The past few days flew by. Here are some highlights and pictures.

Taiwanese breakfast

Saturday morning we drove to one of the most popular Taiwanese breakfast spots (as we were told) in Taipei. Like most traditional Taiwanese breakfast joints, the place had an open kitchen with a small inside eating area and a few tables on the sidewalk. Inside the kitchen, which is no bigger than a one-car garage, four or five chefs and staff are busy taking and assembling orders as well as cooking. The man who takes your order and money yells out the food items needed for another man to assemble also makes the drinks. Though it feels very chaotic, the process is actually rather efficient and the chemistry among the staff is palpable.

The traditional Taiwanese breakfast is made fresh daily. My favorite is the dan bing, scrambled egg rolled in a crepe. It always reminds me of my childhood. For Drew, he enjoyed the Chinese cruller—wrapped in baked flatbread or dipped in hot soy milk!

Taipei Zoo

It was really nice to explore Taipei Zoo with Drew and Matthew. I was a young girl the last time I visited the park and don’t remember much. It is greener and bigger than I expected and we saw WAY more animals than we did at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Matthew also slept through his first gondola ride and missed out on the beautiful view! We will be back for sure and hopefully Matthew will be old enough to appreciate the park!

Visiting my grandparents

We had a lovely visit with my grandparents on Monday. Matthew was initially a bit apprehensive, but was immediately won over when my grandmother tempted him with a banana.

We spent about 45 minutes at my grandparents’ before heading out to lunch with them. It was very comforting to see them light up as they played with Matthew. As I get older, the sense of urgency to spend time with my loved ones grow stronger, as I am acutely aware that the time each of us has is finite.

We leave for Japan on Tuesday and will be there for 9 days. Looking for some real R&R, and many thanks to my mom (ah-mah) for watching Matthew while we are gone.

Until then…