Thursday, April 23, 2009
High Fashion
We were recently checking out the latest from this spring season at one of the hippest places in Puli - Fashion House. I considered this little number, but in the end decided that it was in everyone's best interest that I refrain.
Monday, April 20, 2009
First Impressions of Taiwan
My parents are coming this Thursday evening around 9:30 pm and I am absolutely excited about it! I want my parents to know what to expect, so here are some of our first pictures we took when we arrived in Taiwan.
These are the view from the airplane before the flight attendant told us to put our cameras away. Actually, he yelled something like "No cell phones. No MP3 players. No cameras..."
Not as exciting as Thailand's streets, at least color wise, but this is Taipei.
Typical (ugly) apartment building in Taipei.
A view of 2 parking lots. One is for cars (Top lot) and the bottom is for, you guessed it, scooters.
If you have spent a day with Phil, you know he likes original (gross) drinks. Here is an example.
We were hungry after getting fed multiple times on our way over from the states, so we were excited to find crackers with sea weed on them and, yep you guessed it, Ramen noodles in our hotel room. We were hoping that the picture on the front looked like chicken. Who knows...
We also can not wait for my parents to come so we can impress them with our amazing Chinese skills. We actually have been asking our students how to say a lot of things so my parents will think that we are fluent in Mandarin after only learning it for one year. (I can communicate on a pre-toddler level, at the moment, but that is only if I can use some English words. Just don't tell my parents.)
These are the view from the airplane before the flight attendant told us to put our cameras away. Actually, he yelled something like "No cell phones. No MP3 players. No cameras..."
Not as exciting as Thailand's streets, at least color wise, but this is Taipei.
Typical (ugly) apartment building in Taipei.
A view of 2 parking lots. One is for cars (Top lot) and the bottom is for, you guessed it, scooters.
If you have spent a day with Phil, you know he likes original (gross) drinks. Here is an example.
We were hungry after getting fed multiple times on our way over from the states, so we were excited to find crackers with sea weed on them and, yep you guessed it, Ramen noodles in our hotel room. We were hoping that the picture on the front looked like chicken. Who knows...
We also can not wait for my parents to come so we can impress them with our amazing Chinese skills. We actually have been asking our students how to say a lot of things so my parents will think that we are fluent in Mandarin after only learning it for one year. (I can communicate on a pre-toddler level, at the moment, but that is only if I can use some English words. Just don't tell my parents.)
Sunday, April 12, 2009
The Great Tomato Dilemma
One of the things I miss about life in the States is the food. Don't get me wrong there are some tasty dishes here, but overall I enjoy the food back home a lot more. There are a few meals from our repertoire that we have been able to reproduce with a reasonable degree of accuracy. One that I happen to love is home made pasta sauce. It's great with both eggplant parmesan and plain pasta.
At some point, several months into our stay in Taiwan, we got sick of referring to stores by locations and descriptions, so we gave then all American names. The only local store that stocks the rather critical canned tomatoes is known as "Whole Foods" because the sign is green and it's expensive.
Several months ago I grabbed several cans and was about to throw them in the cart when I noticed something wrong... both cans were dented. A memory flashed into my mind... My mother and I were standing in the grocery store and she was telling me, "never buy dented cans." So I of course put the cans back and grabbed two different ones. No! These were dented too! I frantically began digging through every can on the shelf. Every single one was dented! Panic began to grip me. "How will I make the sauce?!?!" Then I tried to think rationally. "Get ahold of yourself!" I said. "I'm sure they will get more."
A few weeks later I went back to Whole Foods. I immediately ran to the canned tomato section and began tearing through them. No! There were no new cans. A wave of despair began to sweep over me, but then I realized that I just had to suck it up and weather this storm.
For the next few weeks this scene was repeated. My hopes were cruelly dashed every time. Then one day I had an idea. I of course realized that the reason they weren't ordering more was because there were twelve cans on the shelf. "What if I just bought them all and threw them away?" I wondered. "Then they would buy more... No, that would be a waste of money. I need a better plan." As the gears in my mind continued to turn, I formulated a plan so devious and sneaky that I just couldn't carry it out and left the store.
The next time I returned, I thought of the plan again, and began to consider it more seriously. "What if I hid the dented cans randomly around the store? Then they would see that they are out and order more!" I picked up an armload of cans. I hesitated. I put them back and walked away. While contemplating which of the 57 varieties of soy sauce I should purchase, the thought came to me again. I was getting desperate. I really wanted that sauce. With a look of determination in my eye I strode back to the tomato section, grabbed a bunch of cans, and headed to the "baking" section. I feigned interest in a tin of roasted eel while a lady next to me agonized over which mystery sauce she wanted. (Which is really only a mystery to those who can't read Chinese.) Finally she picked up a bottle and headed off to another aisle. I looked over my shoulder to check for employees then quickly bent down and carefully placed the tomato cans at the back of the coconut cream shelf. "No one will ever find those." I thought to myself as I quickly headed back to the tomato section for another armload.
Heather walked around the corner just as I was stashing another couple cans behind some peanut milk soup. She looked at me and laughed. "Are you really hiding tomatoes?" she asked, laughing. "Yes", I said, deadly serious.
I am happy to report that several weeks later my genius plan was confirmed successful. They have fresh cans! Yes!!! Heather and I have now resumed our steady diet of delicious homemade sauce. What can I say? Desperate times call for desperate measures.
At some point, several months into our stay in Taiwan, we got sick of referring to stores by locations and descriptions, so we gave then all American names. The only local store that stocks the rather critical canned tomatoes is known as "Whole Foods" because the sign is green and it's expensive.
Several months ago I grabbed several cans and was about to throw them in the cart when I noticed something wrong... both cans were dented. A memory flashed into my mind... My mother and I were standing in the grocery store and she was telling me, "never buy dented cans." So I of course put the cans back and grabbed two different ones. No! These were dented too! I frantically began digging through every can on the shelf. Every single one was dented! Panic began to grip me. "How will I make the sauce?!?!" Then I tried to think rationally. "Get ahold of yourself!" I said. "I'm sure they will get more."
A few weeks later I went back to Whole Foods. I immediately ran to the canned tomato section and began tearing through them. No! There were no new cans. A wave of despair began to sweep over me, but then I realized that I just had to suck it up and weather this storm.
For the next few weeks this scene was repeated. My hopes were cruelly dashed every time. Then one day I had an idea. I of course realized that the reason they weren't ordering more was because there were twelve cans on the shelf. "What if I just bought them all and threw them away?" I wondered. "Then they would buy more... No, that would be a waste of money. I need a better plan." As the gears in my mind continued to turn, I formulated a plan so devious and sneaky that I just couldn't carry it out and left the store.
The next time I returned, I thought of the plan again, and began to consider it more seriously. "What if I hid the dented cans randomly around the store? Then they would see that they are out and order more!" I picked up an armload of cans. I hesitated. I put them back and walked away. While contemplating which of the 57 varieties of soy sauce I should purchase, the thought came to me again. I was getting desperate. I really wanted that sauce. With a look of determination in my eye I strode back to the tomato section, grabbed a bunch of cans, and headed to the "baking" section. I feigned interest in a tin of roasted eel while a lady next to me agonized over which mystery sauce she wanted. (Which is really only a mystery to those who can't read Chinese.) Finally she picked up a bottle and headed off to another aisle. I looked over my shoulder to check for employees then quickly bent down and carefully placed the tomato cans at the back of the coconut cream shelf. "No one will ever find those." I thought to myself as I quickly headed back to the tomato section for another armload.
Heather walked around the corner just as I was stashing another couple cans behind some peanut milk soup. She looked at me and laughed. "Are you really hiding tomatoes?" she asked, laughing. "Yes", I said, deadly serious.
I am happy to report that several weeks later my genius plan was confirmed successful. They have fresh cans! Yes!!! Heather and I have now resumed our steady diet of delicious homemade sauce. What can I say? Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Things I miss
I have been trying to be good and not post about things I miss in the United States. I am finally breaking down and doing a post on what I am currently missing. I am currently missing the following:
(We can get these at Subway, about 1 hour away, but still)
If you know where this is, then you really don't need the next picture. If you don't well, here is another guess:
Phil took this picture so we could look at it with longing over here. It isn't helping, only making it worse. It is "Deluxe Chicken" from Chuy's. You knew some form of Mexican food was coming.
Our Church family. (At Camp Winneakeag)
Hehe, remember, the fish symbol means that it is raw.
(Maybe not this face.)
(We can get these at Subway, about 1 hour away, but still)
If you know where this is, then you really don't need the next picture. If you don't well, here is another guess:
Phil took this picture so we could look at it with longing over here. It isn't helping, only making it worse. It is "Deluxe Chicken" from Chuy's. You knew some form of Mexican food was coming.
Our Church family. (At Camp Winneakeag)We are also missing our families, a lot. I wanted to add Phil's Grandma, but I don't have a good picture of her.
Hehe, remember, the fish symbol means that it is raw.
(Maybe not this face.)
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Quote of the Week
Phil and I are doing our taxes and came across the following on the online DOR for Massachusetts:
"Embezzled or other income from illegal activities is taxable and should be reported."
We will keep this in mind.
"Embezzled or other income from illegal activities is taxable and should be reported."
We will keep this in mind.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Mundane Things
Phil and I have been posting things that we have been eating lately because our life is pretty mundane at the moment. Here are what we consider some exciting things that are occurring at the moment:
Phil and I are currently in the process of filing our taxes. It looks like we will owe MA about 100 dollars in taxes, mainly due to Phil not having proper insurance for the last 4 months. We are still working on our 1040. We can fill out a Foreign Tax credit, but we both just realized it is another publication. So far, this year has consisted of at least 4 different publications, each more complex then the previous. We have only had to call the IRS one time so far. Hopefully that is it.
I did our laundry today, including our sheets. Doing our laundry here means that we have to worry whether it is going to rain, at all, during the day. We do not have a drier and so we hang everything. Pretty exciting. (Remember, the post is titled "Mundane Things")
Phil and I went to bed at 10 pm last night (Yeah, party animals. I know) and I got up at 7:45 this morning, on my own. I haven't done that since first getting here and dealing with jet lag.
I hope you have had a relaxing weekend. To brighten your day, Phil has been teaching his class using an interesting strategy. When he wants the kids to do something, he creates a picture which shows the tool on the camera, or shows the proper technique. Here are some of the funnier pics:
I married this guy:
I hope you had a good weekend.
Phil and I are currently in the process of filing our taxes. It looks like we will owe MA about 100 dollars in taxes, mainly due to Phil not having proper insurance for the last 4 months. We are still working on our 1040. We can fill out a Foreign Tax credit, but we both just realized it is another publication. So far, this year has consisted of at least 4 different publications, each more complex then the previous. We have only had to call the IRS one time so far. Hopefully that is it.
I did our laundry today, including our sheets. Doing our laundry here means that we have to worry whether it is going to rain, at all, during the day. We do not have a drier and so we hang everything. Pretty exciting. (Remember, the post is titled "Mundane Things")
Phil and I went to bed at 10 pm last night (Yeah, party animals. I know) and I got up at 7:45 this morning, on my own. I haven't done that since first getting here and dealing with jet lag.
I hope you have had a relaxing weekend. To brighten your day, Phil has been teaching his class using an interesting strategy. When he wants the kids to do something, he creates a picture which shows the tool on the camera, or shows the proper technique. Here are some of the funnier pics:
I married this guy:
I hope you had a good weekend.
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