April and May - Good Times in Taipei

Although we had to keep some time set aside for Tony's theology paper he was working on, the weeks/weekends leading up to our leaving became very full with social visits, good food and of course, good-byes...

We had seen Andy, Celia and Benny shortly before he turned one... but we met up for the last time for a spontaneous Chili's dinner 3 April... Benny is such a cutie!

 "House-warming Party"

 

 Wayne and Ivy and Yichi go way back to our roots in Taipei... Tony went to ICLP w/Wayne, Ivy was my first Chinese teacher at the Chinese Cultural University... we each hit it off and eventually the two of them really hit it off and got married earlier in the year while we were away in NZ (thus no post of their special wedding banquet). Well, they had recently moved into their own place so we brought them a little memento of the Clarks - one of the plants that we had in our home during the Christmas party when they met!!! Odd house-warming gift, but we thought it appropriate. We had fun catching up and the kids had fun at the park and though we thought this was the final farewell, Tony ended up seeing Wayne's chiropractor and I spent some time with Ivy's Chinese Medicine doctor so we managed to squeeze in a couple more visits! And Yichi came over another time for a farewell hug with the kids! Thanks you guys for making helping us out at the beginning and end of our experience in Taipei - we've appreciated your friendship.

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

On May 12th, Little Hannah Lee had her 1st birthday at My Kid's Island... what a fun way to spend a rainy Saturday!!! What a precious girl and special friends...

I joined a club!!!

Let me set the scene - occasionally over the past few years we'd be passing by the Neo 19 building and we'd see a bunch of people dressed in workout clothes - stretching and doing aerobics outside the Nike shop. Well, thanks to Tone Tone I discovered that it was the Nike Running Club and since I was looking for something to do in the evenings while Tony was studying, I decided to join!!!

The Club met Tuesday and Thursday nights at 8pm to stretch (with a trainer) then we'd be let loose on the streets of Taipei to run around Sun Yat Sen - 2 times = 5km, 3 times = 7km... they were pretty loose measurements but it was better for me than just sipping lattes in a cafe somewhere for my much desired 'alone time' (all the moms know what I'm talking about too). Thankfully I managed to squeeze in my 8th run between the other activities and rainy nights... and was given a "Run Taipei" t-shirt... it was a well-earned shirt and I loved this whole experience!

On 20 May my friend Margriet and Lara met us for a quick catch up while her husband was on a business trip to Taipei. Hunter is just a couple weeks older than Lara, but if he was standing up straight you could see they're about the same size! Margriet is expecting their 2nd so she was pretty brave to come out in the heat, but I guess living in Singapore keeps your blood pretty thin as well!

Mom's Night Out

Later that evening, a bunch of my playgroup ladies met together for the first time as just that - "ladies"... FINALLY - uninterrupted conversations and a whole meal to ourselves!!! I've known some of these ladies since about the time Hunter was born, and yet this was such a special evening to actually just be out and about as friends. We were all pretty thrilled just to be out that the average food and service was mostly overlooked in our giddiness of being girls.

"Weekend Away"

We had been planning a trip away with Richard and Marlin for quite a while - like a Penghu revival - only Hunter ended up with a fever and both kids were not that well. So instead of a weekend away, we spent all of Saturday May 22nd together from morning til evening just taking it easy and enjoying each other's company in familiar places. These are truly dear friends and we will miss them so much.

"Happy Birthday, Dear Michael"

 Wow - it's birthday season... we enjoyed celebrating Michael's 3rd on a lovely Sunday afternoon... Hunter always is keen for games and cake, though you'd find it hard to tell the way he and Lorelai were glued to the TV.

 "Hunter's Finale"

 As if there wasn't enough to do sorting, inventorizing, packing - I managed to take a few hours out of the necessary to do one last frivolous modelling job for Hunter. I'm glad we did... he ROCKED! He was so into it and so very cute!! (I hope I remember to ask the agent to send the catalogue). The best part was that our good friend Annie got to come along and spend the afternoon with us. She's an excellent photographer so it was interesting for her to see the photographer's equipment and eye... after the photo shoot she took the kids to the park to play for a while so I could do some things around the house (this was like 2 days before the movers came)... what a blessing! We all had so much fun together!

Our Weekly "Routine"

Originally Tony and I planned to put Hunter into a kindergarten when he turned 3... well, the way Chinese New Year fell this year and our impending move would've only given him 2 and a half months in school, so we decided it would be better just to wait until we got to NZ before enroling him. Good thing we changed our minds - I've had a really good time with both kids building memories and relationships during our last couple of months in Taiwan. Here's a glimpse of our weekly routine...

After a full weekend with baba being home, we used Mondays as our 'relaxed' errand day. We'd often go to the fruit market and stock up a bit. Our favorite vendors were so generous - these guys always gave the kids a banana or other piece of fruit which of course kept me coming back week after week! The library was here in the market too so we'd often pick up/drop off our books during our weekly shop - it was all terribly convenient.

And then we'd often drop by a noodle house to pick up some lunch. The kids enjoyed this spicy tofu w/dried fish... really, they are truly Asian!

At the end of February we started going to Grace Baptist Church's Mother's Group on Tuesdays. I often found myself wondering why... since most of it was in Chinese... but the kids enjoyed the interaction with other kids in a 'class' type setting... and I did enjoy the parenting classes I took with my friend Anna (and the hang out times w/her & Tilly afterward). I think God opened up this opportunity to see how a women's group can be run... though I'm not sure how to implement that when I move, but I know it was a worthwhile experience. The women I met were so accepting and honest - we all just wanted to raise our children for God's glory.

We'd walk through the mall to the bus stop then board the 284 which dropped us off right in front of the church... the kids loved it!

It took a few weeks but they got settled into the 'class' environment and Hunter eventually stopped asking "Will you come back, mama?"

Wednesday - BSF

What a blessing - this past year I was able to attend Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). When we got our extension in Taipei, I knew I needed some spiritual input in English... and this was just what I needed!!! I started out studying on Tuesday nights so Tony would hustle home to look after the kids and I would head out on the bus. As much as I LOVED having a few hours to myself, when they opened up a program for kids under 2-years-old in their day class I immediately asked to transfer... me and several other friends!!! So for a couple of months on Wednesdays the kids and I would leave the house by 8:25am and take the MRT to the church where they were able to hear Bible stories and play with their friends while I got to learn more about the Jesus' life through the Gospel of John. It was a great experience for all of us. After our lesson, a group of us would have lunch together... the poor noodle house lady probably prayed for sunny Wednesdays so we'd take our kids to picnic outside rather than toddlerize her shop!!! Either way - we enjoyed our time together.

Thursday - Playgroup aka "Zoo Crew"

Last Thursday we hit the zoo with our playgroup for possibly our last zoo trip in Taipei!!! And oh what a crew!!! Though we all had a different pace, somehow we managed to stick together for the majority of our stay... which made it more fun.

I finally managed to get my camera out once we made it to the penguin enclosure... we actually took a pit stop here to refuel on lunch or snacks while the kids ran amuck on the hillside with the penguin manequins... they had so much fun playing up there I wondered why we hadn't let them before... until I saw the sign that said fairly clearly "No Climbing" - oops! That's why...

Every other Thursday has been our Playgroup schedule for a while and it has definitely been one of the highlights of my experience in Taipei since having the kids... it's been a blessing to do motherhood with these other ladies!!!

Friday - Tumbling Class

So Fridays were Tumbling Class... what a kick! Hunter was the officially enrolled student while Helena was the tag-along sibling who got to jump in and participate in whatever tickled her fancy - then ran off to the other side of the room when she got tired of doing what the teacher told her to do. We joined the class with our other friends: Michael, Lorelai and Hannah... so it really was a blast! Hunter thoroughly enjoyed it and became much more confident in his physical abilities - it was fun to watch him grow. Their teacher was super patient and really worked well with the kids. The other bonus was free entry to Happy Bear after class! What a bargain!!!

Tag Team

No, I'm not talking about oversized men squeezed into spandex jumping 'off the top ropes' or pulling each other's hair (though there probably were a few of the former)... I'm talking about the Super Supai running event in Taipei City on May 2nd!!! Tony was able to secure a spot in the 9km while I only managed to register for the 3km fun run... so he got up and out of the house early for his 6am start and I got the kids up and out to meet him before my 7.30 start - TAG TEAM!!! It was a beautiful morning and the kids had a blast being outside surrounded by thousands of 'runners'.

Tony got his heart-rate into the 'maximum intensity' level in the 9km and finished in his best time (in a long time)... he actually came in 135th (out of thousands - I'm not exaggerating)... well done, Tony!

Hunter was inpired by his baba...

We LOVE this city!!!

A few others from our "Flash" team made it out for the fun run too... which of course made it even more, well, FUN!

WuKong & pre-high heart-rate Tony

 

So here I am... at the start of my 3km run... these people really know how to make a fun run fun... there were people out there in jeans and street shoes, carrying their kids or handbags, dogs on leashes - you name it, we probably saw it... I, on the other hand, needed to get some exercise out of the venture, so I stepped up my pace and ran the familiar Ren Ai Road (where I've walked w/the kids in the stroller many a trip to the PCC) in just 13minutes (which was fairly quick for my standards)...

and wait, who's this eager beaver on the sidelines??? Hunter was just waiting for me to come down to the end because he was raring to get out there too...

He's got a pretty good pace going (don't say anything about my shoulders up in my ears - I know I need to fix my running style soon... I'm not sure why my shoulders are so tense)... Hunter was sooooo excited that he got to run in the race - I let him collect his sports towel and tea and then we stood in line for our share of the free Super Supau sports drink on tap. He was just so proud of himself! What a little champ!

Justin and his faithful cheerleader Jessica were also there again... it's been fun having other friends to do this stuff with.

And, after all this, we managed to make it to church on time!!!