We're Here!

Trina invited me to contribute to her blog. Actually, she said that writing isn't her favourite thing to do and, since I enjoy it, I'd be responsible for the blog while I'm here. And it'll work out, at least while I'm jet-lagged, because I'm up before the birds.

The executive summary of the trip from Calgary to Taipei with Jeremy: It was worth it. When we walked out of the airport, he was so happy to see his mommy, he was all smiles. He was really tired, so he just cuddled on her lap and went to sleep, perfectly content I'm sure, during the entire car ride back to the apartment.

Now for the gory details of the 18 hour trip. Although the story starts at the start of the day on Wednesday. Get comfortable, because it won't end until Friday morning, due partly to the 14 hour time change.

I dropped off Jeremy with Stacey, the sitter, for the last time. Because their house is unstable, they have to move and I had to find someone to take Jeremy full time after I return, at least until Trina returns. Jeremy was so happy at Stacey's, with other kids his age but mostly with the dogs and the kittens. I said a heart-felt thank you to her for taking good care of him for so many months. I went in to work for a few uneventful hours and my mom picked Jeremy up from Stacey's to go out for the morning together. I met them for lunch and then Jeremy and I drove to Trina's parents house. It's nice to spend time together with family, especially when we'll be apart for a while. Jeremy fell asleep in the car, then refused to nap at their house. It was 4:00pm before I got him to sleep and he slept until after 6:00pm. I didn't get the nap I was hoping to have, but I hoped it would get Jeremy ready for the big trip and 14 hour time change.

We left for the airport at 8:30, checked in the bags, had my paper tickets re-issued (thank you, Canada Post), and said goodbye to Trina's dad, who had driven us to the airport. Jeremy played in one of the kid zones for a few minutes, then we went through security. I don't remember it ever going so smoothly... I guess Jeremy just flashed them a winning smile and the turned down the metal detector, because my belt usually sets it off. Since I was carrying Jeremy, I was thankful not to have to strip off my belt and shoes and submit to the wand.

It was a bit of a walk to our gate in section B (where the security is closed, so everyone goes through A), but we had a Hummer of a stroller for Jeremy and my massive backpack. When we got there, most everyone was already waiting, but Jeremy found a kids' activity station and another boy to play with. The other boys father told him to be careful of "the baby", but he needn't have worried. Jeremy was pretty excited, either to be in a new place or to be allowed to stay up past 10:00pm, and he was climbing all over. The boy said to his dad "Jeremy's wild today!" Just wait, I thought to myself, he's supposed to be sitting on my lap in the plane because, at under 2, I didn't pay for a seat for him.

We boarded at 10:30pm and it looked for a while like the plane would be only 2/3 full. After all, who wants to fly to Vancouver at 11:00pm? It turns out that everyone flying from anywhere in Canada to anywhere in Asia does, and there were no empty seats. Jeremy was impressively well-behaved for a boy who hates to sit still. All the way until we began our descent. I gave him a squiggly fruit snack before we started down, but his ears must have really bothered him because he just squirmed and screamed all the way down. The stewardess (who has a young child herself) came and suggested that I not be embarassed, the crying would help clear his ears, so I just tried to keep him from getting off my lap. As soon as we got on the ground, I tried to get off the plane as quickly as possible... but the stroller wasn't unloaded yet, so I got to stand at the exit of the airplane, holding Jeremy, while everyone walked past giving my sympathetic smiles. At least they were sympathetic. One lady told me I should give him something to suck, didn't I know that? Didn't I? I tried to tell her that I had tried, but I should have just thanked her for her concern. She wasn't trying to annoy me, but I felt a little frustrated that I hadn't been able to help Jeremy with his discomfort and a little apprehensive about the much longer flight coming up.

We walked all across the Vancouver airport, and I knew something was wrong when a bunch of people (who obviously recognised me from the previous flight) were walking back towards us. One couple asked if we were on the China Airlines flight and, when I said "no", muttered "lucky." Grateful for the stroller now, I found our departing gate and found a semi-circle of chairs to settle into. We were right by the departures board and Jeremy, excited to be someplace new, started running around. I found out what the trouble was. A flight from L.A. to Hong Kong had been forced to land in Vancouver and stay for about 8 hours. A China Airlines flight to Hong Kong had been cancelled. And another one had been delayed from 2:00am to 4:00pm. Then, the gentleman who was sitting near us told us that his flight to London wouldn't be leaving until 12:00am... I think 10 hours late, and he had been there all afternoon. He played with Jeremy for half an hour before his flight was ready to go, then Jeremy spent the next two hours climbing over tables and chairs and running and jumping. Even when we had to exchange our boarding passes, Jeremy wouldn't stay still in my arms.

Finally, at 1:15am (Vancouver time), Jeremy started acting tired and I decided to put him to sleep. He didn't agree, but couldn't resist when I carried him around and sang his bedtime song. We boarded 10 minutes later and he slept straight for seven hours. What a relief! The stewardesses on EVA Air were very accomodating. They had seated us at the second bulkhead since Jeremy had an infant ticket. I laughed when they offered to bring a bassinet, because at 26 pounds, there's no way that would work. The armrests didn't go in our row, even though there were two empty seats beside us and they told me he couldn't sleep on the floor, so would I mind moving upstairs? They assured me it was still Economy class, but I'm not sure why because I would have been just as happy if it were higher class. Anyway, there were about 12 rows of 3 + 3 upstairs and only about 20 people. We had two rows of 3 empty seats to ourselves (one behind the other), with a big empty space behind that where the emergency exit is. Having so much space was a real relief. I slept for about four hours, and Jeremy woke up for two hours, slept for one and a half (gravol has no effect on him), then woke up for the last four hours. By the time we were two hours from Taipei, I was begging him to go back to sleep so I could get some rest. But he would climb across our seat, climb up onto the storage compartments between the seat and the window, crawl up and down there, run up and down the ailes and basically have a lot of fun.

All in all, I can't complain. I would have liked Jeremy to sleep more and I would have liked more sleep myself. But Jeremy was very little trouble and hardly cried; our flight was basically on time (compared to many others), we had lots of space and we arrive safe and sound... and sane. Jeremy fell asleep 10 minutes before we began our descent, so his ears didn't even bother him. After getting off the plane, we had to wait for our stroller, where we met a couple with a child about Jeremy's age, who had come from Montreal and were continuing to Vietnam (I think). I was so glad that we had arrived. Their stroller came first, and I listened to them speak to each other in a mix of French, English and Vietnamese (I think). Whenever I was tempted to feel sorry for myself, there was always someone who had a harder trip.

Customs was jam packed, and Jeremy had woken from all the jostling, but there was a really nice kid (probably mid-20s) behind us who took a liking to Jeremy. He ran and got us the forms we needed and the line moved quick enough that I just finished filling them out when it was our turn. The immigration officer was polite and I spoke my first Chinese of the trip. Welcome to Taiwan, Jeremy!

The rest is a bit of a blur. Our bags were already there, so I grabbed them, tried to balance one on the stroller and drag the other, while pushing the stroller. I wanted to get out of there quick, but I don't know if I saved time by not getting a baggage cart or if I took longer struggling with the bags. It wasn't far and we were both very happy to see Trina. I got a kiss, but Jeremy got a big snuggle and he sat on her lap the whole way back home.

They're Here!

Michael woke up at 2am with a fever and a cough. He slept very fitfully from then on, and therefore, I didn't sleep at all. At 4:50am, I had to call May to ask her to come over and stay with Michael while I went to the airport with Joseph. She came over in her PJs and slippers. I was glad to have an experienced mom with him while I was gone.

We arrived at the airport when Robert's flight was due to land, but it was delayed. So, we had to wait for over an hour and a half. I bought Joseph and I some breakfast (I had to get out my guidebook to ask him if he wanted beef or chicken) and then walked all over the entire airport to use up some more time.

May phoned around 7am because Michael had said that he wanted to talk to me, but once she had me on the phone, he refused to talk. How typical. She said he had gotten up to go to the bathroom and looked a little better, although he still had the fever.

Then they arrived! Jeremy came right to me, no problems. And all that time that I had spent worrying that he had forgotten me... He stayed in my arms the whole way back and fell asleep in the car. He sure is heavier!

Despite Michael's fever, he was super excited to see his daddy and brother. I can't imagine what he would have been like without the fever. He was running and jumping all around. I had to calm them all down by giving them a bath and putting them all to bed at 10am.

Robert is going to take care of the blog while he's here, so you can read about the rest of the day from him.

Getting Ready for the New Arrivals

Michael threw a tantrum today because I went into his classroom to pick him up. He wanted to wait for me on the bench outside his classroom. So, I left and he waited on the bench. Everytime I came by, I asked him if we wanted to leave yet, and he said no. He was having too much fun playing with Ms. Janus by the front door.

The parents of the twins in my class offered me the use of one of their strollers for while Jeremy is here and dropped it off. It's really nice and light, so I didn't have too much trouble carrying it around for the rest of the day. Just as long as it didn't rain...

We went to IKEA and stock up on food for Robert and Jeremy, and for Michael to play in the kids area. Then we went home - me trying to balance all my purchases, a stroller and a three year old on Taiwanese buses. The buses here deserve an entire blog entry of their own. One day, I'll get around to it.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning up the apartment and rearranging things to make it more toddler friendly. Michael was getting really excited and refused to go to sleep until after ten. Joseph had said that we would be leaving at 5am to go to the airport. He'll sleep in the car, right?

The Filthiest Little Boy You Ever Did See

I borrowed a small shovel and rake from the school and headed off to Da-An Park today after school. Michael was so excited to have sand toys. As you can see below, he collected a few more...


One of his favourite activities was running over to the water spouts to "wash off" his sand toys. Of course, he would get soaking wet in the process and then run back to the sandbox and start rolling around. He was so wet and dirty, that after awhile I had to ban him from the sandbox in order to let him dry off a little.


He hopped on the swings and I spent quite a bit of time pushing him. He's still learning how to pump himself, but he often gets it backwards. He chants "Out. In. Out. In." at the correct times, but doesn't actually put his feet out and in as he's saying it. Kids have to learn so much, so quickly.


He then played around the playground for awhile and after he had dried off, I allowed him back in the sandbox, but not near the water spouts. Guess how long that lasted? At least he wasn't soaked this time, so it was back to the playground to dry off.

He found a little playmate. A half-Chinese boy who was turning three that week. His father had brought a soccer ball, so Michael and the little boy took turns kicking it around. Us parents spent most of the time yelling across the field to our child to let the other child have a turn.

Then Michael found the only muddy spot in the whole very large field. It was pretty wet and made a little splash when Michael threw the ball in. Needless to say, the attraction was too strong for Michael. He was jumping in there and slipping and sliding. By the time I had gotten over there to get him out, he was muddy, muddy, muddy. Mommies always ruin all the fun.

Here's a picture of Michael with his little friend. It was really cute how they wanted to sit beside each other in that tiny chair. They had so much fun that the boy's parents couldn't tear him away even though he was late for a playdate with his best friend.


After three hours, I had had enough, even if Michael was still going strong. The playground was full of high school students who were too busy showing off to each other to watch out for the little kids, and I was getting hungry.

I took Michael to Din Tai Fung, voted one of the top ten restaurants in the world according to Reader's Digest. It's definitely in our top ten. They make all kinds of steamed dumplings, and although expensive by Taiwan standards, definitely still affordable. And the service there is wonderful.

I figured Michael would be starving after so much exercise, so I ordered twenty dumplings and a bowl of wonton noodle soup. Michael ate a few noodles and half a wonton. Although he did finish his entire glass of warm water, using his spoon. Good thing I was hungry...

Only Four More Sleeps!

Robert and Jeremy are arriving very early Friday morning, and we're starting to get excited. I worked a full day today because I wouldn't be in on Friday. I ended up going to the park with the Kindergarten class which is always fun. I spent the whole time pushing them on swings. It's funny how some outgoing kids are really scared of heights and just want tiny pushes, while these quiet, shy kids want to go high enough to touch the branches of the tree closeby.

General Conference

Here's Michael at the bus stop. He loves wearing his sunglasses, even on days so overcast that we need an umbrella as well! We live in the second white apartment building in the background. Notice the jungle in this second picture. Only those little concrete barriers keep all that wild vegetation at bay. The variety is astounding.

We had General Conference this weekend instead of last weekend as we are 14 hours ahead of Utah. They just tape it and "rebroadcast" it here the following weekend. Michael and I only made it to the last session, which started at 11:30am. I had forgotten Michael's church bag, even though I had repacked it that morning, so I didn't have his usual activities. Luckily, I had packed snacks in my purse, and I always keep at least one toy and a pen in there for emergencies. He was pretty good. He kept himself entertained by taking four potty breaks. As the bathroom was right out the doors, I let him go by himself after the first time. He was good and never stayed too long.

English sessions in foreign countries are always full of missionaries, so I got to see their reaction to Elder Bednar's talk. You should have seen how happy they all were when he talked about how missionaries are full time teachers and that it is our job to provide them with people to teach. He was pretty direct when he told us it is wrong for us to pray for missionaries to find people to teach, as it is praying for someone else to do our job. The missionaries were glancing all around them to make sure everyone was listening, clapping each other on the back and elbowing each other and grinning. It was pretty funny.

Of course, it was Elder Ballard's talk to young mothers that I enjoyed the most. When he mentioned that we shouldn't turn to substance abuse out of frustration, I found myself wondering if oatmeal cookies count... I can stay away from them as long as I haven't baked them, but once they're out of the oven...

On Friday, I had bought Michael his own little umbrella with a firefighting dalmation on it. It also had a small whistle attached to it, which was Michael's favourite part. I explained to him that he should only blow it if he's lost. He got lost a lot during the past two days. Well, I don't have to worry about him blowing it anymore as he lost his umbrella somewhere while I was talking to some other ward members afterwards. We looked everywhere for it, but no luck. Michael didn't seem too bothered by its loss. Good thing, because I wasn't about to go buy another one.

Michael's First (Professional) Haircut

Robert usually cuts Michael's hair, and he does a great job, too. However, since Robert is not here, I asked around for a good children's hair cutting place, because Michael was in desperate need of a trim.

I found one in an upscale department store near where Robert and I used to live. They had little cars for the kids to sit in while their hair is being cut and cartoons playing on a TV in front of them. I felt pretty lucky as I walked in and saw that there wasn't a line-up. There also weren't any hairstylists. They must all take break at the same time, because there were only two receptionists that told me (well, more like showed me as they couldn't find anyone to translate), that there wasn't an available slot for another three hours. Forget that. Cheap side alley barber shop, here we come!

First Michael had to play on the firetruck. He took turns nicely with about five other little kids there. When it wasn't his turn, he climbed up the front or the back of the truck. I tried to avoid shopkeepers trying to sell me outrageously priced children's outfits.


Michael had been looking forward to getting his hair cut "in a car" (I have to prepare him long in advance as he hates getting his hair cut), so to placate him, I took him to his favourite store. It's called "The Good Toys" and they have a lot of high quality toys, including a Thomas wooden train set that kids can play on while their parents get given the sales pitch for every toy in the store. And that is what happened during the hour that Michael played (he has an amazing attention span when it comes to Thomas). Even though the saleslady didn't speak any English, she insisted on following me around and demonstrating anything that I glanced at. Since I was just using them for their train set, I figured I should be polite and let her, but it did get annoying after awhile. I ended up buying some cool bath toys for Jeremy and one of his cousins, as well as some nice supports for the sloping wooden train track pieces with a small straight piece of track on the top for the sloping pieces to connect to. They're so much better than the regular wooden block supports he has at home.

I figured the back alleys by where I live would be cheaper than the ones downtown, so we took a bus and found this barber shop with two ladies cutting men's hair and giving them a shave, so I knew that they could handle Michael. We had to wait awhile, but Michael was tired and didn't mind too much. They even went a got him a snack. When his turn came, they put a beam across the armrests for him to sit on. As the woman was cutting his hair, I was glad that we didn't get into the fancy place as Michael was squirming way too much to watch TV, even if one had been there. I had to help her hold his hands down and turn his head so she could get at it. She did a really good job despite Michael protesting as much as possible. At least he didn't scream. Although, there was a lot of whining involved.


Then we went to a nearby park where Michael had a blast with two other little kids, running around everywhere and going down the slides all together in a group. It's great how well he can get along with other kids even when he can't understand a word they're saying. I'm surprised no one got hurt the way they were all hurtling up and down the slides, but we managed to get out of there in one piece.


Since I had saved so much on the haircut (it ended up costing me a little over $5 Cdn, as opposed to the $20 that the "kids" place wanted), I decided to splurge on dinner. We went into a restaurant that turned out to be a steakhouse, although I ordered the fish and the chicken. Normally, I don't eat fish, but Michael had been asking for some, and so I decided to let him try. Of course, I ended up having to eat the whole thing.

What I didn't realize when I went in was that all meals come with the "salad bar" which had garlic toast, a variety of veggies, fountain drinks, fresh fruit, soup, small pieces of cake and four different kinds of ice cream with cones. Our dinners only cost $7 Cdn each, and there's no tipping here, so it turned out to be a really good deal. The steak dinners started at $10 each. The manager kept on encouraging me to go get more food since I had paid for two full meals.

When we ordered, they asked if we wanted black pepper or mushroom sauce on our meat. I said mushroom, even though I wanted black pepper, as I knew Michael wouldn't touch it if it was "too spicy." The mushroom sauce turned out to be BBQ sauce. Whatever. As I rarely eat fish anyways, it wasn't too odd for me to be eating it with BBQ sauce! The meat came out on a sizzling hot plate with some pasta, mixed veggies and a fried egg. Everything here comes with a fried egg.

Michael ate some of his chicken and spent the rest of his meal playing around with his egg. He doesn't like to eat eggs, but he liked "popping" the yolk and making more "sauce" with it. Egg yolk BBQ sauce. When they asked if I wanted it wrapped up to take home, I declined.


I was too full by the end to eat any dessert, but Michael is never too full for ice cream, so we got him a chocolate cone. He's decided that he really likes that restaurant.