epiphany

Saturday: Jiegong (Dad’s uncle—the 11th and last living) takes us to the seashore. He’s 88 years young and can drive! Yay I have a long life ahead of me. The sea is pretty. Hot hot hot. Baobing = huge relief, choudofu = GAG! Fish market – lots of stations each with nagging salespeople claiming their catch is the best = what Asians do best. Mmm seafood feast: oyster, clams (2), fresh cold shrimp, sea cucumber, sashimi… Picture time. Fish guts everywhere. Eel wine…interesting tastes like Chinese medicine. Dad grew up in a traditional Chinese courtyard house – hmmm nice childhood! Apparently he was treated like a king growing up because he was the only boy. Hmpf explains his character. Jiegong’s house: unstable ladder to 2nd floor outside. He looks a lot like grandpa in the pic hanging in our dining room. Super sapua! Taiwan’s pineapples>US pineapples my tongue doesn’t sting at all! Turns out there are more artists in my family than I thought! One cousin (jiegong’s grandson) is a graphic designer, one uncle (Dad’s “brother”/cousin) paints and showcases art at the National Palace Museum!! Beautiful watercolors and traditional Chinese inkpaintings. I wish they’d speak Mandarin so I could understand what they say about their childhood.