Taiwan Time

By MAGGIE DING

The Ding family arrived safely in Taipei, Taiwan, to join in the festivities of Felix & Mary's engagement ceremony at the Hyatt Regency on Sat., Oct. 27. 

Making this trip work for us was a major feat. For Kevin, the Lakers ended early again last season, so leaving the country during this highly anticipated preseason (and returning just before the regular-season opener) is tough. For me, having to manage and get five escrows organized when night is day here and day is night and not being able to communicate with my clients ... not easy! Fortunately for me, I have an amazing assistant, Stefanie, who is taking care of business for me.

Our flight here was not much fun: two tired parents, two excited kids, 14 hours. One briefly crying Maven leading to one ass of a passenger complaining about the 10-minute inconvenience. One vomiting Sedona shortly before landing meaning Kevin had to mop the floor of the plane. But we are here! 

Sedona was a real trouper on Day 1 (Monday). She slept on the plane, did one hour of overnight sleep here and went all day as happy as can be. We all called her the "Energizer Bunny."

Most of the day and this trip is being spent with A-Gong Toshi, A-Ma Alice, Uncle Steve (Alice's brother) and Aunt Kelly -- plus, of course, Felix and Mary, when available. 

We started the first morning at our Hotel Riverview Taipei (the hotel my Grandfather Chen built, and where my mom and dad got married) for breakfast. Our whole family loves congee/muei/porridge (whatever you want to call it). We then headed over to do a bit of shopping -- priorities! We went to stock up big-time on watermelon seeds (the good kind we just can't really find in L.A.), dried squid and dried prunes first. We looked for a new suit for Kevin and then ate a super yummy lunch at Din Tai Fung (great in L.A., but yes, better in Taiwan).

For some extra fun, we rode the train to Dia Nam, where the kids had fun playing arcade-style games and winning their precious white doggies named Crystal (Sedona's) and Whitey (Maven's).

We then boated it over to the Lover's Bridge at the Tamshui Fisherman's Wharf. 

Someone was not scared to get on the boat. Someone was. 

Someone was not tired. Someone was.

Lover's Bridge

The whole crew took a little time to rest on the dock while someone just had to run across the whole bridge and back (just seconds after saying she was a little scared of bridges).

After a long walk by the bridge and near the water (especially long for Kevin, who was carrying the sleeping Maven all the way), we had dinner where the seafood couldn't get any fresher: You pick, they cook (or in the case of the flopping yellowtail fish we picked, they cut).

Sedona was bright-eyed entering dinner, but ...

She was asleep at the table soon enough, napping on my lap before I passed her off to my dad's shoulder.