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.