Happy Lunar New Year | 新年快樂！

January 29, 2025

The parentals are here! And, we are having a great time. In typical Clapp Family holiday spirit, we celebrated Lunar New Year with tasty homemade food cooked together. On New Year’s Eve, we made cauliflower farro and salad. On New Year’s Day, dad made his signature Eggs Benedict (the last time I had it was at 5:30am the morning I left for Taiwan), which was shared with my friend Lukas. We also did some calligraphy to create auspicious couplets to hang for the new year and went on a hike!

Cheffin'

Tastes like home

Elephant Mountain

Calligraphy in Progress

Door decorated for the new year

Eggs Benedict (Tastes like home pt. 2)

Last week, we enjoyed some incredible jazz, massages, tasty food, and visiting the Taipei Lunar New Year market.

Blue Note Jazz

Lunar New Year Market

Over the weekend, we took a lovely trip to Sun Moon Lake, staying in a lovely little hotel with very kind owners. I really enjoyed getting out of the city for a much-need break from the noise and busyness. Our time was filled with lots of walking, eating/drinking tasty things, and resting. We paid a visit to the Lugao Cafe at a coffee farm out in (kind of) the middle of nowhere, which turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. The cafe is located on top of a hill overlooking the coffee farm, surrounded by nature, and features beautiful architecture. We also visited an old tea processing plant, where I forced mom and dad to take a classic Taiwanese picture complete with a sign, thumbs-up, and a peace sign.

Family photo

Lugao Cafe

Mocha + Scenery

From the top of Ci'en pagoda

Sunset

Classic Taiwan Photo

Bottom of Ci'en Pagoda

We even made time to visit the Nine Frog Stack, a very cute, highly underwhelming statue on Sun Moon Lake. We also ate a Nine Frog Stack made out of frog-shaped, waffle-like cakes. Yum.

Nine frog stack

Nine frog stack (waffle form)

On our way back to Taipei, we paid a visit to Young Cafe, a small, high-end coffee shop in Puli, Taiwan. In the grand scheme of Taiwan’s tourism scene, Puli is mostly relevant as a bus transfer station. Two years ago, on my trip with Hannah, we had to change our itinerary and ended up spending a couple of nights in the small city. Young Cafe was recommended to us by a local and was one of the most memorable places on my trip around Taiwan with Hannah in January, 2023. Since it was on the way, I brought mom and dad, and we had a lovely time. The owner didn’t end up remembering me and Hannah, but was equally as welcoming and warm as I remember. The coffee was delicious, and we also sampled a red oolong tea that was one of the most interesting teas I have ever tasted. Anyone who is passing through Puli should stop there for a tasty drink and some of the kindest hospitality I have ever received in Taiwan.

Young Cafe, Puli, Nantou County, Taiwan

Mocha

Oh, another exciting thing that happened: the night my parents arrived, we experienced the largest earthquake I’ve ever felt in Taipei, which, funnily enough, coincided with the inauguration of Donald Trump. Maybe it’s symbolic. Anyway, we were all a little shaken (HA), but are all safe.

See, it says Taipei City was a magnitude of 2, but it felt bigger to me. I'm not an earthquake expert though.

Mom and dad have about six days left here before heading back to the US! It’s been fun to show them some pieces of my little life here in Taiwan and refreshing to spend time together.

With love from Taiwan,

Miriam

6:00am

Upon Arrival