The Trinity in Taipei

I am not using the Christian definition of Trinity, but rather three closely related people or things.  I took my Father and Son with me to visit our home in Taipei.  My Wife did a great job in showing my family a little of the flavor of this city, despite a rainy forecast.  Our days centered on food, which is not at all surprising given the Chinese culture and my wife’s love of food.  We ate the entire food consumption and digestion system of various animals; include duck and cow tongues, pig stomach and intestines, and quite possibly the end of some animal’s track.  The favorite Chinese foods of chicken feet, jellyfish, tripe and stinky tofu were also consumed.

The first day we ate hot pot, a social eating event of winter time, where various raw meat, vegetables and tofu are added to hot boiling broths tableside by the customers.  On the second day we had lunch at a traditional Japanese restaurant ranked as one of the top 100 restaurants in the world.  Later in the week we ate at a Michelin rated restaurant serving Xiao Long Bao (small blanket dumpling), where the dumplings are made by men dedicated to their craft, carefully creating 17 folds in the dumpling, as did generations before them.  Throughout the week we had wonderful breakfasts prepared by my Wife and night market foods.

Some of the sightseeing events included a visit to the Ju Ming museum.  Ju Ming is the best known sculptor of Taiwan.  His work is displayed around the world and he was featured in Time magazine.  We took in the observation deck at Taipei 101, which for several years was the tallest building in the world.  Taipei sprawls through the valleys of three rivers, framed by the mountains and you cannot truly appreciate the city size until seeing it from the 89^th floor of a tall building.  The National Palace Museum is the largest collection of Chinese antiquities in the world, created by Chiang Kai Shek when he fled China for Taiwan.  The mainland Chinese visit Taiwan in huge tour groups to see the art from their country.  Ironically, had CKS not taken these artworks, they would have likely been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.

We took in a prayer service at a local temple.  Temples are places where you can pray and ask for special consideration from various gods.  Most people pray for wealth or success in their career or education.  People seeking a spouse, or a better spouse, or happiness with their spouse often pray at the temple.  I have a happy marriage, enough wealth to meet our needs and ample education and career success for my happiness.  When I go to any temple I pray for the avoidance of paralysis.  I am not making fun; I just think that paralysis would suck.

I worried my Father would find the travel difficult; however he handled the 20+ hour trip just fine.  The trip was important to me for several reasons.  I obviously know my Father well having grown up in his house, and my Son can say the same of me.  My Son and Father are very close to each other.   My Wife is relatively new to our family and she wants to know everyone better.  There is nothing like spending a week together to learn more about each other and reaffirm why these are the people I love the most.  In addition, my family now better understands why I love my second home in Taipei.