So, it's come down to this: Taiwan

So, off to Pingtung! This is where my mother was born and raised. Obviously, I must have been there as a child, but have zero recollection of it. And, I must not have been back there since at least 1969.

Train station waiting for the short (30 min) commute to Pingtung.

Wikipedia says that Kaohsiung is over 2 Million people whereas Pingtung is over 200,000 (roughly). It is a small town. I didn't see a building over 20-25 stories during the 3 hours I was visiting.

My cousin, who apparently keeps telling me she attended my wedding although I have a very faint memory of that, picked us up. She's cheerful, gregarious, and from my mother's side of the family (I have no idea which sister she's the daughter of).

My cousin took us to temple where my Mom's parents are interred. Apparently the custom is that a person dies, they are buried, a few years later they are dis-interred and their remains are cremated. A inscribed wooden placard with their name is then placed in an alter room.

My parents are searching for my Mom's dad's name. Men are kept on the right side.

And then women are on the left side. My parents, my cousin and her husband are placing flowers for my grandmother.

Then the short prayer with incense at the alter.

Connected to this alter room is the big Buddhist temple. Here is the main shrine.

And on either side of the shrine, two rooms with smaller alters. I think this is carved from 100% jade.

And then I got (politely) busted by a docent who asked that I quit taking pictures inside the temple. My (sorta) bad.

Then we drove to where my Mom grew up. It's long since been sold and converted to a different business. If you haven't figured it out by now, in the cities most people, but not all, who have shops live above their shops.

My mother was disappointed that the house she grew up in seemed smaller, like the current owners had "chopped" up the building. But then, that could just be fuzzy, fond memories.

About 200 ft from her childhood home was the "new" home of her father's business furniture.

Just to back up, her father was a Chinese medicine doctor - more like a prescribing pharmacist.

[and a fun fact, my grandma was the country equivalent to that - she is illiterate, but razor sharp and bright enough to learn the basics of oriental herb medicine]

Here's the complex story of the three "adopted" sisters my Mother had - and this is a very rough translation from what my Mom told me.

In Taiwan, it was not uncommon for very poor people with too many mouths to feed to.....not sure how to say this.....rent out? sell? place? allow to leave? their kids with other families in exchange for room and board. In other words, servant kids. I suppose that's what my grandma was as well - given from one family to another to be a family member but also a servant. And over time, the family may eventually adopt the kid as their own.

So my Mother's family had 3 of these kids at one time or the other. My grandfather had many assistants, who were in training as apprentices.

Eventually, my grandfather arranged the marriage of one of the adopted daughters to one of his apprentices. The apprentice eventually struck out on his own and opened his own medicine shop.

And then, the apprentice and the adopted sister (of my Mom) had children. And one of the children came back and bought the old pharmacy equipment/supplies from my Mom's family and started their own shop down the street from my grandfather's old business.

So technically.....(I'm not sure if it's the husband or wife), my Mom is the "Aunt" to one of the people who own the shop. But in reality they don't have that relationship. However, apparently my cousin keeps in close touch with them and considers them "distant relatives".

And then we went to my cousin's house. It was funny, she went upstairs to roust my...I guess they are second cousins from bed and it took about 15 minutes to pry these three out of bed and get dressed. Two of them (I have no idea which) are my cousin's kids. And one of them is a cousin from the other side of the family tree (cousin's husband's side).

They're just waiting to go back to sleep.

And then later that day we went back to Kaohsiung where my aunt wanted to treat us to one last meal.

My mom and I messed up and saw a movie, arriving at their house too late. We lost a reservation and my aunt was very miffed at my Mom. But then, we found a street restaurant serving fresh seafood.

The case is out into the street. You walk up, point at what you want for dinner and they take it back and cook it up.