bbrrrr

Have you heard? It's bloody cold in Taiwan right now. No central heating sucks. I miss my radiators. Granted it was colder the other day, outside, in the wind. But today, I'm sitting in my house and my hands are almost frozen. I need to go find my mittens and put on my heater. Or just leave my house and find somewhere warmer to go.

I probably don't need to complain about the cold because whoever is reading this, I'm sure it's colder wherever you are. Think of me when you are sitting in your nice toasty warm houses or in front of your fires. What I wouldn't give to be sitting in front of my parent's gas fireplaces that I gave them so much shit about for buying. Turned up high, the way my mother likes it, but I can't stand. So much so, that one room in the house is warm and the rest of the house is like a freezer. Oh to be in that one room right now.

On the voice front, it's not back, in any way, shape or form. I am however, on a whole lot (six in fact) of cool drugs in an effort to make it better and I had my throat frozen and some weird yellow crap put down it that tasted horrible, but so far, nothing. I don't know exactly how I'm going to teach tomorrow, I might be in a little bit of trouble.

oops

ok, so apparently I'm sicker than I thought. After my performance night for Treehouse on Friday (finally, I am finished!) I had a major coughing fit and woke up Saturday morning with no voice. Completely. Totally. Inexplicably. Gone. Oh dear. I tried to go to the doctor but when I got there it was closed, and I was there before 9am. Pretty good for a Saturday morning. I went back 30 minutes later and it was still closed so I will have to go tomorrow.

It is still not back today. I can barely do more than a whisper and when I do, it is not entirely comfortable so I've been either not talking or whispering. Very difficult when you go out for dinner and you try to order things from people whose first language isn't English in the first place. I kept having to get Tom and Jacqui to translate for me.

Hopefully it will be back by Wednesday when I have to teach again. I'll go to the doctor and see what they say tomorrow.

oh those crazy brits

Sitting in the coffee shop yesterday discussing the cheesecake we were eating we came upon the subject of crusts. (I was with Tom and Jacqui)

me: this crust isn't really sweet enough. I prefer it with graham crackers.

T: I don't know what graham crackers are.

me: you know, the crackers used to make s'mores

(blank look)

T: I don't know what s'mores are.

And so I had to launch into what s'mores were and I got laughed at for mentioning it was a big campfire thing...Sometimes hanging out with Brits really does my head in.

the best of the street

I have this cd at work that I used to listen with my older kids all the time. Since my young'uns respond better to the stuff they know,(you know, the crap CD's that we have to listen to everyday that my company puts out) I haven't been playing it in my class and have lent it to the new big class. They love it, but of course they do. Who could not love anything Sesame.

Today though it was a question of which song is the best. I was told to choose wisely and I knew that I would be judged* totally by my choice of one children's song. So I picked. It was actually an easy decision because I have always said it was my favourite song of the CD and I was confident in my decision. I picked Monster in the Mirror. Jacqui picked Lambada. Have a listen here and see which one you like between them. We even played them for Tom, but he wouldn't make a decent decision about which one he like, so we are left fighting it out between us for greatest song.

I think it all comes down to childhood favourites. Jacqui said the Count was her favourite, and who sings Lambada? Yeah, the count is cool in a spooky and odd sort of counting way, but for me it was always Grover. Isn't he the friendliest monster ever? And really, who can compete with Super Grover.

*ok, yes judged, but I'm sure probably not in a bad way. Really.

being busy

my computer is doing the all Chinese screen again. I don't know why.

Amazingly enough, this post is not about food. I know, everyone is so disappointed. Things have been crazy here this past weeks so not much has been happening. I have my Treehouse Parent's night tomorrow and it is stressful as always. We've been making props and practicing like mad. I can only hope that my kids actually remember all their lines, because they certainly didn't yesterday. I know, I know, it's always like this, they always suck a couple of days before and do a great job in the performance. I don't know why I am worried. But I am. A lot.

The sememester finishes tomorrow and we are trying to convince our manager that we need a kindy break. Just one week and then back for two and then it's Chinese New Year. I have been sick so doing all the finishing touches on everything has been hard, and I've lost my voice. I'm suppose to start a conversation class tonight, that should be interesting considering the fact that I can't really talk right now. I've been trying to avoid going to the doctor because it's just a cold and I'm trying to convince my body that I don't need any other drugs than what I can buy at the druggist. However, now with my voice gone, I think I might have to suck it up and go to the doctor. Oh how they'll hate me when I get back to Canada and go to the doctor at the first sign of a cold. They won't like me very much, I think. I feel guilty not going though because I've been sick for two weeks and everytime I cough someone asks me if I've been to the doctor. I keep telling them that in Canada we don't go to the doctor for a simple cold. I don't think anyone believes me.

shabu shabu in Yilan

Went for shabu shabu on Thursday night with some people from work. When I asked where we were going they said Yilan, I thought they were kidding because it's so far away, they weren't. Yilan is about two hours away on the East coast of the Island. Luckily, they have put in a new freeway that cuts the trip down to 50 minutes. Included in this trip is the longest tunnel in Taiwan. It is 12.9 km and luckily I'm not clausterphobic because it was a little freaky.

We didn't get to Yilan until 8pm but after eating, it was definately worth it. It was the perfect shabu shabu. Buffet style, so you get to choose what you want, with your own individual pot. Every other shabu shabu I've been to it's either, get your own pot and order a set meal, or buffet and you get one pot for the entire table. I don't like the one pot for the entire table idea because for one thing, you lose your food, and for another, Taiwanese people eat weird things that I wouldn't want to take the chance of getting mixed with what I want to eat haha. Remember the duck blood? Exactly.

Here is Elaine enjoying her shabu shabu


This was my second plate of food. Cabbage is great in shabu-shabu and admittedly, I went a little nuts with the lamb...it was so damn good. For some reason, I am addicted to lamb right now.


This is Sammi's pot. One great thing about this shabu-shabu is you get to choose your own soup. Usually the regular soup is fish broth. Sammi got one that has weird nuts and plant things for vegetarians.


This was what I got. It was the "Thailand" choice. It is coconut milk, and while at the beginning I wondered what the hell I did choosing that because I'm not usually a fan of coconut, it was so amazingly good and made my food taste great, I will definately get it next time too.


This is all the Shrimp Anna got to put in hers. I didn't end up getting shrimp. I love it, but I hate the fact that I have to peel it all. It's sort of a pain although, I have gotten pretty good at it now. I used to end up losing all the good parts. Peeling shrimp is a fine art.


When I was choosing my food, I went for some seafood. I love my squid. When I picked up these, Sammi said they were baby octopus. I figured it was cut up and would be really good, until these babies came out of my pot....



Now, I have tried a lot in Taiwan. I have eaten squid when it still has the head on it and shrimp and fish with the eyes..but I just couldn't bring myself to eat these. They were too freaky.

13

We went to The Wall this weekend. I've been there before, but no one else has. The great thing about The Wall is that they have live bands. The greater thing is that they are rock bands, no hip-hop or R&B. I am so sick of hip-hop and R&B. I don't like it in the first place and I don't like going places where that is all they play. I find it boring. I don't really know why I've never suggested going to The Wall before because the last time I was there (right after I arrived in Taiwan actually) I really enjoyed it. Alas, I haven't been back.

It was a great night. A great band. Mind you, I have no idea what they were singing about because it was all in Chinese, but then I'm not a lyrical person. I'm much more about the music quality. If I like the music sound then I like the band, and I liked this one. They have a new video out and yes, it was very pop-rock. I mean, I guess you have to do songs like that in Taiwan if you want to make it big. This country loves its pop-rock. The rest of the CD is not like that. Yes, I bought the cd...and look...I got it signed too.









If you want to check them out, their website is here but the website is all in Chinese. If you keep hitting random links you will eventually find their music.

But then on second thought....here is their music page and here, you can see their video So go and enjoy.

on great food

I've been meaning to do this for a while but just never got around to it. This is the food that I am most addicted to. I have to stop myself from eating it too often, but mostly because the fear that the shop owners will think I'm weird if I go too often. However, at other stands, it doesn't seem to make a difference and when I go two weeks without my dried noodles, they ask where I've been. This is the thing with living in a small town. I should be used to that, but when you are one of 3 foreign people that live there, well you get the idea.

So let me introduce to you the wonder of teppanyaki....






Now, this is just the food for takeout. Imagine eating in the actual shop having your food cooked right in front of you and then eating it right off the grill and it never goes cold. Perfect right? It sure is. This is what made me eat meat again. It's that damn good.

oh the horror of the ducks

Last night we went for Duck Hot Pot. Not being a fan of duck since all I can ever see when I see it is the farm and them sitting on the counter waiting for them to be plucked with the tweezers...by me, I don't often eat it (if ever). I have to say though, it was really good. But I ate a heart.

It is quite a milestone for me since I rarely try weird food here in Taiwan. (By weird I mean: chicken feet, pig's intestines, duck blood, pig's blood, I think you get the picture) While I have had stinky tofu that's the last strange "Taiwanese" thing I have eaten, and for good reason (think dog poo). So back to the heart.

While it didn't really have any distinctly odd taste, all I could think of was Sunday school. They used to always tell us that Jesus lived in our hearts and when I was little I took this quite literally. All I could think about while I was eating the heart was that I was eating some poor little duck's Jesus. It was disturbing to say the least and I stopped at one.

so much for that

well, so much for the resolutions. I didn't start packing (well, I really do have some time, don't I?) Last night came and went in a mass of awakening and no sleeping. Breakfast this morning was egg pancakes (dzwa bing) and ga mien (dry noodles and it's pronounced me en not mane...by the way) So the fried food, out the window since they bake then fried these Keelung famous little things and the drinking. Well, it was Saturday night!

We went bowling last night. For some reason, my friends are addicted to the game. Unfortunately, I'm not that good. Luckily for me, they aren't that good either.

oh January

well, Monday was spent in my pj's for most of the day. My motivation came to get dressed when my landlord knocked on my door. (like what??!! Who comes over on New Years Day!?!?) Of course, it was too late by that time to do anything about it so in he came with me still in my pj's and hangover hair and when he was gone, then I decided to actually get "up". You know, just in case some other person randomly comes knocking on my door.

I was thinking that I should make resolutions this year. I never make resolutions because I am not one for commitment and, well, truth be told it's probably more because I have no willpower either. Unless it's lent, I rock in lent. This year might be different. So far my giving up alcohol seems to be working, however it works after every weekend until the next one comes along. Healthy eating? well I still contend that it's impossible to do in Taiwan, espcecially when one works stupid hours and eats out all the time (it is seriously cheaper, I'm not lying) But I can resolve to get at least non-fried food. So it means no dumplings (boohoo) but I haven't actually been eating them lately anyway.

I think my biggest resolution is going to have to be to start packing. Can that be a resolution? I have to get a move on it if I am really leaving here in September. I can't imagine how I am going to get everything home. I am trying to convince myself that I'm not sending much of it back, but then I still have to find something to do with what I don't take. Hmmm...maybe it's not going to be such a great resolution after all. I might have to rethink this whole resolution thing and just forget about it like I do every other year. That actually sounds like the best resolution of all.

Happy New...year

I was going to do a post regailing about the things I did this year. (it's not that exciting I'm sure.) However, I am far too hungover to do that right now, it will have to wait until tomorrow.

For this year, 2007, if all goes according to plan, it is going to be a great year. That's how I'm going to look at it anyway. (but I do have some very incredible plans that allow me to back that statement up, even if one of them is leaving my job and that scares the shit out of me somedays.) But I may as well go in with optimism, yeah?

I hope that everyone reading this goes into this year with optimism and dreams and hopes and that you have a great and amazing 2007.