This past April, my sister and BIL visited for a week, followed by my SIL who visited for two months over the summer. Then in mid-October, my other sister and BIL visited for 10 days. How lucky are we to have so many family members visit us this year?!
My sister and BIL have been to Taiwan a couple times before, so they’ve visited most of the major sites in Taipei. I had arranged a day trip to Yangmingshan 陽明山 but it was pouring rain so our driver took a detour and drove us to Tamsui 淡水 instead. We had the most delicious blueberry cream castella cake, explored the old street, and took a ferry across to Bali 八里, a small coastal town. Bali was very similar to Tamsui across the river in terms of look and feel, but less busy.
My sister and BIL’s visit also coincided with the Halloween festivities in Taipei. We took them to Yong Kong Street to trick or treat, but also to eat of course! Our “must-eat” places at Yong Kang have always been the Tian Jin Onion Pancake 天津葱抓餅 and Yong Kong Beef Noodle Soup 永康牛肉麵。 But we recently discovered Jingimoo Cafe 金鷄母, which has amazing shaved ice – in my opinion, better than the famous Smoothie House!
Because the boys still had school during their visit, we weren’t able to accompany my sister and BIL to a few places, but I’m glad they got to explore Alishan 阿里山, Jiufen 九分, Shifen 十分, and Hsu’s Noodles 許家麵線 on their own. They were lucky to have had good weather during their visits too!
We also took this time to have an early celebration for my sister’s birthday. After all, can’t say no to eating cake!
Life is really about the simple things. We had so much fun just eating (a lot!), chatting and laughing. In fact, I didn’t even take that many pictures – which is always a sign of good times!
When my sister and BIL left, we were all feeling a little down. Being apart from family is truly the hardest thing about living abroad, but the short time we do have together is even more cherished than before.
Hongs Abroad 