Updated: We Miss page

Thanks Erin for the recent comment on the We Miss page. You reminded me that I should probably revisit and update that page. Unfortunately, since it was a solo trip this time Laura still REALLY misses U-Village.

Here’s the original with the update posted below:

Milk - I really miss the milk from the states. I don’t know if it’s more fresh or maybe I’m just used to it. Either way I really miss the taste of milk from home. Secondly, milk here is $8.50 per gallon!

HDTV – You all know that I’m a huge tech geek and the fact that we left the states just as HDTV was becoming mainstream has been tough to leave behind.

Taco Time/White Castle/Steak-n-Shake – We have the usual places like McD’s, KFC, and Pizza Hut, but I miss the beef burrito at Taco Time, the cheese burgers at White Castle, and the Chili Mac at Steak-n-Shake.

Border’s – We have a pretty good book/cd shop, but it’s not the same as walking into a Border’s with a Starbucks and browsing for a couple hours.

TIVO – I never got a chance to ‘tivo’ any shows, but from what I’ve heard it’s the only way to watch TV.

Finding Places – I miss jumping in the car and being able to get somewhere easily without guessing where I should go. Understanding Mandarin is one thing, but being able to read the road signs is a whole other thing.

English – Although we can just barely get by with our very limited Mandarin, and some merchants speak English, we do miss being able to converse fluently in English when we are looking for something or trying to find a particular product.

Update: Jan ‘08

After a quick trip home to surprise my dad for his birthday I was able to take care of some of those things I miss.

Milk – Drank a little too much of that while I was home.

HDTV – Got to watch a little.

Taco Time/White Castle/Steak-n-Shake – I made it to Taco Time once, and managed to choke down a couple White Castles (of the frozen variety).

TIVO – Didn’t get to mess around with that.

Finding Places – Had fun jumping in the car and running up to U-Village and Fry’s. (Getting rear ended by a big ‘ol truck and trailer on I-5 was something I wasn’t planning on).

English – Used it.

Tastes Like (chewy) Chicken

After hanging out with our friends in Phuket, Thailand for a few days they came to stay with us in Taipei. It’s always fun to have friends come and visit and see our home away from home. We went to some of our favorite spots including Jesse’s Farmhouse up in the mountains, People’s restaurant and the top of Taipei 101.

Laura, Patti and Jim making their way up to the top of 101 the slow way.

Laura and Patti buying tickets to make the quick elevator ride to the top of 101. The elevator is a pressurized cabin that makes the 1000ft+ trip in 37 seconds, to make it the fastest elevator in the world.

There are about 8 million of us down there in the Taipei metro area.

Patti taking a sip of the fruit iced tea.

On the steps leading to People’s restaurant.

Going through the menu

Fun way to bring out the appetizers

Tastes like chewy chicken, but it’s actually frog legs.

This time we got preferential parking treatment and left our F430 behind the glass. Actually it was just one of the cars the local Ferrari dealer was tantalizing us with.

Seattle Surprise Visit

Nothing better than being a total geek on the couch

Someone was very surprised

After returning late one night from Phuket I jumped on a plane early the next morning to surprise my dad with a quick birthday visit. I would have flown around the world two times just to see the look on his face when he walked in the door and saw me sitting there in his chair. It was priceless. It was a short visit, but we managed to get a lot done including two trips to the Apple store in U-village, two trips to Fry’s electronics, a trip to Best Buy and a trip to Circuit City. I guess you can imagine what was on my shopping list.

Hanging out with my little sister making monkey bread

Enjoying the freshly baked monkey bread…..delicious!

I hadn’t been home for a year and half and it felt good to be back in the cool, damp Seattle air. It’s nice to see familiar places and be surrounded by English speakers and English writing. I like the challenge of learning Mandarin, but not being able to read a single label at the grocery store or being able to carry a conversation with someone can be difficult.

My shopping list included runs to every computer and gadget store, Laura’s was taken care of at Barnes and Noble

It’s always nice to see good friends

Making connections in Tokyo is easy

A little inflight nutrition to keep me going

Sunrise as I reach the west coast of the United States

Inside the hongs

One of the islands we first explored. It’s hard to see here, but along the waterline there are very small caves. At certain times, when the tide is just right, you can find a cave that goes into the hollowed out center of the island.

The day after Christmas we took an all-day (10-hour) boat trip to visit caves and hongs. A hong is the inside of an island, which has been hollowed out, much like your tooth when you get a filling. The outside shell remains but the inside and the top are gone. On the main large boat we traveled with probably 20 other people. Each couple was given a guide and once we arrived at one of the four caves we went though, we’d get in a kayak with our guide and he would paddle us through the caves. We had to lie down in the caves to avoid hitting our heads on the incredibly low ceilings. After going through the cave, we’d enter the hong. It’s very quiet and peaceful inside. We were lucky enough to see two monkeys in a tree; they were at least as curious about us as we were about them. In between cave trips we had delicious Thai lunch and dinner buffets. It was a great adventure and needless to say, we were exhausted by the time we got back to our hotel.

Heading into one of the caves

Inside the hong

Inside our little sea canoe

The sea canoes hanging off the back of our boat

Leaving some of the islands on our way to a night canoe ride

Our guides waiting to take us on a night ride

A quiet return to Phuket

Christmas of 2004 will always be remembered as a very difficult Christmas. On December 26th we woke up started another day of vacation only to have it interrupted by the tsunami. It was nice to return three years later and see that the tourists are all back and the people of Phuket are doing well. It doesn’t even look like anything happened. One thing that we did notice are the tsunami evacuation route signs on every street.

We should have followed these balloons. It looks like someone was going to have a party.

This has been a fun Christmas vacation. We headed back to Phuket to meet our friends Jim and Patty for the week. It was strange to be with them in the same places exactly three years after the tsunami. It felt great to walk down the ocean front streets and see that everything has been built up and businesses there were thriving more than ever.

Coconut shell washed up on Kata beach

Laura and I both remember the feeling in the days after the tsunami very well. There was a huge feeling of adrenalin from the disaster, sorrow for the lost families and strong feelings of community working together. Within days of the waves destroying everything in their path it was incredible to see the people rebuilding, selling t-shirts and cooking meals for the tourists. Many tourists felt like the best way to support the community was to visit the retailers and eat in the restaurants. It must have worked, because Phuket seemed busier than ever.

Laura enjoying the views after a day in the sea kayaks

Some of the beautiful islands we kayaked around

Our guides are waiting

Sitting in the front of boat after paddling through some very very small caves

Half the reason for going to Thailand is to enjoy the great food

The Andaman Islands come straight out of the water