Taiwan with Two Grannies
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This trip happened not so long before Taiwan had to change its name to Chinese Taipei, so I would like to call it Taiwan. I have to confess that I know very little about the political issue that is going on between China and Taiwan, so please do not get triggered if I use any words wrong. I intend to purely recount all the good memories when I went to Taiwan with my two grannies. One of them is my mom’s mom, and the other is her sister. That was the last trip that I had with my grandma (mom’s mom). We did have a happy time while we visited Taiwan because of all the beautiful nature there.
We went to Taiwan with a tour group because taking care of two grannies by ourselves would be such a challenging task if we had to do it ourselves. My grandma (on the left) was already quite old and had a legs problem. Still, we insisted she go with us because that would probably be the last time she could travel somewhere outside of the country. And, we were right. Her conditions got worse very quickly a year after that, and she passed away in November 2020. Anyway, the important thing is we had a good time there, and she smiled a lot during the trip.
Taiwan was very rich in culture and food. We had a lot of good meals and snacks. I would recommend you to try the black tofu thing, which smells quite bad but tastes good, and Taiwanese milk tea which is very popular and tastes amazing. Some big meals that we had included a steam feast which had a huge steam pot in the middle of the table and a lot of steamed stuff inside. We also tried bitter cucumber juice, but that would be something I’ve got to warn you. No matter how long the line is, it does not mean the juice is great. (But if you want to try, it’d surely be a good tasting experience).
Taiwan is also renowned for its night markets. We went to two markets, if I remember correctly. Shilin Night market was the one we got to taste the bitter cucumber juice and glazed fruits. It was a night market where you could watch several street talent shows. When we went there, we got to see a magic show and an acrobatic one.
On the other hand, Jiufen old street was an old-looking and instagramable place. However, we didn’t quite get to do anything because of the pouring rain. We spent quite some time finding a cafe for our grannies to stay and warm themselves. It was really hard for them to walk in the rain. I did feel bad for them, but I was also proud of myself that I didn’t get tired or frustrated, not even a bit, with helping them.
Talking about the nature of Taiwan, we also went to Alishan national scenic area. We visited the temple halfway up to the hill and then rode a wooden train up to the top of the hill. There were a lot of huge trees, and the area was so green and pretty humid. Alishan was gorgeous, and we took a lot of pictures together.
Another spot that I went to was Qingjing farm which is a sheep farm on the hill. We LOVED this place. The view was amazing, and all the sheep were super cute (though they smelled a bit). It gave me a Switzerland vibe up there, not kidding. Also, on the way to the farm, we got to the fruit market and tasted some Taiwanese fruits. (They were the same as Thai fruit, but the quality seems to be a bit better). Another natural tourist attraction that we went to was the queen’s head in Taiwan. It was where the wind had blown and eroded the stone until it had a shape like the queen’s head. When I went to Taiwan years ago for a math competition, I also visited this place with my friends. It was a fantastic place though the wind was always strong.
On the very last day of the trip, we came back to the capital and explored the area for a bit. We had lunch at Taipei 101 and did some sightseeing through the vast windows. Taiwan did look so organized when we looked at it from the top. We also went to see the National Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall and saw the soldier inside the hall marching. I think Taiwan was such a good place to visit, and I would never get bored of this country. I also love the fact that my grandma got to travel to Taiwan with us. May all the sweet memories nurture and cherish our souls.
In this family trip, we visited several famous places in northern Vietnam, namely, Sapa, Hanoi, and Ninh Binh. For some people, the more they see the world, the less impressive some places appear to them. We also did not find this part of Vietnam outstanding from all the places we have been together, yet it was still charming and gave us vacation vibes. I’d recommend those who like natures to visit Ninh Binh; Sapa is also beautiful, but it seems have some construction going on at the top of Fansipan mountain.
After having to postpone the Visa appointment for a year due to the pandemic situation, my parents have now got their first ever US Visa! A month right after they received their passports, now with the US Visa attached to, they flew from Thailand to the US to visit me in Illinois. To be more accurate, WE flew together from Thailand to Chicago, though on different flights. Our itinerary was to visit Chicago, Washington DC, NYC, and, of course, my beloved corn field city, Champaign.
The spring semester ended on May 12, marking the end of my first year as a Ph.D. student at UIUC. To celebrate the hard work, I invited my boyfriend to come visit me in Champaign. But since Champaign has nothing much to do, we also planned a short trip to Chicago and also Florida! Poy had never been to Disney World before, so we tried so hard to make it happen despite the price of Disney world’s tickets. Poy flew from England to Chicago, so our first short trip happened in Chicago! It was my second time in Chicago, so I tried to visit different places than the last time I went to in January.
I usually don’t travel over spring breaks as they are quite short and most schools in the US have spring breaks around the same time, so everywhere is just crowded. However, this break was special because I went to visit my boyfriend in England! We hadn’t seen each other for a while (aka 8 months at least), so I didn’t hesitate to go there when I had a chance. Though I had been to many countries in Europe, I had never visited England. I went there for 5 days not including the flight time, but I felt like I got a very rich British experience thanks to Poy.