Steve came back and before we knew it we had all fallen ill. First, Moses, then Seraphine, then myself and then Steve. So we've been running on empty here. But we are really thankful that Steve's dad is a doctor and we always have medicine when we need it. And Steve's mom has been taking care of all of us when we need it. Steve's mom suggested that he get an ultrasound for his liver and his dad suggested Seraphine get some xrays when she was having a lot of stomach pain. We would never take these measures so simply in the states because our insurance would make this difficult, but here in Taiwan, I suppose, these types of services are not unusual and covered by insurance. Plus, Steve's dad has an ultrasound machine on the second floor which makes it very convenient.
Moses is now full of energy, bounding through the house like a monkey, running when he gets picked up from school, etc. but Seraphine spent half of the day on my lap and in my arms. She has a serious case of constipation. We had to visit Steve's dad today and she was terrified. We might have to take some more extreme measures tomorrow which I will not elaborate upon here. She was hit by another little boy today while at the library. I don't know what it is with her and little boys. Either they love her to death and won't stop hugging her (Moses' classmate Howard) or they hit her. So I had to intervene again and protect her! This little girl is going through a lot here in Taichung.
We'll see how it goes tomorrow.
The daily life and adventures of a Taiwanese-American family during their extended stay in Taichung, Taiwan.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
A Trip Back "Home"
I just got back from a business trip back to the States yesterday. About four weeks ago, I received an email from another business team we work with that there would be a "face to face" (very unusual at our company these days ... most meetings are done over the phone) meeting in Boise the second week of February and that my presence was requested. I was quite excited about this both from a work point of view (a rare opportunity to connect with and meet some people I've worked with for years) but also from a personal standpoint as well. I was a bit apprehensive though as Moses' would still be on winter break and Tina would essentially be flying solo while I'm out there. Talking it through, she thought it would be OK and this would be an opportunity for us to drop off some stuff back home to lighten our load for the move back. It would also give us a chance to 'resupply' with home and food stuff as well.
The preparation leading up to the trip went quickly as I also had four days off for Chinese New Year. "Uncle Optimus" (my cousin Andrew) came for a visit which was quite nice as it distracted Moses on his 2nd week of break! Bags packed I had originally planned to take the high speed rail up to Taoyuan but didn't take into consideration that CNY meant all the trains were booked! Luckily I had enough time to catch a 2pm bus to the airport. It was a 3 1/2 hour journey (normally 2 hours) but I made it in plenty of time to check in for my flight, grab dinner, and call home before boarding EVA Airways flight 17 to SFO.
It's been a few years since I last flew EVA and they had definitely upgraded the seating and AVOD systems. I was quite excited as the flight would be on one of their relatively new Boeing 777-300 birds instead of an older 747. The economy class seat was comfortable (at first) and relatively wide with good (33") seat pitch. It felt better than a similar class seat on Singapore Airlines. The AVOD system also a new brighter touch screen system which also beats out SQ. However, four hours into the 11 hours flight my bootie was going sore and I was shifting cheeks just to keep from going numb. The food was also sub-par; I opted to eat the fruit my Mom packed for me instead. While the staff were helpful and nice, there is just something about SQ that puts it's service level from the "helpful and nice" category to "world class". (Common courtesy and Hagen Daz ice cream do help.)
Landing in SFO I was surprised to clear immigration and customs in less than 30 min. Having a five hour layover, I had scheduled time to hang out with some friends from the Bay Area so I went outside and I got my first whiff of clean air in five months. My friend Eugene and family picked me up and we went to have a snack near SFO. It was weird being back in the States and to be in somewhere I used to call home. After a much too short reunion, I was back at SFO and off to Boise Idaho.
From a work perspective, the business trip was great. I was able to meet a bunch of people and provide input for projects slated for next fiscal year. However, work trips are usually pretty tiring especially if they go on all day and social time is 'required' at night. After four days of solid meetings, it was finally off to "home" with a Delta flight down to Orange County via Salt Lake. (Yet another place I used to call "home".) My sister met me at John Wayne (I love this aiport as It's extremely easy to fly in/out of) and we she took me to her new place in Irvine. Her house was pretty much unchanged from five months ago. I was also able to crash on my old futon which was being lent to her.
The next few days were a blur of activity from my 'to do' list: visit Moses future elementary school, check on Kindergarten readiness programs, have lunch with my men's group, get rear ended on the way home (ok, that was not on the list), shop at Trader Joe's, have meeting w/ other men's group, go to Costco, stop by the Garner's (my) house to drop stuff off, have lunch w/ cousin, eat oysters, go to church, visit UC Irvine to take pictures of my sister's wedding place, have dinner w/ Tina's family, get an In N Burger, etc.
Before long, I was at LAX boarding my EVA flight back to Taiwan. It was a whirlwind trip which I'm sure I'll be paying for in the days ahead. My main concern now is how to help Tina ... She definitely needs rest after the last 10 days.
- Steve
The preparation leading up to the trip went quickly as I also had four days off for Chinese New Year. "Uncle Optimus" (my cousin Andrew) came for a visit which was quite nice as it distracted Moses on his 2nd week of break! Bags packed I had originally planned to take the high speed rail up to Taoyuan but didn't take into consideration that CNY meant all the trains were booked! Luckily I had enough time to catch a 2pm bus to the airport. It was a 3 1/2 hour journey (normally 2 hours) but I made it in plenty of time to check in for my flight, grab dinner, and call home before boarding EVA Airways flight 17 to SFO.
It's been a few years since I last flew EVA and they had definitely upgraded the seating and AVOD systems. I was quite excited as the flight would be on one of their relatively new Boeing 777-300 birds instead of an older 747. The economy class seat was comfortable (at first) and relatively wide with good (33") seat pitch. It felt better than a similar class seat on Singapore Airlines. The AVOD system also a new brighter touch screen system which also beats out SQ. However, four hours into the 11 hours flight my bootie was going sore and I was shifting cheeks just to keep from going numb. The food was also sub-par; I opted to eat the fruit my Mom packed for me instead. While the staff were helpful and nice, there is just something about SQ that puts it's service level from the "helpful and nice" category to "world class". (Common courtesy and Hagen Daz ice cream do help.)
Landing in SFO I was surprised to clear immigration and customs in less than 30 min. Having a five hour layover, I had scheduled time to hang out with some friends from the Bay Area so I went outside and I got my first whiff of clean air in five months. My friend Eugene and family picked me up and we went to have a snack near SFO. It was weird being back in the States and to be in somewhere I used to call home. After a much too short reunion, I was back at SFO and off to Boise Idaho.
From a work perspective, the business trip was great. I was able to meet a bunch of people and provide input for projects slated for next fiscal year. However, work trips are usually pretty tiring especially if they go on all day and social time is 'required' at night. After four days of solid meetings, it was finally off to "home" with a Delta flight down to Orange County via Salt Lake. (Yet another place I used to call "home".) My sister met me at John Wayne (I love this aiport as It's extremely easy to fly in/out of) and we she took me to her new place in Irvine. Her house was pretty much unchanged from five months ago. I was also able to crash on my old futon which was being lent to her.
The next few days were a blur of activity from my 'to do' list: visit Moses future elementary school, check on Kindergarten readiness programs, have lunch with my men's group, get rear ended on the way home (ok, that was not on the list), shop at Trader Joe's, have meeting w/ other men's group, go to Costco, stop by the Garner's (my) house to drop stuff off, have lunch w/ cousin, eat oysters, go to church, visit UC Irvine to take pictures of my sister's wedding place, have dinner w/ Tina's family, get an In N Burger, etc.
Before long, I was at LAX boarding my EVA flight back to Taiwan. It was a whirlwind trip which I'm sure I'll be paying for in the days ahead. My main concern now is how to help Tina ... She definitely needs rest after the last 10 days.
- Steve
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
More Winter Break Adventures
I took the kids to my friend Apple's New Year party yesterday. She invited several families and then served us a delicious home-cooked meal. She was so hospitable and yet so completely down to earth so we all felt much at home. Her home is on a top floor of a beautiful apartment building with some lovely views of the city. It is an ultra modern pad with each design element an absolute work of art. It's the type of place you don't need to decorate much because the design and materials exude style and elegance. Needless to say, I would love to live in that bright, sunlit modern place with a window seat overlooking the park!
The kids and I visited Moses' school in the afternoon, chatted with his teachers (who had to work), and bought french fries and green beans from our favourite fry shop right before dinner. (Woops.)
Today was also fun. Moses is learning to write his letters while we played bank teller and postal worker. We bought another overpriced sippy straw (these things are expensive here) and walked to Orange Factory. They usually do not let us have an extra cup there so sharing the drinks with S and M are always a little tricky. Luckily the kind woman who has a sister who lives in Long Beach broke the rules for me and gave me an extra cup. I think she is the owner, actually, so it was okay. She also told one of the cashiers to wait until we left to set off the fireworks. He was going to do it right in front of Seraphine!
We were able to watch from the sidelines and Moses saw his first Chinese firecrackers.
By the way, Seraphine was bullied by two boys in the baby store while I was trying to insist on ordering those sippy straw cups with the very frustrating staff at this baby store. (The staff seems to not understand what a mom with a toddler needs when she goes into a baby store. For example, they don't seem to understand that it's hard to go up stairs with a toddler and carry two bags of diapers down the stairs while also carrying the toddler, that running out of supplies is very difficult and can be "life or death", that concentration is compromised when a toddler is pulling all the items off the shelf is difficult, etc., etc.)But back to Seraphine, while I was trying to insist that the shopkeeper get me those refills because that's the only cup I have and I don't want to spend another $5 on a malfunctioning sippy cup, two boys aged 3 and 1 started literally beating up on Seraphine! They were hitting her! I used a very LOUD and stern Mommy Bear voice and said in my very American Accent while shaking my finger, "NO-NO" "NO-NO" And then in Chinese, "This is WRONG!" Then I tried to smile at the children when their mommy pulled them away, but I could not do so. How dare they bully her. She was okay, just stunned. I gave her a piece of chewy milk candy right in front of the little 1 year old boy. He stared at me longingly. I wouldn't have given him one even if I had another piece. Meanwhile Moses is sitting on the slide outside oblivious. Of course I had a talk with him afterwards about protecting his little sister and what he should do if this should ever happen again. If this were to happen again, I would have said even more to those little boys and make it a lesson for all the little children around.
After Orange Factory (Try 3C if you ever get a chance) and the caffeine lift, we walked over to get Moses' haircut and then to the teacher's college. At the college, we explored the buildings and we role played "college student". We pretended we were taking classes and studying. My persona had great study habits and took her coursework seriously. It's never too early to model the importance of doing well in school! Moses' persona was also a very good student with a heavy workload and boundless work ethic. He is learning so much here in Taichung, you see!
Well, that's all for now. More fun tomorrow. I don't know what has gotten into me. I had a bit of a spiritual awakening a couple weeks ago at church and I have become so POSITIVE. I think it's this incessant sunshine.....
---PTW
The kids and I visited Moses' school in the afternoon, chatted with his teachers (who had to work), and bought french fries and green beans from our favourite fry shop right before dinner. (Woops.)
Today was also fun. Moses is learning to write his letters while we played bank teller and postal worker. We bought another overpriced sippy straw (these things are expensive here) and walked to Orange Factory. They usually do not let us have an extra cup there so sharing the drinks with S and M are always a little tricky. Luckily the kind woman who has a sister who lives in Long Beach broke the rules for me and gave me an extra cup. I think she is the owner, actually, so it was okay. She also told one of the cashiers to wait until we left to set off the fireworks. He was going to do it right in front of Seraphine!
We were able to watch from the sidelines and Moses saw his first Chinese firecrackers.
By the way, Seraphine was bullied by two boys in the baby store while I was trying to insist on ordering those sippy straw cups with the very frustrating staff at this baby store. (The staff seems to not understand what a mom with a toddler needs when she goes into a baby store. For example, they don't seem to understand that it's hard to go up stairs with a toddler and carry two bags of diapers down the stairs while also carrying the toddler, that running out of supplies is very difficult and can be "life or death", that concentration is compromised when a toddler is pulling all the items off the shelf is difficult, etc., etc.)But back to Seraphine, while I was trying to insist that the shopkeeper get me those refills because that's the only cup I have and I don't want to spend another $5 on a malfunctioning sippy cup, two boys aged 3 and 1 started literally beating up on Seraphine! They were hitting her! I used a very LOUD and stern Mommy Bear voice and said in my very American Accent while shaking my finger, "NO-NO" "NO-NO" And then in Chinese, "This is WRONG!" Then I tried to smile at the children when their mommy pulled them away, but I could not do so. How dare they bully her. She was okay, just stunned. I gave her a piece of chewy milk candy right in front of the little 1 year old boy. He stared at me longingly. I wouldn't have given him one even if I had another piece. Meanwhile Moses is sitting on the slide outside oblivious. Of course I had a talk with him afterwards about protecting his little sister and what he should do if this should ever happen again. If this were to happen again, I would have said even more to those little boys and make it a lesson for all the little children around.
After Orange Factory (Try 3C if you ever get a chance) and the caffeine lift, we walked over to get Moses' haircut and then to the teacher's college. At the college, we explored the buildings and we role played "college student". We pretended we were taking classes and studying. My persona had great study habits and took her coursework seriously. It's never too early to model the importance of doing well in school! Moses' persona was also a very good student with a heavy workload and boundless work ethic. He is learning so much here in Taichung, you see!
Well, that's all for now. More fun tomorrow. I don't know what has gotten into me. I had a bit of a spiritual awakening a couple weeks ago at church and I have become so POSITIVE. I think it's this incessant sunshine.....
---PTW
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Night at the Movies and Afternoon with Family
Steve and I finally went to see a movie at the theaters across the street! It only cost $110NT for two tickets. After the kids went to bed we walked across the street to watch the Social Network. It was a great movie. We especially enjoyed all the Stanford and Palo Alto references.
It was another beautiful sunny day in Taichung, which makes me believe this is certainly the best city to be residing in on the island. After taking Steve to the bus station (he is going to Idaho for a business trip) we strolled through the Sunrise shopping center and found a beautiful dress for Steve's mom to wear to Jasmin's engagement party. We were also able to partake of Moss Burger for the first time (it was yummy) and to enjoy the English magazines in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express. The Express is brand new and very nice. There was a young singer in the restaurant area who played soulful indie sounding ballads accompanied by acoustic guitar --in English.
Lastly, there is an ice cream treat from a place called 美方 that I am absolutely addicted to. It's like ice-cream but thick enough to be molded into small rectangles and with distinctive flavors such as taro, green bean, peanut, red bean, and passion fruit. It is kind of the consistency of a thick popsicle that is all flavor.
I will definitely be eating as much as I can of this while I am still here in Taichung.
--PTW
It was another beautiful sunny day in Taichung, which makes me believe this is certainly the best city to be residing in on the island. After taking Steve to the bus station (he is going to Idaho for a business trip) we strolled through the Sunrise shopping center and found a beautiful dress for Steve's mom to wear to Jasmin's engagement party. We were also able to partake of Moss Burger for the first time (it was yummy) and to enjoy the English magazines in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express. The Express is brand new and very nice. There was a young singer in the restaurant area who played soulful indie sounding ballads accompanied by acoustic guitar --in English.
Lastly, there is an ice cream treat from a place called 美方 that I am absolutely addicted to. It's like ice-cream but thick enough to be molded into small rectangles and with distinctive flavors such as taro, green bean, peanut, red bean, and passion fruit. It is kind of the consistency of a thick popsicle that is all flavor.
I will definitely be eating as much as I can of this while I am still here in Taichung.
--PTW
Friday, February 4, 2011
Chen Family Reunion
We drove to Chang Hwa today for the annual New Year's lunch with Steve's Dad's uncle's (his dad's younger brother) family. His uncle has six children and they usually all come back and live in their parents' big four story house on the second day of Chinese New Year.
We lunched at a vegetarian restaurant (the family is I-Guan- Dao) and then visited their home for a short visit. The food was delicious and Taiwanese banquet style (ban do). Steve's grandfather had five sisters and one brother so it was interesting to meet all the family that I never knew I had. They were all kind and hospitable. We promised to join them for the tomb sweeping activity at the end of March.
Our little jalopy made it all the way there and back!
--PTW
We lunched at a vegetarian restaurant (the family is I-Guan- Dao) and then visited their home for a short visit. The food was delicious and Taiwanese banquet style (ban do). Steve's grandfather had five sisters and one brother so it was interesting to meet all the family that I never knew I had. They were all kind and hospitable. We promised to join them for the tomb sweeping activity at the end of March.
Our little jalopy made it all the way there and back!
--PTW
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Chinese New Year
Went to a SPA yesterday with some friends. It was mix of indoor swimming pool and onsen for families.
Lots of spas in different temperatures and with different characteristics such as rose water, lavendar water, bubbles, massage showers, Chinese herbal medicine, etc. Too bad the kiddie pool was closed.
Today is Chinese New Year. Our family took a road trip to Asia University and we were able to stroll in the sunshine, admire flowers, watch the children run around, and feed the fish. Ma and Ba treated us to delicious dim sum and taro ice cream. We are so thankful that our family is healthy and able to enjoy such moments together.
Next year I want to start some Chinese New Year traditions for our family: new clothes, cleaning the house, vegetables on New Year morning, hot pot on New Year's Eve, and fa gao and nian gao. I especially enjoy the fact that Chinese New Year gives me a chance to start afresh and throw away the old spiritually, as well. And put on a garment of praise to God. New Year Day is always so close to Christmas that I don't really have a chance to reflect and seek God every year. I'm just trying to recover from the holidays in general. Chinese New Year provides the perfect distance for planning new beginnings.
Our family really wants to devote ourselves more to God this year, not just do the motions of Christianity, which is quite dull. We want God's power to be seen in our lives. But we know that change has to start from within. Taiwan has helped us see the condition of our hearts, something that is easily masked by the daily business of life in Orange County and church life in general.
One thing we have started doing is incorporating repentance in our times of family prayer. Steve and I are still reading the Bible together almost every evening. Last night Steve encouraged me with the thought that if Judas had not taken his life he would have seen Jesus' resurrection. Jesus would have forgiven him and perhaps Judas would have become a powerful witness to Christ like Peter was. How often do we just give up when we mess up? Take things into our own hands? Missed His revelations in our despair? Forgotten that we can bring each place of despair to our Father who cares and wants to heal and repair?
Tonight we discussed faith. Upon Jesus' crucifixon, bodies of believers were raised from the dead and even walked around. The curtain of the temple was rent. There was a earthquake. Darkness for three hours. Some believed in Jesus' deity at that point. Some did not. I have seen miracle after miracle after miracle after miracle and yet my faith still wavers. Why? We thought of two reasons: 1) we don't practice our faith and 2) we forget the miracles (places where we see God clearly at work) because we do not nurture our spirit lives. We are only living in the flesh. For this reason I am writing this blog. So I don't forget.
--PTW (Tina's new signature)
Lots of spas in different temperatures and with different characteristics such as rose water, lavendar water, bubbles, massage showers, Chinese herbal medicine, etc. Too bad the kiddie pool was closed.
Today is Chinese New Year. Our family took a road trip to Asia University and we were able to stroll in the sunshine, admire flowers, watch the children run around, and feed the fish. Ma and Ba treated us to delicious dim sum and taro ice cream. We are so thankful that our family is healthy and able to enjoy such moments together.
Next year I want to start some Chinese New Year traditions for our family: new clothes, cleaning the house, vegetables on New Year morning, hot pot on New Year's Eve, and fa gao and nian gao. I especially enjoy the fact that Chinese New Year gives me a chance to start afresh and throw away the old spiritually, as well. And put on a garment of praise to God. New Year Day is always so close to Christmas that I don't really have a chance to reflect and seek God every year. I'm just trying to recover from the holidays in general. Chinese New Year provides the perfect distance for planning new beginnings.
Our family really wants to devote ourselves more to God this year, not just do the motions of Christianity, which is quite dull. We want God's power to be seen in our lives. But we know that change has to start from within. Taiwan has helped us see the condition of our hearts, something that is easily masked by the daily business of life in Orange County and church life in general.
One thing we have started doing is incorporating repentance in our times of family prayer. Steve and I are still reading the Bible together almost every evening. Last night Steve encouraged me with the thought that if Judas had not taken his life he would have seen Jesus' resurrection. Jesus would have forgiven him and perhaps Judas would have become a powerful witness to Christ like Peter was. How often do we just give up when we mess up? Take things into our own hands? Missed His revelations in our despair? Forgotten that we can bring each place of despair to our Father who cares and wants to heal and repair?
Tonight we discussed faith. Upon Jesus' crucifixon, bodies of believers were raised from the dead and even walked around. The curtain of the temple was rent. There was a earthquake. Darkness for three hours. Some believed in Jesus' deity at that point. Some did not. I have seen miracle after miracle after miracle after miracle and yet my faith still wavers. Why? We thought of two reasons: 1) we don't practice our faith and 2) we forget the miracles (places where we see God clearly at work) because we do not nurture our spirit lives. We are only living in the flesh. For this reason I am writing this blog. So I don't forget.
--PTW (Tina's new signature)
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Visit to Ban Chiao
We had a wonderful visit to Ban Chiao (my dad's hometown) yesterday. The purpose of the trip was to wish my grandfather's younger brother and family a Happy Chinese New Year. I had lived with them for a summer during college and I feel very close to them.
Upon arriving, I found out that my grand aunt had just been released from the hospital for intestine surgery. She is old, in her eighties! Anyway, she is the type of person who is always so busy hosting I never have a chance to talk to her, but this time, doctor's orders, she resigned herself to sitting and being served. We had a great talk over lunch and shared some precious memories. She even agreed to my praying for her and then told me she would send me my favorite cakes. What was best about the visit was that the entire family keep calling me ga-te-lang, or close family. For example, we didn't prepare you anything special because you are ga-te-lang. (It was actually a delicious home made meal, but I know what they meant).
I almost cancelled the visit because I felt sick to my stomach that morning and had no sleep the night before, but I am so glad that we decided to go.
Another plus is that Moses and I spent some much needed mother son time together. Children are free on the HSR and you don't need to pay unless you specifically buy them a seat. I therefore only bought one ticket each way but we were fortunate enough to have an empty seat for Moses on each trip even on a busy Chinese NewYear travel date. Moses especially enjoyed riding business class and was eager to delineate all its advantages.
A Pleasant Friday
I have had the two kids for over a week now (Moses is on winter break for 3 weeks) and I have managed to survive. Thankfully, Moses is interested in learning to write his numbers so he is happy to trace and draw and Seraphine does not mind copying everything he does. We stayed in for the morning then went out for some afternoon diversions.
We stopped by our favorite fry shop which sells freshly fried french fries sprinkled with salt and pepper, went to pick up High Speed Rail tickets, and then stopped by my favorite dou hua stand for steaming sweet soft tofu with red beans and barley.
On the way home we walked through the Teacher's college. Moses suggested we explore the art building. At first I was not so keen, but he was insistent. And I was glad we decided to go in. We explored the art studios and pretended to be painters and sculptors. I introduced him to the various supplies in the studios. We admired the paintings on the walls, and even got the chance to observe a student producing a huge ink painting. An hour passed quickly and before long we were on our way home in time for dinner.
Except for Seraphine's temper tantrums on the way home (good thing the college is just next door), it was a nice and easy afternoon with the kids.
--Tina
We stopped by our favorite fry shop which sells freshly fried french fries sprinkled with salt and pepper, went to pick up High Speed Rail tickets, and then stopped by my favorite dou hua stand for steaming sweet soft tofu with red beans and barley.
On the way home we walked through the Teacher's college. Moses suggested we explore the art building. At first I was not so keen, but he was insistent. And I was glad we decided to go in. We explored the art studios and pretended to be painters and sculptors. I introduced him to the various supplies in the studios. We admired the paintings on the walls, and even got the chance to observe a student producing a huge ink painting. An hour passed quickly and before long we were on our way home in time for dinner.
Except for Seraphine's temper tantrums on the way home (good thing the college is just next door), it was a nice and easy afternoon with the kids.
--Tina
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