Hot pot for New Year's Eve

Hot pot for New Year's Eve
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Forty-nine days later

Forty-nine days later
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

We were to mourn Grandpa's passing for forty-nine days. This meant reading Buddhist scriptures every few days and being vegetarians. On the forty-ninth day we had another banquet.

Moving in day

Moving in day
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

We moved into my parents' new condo in Kaohsiung. Lots of people came to visit.

New Year's Eve dinner

New Year's Eve dinner
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

We had dinner in Fengshan with some other relatives.

Chinese New Year decorations

Chinese New Year decorations
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Red decorations were on sale all over Taiwan, sort of like seeing Christmas holiday items in December.

Working at the buffet

Working at the buffet
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Returning from Ko Samet, it was tough finding a good place to stay in Bangkok as it was the holiday season back in Europe and the States. Sawadee Khaosan Inn was okay, but the buffet breakfast sucked, especially the chef cooking the eggs. (Just kidding!)

Taiwanese-Japanese nouveau cuisine

Taiwanese-Japanese nouveau cuisine
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

My grand-aunt took us out to eat at this new place in Kaohsiung. It was a 10-course meal of nouveau cuisine. Check out the flickr website to see the courses.

Night market clothes

Night market clothes
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

This night market is only a couple blocks from my parents' new condo. The food and clothes are cheap here. You know how there are "99 cent" stores in the states? They have a stall that has everything for "$10" in Taiwan dollars, which comes out to be 33 cents.

Hip hop Harry

Hip hop Harry
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

This is Hank's family dog, who has more clothes than I do. He wears clothes so often that when he isn't, I feel a bit awkward looking at him naked.

Mom and Grandma

Mom and Grandma
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

Homecooked dinner with some relatives

dude
Homecooked dinner with some relatives
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

The homecooked meals in Taiwan are actually better than the food in restaurants. This is not to say that the restaurant food sucks, but that the homecooked meals are so much better. My grand-aunt cooked up a bunch of seafood.

Restaurant designed to look like the old days

Restaurant designed to look like the old days
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

This was a wierd restaurant near the train station in Fenghan. The interior was decorated to look like the 1940's.

Midnight meal in Kaohsiung

Midnight meal in Kaohsiung
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

This is a photo from December. We went out to meet Patric and his friends at a hot pot place in Kaohsiung that their friend "Spider" opened. Even on a weeknight, this place was packed at midnight.

I'm back!

My last month in Taiwan went by like a flash. I was in Taipei for a few days, before heading down to Fengshan, a suburb of Kaohsiung, in the south. Aside from visiting Lukang and Kenting again, I didn't leave Kaohsiung. I helped my mom move into her new condo in Kaohsiung and buy a car, and my dad arrived just in time for the Chinese New Year's Eve festivities (lots of eating). I relaxed and did little touristing, which was quite nice after over a year on the road. Before I knew it, my thirty days were up (that's all that's allowed when you arrive without a visa), and I had to fly back to Thailand. I optimistically left all of my cold-weather clothing in Taiwan.
I've been in Bangkok for the past three nights, staying at the Woraburi Hotel and Resort in the Sukhumvit area again. I love it here. The first day I met up with Simon and Annabel from my overland trip across Tibet and Kathmandu. We had a picnic in our room (proscuitto and Camembert!) and enjoyed the rooftop pool. It seemed like we had just enjoyed each others company just last week! They had spent five weeks in total visiting the south of India before heading to Cambodia for a few weeks. They left for Myanmar yesterday. Their six month travels will be ending mid-March when they fly back to the UK from Bangkok. Time flies when you're on the road. I met up with Emily's parents from the UK yesterday. They have arrived for a two-week packaged "adventure holiday" in Thailand through Explore. They're headed up to northern Thailand for some hill-tribe trekking before returning down to Bangkok and then to Ko Samet for a couple days. Today we took a ride on a super long long-tail boat through the Klong Bangkok Noi, one of the canals on the western side of the Chao Praya river, the river beside which Bangkok resides. It was great seeing a part of Bangkok that I never knew existed. After a few minutes, I felt like I was ride through the Mekong Delta again -- no high rises anywhere. Last night, when showing Emily's parents Khao San Road, I bumped into another familar face -- Stu, the intrepid Brit that I met in Xi'an, China, and who was huddled next to me in the trunk of the bus as we snuck into Tibet. He had just returned to Thailand earlier in the week after visiting India. I had last seen him in Varanasi the evening I left for Agra. It is certainly a running circuit here in southeast Asia.
Tomorrow I head off to Sukothai, the ancient capital of Thailand. It was only a few hours from Mae Sot, but I never made it there last summer. I will also return to Mae Sot to revist my old haunts before going to Chiang Mai to meet up with Emily's parents again.
It's great being back in Thailand. My passport is getting crowded with entry stamps for this awesome country. But it was certainly relaxing being in Taiwan with my family again. Photos forthcoming...

Dome of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial

Dome of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

This is the interior of the dome. It's the symbol of the Kuomingtang Party, and apparently, the national symbol of Taiwan.

Lanterns set up for Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival

Lanterns set up for Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

A Lincoln-esque Chiang Kai-shek

A Lincoln-esque Chiang Kai-shek
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

In 1945, the leader of the Kuomingtang party that fled from China during the Communist revolution and set up the "Republic of China" in Taiwan, hoping to eventually take back mainland China from the Communists. For the next 42 years Taiwan was under martial law with limited freedom of speech or press.

Back in Taiwan

Chinese New Year is on the 29th, and I am back in Kaohsiung. I stayed in Taipei for a few days, where the weather turned cold and rainy. It's been the same down here in Kaohsiung although today is a little better. My parents bought a condo in Kaohisung and I'll be helping with the move-in this week. Hopefully the internet will be hooked up when I move in this week.

Sidewalk dining at Popiang

Sidewalk dining at Popiang
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

After four days in Ko Samet, I came back to the relatively cheaper prices at Banglamphu. I tried to book a night at the Woraburi Hotel and Resort at Sukhumvit again, but they were booked full. Instead, I checked in at the Sawasdee Khaosan Inn with air-con, tv, ensuite.
I've done some shopping at Chatachuk Weekend Market and visited Siam Center. I head back to Taiwan in a couple days!

Ploy bar

Ploy bar
Originally uploaded by bastchild.

This was the only music club I could find. This was a great Filipino band playing. Two and a half buckets and then oblivion! It was rough getting up for the morning boat back to the mainland.