The time has come for us to head home. I can't believe how quickly the past 2 weeks flew by. We got up early and waited outside the villa for a shuttle that would take us to the airport. Once the shuttle arrives, we load our belongings onto it and take one last look of the villa. The ride to the airport was about 20-30 minutes and in that amount of time I was able to reminisce on our time there. I've learned a lot, visited various great places, met many wonderful people, and ate delicious, authentic food in such a short time. I'll never forget this experience and I look forward to coming back. Till next time Taiwan. The flight back was exhausting. It was about 15 hours to San Francisco from Taiwan this time and still about the same 4 hours to Chicago from San Fran. In Taiwan, we left some time in the morning on June 21st and we arrived in Chicago around 2 p.m. on June 21st. From Chicago, after grabbing some food, we drove back home. As much as I loved being in Taiwan, there's nothing better than being able to sleep in my own bed again.
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6/18/18 Today we would be getting facials at SOGO Mall and then tonight we would be eating dinner with more of my dad's cousins (from grandma's side). After getting our facials done, we take the MRT back to the villa to get ready to go back out for dinner with family. We went to a really nice Thai buffet and I got to meet more of the family members who held me when I was a baby. 6/19/18 Today we'll be eating brunch with my dad's aunts (from grandma's side) again (we've eaten out with them the most often) at a nice brunch buffet place in another branch of SOGO Mall. This was one of my favorite restaurants because it was very diverse and had so many delicious food choices to choose from. 6/20/18 Today we would be going out with my dad's aunts yet again for lunch and just to walk around. We ate at a restaurant that serves traditional Hakka cuisine. The Hakka people are an ethnic group that are part of the minority of Taiwan's population (about 15%). Fun fact: their favorite dish is free-range chickens (believed to have much more meat/muscle). Then, later we would be eating dinner with my 2nd cousin Yo-ting and his dad (from grandpa's side) at a Café style buffet. Today's the day. I'll be getting my senior photos done and we'll also be taking family photos too. This photo company lets you bring 2-3 of your own outfits and then let's you pick out 2 gowns/dresses to wear for your photos. We were able to pick out and try on our outfits yesterday so we would have those ready for today. I got my hair and makeup done first since they'd be taking some of my senior photos outside and they wanted to do those first. At first, they told me I'd have to go out by myself with the photographer and make-up/hair stylist. But I told my parents that I wasn't really comfortable being by myself and that I might not understand what they tell me (since my Chinese skills aren't the best). We compromised and my dad ended up coming out with me as a translator. Taking photos outside took about 2 hours, not including the time needed to change outfits and hairstyles, and of course it was super hot out today. Once we got done with outdoor photos, we were able to head back to the photo studio where I would need to change into my other outfits. Once I got back to the studio, I get changed for a few more senior photos and then family photos. But I find out that the photographer that took my outdoor photos doesn't do family photos so for my remaining senior photos and the family photos, we have a different photographer (who I honestly like a lot better than the first one). Family photos were actually so much fun! This photographer was very bubbly and made us do funny poses which really helped to lighten the mood from all the stress we were under. Below are some of the final products from the many hours we spent modeling. (I'm honestly so jealous of how good Alex looks in like literally every single photo) After our photoshoot, we would be having dinner with my dad's cousin (from my grandma's side) & her husband. We ate at a really nice Japanese steakhouse place. Yesterday was my grandpa's last day in Taiwan. Today he'd be flying back to Columbus and we'd see him again when we fly back. Later on, near winter time, I think he said he'd come back to Taiwan on his own. Today my dad decided it'd be a great idea to go to the National Palace Museum. Getting there was a little hectic; first we took a bus around to get some food, then we took a taxi all the way to the museum through all of the super busy traffic. The museum is so grand and beautiful. I was taken aback by the wonderful scenery around it as well. Walking around the museum was great to learn about all the different types of artifacts, jewelry, weapons/tools, literature, and art. My entire family was very interested in everything we saw and I think we all learned at least one new/interesting fact. Below are some pictures of the museum and scenery as well as many of the artifacts/art that I found interesting or beautiful. Another early morning today, everyone is up by around 7:30 a.m.. The boys went out and bought some fresh lychees, guavas, and plums for us to eat for breakfast. We have yet another busy day today. My grandpa told us that we'd be meeting some of his family and we would be going to help clean my great-grandfather's tomb (tomb-sweeping is very common in Asia & there is actually a Tomb Sweeping Day where all relatives go to help clean & pay respects). After eating lunch together, we head back to the villa and wait for Yo-ting (my 2nd cousin) and his dad (Uncle Tony) to pick us up. Once they pick us up, we head to the burial grounds. Yo-ting leads us up the steep slopes & slick terrain of the mountain to where my great-grandfather's tomb stands. On the way up, all of us got so many bug bites on our arms and legs and honestly it was really miserable but thankfully no one got seriously injured going up. Once we get to my great-grandfather's tomb, we help to clean/sweep it, pull out some weeds that have grown around it and we replace the old, dried flowers in the vases with fresh new ones. We then "bai bai" (means "to worship") which means we burn some incense in order to "purify" the tomb (it's believed to help deflect negative energy) and pay our respects. In order to properly pay your respects, you must bow three times toward the grave/tomb and offer thoughts of devotion and remembrance. After that we turn and face up the mountain where my great-grandmother's tomb stands. Unfortunately, the terrain is much more dangerous to go to her tomb so we couldn't go directly to it. We did pay our respects to her though, from where we were standing. Next, we burn money. Don't worry we don't burn real money! We burn fake "spirit money" because it's believed that it will be sent to our ancestors, in this case my great-grandfather, for them to use in the afterlife. Some people also make paper replicas of cars, phones, or houses and burn those for their family member to have and use in the afterlife. The final part of this process is to "check" if they received the money we burned. The way you do this is you can take two coins, you toss them up and look for one with heads up and the other with tails up. If it ends up being either both heads or both tails, that means they have not received anything yet and you continue to toss the coins until you get one heads and one tails. Luckily, on the second toss of the coins, my great-grandfather let us know that he got the money. Now we carefully head back down the mountain. Overall, this was a very interesting and unique experience and I am glad to have been able to do something like this. To my surprise, the day isn't over yet! In fact, it's quite far from over... After we leave the mountain, we actually head to what my relatives call the "Su Residence". It's an original, historic 110 year old home that the Su clan apparently owns and resides in. The bustling city builds around it as it's protected by the government. There were many generations of people who were born there and who've lived there, including my grandpa, dad, and aunt! Quite a few of my great-aunts and great-uncles currently live there. We head to this "Su Residence" and my brother and I get to meet many of these great-aunts and great-uncles. In Taiwan and Asia in general, karaoke is a huge thing and some families are actually really competitive with each other. Ours being one of them. One of my great-aunts sets up their karaoke machine and immediately start jamming to old Chinese songs. Apparently, my grandpa says he's #1 at karaoke within the family but there are always karaoke competitions between family members. After about an hour or two of hearing the great-aunts and -uncles singing, we all go out for dinner. The restaurant has so many delicious dishes, including the famous authentic Taiwanese roast duck. Dinner with the family was very fun and I'm so happy that I was able to meet more members of my large family. WOW! I can't believe my bro is 13 now! What a special birthday he's gonna have this year. We set off on our daily walk around the city and we see Florida, a pastry shop. We go in and are amazed by the many different selections of breads, cakes, pastries, and other treats. We spend a bit of time picking out what kind of stuff we want to snack on and Alex got to choose a birthday cake for later. We leave the store and immediately dig into some of the bread we got. Next, Alex requests to go to SOGO Mall (basically Taiwan's version of SOHO) to get toys/action figures for himself. On our way there, Alex spots multiple arcades and drags me in with him. We spend a few hours in SOGO and Alex walks out with plenty of gifts including new headphones and numerous rare, expensive collectibles. Later, my grandpa takes us out to another restaurant nearby. This one was Alex's request, a Shabu Shabu restaurant that is basically right next to the night market. At this restaurant, they give you slabs of freshly cut meat from various parts of the cow (you can request for more when you run out) in which you'll cook in a big pot with broth and a mixture of different ingredients (mushrooms, vegetables, eggs, etc.). There is also an open dessert bar downstairs where you are free to grab as much dessert as you can carry! The food was delicious and of course, I loaded up on dessert afterwards. Once we finish with dinner, we head back to the villa and take a little break before we get ready to eat the birthday cake. We set up the cake and sing Happy Birthday and take pictures & videos of the birthday boy. We dig into the cake, take another break, then we get ready for bed. We've got yet another long day ahead of us tomorrow! We woke up around 7 a.m. this morning and it felt so easy to wake up early. It almost feels easier to wake up early here than back in Ohio for some reason! Anyway, while my mom and I were getting ready for the day, Alex and my dad went out to get some food for breakfast. They came back with a few deli sandwiches, soy milk, and the item pictured below. This is known as "dan bing you tiao" or Chinese fried donut ("you tiao") wrapped in an egg pancake ("dan bing"). Absolutely delicious! My grandpa recommended that we should visit the park/garden nearby, Minzu Park. We set off to the park and have a fun time walking around and looking at all the scenery. But honestly it was just way too hot to be out and walking about. Coincidentally we see Taipei Main Station and decide to go in to cool down and check it out. Inside, there are many different mini food, clothing, accessories, and convenience store booths. While we walk around inside, we try out many different foods and drinks like specialty bubble teas, fried chicken, dried beef jerky, etc. Eventually we decide to go back out. We find a 7-Eleven and buy some bottled water, tea, and a few snacks and head back out into the intense heat. As we continue to walk around busy streets, my brother spots a couple more mini arcade areas. Every time he saw one, he would make me go in with him to look at all the different trinkets and toys. Later that day, my grandpa made reservations for dinner for the 5 of us. The restaurant specialized in traditional Taiwanese cuisine and it was delicious! I was able to try many new dishes that I've never tried before and I was also able to eat some dishes that I haven't had in a while. I think the most interesting dish I tried would have to be the shark fin stew. My favorite dish would definitely have to be the fried oysters. Overall, dinner was great and I'm proud that I tried a little bit of everything new. We've finally arrived in Taiwan! From the airport, we take a shuttle all the way to the villa that my grandpa is staying at. We will be staying there with him (until he goes back to Ohio later on). The room is in a loft style (not very roomy upstairs) but it's still very nice! The villa also has a very nice rooftop pool which we took a quick look at. All of us were very hungry upon arriving at my grandpa's villa so he told us about the night market nearby. He told my dad how to get there and we set off to find it. Once we found it we were in awe with how great everything smelled and looked. There were so many vendors cooking delicious food. We stopped by a stand that was cooking sausages and another one that was grilling Mongolian beef (this was Alex's favorite). We also stopped by one that served oyster stew and, my favorite one, where you get to pick whatever food items you want to get fried. Some items we picked were chicken, fish cakes, potatoes, blood cakes, etc. Everything was so delicious~ This night market quickly became one of my favorite places. Today we took a shuttle from our hotel to O'Hare International Airport. We would have to wait there for about 2 hours till it was time to board our flight... But my dad gets an alert on his phone that says our flight is delayed by about an hour and a half... Great. This means that by the time we arrive at San Francisco International Airport, we'll have to rush to get to our terminal there. Anyway, while we wait to board our flight in Chicago we all decide to grab some drinks and snacks for breakfast. My brother Alex and I are anxious for our first flight. Well technically it'll be his first flight ever and my first flight as a teen. The overall flight was fine, I did get headaches occasionally but it wasn't too bad. Skipping ahead to when we arrived in San Francisco, we did have to rush to our terminal and of course it was on the complete opposite side of the airport. Luckily we had enough time to make a quick restroom stop before we had to fast-walk our way through the airport. We made it with about 20 minutes to spare. Getting onto the plane was quite hectic as it was very crowded. However, this plane was definitely much nicer than the first one we were on. We had much more leg space and complementary pillows & blankets as well as a little TV screen on the seat in front of us to watch movies or play games during the flight. Overall, the entire 13-14 hour flight was exhausting and my muscles cramped up so much. We all watched a few movies, slept for a few hours, maybe watched another movie, and slept again with a few bathroom breaks in-between. However, I think we had about 6 hours left or so, there was an older woman who had gotten up to go to the bathroom and she fainted before she could reach it. Other passengers alerted the staff and were attempting to help out the woman. The staff asked if there were any doctors or nurses on board and thankfully there were two. They both did their thing to help the woman. The pilot went on the intercom to inform everyone of the situation and thankfully the woman was able to feel a bit better after a little while. It was definitely a very busy, eventful, exhausting day. But it will surely all be worth it once we arrive to Taiwan. Today we hit the road for Chicago. We've driven to/been to Chicago plenty of times before but this time it's for a different reason. The plan is to drive to the hotel we booked there, spend the night, get up early the next day, and take a shuttle to O'Hare International Airport. Our flight is pretty early in the morning and will be about 4 hours long to our connecting flight at San Francisco International Airport. From San Francisco we will be hopping onto another flight, which will be about 13-14 hours long, to Chiang Kai-Shek (CKS) International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Tomorrow is going to be a really, REALLY long day...
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