Dear Friends (from Jonathan), Here is a short recap of our honeymoon to Taiwan. We couldn’t actually start for our honeymoon until the beginning of January (we had too many parties going on around Christmas and New Years). Once we could finally go, we were looking forward to resting after all that we had done the month before. We arrived in Taiwan in the morning. Once we arrived, we had a little issue figuring out where we needed to go to get our bearings and bus tickets to Taipei, but we eventually figured things out. It was nice to not know what we were doing but know that we didn’t have any timeline to worry about. The bus ride into Taipei to the MRT, the subway station, was enjoyable, and the people we asked for help were very kind. We were able to get the MRT passes we needed and stop at Krispy Kreme for some donuts. Haha, I know it is funny for us to make our first meal in Taiwan at a Western donut place, but it was what Evanie wanted. After our small lunch, we headed over to our hotel. Our hotel was a pleasant surprise. While it was only a three-star (which in the USA might make me a little nervous), apparently three-stars is still something very nice here in the East. The staff was very courteous (greeted us by name and talked through a map of Taipei with us), breakfast was nice (a Western/Eastern buffet with a live violinist), and the room was nice. The whole experience here was a relief for me as the husband. I really wanted to make sure that my wife had the best, and God provided. I’m also glad that I didn’t try to go to a five-star. The opulence of a five-star would have scared me I am sure. After resting for a bit on this first day, we visited the ground floor of Taipei 101. It was a little cold and rainy at the time, so we were able to walk around the bottom of the building without worrying about crowds. We were also able to go inside and see the huge Christmas tree they had. To us, it was surprising to see a Christmas tree since Christmas is not really a holiday that is celebrated in Asia. After this short visit to Taipei 101, we went to the nearby Rao He night market. I had been trying to contact our friend Hao Ming so that we could meet him, but we weren’t able to meet him this first night. Still, we enjoyed walking around the night market by ourselves. While there were many clothes, shoes, household goods, and numerous other things for sale, we tried our best to taste the different foods. There were so many different things that we tried, and I wish I knew all of the names. The first thing we tried was a kind of seafood soup. I can’t even begin to describe it in more detail because I am not sure what was inside. All I know is that it had a seafood taste. It was tasty, and just the thing for a cold night. Afterwards, we walked around to try some more foods. We were able to try candied apples, waffles cooked in cartoon molds, and fried sushi rolls before heading home for the night. The next day, we were able to visit the Taipei Zoo. Again, the weather was rainy and cold, so not many people were visiting the zoo. This also meant that most of the animals were sleeping. However, we were able to see the bears, monkeys, eagles, Formosan deer, and a pangolin. We didn’t look at the other animals too much though because we wanted to go see the giant pandas. There are very few zoos that have pandas, so we made sure to see these pandas while we had the opportunity. The panda exhibit was also the best place to visit at this cold and rainy time since the pandas have a huge indoor habitat built for them. Inside, it was nice and dry. Seeing the pandas was a lot of fun. We were able to see the mother, father, and baby panda that they have there. It was fun to see the baby panda playing around. We didn’t stay at the zoo much after this because we were meeting our friend Hao Ming for lunch. He met us at the MRT station and walked us over to a hot pot restaurant. For hot pot, you either have individual pots for each person where you cook your food or one large pot in the middle of the table that you share. At this place, we had one large pot that we shared together. Our pot was divided in two, so we were able to try spicy hot pot and sweet hot pot. The sweet hot pot was interesting since we were able to order collagen balls that dissolved in the broth. As Hao Ming said, the collagen is for ladies to make their skin more beautiful. Collagen aside, both hot pots still tasted good with all of the vegetables and meats that we put inside. I was also able to try duck blood (which comes in a jelly block form). Everything tasted delicious, and we were very thankful to have Hao Ming show us this place which we could not have found on our own. After lunch, Hao Ming helped us buy a SIM card to help us not get lost. Then we parted ways so that we could get a nap. After all of the walking at the zoo and such a good lunch, Evanie and I were a bit tired. And anyways, we needed our strength before Hao Ming took us to the ??? night market that night. Once we met him, we were able to try many more foods. We both had our first taste of chicken steak (鸡排), stinky tofu, and were able to see fried sweet potato balls (which we could not buy since the queue was so long). I know that both Evanie and I enjoyed walking through with Hao Ming to translate for us and answer all of the questions we had. It also saved us some from explaining to people that Evanie was not Chinese. Many times in Taiwan, vendors would talk to Evanie in Chinese, and I would explain to them, “对不起， 她不是中国人。 她是菲律宾人” (“I’m sorry, she is not Chinese. She is Filipina”). Speaking of Chinese and Chinese people, those are two things that I really enjoyed about Taiwan. Growing up in a Chinese church, God has placed within me a love for Chinese people. While we are in the Philippines right now, it makes me happy when I can find a Chinese person either here or Taiwan who I can talk with. The Chinese people are so loving and caring; they give you so much more than you can ever pay back. This played out as we spent two days travelling with Hao Ming and his family, whom we had never met. Hao Ming’s family was so kind to us by letting us tag along on their family outing. They even brought extra coats for us since they knew we would need them in the mountains. Hao Ming’s parents also treated us to many different Chinese foods, such as garlic and sausage (eaten exactly that way – a bite of a garlic clove, then a bite of sausage), native cooked chicken, hot pot, beef noodles, and snake soup. The whole family was so friendly; we felt like we were part of a Chinese family while we were with them. During our time there, we were able to visit many other places, but the best part was visiting with old friends and making new friends. On the Sunday during our visit we met with the Filipino church here in Taiwan. For breakfast that day, we met with Rose, Nicky, and ???. It was a blessing to meet with them and talk about life in Taiwan for them. Then, we rode the MRT to Tamsui to meet with another part of the church. Tamsui is over an hour away from the main part of Taipei, and the church building is another ten minutes away by taxi from the station. Once we got to the church, all of the people were so welcoming and loving. Following a time of worship music, Evanie and I had the blessing to speak to the people and encourage them. It seems that whenever we talk we always go back to the story of our relationship, but God has given us this story to use for others. (we share what we know verse) We shared with the people how God is always in control and working through both good and bad situations. We were also able to pray for the people; we still pray that the Filipino church in Taiwan may be blessed. After the service, we had a Filipino lunch. It wouldn’t be a Filipino gathering without food, after all. One of the couples also provided a cake that was to celebrate their daughter’s birthday. She is not there with them in Taiwan, so she had her fifth birthday here in the Philippines without them. Being separated from family is a big cause for prayer in this church, and I am sure it is the same in other places for overseas workers there. For this couple, they also were dealing with the struggle of living separately since they work for different factories. Even if they worked at the same place, however, many factories do not allow couples to live together in the dorms. Also, many of the people in this church only get a day or two off from work per month when they can travel. It touched us to find out that these people had used their limited time off to come to church and visit with us. I’ll wrap this post up now with the main prayer items that we learned from our trip. First, pray for the people of Taiwan as a whole. While the people are very kind, we saw many examples of how they are the same as other lost people around the world. On a few occasions we saw the different temples which, while they are beautiful structures, are places of darkness. It saddened us to see so many people giving their offerings to the false gods. But if there were not the false gods, the people would still be lost to the gods of materialism and pleasure that you can see worldwide. Pray that more witnesses can go to the Taiwanese people. Second, pray for the Filipino church in Taiwan. The Filipino’s there are in a very foreign culture far from home. Pray that God will comfort them while also strengthening them in their work. Pray that God will give them favor with their employers and allow them to be a witness to everyone around them. Finally, pray for Hao Ming’s family. We sincerely appreciate their care for us, and since we care so much for them, we pray that they will come to know Christ for themselves. Pray that Hao Ming’s father, mother, and younger brother will come to know Christ soon. Both of us are so thankful for what God has done. We enjoyed our first trip together, and we are looking forward to working together so much more now that we are married. Thank you for all of your support and prayers. We pray that God will bless all of you as much as He has blessed us. With love, Jonathan and Evanie Ephesians 3:20-21
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 13:52:50 +0000
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