Went to Taipei to pick up the Bonser’s van. Although it seats 7, it has no space for luggage. It’s actually quite tiny. It has a DVD player and a rear view camera so you can watch your butt as you go in reverse.

A Taiwan Christmas

Christmas! Woke up late and went to RT-Mart to get some treats, mainly ice cream. Then we went with the realtors and Helen to an all-you-can-eat restaurant where they had this towering, steaming hot pot contraption. Then we came home and invited them all plus Droopy and Olivia over for gifts and stockings. We got a bowling set for Vincie and played bowling. Then naps all around. Then we got buns for dinner and played Trivial Pursuit. Merry Christmas to all!

Today we went to the Nan-liao and the Science Park to see UMC. We had lunch with Jeremy’s Chinese teacher, Annie, at her favorite restaurant. They serve this delicious won-ton-like dish. I’m eating so much with the family here, snacking my way through all the sights. After lunch we went climbing on 18-point mountain. The weather was really nice and comfortable. I also saw a loose-rock acupuncture path that has inspired a garden design for our future house. After the climb, we went home for naps and a visit to the realtors. Ordered out from the Chinese restaurant next door and started decorating our walls with the Christmas tree lights. Happy Christmas Eve!

Katherine, Bob and Ben showed up today at 8 am. We spent the day puttering around Hsinchu. Ran some errands, first to the bank, then the post office. I introduced my whole family to my yoga class. Then we went to the temple for lunch and kept eating and eating. Afternoon was shopping and napping and then we went out to dinner.

Today we went to get Jeremy’s new glasses. They are black-rimmed and got a negative response from Ms. Liu when she saw them. We also bought some Xmas decoration supplies. I’m sewing stocking together.

So Vince is living a different life at the nanny’s. He’s able to hold a bottle of formula himself and down about 8 ounces. Crazy.. He’s *never* had more than half an ounce at home. Jeremy came home early. We got Vince’s vaccination, some pillows, got some eyeglasses for Jeremy and got my eyes checked. No glasses for me!

I had lunch at the realtor’s today. My appetite is not so good these days and with nursing, I’m steadily still losing weight, I can’t believe how much Helen and Ms. Liu eat and still weigh 45 kilos. Crazy. This evening we went to the bun place and had a good time. They taught us how to wrap our own buns (ha ha). It’s so hard to make them pretty, they invited us to wrap dumplings with them any day at about 3 pm. Jeremy is so sweet and funny, his Chinese is really improving.