing since we were on our way to lunch, so we arrived a bit sweaty and stressed, to say the least.

smile: without even realizing it, i broke out in a smile from ear to ear as our van reached taipei. even though i spend just a week each year in taiwan, the familiarity of the city, the bright restaurant and cafe signs, and the anticipation of all the food and activities for the days to come, all excited me as we arrived after a 3 hr car ride from yuanlin. it felt like the city was saying, welcome home!

早安，台南!

good morning, tainan! after arriving taoyuan at 6:30am, we headed straight for tainan to meet my father-in-law and my mother-in-law's brother, uncle austen. after a little freshening up, we went to visit kevin's grandmother, who is in her 90s, and still living in the home where my MIL grew up. we had a nice lunch together with ah-ma and my MIL's relatives, and then went back to ah-ma's house for chitchat.

that's when the sandman came calling for me. i passed out for 1-2 hrs on kevin's shoulder while they reminisced in taiwanese around me. it felt reallllly good :)

then we headed up to yuanlin to check-in to our hotel and set our eyes on the first horizontal sleeping surface we would experience in the last 48 hours. had a fancy seafood banquet style dinner with the cheng dynasty at the hotel restaurant, met kevin's dad's cousin's wife (!!) who runs her own shaved iced store nearby (!!), and oggled at hana and kiki for the rest of the night. 

sleeping on a flat surface that night never felt SO GOOD! well, actually it also felt pretty darn good after camping for 4 nights in patagonia, but who's counting :p

best: fresh watermelon juice made while you wait at taoyuan airport! a great start to my morning, which started at 6:30am after our 16 hr flight from jfk, during which i watched 6.5 movies :)

really the best: seeing kevin's dad and uncles get together in yuanlin! what a festive, fun occasion for the five brothers and their families to celebrate, and with much anticipation for the tomb sweeping events and more relatives to meet the next day. they had a heckuva mom, who gave them family and a support network for the rest of their lives. and reasons to make the annual trip to taiwan year after year as well.

worst: waiting for what felt like 1.5 hrs for lunch to be served in tainan ... it was probably more like 45 minutes, but a combination of starvation + jetlag + inability to converse in taiwanese with kevin's relatives left me a bit hangry while i watched waitresses come out with bowls and bowls of food, but none for us.

smile: today was my time taking the 台鐵  (taiwan railway) and it was very cool! we took the 高鐵 (high speed rail aka shinkansen) from taoyuan to tainan for lunch, but for dinner, my FIL took us on the taiwan railway from the old school tainan train station. it was a partial open air station built back in 1936 during the japanese occupation and looks like it hasn't been touched since its inaugural ride. it reminded me of the taiwan-japanese baseball movie, kano, which we saw last summer. the taiwan railway train was quite similar to the hsr inside, lots of leg room, reclining seats, and large windows to enjoy the countryside views.

family hotpot

today we had kevin's cousins and nieces over for our first hotpot of the season. shawn, yuka, hana, and kiki arrived around 3, and the girls were walking (no stroller for kiki anymore!), with a bag of boardgames, dessert, and their scooter in tow. it was their first time at the loft so of naturally the girls hopped merrily over the sofa cushions and glided all over the maple floors.

it was a pretty fun afternoon! the girls used some easter cookie cutouts to make sugar cookies in the shapes of rabbits, chicks, eggs, tulips, and daisies. then they taught me how to play their boardgames, which are the most adorable things! the first game was the disney enchanted cupcake party game, where the object of the game was to build two predetermined cupcakes in the theme of various disney princesses. such a cute girly game.

the second game was the sneaky, snacky squirrel game, where the object of the game was to complete a log with its five missing acorns of various colors. i grew up playing games like uno, monopoly, and scattegories. i can't remember having such cute-themed games! the final game we played was good old Chinese checkers.

mae and pierre arrived just in time for dinner, and pierre had his first taste of hotpot! dinner was relaxing and we got to hear about shawn's upcoming show in massachusetts, talk about our individual and group travel plans in taiwan, hong kong, and japan, and little sock monsters graced our dining floor pulling off and swapping socks.

note to self - prepare EXTRA white rice in the future since the little sock monsters are also little rice monsters!

after dinner, the girls iced and decorated the cookies with royal icing and various types of chocolate sprinkles, while the adults enjoyed yuka's simple, yet tasty desserts! they were a green tea ice cream + azuki bean + savory crackers concoction, and they were soooo good.

by the end of the night, the girls were tying themselves up with scarves and socks and running around the counter giggling and falling over each other, while the adults were chatting away. it's always so easy and fun hanging out with them! next time we see each other will be in yuanlin, taiwan in just three weeks time.

i heart craigslist

last week, i listed a few pre-owned items on craigslist for sale, including an hp color printer-scanner-copier, marble saarinen table, and a 3-cup zojirushi rice cooker with fuzzy technology. and in the same week, i received several emails from interested buyers for all three.

now taking photos and listing the items is quite easy and fun. but it's when the buyer asks for my address and actually comes over that always leaves me feeling a little ill-prepared and creeped out. yes, even when i live in a full-time doorman building. a lot of what if's pop into my mind .. but for the most part, i was able to schedule all of the exchanges when kevin was at the apt too.

and you know what? i had the most amazing experiences with all three buyers! :) from the courteous and prompt email correspondence to the actual meeting, all three buyers have been super friendly and kind!

i'm not sure when i started feeling so cynical and having so little faith in people in new york city, but these recent experiences have brought smiles to my face. the first guy who came to buy the rice cooker arrived by bicycle and was carrying a huge box-shaped backpack, the kind you see the pizza delivery guys wear! he asked if the rice cooker played the little music tune and chuckled and said that he loved the tune! omg ... i was touched and dropped the price immediately. LOL. after that incident, kev has been teasing me that i'm ready to give away the craigslist items to anyone who is nice to me. 

i think he's right ... i'm a terrible businessperson!

best: tried a new lunch spot and had the most amazing avocado toast  from better being! the avocado is seasoned so nicely and it's quite filling! this bad boy is definitely going into the rotation.

worst: every morning. what's up with the teammate who strolls onto the trading floor late with a breakfast order of egg whites and potatoes from fika, who proceeds to use his pepper mill to grind fresh pepper onto his eggs and position his personal ipad in between his turret and keyboard? i have not embellished this at all ...

smile: coincidentally, mae and pierre are on the same flight and seated in the same row as kevin and me for our flight back from taiwan in march! row 55, baby, we'll be guarding the toilets darn. lol.

little fat sheep friends

we left work a tad early today to take the njtransit down to edison to have dinner with pete, esther, karis, and ellie at 小肥羊, which opened recently.

pete and i grew up together in holmdel and our parents worked together at at&t, so we have known each other since we were 6-7 years old, though involuntarily initially ha. 

in high school, we started running around with the same group of math-science olympiad, frisbee-tossing, cross country friends (for the record, i wasn't smart enough to do the math-science olympiads, but i tagged along). eventually our mutual love for ultimate (frisbee), mcdonald's/taco bell, doritos, choir, and terrible jennifer aniston movies blossomed into a friendship that's lasted across the US and pacific oceans.

peter, esther, and the girls moved to redding, ca from taipei almost two years ago, so strangely while they're closer in distance, i don't know if we'll get to see them as often as we won't be able to meet during our annual pilgrimages to taiwan. sad! anyways, it was wonderful to catch up, see how much karis has grown, meet ellie for the first time, and see pete's mother for the first time in +15 years.

to hotpots every year with you guys, with tons of lotus root and wood ear for karis :) hope to see you guys soon again!!