The flight of my dreams came to an end when it landed in Incheon at 4am. It was raining. We took a deep breath in anticipation for a long day of fighting both jet lag and weather. Immigration, airport train, two snack breaks, and a long walk later, we arrived at 7:30 to drop bags
Korea & Japan 2024 (2/10) – Korean Airlines Prestige Class A380-800 LAX to ICN
A key anchor to our itinerary was the outbound flight to Korea. Because it took off from LAX, we had to take a positioning flight to and hang out all day in Los Angeles first. A couple people had expressed confusion when I mentioned this route, wondering out loud if there was no flight to
Korea & Japan 2024 (1/10) – A Smiley Face Vacation
This summer, we traveled the entire width of South Korea and Japan. The route looks like a smiley face. This vacation was booked shortly after we returned from Thailand last summer, where we grew a taste for trying different modes of transportation. The initially simple trip idea got more cities added to it just so
Project Sister Swords – 萱 Xuan & 莛 Ting
I spent the past two months making a pair of swords for the kids. The Inspiration A few months ago, when I began making Fei Xue, I struggled with how few reference images existed. In both the movie and the adapted manhua, the sword was featured in significantly fewer scenes than Can Jian, and none
Taiwan 2024 (7/7) – Haircut
This final post from our Taiwan trip is all about me… Because this happened: The Why For weeks, people asked the question. I really didn’t have a great answer aside from it felt like time. The long hair made life difficult in many ways, but I did treasure it dearly. While I had usually attributed
Taiwan 2024 (6/7) – Earthquake
During peak morning commute hour on Wednesday, a massive earthquake struck Taiwan. Prologue This trip gave us an opportunity to try Taiwan’s High-Speed Rail (HSR) because we made plans to visit my aunt and Hong’s aunt, who lived in parts of the island far from the capital. People had warned us about crazy traffic on
Taiwan 2024 (5/7) – Hanfu
On day 4 of our trip, our family dressed up in 漢服 Hanfu for a professional photo shoot. Inspiration Last year, my uncle and aunt went back to Taiwan and did a “wedding” photo shoot that young couples conventionally do between engagement and the big day. The two of them had left Taiwan young and
Taiwan 2024 (4/7) – Family
Ba For two people who aren’t very talkative, hanging out in person was so much nicer than talking on the phone. Ba’s love language mostly involves gifting stuff. Because I had been talking about my guava craving in recent years (usually in the context of how I’ve sometimes splurged to pay American prices for it),
Taiwan 2024 (3/7) – Food Part 2
The eating continues… Night Markets Night markets are a must-do when in Taiwan. So, imagine our frustration when jet lag and rain prevented us from going during our 2019 visit. This time we vowed to over-correct that regret, and hit up five night markets over 8 days: 臨江街 Linjiang, 饒河街 Raohe, 南機場 Nanjichang, 高雄六合 Liuhe
Taiwan 2024 (2/7) – Food Part 1
It may feel embarrassing to plan a whole international trip around food. But alas! No shame in that if the destination is Taiwan. Food is this island’s cultural heritage, national pride, and primary export. Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is world famous but its boba culture may be more influential. It’s possible that more people are familiar