After more than a decade of absence from the island, our family finally had an opportunity to revisit Taiwan. It was Megan's first trip, but even for our teenagers they had forgotten the previous visit. So with a lot of planning, our trip finally began on March 24.
After a long plane ride, we were greeted by our old friends, the Pascual's. Meeting the Pascual's again was like a reunion with family not seen for many years. Sweet and memorable were our embraces. We only stayed with Pascual's one evening before touring the famous Ali Shan. The trip to Ali Shan was long and tiring. When we arrived there, it was very cold. Luckily the Pascual's had lent us jackets to survive the journey. Despite these challenges, we were able to view the floating clouds at sunset and the beautiful sunrise. The next day, Li-Fang was able to visit her old art teacher and walk onto the campus of her high school. Although many things had changed, she was able to find her old dorms and classrooms. On Sunday, we walked to the Tainan 3rd Ward and attended church there.
On Monday, thanks to Grandma, we took a bus tour of southern Taiwan, including a Buddhist temple, a rice wine factory, an exciting boat ride with oysters and fish, the Tsingtao beer factory, and a Thai village. Then it was good to go back and enjoy a quiet Family Home Evening with Grandpa. The rest of the week was filled with visits and reunions with relatives and friends. We visited with Li-Fang's high school classmate in Hsin Shih, her dad's relatives, her cousin and aunt at the Cafe Grazie Restaurant, he aunt's beach mansion, her coworker in Anping, reunion with several of her classmates, her cousin in a nice restaurant, and her coworker's family at Cheng Kong University.
Then the Pascual family picked us up with their large van. They drove us to Kaohsiung, where we met with Yang Lei and his wife, Ma Tzu Lin, our old friends from Purdue University. They took us to visit the family of Benjamin Chen. Afterwards, Yang Lei treated everyone to dinner at the cafeteria at his university. On Sunday, we went to church at the Pingtung Ward. After church, Li-Fang's classmate, Zhang Li-Ping came to pick us up to go to her home in the country. The home was large in a rural area and had been a pig farm. She fed us bantiao (thick noodles).
The Pascuals drove us to Ri Yue Tang (Sun Moon Lake
We rode a taxi to the airport without saying goodbye to the Pascuals who were still asleep at 6am. At the airport we were surprised by the Pascual family who came all the way to the airport just to say goodbye. We all participated in a long group hug. They accompanied us to the security gate. We bid farewell again.
In less than two weeks, we went up and down one side of the island, visited a dozen cities, saw over 50 friends and relatives, and enjoyed lots and lots of delicious food. So, sit back and enjoy the photos.
After a long plane ride, we were greeted by our old friends, the Pascual's. Meeting the Pascual's again was like a reunion with family not seen for many years. Sweet and memorable were our embraces. We only stayed with Pascual's one evening before touring the famous Ali Shan. The trip to Ali Shan was long and tiring. When we arrived there, it was very cold. Luckily the Pascual's had lent us jackets to survive the journey. Despite these challenges, we were able to view the floating clouds at sunset and the beautiful sunrise. The next day, Li-Fang was able to visit her old art teacher and walk onto the campus of her high school. Although many things had changed, she was able to find her old dorms and classrooms. On Sunday, we walked to the Tainan 3rd Ward and attended church there.
On Monday, thanks to Grandma, we took a bus tour of southern Taiwan, including a Buddhist temple, a rice wine factory, an exciting boat ride with oysters and fish, the Tsingtao beer factory, and a Thai village. Then it was good to go back and enjoy a quiet Family Home Evening with Grandpa. The rest of the week was filled with visits and reunions with relatives and friends. We visited with Li-Fang's high school classmate in Hsin Shih, her dad's relatives, her cousin and aunt at the Cafe Grazie Restaurant, he aunt's beach mansion, her coworker in Anping, reunion with several of her classmates, her cousin in a nice restaurant, and her coworker's family at Cheng Kong University.
Then the Pascual family picked us up with their large van. They drove us to Kaohsiung, where we met with Yang Lei and his wife, Ma Tzu Lin, our old friends from Purdue University. They took us to visit the family of Benjamin Chen. Afterwards, Yang Lei treated everyone to dinner at the cafeteria at his university. On Sunday, we went to church at the Pingtung Ward. After church, Li-Fang's classmate, Zhang Li-Ping came to pick us up to go to her home in the country. The home was large in a rural area and had been a pig farm. She fed us bantiao (thick noodles).
The Pascuals drove us to Ri Yue Tang (
We rode a taxi to the airport without saying goodbye to the Pascuals who were still asleep at 6am. At the airport we were surprised by the Pascual family who came all the way to the airport just to say goodbye. We all participated in a long group hug. They accompanied us to the security gate. We bid farewell again.
In less than two weeks, we went up and down one side of the island, visited a dozen cities, saw over 50 friends and relatives, and enjoyed lots and lots of delicious food. So, sit back and enjoy the photos.
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