mango on an apple

Before I went off to university, I never gave Vancouver much thought other than associate the word “home” with the name. It was normal for my friends to discuss upcoming ski/snowboard trips to Whistler, Grouse, Sun Peaks, etc., and it was normal for us to share camping stories from Cultus, the Okanagan, and “the Island”. We skipped classes and drove down to the beach as early as Spring Break (note: not March Break) and ate ice cream along the boardwalk. During the summers we took buses and the Skytrain to Kits Beach, Jericho Beach, or Second Beach and hung out with the “cool people” in downtown Vancouver. Most of all, I looked around daily and saw mountains in the near distance.

My first summer back from London, I drove the same familiar route down to White Rock with my sister and mom in tow. The whole way down, I couldn’t help but exclaim every few minutes, “but look how green!” or “the mountains!”…I finally looked around and began to appreciate just how beautiful Vancouver really is. Right then and there (since it was summer), I forgave it for raining and staying a permanent shade of gray for weeks at a time during the winter.

These days, my favourite things about Vancouver when I visit are:

Gus: the furry, soft, dopey, loving dog that loved me the most when we first adopted him.

The mountains: from a distance or from atop, they complete the city that I have come to adore.

The colours: on a sunny day, Vancouver is one of the most colourful cities. It’s not a loud lushness like Hawai’i, but rather a quiet harmony of colours that are very “Canadian” – likeable, a little shy/conservative, beautiful in its own way.

Every time I bring up Vancouver in discussions with colleagues or friends in Toronto, there are always wistful sighs all around. I truly believe that the essence that is “Vancouver” contributes to a better quality of life – how can it not when you look around and fall a little more in love with the city you live in everyday?

I always hold up Vancouver as a sort of golden standard for the quality of life and the type of city I would like to live in. Everything I miss about it, I look for in my next city. I don’t know what it is, but I feel like I’m not ready to return yet – so I will look for bits and pieces that remind me of this place I love. Toronto is only a stop in my journeys, and it is nothing like home. I hope to have many more stops in the future, and continue to dream that each and every one of them will be more and more like Vancouver, until one day when I finally get to stop there, or even turn it into a final destination.

We took a day trip out to the south of Taiwan with my godparents and my godbrother Norman. My mom suggested Lugang, and none of us are really sure why she chose this place. I vaguely recall saying it’d be nice to photograph some temples as it’s such a big part of everyday life here, but I had no idea what I was in for.

Being a long weekend here in Taiwan, it was really busy in one of the bigger and more famous temples. By the time we were done sticking incense into different pots (are they called pots?) I was sure that whatever gods were supposed to be listening wouldn’t understand me amidst my violent choking and sniffling fits. Imagine very still, humid air full of incense smoke. See the picture above of my godmother lost in smoke for an illustration.

Lugang is one of the oldest cities in Taiwan, and loosely translated it means Deer Port – which is exactly what this port did/does: they export deer antlers. We thankfully opted out of visiting any deer farms. Instead, we went through the old streets and the main tourist street was surprisingly beautiful, clean, and very well preserved. It really felt like stepping back into history when we were in the alley, but I’m sure the street’s actually cleaner than it would’ve been 50 years ago.

There were also artisans making wooden toys, string lanterns, and blown candy! We had to try, of course.

From the touristy spots, we moved off to the actual ports to have oysters, only to discover the port smelled revoltingly like oysters and seaweed and everything scary. The worst part was, there were flies everywhere. One day I might go into detail about “How Alex and Sandy Fought Off 1 Million Flies and Their Eggs” in England, but this was definitely an incidence where those flies reincarnated to attack Sandy in Taiwan, in a wide open space where she cannot duck for cover or simply hide behind a closed door (other than running back screaming into the car parked on the other side of town).

We managed to find a tourist-friendly place that served the oysters without being too close to the smells (but a barefoot waitress served us, how sanitary). I could not eat if you paid me $1,000, having just seen the flies and experienced the smells. So we continued on to another town that’s not a port, that’s famous for lamb. On the way there, we experienced chicken manure smells at its best. Let it be known that I am not a fan of towns that smell like manure exploded in my face!!

Anyway, it was a really fun day, and on the way back we have made plans to go to Kenting (south of Taiwan) when we go back to Taiwan next – with Julia & Alex, too, of course. Yay!