Baking an apple pie in Taiwan

I wanted to do something special for Phil's birthday last month and I tried to think of something really neat that he would like. Unfortunately, there are not that many places we can go in our area to get a really good gift. (We have begun calling certain stores in Puli names common in the US, such as Walmart, Whole Foods and Best Buy, but they are not the same as the US counterparts)

Because of that, I decided to bake Phil an apple pie. Not just any apple pie, but his mother's apple pie. I got the recipe from her and began to think of how I would organize the actual baking of the pies. I had to get ingredients without him knowing and actually make the pie without him knowing. We do a lot of things together here, so the evenings were definitely out. Also, I actually have to teach, so most of the day was out as well. I have 2 hours right after my bio class and I exercise with a friend while Phil has study hall, so I decided those were the best time. I went to Puli on Monday to get a few items. On Tuesday morning, I bought the apples and I put the apple pie together during my "exercise" time. (You will notice that I am wearing exercise clothes so that Phil thinks that I am actually exercising. I made the mistake of saying that I drove to Moriah's house, but luckily he didn't question me too much about why I would drive to her house to exercise when she lives so close.) Wednesday morning, I baked the pies. The following are some pictures. I think he was happy. By the way, a chinese teacher, Joy, lives in the house that I used to make the pies. She had never seen an actual pie being home made. It was really neat showing her how they are made.