Long Weekend with Linda

Prelude

In July, Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering took place at Linda's factory in Wu-gu Industrial Park, Taipei County. After a grand tour of Linda's lovely daughters' fashion studio, golden ladies were contented designing their 2008 fashion T-shirts and sweaters with the guidance from the two young and promising fashion designers. That's not enough!

When the ceramics dolls displayed in living room caught our attention, Linda generously gave away all of them. They were made by her cousin in Chang-hwa, Linda's hometown. Linda took the opportunity to extend her open arms to invite us to play with the dirt at her cousin's atelier one weekend. We've been looking forward to our trip to meeting Linda's extended family full of entrepreneurs ever since.

Day 1 (August 9, Saturday)

Human Trials
As usual, Trini was late. Linda and I waited for her at the gate from ten to eight. We knew she must be lost making circles somewhere in the neighborhood, therefore we didn't call her to make her feel nervous. While Linda went fetching for breakfast at Seven Eleven at the corner, I found many mysterious fruits in green and yellow on the gate trees of Linda's factory. They were like persimmons. I can't help picking four of them and asked Linda if they were edible. The answer was a NO.

Trini finally arrived at nine o'clock, an hour late as usual. As soon as she arrived, she rushed to the rest room to take care of her biological need. We waited for her for another five minutes before our official departure for the long weekend. When Trini saw the big box of fresh tomatoes and grapes Linda prepared in advance, she started eating immediately. I took the opportunity to pass over one of the mysterious persimmons to Trini and invited her to have a bite. Do I remind you of the story of Princess Snow White? The beautiful and ugly stepmother of Princess Snow White? Ha, Ha, Ha, that's me!

After the first bite, I saw Trini's smile on her face. I took the fruit back immediately, examined the contents with my eyes and nose, had the second bite. I passed it over to Linda to have the third bite. We took turns eating up the first mysterious persimmon. Then we waited for the possible outcomes. Five minutes passed, ten minutes passed, we were okay. The mysterious yellow fruits were clinically proved edible after the first human trials on three golden ladies. But, none of us was eager to give the rest three trial samples a second chance.

PS:
Monday evening, the 11th, I gave Kate one and asked her to have a bite and I gave Michelle one and asked her for have a bite at our cloggding dance class. I kept one at home and asked my husband to have a bite. It has been proved on six human subjects (one male and five females) that the mysterious fruits are edible. Now I need to come up with a good recipe, as Linda promised to supply barrels of them when needed.

Wednesday morning, the 13th, Linda solved my weekend puzzle by informing me of the name of the mysterious gate trees. They are common Garcinia, one of the most common campus plants. It is believed by many Chinese that this tree brings luck. Now I am more than sure the fruits of the luck trees are edible.

Global Positioning System (GPS)
It was the first time Linda carried a portable a GPS with her upon her daughters' recommendations. It's not because she didn't know how to get back to her hometown, it's because she wanted to take us to Moors Garden in To-liu for lunch and she didn't want to miss the lunch hours. She made an appointment at Moors at 11:30, presumably we left her factory at eight o'clock sharp.

We were alright from her factory to the Freeway, we ate variety fruits, drank cold, warm and hot tea, talked and talked nonstop, and we followed the advice from the GPS saying "Moving Ahead" obediently. After we arrived in Tainan at 12 noon, we found that we were over dependent on the satellite gadget. In the middle of nowhere in the vast sugarcane field, we got off the car and asked for directions with a GPS in hand. From then on we checked with the strangers for directions first and listened to GPS as a second opinion provider. At last, we arrived at Moors Garden, it was 13:10.

A Blessing in Disguise
Being late for lunch, we were advised by the waitresses politely to get the buffet as soon as possible, as the lunch hour would soon came to an end. Imagine what it was like when three hungry beauties after a long way, ready to gulp down three horses, just to discover the leftover buffet on the table. Without much thought, we grabbed the plates, filled them up with hors d'oeuvre and gorged down as fast as we could.

Being a small eater, I took it easy to taste whatever was available. I could live by as usual on a cup of coffee for lunch. While the crowds of patrons at Moors began to leave for the day, to my surprise, we started to receive the VIP treatment from the manager and waitresses of Moors Garden. They listened to our story, they knew we were from Taipei and we got lost on our way to Moors. In stead of fetching for our buffet, we were served with plates of Spanish salad and fresh fruit drinks to our liking.

After lunch, the manager of Moors became our personal tour guide and photographer. In a huge tent like dining room by the garden, three golden ladies were pampered with icy tropical cocktails on the house. Linda and her husband went to Spain two years ago with David Chen as the tour guide, she loved Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí's works. When she saw the Moors Garden—a miniature of Gaudí's dream garden house in a small town in the middle of Taiwan, she smiled with great satisfaction.

We took photos nonstop from corner to corner of Moors Garden in different outfits. We must have taken more than 300 photos in total, and we didn't leave the Moors Garden till 5 o'clock. If I should have known that we would be in a castle of the Moors, I would have brought along many traditional outfits I bought in Casablanca ten years ago. Now I am counting the days I can dine with more golden ladies at Moors Garden for the second time.

Home Sweet Home
The dancing landmark willow tree in the sunset at the gate waved at us when we arrived at Linda's sweet home at six o'clcok. Linda's mom greeted us with open arms and guided us to the spacious dining room. The dinner table was covered with many traditional Taiwanese dishes, including roast chicken, bamboo shoot salad, sweet yam leaves, fried fish, just to name a few. It felt like returning to my parents-in-law, my sweet home in the countryside of Chia-yi. At dinner, we had a pleasant chat with Linda's parents. I was contented to know the love story of Linda's parents and their individual family history. I even tried to converse with them in Japanese, because Linda's mom attended elmentary school in Japan for three years in early 40's, and Linda's dad studied in high school in Taipei before World War II.

After dinner, we went bicycling upon Trini's request, but we didn't stay out long because of millions of bugs flying on the countryroad and we couldn't see well without the road lights on. It was just enjoyable watching TV with Linda's second brother and chatted with him. We were thrilled to know that Chen Wei-ling took Taiwan's first bronze in weightlifting in the women's 48kg class category at Beijing Olympic 2008. When Trini and I retired for the night at the huge guestroom of ten, Linda hung around with her brother in the living room. Linda was indeed an invincible woman full of energy and power, she didn't show any sign of fatigue after a long day drive as the sole person behind the wheel.

Taiwanese Language Classroom
Among seven golden ladies, Linda and Irene were born in a Taiwanese family. I was fortunate to be brought up in a Taiwanese environment. My mother insisted that I went to Taiwanese elementary and high schools in Chia-yi. Later on, I eventually married a Taiwanese. Even though I was regarded as mainlander by most people from my appearance and demeanor, I'm a Taiwanese from the bottom of my heart. I need not join Taiwanese Toastmasters Club on a regular basis like Kate and Lydia. I feel at ease conversing in Taiwanese with strangers on the street. I bet that I can speak Taiwanese the best among seven golden ladies. In fact, my interest in language took roots in learning Taiwanese to compete with my peers in my early childhood. After the first night friendly conversation with Linda's mom, I was satisfied with my great progress in Taiwanese language proficiency. I even had a sweet dream in Taiwanese.

Day 2 (August 10, Sunday)

Early Birds in Town
We rode on the bicycles at six thirty to conduct an early morning field study in the countryside. Everybody in the neighborhood seemed already up for a while and was busy farming in the open misty rice field. At a quarter to seven, we arrived at the Big Banyan Temple by the Choshui River levee. The aerial roots of the massive Banyan canopy took up a huge area of the Choshui River bed and a tiny temple of Buddha was placed under the canopy next to the main root.

As Banyan trees are regarded as having spiritual importance in many areas in the Pacific region, so is the big old sacred banyan tree in Linda's hometown. The aerial roots were wrapped with red cloth here and there. Linda was proud to announce that the big Banyan in her hometown is the biggest in Taiwan, only second to the big Banyan in Penghu Pescadores.

Linda, Trini and I were instructed by the temple keeper of the Big Banyan to burn six incenses each. We prayed sincerely for the prosperity of our country and the health and beauty of golden ladies and their families. Then we placed three incenses at the head altar, two along the side and one in the open air in front of the temple. When Linda told us the old Taiwanese saying, "once you pray to the Gods sincerely, you will be blessed and protected by them." (有拜有保庇) We were happy to end our auspicious morning ride by praying the gods under the biggest Banyan tree in Taiwan.

Breakfast at Sweet Home
It was the best rice congee I've ever had in my life. The rice was cooked so well that it tasted chewy and gluey in the best possible way. My mouth watered after the first slurp, especially after a good one and a half hours bicycling in the rice paddy field. Linda's mom prepared eight traditional Taiwanese dishes, including stew-fried bean curd, stir-fried cabbage, various vegetable pickles, pork floss, and fermented bean curd. I was never a congee fan, but I was on an urge to refill my bowl.

There is a Chinese saying, "the cleverest housewife can't cook a meal without rice". Linda's mom was equipped with the islandwide famous Sanhow rice to make the impressive congee. The Sanhow rice grown in her hometown Chu-tang won the champion of Council of Agriculture Rice Contest in 2005. If you could have a morning ride with us, you wouldn't be surprised why the championship was claimed by farmers in Chu-tang with good climate, excellent soil compositions, and hardworking farmers.

Ceramic Atelier Hsi-chou
The Ceramic Atelier Hsi-chou was the main purpose of the long weekend with Linda. It was founded by Yu-pei, a young and talented cousin of Linda, in 2005. Yu-pei and her husband met and worked in Yingge ceramics town. After they won a reputation in making ceramics pigs and designing little ceramics buddha praying, they moved back to their hometown to establish an atelier to take orders from Yingge and market their own ceramic works.

The moment we arrived at Yu-pei's atelier, she started working with the clay upon Trini's and my requests. While she worked, I was amazed at her hands turing a piece of dirt into lively creatures instantly. She made a brooch in the shape of a little monk praying with the beads in hand for me and a brooch in the shape of a cute little girl with two pony tails for Trini.

Linda was fast in action. She ordered two blank ceramic plates, one large and the other medium. She started painting on the plates instantly. The large one was for her family, decorated with tiny cute flowers with two big Chinese characters 如意(as you wish) right in the middle. The medium one had colorful "Excellence Toastmasters Club" on it. Trini attempted a huge ceramic clock in the shape of a shoe to grow plants at home. She painted a large plate for her daughter Angela. Me, the least talented ceramic artist among the three, made a medium plate with the big help from Yu-pei's daughter. I'm sure it would be a lovely present for the coming joint anniversary of Success Toastmasters Club of District 67 and Kumamoto Toastmasters Club of District 76 on the 11th of October in Tao-yuan. No doubt Yu-pei had a strong impression about toastmasters. She must be curious how golden ladies met in toastmasters and how important roles toastmasters played in their lives.

Yu-pei's family of four, including her husband, her daughter and her son were totally occupied by three golden ladies on a busy Sunday morning. After playing with the clay and painting on various plates, we were treated with traditional rice cakes in turtle shapes, a green porcelain bowl of green guava and a huge blue and white ceramic plate of watermelon. Talking about watermelons, everyone knows watermelons from Taiwan are the best. But the best of the best are from sandy Choshui River, the longest River in Taiwan, juicy and sweet. My mouth starts to water just thinking of the Choushui Watermelon in my head.

Small yet Prosperous Cafeteria
Linda's second brother called us several times before we left Yu-pei's ceramics atelier. He had been expecting for us for lunch from 11:30, but we didn't arrive at his Taiwanese style cafeteria till 12:30. Trini's eyes opened wider than usual when she saw the delicious local delicacies on table. Second Brother welcomed us with a big smile on his face and offered any dishes upon our requests.

As a frequenter of Taiwanese cafeteria for lunch, I shall say that Second Brother's cafeteria is one of the best in Taiwan. Linda knew that I was fond of cooking and she encouraged me to stay behind for a week to work with her brother and sister-in-law to learn the entire recipes of the Small yet Prosperous Cafeteria.

"Birth from Bamboo Chair" is the trade name of Second Brother's cafeteria in Erlin. It was established by Second Brother's mother-in-law in 1979, operated by Linda's brother at day shift and Linda's brother-in-law at night shift. Can you imagine a small cafeteria of less than 8 square meters can feed a local crowd at twenty-four seven? I was speechless witnessing the hardworking spirit of small business entrepreneurs in Taiwan. Of course the good location right next to the Erlin Central Market was another reason to the success of the small yet prosperous cafeteria.

After lunch, Linda's sweet and genial sister-in-law fetched three bowls of crushed ice topped with various sweet beans and jellies from the most famous ice shop in town. Even thought we have been fed up to our throats, we all wolfed down the last drop of icy desserts. What could be a better way to quench the summer heat by a good bowl of icy dessert on a relaxing vacation day?

Golden ladies must have been phenomenal at a small cafeteria in a small town. Within 30 minutes, we satisfied all taste buds like we were gourmets cordon bleu de Paris. Trini was eager to venture to Taiwan Folk Village in Chang-hwa, while Linda and I were ready for a long siesta at an air-conditioned guestroom. Two votes against one, we headed for Linda's sweet home. On our way back, we paid a visit to Linda's father at work and Linda's aunt at Linda's grandparents' home.

PS: Tuesday evening, the 12th, I warmed up the braised Dongpo Pork Linda ordered from Second Brother for Trini and me to take home. It wowed my husband at dinner table. If you could see the stars sparkling in his big eyes, you would know how tender and tasty the pork was. My humble secret to grab my husband's heart is to satisfy his stomach. Get him addicted to the delicacy you arrange for dinner!

Seniors at Work
Linda's father will turn 80 next year. He's still working full time as the Secretary General of Tsu-hung Temple. He drives to work, eight hours a day, six days a week. Weekend is busy for him. He is off on Tuesdays. Linda's father is my role model. I wish I could work at his age and beyond. I wish I could work till the day I expire. I wish I could contribute my humble share to humanity till the last breath. Why get retired? No, not for me! "Get Older, Work Harder, Enjoy More", that's my motto.

Linda's father invited us for a cup of tea at his office in Tsu-hung Temple. He briefed us the history of the temple and the organization of the management team. I noticed the strong resemblance between Linda and her father, their smiles and their wills. "Like Father, Like Daughter", no wonder Linda is huge in body and soul.

Remark: Working, in my definition, is exercising body and mind in a proactive way. It has nothing to do with the generation of money per se!

Small Industry, Home Industry
Longan tress are everywhere in Linda's hometown. Trini could only look at the Longan fruits with regret, because she could not lay her hands on them on the country roads. They are privately owned. But Trini's payer was answered, maybe by Buddhas in the Big Banyan, when we arrived at Linda's grandparents' old house. A big longan tree full of longan fruits was right in the front yard.

Linda's little anunt from her mother's side lives alone in the big country house. She was out somewhere, and nobody was at home. Linda climbed on top of a horse ladder picking sweet and juicy longan fruits, while Trini and I waited on the ground with our mouths wide open. When three golden ladies stole the longan fruits zealously, there walked in Linda's little aunt from the iron gates.

Little Aunt is a decade senior to us, a single noble in modern terms. Her hobby is cooking. The moment I walked into her kitchen, I found several huge antique urns by the wall. Her fermented bean curds famous in the great China area have been resting there for more than two years. Through e-marketing, Little Aunt received orders from the internet. While packing the order for Linda, Little Aunt was proud to share with us the procedures to make the yummy bean curds from scratch in details. I was overjoyed when she gave me a jar as the greeting gift.

Remember the side dish of fermented bean curd for breakfast at Linda's? It melted in my mouth immediately after the first nibble, it tasted like the finest red miso. My head was filled with all possible recipes immediately. Linda's mom provided two recipes on the spot, with Tofu and Fish. I had exactly the same ideas. With a jar in hand, I'm sure Kylie Kwong would be impressed if she saw my Mapo Tofu with the exquisite fermented bean curd from Little Aunt. Bon Appetit!

A Fat Revitalizing Siesta
Everyone has a build-in biological o'clock, when to get up, when to eat, when to rest. For some people, six hours sleep is more than enough. For me, I need at least twelve hours a day. I sleep ten hours at night and two hours in the afternoon. The bed is the birthplace of my inspiration, followed by the toilet and the bikeback.

I passed out straight away when I hit the sack at Linda's guestroom. I didn't open my eyes in the following two and half hours till Linda's dad came home from work. My mystifying dream was patched like a big puzzle of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I heard Trini whining for the last round of bicycling to put an end to our summer vacation 2008 with Linda. No sooner than later, we three hit the country road on our bikes right before the sunset in the early summer breeze. Our first stop was a high tech chicken farm two fundred meters from Linda's home.

High Tech Chicken Farm
Remember DreamWorks Picture's hilarious animation "Chicken Run" in 2000? A bunch of chickens being withheld within a sinister English chicken farm to produce eggs tried to escape out of their pens for freedome? The moment we entered the high tech chicken farm, five caged mean dogs were barking at us furiously, exactly like the begining the "Chicken Run". Thanks God, I were not born a chicken, otherwise I would have been scared to death just by looking at the big ugly dogs who could take my life instantly.

The Anka chickens at the high tech chicken farm were fed on a special formula from a biotech company. They produce Anka eggs lower in cholesterol. When they fail to produce eggs, they will be sold to make meatballs like those in "Chicken Run". I'd like to take the opportunity to thank all the chickens I've eaten in the past to keep me young and pretty. After a friendly chat with Linda's cousins--owners of high tech chicken farm for half an hour, at sunset, we left the chicken farm. It was free and cool to ride bicycles on the country roads like birds flying in the sky with winds beneath their wings.

Childhood Reminiscence
Linda's elementary school was the destination of our ride. While Linda and Trini took photos in the front zoo garden of Ten-to elementary school, I walked to the basketball court at the back. There I saw a little girl by herself blowing soap bubbles at sunset. That's the first encounter between Jolin and me. Without much introduction, we started competing who could blow bigger bubbles, who could blow more bubbles. The sun set fast, Jolin and I became instant friends. We took photos of each other joyfully like two friends, Nope! like a golden lady with her grandchild.

Linda and Trini joined us later. When I introduced Linda to Jolin, Jolin told us happily that she also had a friend called Linda. That's how we got to know the little girl's name--Jolin. Jolin will be studying at Ten-to in two years. Jolin will become a golden lady in fifty years. I wonder if Jolin would remember three golden ladies once ran into her childhood on a twilight summer day.

Farewell Super
Linda's mom was waiting in the kitchen when we finished our bike tour at seven o'clock. In front of us was another mouth-watering dinner displayed on table, including stir-fried yellow chives, Taiwanese style sausage, fried fish, mushroom wonton soup. I could feel how considerate Linda's mom was trying to put together the best local delicacies on table. I then realized Linda didn't just being grown up to her size for nothing.

The Great Escape
What could have been a better way to end golden ladies' summer vacation 2008 by simply lying on a huge leather sofa like three contented high school girl, eating sweet longan fruits freshly picked from Little Aunt's garden? We watched TV non-stop for straight three hours, not bothering to run to the toilet during the commercial time. After the last drama episode on Public TV at 11:30, we dragged to the guestroom for the night.

Day 3 (August 11, Monday)

At five thirty, I was up feeling totally recharged with a sweet dream. After a quick shower, we hit the road back to Taipei in the morning sunshine. Linda's mom picked all the red hot peppers growing in the front yard and gave me as souvenirs. When I squeezed her in my arms, I saw tears in her eyes. Like people everywhere in the world, senior citizens are left behind in the countryside while young people need to fight for living in the big cities.

Linda was sweet to offer me a ride back home in Hsin-tien, because she thought there would be no way for me to carry all the souvenirs in a total of 20 kilos, by MRT home. They are two big papayas (two kilos each), two boxes of Anka eggs, a huge bag of guava, a box of frozen Ton-po pork, two huge ceramics owls, not to mention three mysterious fruits from Luck Tress and many red hot peppers, in addition to my own luggage of many outfits, hats, accessories, bags and shoes.

Thanks to Linda that I had a chance to grab the tail of summer 2008 at a small town in the middle of Taiwan. I saw the hardworking people sweating on their land to grow plants and animals. I saw the entrepreneurship DNAs in Linda's extended family. I saw the tight bonds between people and their birthplaces. Thanks to Linda, golden ladies tried many unprecedented activities together and enjoyed many happy moments bathing in the warm sunlight and hospitality of friends and family.