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!