when i look at these, i am reminded of why i am a neurotic and obsessive when it comes to taking pictures. every moment counts.

girlfriends
(perhaps one of the sweetest things i’ve ever seen)

after 32 years away, mom reunites with the girlfriends. everyone’s grown up. can you match up the faces? that’s the fun part

they used to walk this bridge together to and from school

(they’re making an “aww” face during my mom’s touching “speech” at dinner)

they all lived more or less within earshot, with their bedroom windows facing each other in this little alley. this helped facilitate planning, smooth getaways, and gossip

sometimes it’s like they never grew up, what with the girltalk and giggling and jewelry swapping

on the way to the night market, which they frequently did together in their youth. immediately cue “ladies’ night” to the rhythm of their assertive stepping

mom and her godbrother, “a-gu”, back in the day. he took good care of her

here they are together again

the modern day photos were all snapped in taiwan on MOM’S REUNION TOUR FTW 2008.

meeting all these crucial figures from mom’s childhood was like one drawn out, poignant ya ya sisterhood trip except awesome and amazing and without sandra bullock. being around mom and her childhood friends seriously blew my mind and heart apart. they were genuinely cool gals; feisty, plucky, and fun. we all seemed to get each other, which is kind of a surprising thing, considering the generational and cultural AND language gaps. every moment together welled up with emotion. also, their lives have been marred with tragedies, yet they manage to have such an upbeat disposition and attitude about life. everyone treated us sooooo well in such touching, quirky ways. it was cute how they would non-too-subtlely try to buy us gifts.

“a-gu” (mom’s godbro) took us to this great jade market and kept on peering over my shoulder as i would pick up things and look at them. he’d try to ascertain my taste, and even asked funny questions like “so do you like big jewelry? or little delicate things? do you like jade”? haha. nice try. i basically said “don’t you dare!” though i totally fell in love with this and wanted it real badly. i envisioned myself in an amy tan moment, wearing it on my neck on a red string. i should’ve bought it.

here’s mei qi wondering what the heck is wrong with me as i stuff succulent handmade mochi in my maw. the whole time at the night market whenever i stopped to check something out she’d be like, “do you like it? do you want it?”

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2008 at 8:34 pm and is filed under asia, family, history. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.