The past several months we had quite a few old friends from our Tainan days came to visit us here in Yilan. I suppose this social season began after our Taipei trip to see the Anne Frank exhibition with my dear friend Alisse and her niece. After then, we were quite busy. Most guests were in with us for a day or two. What to show these cities folk? Everything related to water of course. It was hitting the lake, river, waterfalls, the beach, hot springs and if we had time for firewater, the brewery, and distillery.
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| Wanglongpi Lake with the Coolidge Clan |
Tony and his clan stayed at a temple near the beach. We took them to our home, to nearby
Wanglonpi Lake for a hike, then headed over to Loudong for lunch at
Spice Land. In the afternoon we explored
Renshan Botanic Gardens and then the nearby waterfalls. It was a sweaty, active reunion. We somehow made it to
Jim and Dad's brewery for a cold one.
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| Indian lunch at Spiceland. My kid and I gulping chai. |
There were so many macaques on our way down the Renshan trail, I was frightened. They weren't the least bit afraid of us though.
Later, my former student from kindergarten in Tainan, Emma, she just graduated from 9th grade and finished her stressful high school entrance exams. Her cool dad rewarded her with a trip to visit us. They were our good friends back then, one of the people who took my mom and us out to dinner when she came to visit.
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| Meeting Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-Je by chance, Kavalan Distillery |
They stayed at the nearby
Country Grange Guesthouse, not our first choice. The recently opened glamping
Nayi Villa was fully booked. He rented a car and our first day we went to
Jim and Dad's Brewery and the Kavalan Distillery. It was crazy timing, the mayor of Taipei, Ko Wen-Je, was there shaking hands.
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| Z and Emma catching up, Nayi Villa |
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| Checking out Nayi Villa, the new glamping village down the road from my house. |
We sampled whiskey and stayed up late drinking and catching up, the girls inside doing their thing. We also made a trip to nearby Jiaxio and had a soak in some hot springs his friend recommended. The next day we just splashed around the river near my house and ate lunch near the local fish pond.
The river by my home was a place we'd return to when my former co-worker from our kindergarten Tainan days came with his wife and young son.
We ate lunch at a local restaurant (枕頭山腳快炒), my daughter and I often go for home-cooked Taiwanese food.
Then my friend Monica (my coworker from 18 years ago in our Tamsui days) was in Jiaoxi with her sister and mother at the new
Hotel Mu. We had a swim and a dip in the public hot springs, catching up. My daughter happily played a racing game in the game room, while we chatted. She and her family sometimes made it down to Yilan in the past, and once we even were in
Okinawa at the same time, and met up then. How lucky to maintain friendships and connection throughout the years!
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| Last time I saw Eric's daughter was years ago |
Speaking of my Tamsui days (before my daughter was born, I lived in Tamsui for a year and a half), one of my first roommates was in town with his Taiwanese wife and daughter, visiting from LA. He happens to be the founder of
Happy Cow and so we were eating all vegan, new places, for his research. It was really wonderful seeing him again, it was four years since our last rendezvous and a little more than that since I met his wife ad daughter. How shocking to see how much our daughters have grown.
I'm so proud of him and the success of Happy Cow, because when we were squatting in a condemned building in Tamsui, he was starting out working on Happy Cow, and not for the money.
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| My! Have they grown! |
They came to my house and we lunched at a nearby, pretty
cafe. It kept reminding them of Hawaii. Later we went to Wanglonpi (of course) and I dropped them off at a temple near Dahu Lake (ten minutes away) where they were visiting friends.
The next day we went to Toucheng, hit the beach and went hiking for
Xinfeng Waterfall at the end of the famous Paoma Historic Trail, but we couldn't find. Thankfully we found another one (
Houdongkeng) for a nice long swim. The following day, he and his daughter and my kid and I enjoyed more playing in the mineral waters in Jiaoxi. I went more times to Jiaoxi's hot springs the past 2 months, then I did all of last year. We took them to the
Art Spa Hotel, for the waterslide of course, and then we had dinner at a new vegan mom and pop shop- more Happy Cow research. It was the 4th of July, and he wanted to have a beer and fireworks, but it was getting late and they were moving on to Hualien the next morning. We parted ways at Yilan train station and it was with quite a heavy heart saying goodbye again.
Saying goodbyes, and farewells with heavy hearts are something I should be getting used to as they are next on our agenda.
