Part V: The Reason

I am here because this is where my family was from, where my family is, and where so many of them will continue to be.

What's been interesting is that I came really, really expecting to connect with people, with certain relatives, to relive a summer from long ago that i remembered being full of people. And I have, though not necessarily with those I expected to. But I've also connected with the actual place more than I EVER expected, and that has been amazing. But still, family is the reason I have this bond with a place that I've spent tiny percentages of my life in. Despite the conflict, the resentment, the complicated twists and turns...in the end, they define us on so many levels.

So, I suppose this is a tribute of sorts to them...although, really, I want to share some of these old photographs I found, and make some (meaningful) generational connections. :)

This first one is a family favorite, taken in 1911 of my great grandmother (maternal grandfather's mother) and her family right before she was to be married at 18. She's the second from the right, and everyone says that my mom looks like her.


Now, my great grandparents...who endured 8 children, all of which lived to adulthood. They both lived past their 90th birthdays! Go longevity. :)

This one is so old and weathered, but beautiful. My grandfather (everyone in this entry is from my mom's side) was one of 8 siblings, and the young woman in these are his little sister, one of the two girls, and second to youngest.


The ages and time part (yes, Em...) always gets to me. Here she is about my age, and us together at my cousin's engagement banquet.


Now, this is Second Grandma (since she was the second girl) with her husband, and three kids. Those are my great grandparents. The little girl is Peggy, who's son is John (below left with me and Catherine). The boy in the middle is another uncle, and his wife, younger daughter Catherine, and son Brian are below right.

Catherine, John and I are all about the same age, so we have good parties. :)


My mom and grandma, and my grandma and I. Um, how is it possible I am in the mature-looking photograph of these two??


My grandparents, and their four children. My mom is the oldest, and we are staying at Uncle Alan's, who is on the far right with my grandfather. EVERYONE makes the same three comments about this photo: my grandpa is a good lookin' guy, my aunt AnAn is adorable, and my mom looks too serious and responsible for an 8 or 9 year old. :)


My grandma loves this one because you can see their chubby legs. :p So cute.


Now, the left is my Uncle Alan and his daughter Minnie, and the right is my Aunt AnAn.


And now we move on to the next generation...Ting isn't a cousin, but her father grew up with my mom and her siblings, they basically count him as another sibling--so she's like a cousin. The middle is cousins; the right is my cousin Angela, AnAn's daughter, and her fiance Byron


Now, for Angela and Byron's engagement, there was a huge family banquet, which literally translates to "happiness alcohol"--the type of dinner it is has a LOT of toasting, and rotating...just about everyone gets a chance to move from table to table and toast those people (we had nine tables, I think), and then BE toasted as well. I love this one on the right.

And finally...


Most everyone of our family who was there that night. It's pretty awesome to be in a room, and a HUGE one at that, and know that you're related to just about everyone in some way. I especially loved how much time was spent talking about who lost their baby fat (equally referring to those in their teens and those in their 40's and 50's...hehe), and which people's kids looked like them the most...it was a fun game to play. :)

Part IV: The Red (and the Pink)

I don't have a favorite color, OK? Just in case some of you didn't know that. There are colors I always like (cerulean blue, bright red, for example) but my favorite color of the day depends on my mood and what I am inspired to like. Oh. I forgot why I explained that.
Oh! The Red. It was the overriding color theme for this entry, but notice how many colors there are...it was truly amazing to see. I love that orchid lavender and darker purple, and the mangos of course, and the black of the pillars. And fluffy white fuzzball of a dog (below).
Peggy took me to Longshan Temple, one of the most famous ones in Taipei. It's not only this big Buddhist temple, but it's become a tourist attraction for sure. It's so fascinating, and a bit sad, to see this intense cultural gathering of people and traditions, and for it to have an adjoining "Longshan Temple Underground Shopping Mall." But it's surviving and even thriving, even if it's due to some of that revenue...

People come with so many different offerings...in addition to the flowers, the array of foods and fruits is really amazing.


My mom and grandma would nurse our orchids at home, and be so, so excited about one or two flowers. Here, the orchids bloom with 20 flowers or more to a plant.


This woman is praying for a child. There are so many gods and goddesses for everything--health, success, sons, good test scores...my Aunt Peggy insisted I bow to the most well-known god of this temple to find a nice boy to "make friends with." :D



The detail is unbelievable, from the paintings on every surface to the carving on the columns and the decoration...

I like the perspective on this one...

And now for something completely unrelated!
My mom and I ended up arranging flowers at my relative's (Christian) church for three weddings that were going to take place the next day.
Which was completely random, but I got some pretty pictures of flowers...

And how exciting, I got to actually apply 4 years of Fairview decorating skills from homecoming, Winterball, or Prom to actually create this pink and white tulle arch! My life is so complete now!

Part III: The Chaos

I like shopping as much as the next person, especially when everything is so incredibly cheap.
But it's rather terrible, because it makes it that much easier to spend money...;)
Don't worry, though, friends! Your friend Angie is not throwing away her life savings...instead she is documenting OTHER people doing that!
This is one spot my aunt Peggy took Catherine and I...it's really famous with the 16-25ish crowd. A ton of these tiny little stores strung together, it's literally a maze. Please notice that all these photos I took were at 1 PM approximately, and the place was CRAZY by 3 PM. Not even enough room to take out a camera--every lane is jam-packed with shoppers. Plus the motor scooters that are trying to weave their way around, in these narrow, narrow streets. Peggy keeps on telling me to buy more stuff, and sell it back in the US to make a profit. :D

All the prices are relatively similar--everything is around $6-15. But leave it to me to find one dress that I really, really loved...and it was $90. :p We said goodbye pretty quickly...

Hehe, it looks like the mannequins are running away, too.

Why are mannequins so fascinating and creepy at the same time? Wax museums used to make me cry--I hated that they never moved...


On the left, just imagine that, triple the amount of people, and throw in a couple motor scooters, and then also some street vendors selling bubble tea or fried fish. On the right, well, it speaks for itself!


For those of you who love your handbags...eat your heart out. :p


The thing is...people are pretty fashionable here. At least, Taipei can be pretty cosmopolitan, and it shows in how seriously people take name brands and dressing well. It's really funny, I remember looking at an issue of Vogue at the airport in LA or something, and I saw the fashions in there shown in their versions of Seventeen here...But even funnier is this photo. I heart lack of spellcheck. So great. Read carefully!

Part II: The Metro

I like shiny things, easy, clean, shiny things. Thus I LOVE THE METRO.
It's unbelievable, a huge part of Taipei transportation, extremely affordable (around 60 cents, but the price depends on how long you ride for...which makes so much sense), extremely EASY to navigate, and extremely clean.

In addition to being able to get around quickly (the waiting is always less than 5 minutes...and that's an overestimation), there are a lot of rules (formal and informal) that make sense to me. One big one is no eating or drinking, you can get charged $30. Other aspects that are so efficient include lines at the busy stations to board, standing on the right side of escalators so people who want to walk can walk on the left side (do they do that in the US, too? I never paid attention), lights that flash on the platforms before the subway arrives (before you can hear it), and it SPEAKS FOUR LANGUAGES. The cars have very clear marquees that display where you're traveling from, the next stop, and the next one after that. But IT SPEAKS FOUR LANGUAGES. Does anyone else find this very cool?



There are metrocards as well (WITH student discounts). You load it, same as the NYC Metro, but instead of swiping, it's all sensors, so you can keep it in your purse or wallet without taking it out, and just pass it over the little machines (shown on right). If you don't want a card, the one time rides take plastic tokens. It reads your cards twice, once when you get on and once when you get off, so it can charge you accordingly due to distance traveled. This card is also used for the city buses (about 24 cents), and you get a discount on the metro if you use the bus first before you ride the subway. The card can also be used for parking fees, some convenient stores, and other random things...AND unlike some NYC stations, the signs are all crazy clear and visible and don't lead you to random corners. Which is nice. A lot of the stations also have malls connected to them, or underground malls that connect two stations together. We went to one to have lunch at a famous place for these little dumplings. Here are relatives, Catherine and Peggy.

This is one of the entries to the subway, a rather shiny one at that....

Here are some views from the elevated part of the subway...most of it is underground, though.

In this one, you can see the next stop ahead. I like this shot, I'm not sure why...it's kind of futuristic looking, although nothing in it is new.

A couple of different platforms, the first one is underground, the second is above ground. There are also marquees that announce how many minutes are left before the next subway arrives. I especially like how there are people in both of these people staring at me, because I was throwing away all dignity and capturing my great love for this transportation system. :)


And, seriously, I was not joking about how clean it is.


This is the outside of the Xindian Station. Doesn't it look like the convenience store is the beacon of hope for all humanity? Hum. Ponder.