A Splash of Salutations: The Season of Hello-Goodbyes

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.

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.

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.

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.

Z and Emma catching up, Nayi Villa

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!

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.

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.

Weekend Fellowship: Saturday in Yuanlin

This weekend I was blessed being with old and recently new friends. I knew this weekend I was going to meet up with Eric my old roommate from my Taipei days. I could have gone up to Taichung and met up with him and his old friend Andy, but I really wanted to meet his family, which were in Yuanlin.

About 9 years ago we both were squatting in an abandoned, condemned apartment building in Chuwei, just around the corner from the Kid Castle I used to work at. I sure saved some money living there. We had cable TV, internet, water, electricity. The things you do when you're young I guess. At the time he was just ending  a relationship with a woman  from Sweden and dating some Taiwanese women, one whom became one of my best friends (Alisse). He is from Santa Monica and has been to Thailand a  crazy number of times, plus India and so many other places, used to have a guru, etc. When we lived together he was always in purple Thai fisherman's pants and always was talking about karma, God and his relationships. And now after all these years we both are parents. He is married to a wonderful Taiwanese American woman named Diane and they are blessed with little Shanti, who has the cutest little voice I have ever heard. Poor doll was covered in mosquito bites and Eric was worried that it was something else.

Holding two angels

It was great seeing him waiting at the train station. Eric still looked the same just a little silver around his ears, but none the worse, now he is looking distinguished. Eric is the creator of the Happy Cow website that is an international guide to vegan and vegetarian restaurants. He was working on it back in the day and now he has people working under him and has been offered tons of money to sell his site. (He turned down the offers because he didn't believe their principles were as similar as his.)

It was a rainy day and we were kind of stuck indoors. Diane's mom had lunch prepared, which was hot and delicious. Brown fried rice, veggies, mushroom and chicken soup, fried fish and a homemade anchovy chili paste which she gave me 2 jars of. For dessert we had fresh fruit and lots of Oolong tea. We tried staying inside as long as we could. Zen was climbing the walls and it was past the girls nap times, we were all a little antsy. We decided to take a walk find a foot massage and McD's for the girls to play in the indoor playground, etc. As soon as we left the building, Shanti fell asleep so Diane took her back and Eric and I took Zen to the McD's to play as the park was out of the question in this weather. Eric commented ",you sold out!" and I did, now me a vegetarian of 17 years eating meat. "But my thyroid" I explained, my Doc told me...yadayada he didn't buy it, yet the both of us can't eat soy anymore. "Have you heard about spirulina?" he asks. Of course, I'm from Denver and it's still not enough to convince me to go back to vegetarianism, 'tho I miss being a food snob sometimes.

Zen and Shanti watching cartoons

We went walking around looking for  a massage. Diane caught up with us and we took a taxi around the corner to a row of massage houses. We ended up with a 600NT foot massage, 20 minutes foot saok with a mediocre neck massage followed by a  foot massage. Eric being a massage therapist, was unimpressed by his neck massage, but we both were in slight pain and discomfort at certain pressure points in our feet. Our two men giving us our foot massage assumed we were a couple and Diane told them in Chinese " No he is with me, she is his old friend from Tainan." And she left early and walked back to her mom's as they had their mom's cell phone and couldnt call her to tell them they would be late, and when she left she paid for my foot massage which increased my relief.

Eric and me getting a nice foot massage.

We walked back to the train station Zen throwing a fit that I wouldn't hold her, 'tho it was not much of a walk and I was tired and said, "fine, you stay here I'm walking to the station", which was mean and I regretted it later. After I bought our return ticket, Eric raced to the vegetarian place and bought us a lunch box and raced back to us on our platform minutes before our train came. Hugs good-bye and wow, it was good to see him again. If I make it to LA in March we will hang out again.