Taiwan 2023 Nostalgic Trip | Taipei, Taiwan

May 2023 

I have short trip to Taipei for 5 days 4 night. It was a mandatory annual trip with some sprinkle. Why? Because I just got back my passport on Wed around 14.00 at bought a ticket at 15.00 and already in CGK airport at 16.00 and ready to flight haha. 

I have connection flight to make sure I already wake up in Taiwan on Thursday morning. Why so rush? Because I only have 2 days leave and need to continue with another business trip (another story later) so I need to really really arrange my time to be on the highest efficient haha. 

What is my plan for this so called nostalgic trip 懷舊之旅? I planned nothing but refreshing my mind back to the old days where I like to go what I like to eat when I'm in highschool & university. 

I'm an old one haha. 

What is the absurd one? I take the Brown Line MRT 捷運文山線like 4 times come and go just only to nostalgic this is the line when I will back home in university. Enjoy it and feels happy. I cross my university station, I cross the Wanfang Hospital where I do my wisdom teeth surgery, I cross Taipei zoo which is my favorite place at that time and I take the bus which I usually take in past time. 

Day 1 nostalgic

The favorite taiwanese breakfast : 漢堡肉蛋餅 +  大冰紅

Feels so good, the first meal on this trip with Taipei street

大腸麵線 always be my fav <3 

What to have after meal? Ofc the veggie juice 五蔬果汁 its combination of some veggie like celery with fruits — fresh & light, my all time favorite 

Day 2 nostalgic : 

Back to my college which is Wanfang Hospital MRT and the surrounding here. You know I always like to flash back what did I do that day when I am here walking on that street. Many of store and resto change but the ambience and some of my favorite things to visit is still there. So in love ❤️

MRT Wanfang Hospital 好熟悉的街景 以前每天都在這裡

陪我四年的戰場

I like to come here, like 5 mins walk from college. The owner is retired from 5 star hotel, he sell many things like dessert, soup, and all is good, cheap, and big portion so in love.

My fav one almond tofu + 碗粿

Going back to NOCSH, OMG 15 years ago I come here and 11 years ago I graduated from here. Maigat it's really so emotional to still coming back to the place that grow me alot. More than thankful. So what we have here?  南雅夜市 Nanya Night Market and my favorite stall still there <3 

綜合不要鳳梨— the packaging change, the stall place change, the owner looks different

Nothing change except the price haha

原味&牛肉沙拉多柴魚多

My favorite one 冬瓜粉條

Day 3 nostalgic : 

Still part of NOCSH, I'm having breakfast at the bfast home-shop that classified as high-class bfast for student at that time haha. Famous for its 酸辣醬 sour-spicy sauce. 

Home for 4 years that time

後門nowadays with student ID card, in past days manually cross by and only specific time it will open 

For us as student this is the high class one because its menu more fancy and expensive ahhahaha

Nothing change

卡拉雞沙拉 & 胡椒麵加蛋加酸辣醬 + 大冰奶

Another area that also accompany my past days in Taiwan, 師大 and its 滷味 OMG anyway it is my first time eating luwei in daytime haha usually people take it as dinner. 

And another stall that already in my mind for long time is this 魚鬆滷肉飯 in MRT Linguang. The uncle is a Myanmar and our favorite is this 魚鬆滷肉飯＆土魠魚羹

魚鬆滷肉飯+地瓜葉

Day 4 not-really-nostalgic : 

Well, the last full day here I explore Da dao cheng 大稻埕 & Longshan Temple 龙山寺 it's really my first time to explore here, 2 reasons : first because when I stay in Taiwan 大稻埕 not yet that famous and 龙山寺is a red district haha. 

But this time I got experienced some beauty things here 

1. The porridge 周記肉粥店, its an old resto with the menu meat porridge & deep fried pork as below picture if you dont know how to order just give below picture haha. The porridge is so comforting thou. 

2. The old school ice-cream

3. Starfruit ice 成都楊桃冰 the queue so long, its like sour sweet icy things very refreshing 

4. 青草茶 A bit bitter but healthy its an oldschool grass tea kinda things that you can found easily but they said this one made it in traditional way 

After you try all of those mouthwatering you can walk to 大稻埕to see the sunset and enjoy the view also jogging if you want. It’s really nice but i dont suggest to have seat on the cafe there since its too crowded.

A very cute 711 there

ofc with the most iconic Taiwan 711 pudding haha

So in love with Taiwan, see you next visit. Never get bored to having a nostalgic trip in Taiwan. 

汕頭返鄉之旅 | Shantou Guangzhou, China

May 2023 

It was my first visit to my hometown ever haha. I think this post not only excited for my journey but also all the overseas chinese who wonder where is their hometown in China especially for Teo Chew peeps. Let's start my incredible journey back to hometown! 首次返鄉之旅!

I was born in Teo Chew family, both my mom & dad are authentic Teo Chew-nese. But I haven't been there, well incase you confuse here is a bit background why overseas chinese don't know where is their hometown. 

The story begin when China still in hard day and most of Chinese run away out of China. Where is their destination? South China peeps will goes to South East Asia and Northern China peeps will goes to Europe, America, etc ---- based on the direction & distance. I've ever heard my grandpa story from my parents they said that days when you get a boat to run away you should quickly enter the boat its the only chance to get out from China. Even you don't know yet in which country this boat will end. 

Then, my grandpa arrive at Borneo. a little regency called Sambas. I have been there when I was kid, literally it's like a chinese ancient town, all the people communicate in chinese dialect like Teo Chew or Hakka. Most of them are the chinese who come from China at that time, even how they have daily habit like having a sip of coffee in the afternoon, how they house is from wood like old chinese style all are there. Even my grandpa store using old style sempoa to calculate the bill haha. 

Usually the second generation of them will move outside the place they come at first like my dad, he move to Jakarta in the young age, he keep told me he already move out and work independently in young age so I should follow his steps (maybe one of the reason why he send me to boarding school in Taiwan at the young age hoam) 

Well, little did I know, we normalize how the chinese dialect been in Indo, its like oh you talk hokkian you should from Medan, you talk Teo Chew you should from Jambi or Kalimantan, you talk Hakka should from Singkawang etc. For the young people nowadays less of them know where is their 祖籍 ancestral home in China especially if the first generation who come from China already pass several generation to them. 

Maybe it because my family is a traditional chinese family and I also interest with it so I know not that much about where is my ancient in China and a bit of it story. 

20ish years later, by coincidence, I came to my hometown for the first time in my life haha. Well maybe its not a coincidence but how God know I always said I want to visit and see how is my hometown. 

One day I got notice from my boss I need to go to China again but he hasnt told me which place I need to go. Well, a project as usual, nothing special just a business trip. Then few days before I flight I just know we going to Shantou 汕頭 and he just said, you can see your hometown. Wow I start to like this kind of surprise haha. 

To give you an idea, usually people called it 潮汕 which is Chao Zhou & Shan Tou because this 2 place are near enough border each other, it belong to 廣東Guang Dong Province. 

How to get there? By plane, by high speed train, by car all able. I go by high speed train from Shenzhen it took around 3 hours. 

The high speed train

Chaoshan iconic boat

The airport is very local

During this travel time, I feel homed to hear most of passenger talk in Teo Chew then I know where I come from and belong. Little things that may relate to answer your question in the past like for me : why my dad like to put pepper in his food and it inherited to me, why the people like to eat something raw food like the raw small crab, you will found its so funny and yet heart warming. 

How they cooked the dishes is literally how my family cook it. So if you complaint why your parents or grandparents cooked the dishes like that it was because they origin cook it like that also haha. 

There is no MRT yet in Shantou so the only way to go is by online taxi. I can say it's not a tourist attraction place but it is where you want to know your ancient place. I like it so far. Its worth to try the origin of the dishes you familiar with in your family & also to know the history of your ancient. 

Shan tou city street view

One of the beach nearby 北山灣 Beishanwan

Morning with porridge & fermented tofu 豆腐乳 or usually we called it hu ju.

And the local product here also the fermented tofu cake haha 腐乳餅

Pork fat candy wahahahaha

If you are Pontianak-nese you will know what is 牛肉粿條湯 aka beef kwetiaw soup. Well I know now why Pontianak-nese like this kinda food, its from Teo Chew haha

My childhood dishes the real baby shark 小鯊魚 --- when I little my mom said, we eat baby shark but when shark bigger they eat human haha 

Other than food worth for you to visit some museum there, one of my favorite is Shantou Museum 汕頭博物館 & Chao Shan Overseas Museum 潮汕華僑歷史博物館 

Shantou Museum talk more about the history of Shantou also have some art exhibition. The boat of Zheng He 鄭和 is also one of the iconic to show the history how in the past days people going to South East Asia and one of the should be our grandparents. 

If the overseas come to the Chao Shan Overseas Museum it will be more feeling because they told the story of where Teo Chew-nese goes now, how our ancient goes to our overseas country now, what is the culture that being bring to there, and the Teo Chew dialect itself. For me I love it, finally I got chance to know more about my ancient. 

How u spell in in Teo Chew with chinese character

exactly same as the one my grandpa has

Bonus the connecting road under the sea of Shantou ❤️

See you in another opportunity of our related history story telling haha.