Tag: GongGong

Taiwan Trip: Two Weddings!

In the two weeks we were in Taiwan, not only did we attend Uncle Dedo and Aunt Holly’s wedding in Taipei, we also attended Calvin’s cousin’s wedding in ZhongLi.  The wedding were quite different in style so it was interesting to see the dichotomy.

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Uncle Dedo & Aunt Holly’s Wedding

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Uncle Dedo & Aunt Holly’s wedding was a mix of American- and Taiwanese-style wedding traditions.  American traditions are:  Western-style wedding ceremony, speeches made by both sides of the wedding party, first dance, tossing of the bouquet, cutting of the wedding cake, and dancing.  Taiwanese traditions are:  “fetching” of the bride, huge banquet feast, toasting at each table, and parents of the groom and bride appearing on stage to thank the guests.  

My big role during the wedding was welcoming Aunt Holly into the Liang Family.  To get ready for my big role, I got a haircut ($80 NT which is about $3 USD) and wore my tuxedo.  

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Even though I am technically not a “Liang,” Aunt Holly requested that I be the honorary boy who will present her with oranges once she arrives at the Liang Family “home” (Grand Hyatt Hotel).   Apparently, oranges are a sign of fertility and the bride needs to rub her hands on them upon arrival.  PoPo and Mommy found two of the prettiest-looking oranges and GongGong tried to secure them onto a red plate withe velcro so that they wouldn’t fall off.  Unfortunately, I became extremely interested in the velcro and started to peel them off the oranges.  Needless to say, the velcro didn’t do much. 

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Unfortunately, I was only awake for the wedding ceremony and then I fell asleep in my stroller.  It’s too bad because I think I could have had a great time with the other kids at the wedding banquet.

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(Photo taken by Uncle Wade)

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(Photo taken by Aunt Ellie)

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Aunt XinJe’s Wedding

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Calvin’s cousin’s wedding was an entirely traditional Taiwanese wedding with presentation of gifts to the bride and groom’s families, “fetching” of the bride, tea ceremony, thanking of the parents and large banquet.  The bride was sent off with her suitcases and bedding for her new bed and was also not permitted to return to her parent’s home for several nights.  It’s interesting to see a traditional wedding because it’s probably a dying art, but Mommy can’t help but wonder how sad the occasion must be for the bride to have to “leave” her family, especially with all of the traditional formalities that make it even more difficult. 

As you can see, I really liked my YiPo:

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I didn’t have a role at this wedding, but I had to the chance to meet PoPo’s entire side of the family, including A-Tai (PoPo’s father).

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Taiwan Trip: Going South!

Right after we arrived in Taiwan, GongGong and PoPo took us to the southern parts of Taiwan by car for three days.  It was loads and loads of fun.  Our travel freedom was only possible because GongGong and PoPo have a car.

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Our first stop at Sun Moon Lake where we stayed at Fleur de Chine Hotel (雲品酒店) in a Japanese-style room.  It reminded Mommy and Daddy of the sea-side hotel they stayed at in Atami, Japan with wonderful ocean views.  The view at Fleur de Chine Hotel was also spectacular as it sits right on the lake. 

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I loved this hotel not only because they have a multi-level playground with an enormous ball pit…

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…but also because of the tatami-style flooring which the staff converted to a bed at night time. 

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This meant that all 5 of us slept in a row and it was quite cozy.  As PoPo said, she could hear three generations of snoring (GongGong, Daddy, and me).  Yes, I have been known to snore when I am very tired.

Because this was a hot springs hotel, it had a very traditional onsen similar to the ones in Japan.  I got to experience my first hot spring with GongGong and Daddy.

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The next night, we went to Kaoshiung were we stayed at a hotel located in the tallest building there.  We visited the night market there, but it was only mediocre compared to ShiLin.  While on the road, Daddy would read about different, famous local cuisine, so we ventured to all those places and tried:

– “Green bean garlic” which is actually a sweet dessert soup what was quite yummy.  We all agreed the cold version is better than the hot version.

– Black bean tofu dessert which is also sweet, but make from black bean rather than the traditional soy bean.  This was also quite good.

– “Coffin” toast which is thick toast with the top cut out like a coffin and stuffed with veggies/meat.  It was surprisingly yummy too.

Further south near KenDing, we stayed at Mudan Hot Springs Hotel (牡丹風情溫泉行館) which was just as amazing as the first hotel.

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GongGong particularly like the egg-like pod on our balcony:

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We had two hot springs tubs in our room, one indoors and one outdoors.  

The property also had multiple other hot baths with different therapies (egg, red wine, herbal, etc).   Although not advertised at all, there is a pond of skin-eating fish which did magic to get rid of the callous on Mommy and Daddy’s feet.  It’s amazing that such a therapy would cost $35 for 15 minutes at a local salon in Virginia, but it’s completely free and not even advertised at this hotel. 

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The Mudan Hotel also had the best unassuming, homestyle food.  They even prepared an entire tray of vegetarian food for Mommy.

While in the area, we visited the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium and it was amazing.    It is probably the nicest aquariums Mommy & Daddy have ever gone to, even more spectacular than the Baltimore Aquarium and Atlantis in the Bahamas.  While there, I got to see feeding of penguins and sharks. 

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The next day, we drove along the coast of Taiwan at KenDing and Mommy were Daddy were amazed that such scenery existed in Taiwan.  It reminded them of the shoreline in California.

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I am still very much afraid of sand and I am not sure why.  Maybe it’s because I don’t like things sticking to my skin and sand definitely sticks to my skin.  My phobia really hasn’t improved since my first exposure to sand in the playground at Battery Park City.  Mommy & Daddy are really hoping that I grow out of this because they both really love being at the beach.

We visited the Southern-most tip of Taiwan.  GongGong says on a clear day, it’s possible to see the Phillippines from this site.  It’s kind of like the Southern-most tip of Florida, where on a good day, it’s also possible to see Cuba.

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On our drive back to Taipei, we drove by a flower field and knowing my Daddy, we had to stop the car to take some photos.  This scenery was so similar to the flower field we saw in Napa.  Ordinarily, I love flowers, but in this case, I saw a bee up close and was scared.  Daddy was able to get one good shot of me before I managed to make my way out of the flower field. 

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We also drove past the town where 蓮霧  (wax apple in English) is grown. We bought some from a fruit stand on the side of the road (still with the leaves attached).  It was by far the best tasting wax apple any of us had ever tasted.

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Thanks to GongGong and PoPo for taking us to see these lovely places!