Engagement Party (July 2, 2006)

After weeks of preparing, the big day finally arrived. I had never been to an engagement party in Taiwan, so I did not know what to expect. Vivian started the day at the hair salon with my mom and her mom. I was then driven to the hair salon by Vivian's sister. I got my hair styled for about five minutes and then Vivian's mom drove me back. We then went to the Nantou hotel in Uncle Wu's Mercedes to meet my parents. Following the Taiwanese custom, we exchanged gifts. Six gifts we given to me by Vivian's parents and twelve gifts (some were photos because they are too heavy to carry to Taiwan) were given to Vivian from my parents. After that we drove to the reception. Vivian's parents in one car, my parents in one car, and Vivian and I in another car. When we arrived, the guests clapped as we walked by. Two main things happen during the reception. First we went on stage and listened to a few speeches. Later we drank wine with each table. There were over 660 people and more than 60 tables. About two hours after the party started, the guests began to leave. Vivian handed out candy and I handed out cigarettes to the guests as they departed.

Sun Moon Lake

Sun Moon Lake is located in the mountains on Nantou county. The crystal green-blue color and mountainous landscape makes Sun Moon Lake one of the most beautiful sites in Taiwan. Although it is not so easy travel to, it attracts thousands of tourists, many coming from mainland China. The drive from Nantou city takes about an hour and a half. We ate lunch at the Lalu hotel. The restaurant serves the favorite dishes of Chiang Kai Shek and all the ingrediants are local to Nantou.






Afterwards we went Vivian's grandparents home in Puli, which is about halfway between Nantou city and Sun Moon Lake.

Parents Visit to Taiwan

It's been a little over two weeks since my last post. During my time away from the Internet, I had a huge engagement party and traveled through Taiwan. My parents arrived around midnight on June 27th. Vivian, her mom, her dad, and her dad's friend uncle Yu all came to welcome them at their airport. We took a bus from Taipei CKS airport to Nantou and dropped my parents off at the Nantou Hotel. The trip from Taipei to Nantou, which I have taken probably ten times already, is quite boring. The major highway passes through the major cities, but they are all similar and after sometime it is no longer interesting to look outside the window. For the next couple of days, we were ordered by Vivian's father to arrive at the hotel no later than 8:30am to eat breakfast with my parents. Despite the fact that we started each day a bit tired, the schedule allowed us to have plenty of time for touring.

The first morning after my parents arrived we took a ride to the Nantou historical museum. I like museums, but I am often overwhelmed with information. I enjoy studying history from books and TV at my own pace, but when I go to museums I have a lot of trouble remembering what I saw. Most museums are not interactive and a vast majority of time is spent reading decriptions of pictures and artwork. Usually I remember about three facts out of a thousand. The Nantou historical museum explains the occupation of Taiwan by the Chinese, Japanese, and Dutch over the past couple of hundred years. I learned that Taiwan today is a country rich in culture from the native Taiwanese people and thier foreign influences. Later on in the day we visited Vivian's father at Best Kindergarton. Her dad is a manager at the school. The quality of this school beats any elementary school that I had seen in the USA. Vivian's parents treated my parents to a 30th Anniversary dinner at a Japanese restaurant. About thirty people, mostly friends of Vivian's dad, attended the dinner.

Nantou Historical Museum

Vivian's mom, Vivian, and I stayed up late preparing for the party!