Year of the Ox

We're going into the final stages of the Chinese New Year. The midnight firework sonata is approach- ing its finale, storefronts are reopening after a mid-winter hiatus, and the promise of a warm and sunny springtime is now just a month away.

This was a marvelous Chinese New Year- an absolute tenfold improvement over last year, even though I got a full weeks vacation last year and this year none. So what was the massive upgrade all about? I was able to spend it with my family.

I love telling people that I have family here in Taiwan. The first reaction is always, "cool" followed by a puzzled look, as if they're wondering, "wait now, he's not Taiwanese... is he?" I then explain my relations here and then the former reaction is again expressed.

This year I headed to Taipei County in an up and coming section called Bancqiao. I was greeted by my cousin, Yuhsin, who took me up to meet her family for the second time as dinner was just being laid out on the table. Yuhsin, her two parents, her brother and his new wife, her sister with Lily and Zoe and of course Tia (my only blood relative), were all in attendance for this feast.



They had asked if I wanted to know what I was eating. Taking the advice from my cousin Stevie who is an expert at this, told me to eat first and find out later. This is generally a good rule in Asia as ignorance opens up whole new worlds of culinary delights. Some of the highlights of the evening was the "Buddha Jumps Over the Fence" soup (named because, even though Buddha is a vegetarian, legend says the soup is so good that Buddha jumped the wall to try the soup which has meat in it), a fish which is only placed on the table for show and is NOT to be eaten, an array of pork knuckles, fish eggs, chicken strips and my favorite, a sticky rice type of dessert.


With out stomaches sufficiently stuffed of extremely traditional Taiwanese food, we retired over to the living room where it was time to warm up the old vocal chords. With their own KTV set up, and a selection of English songs rivaling a professional KTV parlor, this was one exciting evening. I serendaded the crowds with some Proud Mary and other classic hits, but the grammy really needs to go to Yuhsin's parents who were pretty good with that old mic!


The night came to an end and Yuhsin's brother dropped me off at the MRT station. But first, I got a surprise tour of Yuhsin's family convenience store. I was a little apprehensive on how well they must do as a store because a 7-11 was right across the street from them. However, I could hardly believe when, during that ten minute tour of their store on Chinese New Year's Eve (equivalent to Christmas Eve), that store saw a steady stream of at least 10-15 customers. Of course, they proved themselves to be a mighty power for the 7-11 to compete with.


I would choose this place over 7-11 if for any reason but to purchase the traditional Taiwanese candies they sell. In addition to some nougats, they also have this peanut butter stick encased in a glazed sugar. I can't describe to you how incredible this little morsel tasted except that the very large package I had brought home with me was gone within one day.

So until next time, from a blogger who is going to be using a lot more Chinese in his blogging, 新年快樂, Michael.