It was a horrible start to a family holiday. We had landed in Taiwan, and were due to catch a High Speed train to Taitung in the south. We had first to make our way to Taipei Main Station, but in the midst of trying to decipher Mandarin signages and taking multiple escalators on various levels, the 4 of us got separated from my son - a mother's worst nightmare come true. By the time we realized he wasn't on board the metro with us, the doors had closed. He had no money in hand, knew no Mandarin, his phone had no credit and the wi-fi was intermittent at best. We managed to get through with 1 call and watspped him to meet us at the main train station, but lost all contact with him after that. Still we figured it shouldn't be too difficult, since at least he knew where we were, although we didn't know where he was, right. Wrong, for 2 metro-trains sped by, as the uncle and sister waited on the platform in vain. I was getting all flustered; I definitely didn't want to lose my one and only son... Where is God's angel when I needed help?Then finally his message came through that he was in the "big main hall." Bingo, there was only 1 such hall, vague as it was. So dear uncle went up... the train was leaving in barely 10 minutes. Now not only the son, but the uncle was gone. What a pickle. Then suddenly, I spotted a familiar-looking samurai-pony tail standing out in the middle of the crowd of Chinese faces. And so quickly texted the uncle to come back to the platform straight away. God's angel had come through, just in the nick of time... the train pulled out right on the dot - with all of us on board, together again.
Phew...what else can go wrong? Lots actually. Like a tyre puncture and our taxi hitting the kerb, that set us back more than an hour off schedule. Like losing a metro token coin which would have resulted in a hassle for my princess to exit the station, if not for a cleaning lady who 'just happened' to be sweeping near our seats and found it on the floor. Like almost missing the airport terminal on our return leg, if not for a Taiwanese who 'so happened' to know English, who 'somehow' understood the short form written on our boarding pass, which I - the 'smart' one - failed to decipher. Some wouldn't attach any significance to such "random" happenings or write them off as mere coincidences. But me..I am counting many angels, and thanking God for answering my prayers for protection.
We had 5 days to squeeze in as much of Taiwan as possible. As is our habit, we avoided the usual package tours and simply ventured out on our own. My 2 girls had done a great job researching on various places of interest and booking the family into comfortable accommodation, even though we ladies had to contend with rather small multiple bunks. Everything was in Mandarin, but we 'white bananas' got by somehow, with my eldest testing out her learned skills from the language course she took, and me and the uncle playing guessing game. Taiwan in autumn is wonderfully cool - in fact cold for me - and thankfully it only drizzled on and off throughout our stay.
We were blessed to find a very amiable taxi driver in Taitung. Funny guy with a wicked sense of humor, he made us laugh as we got to talking about the many religions in Taiwan, he declared himself a 'sway chiau' - literally 'sleeping religion' - a pun on the word 'chiau' (religion in Mandarin). He turned out to be a very good local guide, taking us to the most scenic picturesque spots, travelling along both the mountain as well as coastal routes. He even brought us to some
quaint places off the regular beaten track.
The country side is truly a sight to behold. There were beaches and caves, hills and bridges, and even padi fields to appreciate. Trust the Chinese to turn something as simple as padi fields into a money-spinning tourist attraction, by providing fancy bikes and trishaws for pedaling on straight roads that seemed to go on forever. The last time I hopped onto a bicycle was umpteen years ago as a teenager, but riding right through the grain fields with the wind blowing in the face was a totally new fun experience. Malaysia would do well to take a cue from Taiwan, to develop our many many acres of padi-fields into hot-spots for tourists.On the long winding road to Hualien we passed by stretches of well-tended plantations. It must be something about the soil or the climate that enables the region to produce the most luscious looking fruits, from bananas to gigantic custard apples. We only had 1 day in Hualien, and it was a toss-up between the famous Taroko gorge or something none of us had ever done before - rafting through rapids along Taiwan's longest river Xiuguluan. Our driver shook his head and muttered 'dangerous' as we debated in the car. In the end, we opted for something new.
So it was we found ourselves fitted out with life-jackets, soft helmets and oars as we took a whole dinghy for ourselves. The other raft was filled with a bunch of youngsters and a somewhat elderly couple. None of us knew what to expect out of the 21 km ride along the river. But we quickly got the hang of paddling as a team to guide our flimsy raft through the waters, leaving the other raft behind as they were content to just drift along instead of exerting effort. Our guide who was using his own motorised craft had to hook up and pull them along many times whilst he left us quite independently to fight our way through the rapids with just enough hand-signal directions. Trying to steer clear of the bank and ominous-looking rocks and splashing through swirling waters was thrilling. Needless to say, we were all wet, as cold water sloshed all over and into our raft. It was a gruelling 2 hour plus ride, though after awhile as we got used to the waves, we were actually wishing for rougher, more challenging waters.
On the last leg of our 5 days, we left the country-side for the city. The last time I was in Taiwan was 8 years ago, on a solo trip in 2009. Taipei doesn't seem to have changed much. I still remember the bright lights of Ximen, their equivalent combination of our local pasar malam, Petaling Street and Bkt Bintang. There were the same bright lights, street food, shopping, crowds. We walked kilometres, going round and round to find the 'must-eat' stuff - goose, dumplings, beef noodles - I balked at the queues lining up for food, wondering what is it about the human psyche that would go to such lengths just to eat something.As I bid Taiwan goodbye from the airplane window, I am glad for this return trip. There's always something old, something new in life to appreciate and experience, and it's not confined to just vacation tours. It's much like the walk of faith...some things like listening to sermons, attending church, reading the Bible, even praying can seem 'jaded' through years of familiarity; religion can lose its 'shine', especially when we don't get answers to the why's and wherefore's of life, when believing in God seems to make no difference whatsoever.
But now and then, He dangles before the eye a new perspective of plain old padi-fields, or paints a different color to the daily sun-set or beckons us to ride rough untested waters. He requires us to walk round and round in circles just to get the best 'bites' of life, even lets 'bad' things happen every now and then to remind us of the frailty of humanity.
The best test of faith is surely not in the experience of blessings. It would be easy to believe in a God who grants every desire of our self-centered hearts. But that would be a pretty 'tame' god actually. God is God because He doesn't answer to us, we answer to Him. There are lots who can't/won't accept that. Indeed many disciples actually stopped following Jesus when they couldn't understand or accept His hard teachings. Yet as He asked the 12 closest to Him the pointed question, "You do not want to leave too, do you?”, it was the impulsive Peter who answered “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (John 6:67-68).
We can visit many places, do many things in our life-time. We can even live pretty well without God. But we would have missed Him, who alone can create new out of old, life out of death.
Foto Memories 1
Foto Memories 2
