Last night I had dinner with my dad and a friend of his and his wife at a chinese restaurant known for their use of utilizing the hand pulled style of noodle making at a mall. I should provide some back story I suppose. My dad is quite an interesting character, having been born in Beijing but moving to Taiwan when he was 3, then moving to California when he was about 13 and then going on to graduate from Cornell and then to joining the army. What is interesting for me to observe is his strong bond with his Chinese heritage. I haven't lived with my dad in about 3 or 4 years so watching him speak chinese reminded me just how he loves and feels chinese culture is a part of him.

Just seeing him articulate things in chinese you can tell he is content, the hand motions the passion in which it is spoken in is something I perhaps have missed or have forgotten. The Chinese culture is quite fascinating too, in that it's very traditional and rooted in long standing beliefs and principals. It is a culture that values honor and manners and serving tea to everyone before yourself and paying for the bill and things of that nature. The language itself is also very traditional, being written in characters and is incredibly elegant I would say. Sometimes I can imagine being transported back to a setting not too different from movies such as Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and so on.

The reason I am typing all this is because I am supposed to be going to Taiwan next month, only having been there once before maybe when I was about 6 or so. I still have some vivid memories of spending a summer there, including raising an abandoned duckling for a few days until it died mysteriously while I was taking a nap in the afternoon, and getting attacked by wasps who located a nest conveniently next to our window.

The video above is something is a mini series being done on vice hosted by chef and writer Eddie Huang as he visits Taiwan. In this concluding episode he is shown with his dad as they eat a meal and visit the ashes of his grandfather (respect for the dead is quite significant in chinese culture). I quite envy the relationship between Eddie and his father and the comfort that exists between them. It's quite enjoyable to watch.

I think I'm just writing this as all this stuff seems relevant in my head, and hopefully I'll get in touch with the chinese side of me when visiting Taiwan and maybe even re learn to speak mandarin which I learned as a kid growing up.