Precious Memories: May 2020

Lunar New Year Trip to Taiwan - January 7 ~ February 6, 2020

January 7, 2020 LAX to XMN on Xiamen Air

This trip was mainly planned to be with father-in-law for Lunar New Year celebration in Taiwan. With Lunar New Year being the most important celebration in Chinese culture, we have not had LNY celebration with FIL for many years due to work schedule. Now that we are both retired, it is much easier to arrange for our trips (until this pandemic hit us by surprise.)

Our travel agent was able to book us on Xiamen Air again for a very reasonable fare and we were on our way for a much looked forward vacation with family in Taiwan. We will stay one month just being on the island with no other side trips planned this time other than the short transit stops at the Xiamen airport.

Xiamen Air MF 830

I have taken Xiamen Air several times by now and became quite familiar with their service, routes, and procedures. The only thing that I dislike is their boarding process at LAX, which I have mentioned before. They do not have contracts with TSA for pre-check, so we had to go with the long TSA lines for security. Then, their boarding gate is located at the bottom of the terminal which is like a third world facility. Plus, we would have to take the shuttles to get to a remote building to board the plane. A little more trouble than I want for this midnight flight. Anyway, just had to do what we were suppose to.

We arrived early at the airport so son could get home before it's dark. Everything went smoothly and soon enough we were air-side. We were in economy, so no lounge access and the Korean Air Lounge that we could use our Priority Pass for was closed by 7:30. We ended up just sitting at the crowded food court and ordered a freshly made pizza for dinner before heading down to the boarding gate. After the cattle-call and herding type of boarding procedures, we were in our seats on the plane. This time we were at the last row of the first economy cabin on the right side of the plane, which turned out to be quite nice. It was like a very private corner of the full plane. I was hoping that there's no one by the window but a young Filipino lady became my seat-mate. That was how I met my new friend Laarny, who was leaving her husband in L.A. and flying home to complete her nursing degree. She is one courageous woman who used to be an elected official in the Philippines. She would be spending the day in Xiamen all by herself as she waits for her connecting flight back to her country later in the day.

Settled in our assigned seats in the back of the cabin.

Yep, we liked those corner seats! By the way, we think that the Xiamen planes have good leg space which we never felt cramped. We could easily stretch our legs whichever way we wanted. Service was also very good with courteous and friendly flight attendants.

First meal served after take off, Seared Sole.

I really liked the food they served on Xiamen, much better than some of the other popular airlines, in my opinion.

Second meal served before landing, Scrambled eggs for me. I believe they had another choice of Chinese dish.

Xiamen to Taoyuen, Xiamen Air MF 887

January 9, 2020

We had about a four-hour transit at Xiamen Airport which was just the right time for the connection. Sometimes the line at the immigration/visa check entering the country can be quite long but not today. After getting through immigration, we went upstairs for checking in and getting our boarding passes, then the exit procedure and went through the very thorough security check. We could have used the lounge but we have been there before and I wasn't impressed so I was going to save the lounge access for another trip. Now, come to think of it, I should have used it there since I doubt that we will be going anywhere the rest of this year now. All that lounge access are going down the drain. I wanted to take MOR to this cafe at the airport where they served really good hot soup, so that was where we headed, right after we got out of security check.

We ordered some Har Gao, which was just OK.

That's the cafe Ishijah.

That's the pork ribs and abalone soup that I was craving for.

It just felt good having a bowl of hot soup after the long flight.

One whole abalone.

Flight was on time with quite a few passengers. Everything went smoothly as we were on our way to Taoyuen.

Snacks served on this short flight.

Taoyuan, Taiwan

We arrived safely and on time. The airport was not busy at that morning hour when we arrived. It was very easy to retrieved our bags, walked out and headed down to take the Airport Speedrail (subway-Jichang Line) to the HSR station in Taoyuan where we could transfer onto the high-speed train.

Very easy to catch the ride with clear signage.

Once we reached the Taoyuen Station, we had to track down to the HSR station which is another building off the Jichang Line. Not difficult, just a little trying with luggage in tow.

Waiting for our High Speed train to Chiayi. We did not get to sit together on the train this time. It was that busy. In just a couple of hours we were back in Chiayi with SC, our brother-in-law picking us up at the train station. The rest of the day was just staying home with FIL and had some down time after the long trip.

January 10, 2020 -

Lian Ying Fa Dim Sum, Yongkang, Tainan

We decided to take FIL for a dim sum lunch in Tainan this morning. For those of you who are following this blog, you probably know that there are some eateries that we just have to visit every time we are back in Taiwan, and Lian Ying Fa is just one of them. I found this place last year and since then this has become our not-to-be-missed restaurant for dim sum here in southern Taiwan. One important fact is that FIL also enjoys the food here.

Yum, yum, crispy BBQ pork bun.

Chicken feet and har gao

Radish cake

MOR's sister and BIL.

A-Tong Yanshui Yi Noodle

For dinner later in the day, MOR was craving for this noodle specialty of his hometown, Yanshui. This is also one of those places we must get to every time we are 'home'. Sorry for being repetitive on these posts, but we just can't avoid these places.

Tainan Yanshui Yi Noodle

Side dish of bean curds.

Soup with meat balls.

After our noodle dinner, SC brought us to the Buddhist Temple in town for a walk and right outside the temple stood this enormous statue. This Wu Temple is also THE place for the annual Beehive Fireworks Festival held on the 15 day of Lunar New Year.

January 11, 2020

It was election day. After ballots were cast that morning by the qualified voters (not me), we drove to the city of Chiayi for another one of our favorite meals, Smart Fish that is. I don't think I need to say much about this place.

Another delicious round of fish head pot.

For dessert we had tofu pudding back in Yanshui.

Always good!

January 12, 2020

Being home with FIL was just comforting to him and it's fun to take him out for special treats when we are home. We don't usually do much other than looking for food that father and son both enjoy. Today, BIL took us around and found some local delicacies for us to try.

This small restaurant in Liuying is famous for their goose meat. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of this place. I think this dish is something made with the goose blood which I did not have any.

The thin rice noodle (mi sien) was very good though.

MIRice Cake, Madou, Tainan

Rice cake is one of the local specialties of Tainan. We have tried different rice cakes at different eateries specialize in making rice cakes. This time BIL brought us to a new place where we have not been before. I am not particularly into these rice cakes but this restaurant caught my attention because of the way it was set up inside. Quite nice with an old nostalgic feel and very clean comparing to the other stores.

The rice cake.

Entrance to the restaurant.

January 13, 2020

This morning we took a walk around the village with FIL on his bike. First, we went on top of the 'dam' which is like a strip of land with fields on both sides by the Bazhanxi River. It's a good wide walking path with no traffic and hardly anyone using it.

The 'dam' and the road besides.

Corn fields on both sides.

Right by the 'dam' is the ancestral home of Dean Weng Yuesheng. One of the many local educated residents.

A small park with exercise equipment.

94 years old FIL still riding his tricycle everyday.

A shady pavilion.

And a tiny amphitheater near the temple at the end of the dam.

The village Wall-of-Fame. This village claimed to have the most locals with doctorate degrees. I guess MOR is one of them.

The Chin-Chiang Weng's Old House near the Wall-of-Fame.

Another locally born government official, Weng Chi Huai lived here, I believe.

On the way back, MOR just had to buy some local fruits from a vendor.

Budai Fish Market

Yes, we always come here for the famous oyster omelettes. Budai is a fishing village by the coast so everything is fresh from the sea.

Fish thick soup

baby oyster soup

oyster omelette

Yin Yuen
To celebrate MOR's birthday, we picked a new restaurant to have dinner tonight. This is a popular restaurant in the city of Xinying. I found this restaurant on line and was impressed by the good reviews. They have several different kinds of set meal, so we can each pick our own.