Shilin Night Market
God’s Promise
I believe that God will bring into fruition His promises for me and my family. I believe in God and His Word, the Holy Bible. When God says something, He does it. It says in Isaiah 55:11 that the word of God will not return to Him empty.
“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” – Isaiah 55:11
When God says something, He means it. We just have to trust Him. When Abraham believed that God will give him and Sarah a son just as God told them, that belief was accounted to him as righteousness.
“And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Romans 4:19-22
I was just scrolling tonight on my social media and God impressed upon my heart to pray. So I grabbed my Bible and went to the balcony and randomly opened my Bible. Before doing that though, I asked God what His message for me is and to lead me to right passage. I was led to Romans 4 and read the verses 13 to 25. I was led to sing praise and worship songs to the Lord. I was encouraged by the verses I read. I know it’s for me. God wants to assure me that He will deliver His promise. ❤️
It also says in verses 23-25 that that righteousness was not only for Abraham but also for everyone who believes.
“Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”
The righteousness from God is imputed to us when we believe. It is through FAITH.
“For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Romans 4:13
“Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations’) in the presence of Him who he believed–God…” Romans 4:16-17a
I was also reminded that when God tells us to do something, we must obey without delay. God is good. Hallelujah! ❤️
More Gala in Taipei
I slept from 4:30 p.m. yesterday until 11:30 p.m. Lelan and I chatted for a bit when I woke up then I went back to sleep at half past 12. I woke up again at 7:47 a.m. It feels good that I was able to get enough rest after our lack of sleep on Wednesday night. The temperature today is between 28-29 degrees Celsius.
We headed out for breakfast in a traditional Taiwanese restaurant just near our hotel. We returned to the hotel to pack up our things and get ready.
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
Changing of the guards ceremony at 1 p.m. in the Bronze Statue Hall (4th floor).
Exhibition Hall — We visited the galleries on the 3rd and 1st floor.
Lelan saw this restaurant (Liu Shandong Beef Noodles on Huai Ning St.) on Mark Wiens vlog. He wanted us to try it because it’s famous for its beef noodles. We almost gave up looking for it because it’s located in an alleyway. It was not very easy to find. There was a long line of people outside the restaurant when we got there.
Then we got fish croissants across the street.
We went back to our hotel and moved to an AirBnB near Taipei 101 (Xinyi District). We stayed in Lion Hotel for a night because it’s near the MRT from the airport. Picture muna while waiting for our host. 😆
Look how cute our unit is!
Hello Again, Taipei!
We went to the restaurant just outside our hotel for brunch. It’s the restaurant the taxi driver recommended to us the first time we went here (in January). There were soooo many people!
Lelan and I didn’t sleep anymore last night. After I packed my things, we already went to the airport around 2 a.m. Our flight was at 6:15 a.m. but we had to be early in the airport to check in our luggage and line up at the immigration. We also had time to meet up with Bartholomew and Ellen at the airport.
We arrived in Taipei at 9 a.m. We went to the hotel just to leave our bags because the check-in starts at 3 p.m. We decided to walk around while waiting.
Taiwan Thoughts
Since I arrived late here in Taiwan, I slept at around 4 a.m. and woke up around 10 a.m. Lelan picked me up at the airport. Our hotel is about 40 minutes away. Out of the blue, I told our taxi driver last night that I used to watch Meteor Garden when I was in college and he laughed. He said it’s an old TV show. Haha! At least I made him laugh! 😁 Anyway, I really enjoyed watching Meteor Garden before. I just suddenly remembered it when we were on our way to the hotel. The driver recommended a popular Japanese restaurant next to our hotel. He even got out of the car to show us the location of the restaurant. He used Google Translate to tell us. 😁
We took a shower then headed out after resting. We joined a long line of people to buy donuts at a donut shop just outside our hotel. I thought the donuts they were selling must be really good because people were lining up for it. Some were even taking pictures. When we got our donuts, we were not disappointed. It was warm and milky and not too sweet. Just around the corner, we saw a stall that sells empanada-like food. I don’t know what it’s called. It was good, too. Just a little oily. I like that there’s egg inside.❤️
Then we started to walk to the train station to go to Taipei 101. Our hotel was near Taipei Main Station. We got a little lost but Lelan had a map so that helped. Lelan said that with the limited time we had, we would only be able to visit one tourist site (Taipei 101) and that was okay. I wasn’t actually thinking of doing any activities because we didn’t have enough time and we will go back here in May. Last year, I purchased discounted plane tickets to Taiwan for May as a gift for him. I didn’t know that he wanted me to go to Taiwan this time because he was only here for a short period. But he wanted us to spend more time together before he flew back to the U.S. (He’s on his way home now…🥺😢)
I wasn’t overly enthusiastic to go to Taipei 101 because we had done a similar activity in Malaysia recently. I am grateful for the experience, of course, but I just prefer enjoying the city from the ground. Does that make sense? 😅 Anyway, again, I am grateful that God allowed us to see that. I learned something new from our visit in Taipei 101: the damper. I didn’t know that dampers help in the stability of a building. I had never seen one before. It’s amazing!
Then Lelan got some mugs and chocolates from the souvenir store on the 98th floor then we went back to the hotel to pack up. We went straight to the airport after. I set up my computer to teach at the food hall. What I like about the airport in Taiwan is their free, unlimited, and fast internet connection. I was able to work while waiting for our flight. It wasn’t the best setup but I survived. I didn’t know that Lelan had a plan to take me to Taiwan so I wasn’t able to inform our company beforehand.
It’s cool here. Well, for me at least. I enjoyed the short time my husband and I spent here together. I am grateful that we are able to visit. I already miss my husband.
Taipei
First Time to Fly Alone
It’s my first time to fly alone. Lelan wants me to stay in Taiwan while he’s there because of his long layover there. My flight was delayed. We were supposed to leave at 10:40 p.m. but it was announced that we would leave at 12 m.n. Earlier tonight, I heard people complaining and I thought to myself, I wouldn’t complain. I told myself that I just want to be grateful. I will complain if I really have to but as much as possible, I won’t sweat the small stuff.
I’m glad that God gave this opportunity for me to spend more time with my husband and to see another country. It’s okay even if the flight is delayed as long as we are safe. Instead of being pissed, I decided to sing worship songs. I want to pray and worship God more. Our senior pastor in church said yesterday during the service that we should not be satisfied with our prayer life now and that we should go deeper. I want that. I want greater intimacy with God. It’s the first day of our corporate prayer and fasting in church so I didn’t have dinner. I replaced my meal time with prayer.
I arrived in Taiwan at 2:05 a.m. I am grateful for the pilots, Capt. Cruz & Valencia, for the smooth take off and landing.
Malaysia – Day 4
Chin Ai and Guna invited us for a snack tonight. They brought traditional Malaysian deserts for us to try. It’s like a farewell get-together because Lelan and I are leaving early morning tomorrow for Manila. I’m grateful we found new friends here. They are very kind to us. They modeled Christlike hospitality to us.
Malaysia is clean. Not 100% clean but you won’t see a lot of trash. Their MRT is also faster and colder than the MRT/LRT in the Philippines. It’s nice to experience another country’s culture and see how we are different and similar at the same time.
Malaysia – Day 3
Brunch
Petronas Tower
Malaysia – Day 2
Chin Ai called me this morning and offered to take us to Genting Hinglands. However, Lelan already booked a tour. Chin Ai and Guna are very kind. Their hospitality is something we should emulate.
Anyway, the tour driver was supposed to pick us up at 10:30 but it was already 10:03 and no one had contacted us yet so we called the company and the customer service assistant said that the driver couldn’t pick us up because our AirBnB is an hour away from the area. So, we decided to cancel the booking. Lelan called the National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah and the lady who answered said that there is no entrance fee. We only had to give a donation. So we booked Grab to go to Kuala Gandah from Bandar Baru Bangi and back to Bandar Baru Bangi from Kuala Gandah. We got to the conservation center at 1:30 and we finished at 3:16 pm.
We asked for a tour guide to walk us through. Our tour guide, Uda, was very nice. I learned a lot about elephants today. Apparently, there are 25 elephants in the conservation center — 4 of which are male. You can differentiate a male elephant from a female elephant by the tusks. Male elephants have long tusks. Female rarely have tusks and if they have, they’re only short.
I also learned that elephants eat A LOT not because of their size but because they absorb only 20-40 percent of the nutrients. And because they absorb only 20-40 percent, their poop, which has 60-70 percent of nutrients is beneficial to other animals and the environment. Elephants are important because they help other animals. It’s amazing to know that animals are created not only to consume but also to help with symbiosis.
Our Grab driver recommended nasi lemak to us so when we stopped by at KFC and we saw they have nasi lemak, we tried it. It was okay. We went back to Chinatown after, then we went to Little India to have dinner.
National Elephant Conservation Center (Kuala Gandah)
With our nature guide
Elephant food
Our nature guide demonstrating how to feed the elephant
Back in Jalan Petaling (Chinatown)
Little India
