Arrival: our flight arrived on time in Taiwan around 6 in th evening. First thing I did was install my sim card and call up johan to yell him we had arrived. He graciously offered to pick us up and when he arrived, his car was filled with the whole gang! It was great seeing everyone again even though it had only been 2.5 weeks since we.last saw each other. The first question everyone asked was how I proposed! Of course I disclosed the details and said details will be posted on here some time in the future.
That evening I showed liza the house and we all went to jhongli for sushi diner. Besides diner we just relaxed and unpacked from our Japan trip. It was heaven just laying beside Eliza on my bed just chatting and relaxing and it was really surreal that she was in my room :) it was a great start to a nice relaxing week with my new fiance!
The next day was Monday and we had no particular plans. We slept in and organized pictures :P we also went to jhongli and picked out 2 pairs of glasses for Eliza. It only came to $150! and there were 2 doggies living in the shop, so Eliza was happy. I think this was also the day we went to Costco in Hsingshu to pick up ingredients for our engagement party on the weekend :)
The next day was rainy because of typhoon magie passing by so there wasn't too much we could do. I also had to run to Taipei for a business meeting in the afternoon so I was out of Tue house and Eliza stayed home and relaxed. I brought home some beard papa and pastries for us to eat. Then we watched Iron Man 2 in my room on the laptop. Watching the movie with Eliza in my room was another comfort I was dearly missing from back in Canada so it worked out that it was pouring rain and we were stuck all cozy in my room.
The next day was another rainy one but I wanted to get out of the house so I took Eliza to Taipei101 and then to the National Palace Museum. Rainy day stuff :P. The museum ended up having some really cool ivory and wood sculptures that were simply mind bottling how intricate the detail was. I also discovered how much I like going to museums with liza because we both move through at about the same pace and were interested in similar exhibits.
When we left the museum I took Eliza to Din Tai Fung, one of my favorite Asian restaurants. We ordered the soup filled dumplings, water spinach, hot & sour soup, pork fried rice, braided beef soup, and taro buns for dessert. Eliza more or less liked everything so I considered the meal a success! I accidentally fed Eliza some pigs blood and she was cool with it, but gave the rest of the soup to me (sorry!!!)
It was raining when we left the restaurant so we decided to head straight home for a good nights sleep.
By now it was Friday and it was still crappy weather. Though luckily in the evening the weather improved. Niki took us to the jhongli night market where Eliza had another of her favorite Mr.Queen grapefruit green teas.
We shopped around for some gifts at these cool little stores and Eliza got to see what a real local night market looks like. I was really happy that Eliza was seeing all the sorts of local stuff that I have been living with for the past several months. Thanks niki!
The next day the weather had improved dramatically. The typhoon was gone and it was actually hot outside. It was Saturday so every one was home and we decided to head to Beipu, a small village about an hour away that is known for their tea.
We arrived in the afternoon and wandered through the bustling small streets looking at all the unusual stuff people were selling. I bought some packages of this healthy matcha green tea stuff. It has 36 different natural ingredients and tasted hearty :)
After lunch we walked the streets and ventured into a bit of the jungle. We immediately got attacked by vicious mosquitoes so we were out of there pretty quick. On our way out we spotted a snake being eaten by thousands of ants! Woooah gross. Lol
Next we went to this really neat charming little place to make Lei Cha ("ground tea"). We sat at a small table and were given a large mortar and pestal to grind up tea leaves, toasted sesame seeds, and peanuts. You really need to do this with lots of people because it is a lot of work for just 1 person! To quench our thirst from the grinding we had this delicious fresh fruit Apple, pineapple, and kiwi drink among a few other appetizers.
Once the Lei Cha was ground finely hot water was added and this delicious sesame peanut green tea soup emerged. It was eaten with your choice of rice crispies, red bean and QQ, or just plain by itself. I tried all 3 and they were all good! It was a really fun group experience and it was especially fun because I got to share a Taiwan first with Eliza!
After the tea soup we headed home for our Taiwanese Engagement BBQ Party! To celebrate our engagement all my friends here threw a bbq for us. So fun! Lots of different meats that Ali cooked for us and we had salad and wine to go with it. Everything was delicious! There were many toasts in our name and after diner we had a special taiwanese wedding tradition done for us. We were given these wedding certificates that everyone signed that had the date, the place, and our witnesses and we got to sign our names too. These certificates are real too! So I like to consider Eliza and I are married only in Cingpu. Hehe. Niki's friend also was there and bought us lanterns and a cake. Very thoughtful of her. Thanks!
We then went out for a celebratory walk around the neighbourhood with the lantern being lit by a hanging flashlight :D. It had been the perfect finish to a perfect day and we headed to sleep with some unforgettable memories. Thank you everyone for making Eliza and I feel extra special!
The next day was Sunday, Eliza's last day with me. Poo! I was going to miss her a lot. Her flight wasn't until midnight so we still had the whole day to enjoy eachothers company :) after an embarassing accidental call to my parents we chatted with Seth and Jessica on Skype for almost an hour. It was great to see them on the web cam :)
We then packed and sorted Eliza's bags and checked them in at the counter at the HSR. Next was another first for Eliza: all u can eat hot pot! We met Ali's parents at the restaurant in Taoyuan. The place had everything! The best one I've been to and I'm happy Eliza got to experience another first :)
Ali's parents gave us a little figurine couple dressed in traditional taiwanese wedding clothes, and also a cow horn tea scoop with my taiwanese name on it: Ja Su Din.
We were tanked after the 3hr lunch so we went to the park/pond by our house and had a nice walk in the warm air.
Then we were off to metro walk for some last minute gifts and another photo booth!
The hours were counting down to Eliza's departure so the last hour or so we just spend sitting on my bed chatting and talking about random stuff.
1030pm came around quickly enough and we all rode to the airport to see Eliza off. After some supersede tears we had a few last pictures, a kiss, and then I watched my fiancee disappear behind the wall into the security gate.
I let out a big sad sigh. Alone again. But not really, because I had fantastic friends waiting outside the airport doors, and I know it will be a fast 1.5 months until I'm back in Canada!
And now it was time to kick some ass at some new business opportunities! Love you and miss you liza! See you soon <3
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