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I got to spend 36 hours at home. Lucky me. It wasn't enough time to do everything I wanted. But I did get to see a few friends (and a few babies) outside of running a dozen errands.

I miss everyone at home - perhaps because I know I'll be a long time gone this time.

I also miss some of the food. I had my fill of some things you just can't get in Taipei. Geoff and I overdid it on the bagels in Toronto - I think I had 7 bagels within a 24 hour period. I'm bagelled out now. We also went to Whole Foods in Greenlake for the Build Your Own Sandwiches.
Whole Foods Market
Roosevelt Square
1026 NE 64th St
Seattle, WA USA

This is Geoff's choosing: eggplant, basil, grilled peppers, tomato, red onions, grilled chicken, smoked mozzarella on sourdough with a sun dried tomato spread. Almost as good as my focaccia with hummus, tomatoes, mixed greens, grilled onions, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, and tomatoes.




We also went to Northlake Tavern, where the pizzas are loaded with so many toppings that a Large can weigh 6 pounds! Geoff wanted a good beer and I decided it was time to be gluttonous - American style! We stuffed ourselves silly with 4 kinds of pizzas.
Northlake Tavern
660 NE Northlake Way
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 633-5317



I also had time to go to Chocolati's to pick up some of my favorite chocolates - I like going to the warehouse store on Aurora because the woman that works there is always nice to chat with. But you can also go to the Main Library downtown, the newer location in Wallingford (near the QFC) and the old location just north of Green Lake. Thanks to Amy and Matt for introducing these chocolates to me many birthdays ago. My favorite flavors are the Cinnamon Aztec and the Mint Espresso Dome.

Chocolati
7708 Aurora Ave N
Seattle, Washington 98103
(206) 784-5212
Note: The storefront is easy to miss - it's just south of Than Brothers Pho, which has excellent Pho and free cream puffs.

I also had a good Indian lunch at Mayuri. They have a nice spread for a buffet lunch - though I prefer the dinners where you can get both North Indian and South Indian dishes.

Mayuri
15400 NE 20th St. #6
Bellevue, WA 98007
425.641.4442
Note: Next door to a Trader Joe's. Don't confuse this Mayuri with the other Mayuri locations that are a grocery store and a video store in another part of the Eastside.

Karla with Atticus who is looking much more like Peter these days. Missing: picture of Natalie with Sonja and Mike - thank you Kellens for storing my stuff! And to Emery for also taking care of some of my things.

Thanks Mia for driving down from Canada!

Angie next to Nikolas, who fell asleep in my arms

Tucker and Angie - Thank you Angie for storing my stuff and driving it all the way down to Seattle




And Thanks to all the Trouts who made it out on such short notice - it was great to see all of you.



And big THANKS to Amanda and Frenchy for housing us, lending me their car, and playing foosball and DDR with me. I hope you both make it to Taiwan!

Meandering

I'm in Toronto now. Long story, but got a free flight and took advantage of it. I spent the day yesterday meandering around the city, seeing Kensington Market, walking up and down Spadina Ave through Chinatown, seeing Queen Street W (a lot like Robson in Vancouver), and then up Yonge. Some of the sidewalks are still covered with ice from last week's snowfall. It is bitterly cold and I wish I had a decent hat. However, it is nice to feel crisp air and see snow covered ground again. It's been a long time.



With such short notice, I've been trying to think of all the things I need to cram into this short North American trip. One thing is food - fresh vegetables, yogurt, real bread. But when it came down to it, I spotted a dumpling house in Chinatown and made a beeline for it for lunch. I guess I really am meant to be in Taiwan. I also bought some chestnuts and cooked them last night. My dad always cooked them growing up so I didn't really know what I was doing. I boiled them for 5 minutes and had a taste - definitely not done yet. I left them on for about an hour and then they seemed closer to how my dad prepares them. Delicious along with good memories of home.

Today, Geoff flew in and we spent some time with a good friend of his, Kim. Talking to her was like looking three years into my future. She spent several years in Taiwan, moving there to play (like me), teaching English, before deciding to pursue an Education degree and teach back home. She talked about the challenges of moving back after so many years abroad and her career change decision. Listening, it felt like I could be in the same boat a few years from now. Not to say that I will for sure, but it's one of those paths that is still wide open.

I've been staying at Noah's place - which is a pretty sweet pad with a view of a park across the street. One of his good friend's picked me up at the airport, along with his wife and their dog. He mentioned thinking NA was all the same - but I find it very different from Seattle. Everything is much more spaced out here - streets, sidewalks, buildings. I like the cozy feeling of Seattle - a more residential feel.

Today, another one of his close friends, Cathy, picked us up at a station to drive over to Riverdale Park to play some ultimate. I had fun picking up with the team. However, I was expecting indoor ultimate in the 0 degree weather. Instead it was outdoor! Luckily, Cathy came prepared and brought me all sorts of warm clothes AND cleats. It was all going well until the sun started to set. Then it was right in my eyes and I started to get a migraine. I'd already gotten one earlier this year at CalStates, playing with Gretchen. It wasn't as bad - I couldn't tell if it was just normal sun glare making my vision go or something more serious. I played it safe and rested in Cathy's car the rest of the game (it was 10-4 when I left, and 14-5 when she came back).

Anywho, I slept off the migraine (which didn't go full blown) and so after that 5 hour nap find myself wide awake at 2 am.

Thanks

Thursday was Thanksgiving. I got two last minute invites for dinners. I accepted the first one from John and Becca. They had some roast chickens, mashed potatoes, homemade guacamole (a real treat in Taiwan - avocadoes are expensive), homemade hummus, veggies, cranberry bread, and the final over the top treat was the homemade flourless chocolate cake. Sinful! I am truly thankful for having such good friends (with like-minded appetites).



Friday was another day of thanks - officially Teacher and Student Farewell Day - the last day of class at Shida for the quarter. My class decided to meet for lunch at one of my classmate's restaurants, Brass Monkey. Li Juan couldn't make it because of other plans and the He siblings were a no show. But it turned out quite nice to have an intimate lunch with Zhang Lao Shi and Ke Re (and then Li Shan who showed up an hour late - funny because she fell asleep on the MRT).

Ke Re's dad privately published a biography of his family. I got to glance through it - quite intriguing. I wouldn't mind owning something similar for my own family. The task of writing such a volume seems daunting, since the history goes so far back and there are so many people to track down - let alone the language barriers.

I Anger You

我故意氣你
wo3 gu4 yi4 qi4 ni3
I purposely madden you

My teacher often says ridiculous things that she knows either aren't true or will rile us up or both. It's her way of keeping us awake, amused and involved. However, this week she really seemed to go over the top with her topics and aggressive suggestions.

One thing that comes up over and over is the topic of boyfriends and husbands. She often brings up the topic of cheating husbands and how natural that is in Taiwan. Friends know, but the wife turns a blind eye and pretends to not know (and in some cases may really not know). It disgusts us, most of whom are in our 20's. But this week we discussed boyfriends and it was clear that Lao Shi expected a woman to marry her boyfriend. It wasn't 'right' to have multiple boyfriends. You find the one and stick to him. If he isn't the one, you shouldn't have started dating him in the first place. There was a clear cultural/generational difference. We discussed situations where breaking up with a boyfriend would be appropriate. She agreed that if he cheated, it would be ok to dump him. On the other hand, if you're married, she didn't believe a wife should leave him. What a double standard - and such a strange one. It's no wonder that this society condones so much cheating. Li Shan said if her father ever cheated on her mother, she wouldn't speak to him again. Zhang Lao Shi said that wasn't right - they were her parents and she would always have to treat them with respect, no matter what they did.

The other double standard is that she says it's ok for men to cheat and have multiple girlfriends. But if the genders are reversed - hell no. Women are not alowed to be unfaithful. Her disdain on that topic is so high especially in comparison to her total acceptance of men doing the same, I find myself flustered and shocked to think about it. Such different ways of thinking - it's interesting most of the time, but times like this, I find disturbing.

Manila Spirits

I flew to the Philippines for the weekend to play in an ultimate tournament with my Taiwan team. Instead of bussing it, John gave us a ride to the airport. A few of us met outside his office and I couldn't stop staring at Dan's face for the next 24 hours. The team had decided to grow facial hair and then cut it in funny ways. This was Dan's decision. Now that I've spent a weekend with it, it doesn't look so funny anymore.

We got stuck in super amounts of traffic and our cabbie got lost on the way to our hotel (Asian Residences, next to the Asian Hospital, in Alabang). We were starved for dinner, so we walked over to Festival Mall. Dan and I explored the food court in the hopes of getting some authentic local food. Instead, we had crappy mall food, Filipino style. The highlight was us walking around to throw out our trash. Everyone turned to look at us - and we realized that no one throws their own tray out. So I put it back on a table. But people continued to stare, especially two young women near us. They were clearly surprised and amused, laughing at us with big eyes and heads turned to us wherever we walked. We got another dish and they continued to turn around and look at us. I waved them over and one of them came, but the other was too shy. We had a nice conversation - she kept trying to speak to me in Tagalog (reminding me of my time in Vietnam with Tuyet's great uncle insisting that I understand Vietnamese). I asked her if she thought we looked strange and she said no. I then asked if she thought Dan looked strange and she said yes! haha. But when asked why, she didn't even mention the funny growth on his chin - she pointed out his nose first saying it was so big. And then she said his eyes were really strange. She could not stop staring. I finally asked about the beard and she just said it made him look like a wrestler.


We walked around some more - and found this little treat. Bibingka! Theresa got me hooked on the stuff and I was excited to try some. There was another treat above it that we tried since it was Buy 1 Take 1 - but I don't know what it's called and the woman didn't speak much English to be able to tell us what it was. Something rice based I think. We also passed a shake stand but I couldn't get a mango shake because she had run out of ice. I tried to get her to sell me just the mangoes for cheaper but she didn't like the idea.


Over 20 of us crowded into the back of this Jeepney to get to the fields on Saturday morning. It was a short trip to the Alabang Country Club but I gladly took the offer of a car ride on the way home to avoid being squished for so long.

Taiwan Renegade Province put together a team for this tourney. We had to pick up women from all over, including Joann from Taichung, 3 women from Kaohsiung and 2 women from Manila. All the men were Renegade or former Renegade. We were seeded 7th so we had to play games against the #1 seed (Zhong Tui = Shanghai+), #3 (PULA 1), and #5 (Boracay). We lost all our games but had a close one against Boracay. For our crossover game we played a youth team (no one above the age of 24) and won it easily.


The schedule was game, bye, game, bye, game, bye, game, so there was plenty of time for napping.


Saturday night's party theme was Glam Rock, but our team sort of just went with our own individual themes. A lot of wife beaters (either real or drawn on), some eye make up, crazy hair, and we called it done. Oh wait, I forgot to mention the man in the French Maid's outfit.


At the party, they called for a male representative from each team. The French Maid was the clear choice. But when it came down to it, it was Kevin Cho vs Manoah (Shanghai vs Ringers). Manoah made an excellent showing and won twice. Go Ringers!

Then they called for a female representative and I got pushed on stage for Taiwan. The Singapore rep was insane and downed a beer in about 3 seconds. I came in second place and the woman next to me couldn't even finish hers. The rest of the night was fun dancing and singing to a band, lots of free drinks and general merriment. Our team had an incredible time and out partied every other team. I knew if we couldn't win the tourney we would at least be able to win the party. And that we did - we were awarded 2 bottles of Brandy during the final ceremonies on Sunday. Go Renegade!


Our first game the next day was against the last team I played with: Ringers of Fire. It was a rough game with us only scoring 1 point - despite being in our endzone several times. However it was fun to see old teammates again and everyone was in good spirits. They even cheered us at the end - I think the only team to do it.

We had a great game against VooDawgz - the combo Vietnam-Bangkok teams (Voodoo and Soidawgz). They were the only team to beat Ringers the previous day. It was a close game and we ended up on top. For our last game we faced Boracay again to fight for 5th place. This time we lost in Universe point, which was disappointing having been up 6-3 at some point (or something like that).

We watched the end of semis with Ringers vs PULA - they ended up in Universe point with turnover after turnover. Ringers finally won the game. However, they were no match for Shanghai who won pretty handily. During halftime, Renegade put on a pie game which was a crowd pleaser. Pie is a weird throw - you hold it vertically and facing out and toss it hard and it flutters in an upright position and curves and then ends up hitting someone on their body flat. You probably have to watch the video to understand - I haven't uploaded those yet.


Gerrit, Curtis, Michael, Noah (Slim), Craig, Dan, Morris, John, Eric, Geoff, Karen, Noah (Phatso), Joann, Jennifer, Holly, Julie, Joei, Lin

I had asked my friends Theresa and Mia for travel advice but I only got to read it on my return. Next time I'll have to do the following (Thanks T+M!)

Besides lumpia and pancit, try hopia (red or yellow bean in pastry), adobo (usually chicken or pork in soy/vinegar sauce), babinka (that coconut/rice cake that my mom makes), suman (sweet rice wrapped in banana leaves), leche flan (tasty flan dessert), and halo halo (a tasty dessert drink, similar to bubble tea minus the bubbles). Unless you feel adventurous, stay away from purple eggs (preserved chick embryo *shiver*) and dinuguon (aka chocolate meat - it's not chocolate). The dinuguon doesn't taste bad, but I just don't like it.

Be careful when riding in the jipneys - hold on tight! There are usually no seatbelts.

Lost in Time

Whenever I get to far behind in blogging I like to do a quick photo entry...as I forget what's actually happened in the last 2 weeks, so I use snaps to trigger my memory. Here we go again...


The ultimate team is brewing their own beer and I took part in the bottling process. It was actually quite a lot of fun (side note: Chinese people love to say the word 'actually' - am I picking up this habit already?).


I also went to Taoranting after reading about it on Emily's food blog. Four of us enjoyed a Beijing Kao Ya (Peking Duck) with bean sprout side dish and the soup.
Taoranting (陶然停)
2F, 86 Fuxing North Road
(02) 2718-1975
From the Nanjing E Rd MRT, cross to the opposite corner (SW corner) and walk south on Fuxing. Past the 7-11 on the right.


This is one of the best known places in Taipei for one of my favorite dishes. However, I thought the duck came out a bit oily. On our way out, another customer told us about another place - where the chef was trained by the same guy as this chef. I'll have to try that one next time (For anyone in CT hankering for some duck, refer to my older post about the best place to go: CT Duck).

I stopped at home to drop the duck soup off (it was much too much for just 4 people). While there, the lights were having more problems than usual and the power ended up going out. The guys figured out the problem with my cousin. We have since had somebody check it out and power is now a lot more consistent. I used to have to wait 10 seconds before the bathroom light would turn on. Now it goes on in just 2 or 3 seconds.

I also enjoyed my first KTV experience in Taipei. Karaoke in a private room with unlimited low quality food. At first we had mostly expats in the room and belted out some English songs. Then more and more Chinese people came in - there's definitely a difference in taste. I think the Chinese people with us really liked the slow cheesy songs. Luckily there is a big red kill button on the machine so you can end a song immediately if it's terrible.


After a Sunday practice I went to Banciao to see Vita's father play in a jazz festival. The MCs spoke Mandarin and Taiwanese and they would joke about how there were 5000 people in the crowd (the more people, the more money they get it - the whole thing was free for us - government sponsored).


On Thursday, Hanna was in town, so I met up with her and Tina. We went back to Jame's Kitchen, but this time the big one. The food was delicious.



Afterwards, I went to City Jungle near the Jiantan MRT (Shilin Night Market) to meet the rest of my ultimate team for some bowling. I had an amazing night - on the score board you can see that Craig scored 152. What you can't see is that later on I finished the game with a 161. I won all 3 rounds that I played - the next two beating out the next runner up by one point! It was a good night. Afterwards we went upstairs to ride the mechanical bull. This time, the bull won. I was flung off like a rag doll every 5 seconds. It was really different from the manual bull we used to ride in college on Severance Green. Afterwards the bull runner gave us a demo and gave us tips on technique. Apparently, you are supposed to do exactly the opposite of everything that I did. Instead of keeping a stiff arm and tight grip, keep it loose, relaxed and straight. Instead of leaning forward trying to hang on for dear life, keep your back slightly curved back. And instead of letting the bull swivel your head around any which way it wants, try to keep it steady and rotate your torso in short movements to minimize your dizziness. Next time.

Shi Yi Yue

I need to get a blender so I can have more shakes like this one. It's kiwi and dragonfruit. I've hated kiwi all my life until last week. The other dragonfruits I've had here have all been white - it was a surprise to find a burning neon pink flesh inside of this one. I also got one for my grandmother, who loved it. She said she hadn't had it until one time, long ago, my father brought her one. 火龍果 = Huo3 Long2 Guo3 = Dragonfruit



A bunch of us piled into Rob's car and he took us to Yilan County to get to some hot springs in FanFan. I used the time to catch up on some sleep. I was awake enough in the beginning to see some of the beautiful trees and misty fog on hillsides that's typical of Taiwan scenery once you get out of the city. After that, it's all a blur. I remember arriving, people getting out of the car, and falling in and out of sleep - dreaming that people were still next to me. It turns out that Typhoon Krosa damaged the hot springs so they're closed. Bummer. We turned around and debated what else to do. We wondered where else we could get a 3-combo: hiking, camping, and hot springs - but with the constant rain, we were more concerned about staying dry and cooking the trunk-load of food we had brought along.


We ended up in DaXi again, the surf spot, where we could camp under cover. We immediately set up a fire (which was a lot faster than last time) and cooked up some pasta. That was just the appetizer before the grilled mushrooms, onions, steaks, chicken, tofu with cheese, sweet potatoes, and whatever else Geoff, the dinner master, brought...surprisingly a lot for not having done any hiking. Oh well.


Dessert isn't pictured, but it was roasted marshmallows (provided by Lucas) on top of Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies with an extra slab of chocolate. I got the cookies because I couldn't find graham crackers in the Wellcome - but the cookies turned out even better than GC's - who knew?


John was in charge of breakfast: bacon, onions, more mushrooms and his fresh made sticky buns. I forgot to mention the brownies he had baked that we devoured the previous day in the car.

We got back Sunday in time for Ultimate practice at Yong He - the fields are much softer from the Typhoon, but a bit too muddy to get any grip. We prepped a bit for Manila and then afterwards I rallied some of the troops to get to the "New Row Mian" Festival. Luckily, Dan had gone on Saturday and gave us the address to give to the cabbie. We got there in time to gorge ourselves on most everything - there was only one shop, which had the longest line, that was going to run out before we could get any. But just as well, as I had my fill tasting half the other places. I found my favorite place, with 2 kinds of niu rou mian. I just have to figure out where the real restaurant is now.


This place was by far the best - great noodle consistency, good beef, and a tasty soup - that was neither too oily, too salty, nor too bland.


This was the light version - my Chinese isn't good enough to have understood the sign or what the seller was telling me it was. Anyone? The other one was a more traditional one and just as good.


We split up and everyone bought some from different stores - I had way too much, but it was a good way to do side-by-side comparisons. They came spicy, oily, bland, chewy, overcooked, etc.


My partners in niu rou mian feasting. Noah, Geoff, Rich.


This is a delicious side dish - larger than normal, for a group of 7 of us that went to the dumpling place by Lin Sen S Rd and Renai (just north of the climbing gym at the intersection, Lane 61). They are famous for their dumplings - many think they're the best in Taipei. They also have niu rou mian. This dish was a combo of a couple types of tofu and some brown eggs - just like my mom makes.


Afterwards, Becca, Dan and I tried hunting down a nearby Starbucks - impossible to find when you need one. We ended up looping back around to Chiang Kai Shek and going to a Tea House that's open til 11 pm and ordering some lattes and tea. I finally got a good chunk of Chinese review in. I also got a good laugh at Dan's "new" cleats - and by new, I mean from the 1980's. If the picture isn't big enough, that sticker says: CAUTION make sure nuts and cleats are tight before wearing which doesn't seem as funny now as when I first read it.

Today I went back to:
Lin Dong Fang Niu Rou Mian
林東芳牛肉麵
274 Bade Road, Sec 2
八德路二段274號（中央日報旁）
02 2752 2556
Excellent beef and tasty soup and noodles. They didn't have my favorite soft tofu with preserved egg dish, so I got a small plate of something that looked like mini asparagus. Yummy! This place is incredibly small, so I wouldn't take a big group there. But it makes my top 3 list for niu rou mian places in Taipei (so far).