After our trip to Japan in June, we rested a week before heading to Taiwan. It was something we all looked forward to, as we had the chance to travel with grandpa, Ah yi popo and family. Our last trip out together was to Taiwan before COVID happened. And several years have gone by and things have changed.

I had stopped work for a few years now, Ah Xiong jiujiu is gone, the old folks have aged a bit more while the kids grew so much faster.

If anything, I am so grateful this trip happened and we had the chance to make memories together.

The last trip was a teaser because apart from Taipei, we only stayed in the vicinity of Taipei. This time , we headed to Hualien and Taitung, and got to admire and wow at the landscapes created by nature . This is Qing Shui Duan Ya,

we had a go at an aboriginal performance and saw for ourselves how the natives lived close to nature and revere nature.

We also went to an animal farm where the animals roamed around us. However, we are not that ready to pet them, the kids got a bit taken aback when they saw the animals roaming free.

What was better was the chance to wow at the earth’s geology at Taroko Gorge and I must say the geography of Taiwan is spectacular !

But the best treat must have been the visit to the night markets. It was what the kids remember because the last trip to Taiwan, they had the chance to play games and win little knick knacks at the night market.

We stayed at Eslite and the kids absolutely loved every bit of the experience. Before heading home the next day, we got a treat at Yang Ming Spring for lunch and Huaihao the foodie savoured every bit of it.

One tuesday afternoon, I asked the kids for help at collecting supplements at YL, and then we had dinner outside. It was a good deviation from the routine we had. And it was good spending time like this together

Then it’s back to our routine of weekend walks. Huaihao was ahead this time and actually fell. I was all the way behind and didnt catch him in time. But he told me he ran in tears to get help from his dad. I took him to breakfast hoping it would ease his pain.

One day after school, I took Huaihao out to lunch and is happy the foodie was channelled.

Fridays or saturday evenings are typically at grandpa ‘s and ah mei ah yi’s . The routine is to massage ah yi before we come home.

I love this drawing Huaihao did. Its full of positive energy and the eyes convey so much wit

What was really different this month was how much more Huaihao was singing, from Coldplay ‘s “Something just like this” to “Lucky” by Crash Adams and even to perfecting the cowboy strum on the ukelele

There was one day I was exhausted and super low in energy. While my mind ran amok, HuaiHao kept coming close to hug me kiss me – and I was conscious because I did not want to affect him. That night he insisted I went to bed with him because I hadn’t done that in a week. But Qinzhi was needing me to teach her math. When I finally had the time , I realised he did it for me. I asked him what would be a colour to describe my energy and he said red. “Red because there’s a lot of activity and also because you are tired “ , HuaiHao said. We discussed coco lee and I told HuaiHao I was shocked . Because she seemed so well and happy on stage. And no one could have any clue of her not being well.To which HuaiHao said, “ it’s like she is running away (from herself) “And I continued, “ to run on stage”And it’s sad that you have to hide herself up. And the topic of discussion switched to me and I said, I could feel the pain because I had done that before . It’s like no matter how I felt I had to do my roles as a mother first- suppressing myself .And HuaiHao went, “ but we are family mom. There is nothing and no need to hide in a family”

Wow. If this isn’t wisdom what is?

Another day at bedtime with HuaiHao

I asked HuaiHao, “how do you feel when you heard papa this morning?”
He thought for a while and replied, ““ it’s like he put his hands to strangle me at the throat. I m still hearing it now.”

Another bedtime with HuaiHao and I told him this afternoon while shopping, I felt a blow in my system.

How do you feel? He asked

I said I felt shaken and after that tired. It felt like I needed to muster up all my energy to maintain alert and balance

And he said, why didn’t you tell me? and asked, why do you think you have this?

I said I was feeling disturbed about papa and told him how my mom used to rescue my dad and I kind of learnt that . But life is teaching me to- not . And also, some work stuff that is needing my attention gave me stress. And he said, do you really want to find a job? Are you serious about that? I get his emphasis, he wanted to say, is it worth it?

He said , there’s always a reason for coming here

I said: where?

And he said, “ and it comes to you not that you get to it”

Do you mean something like the meaning or purpose of life ?

And I had to share what I heard, in a meeting with young students, one asked the Dalai Lama

What is the meaning of life?

HHDL: We live on hope and we hope for happiness