Taiwan Trip: Arrival in Kaohsiung

December 21-25, 2004

At the end of 2004, Helen and I traveled to Taiwan along with my parents. The primary purpose of the visit was to attend our own wedding banquet. Since we got married in July in the US, it was only fair to hold a second banquet in Taiwan so that Helen's relatives from Taiwan could attend. A second purpose of the visit was so my parents could see Taiwan, as they had never been there. We flew from San Francisco to Kaohsiung, where Helen's parents live.

View Slideshow

The Grand Hotel (圓山大飯店) in Kaohsiung where we stayed. Normally, we would stay at Helen's parents' house, but it was already full with other visiting family members.

Me, at a coy pond near the hotel.

Helen poses for a picture.

A large department store in downtown Kaohsiung.

Night falls outside our room at the Grand Hotel. Downtown Kaohsiung is visible in the distance.

The outside of the photo studio where we spent a whole day getting portraits made. It is a common practice to do this in Taiwan prior to a wedding banquet, and it is extremely affordable compared to similar services in the US.

Helen in front of Kaohsiung's "Love River".

At the Love River, we were interrupted by a call from the master of ceremonies for our upcoming wedding banquet. He wanted to know lots of personal anecdotes about us to include in his remarks. That phone call took a LONG time (mostly because we couldn't think of any good ones).

The Love River is a pleasant place to take a stroll.

Central Kaohsiung as seen from our room at the Hai-Lai Hotel, the site of our wedding banquet.

Milling around the lobby of the Hai-Lai Hotel (漢來大飯店) the morning after our wedding banquet. Be sure to see the next album in this gallery for photos of the banquet itself.