Taiwan - Kaohsiung Morning

I told Wifey when I was preparing for the trip to Taiwan, "Yeah, all I have to do is bring $200 and give it to grandma in a red envelope for her birthday. Everyone else will be taking care of me." Which was all true. I had no idea what city I'd be sleeping in and where - it would just be taken care of for me by my folks and family.

When I got to Kaohsiung, my parents and my cousin picked me up at the airport. I'm not very close to any of my cousins, so it was a "hi" and handshake and then he drove us to his parents' spare apartment.

You see, my Dad's sister and brother-in-law are kinda filthy rich. They started a business supplying steel to construction companies from the bottom up. I remember them laughing about the old days when they hauled rolls of steel on the back of their Vespa scooter as they were starting the business off. These days, they supply the steel trays that they pour concrete on in buildings. You know that most buildings/towers have concrete floors right? Well, they need a "tray" to pour the concrete on for each floor. The trays are "ribbed", wavy sheets of metal that they snake electrical and plumbing lines through, then pour concrete on top of those trays.

Anyhoo, they're rolling in the dough. The bought an "apartment" (3 bedroom 2 bath condo) a few years ago, and then decided not to move away from their original home above the shop because it was "too far". To be honest, I think they just got nostalgic about the old place where they started the business. So, instead of selling it, they just keep it as a place where family can stay when they are in town.

When I visited back in the mid 90's, they took me out to dinner and were describing how their kids (3 of them) wanted my aunt and uncle to buy them their own apartments. We're talking about (at that time) condos costing about $500K. And then they pointed to me and asked if my parents had bought my house. I kinda mumbled they helped me with loans for some downpayments, but no - I was responsible for my own shelter. And then, they wanted me to talk to their spoiled kids and set them straight.

Ummmm, I'm not touching that with a 10 foot pole.

In the end, I'm sure they bought their kids their own apartments because that's what parents do.....take care of their kids in hopes that the kids take care of them in their old age. I think that's also why my cousin who picked me up at the airport was somewhat lukewarm to me. I'm sure his Mom and Dad have spent time lecturing them about my self-sufficientcy.

Hey, who's the one who raised kids to expect parents to buy their condo for them?

Later in the week, I was at their office and saw a printed out google map of an obvious golf course. My uncle's health is weakening and he doesn't play as much golf as he'd like to play. I asked where the course was since he obviously loved it enough to print it out and place it under the glass of a conference table. My mom said, "Oh, it outside in the countryside of Taiwan." And then she took her finger and then pointed it to a group of buildings near the golf course and said, "And your aunt and uncle have a house here."

Auntie and Uncle, put me in your will, mmmkay?

The first morning after I arrived, outside their condo building.

I kept thinking, "Where is all the traffic?". I was thinking "china-traffic".

They took me to a place that is famous for it's breakfast. In the picture below, the woman on the left is rolling out and stretching out a long, thin pull of dough. Then, she drops it in the hot oil the man in the right is manning. The bread will puff out and then the man will pull it out and place it to cool for customers to buy. This place was very popular. When describing how to get their to a taxi driver, my Mom would get into a discussion with the driver about exactly where to go...until she got to the part where she would describe it as "the place where people are standing in line" and then the driver (two mornings in a row) would nod and say, "Oh yeah, I know that place. It's really popular!"

Mom, being the dutiful wife standing in line and getting all the food for us men.

That's the breakfast. It's a sesame flatbread "bun" around the puffed bread. We eat that with slightly sweet soymilk. My Mom asked me if I wanted "sweet or salty". When I said "sweet", she made a face. She likes salty and doesn't understand why anyone would want sweet soy milk. Her bowl of salty is to the right with red (I think hot sauce) and other salty spices.

And then later in the morning, while on the way to get to a van taxi to take us to grandma's house, a giant COSTCO in the distance.