MOMENTS

Jessica Polar travels to post-Fidel Cuba where she feels at home even as a foreigner.

BY AARON CHAPMAN My grandfather-in-law is The Old Man and the Sea. A step inside his home is a step into a story. Picture frames on every inch of wall, a nostalgic fade to the film behind the glass. He had more hair then but his eyes remain young. Firm. Compassionate. They stare back at…

BY NELSON NG 溫暖是來到一個陌生的地方但又覺得不陌生， 溫暖是晚上睡覺前能跟大家聽現場演奏的歌， 溫暖是能跟不認識的朋友一起辦市集， 溫暖是跟不認識的朋友一起吃火鍋， 溫暖是跟不認識的朋友做朋友， 溫暖是朋友請你吃早餐還怕你吃不飽還點多兩份， 溫暖是下雨天朋友还帶你一起去看展覽， 溫暖是下雨天朋友載你去火車站， 溫暖是下雨天朋友從火車站接你， 温暖是朋友带你一起逛市场， 溫暖是一碗需要等一個小時的海產面， 溫暖是臨走前送的花生糖， 溫暖是一杯珍珠奶茶，也是一雙筷子， 溫暖是下雨天人家借你的一把傘， 即使你沒辦法還他。 謝謝臺灣朋友們的溫暖。

BY NELSON NG While we were on the Trans-Siberian railway, we met a Mongolian girl who was travelling home from visiting Beijing. We shared our magazine with her so that she could read it along the way, and later on when we asked her which was her favourite story, she flipped open to this.

BY EVA CLIFFORD As I drove out one morning down the empty highway in Bagan, dawn light rousing the colours of the plains and the pagodas cold-looking against the sky, I suddenly noticed a small girl on the roadside waving at me like I was a long-lost friend. When I stopped my bike, she greeted me…

BY NELSON NG We had been walking along the streets of Tainan cluelessly that night, unsure of where to spend New Year’s Eve. We had just arrived from Alishan and didn’t know a thing about the city. After about an hour’s walk we realized our decision to go to Anping by foot was a wrong…

BY SUSAN LIU All I saw were stairs. Stairs in front of me. Stairs behind. Stairs to be conquered – there was nowhere else to go. Grumbling, I continued the climb. I’d been excited to finally climb Yellow Mountain, excited to see the subject of oh-so-many ancient Chinese poems and paintings. But at this moment, all…

BY LINLIN SHAN I often see faces in things, the staring as a type of unwanted attention, yet secretly attracted to. They make solitude charming at times.