The most important part of the Winter Break was, of course, Lunar New Year, aka the pinnacle holiday of the Taiwanese (as well as Chinese and some other Asian countries') calendars. Pretty much the entire country gets at least a week off to return to their hometowns; the full holiday technically lasts 15 days but the most important days are arguably New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
But first, the preparations! Traditionally, people decorate their houses with red posters, spring couplets, and fake firecrackers. On a random trip to Carrefour, I stumbled upon their LNY decoration sales and went a little crazy. To be fair, last year, I had to resort to hand-painting oversize Amazon boxes and collecting used tissue paper rolls, so I felt overdue for a splurge. Also, this LNY was particularly special to me since it's the Year of the Tiger, and I'm a tiger baby. It was so cool to be celebrating this holiday in Asia!
Top 2 rows: This year's LNY decorations
Bottom row: Last year's DIY efforts
On New Year's Day, Ciashia and I went to our friend, Jalin's, house for dinner. Jalin and her family had prepared a large hotpot with lots of yummy toppings, and additionally, Ciashia made her famous kimchi fried rice. After debating what I should make, I decided on scallion pancakes. I hadn’t made those in at least a year so I forgot how laborious they were, but dang were they worth it. In fact, Jalin’s mom took one look at my scallion pancakes and was so impressed that she asked if I could teach her how to make them.
AHHHHHHHHH a Taiwanese auntie just praised my cooking!!
Okay, that's it, I peaked at 23, y'all.
From top left, clockwise: LNY hotpot, my scallion pancakes, sparklers, me and Jalin at the night market, bumper cars
Alright, alright, back to New Year's Day. After dinner, we lit sparklers outside and then headed to the Douliu night market for a holiday stroll as well as some merry bumper cars :)
The next day, I took the train to Taipei, arriving just in time for dinner with the fam! In addition to the usual crowd of my aunts, uncles, and cousins, I also saw some other relatives who made the trip especially for LNY. It was great to see everyone and chat over our delicious Cantonese 12-course meal, a full 4 courses of which were purely dessert. We chatted about all sorts of things, handed out hong baos (LNY red envelopes with cash) to the kids, and cheered to the new year. Then, I went to stay with my 3rd Uncle and Aunt.
Family, Hong baos, and Feasting!
The next day was pretty chill; I walked with 3rd Uncle and Aunt to a temple but otherwise just sat on their couch, chatting and watching the Taiwanese news. We talked about all kinds of things: Uncle’s aspiring cherry blossom garden (not doing so hot, but maybe in a few years...), the Fulbright program, and Taiwanese politics. I learned a bunch about the latter, especially some domestic politics and scandals. And it was so refreshing to discuss Taiwanese politics with actual Taiwanese people for once! These talks, like my entire time in Taipei, were all in Mandarin and Taiwanese, so it was also excellent language practice😊. Then, that night, we had dinner again at another many-course Cantonese restaurant (love my family’s taste), and my little cousin read to me in English. Aww…
The feasting will never end!
Anyway, the next day, I said goodbye to my relatives and headed off on my own. After the success of my southern tour, I decided to fit in a little solo exploration of the Taipei area, namely, to revisit Jiufen, one of my favorite Taiwanese towns. If you love remote, rainy mountain villages, mazes of covered street markets, or the movie Spirited Away, then you'll love Jiufen, which legend has it, inspired the latter. To get to Jiufen, I took a bus from central Taipei to Taiwan's northeast coast.
While it was sprinkling in Taipei (as it always is between roughly August and March) it was pouring in Jiufen. Not too surprising, given that it’s in the mountains right next to the ocean. For once, though, I didn’t really mind the rain. I’d brought my rain gear knowing full well this would happen, and it kinda fit the vibe of the hidden alleyway street markets, anyway.
My first priority in Jiufen was finding the plum wine store where I’d previously bought the most delicious plum wine I'd ever tasted. Which is saying something because I love plum wine and have sampled quite a few types over the years. Fortunately, it took me all of 10 minutes to find the store, and when I told the shopkeeper that I’d come 2 years before and even had a photo to prove it, of course she gave me a deal. I bought 3 bottles and when she offered me a 4th for cheap, I texted my friends who said to go for it, so I bought the 4th. 😊 And now I’m not allowed to buy any more plum wine for the next 6 months.
I also grabbed another 花生捲冰淇淋 (ice cream and crushed peanut brittle wrapped in a thin crepe) as soon as I saw it. I think it’s a new rule that whenever I got to Taipei, I must eat 花生捲冰淇淋 because it's so good and harder to find outside the capital city. And I ate some beef noodles for lunch. After walking around, I decided to get out of the rain and hang out at a tea house for a while. On a friend's rec, I went to A-mei’s Tea House where I sat on their top floor on a covered porch overlooking the rainy mountainside and ocean. That definitely felt surreal. I ordered tea, which, to my pleasant surprise, arrived in a lovely little set, with a glass teapot and a slice of cheesecake. So there I sat, reading 月老 (the book I'd bought in Kaohsiung) and listening to the pouring rain.
花生捲冰淇淋, the beef noodles, the plum wine store, A-Mei's Tea House, and its views of Jiufen
I was so comfortable in my spot that once I finished my tea, I ordered another pot. The waitress was a little confused, asking, “Don’t you want to try a different flavor?” “No, I like this one,” I replied. (For the record, It was rose jasmine tea—very good). So she said she’d bring me the same tea but with a different snack. “Okay,” I said.
I kept reading my book until she brought out my new tray with tea and…...........a bowl of cheese puffs. I DIED laughing when I saw the cheese puffs.
Really??? Uh…this is because I’m a foreigner, right? Or are you telling me you’d give a native Taiwanese person a bowl of cheese puffs with their afternoon tea?
Whatever, the cheese puffs were good and I couldn’t stop laughing.
The second tea set and cheese puffs :)
After tea, I walked back around Jiufen and grabbed a chocolate egg waffle with chocolate ice cream. It was good, but at that point, I was starting to feel a little sick from all the rich food I’d eaten, haha. So I decided to call it a day and took the bus back to Taipei.
For the night, I'd decided a book a room at the Cosmos Hotel, which is not only a swanky hotel right next to Taipei Main Station, but also the place where I spent a glorious week staying as an 11-year-old first visiting Taiwan. I carried particularly strong memories of their buffet breakfast and was eager to revisit the place more than 10 years later. I'm happy to report that the hotel has not lost their touch, either in accommodations or service :)
The next morning, I eagerly went to the Cosmos breakfast buffet, oh legendary meal of my childhood dreams. Admittedly, they’d toned down the meal since my 11-year-old days, but, as my dad pointed out when I texted him my report, their guava juice bar, gigantic muffins, and cereal station probably weren’t that financially sustainable. Still, the breakfast was nothing to sneeze at, and I definitely enjoyed myself soaking in the nostalgia. After breakfast, I walked to the nearby Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Plaza (technically dubbed “Freedom Plaza” now), enjoyed the fresh morning air, and spotted a few hip hop dance groups rehearsing. Then I checked out, grabbed lunch at Taipei Main Station's mall and then hopped my train home.
Top row: Cosmos Hotel breakfast
Bottom row: Freedom Plaza
I will say, as I was riding the train and we were leaving cloudy, perpetually gray Taipei behind, it was a shock to the system to hit sunny Taizhong! Wow, the SUN! I thought as the much-missed rays hit the window. I wasn’t even in Taipei that long but, man, seasonal affective disorder is so real. I felt the same way the next day when I woke up in Douliu and saw sunlight outside. I don’t know how Taipei residents (especially the Fulbrighters) do it.
Regardless of the rainy weather, it was more than worth it to see my family and enjoy some mountainous adventures. And what a lovely way to end my New Year's travels! Time to go back to school, lol, but at least I'll always have these memories.
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