The unconstrained spirit maybe comes from Ah Pi Po's family background. She is from a family of six sisters and four brothers. The father was a traditional Chinese man who preferred having sons rather than daughters.
"Whenever my mom gave birth to a girl he'd walk out of the house. And if it was a boy he'd stay in and help," she said.
She said her real name, Lin Lu-yu (林呂有), was given by her father in a random fashion. "When my mom asked him to give me a name, he just said 'Yeah, yeah, whatever.' That became the meaning of my name," she said.
Two years ago, half retiring, Ah Pi Po started her own eatery store in Taoyuan -- Ah Pi Po Chinese Herb Spare Rib Soup (阿匹婆藥燉排骨), which sells rib soup, noodles and meat sauce rice.
"We use more than 18 kinds of Chinese herbs, stewed for eight hours," Ah Pi Po said proudly, saying that she has the soup herself everyday, which, she said, is one of her secrets for keeping her health. "It's my father's recipe," she said.
At the age of 88, Ah Pi Po still spends eight hours a day at the store, helping with cooking and taking care of business. "I like to watch baseball, exercise and chat with my customers," she said, explaining how she keeps healthy.
So, will she be wearing a man's suit when accepting her prize at Golden Horse Awards Ceremony? "We'll see. I haven't decided which oufit to wear. There are so many ...."
For your information:
Ah Pi Po Chinese Herb Spare Rib Soup is located at 4, Sanming Road, Sec 3, Taoyuan City (
Telephone: (03) 347 6800.
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