Thursday 15 October 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Engagement rings
Wednesday 14 October 2009
On the right is the engagement ring Ryan bought for me in Paraguay. I love it, but because the filligree is basically just silver wire it has proved to be a very delicate ring. I have bent it twice now. So, he talked to some friends of ours here who make jewelry, and got me a new engagement ring, pictured on the left. It has a piece of jade in it, and a space in which to fit my wedding ring later. I also love this ring.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Four tea shops!
Tuesday 13 October 2009
You probably won't recognize the humor in this picture unless you live in Taiwan, but let me just point out that this is a stretch of street with four, yes, four tea shops almost in a row. On the far left, red/black/white is the "Shiny Tea" (yummmmm, so shiny in my tummy); then the dark green QingXin (green heart) Tea with the red heart (mmmmm, so expensive); then right next door the bright yellow 50 Tea (Ryan's favorite, for some reason); and then another dark green one which is a direct rip-off of the QingXin.
The Taiwanese love their tea.
You probably won't recognize the humor in this picture unless you live in Taiwan, but let me just point out that this is a stretch of street with four, yes, four tea shops almost in a row. On the far left, red/black/white is the "Shiny Tea" (yummmmm, so shiny in my tummy); then the dark green QingXin (green heart) Tea with the red heart (mmmmm, so expensive); then right next door the bright yellow 50 Tea (Ryan's favorite, for some reason); and then another dark green one which is a direct rip-off of the QingXin.
The Taiwanese love their tea.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sugar Factory
Monday 12 October 2009
Ryan and I had an unexpected day off today (some kids in our school, though not in our classes, have H1N1), so we decided to do some Kaohsiung sight-seeing. We went to the old sugar factory outside of town, where we saw a bunch of rusty old machinery that has been left to rot. It made for an odd attraction - you could just wander through the old factory, with a few railings up but not too many, free to contract tetanus however you wished.
But there is also a big ice cream shop there, full of all kinds of wonderful Asian flavors (in pre-packaged little bowls, of course), so afterward Ryan had some sour green mango ice cream and I had dried longyan flavor. Yum!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Friday, October 09, 2009
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Beer-flavored Green Tea
Tuesday 6 October 2009
This is one Taiwanese specialty I won't be recommending . . .
Monday, October 05, 2009
Bakery cakes
Monday 5 October 2009
Taiwanese cakes always look gorgeous, but be warned, they also always taste like sawdust and sugar.
Here are some of the cakes on offer at this local bakery, in case you cannot see them clearly:
Cakes shaped like: a beer can, two stacks of money, a Louis Vitton bag, cartoon characters, a woman's chest, and a box of cigarettes. Yep, you can get a cake the looks just like a box of cigarettes - it's the blue rectangle on the bottom line.
On a lower poster, they also had a poo-poo cake for sale. (My co-teacher's son picked this one out for his birthday.)
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Miracle Fruit
Sunday 4 October 2009
I don't know if you've ever heard of this, but there is a berry from western Africa that affects your taste buds. If you eat it, for about half an hour afterward nearly everything tastes different. In particular, sour things taste sweet. Sweet enough to eat lemons like candy.
At the food show last year we bought some tablets made from this fruit, and so finally decided to throw a "miracle fruit" party. We invited a bunch of people over, cut up a ton of different fruits and veggies, and just sat around tasting them.
Here's Bekah, pleasantly surprised, eating a lemon. The biggest surprise of the day, though, was ku gua, a gourd that is normally so bitter you'd think it was poisonous. With the berry, it tasted almost like cucumer.
P.S. Why they couldn't just use the local name for it, I don't know. Miracle fruit just sounds so cheesy!
I don't know if you've ever heard of this, but there is a berry from western Africa that affects your taste buds. If you eat it, for about half an hour afterward nearly everything tastes different. In particular, sour things taste sweet. Sweet enough to eat lemons like candy.
At the food show last year we bought some tablets made from this fruit, and so finally decided to throw a "miracle fruit" party. We invited a bunch of people over, cut up a ton of different fruits and veggies, and just sat around tasting them.
Here's Bekah, pleasantly surprised, eating a lemon. The biggest surprise of the day, though, was ku gua, a gourd that is normally so bitter you'd think it was poisonous. With the berry, it tasted almost like cucumer.
P.S. Why they couldn't just use the local name for it, I don't know. Miracle fruit just sounds so cheesy!
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Midautumn barbeque
Saturday 3 October 2009
We gathered for our Midautum Festival barbeque on the shore of ChengQing Lake this year. It was lovely.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Anthony's jacket
Friday 2 October 2009
We've been learning clothing vocabulary, so for a fun Friday activity I found at least one of each item of clothing we've learned, and brought them in for some dress-up games. Here is sweet Anthony, in a jacket that we found in the closet when we moved in.
We've been learning clothing vocabulary, so for a fun Friday activity I found at least one of each item of clothing we've learned, and brought them in for some dress-up games. Here is sweet Anthony, in a jacket that we found in the closet when we moved in.
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