At last they rode over the downs and took the East Road, and then Merry and Pippin rode on to Buckland; and already they were singing again as they went. But Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill, as day was ending once more. and he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap.He drew a deep breath. "Well, I'm back," he said.
The vacation is over.
It was a great time -- as if all Taiwan conspired to give my parents the best experience they possibly could. My friends took us out for meals, paid for hotels, and set us up with good hotel rooms when they couldn't pay. My family treated them to their hotel in Taipei, and bought them dinner at the famous Grand Hotel. Everywhere we went people treated my parents with the greatest solicitousness and friendliness. They truly saw the island at its best. I'd like to thank my friends Jane and Ho, Jeff, Jerome, Daniel, Ryan and Iris, and so many others for making my parents' trip special.
In the nine day swing around the island I shot over 2 gig of pics, so brace yourselves. I'm still cataloguing and arranging them. The rainy weather made for some awesome picture taking conditions, especially on the Suhua Highway between I-lan and Hualien. The food was fantastic and every day we ate two gut-busting meals at least. I gained five kilos. The kids had a ball interacting with my grandparents. My mother didn't say a word about my driving, either. She was a trooper.
All in all, a wonderful experience. I hope you all have your parents come over for a good time too. Stay tuned for an avalanche of posts.
[Taiwan]
Michael:
ReplyDeleteplease logon to the following website:
http://www.twcivilsociety.org/ and
show your support for taiwan democracy now!!!!
I got the last message. I won't sign anything aimed specifically at Chen unless it is also names Soong, Ma, and other servants of the KMT regime who made good on the deaths and imprisonment of other human beings.
ReplyDeleteFurther, an influence-peddling deal is not a threat to democracy on Taiwan; the continued push to annex Taiwan to China is.
Michael
You are very welcome, Michael. And it's nice to finally meet you! :)
ReplyDeleteMichael, does this mean that i won't get to share some fried squid with your father after all??? when are your parents going back home?
ReplyDeleteGlad you and your family had fun.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see Taiwan through the eyes of someone who's never been here before, and have an excuse for a trip around the place, isn't it?
(Already enjoying the 'avalanche'!)