I spent all day dowloading and editing the video clips I filmed in Taiwan and burned them on DVDs. It wasn’t perfect but I was happy about it, considering it’s my first time. I am feeling sad about leaving my parents again. Who knows when the next time is. I’ll miss my friends too. I only got to see them once or twice. Three weeks seem like a long time but it flew by. Sigh.

Love, Esther and Cyrus

After living in US, I’ve missed many important friends’ weddings. What a shame! I finally got a chance to do it this time. The groom is my college friend. Don’t know the bride.

The reception was at a restaurant in Taipei. My parents dropped me off and took Cyrus with them to visit my aunt and cousins. Chinese wedding receptions are notorious for not starting on time. Thank goodness this one started half hour later only. I was worried about Cyrus needing to nurse and not taking bottles.

The reception was very simple. The slide show showed the newly wed’s background and how they knew each other. There were also raffles that I didn’t know about. The bride wore three different kinds of dresses. Very pretty. The most important purpose of going to a wedding is that you get to see people you don’t usually see. I saw another good friend there. We both were very happy to see each other. His wife was there, as well as his toddler son, and another one on the way. I also saw many other no-so-close friends. Everyone seemed doing quite well. I couldn’t remember everyone’s name but remembered the faces. However, a few of them couldn’t recognize me. I was chubbier in college. The wedding turned out to be a very pleasant adventure.

It’s Latern Festival. Unfortunately it started to rain and turn colder in the afternoon so I decided to just take it easy at home after the wedding. I saw an ad for Taiwanese beer on TV. They hired foreigners. This white guy said something like "I am not a Taiwanese, but I feel I am one." I guess they are trying to target foreigners. Thought about you when I saw the ad.

Love, Esther and Cyrus

My parents, Cyrus, and I went to Dharma Drum Mountain today. That’s a recently-built Buddhist Temple in northern Taiwan. One of my good friends is actually its interior designer. This was my first time being there. The place was decorated with lots of laterns for the upcoming holiday. The temple wasn’t as colorful as Daoist temples, actually quite plain. However, it’s a place of good taste, very poetic and "zen". I think your Dad would love the place.

It’s only early March but the temperature reached 80s. Crazy. I was wearing short sleeves. Cyrus was all sweaty too. We’ve been bathing him pretty much everyday. It’s too humid here. Can’t believe I am going back to a snowing place next week.

We went to a seafood restaurant with my parents, their friends, Yungping and his girlfriend for dinner. It’s probably my last big feast, except the wedding I’m going tomorrow, before I go back to Buffalo. I’ll miss those good food.

Love, Esther and Cyrus

I took Cyrus to Jungjeng Park today. That’s the place with big Buddha and Pusa (Bodhisattva). Taiwan really is a wheelchair/stroller unfriendly place. I thought with such a big park there should be wheelchair access that I can push stroller through. I was wrong. I had to take car seat off the stroller, folded the stroller, and then carried both upstairs. >_< Oh well, I managed it anyway. Cyrus of course was too young to appreciate the statues but I took some pictures to show him later.

After dinner, my dad took me to downtown to get some souvenir for everyone. I also got some snap shots of the city. Although it’s so chaotic, I’ll miss it nevertheless.

Cyrus is getting better and better at rolling around and sitting up. Too bad there was no exersaucer here for him to play in. He played mostly in my bed. I’ve been reading the new books I bought to him as well.

Love, Esther and Cyrus

Not much going on today. Catching up on some stuff over the Internet through out the day.

When I went to pick my mom up, one of her coworker saw Cyrus. She commented, "Living in America seems to make him look like an American too." She didn’t know Cyrus’ Dad is an American. I found her comment quite funny.

I had my hair cut tonight. It’s much cheaper in Taiwan, costing me only about US$15, including shampooing, hair cut, and blow dry. No tip needed. Very straight forward! I haven’t changed my hair style for a while. Althought it’s only a hair cut, something different!

Cyrus is really funny these days. One of his new things is that he would use his little hand to grab my nipple and closely examine it before he put it in the mouth. He also smiles a lot. Everyone thinks he is an easy-going child.

Love,
Esther and Cyrus

day 14

After breakfast, I took Cyrus out for a walk. It was sunny so I put a cap on him to protect his eyes. It was so warm that it didn’t feel like winter. Flowers already started blooming. We also saw many butterflies and bees. Even my dad knows it’s because of global warming.

Before I went to pick my mom up, I went to a beach park called "Chaojing park." It’s a little park next to a fishing village. The beach here are all rocky beach. You can see the amazing work of nature and enthusiastic fishing people. It’s a windy day. The waves splashed on rocks. It’s the beauty I remember. Too bad a camcorder and only capture sounds and images but not smells. I love the smell of ocean.

We went to the Chinese medicine shabushabu in downtown, the one you’ve been to, for dinner. A guest there asked me how come Cyrus doesn’t have blue eyes if his father is an American. Thanks to the waitress there, we got to have our dinner smoothly. They helped pushing Cyrus. As long as he is pushed, he doesn’t seem to care it’s not me. After dinner, we went to see the lanterns that have been set up. Cyrus fell asleep and didn’t see much anything. Maybe we’ll do it again if time allows.

day 15
I drove Cyrus to Taipei to meet Angela, Ray, and their son. After a small lunch, we went to a famous bookstore to look for children books. On that floor, other then the bookstore, they also sell many different kids stuff, like clothes, toys, gears, and furnitures. Because it’s a holidy, the place was paked with parents and children. Half of the books in the bookstore are in English. The ones in Chinese are mostly translated from other languages, like English or Japanese. The place is really big, much bigger than the children area in Borders or Barnes and Noble, and it took me a while to pick out some stuff for Cyrus. They include two posters, a few fictions, books teaching him what’s called what, Taiwanese nursery rhymes CD with book, Chinese classic poems, etc. I also bought a Chinese version of "Blue bird of happiness." The place also provides a private area for nursing and changing. Pretty breastfeeding friendly.

Love,
Esther and Cyrus

Day 12
It was rainy out and a little bit chilly so we stayed at home. After dinner, we went to downtown to see if we could find a souvenir for your Dad. The laterns were all on for the coming latern festival. I didn’t bring my camera so we’ll come back later on.

Day 13
After feeding Cyrus some cereal, I Mobied him to the post office. I didn’t know there was no need to wait to be called if I was simply mailing something. Probably because it’s the first work day after the holiday, the place was packed. I waited for at least an hour before I realized that I didn’t need to. what a waste of time! During the wait, a couple of women looked at my Moby wrap with great curiosity. Most of people carry babies facing in not out. Those women seemed to think it’s a good idea to let him see things. They said "he looks so cute being carried like that."

After lunch, I put Cyrus down to nap and went down stairs. When I heard his crying and hurried upstairs, he was already on the floor. I was gone for about 5-10 minutes so I didn’t see how it happened. I put him in middle of the bed but it still happened. He wasn’t screaming, just crying. He stopped as soon as I picked him up. I examined him immediately and only saw a red spot on his cheek. Other than that, I didn’t see any swelling or bumps on his head or body. He went back to sleep for another 20 minutes. When he woke up, I gave him a toy and he played with it and was acting quite normal. I then took him with me to pick up my mom at work. I told her about Cyrus’ rolling off bed. She examined him and believed he was fine. We had a short walk at the fishing village nearby and visited a temple. There was a Taiwanese opera going for the special holiday.

After my dad came home, I told him to check Cyrus up. He did and agreed with my mom that Cyrus was okay. Since then, he’s been nursing as usual. He is alert, smiling, and makes lots of sounds when he is awake. During sleep last night, he woke up two to three times during the night to nurse and woke up around the same time this morning. Overall, he looks pretty normal to me. The red spot on his cheek is almost gone by now. Thank goodness!!

I didn’t forget you telling me to stay safe. The accident was completely my fault. I have no excuse. I am very sorry and feel vey guilty. I feel like a bad mother. I’ve learned my lesson in the hard way. I sincerely ask for your forgiveness.

Love,
Esther and Cyrus

The weather forcast predicted that it was going to rain later so we got up early and took a scenic drive along the northern coast to Danshui.

It was sunny and there were many people at the beach. We also saw some people fishing. I vedio taped the trip. Hopefully it’s not too boring. I am pretty new to video taping. We stopped by a wind plower plant on the way in order to show Cyrus BIG windmills. I attached a picture here for you to see. They were like airplane propellers. So amazing.

After arriving in Danshui, we only stooped for an hour because there was nowhere to park. It was very crowded. i bought a cup of bubble tea and my mom bought me a grilled squid. I’ve wanted to eat that since I came back. I bought your mom a beaded bracelet there. i hope she will like it. On the way home, I had motion sickness again. I was so sick that I didn’t even have much dinner. I felt better after a shower.

Love, Esther and Cyrus

Cyrus and I went to a Cantonese restaurant to have a lunch with my middle school friends. We had dimsum. The food was average but the scenery was pretty nice. The building is located right next to the harbor. From the 5th floor, where the restuarant is, you can see a major part of the harbor. Cyrus got to see some big ships. My friends treated me the lunch. Very nice of them, don’t you think?

After lunch, Cyrus, me, and my parents went to the Green Sand Harbor again. Because of the holiday, the place was packed. It’s a windy day and many people were flying kites. Cyrus was too young to fly a kite. My parents bought him a toy windmill. He was very facinated when it turned. I’ll bring it home.

My two brothers went back to Taipei and Taoyun to get ready for going back to work. I wished they could have stayed at home longer. Hopefully they will come home next weekend, which is the last one before I fly back to US.

Love, Esther and Cyrus

We were expecting guests today so didn’t leave the house. My dad showed us the new Karaoke machine he bought a few months ago. I haven’t done karaoke for a long time so it’s fun. Maybe not as fun as going to a KTV but something is better than nothing since I can’t take Cyrus to KTV anyway. There weren’t many English songs but there was a classic: Dancing Queen. i remember you like that song.

After I put Cyrus to nap, our guests finally came. They were my mom’s coworkers that you’ve met and their children. One of them also has a toddler. The little girl looks a lot like her pretty mother and is very funny. Her mother wanted to hold Cyrus but she didn’t like the idea. When she heard we said she would be upset if her mother hold Cyrus, she said "He (Cyrus) would be upset if mom hold him." When her mom actually held Cyrus, she started crying and wanted to attack Cyrus. She was okay her daddy holding Cyrus though.

After a little bit, more people came, including Mr. and Mrs. Su. They all said that Cyrus looked more like his daddy. They were very impressed by his concentration span and his being very alert and curious. Cyrus was very friendly yesterday, letting everyone holding him without fussing.

We talked about his head shape. They thought his head was very beautifully round, just like a white baby. Chinese used to believe that a boy with a flat head will have better live because, in old days, politicians tend to use harder pillows and thus have flatter heads. But everyone knows it’s a myth. Many mothers these days like their babies to have round heads.

After dinner, we sang a birthday song to my dad and cut a cake. Sunday is his birthday. I love the cake here, much better than what you can get in America. There were fruits and taro in it. Yummy!

Love, Esther and Cyrus