Happy Chinese New Year

In Asia, Chinese New Year is probably the most rambunctious and jubilant time of the year.  Almost everyone has the week off from school and work, and a lot of people like myself, fly back to Asia specifically for Chinese New Year.  It is a time for celebration, family and traditions.

Celebrations begin on New Years Eve, and for us, it started with breakfast at my grandmother's house.  Tradition dictates that you spend New Years with the male's side of the family, so we went to my dad's mom's house.  Most people in Taiwan are Buddhist and have an altar at home for their specific family deity and also for ancestors.  The morning starts with praying to the deity and ancestors and showing them offerings of food, flowers and the burning of incense.  

This is the altar at my grandmother's house.  The picture on the far left is of my great grandmother.  the table in front of the altar has offerings of various food and also paper money.

Decorations in my parents' building

 

Most people will also tape writings of well wishes and luck on their doors.  These are generally written on red paper.

One of the most important meals during this time is the family dinner during New Years Eve.  As it is with the male's side of the family, my dad's older and younger brothers and their families all came over for dinner.  The dinner will usually have some kind of fish and noodles, and depending on the region, there may also be dumplings and nian gao.  We're not that traditional.  We only had noodles.  Noodles symbolize a long life, which is why it is very taboo to "cut" your noodles into smaller pieces during this time.  It basically means you are cutting your own life short.  The Chinese word for fish is "yu," which is also the same phonetic sound as the word for abundance.  Having fish at the meal therefore symbolizes a year full of abundance.  Almost all foods served during New Years have some kind of meaning, mostly from phonetics.  Our family dinner:

::correction::  I asked my dad about not having fish at dinner, and he said we did have fish.  We just don't eat it.  This way, we still have "yu" (abundance) for the next year!

After dinner, most families then head to the temple.  Traditionally, there is a race to be the first person to place their incense stick into the censer at the stroke of midnight.  For us, we get there as early as possible to avoid the crowd because of my grandmother's age.  At the temple, one prays with incense to the different deities for good health, fortune and other wishes for the coming year.

We again went to the Ma Zu temple that I mentioned in my previous post.  This is the temple at night:

My cousin & my uncle praying with incense sticks, and my grandmother praying at the temple:

 

The night continued with sounds of firecrackers in the streets.  It was surprisingly a nostalgic sound to fall asleep to.  The next morning, tradition dictated that we return back to my grandmother's house for breakfast.  Breakfast on the morning of New Years day is usually a vegetarian one.  According to my uncle, this is because during New Years Eve, it was believed that the world would end, and when morning came and people saw that they were still on earth, they would abstain from meat as a show of thanks.  After breakfast, we again went to the temples to give offerings and to pray for the new year.  Instead of going to the big Ma Zu temple (which, by this time, would be so crowded it would be impossible to get into), we went to two local temples, one of which my grandfather helped to start over 40 years ago.  His name is on the plaque on the wall.  The local temples are places where the deities protect the local people, people in that particular neighborhood.

This is the interior of the temple that my grandfather helped to start:

Other pictures from New Years:

 

Taipei International Flora Exposition

My uncle and I went to the Taipei International Flora Exposition yesterday.  The event is in Taiwan from November 2010 through April 2011, and is the first time the International Horticulture Exhibit is in Taiwan.  Even though we were there from 9am until 4pm, we saw maybe only 1/3 of the entire exhibit.

The exhibit itself is in downtown Taipei, to show an urban green living space, and it is about 0.4 square miles.  There are 4 major areas, with 14 pavilions highlighting various themes.  There is an exhibit on renewable resources and energy, one on the future, and an area showcasing designs and flowers from other countries.  There are also living roofs that you can walk on.  In all, there are over 800 different orchids and over 329 million plants.

The only downside of the Expo is the sheer number of people who are there.  To further compound the problem, most of Taiwan is now on New Years break so they don't have to work this week.  For several of the pavilions, you must line up first to get tickets that then direct you to come back at a set time.  For the most popular exhibits, these tickets are completely handed out by 10am.  (the Expo opens at 9am!).  Most people who have gone have said that to see the entire Expo, you probably need 3 full days - which I can definitely agree with.

Ticket prices aren't too bad, they're about 300 NTD per person, which equates to roughly $10/person.  For $10, I would definitely say the Expo was worth seeing.  There are a lot of really beautiful flowers and floral designs and the conceptualization behind the Expo was well thought out.

Love and Hate

Things I hate about Taiwan:

1. Humidity - my hair is naturally wavy.  Wavy hair + humidity = Monica's hair in Barbados (friends episode)
2. Crazy drivers - please don't run me over
3. A lot of people smoke - yuck. yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck
4. I can't go shopping for clothes here b/c nothing fits me (the girls here don't have hips or butts)
5. All my relatives want to force feed me - which I don't understand since I already can't fit into the clothes here...
6. Squat toilets - enough said (although luckily, most places now have western toilets, thank God)

Things I love about Taiwan:

1. My family's here
2. The food - all the food!  street food, din tai fung, beef noodle soup, oyster pancakes, everything
3. Everything is cheaper here (except for cars, but I'm not buying a car so I don't really care)
4. Universal Healthcare - enough said (for those of you against "socialism," *ahem Michele Bacchmann, welfare is money from the government, yes you, Bacchmann, who received $250,000 in welfare - idiot)
5. The milk here is so much more fragrant than the watered down crap we have back in the states.
6. Chinese New Year in Taiwan = $$$$ :D

Din Tai Fung

No trip to Taiwan is complete without stopping by Din Tai Fung.  It has attracted so much attention globally, that the NYT rated Din Tai Fung as one of the top ten restaurants in the world - the only Asian restaurant on the list.  In 2010, Din Tai Fung's Hong Kong location was awarded One Michelin Star.  Oh, and that Din Tai Fung in LA?  Doesn't even come close.  There is just something about the ones in Asia that makes it stand out.

There are 5 locations now in Taiwan, 4 in Taipei and one in Hsinchu.  Yesterday we stopped by the closest one to our house, which is located in the Tienmu SOGO department store.  Yes, the department stores here have restaurants, and grocery stores, and just about everything else.

Din Tai Fung is famous for it's xiao long bao - a little pork dumpling that is wrapped in a thin, almost translucent dough, but strong enough to hold the dumpling and the broth in without breaking.  Din Tai Fung is also famous for their impeccable service.  Even though the wait can be over an hour long, once you are seated, service is nonstop and your food comes out right away.  Also, if one of the skins on your dumpling breaks, they will actually steam another one for you!  THAT is service.

 This is a shot of inside the kitchen, where they are making and filling the xiao long bao.

 This is what the finished xiao long bao look like, after they have been steamed.

That is how much broth comes out of one little xiao long bao - it's the best part!  Which is why they will steam you another one if the skin on one of the dumplings break and all the broth spills out.

 Inside of a shrimp dumpling.

Dessert - layered cake

Aside from their xiao long bao, Din Tai Fung is also really well known for their chicken soup and fried rice.  Apparently tourists from Japan go crazy over their fried rice.

This time around, we ordered 3 baskets of xiao long bao, 1 of the shrimp, some vegetables, chicken soup and hot and sour soup.  No need to take up precious stomach real estate with fried rice :)  I left full and happy - and then I promptly sent a picture over to my brother who couldn't make the trip.  I'm so mean.

Old

I was out by 8pm last night.  Out.  8pm.  Out cold.  So asleep that I had no idea my aunt and cousin dropped by at 8:30, even though they were supposedly very loud.  A sign of getting old apparently.

To be fair, I slept maybe 6 hours on the flight over.  It appears that every time I am flying to or from Taiwan, there has to be a really loud snorer on the plane.  For this flight, the guy slept most of the flight (13 hrs), and snored for probably 90% of that.  And it was one of those loud abrasive jars you from your sleep type of snoring.  Eventually I gave up and grabbed my iPod and listened to Krishna Das to help me fall back asleep.

We landed in TPE around 5:45am and got home around 7.  After unpacking and settling in, we went with my grandmother to the temple.  My dad's older sister has been in the ICU for the last 2 weeks and my grandma has been fraught with worry.  She wanted to go to the temple to pray for my aunt, so we accompanied her to buy some flowers and fruit and went to the temple together.  This particular temple has been around for roughly 300 years and is one of the earliest Mazu temples in northern Taiwan.  Mazu is the Heavenly Holy Mother, so the temple is devoted to her and named after her.  She is the one who will answer problems and help with whatever worries and cares you have on earth.  As my grandma and parents prayed to Mazu, I held my incense and prayed to God that he would help my aunt recover and look after my grandmother.  I've come to realize that my difference in religion from the rest of my family doesn't mean I can't respect who they worship.

(Here is an image of ceremonial money being burned as an offering.)

I also ordered my qi pao, and after much deliberation, I decided just to go with the traditional red.  You really can't go wrong with a red qi pao.  At least I hope not!

I am a nerd

Unfortunately, Karen had to work on some of the days I was visiting her.  I took the opportunity to walk around the American History Museum.  Museums, I love them.  I especially love walking through museums by myself.  Why you ask?  So I can take my time and read everything and not have to worry about making people wait impatiently.  (nerd alert 1)

The American History Museum is one of my favorites, and it also houses the famous First Ladies Exhibit where the gowns are put out on display.  I have been reading a lot of biographies on our founding fathers (nerd alert 2) and it was so neat to see artifacts from that era and from the very people I have been reading about.  I can only imagine what they were like when they were alive.

The first major display upon walking into the museum is the original Star Spangled Banner Flag.  It was the flag that inspired Francis Key Scott to write the song that would eventually become our national anthem.  It used to hang in the Smithsonian, but it is so fragile now that it is laid flat and will never hang again.

Some highlights from the museum:

This statue of George Washington created quite the stir when it was first revealed.  It was thought to be vulgar as George Washington was "inappropriately dressed."  I really like the symbolism of the statue and how all the details mean something.  It's a Grecian style statue to symbolize Greece as the world's first democracy.  There are smaller figures of American Indians and Christopher Columbus to symbolize the old and new worlds.  Most important though is the outstretched sword, which symbolizes him selflessly relinquishing power to the people after he led the country to victory in the American Revolution. (nerd alert 3)

Michelle Obama's Jason Wu inauguration gown

 

 

George Washington's Original coat

Lincoln's pocket watch.  Inside the watch, there is an inscription of "Jonathan Dillon April 13-1861 Fort Sumpter [sic] was attacked by the rebels on the above date J Dillon April 13-1861 Washington thank God we have a government Jonth Dillon." Apparently Lincoln never knew about the inscription. (nerd alert 4)

time line of our Presidents

Slavery.  This whole exhibit brought tears to my eyes.  I have been watching Ken Burn's Civil War (yes... nerd alert 5) and it's hard for me to fathom how people can justify treating other human beings this way

What's Important

In the middle of wedding planning and studying for the patent bar, I have rediscovered my love for yoga.  Technically, I never stopped loving it; I just couldn't find a studio that's close to me that I loved. 

Every studio that I tried, I instantly compared to my old one.  My old one had amazing facilities and amazing teachers.  Each studio I tried either didn't have great facilities, or their instructors were sub par.  I always left feeling like I needed more.  I have finally found a studio where I feel the instructors are up to par with the ones at my old studio.  I've been trying to go every day, even when I don't feel like it - and I have to say, I never regret dragging my butt to yoga.

Yoga just helps me feel centered, grounded.  It reminds me to remember what is important in my life:  my health, my blessings, my ability to help others.

Interestingly enough, all this self reflection reminded me of a story regarding my dad.  My dad grew up in a impoverished home, where meat was a delicacy about once a week.  He had one pair of shoes, that he only wore for track (he was team captain).  After practice and races, he would take his shoes off, tie them to his backpack, and walk home barefoot.  In college, he had a girlfriend who came from a well to do family.  She would take him out to dinner and insisted on buying my dad nicer things - like suits, watches, etc.  The second she told my dad she wanted to buy him a suit, he broke up with her.  He said that he didn't need something fancy, and her behavior showed him that she only cared about materialistic things and how one "looked" - something he did not find attractive.

Often times, I find myself wishing I had the latest Chanel bag, or the latest Louboutin shoes... and then I remember this story about my dad and I remember what is important.  Material things fade and are forgotten.  I've made the mistake of buying materialistic things to make myself happy - but the happiness only lasted so long, a week, a month?  

I love this story about my dad because it reminds me to be humble and to appreciate the "free" things in life.  Lying in shavasana last night at yoga, I thought of Kevin, Momo, my friends, my parents, and I came to the conclusion that my life rocks.