Ferris Wheel

Tuesday 31 March 2009

I got free tickets to ride the ferris wheel today! I rushed over after work to get a view of the city at just the right time of dusk, so excited, only to find out that half the city of Kaohsiung had free tickets to the ferris wheel, and they all wanted to go on at the same time as me. I would have been a two-hour wait to get on. Oh well, Ryan and I have decided to go back together sometime for a nice romantic ride. And at least I got some nice photos for today!

My eyes

Monday 30 March 2009

We took our Taiwanese wedding photos today, a day-long process of changing in and out of five dresses, getting my hair and make-up done as many times, traveling to several different picturesque locations, and smiling an awful lot. It is an exhausting day, but we can't wait to show everyone the photos!

I just wanted to take a photo of my eyes, one with the false eyelashes, and one without. Actually, the different isn't as noticeable here as it is straight on, but you get the idea. (Also, I'm a little cross-eyed from having the camera so close to my face.)

Procession

Sunday 29 March 2009

There was a procession down our street tonight - fireworks, gongs, a bouncing diety, and people following behind on their scooters.

Shude Play

Saturday 28 March 2009

Here is a picture from the strangest play I have ever seen. It was performed by the university where our friend Jenny used to work (and put on amazing plays), written by the new director there. The basic plot: Jewish seamstress falls in with some female Muslim suicide bombers who wear pants, drink and smoke (I don't think the writer knew much about Islam), and they trick her into being a suicide bomber, too. Then they frame her for selling fraudulent oil, have a trial in a cafe (where the representative of homeland security is also a female Muslim who drinks), find her guilty, and execute her in the same cafe. The original suicide bombers take her corpse, give is a semi-Jewish funeral, then beg Allah to bring her back to life, which He does. (Scene featured) She becomes a zombie, is raped by the suicide bombers' boss, gives a eulogy at her own funeral, kills everyone, and ends the show yelling about how Allah is the beast and they have all killed Allah.

I don't think I have any comment on this.

Puffed rice popper

Friday 27 March 2009

I stopped at the puffed grains et cetera stand today to pick up a sesame snack, and asked if I could take a picture of the snacks. The guy looked thrilled and offered to let me photograph the puffer machine going off. It's really loud, so I jumped and cut off his head. But you can see the bag of rice flying out behind the machine there. It sounds like a gun going off.

Elmo helmets

Thursday 26 March 2009

Purple and lantern

Wednesday 25 March 2009

Night Bike

Tuesday 24 March 2009

I guess you don't have to worry about reflectors on this bike . . .

Apartments

Monday 23 March 2009

Everybody lives in apartments here.

Incense burner

Sunday 22 March 2009

An incense burner outside of a small garage temple that is almost never open.

Flappy

Saturday 21 March 2009

A flappy new year decoration above a garage.

Blue building

Friday 20 March 2009

When you need glasses . . .

Thursday 19 March 2009

This is a 24-hour eyeglass store. Yes, a 24-hour eyeglass store. There are quite a few around, actually. I can see being open in the evening, for people who work all day, but who on earth buys glasses after, say, 11p.m.?

Garage door

Wednesday 18 March 2009

Cherry

Tuesday 17 March 2009

A not-so-cheery Cherry.

QingNian Road

Monday 16 March 2009

I love having palm-lined boulevards in my city.

High-Class Popular Leisure Food

Sunday 15 March 2009

Oooh, bet you didn't know I was such a classy girl, did you? Well, look at what I snack on.

Rope Bridges

Saturday 14 March 2009

For our friend Bekah's birthday today, we went to a park out by ChengQing Lake where they have rope bridges and all kinds of fun stuff to play on.

Stamps

Friday 13 March 2009

I love these particular stamps. In the background there you can see the glue pot they provide at the post office, so you can glue the stamps onto your letter, instead of licking them. (And Jenny, if you're reading - this package is on its way to your house!)

Vania's Shadow

Thursday 12 March 2009

I traced the kids' sillouettes in art class today, and then they painted them. They look really good.

JiuRu Road

Wednesday 11 March 2009

I love all the signs here.

Japanese Sunset

Tuesday 10 March 2009

A little statuette that came with the apartment. She looks so nice when the light is low.

Beetle cards

Monday 9 March 2009

Here in Taiwan, people raise stag beetles and pit them against each other in fights. It is such a popular sport that kids wear t-shirts and slippers with famous beetles on them. These cards belong to my student, Wonderful. (Yes, her name is Wonderful.) They are for a beetle video game you can play at department stores.

Maggie's Wedding

Sunday 8 March 2009

Okay, so today's post really breaks the picture-a-day rule, as I have twelve pictures for today. Ryan and I attended our boss's wedding tonight, and I wanted to show you the food. Now, this was a really fancy wedding, but even not such richy-rich ones will have some fancy dishes. Traditionally, a Taiwanese wedding has 10 courses, but this one had 12.

1 - Some kind of lobster potato salad, with honeydew melon thrown in for good measure.

2 - Shrimp, crab and needle mushroom soup. Pretty good.

3 - My favorite dish of the night. Squid and scallops with spices, over nice fresh veggies.

4 - Mmm, nice moist fish. A regular at nice Taiwanese dinners, and always enjoyable.

5 - Shrimp. What I really don't get is why they cook them in such delicious seasonings still in their shell. You peel them and there goes all the yummy stuff. Just have to lick your fingers, I guess.

6 - Sea cucumber with something meaty. Eh.

7 - Crab sticky rice.

8 - Lamb in a sweet sauce, and fried shrimpy things.

9 - Chicken soup. This is a standard at weddings, because chicken sounds like family in Taiwanese. The whole chicken is in there, in pieces.

10 - Desserty pastries. The one on the left was unidentified sweet, and the one on the right was red bean wrapped in sticky rice stuff.

11 - Sweet soup with tapioca balls, dates, and crinkly stuff. I know it looks gross, but this was absolutely delicious - I was so full by then, but I still ate three bowls of it.

12 - Fruit, which always tops off the evening.

Pretty flower

Saturday 7 March 2009

A pretty lily in the botanical gardens.

License plate

Friday 6 March 2009

Two things of note in this picture. First off, you may notice the 100 in the upper left corner - that's the year the scooter is registered until. Yes, the year 100. You see, to make things confusing, Taiwan decided to start counting from 1911 (the year in which the nation, the Republic of China, was founded). So, 1911 is year 1. This year is year 98. I was born in year 70. (Funny story - when I bought my very first cell phone here, I wrote in my birth date at just 81, instead of 1981. After a few days it still wasn't connected, so I called them up. They were waiting for a parent or guardian's signature, because they thought I was just 11 years old.) "Taiwan years" are used by almost everyone for almost everything here.

And secondly, the Chinese at the top of the plate actually says "Province of Taiwan," the same word for province that is used by China. Now, why Taiwan would imply they were a province of China, I don't know. I've asked a bunch of Taiwanese people, and no one seems to know. Very strange.

My fiance

Thursday 5 March 2009

Ah, there's my handsome husband-to-be . . .

Blue skies . . .

Wednesday 4 March 2009

Winter in Kaohsiung means flat gray skies and no rain for three or four months, which makes for a pretty gray, dusty city. But some blue skies are finally creeping in . . .

For Rent

Tuesday 3 March 2009

Orange flowers

Monday 2 February 2009

These are in bloom in Kaohsiung right now - big juicy orange flowers, on bare branches. I just want to gobble them up and let them dribble all over my chin, they're so gorgeous.

Cake!!

Sunday 1 March 2009

Cake!! This is the view from my elevator lobby window, and that Cake!! ad draws my eye all the time. Ryan has gotten used to me shouting "Cake!!" in the middle of our conversations while waiting for the elevator.