Tag: YiPo

Taiwan Trip: Visiting a Family Farm

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GongGong took me to visit YiPo’s farm.  To see a true family farm in the U.S. would typically require a drive to the rural country since none of our families have a farm in the U.S.

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The farm was chock full of vegetables, fruits and most importantly chickens.  In all of my trips to the zoo, I have never seen a chicken because they are usually not part of the usual animal-fare seen at zoos.  I guess they are considered too commonplace to have their rightful place at the zoo’s valuable real estate, but really, besides on the dinner plate, how commonplace is it to see live chickens running around? 

As soon as we arrived, YiPo released the chickens from their coop and the chickens were free to run around.  I was so amazed at how friendly they were, but I still nervous and holding onto my Mommy for my dear life.  You see, I am still a very cautious little boy when it comes to new situations.

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After visiting the chickens, we went into YiPo’s little house where I ate my first passionfruit.  It was yummy and a bit sour, just the way I like my fruit. 

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Being in the little house felt like I had gone back to a simpler way of life with only the basic necessities.  It was a neat feeling not just for me, but also for Mommy & Daddy.  Mommy couldn’t help but think that it felt a little like we were exploring with Huckleberry Finn.

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YiPo also picked fresh lemons from her tree.  These lemons look oddly different from the ones we find in the U.S., but to me, they are still fun toys. 

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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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