I found these mysterious pictures on my camera...that I didn't take @_@
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Jan. 30-31: 青年弟子營 1 & 2
I planned on starting this post with a picture of me on the bus, but the file was corrupted when I copied it from the camera card D: It was a good picture too!
Instead, you get this:
Instead, you get this:
There were all these gross dead (and some alive) bugs in the dorm room when Ingting, Kathy, and I got there the night before.
We cleaned it up and it's all good now :)
We cleaned it up and it's all good now :)
Monday, January 30, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Jan. 08: Mysterious Vegetables
I have no idea what these are:
But they taste pretty good stir-fried with carrots and seasoned with sesame oil and salt.
I got them from the obasan (old lady) at the market who grows her own veggies. They were a bit more expensive at NT$15 for the bunch -- I thought they were chayote sprouts/dragon's whiskers at first, but they're firmer and have a bit of slime, like okra or enoki, but not as much as okra -- it's really more like enoki.
Also got these greens for NT$10 for the bunch:
Similarly delicious stir-fried with carrots!
On a completely unrelated note -- Chocolate Lava Cake:
SO GOOD. Made it at work for dinner with a VIP. I LOVE OVENS.
But they taste pretty good stir-fried with carrots and seasoned with sesame oil and salt.I got them from the obasan (old lady) at the market who grows her own veggies. They were a bit more expensive at NT$15 for the bunch -- I thought they were chayote sprouts/dragon's whiskers at first, but they're firmer and have a bit of slime, like okra or enoki, but not as much as okra -- it's really more like enoki.
Also got these greens for NT$10 for the bunch:
Similarly delicious stir-fried with carrots!On a completely unrelated note -- Chocolate Lava Cake:
SO GOOD. Made it at work for dinner with a VIP. I LOVE OVENS.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Jan. 07: Piyo Piyo
Piyo Piyo is a duck character. It's like Hello Kitty, but usually only found on high quality baby goods.
I love it way too much. I couldn't find a wiki page on it, so I guess it's not that e-famous, but it is rather popular in Taiwan.
This sponge is the best sponge I have ever had in my entire life. It is soft on one side and just exfoliate-y enough on the other. Further, it is very absorbent, yet easy to squeeze dry, and it creates an exceptionally rich lather using just a little bit of soap!
When I go back to America I will buy 400 of them so I can use it for the rest of my life. No joke.
Chinese --
Japanese
I love it way too much. I couldn't find a wiki page on it, so I guess it's not that e-famous, but it is rather popular in Taiwan.
This sponge is the best sponge I have ever had in my entire life. It is soft on one side and just exfoliate-y enough on the other. Further, it is very absorbent, yet easy to squeeze dry, and it creates an exceptionally rich lather using just a little bit of soap!When I go back to America I will buy 400 of them so I can use it for the rest of my life. No joke.
Japanese
MY SPONGE IN ALL ITS GORGEOUS ENTIRETY.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Breakfast Treat!
Most of the time I prepare my own breakfast (and it's usually oatmeal xD) but recently, since my financial pressure has been somewhat alleviated, I've been trying some of the breakfast places by my house.
Breakfast bars are SUPER popular, incredibly convenient, and generally delicious, if somewhat unhealthy. A more traditional breakfast is comprised largely of carbs -- usually a fried crueller, bao or rice ball, accompanied by a cup of soymilk. Recent trends include sandwiches and fried onion flatcakes with milk-tea or another sweet beverage.
Cotton Land is a health/organic food store, and all the branches do breakfast, as far as I know. Some of the larger ones do lunch, too, which I highly recommend.
This is one of their breakfast sets: your choice of sandwich, sesame bao, or riceball with soy milk for NT$50. I've gotten their black soymilk (NT$25) and rice ball (NT$30?) before (separately), but it's generally more economical to get the set, especially if you're getting the sandwich (which retails for NT$40 on its own!) I think the sesame bao is only NT$20, so that'd be an exception. In any case, it's not as good for breakfast 'cause it doesn't have as much protein, so I probably wouldn't get it anyway ^o^
You can't really tell in this picture, but the black soymilk is the whole soybean -- no straining! So it's slightly chunky. I like it 'cause it's like a hot porridge I can drink through a straw! Although I dunno if they use actual black soybeans -- I'm guessing it's just sesame, but I'm gonna ask next time ^^
Close-up of their sandwich: apples, sprouts, lettuce, 2 or 3 kinds of mayonnaise and egg salad on soft whole-wheat bread.
This was super-filling and REALLY delicious. I like the sandwich more than the rice ball (which is purple rice filled with vege floss and pickles) 'cause it has more fresh plant material and is less salty, but both are delicious!
Next time I think I will try Santa Cruz, which is the health/organic store next door -- hopefully they will have some good deals on breakfast too!
Breakfast bars are SUPER popular, incredibly convenient, and generally delicious, if somewhat unhealthy. A more traditional breakfast is comprised largely of carbs -- usually a fried crueller, bao or rice ball, accompanied by a cup of soymilk. Recent trends include sandwiches and fried onion flatcakes with milk-tea or another sweet beverage.
Cotton Land is a health/organic food store, and all the branches do breakfast, as far as I know. Some of the larger ones do lunch, too, which I highly recommend.
This is one of their breakfast sets: your choice of sandwich, sesame bao, or riceball with soy milk for NT$50. I've gotten their black soymilk (NT$25) and rice ball (NT$30?) before (separately), but it's generally more economical to get the set, especially if you're getting the sandwich (which retails for NT$40 on its own!) I think the sesame bao is only NT$20, so that'd be an exception. In any case, it's not as good for breakfast 'cause it doesn't have as much protein, so I probably wouldn't get it anyway ^o^
You can't really tell in this picture, but the black soymilk is the whole soybean -- no straining! So it's slightly chunky. I like it 'cause it's like a hot porridge I can drink through a straw! Although I dunno if they use actual black soybeans -- I'm guessing it's just sesame, but I'm gonna ask next time ^^
Close-up of their sandwich: apples, sprouts, lettuce, 2 or 3 kinds of mayonnaise and egg salad on soft whole-wheat bread.
This was super-filling and REALLY delicious. I like the sandwich more than the rice ball (which is purple rice filled with vege floss and pickles) 'cause it has more fresh plant material and is less salty, but both are delicious!
Next time I think I will try Santa Cruz, which is the health/organic store next door -- hopefully they will have some good deals on breakfast too!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Jan. 01 2012: New Year!
I got New Year Day off! We had a nice quiet day at home :)
I made dinner! Carrots, wood-ear and pea sprouts with noodles, accompanied by tofu with sacha and soy paste. Delicious!
Also, Tai bought me a lovely set of cakes to celebrate! This one is the strawberry milk cupcake! It was filled with (real!) cream and tiny fruit bits inside.
I guess the second cake is technically a tart -- we had this as a sample once when we went to Color Wind/Cai-Feng Bakery, which is by Houshanpi MRT Exit #3. They are an all-natural bakery. Anyway, it is SUPER-delicious. The top layer is kind of like cheesecake, and there's some soft red bean sandwiched between that and the mochi layer, followed by the crispy digestive biscuit crust. A real delicacy!
I made dinner! Carrots, wood-ear and pea sprouts with noodles, accompanied by tofu with sacha and soy paste. Delicious!
Also, Tai bought me a lovely set of cakes to celebrate! This one is the strawberry milk cupcake! It was filled with (real!) cream and tiny fruit bits inside.
I guess the second cake is technically a tart -- we had this as a sample once when we went to Color Wind/Cai-Feng Bakery, which is by Houshanpi MRT Exit #3. They are an all-natural bakery. Anyway, it is SUPER-delicious. The top layer is kind of like cheesecake, and there's some soft red bean sandwiched between that and the mochi layer, followed by the crispy digestive biscuit crust. A real delicacy!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Lunar New Year Day 2: More Food~
I swear, I do more than just eat food in Taiwan.
But it just so happens that taking pictures of food is easy(-er than taking pictures of stuff I actually do, or people. I'm terrible at photographing people. And events. And places (serious lack of spacial reasoning). And pretty much anything that moves on its own or exceeds a foot in any dimension. Unless I get complete control over the entire situation; then it sometimes turns out okay. But most of the time not so much. And that is why most of the photographs are food. And the rest are people pulling faces cam-whore style :D ) And writing commentary about those photos is easy(-er than coming up with actual content. Nobody wants to read about what I think. I think. I mean, you might discover I am a horrible narrow-minded person with peculiar tastes in just about everything. That's not very reader-friendly, is it?)
Plus, everyone can relate to food. You experience it every day. Constantly. You ingest it three to four, or even five or six times a day! Or maybe just once or twice, if you're on a budget, or very busy, or not feeling up to it.
But in Taiwan, there is not such thing as 'not feeling up to it'. You can walk down the street and pick up a filling meal for 50-200 NT any time of the day. ANY TIME. So that just leaves busy and broke.
Tangent aside, here is a SUPER DELICIOUS bread I got from Matsusei (a medium-high-end Japan-based grocery store). Normally I don't get bread from groceries (or convenience stores) because they are never as good as bakeries, and bakeries are everywhere, but Matsusei bakes its bread fresh daily, and this one looked good (carbivores can gauge the tastiness of bread based on appearance. I shit you not. It has taken me years, but I've gotten pretty damn good.) Plus it was 20% off 'cause it was made yesterday! Seeing as I planned on eating it straightaway, I couldn't care less.
But it just so happens that taking pictures of food is easy(-er than taking pictures of stuff I actually do, or people. I'm terrible at photographing people. And events. And places (serious lack of spacial reasoning). And pretty much anything that moves on its own or exceeds a foot in any dimension. Unless I get complete control over the entire situation; then it sometimes turns out okay. But most of the time not so much. And that is why most of the photographs are food. And the rest are people pulling faces cam-whore style :D ) And writing commentary about those photos is easy(-er than coming up with actual content. Nobody wants to read about what I think. I think. I mean, you might discover I am a horrible narrow-minded person with peculiar tastes in just about everything. That's not very reader-friendly, is it?)
Plus, everyone can relate to food. You experience it every day. Constantly. You ingest it three to four, or even five or six times a day! Or maybe just once or twice, if you're on a budget, or very busy, or not feeling up to it.
But in Taiwan, there is not such thing as 'not feeling up to it'. You can walk down the street and pick up a filling meal for 50-200 NT any time of the day. ANY TIME. So that just leaves busy and broke.
Tangent aside, here is a SUPER DELICIOUS bread I got from Matsusei (a medium-high-end Japan-based grocery store). Normally I don't get bread from groceries (or convenience stores) because they are never as good as bakeries, and bakeries are everywhere, but Matsusei bakes its bread fresh daily, and this one looked good (carbivores can gauge the tastiness of bread based on appearance. I shit you not. It has taken me years, but I've gotten pretty damn good.) Plus it was 20% off 'cause it was made yesterday! Seeing as I planned on eating it straightaway, I couldn't care less.
Whole-grain bread with sticky black/purple rice, longan (dragon's eye fruit), and orange rind.
Purple rice and longan porridge is a winter dish, so it was like this super-awesome marriage of wholesome bread and traditional cold-weather food.
It was set up like a danish, except instead of fruit filling there was sticky black rice with the longan. Plus there was bits of sticky rice-longan and probably some dates and stuff mixed into the dough, along with the orange rind bits, so instead of just having all the tastiness it in the middle it was EVERYWHERE, and just EXTRA flavourful in the middle.
I will make it one day. Probably with some craisins thrown in instead of longan, 'cause I like craisins better, and they are easier to get ahold of in the states.
Actually, I should tell Mari about this -- she could probably make it since she's a bread-making CHAMPION.
Purple rice and longan porridge is a winter dish, so it was like this super-awesome marriage of wholesome bread and traditional cold-weather food.
It was set up like a danish, except instead of fruit filling there was sticky black rice with the longan. Plus there was bits of sticky rice-longan and probably some dates and stuff mixed into the dough, along with the orange rind bits, so instead of just having all the tastiness it in the middle it was EVERYWHERE, and just EXTRA flavourful in the middle.
I will make it one day. Probably with some craisins thrown in instead of longan, 'cause I like craisins better, and they are easier to get ahold of in the states.
Actually, I should tell Mari about this -- she could probably make it since she's a bread-making CHAMPION.
New Year Happy Time :D
No work 'til Friday!
Tai convinced me not to go in during the break, even though I could get SO MUCH WORK DONE WITH NOBODY THERE O___O But I guess it's good to spend some time at home with family ...and clean (although you're supposed to do all that before the new year, 'cause it'll 'sweep out the good luck' if you do it after. But you're always super-busy gettin everything done beforehand so that you can go on vacation for a week, so it really doesn't make much sense. I compromised and didn't start cleaning 'til today.)
In any case, check out this cute notebook Tai picked up for me!
I love the Engrish!
Tai convinced me not to go in during the break, even though I could get SO MUCH WORK DONE WITH NOBODY THERE O___O But I guess it's good to spend some time at home with family ...and clean (although you're supposed to do all that before the new year, 'cause it'll 'sweep out the good luck' if you do it after. But you're always super-busy gettin everything done beforehand so that you can go on vacation for a week, so it really doesn't make much sense. I compromised and didn't start cleaning 'til today.)
In any case, check out this cute notebook Tai picked up for me!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Dec. 28-30: And Unresolved Leak, and Food!
This mysterious puddle of water appeared next to the bathroom on the 28th.
That turquoise and white-mottled tile is the step up to the bathroom.
Apparently it had happened before when I wasn't home.
Then, it began to occur with greater frequency, and especially after a shower.
Our bathroom was leaking into the living room via a crack in the stone wall.
We called the landlord, who called the guy who installed the bathroom, who called a guy who does silicone sealing, who sent two swearing smoking workers to fix it.
They re-sealed the silicon on the shower.
THIS DID NOTHING FOR THE LEAK.
It has been nearly a month, and the matter is yet to be resolved.
Hopefully it will be done before the New Year.
That turquoise and white-mottled tile is the step up to the bathroom.Apparently it had happened before when I wasn't home.
Then, it began to occur with greater frequency, and especially after a shower.
Our bathroom was leaking into the living room via a crack in the stone wall.
We called the landlord, who called the guy who installed the bathroom, who called a guy who does silicone sealing, who sent two swearing smoking workers to fix it.
They re-sealed the silicon on the shower.
THIS DID NOTHING FOR THE LEAK.
It has been nearly a month, and the matter is yet to be resolved.
Hopefully it will be done before the New Year.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
MRT Ad: How to Use your BK Chicken Sandwich
BK has had a string a really good ads -- their last one featured a guy holding a sandwich in front of his t-shirt upon which little characters were intrigued by the burger.
Their latest efforts include this helpful diagram concerning the usage of their new XL chicken sandwich:
Their latest efforts include this helpful diagram concerning the usage of their new XL chicken sandwich:
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Jan. 18: Hochi Youth 1-day Class
1/17
18:00 -- get off work
18:30 -- get on bus to go to Taichung
21:20 -- arrive
22:00 -- sleep
1/18
4:30 -- get up
6:00 -- Lirusong
9:00 -- breakfast
cleaning
class
lunch
nap in sunshine
class
take a walk
purchase milk popsicles!
Hochi -- spinning meditation
18:00 -- dinner
19:15 -- leave for bus stop
22:00 -- coincidentally meet Hsuantzu's friend at the MRT
22:20 -- home
2:00 -- sleep.
18:00 -- get off work
18:30 -- get on bus to go to Taichung
21:20 -- arrive
22:00 -- sleep
1/18
4:30 -- get up
6:00 -- Lirusong
9:00 -- breakfast
cleaning
class
lunch
nap in sunshine
class
take a walk
purchase milk popsicles!
Hochi -- spinning meditation
18:00 -- dinner
19:15 -- leave for bus stop
22:00 -- coincidentally meet Hsuantzu's friend at the MRT
22:20 -- home
2:00 -- sleep.
Dec. 20-27: The Flavours of Winter...and Christmas!
Ever since the Christmas party I've been putting in mad overtime to make up for my two weeks off, so there hasn't been much time for blogging!
Here's some of what I've been up to~
Here's some of what I've been up to~
Cream-Cheese Apple Pie for the X-mas party at work!
They got a little burnt, but they were SO GOOD!
I also made: 1) Marc's Mom's Cheesecake (reduced sugar), which was a huge hit
2) 'Sugar Pie with Pecans', as requested by my Canadian boss -- it's pretty much pecan pie with maple syrup.
3) A (fugly) gingerbread house (we still have pieces...I've been eating them for almost a month now!)
4) ALL OF THE MASHED POTATOES EVER...with buttery carrot bits! This was AMAZING!!!
Luckily, I had plenty of helpers:
They got a little burnt, but they were SO GOOD!
I also made: 1) Marc's Mom's Cheesecake (reduced sugar), which was a huge hit
2) 'Sugar Pie with Pecans', as requested by my Canadian boss -- it's pretty much pecan pie with maple syrup.
3) A (fugly) gingerbread house (we still have pieces...I've been eating them for almost a month now!)
4) ALL OF THE MASHED POTATOES EVER...with buttery carrot bits! This was AMAZING!!!
Luckily, I had plenty of helpers:
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