Merry Christmas!

So I wrote on my Facebook status ‘Christmas in Asia is…business as usual…sigh’, that kind of sums up my Christmas this year. For the second time since I was 6, my Christmas was spent working, 3 hours total of commuting, and suffering from the bewildered looks of my coworkers when I wish them Merry Christmas. Sadly Christmas is just another day here in Taiwan, celebrated only by shopping malls and restaurants in order to try to generate more revenue for the year end. Some people do take it off, usually Christians or people looking for excuse to take a day off. The big holiday in China and Taiwan of course is Chinese New Years which this year comes in the 3rd week of February. So it would be a little strange celebrating 2 big holidays so close to each other especially since Christmas is so revolved around Christianity. However…it is a little strange going about it like it is just another day.

So yesterday on Christmas Eve in order to put a little of the Christmas spirit into our lives, Annie and I did fork out the money to eat a ‘Christmas Dinner’ at one of the better restaurants here in Hsinchu. The place was decorated nicely with Christmas trees, candles, and balloons. They even had a choir singing Christmas carols in English and Chinese to everyone. Mimi got a chance to meet Santa for the second time in her life, of course this was the first Chinese Santa she met and he wasn’t that fat…kinda slim actually for a Santa. I think Mimi was a little freaked out as you can see from the picture. Anyways though Christmas is what it is here in Taiwan…Annie, Mimi, and I with everyone a happy and safe holidays. Merry Christmas everyone!

Little Reo

I just recently came back from a business trip to San Jose. During the end of my visit I stayed over at my friend Matt’s place and had the opportunity to see his 7 week old baby boy for the first time. I bought Reo a Mickey Mouse plush doll which is as big as he is right now.

Seeing little Reo made me remember how small, cute, and vulnerable Mimi use to be. Of course later I remember the nights after waking up at 2am and 6am to baby’s crying.

Nai-Wan Trip

Yesterday the weather was unreasonably good, 80 degrees, cool and sunny. Since it was the last weekend my parents will be here before going back to U.S. on Tuesday we decide to go to Nai-Wan which is a touristy place up in the mountains near Hsinchu. Of course we weren’t the only people to take advantage of the good weather, apparently millions of Taiwan people had the same idea. Besides the masses of people, it was a good time with lots of good food. Mimi had a blast since she to go fish and play on the trampoline for her first time. We thought she would be scared but she was excited and like any little kid…fearless. Mimi keep talking about it all throughout the night and asking when we can go back. It’s a good first memory for her. Check out the photos and the video...

People Mountain People Sea...

Will Never See in America...

Famous Nai-Wan Hanging Bridge

Mimi on the Trampoline

The Famous Nai-Wan Pork Sausages

Mimi Fishing

Video...

Hualian 2009

Finally got my Hualian pictures up in my picture gallery. This Thanksgiving my family including my parents and sister went to Hualian for a small vacation. Hualian is a small city on the eastern side of Taiwan. Because the east side of Taiwan is mountainous, it has stayed relatively untouched by industry and is considered a must see tourist spot.

Here are some highlights….

6:00 am – rise and shine Mimi!


At the Beach


Mimi at the Entrance to the National Park


Walking along the Canyon

At the hanging bridge

King Kong Mountain

Thanksgiving Chicken

The Famous Hualian Spring Onion Pancakes

The Famous Hualian Pig’s Lard used to fry the Spring Onion Pancakes

Star Sign Weddings

Weddings in the Asian culture are very different then western weddings. I think you can write a whole book on the ceremonies, traditions, and small details which needs to follow. From gifts, number of cars to pick up the bride, who to give red envelops too…everything has some sort of meaning which people still follow even though they may not fully understand it.

One of the traditions is that when picking out a wedding date, you don’t just pick the most convenient time or when your place to hold the ceremony is available. The main factor in selecting a wedding date depends on the star signs. Everyday there is a whole systems of factors in which the Chinese fortune tellers knows if it is a lucky day or a bad day. So if you want to get married and are selecting a date, you will look at which days is considered a lucky day…then you can see if your ceremony place or restaurant is available on that day.

The star signs not only apply to weddings, but they also influence in a smaller scale to moving to new house, traveling, and even when you should hold funerals. So for example in the Lunar calendar, the 7th month is called the ghost month in which the spirits are more closer to the real world. During this month, you are not suppose to get married or move to a new place. So during ghost month wedding halls are all pretty empty.

Last Sunday Nov 29th was a very lucky day for weddings. That day, Annie and I went up to Taipei to attend Annie’s classmates wedding. My parents and sister went to TaiChong to attend my cousin’s wedding. Annie’s parents took Mimi to attend their daughter-in-law’s brother’s wedding. So on the same day our family attended 3 different weddings. I want to wish congratulations to Lyon and Isabella, my cousin Vivian and Steve, and to the people whose wedding my daughter attended.

I don’t know if star sign weddings have any real meaning or not. It is very inconvenient in a lot of ways because on lucky days everyone wants to hold their wedding so wedding halls or restaurants have to be fought over. Also no one really understands how the days are selected and why they are luckier then others. But then I guess that is why you call it a tradition.

Mimi versus The Stinky Tofu

For those of you that have been to Taiwan you will know what Stinky Tofu is. For those of you who have never been to Taiwan, you might have heard of it and if you have smelled it…you would never forget it. Stinky Tofu is a very Taiwanese delicacy involving tofu that is usually fried or steamed. How it’s made…well I don’t really know but there are stories usually involving some type of ammonia and fermentation. The reason it is called Stinky Tofu is that it gives out a very distinctive odor, when very strong it literally smells like a dog s**t, a big pile of fresh hot dog s**t. It’s not my favorite…I can usually man up to eat the fried ones but the steamed…no way. The steamed ones smell is about twice as strong and the texture…let’s just say I have never eaten dog s**t, but I can imagine that it tastes exactly like that.

So we took my sister to the night market and we decide to try to have some stinky tofu. It was Mimi’s first and well she put up a brave front. Here is the video…

32 and Counting….

Ok…I’m not dead…my previous camera is dead, but I am not. My previous camera fell victim to a deadly destructive force called Mimi which, in turn, lapsed into a long blog rest by yours truly. I know, sad excuse but it is an excuse. I could have bought a new camera however my money has been going to other things recently. I could have used Annie’s SLR however I hate lugging around that thing. Also the SLR has a million functions but one of them is not recording videos which I think is very strange.

However there are no more excuses now, my sister just gave me a new camera for Christmas because she was sick and tired of asking how Mimi is doing and my only reply is that she is doing good. So here is a quick update on me and my family, and while there has been many good moments which unfortunately passed this last 2 years…well I hope to capture the next couple…or at least until Mimi strikes again on my new camera.

32 and counting…and keeping my weight down…

Mimi…more grown up but as silly and cute as ever

New house…first house…beautiful house…

Mom and Daughter…