May 17th & 18th: Experimental Cooking

Steamed Vegan Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Rightside-Up...

The curious divets are from water dripping onto the cake after condensing on the lid.

Upside-Down (and elsewhere)

The cake was VERY soft.  Too soft. T_T Less water next time.

Pineapple rings!

We also eat real food.  Like vegetables.

香春 Chinese Toon/Chinese Mahogany

An aromatic herb.

Making 香春醬, it's like pesto, but smells kind of like onions, and is DELICIOUS.

Also, trying a drier steamed cake.  It turned out quite dry.

At least it marbled nicely and had a good crumb!

Also, this elevator:

Bring protected during somebody's remodeling project.  Usually they just cover the thing in blue tarp and a thin foam sheeting like things.

May 16th: Veggie & Vegan Options at Burgery

Actually, there are no vegetarian entrees. But if you ask they'll make you a vegetarian salad (vegan if you ask for no cheese) with either balsamic or orange salad dressing. I prefer the balsamic (can you believe I used to hate balsamic vinegar?!), but the orange is delicious as well. It tastes like Fanta, but more orange-y :D

Vegetarian Salad with Orange Dressing.

 The salad is quite filling, though at NT250 rather expensive.  I'm a pretty happy camper with one of those and a bottomless milkshake (yes, you read that right.  BOTTOMLESS.)

Bottomless Chocolate-Banana Milkshake.

All their drinks are bottomless. Except alcohol, obviously.  All the regular entree meal things come with drinks and you can upgrade to a milkshake or smoothie for NT60.

The banana milkshake is made with REAL bananas, and shitty chocolate chips.  If I got it again I'd ask them to leave off the chocolate, it's waxy and disgusting.  Or, use chocolate ice cream.  I don't know why they don't; they HAVE chocolate ice cream (it's what the chocolate milkshake is made of!)

I've also had the OREO milkshake, which was FANTASTIC and not too sweet (a major factor in consuming as much milkshake as possible; at NT150-160 you've gotta get your money's worth!)

For vegans there are the smoothies, which are just fruit and ice and I think some sort of sweetener/thickener -- I've seen drink places use a mysterious syrup that makes this occur.  It doesn't make me sick, and I'm fairly sensitive to chemicals, so I don't worry about it ^^.

I've had the strawberry smoothie, which was filled with real strawberries and very cold (a deterrent to maximum smoothie consumption).  There's also kiwi, strawberry-banana, hazelnut coffee (probably not vegan), and a couple other ones that didn't tickle my fancy.

Last but not least, there are cheese fries, which are AMAZING.  They're made with nacho cheese and come with a tasty mayo-based dip.  I think it's chipotle mayo but I'm not positive.

I don't know why they don't offer nachos.  It would be fantastic.

GLORIOUS Nacho Cheese. It may very well be the only nacho cheese in all of Taipei.  Or, at least within a 1 mile radius.

Oh yeah all this stuff is su (素), for all you crazy-diet people out there like me ;P

May 10th: Epic Meal Time -- Leftovers Edition ;P

Making food in a shared kitchen is harder than you'd think. Not only is there the obvious issue of fridge space and cleanliness, you also have to take care of other peoples' leftovers (i.e. turn them into delicious things and feed them to hungry people so that they don't hang around forever) and gauge how much everyone will eat so YOU don't leave leftovers for the next person to take care of, or worse, sit uneaten in the fridge until it goes bad!

AMAZING fried rice with green beans, red peppers, and vege-ham.  I don't know how Putao does it.  We don't even have a wok!

This is especially important for me 'cause I make dinners on Thursdays, and there's no Friday or weekend classes that require meals, so any leftovers will sit until Monday, at which time they are probably not so delicious. But before I get to do anything Putao (the CUTEST little old lady EVER) makes lunch for the daytime Thursday class. It's always difficult to gauge how much will be left 'cause even though there are 50 people not all of them stay for lunch. This particular day she made food for 50 and only 30 stayed, leaving us with a GLORIOUS amount of leftovers. Since dinner is usually about 20 people's worth (sometimes 23-25 if Tingquan and/or another adolescent male shows up) this worked out AWESOME for me :D

May 9th: Taiwanese Ratatouille

But first, a surprise dessert! Lishui brought it back from somebody's house...I can't remember who's, but it's delicious!

White Fungus Dessert Soup with Nuts and Dates

I love dessert soups ^o^ Growing up mung bean soup was my fav, but recently taro has taken its place! I really like wood-ear/fungus too, so this was a really tasty one.  That orange thing is a yam, not a carrot ;P

For Thursday night I planned for ratatouille, 'cause I'd been having some MAD eggplant cravings.  Also zucchini cravings.  TT___TT Apparently the market by my mom's house has zucchini sometimes; the one I live by doesn't.  either way they're hard to come by here, but we DO have eggplants in abundance.  Delicious delicious Asian eggplant~  Guess what I subbed for the zucchini?

May 2nd: AVENGERS

It was a lovely Wednesday to go see Avengers in (accidental) 3D at the Ambassador Theater in Zhongshan!

"Do we have to see it in 3D?!"

Turns out Gracie doesn't like 3D movies.  But it was the only showing at a time we could all meet up, so 3D it was.

Face of resignation.

We met up for lunch first.  Found Kirin Pasta in an alley, and they are vege-friendly! :D

April 28th: Garden + Wa Pizza with Tai and Gracie

 Some weeds flowers in the garden.

These ones close up in the afternoon and reopen in the morning!

Yellow flowers in bloom.

Yellow flowers with buds and fluff head.  Love!

 Food and People after the jump!

April 26th: Spaghetti Galore + 1st Day of Light Messenger Beginner Course

Maggie made super-colourful spaghetti!!! She prepped all the ingredients herself (with some washing & cutting assistance from Zhenxing) and I made up the spaghetti for her ahead of time so it could be sauteed with the ingredients.

Tomatoes, pinch of sugar, herbs, and cheese.

Look at those COLOURS!!! Everything was so delicious!

Balsamic Tri-colour Peppers with Herbs.

I used to really dislike balsamic vinegar, but it's grown on me.  I actually ended up adding extra vinegar to my spaghetti 'cause it wasn't sour enough for me xD

Chopped cheddar cheese, for even more flavor!

My humble contribution consisted of cranberry-orange steamed banana cake with vegan ice 'cream'.

The cranberries were donated by a Chi-mate who'd come back from the States.  They were from Trader Joe's, and they are AMAZINGLY GOOD.

April 16th: A Breakfast of Sorts

April 14th: The Return of the Leaking Bathroom

Self-explanatory title. On the bright side, this time the leak was within the bathroom instead of seeping into the living room :D  It's also appeared to stop leaking since the weather warmed up.  Dunno what's up with that, but whatever~

The leaking corner in question.

The curiously sepia water that leaked from the corner.

JESSICA ARRIVED! Weekend Fun Time with Smoothies and an Excursion to Donghai

After missing her connecting flight in Chicago Jessica finally arrived safe and sound Saturday 'round noon-ish. No pictures 'cause EVERYONE looks terrible after 20+ hours in transit. Instead, oggle at these pictures of Tai and me enjoying smoothies at 79Style Cafe at Taipei Main Station K mall while waiting for her to show up!

Hazelnut Coffee Smoothie.

Delicious and filled with CREAM (topping...not real cream, obviously ;).

Matcha Smoothie!

Delicious but too sweet.  I couldn't finish it Dx Gotta remember to ask for no sugar every time!

Actually we ended up meeting Jessica at Mommy's house, and then Mommy had to leave right as we got there 'cause her brother just came back from mainland and they had to talk about moving my maternal grandpa to Taoyuan. And then we ended up going back to Taipei main station (Y mall this time!) and showing Jessica all the fun otaku stuff. Gracie stayed home 'cause she has FINALS D:< We watched her work on two different projects while we were at Mommy's house O_o  Stay strong Gracie!

'round dinnertime I took a bus to Taichung for fun time Hochi youth class while Jessica and Tai apparently got lost for 3 hours in the city (I have yet to affirm this; this is just what Facebook tells me. And we all know FB speaks the truth.) At the class we did a bunch of meditating and worked on our group projects and worked on the youth camp stuff for over the summer -- I'm in the service group for both, so stuff like finding support staff and making up shower charts and scheduling etc. Gotta write up that script for the how-to movie we're shooting still...I'M SO SORRY WEITING! I PROMISE I WILL GET TO IT THIS WEEK! Look! It's Yi-An and some creeper on their way home from class!

Guess how old Yi-An is!!! Scroll down for the answer!

..
...
....
......
........??

BAM!

Okay she's in high school.  Apparently some people think she's like 25 or something, but I think it's just 'cause she's relatively tall -- she's almost as tall as me!  But it's okay, thanks to the Asian Anti-Aging gene and cultivation she'll probably look like this forever :D  I can't wait to see her as a cute old lady! She'll be the most adorable old lady in the history of forever. /earlymorningblogging.

April 5th: Tomato Thick Soup by Maggie!

The meals for the Thursday Evening youth class have been taking on a rather European theme -- mainly Mediterranean and French. On the fifth we had 2 kinds of spaghetti (balsamic tri-colour peppers & tomato w/ cheese) and this AMAZING soup that Maggie made, along with super-crunchy toasted baguette and hard cheddar. Maggie pretty much made everything (except the bread -- she bought it from a specialist bakery the day before, and even brought her own oven so we could have it toasted!). Like a CHAMP!

This soup is made with nothing but tomatoes and potatoes, simmered 'til soft and whirled in a blender, then spiced with herbs de provence and salt and pepper. She even took the skins off the tomatoes! @_@ So dedicated!

Another picture. Just 'cause.

Taiwanese Ice Cream Truck

In the States when your parents (or grandparents) reminisce about their childhood they'll might tell you about things like running after the ice cream truck as it rounds the corner, its melodic ice cream song heralding the arrival of summertime bliss.

In Taiwan your parents might tell you a similar story about running after the agarose guy as the mechanical 'clack-clack-clack' of his agarose stand announces his presence well before his push-cart is anywhere to be seen.

Actually, this guy had his hooked up to a bicycle -- PROGRESS! Taiwan has it.

We came across this stand right outside an MRT station in Banciao (I can't remember which one...but it's right next to a highway...) and my mom was overcome with joyous waves of nostalgia. Of course we had to get some.

The metal bowls are filled with a slightly firm brown-sugar agar agar jelly.  These guys also tend to sell mochi (the white disks) topped with peanut powder.  Try to get it without sugar if you can manage -- these were very sweet!

The clack-clack-clack is made by this device, whose sole purpose is to let everyone within earshot know that agar treats are only a few steps away.

The wheel at back has two sticking-out-bits at different intervals.  The two steel rods at left have that metal disc in the middle that the sticking-out-bits can catch on.  When rotated the result is a rhythmic clacking as the sticks are raised and dropped on the metal stand below.

This vendor put figurines on top of the two clacking sticks, which are usually just bare steel.

Hello Kitty and Mimi endorse this vendor's delicious agar treats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've also spotted a stand on Xinsheng S. Rd. & Renai Rd. in Daan district, but only in summer :)

April 3rd: Wasabi-Cucumbers & CAKE

Gui-yi is a baller who makes food on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Compassion Field. She taught me how to make wasabi-pickled cucumbers :D

After weighing the cucumbers, double-bag'em with salt

Also, Xingyi, who just had a baby, finished her 1 month thing (坐月子 sp?) and got a cake for the Tuesday evening class~

April 2nd: Gua-Bao with Gracie & Tai at the Taipei Compassion Field

Gua-bao is like mantou in a different shape. A handy-dandy one-handed-sandwich-y kind of shape! It's usually filled with meat and pickled vegetables -- we filled them with vege-meat and pickled vegetables and stir-fried cabbage! Oh, and it's topped with peanut powder :)

These were Kathy's idea, so we made some for the Thursday evening youth activity.  There were some leftovers, which I made up fresh filling for when Gracie and Tai came over for lunch.

I MADE IT!!!

I feel like I can never shove enough veggies in it though xD I loves me some cabbage!

Gracie-Faces after the jump!

March 30th: Volunteering with Kathy & Maggie + Woolloomooloo

After an awesome morning at the Taoyuan Female Penitentiary teaching ladies meditation for stability and changing life direction, Maggie took Kathy and me to lunch at Woolloomooloo (which also happens to be a place in Australia. Woolloomooloo XinYi：台北市信義路4段379號 (02)8789-0128 )

Maggie is of the belief that cultivation should a fun and enjoyable, so she sometimes often treats us to all sorts of yummy food and stuff after classes or activities (^////^) One day when I have loads of disposable income I'ma treat her back for all the lovely times she's had with us!

On the MRT -- I'm terrible at camwhoring!  From left to right: Maggie, Kathy being shy and looking way better than either of us, and me being close-eyed-looking (- u -)

Slightly better? No, not really xD

March 21st: Maiden Diner + Loving Hut

Maiden Diner on Yam

Location: Taipei Underground Mall (Y28 I think...@_@; It's toward the end of the mall, far away from all the respectable institutions ;P )

Disclaimer: We are not otaku in the Western sense.
That being said, maids are f*ckin' adorable and why WOULDN'T you want to go to a cafe with a ridiculously curiously pink train sub-theme and be served cute food by the most adorable waitresses this side of the East China Sea?!  That's right, even the food is cute. Although I was famished and forgot to get pictures of the cute part...but there are some great photos on ABC Lolita of all the moe moe tabemono you can handle.

Also, Gracie had a point card that was almost full~ so we got to fill it up and play a game with one of the maids!

The Brains Behind this Most Epic Scheme: GRACIE!

There are a couple maid cafes in Taipei, and this is one of the best: delicious food (it's a fooding place -- the food BETTER be good), ADORABLE maids (way cuter than the place across the hall -- no buggy-eyed ho-makeup maids here), few creepers (didn't spot any when we were there!), and great service!

More pics after the jump!

Mar. 19th: Ambassador Movie Theater

How to get there: Go to MRT Songjiang Nanjing on Xinlu Line.

Picture! For visual reference :3

Exit toward the commercial zone (forget the name). Head North until you hit ChangQun Road 長春. Take a right.

Keep walking until you get to the Ambassador Theater with glass doors (there will be impostors on the way, don't fall for it!). That is where the ticket office is. If you have a Cathay bank IC card you can get tickets for 200 (260 for 3D). There are a couple other banks with the same deal, I think. ^^

Mar. 18: Indian Fans

A delicious Indian fusion restaurant run by an ex-New Yorker. He's a baller and everything is delicious. Tai eats here at least once a week, sometimes more. Sometimes several days in a row :D we try to avoid that though xD Approximate location : Here-ish, on Googlemaps .
I didn't get any pictures of food this time, but check out this post for pics. I think I got the veggie baked noodle. Their baked noodles are BOSS. You can get rice, too, but the noodles are better.
FYI there is nothing behind the cut except our faces. I don't know why.

March 15th: A Foggy Morning

My first time seeing fog in Taiwan. This was quite early in the morning.

March 7th: Breakfast with Sanbakkel

Sanbakkel from Christmas paired with breakfast breads, Christmas cheese, and carrots. Care packages are awesome.

March 3rd: Da'an Forest Park

Went to Da'an Forest Park looking for a hippie drum circle, but didn't find it. Instead, got a picture of this bird by the "Ecological Lake".