a TnT vacation.

i have to be honest.

it's hard to be back home in shanghai after such an amazing vacation. shanghai just seems so bland in comparison. so void of life.

i totally fell in love with taiwan, just as i thought i would. can a place i have not seen in so long feel like home? taiwan has been calling me for so very long. this time, i answered.

i also fell in love with my gracious relatives, who renewed my faith in family in a way i never imagined. i am elated that that half of the family, the half i see every 17 years still loves me as dearly and feels just as close to me as they did when i was a small infant still living at my grampa's very old taichung home on Le Ye Lu. it is almost like those 17 years were merely 17 seconds. it's strange how things that seemed so big when you were a child can seem so very small and endearing at the same time. how can i describe the people of taiwan? laidback, genuine, helpful, tolerant and purveyors of fine milk tea boba, i might add. my kind of people, i say. i hope to see my family much more frequently than once every 17 years as long as i am on this side of the globe. my grampa's old street, where they used to have night markets, seemed so different now. things have certainly changed through the years. but some things have not. like my connection with taiwan, as my aunt said.

tokyo is one hell of a place. coming from shanghai, i appreciated certain features of the japanese culture such as basic politeness and courtesy. people line up for everything, they don't take cuts, if u ask for directions, they take u to your destination instead of pointing in a general direction, they say thank you vociferously and bow, they smile and speak to you in japanese even if you cannot understand a word and u just nod to be polite, the streets and subways are generally clean, they sort their trash and if you are caught putting the item in the wrong bin, a policeman will redirect you (happened to me), they use deodorant, they don't stare at white people. the japanese food there is quite a variety and tastes really good, albeit expensive and they charge service charges (which really sucks), the girls look so cute you just want to take one home in ur carry on luggage, people have so much fashion there you would think harajuku is sold out, businessmen love their pachinko slots, they generally do not allow photographs to be taken in facilities but i did anyway, there is so much freakin anime stores, video game stores and vending machines, your head spins, and it is amazingly peaceful amidst the chaos of the big city.

my pictures do not do the vacation justice. but who needs pictures with a memory like mine? :)