Good to be home

After three glorious weeks in China/Hong Kong, it feels good to be home again. Its strange, having lived in Canada for 37 years and less than one year in Taiwan, when I think of home, I think of Taiwan. What I really missed is the clean air, blue sky, warm sunshine, friendly folks, my early morning hike and run in the mountain, my afternoon tennis, and most of all, the vegetarian food of Hualien.

I used to crave for the Cantonese dim sum, noodles, roast duck, and many other regional dishes of China when I visit HK/southern China, but this time, I was craving for the vegetarian dishes of Hualien. So, upon returning home, I paid my visit to our favorite Veggie restaurant. The two most important factors in deciding whether I like a certain food is flavour, and texture. Amazingly, this veggie restaurant has over 40 dishes of very flavorful plant based concoctions, and all with different texture. Following a strict buddhist guideline, no garlic or onion are used for flavouring, but ginger, hot peppers, basil, and cilantro are generously infused, sometimes as a combination, and sometimes alone, resulting in some very palatable experiences.

Another thing I missed while I was away was watching the take offs and landings of the F16s at the local airport which serves as a military airport also. I love the sound and the sight of the exhilarating acceleration at take offs, which only takes about 3 seconds before airborne. Landing is equally exciting as they flare about 30 feet above my head before touching down. Flying a small single engine plane cannot compare to an F16, but it does bring back beautiful memories. Flying solo for the first time is something I will never forget, the experience is up there with finishing my first and only marathon......and the three hole in ones.