Toothache in Taipei

Starting with the flight from Newark to Taipei, my teeth had been kind of twinge-ing all day yesterday, but a Motrin or Tylenol usually took care of the problem. However, when I woke up this morning, one particular tooth was absolutely throbbing -_- It was also super-sensitive to any pressure, so even rinsing with warm water hurt. Plan of action: (1) Call Aunt Karen to ask her to call the relatives in Taipei we were supposed to meet later to ask if they had someone they recommended, and (2) start looking up dentists in Taipei on various expat websites.

Background information: I had a filling done in the aching tooth back in August, and ever since then the whole side had been sensitive to cold foods/liquids. I had already consulted with a dentist in Macau and one at home in the US, both of whom said to brush and floss more carefully to reduce the slight gum inflammation, and the American dentist also gave me some samples of Sensodyne toothpaste.

Step 2 turned out to be unnecessary but it was a semi-reassuring process for a couple reasons. First, I knew that I would have been able to handle the situation even if I didn’t have support from family. Second, the expat guides had several suggestions of good places where the dentists understood/spoke English and had experience with all kind of stuff, including root canals. In any case, by 11 AM, Aunt Karen/Uncle Peter met me at the hostel, where we were picked up by one of the many “cousins” in Taipei. (Interestingly, this cousin is technically in my generation, but he is only a few years younger than Aunt Karen and has children who are only a few years younger than I am!)

The original plan had been to meet the rest of the family and all go out to lunch together, but we detoured to the dentist first, only a few blocks away from the cousin’s home. The dentist took an x-ray and poked around a bit, then promptly proclaimed that I should have the dying nerve removed. This sounded a bit drastic to me, so I instead opted to take some antibiotics to fight any developing infection and continue taking Motrin until I got back to Macau and saw a dentist there. That way, if I did need a root canal, I would also be able to have one dentist do the whole procedure (I would also thus avoid flying with a huge hole in my tooth).

That settled, we continued to lunch, where I met Aunt Karen’s/Dad’s cousin, his wife, and his older son (the younger son had been the one taking us around). It hurt to chew anything (even on the non-aching side because my teeth would bump together on both sides), but I managed to at least sample most of the dishes. If anything, my predicament made my relatives even more solicitous, e.g. making sure my piece of fish didn’t have bones. There were at least 10 courses ranging from “Buddhist Jumping Over the Wall” (supposedly the aroma of this savory soup caused a monk to jump over a high wall to find the source) to a massive hotpot with loads of thinly-sliced meats and large shrimp.

We worked off the huge meal with a long ramble around the neighborhoods where the Lin family used to live – almost all the buildings had changed, but Aunt Karen recognized the temple courtyard where they used to watch puppet shows and a sign for the old movie theater (now just an empty lot). We even hiked up a hill to get a better view of the area – the paths are paved now, but the cousin’s son and Aunt Karen remembered racing up and down the dirt paths and playing in some of the flatter areas.

The temple courtyard

The old movie theater sign (you can see down the alley to where it used to be)

Walking up lots and lots of stairs…

Last stop for the afternoon was National Taiwan University, aka Taida, where both Aunt Karen and Dad attended college. We just walked around the campus for a while – it actually reminded me a lot of Stanford with its brick buildings and palm tree-lined avenues. Perhaps the most amusing part was visiting the physics building, now a small museum that includes the yearbook photos of graduating physics majors from decades past…including my dad.

Entrance of the physics building, which now includes several other things like a nanotech center

“Royal Palm Road”

Everyone split up for dinner – I met up with a few Yalies for pizza at this cute little place called Maryjane’s. I had known Bonner (TD ’10) since he came to YSS 2007 to study Chinese, but I didn’t know Jeff (PC ’11) was also studying in Taipei this year, although we had crossed paths before via Lion Dance and Phoenix. I also met Bonner’s roommate Kellan – the guys split three (personal –size) pizzas to try different toppings but I opted for a salad to avoid the possibility of hard-to-chew crust. My tooth was less painful so I made it through the lettuce, chicken, and apple slices well enough, albeit slowly. We joked about missing New Haven pizza (especially the thin-crust at BAR) but this was a pretty good substitute =D

After dinner I headed back to the Cat’s Pajamas and ended up watching Ben Stiller’s The Heartbreak Kid with some other travelers in the common area. It was exactly the sort of silly movie I needed to relax and laugh before going to sleep. Good night!

Taipei part 1

I have to admit, my first impressions of Taipei were not exactly positive. First, I was cranky after not getting enough sleep on the trans-Pacific flight, thanks to several babies who seemed to cry sequentially and twinging teeth (more about that later). Second, I was kind of nervous about meeting at least two sets of relatives I had never seen before (or at least not in the past decade), although thankfully Aunt Karen and Uncle Peter would be there to help me keep the family tree straight. Third, I was dismayed to be landing in the middle of a driving rain, knowing full well that I did not have an umbrella or even anything with a hood.

Things got a little better in the waiting area, where I met Aunt Karen/Uncle Peter, and this made me laugh out loud:

Persimmon-head?

First stop was the Howard Plaza, where Aunt Karen and Uncle Peter were staying, so I could drop off my luggage temporarily in their room. We went out for breakfast at a place proclaiming itself to be the "Soy Milk King" (豆 將 大 王), which lived up to its name with fresh, warm, lightly sweetened milk that went well with my sesame bun/fried dough stick (燒 餅 油 條). We then visited the primary school that all three Lin siblings had attended, which was now over 100 years old (they had an anniversary celebration last year).

Breakfast =D

The front entrance of the primary school

Class was in session so we couldn't look around inside, but Aunt Karen told me that some of her former teachers were still alive, albeit retired, which is pretty impressive. We walked around the outside of the complex, which was quite large considering how crowded Taipei is, with enough room in the middle for basketball courts, playgrounds, and other common areas for recess/gym class.

Next stop was Dad's old secondary school, conveniently just a few blocks away from the Howard Plaza. We accidentally went to the back entrance first, but the rotating gate was chained shut, so we had to walk back around the block to the front. Back in the day, the school was one of the best in Taipei, especially because of its association with National Taiwan University (Taida), but it was for boys only. I don't know how highly-ranked the school is now, but it's gone co-ed, and it was another massive complex with multiple courtyards, basketball courts, a small track and soccer field, etc.

What seemed to be the main courtyard - the topiary on both sides spell out HSNU, presumably an acronym for High School of National University or something like that

After a brief trip to move my luggage to my hostel (The Cat's Pajamas), we headed for the National Palace Museum, one of the must-see places in Taipei. Simply put, this museum has one of the most extensive collections of Chinese art and artifacts, with less than 10% of the collection usually on display. One of the curators estimated that it would take 12 years for someone to see everything! In particular, we wanted to see a special exhibit on the Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, which discussed his 13-year reign but also his important influence on the fine arts at the time, as he was a great patron of painting, calligraphy, and fine ceramics. Unfortunately, the museum completely forbids photos of anything, so the advertisement below was the best I could do:

Walking up toward the museum

Poster for the special exhibit

We left as the museum was closing down around 5:30...since we hadn't eaten a proper lunch, we stopped by the Shilin (士 林) Night Market to browse the famous Taiwanese snack stalls. Aunt Karen and I sampled what might be considered the Taiwanese version of a burrito: meat, cooked veggies, chopped peanuts, hot sauce, and various other things wrapped in a thin tortilla. Aunt Karen also briefly contemplated getting stinky tofu (you could smell that cart from at least 20 feet away), but opted against it because the smallest serving size was twelve pieces and she only wanted to try one or two.

Makings of Taiwanese "burritos"

*holds nose*

By now, I was really jetlag-tired, so we split up and headed back to our separate accommodations. I hung out in the common area for a while chatting to other travelers staying at the Cat's Pajamas, and now I'm going to sleep!

HK trip: Mongkok and Maryknoll!

With no classes to teach (Monday was a holiday for the Cheung Yeung Festival and FSH is having reading week anyway), I hopped on the ferry Monday afternoon for an overnight trip to HK. I met up with Tatiana in Central and headed to her apartment in Wan Chai - she introduced me to the tram system, which is so easy and way cheaper than the MTR!

Tatiana had warned me beforehand about certain things, like how her apartment building is next to a fish/vegetable market, but I actually found the bustling streets rather homey, similar to the Costa area where I live in Macau. She graciously took me shoe-shopping around Johnston Street, where I picked up a solid pair of Reeboks, then for dinner we got noodles and "steamed milk," a deceptively plain-looking dessert that actually has a lot of subtle flavor and a wonderfully silky texture. Apparently the restaurant is a chain with two branches in Macau, so now I want to go find them =P

Moo...I mean, yum!

Early the next morning, I slipped out and headed up north into Kowloon, getting off at the Prince Edward MTR station and walking the rest of the way to Maryknoll Convent School, a very well-regarded all-girls institution that has been around for over 75 years. I had actually met Sister Rose Duchesne (the MCS principal when Mom a student there) back in August, and she had agreed to give me a tour of the school if I could come back on a weekday, as she was usually busy tutoring on weekends. I got there by 10 AM, so while I was sitting with Sister Rose in the convent parlor, we surprised Mom with a late-evening phone call! I wish I had been able to see Mom's face when she realized her former principal was on the phone, but it was pretty funny from my end too...yay for technology!

Anyway, even if I hadn't been there for the sake of family history, Maryknoll is quite an interesting place, and Sister Rose was an excellent tour guide. Having been there for over fifty years, she could tell me not just what each building and picturesque spot was, but also some interesting tidbits of history either from her own experience or that of other nuns. It was also super-cute to see the primary school students coming in from mid-morning recess, super-bubbly and full of energy, but with everything neatly in order, from their blue uniforms to their class lines. Obviously, the uniforms have probably changed since my mother's time, but I could still imagine her (and my aunt) walking the very same corridors. Some photos below:

Our Blessed Lady in the primary school inner courtyard

The hill going to the upper primary school, which my mom and aunt have often jokingly complained about, but it's nothing compared to the UM hill =P

Part of the original secondary school (there are two relatively new wings), with biology/chemistry labs on the far left

Sister Rose and me at the Maryknoll main entrance

After leaving Maryknoll, I knew I wanted to go flats-shopping on Fa Yuen Street, where I had found my original black pair, but along the way I couldn't resist stopping in the Yuen Po Bird Garden, where dozens of vendors and songbird enthusiasts gather to sell/compare specimens. As might be expected, it was a very noisy place!

The ASPCA would also probably have a fit about the cages that the birds were kept in, but hey, it's Hong Kong...people don't have much space! I have to admit, I was sorely tempted to get a bird because they were so darn cute, but my better judgment intervened =P

Aww, lovebirds ^-^

This macaw really liked his sunflower seeds

Don't worry, that's water in the bowl, not...something stronger

A cheeky little budgie

I did finally make it to Fa Yuen Street, and after going up and down several times, I did find several good pairs of flats before ferrying back home to Macau. Overall, a very successful trip!