Taiwan Winter Trip #4 - Jiufen

I must say our whole journey was truly blessed with wonderful. Thank you, the sky of Taiwan for being mercy on Journey us.

Journey on Freeway a.k.a Highway

In Taiwan, we learned that there are ordinary roads, express way (lots of time on elevated roads), & freeways (highways). All the roads are interconnected to other districts & provinces. Really convenient.

Entering the Town of Ruifang

Buddhist Temple at the hill of Jiufen

Standing at the observation deck oversee the Pacific Ocean

Hi! :)

Look at these gorgeous, colourful flowers!

Jiufen Tea Museum. Simple & sophisticated. 

I absolutely love the creative artists who furnished the interior decor of the museum mostly reclaimed wood. 

Aren't they beautiful? Such great appreciation to the construction materials.

Grandma Lye's Q balls dessert

One of the cafes. We enjoyed the mixed balls soup with dry noodle mixed with soy sauce. 

Great food for a chill noon.

Artistic signage

Taiwan Winter Trip #3

Day 2 we chartered ChenTai van for sight seeing at various places

The Grand Hotel

Me & B

Christmas is coming..

The Christmas interior decor really warm our hearts..

Zhonglieci - The Matyrs' Shrine

We arrived just on time to observe the guards change shift where the they performed very interesting action as well

Taiwan Winter Trip #2

From Taoyuan International Airport, we arranged pick-up by our host ChenTai Homestay. We checked-in to (ChenTai) Mrs. Chen's Homestay almost around noon.

After settling down with our luggages, Lily, sister of Mrs. Chen taught us our 1st lesson - How to travel by the metro.

The tip as which platform to hop on to is to always refer to the last station.. 

Finally the evening came..

From Wufenpu, we walked about 1km to Raohe nighmarket for dinner & look see

It's a happening place at night

Our dinner: 

Braised pork with rice + herbal lamb soup 

for a chill evening. Not bad..

Fried stinky tofu with cabbage pickle. 

Yum!!! 

Hey! It's Taiwan nightmarket!

This is a must try!

Hello yellow duckling! 

I heard you're famous in our country, 

you know? ;)

Taiwan Winter Trip #1

Hi! Hi! How have you been?

Finally settled with late mil's matters.

We've planned this since January 2013 & she would have joined us if she was still around..

Anyway, finally after a long wait, it's time to fly!

Look! The dawn has come!

After took off., we were greeted by majestic Mt. Kinabalu. How lucky!

I love the weather. Really blessed

Touched down! Ahh Taiwan! & the long awaited journey to the winter is finally here. Awesome!!

Espresso Coffee Course

2 weeks ago i signed up for espresso coffee making course. *coffee hangover*

Coming from a background of local coffee lover, this course is like an elevation to my love in coffee, something i've always wanted to learn & get to know how it's like to work behind a coffee bar.

Thanks Kopi Cap Kuda & Santola Bar Cafe for making this course available & a good training ground for coffee enthusiasts/cafe owners/baristas-to-be.

It feels great being able to fulfill one's dream. I learned something i love, coffee making.

Who knows i might want to work with coffee in the near future?

Korean Snack Cafe

It's weekend! Hub and i randomly had lunch at Korean Snack Cafe, Wisma Merdeka.

An ajumma cooked us kimchi fried rice that came with kimchi and bean paste soup on the side, kimbab the seaweed roll and mini pancakes.

Not bad for a Saturday lunch.

Holiday hangout with family

Me & my girls got to prep dinner together. Good bonding :)

Realising dreams

Dare to dream in life..

In Memory of My Mother-In-Law, Tarsila Nanak Manson

MIL & I at Bundu Tuhan for reunion with RM's nanny, Deloris

It has been 9 years, since I first met this wonderful lady, who made a brave decision to ask my mom for a match make to her son. Fast forward, I am blissfully married to her son, RM. And I have the best MIL in the world, my world.

MIL was a hardworking lady all her life. She was well known as food caterer in the kampung community. People love her for her generosity, her friendship, always providing good food and help for others.

Her busy life came to a sudden halt when she was diagnosed with cancer of the uterus. In 2010, she underwent hysterectomy and received chemotherapy. Since then the battle with cancer began. One year later, doctor found mets (metastasis) in her lungs and liver. This sad news came just when my father-in-law passed away due to heart attack. Later, she was diagnosed with rectum cancer, and received treatment. This recurrences eventually led her to the end stage of her cancer.

At first it was a shocking news to our family too. Fear started to sipped in and we were sad. Being diagnosed to this disease, it felt as if the end of the world is near. RM and I decided that she was to move in to stay with us, so we could take care of her. Day by day, as I spent time with my MIL, we developed strong MIL-DIL bonding; we talked and laughed a lot about life. Eventually she braved herself up, and started to live each day to the fullest instead.

As she moved in to our house, RM and I began adjusting our lifestyle and cared for her. She started her "wish list", and tried to accomplish her wishes. One of her wishes was to meet up with RM's nanny, who was staying at Bundu Tuhan, far away from Kota Kinabalu. Whatever she wished to do, we did our best to make her dreams come true. Eventually, she passed away peacefully on 15 June 2013.

I pray that my MIL's happier as she is now with the Lord. Thank you for have given birth to a wonderful son, my husband and for being the best MIL in the world, my world.

p/s: It's been a long while since I updated my journal. As much as I missed MIL dearly, I'll recall what she had taught me and try to compile the Kadazan local delicacy recipes in my blog journal soon.

God bless you all. Bye now.

Best regards,
Penny Manson

Lunch date with hubby

Today we went to receive medical reports from our recent check up.

Good to hear nothing major in our health. We just need to reduce weight to enjoy better lives.

Thank you God for the blessings. I love you, R.

Life is best enjoy every moment with you..

Thanks for the simple lunch date. That was sweet..