Korea Trip 2017 Update

It has been a few days since we came back from our Korea 2017 trip. It will take me a while to update my blog posts on the trip as I have lots of work to catch up on. Please bear with me. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.

Cooking with Love

My mother cooked spaghetti today for her grandchildren. She cooked the sauce from scratch, using fresh tomatoes as she feels that it is healthier for the girls. That is cooking with love. :)

Happy Birthday, Mother/Grandmother!

(Source: http://www.lovekates.co.uk/kctpsde30089-vase-flowers-happy-birthday-
greeting-card-by-talking-pictures-cards.html)

Happy Birthday, Mother/ Grandmother! 

Thank you for teaching us what is really important in life!

Wishing you great health, great happiness and a great life!

Lots of LOVE from all of us in Singapore and England

My Mother is on Facebook!

My mother is finally on Facebook! All thanks to my younger daughter who helped my mother to set up a Facebook account on her new handphone. 
I have no choice but to accept my mother's request to be Friends on Facebook. I feel as if my mother is monitoring me. Lol. 

Happy Birthday, Ah Ma (Grandmother)/ Ma (Mother)

Happy Birthday & Halloween, Ah Ma/ Ma. 

May all your wishes and dreams come true! 

(Source: http://www.happybossday-2015.com/halloween-birthday.html)

Lots of love

Your children &

Your grandchildren

Wen Chian, Yeun Yi, Wen Jiah, Yeun Song, Yeun Zhen

Mom's Away

My mother has gone back home to Taipei for a visit. She will be away for a month. At the moment, my father is at home holding the fort, including cooking the meals for the granddaughters lol.

Three-Generation Events

It seems there are a few things that the women/girls in my family will do together as three generations - getting a haircut and visiting the dentist lol. Interestingly, we haven't been shopping together for clothes yet lol. 
We had our dental check-up today at my friend's dental clinic in the afternoon after which we went to our hairdresser for our haircut in the evening. :)

Home-Cooked Food

It is wonderful coming home to delicious and healthy home-cooked food cooked up by my mother! :)

Taiwanese-style noodle soup for today's lunch

Home-cooked buffet for tonight's dinner :)

Happy Birthday, Mother/ Grandmother

My mother is born on Halloween. :) 

Happy Birthday, Mother/ Grandmother!
Wishing you good health and lots of love on your birthday! :)

(Source: https://www.etsy.com/listing/163078848/halloween-happy-birthday-banner-diy)

Lots of love, 
Your children
Your grandchildren: 
Marieann, Yeun Yi, Juliane, Yeun Song, Yeun Zhen

Happy Halloween Birthday, Mother/ Grandmother

Happy Halloween Birthday, Mother/ Grandmother!

Wishing you a day full of surprises, treats, fun and love.

Lots of Love from all of us in England and Singapore

Early Birthday Celebration

As my mother is travelling out of Singapore again (before her birthday on 31 October), I bought a cake so that we could celebrate her birthday in advance. We managed to surprise my mother. :)

Happy Mother's Day 2013 (in advance)

We celebrated Mother's Day today (in advance) because my mother is leaving for Taipei, Taiwan early tomorrow morning. We celebrated Mother's Day with a Blueberry Yoghurt Cake from Four Leaves. Everyone love the cake because it is different from the usual cream cakes that we buy. :)

Blueberry Yoghurt Cake. Yummy!

Happy Mother's Day, Mother/ Grandmother! Hope you have a great Mother's Day in Taipei, Taiwan with all your family and friends.

Happy Birthday, Grandmother/ Mother

The girls find it very hard to forget their grandmother's birthday! Their grandmother's birthday falls on 31 October which is also Halloween. Another reason why the girls would not dare to forget their grandmother's birthday - they think their grandmother is a witch because she has uncanny abilities lol. They claimed that their grandmother would always know when they are up to no good, at times even when they were just thinking about it! Hahaha.

Happy Birthday, Grandmother/ Mother!

lots of love from
All of us in Singapore and UK

MIA Cooks

My father left for Xiamen yesterday and my mother would be flying over from Taiwan to join him. My girls are already missing him because after my mother left for Taiwan, he would always cook what they wanted to eat, such as chicken rice, pineapple fried rice, laksa, and cuttlefish.
They hope both their grandparents will come back before the new year to enjoy yummy home-cooked food again.

Happy Birthday in Advance, Grandmother

My mother is leaving for Taipei today so we celebrated her birthday last night in advance. Her birthday is on 31 October.

Happy Birthday, Grandmother!

Love,
Marieann & Juliane :)

My Grandmother's Last Journey

Today, my grandmother is setting off for her last journey and I couldn't be there to send her off. It will always be a deep regret for me. Even though I have tried my hardest to get a flight back, even though my Taiwanese relatives have said it was ok, even though my grandmother would understand, I still feel very upset.

Some have said at least I managed to see my grandmother in June and that was better than not at all. But I promised her that I would be back to see her again. Not being able to send my grandmother off, I have broken that promise. There would be no closure for me...


Ah Ma, rest in peace.

love,
your granddaughter in Singapore

Disappointment

I can't send my grandmother off on her final journey on 14 December Tuesday.
I have tried to book a return flight to Taipei, departing on 13 December Monday and returning on 15 December Wednesday. However, as it is the holiday period and festive season, all flights and all classes are fully booked. For some airlines, the wait list are closed too. I managed to be placed on the wait list for SIA but the agent forewarned me that it is extremely unlikely that I would be able to get my flights confirmed.
After 24 hours of waiting and monitoring, it is confirmed that I won't be able to attend my grandmother's funeral in Taipei. :(

In Mourning

I received news from Taiwan that my maternal grandmother has passed on this morning. My grandmother's funeral is set for next Tuesday, 14 December at her hometown, Shen Ao. I had to relay the sad news to my mother who is currently in UK. Although I am not extremely close to my grandmother, I am still affected by her passing. I can't imagine the grief my mother is going through right now. I may fly back to Taiwan to attend my grandmother's funeral...

May my grandmother rest in peace.

Happy October Birthday IV

It is the last October birthday in my family and the honour goes to my mother. Yes, she was born just past midnight on Halloween many years ago haha. The girls are in total awe of their grandmother and her uncanny ability to know when they are up to no good! They think she has magic like a witch lol. :P

Happy Birthday, Grandmother/ Mother!
Lots of love from All of us in Singapore and UK

Grandma and Shen Ao

Two days after I visited my grandmother, she was admitted to Keelung Hospital because of a persistent high fever. All of us were worried and took turns visiting her in hospital and keeping the other family members informed of her situation. Today, my mother and I went to visit my grandma in hospital. My 1st aunt was there earlier said my grandma was sleeping and her fever had subsided. My 1st aunt helped to look after the girls in the courtyard while my mother and I went to the ward. The girls didn't go visit my grandma because their father and family are superstitious about going to hospital. When my mother and I were in the ward, my grandma was awake. She kept looking at me when I talked to her. When I told her I was going home the next day, she teared. I am going to take that as indication that she might know who I am after all. I really hope my grandma will get well soon.

We left the hospital after half an hour as my grandma was drifting off to sleep. My aunt brought us to Miaokou to have lunch as it was 11am. Even in the day time, Miaokou is fairly crowded. Imagine when it is night time, Miaokou Night Market would be packed! We settled at one of the food stalls for lunch. Both my mother and my aunt had Braised Sea Eel Noodles, Juliane and I shared Lu Rou Fan (again haha) with Pork Rib Broth, Marieann had Dry Noodle and we all shared Fried Chicken Roll and Stir-fried Vegetable.

Food stalls at Miaokou

The temple at Miaokou

Braised Sea Eel Noodles

Pork Ribs Broth with Lu Rou Fan

Just before lunch, Juliane and I also bought more clothes lol. :P Marieann bought her hair accessories. :)

After lunch, we went back to Shen Ao, my aunt's place and also my mother's old home to rest. My mother and my aunt were going to bring us to the cliff at the end of Shen Ao to see the eroded rocks and coast which have formed special shapes by the wind and sea. We set off at 3pm and it took us almost 30 minutes to climb up to the cliff. The journey was tiring as the path was rocky and uneven and we had to pay attention to where we put our feet. Marieann was fairly independent and adventurous climbing on her own but Juliane was clingy haha. Main reason being she was spooked by the sea cockroaches that were all scurrying away from us when we got near. I must say it was quite scary at first to see so MANY sea cockroaches scurrying about, thank goodness they were scurrying AWAY from us.

The view was beautiful when we reached the top of the cliff and the exhausting climb was worth it. We could see the Pacific Ocean and the eroded rocks and coast which were nature's art works.

View of the Pacific Ocean

The girls with their grandmother and their 1st grandaunt













We spent an hour up on the cliff top, admiring nature and taking photos. My uncle-in-law was most nice. Knowing we were going up to the cliff, he bought us some food, climbed the cliff and gave us all a pleasant surprise. :) We started our climb back down the cliff around 4:30pm. We took a different route down which brought us next to the beach. My aunt and the girls picked seashells while I pick pebbles lol. My aunt kept us for dinner. We had soup noodle, simple but the most fulfilling because it is home-cooked with love. :)

We left my aunt's place after 7pm back to our hotel. I started packing our luggage with my mother's help. She is really good with stuffing things haha. :P When we were done, the girls and I have 3 check-in luggage and 2 hand carry bags, not including our own personal bags! Haha.

It is our last night in Taipei. The girls were sad about leaving. They wanted to stay on with their grandmother who will be staying on in Taipei until 29 June. I myself am feeling a little sad. I am ashamed to admit that I have not interacted much with my Taiwanese family during the last 18 years, except the occasional phone calls. During this trip, I finally learnt that blood is thicker than water, even if it is diluted blood like mine, only half Taiwanese. I shall endeavour to keep in closer contact with my Taiwanese family.