June 3, 2011

• mini update

  It’s been a long time since I have updated–I didn’t realize how much time had elapsed since my last post. o_________o

  Taiwan = land of the good food, whether it is Asian or non-Asian food… 

  

  I had this marshmallow-y delight while grabbing dessert + juice with my aunt, cousin Aileen, and mom.  It was sort of chewy with fruits embedded…if only I remembered the name of the coffee shop or the dessert. -___-.  I have more pics to share of scrumptious and beautiful food, but most are on my mom’s camera, still in Taiwan.  I left a little earlier so I could visit my sister in San Francisco before heading to LA for a wedding.  I’m a little anxious about jetlag because I had just finally fully adjusted to Taiwan time…so first I had to change to 12 hours different from eastern time to get to Taiwan; then now I’m in California, so I’m 3 hours behind eastern time.  Soon, I will be going to Greece which is maybe 7 hours ahead of eastern time?  My circadian rhythm = amok.

  

  {This is what I always think about when I think of jetlag…thank you Randall Munroe <3}

  Random thing I noticed: In Taiwan, instead of giving people jobs waving flags for construction areas, they created moving mannequins that wave the flags:

  

  I guess in the long run this would save them money (over having to hire someone to wave it), and possibly be safer too.  Though I guess the dummy can’t direct traffic, only create awareness…so no worries, robots haven’t taken over yet !

  During one of our excursions from Taipei, I visited Tainan with my mom, where an “aunt” hosted us.  One of the notable sites she brought us to was of this abandoned house that got swallowed by trees:

  

  It was an awesome place, though apparently kids generally love it (in the old days there weren’t boardwalks or stairs so kids were allowed to run around anywhere and climb everything), but adults find it either boring or creepy.  Guess I’m still somewhat of a kid at heart. 

  *  *  *  *  *

  So, overall it was a nice trip.  It was basically a mom-and-daughter outing to Taiwan so we could visit my grandma and other relatives; also my mom has a 30-year  :3 reunion to attend.  Right now my grandma is not doing well; basically, she had a series of strokes a couple of years ago that went unnoticed and therefore untreated–the people caring for her simply thought her memory was just deteriorating quickly; they didn’t think much of it assuming she was just getting old… ><, and I guess she wasn’t able to say what was going on either.  So now she is actually in a coma-like state.    We were wondering if she recognized my mom’s voice though…because whenever my mother spoke to her, tears welled up and dripped.  But we were wondering if that was just coincidence an her eyes needed to be moisturized, or if it was a sign of recognition.  I sat and accompanied her for maybe 30 minutes and there were no tears until my mom returned from visiting her brother next door…so I kind of suspect slight recognition, on a very basic level.  She is largely paralyzed though, so it is hard to really know anything. ><…it is a very sad state to see her in.  She is tube fed too…no living-will was established though, so we do not know what she would have wanted done with her in this state.  Though apparently she has been largely paralyzed and coma-like for over 1.5 years at this point…Personally, I would not like for my “life” to be perpetrated by a tube as such.  And even if she could awake and she wouldn’t return to her old self (which, I heard she had a brain scan that showed many many areas no longer work)…but no agreement can be come to in the family as to what to do.  I guess some of them want to take away the tube, and others want it to persist, arguing that they can’t stand to starve their mother.  {But it’s not like they visit her much in this state either…so even if she was just paralyzed and thus unable to speak, she is probably bored and lonely with just an aid and a radio…}.

   

  On a brighter note, I felt happy because I was able to see other sides of my mom–her interaction with some of her siblings and friends.  One of the things I love doing is just listening to conversations, esp. of my parents because they’re pretty interesting people, and so are their friends.  Plus, my parents didn’t really tell us a lot about their lives growing up, though we have asked.  So this was a good way to get some insight on that.  (Wish they would have told me more!  I felt like I learned a lot on this trip).  I found that my uncle (mom’s younger bro) is quite funny in many ways, one of which is how thrifty/cheap he can be (hard to describe, or rather hard to explain how it’s funny).    And then I found out one of my aunts is just like my grandma (dad’s side) in one way: whenever she has to exercise she complains about things like headaches…but when brought to a mall she is as lively as ever (good way to sneak some exercise/movement in?).  Hehe. …ahh, family.

  More on Taiwan later, when I get access to mom’s camera. (~1 week?)

  I think I might go hit up a concert…Free concert Amoeba music of Architecture in Helsinki!  Not sure what the protocol for free shows is, i.e. if I need a ticket/voucher or anything or if I just go?  Also, not sure how to get there, so I’ll need some time to figure that up.

  • 7:43 pm
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