Unbalanced Vision

Father Christmas's odd looking elfs taking your temperature at the entrance of Taipei 101

Everyone, have a good one! Stay cool and healthy for the holidays.

Last Saturday it was arranged that HY's uncle and aunt were to have dinner with my folks. The meal took place at a Sichuan restaurant called Ji-Yuan--food was very decent especially their greasy onion pancakes, spicy noodles and fish. Adults did most of the talking and I think it was a pretty pleasant first meeting. One thing about being an adult is that they like to talk about children. While HY was referred to as a reliable and hardworking young man, a lovely, easy caring baby, I was mentioned as the crankiest baby that cried 24/7. Then HY's uncle said that baby HY was taken care by a Mrs. Doubtfire, and that he had no nose as a little kid--this, I thought was the highlight of the evening.

Meal box

You can buy these at your local 7-11 convenience store for less than a pound. These small and compact lunch boxes are neatly designed for train passengers, the downside is that there're no veggies.

Green tea ice topped with ice cream

Large proportion of diced ice + green tea flavours + red beans + milk + vanilla ice cream--takes eons to finish. Ordered this after J, L and I had our greasy ramen.

Zong zi

Sticky rice wrapped in leaves. It comes in either salty or sweet flavours; I fancy both. We usually have zong zi on Dragon Boat Festival Day, which is observed every year around May according to the Lunar calendar.

Have noticed that people like to say 「託你的福」 here, which can be roughly translated to 'thanks to you, I am blessed'. The contexts are like this:
1) I ask my friend, 'Hey, how's work?' Then he goes, 'Thanks to you, I am blessed'. &%*$£@?
2) I ask a former colleague, 'How are you and your girlfriend doing?' Again he replies, 'Thanks to you, I am blessed'. &&%%**$$££@@??
At first I was like, what the heck does your work and relationship have anything to do with me since I was miles away. Then Mum pointed out that this phrase was directly translated from Japanese, and it is quite a common and polite usage. Annoyingly we were once a colony of Japan, and this may be one of their many leftover influences. My only response is, 'Oh ok, whatever'.

Ahem, weeks ago this ad was passed around on the Internet, and imagine how pissed some TWN people were. My best friend F even went to the Carnegies website to vent her feelings. Go, girl! I was thinking how to make it big by suing the company, followed by media publicity, going on talk shows, making movies and publishing books! $$$$ Anyhow, it turned out that this wasn't the wonderful creation of Carnegies, but by some unknown asshole who made them the scapegoat. Personally I have been to the bar-restaurant once, and honestly it was pretty fun. Cheesy loud music, wild women dancing on bar tables, gorgeous Chinese chicks sitting on foreign mens' laps, and of course lots of alcohol. So is this ad sending the message that TWN gals are easy or what? Had there not be a branch in HK, HY and his friends would come to Taiwan even if it means floating on an inflatable mattress to get here.

The chef and his pork

Being part of a close-knit Chinese family means that you meet up, sit down, laugh, talk and eat. After a day or two, again, you meet up, sit down, laugh, talk and eat. Bad for the waistline, bad for facial muscles. In most occassions, food is involved, lots of food. People from our generation don't necessarily have loads of siblings, but the parents may have more than one to fight with. Hence you have meals with Aunties' and Uncles' families, bonding relations and strengthening connections. One more mouth adds to its prosperity.

Isn't this the Christmas season, and shouldn't people be buying nice and cheap stuff on-line? For Christ's sake somebody please, please bid on my stuff, urgh!! And don't you find it annoying when someone asks a question about the item you are selling, then you reply them with 'bid with confidence' or 'in good condition', and then they never place a bid... All I want for Christmas is bids.

A junior high school mate came to my house yesterday, and it looks like she's all loved up with this Cantonese bloke--a romantic 187cm, has a model's figure, wears Prada, owns a sports car, etc. So are Fragrant Harbour males in high demand in the market place? On this island, the stereotypical Cantonese is one who is ahead of fashion, makes awesome soups, belongs to a close-knit family and plays Mahjong 24/7. But hey, I know someone who can only make soup out of Heinz and does not play Mahjong at all, and he's the best ever (level of coolness equivalent to the actors in Infernal Affairs). There's always exceptions to rules, and hopefully we don't go out with people just because he/she is from a certain place--it just happens. Mate also said that she can understand 70% of Cantonese, while the only phrase I have learned is 'gay-lou', meaning 'gay bloke', 'tis very useful you know. Oh, rented Hollywood Hong Kong a few days ago and I love that movie! It's reminds me of The Three Little Piglets and Legends of the Monkey King (Journey to West), except it adds a hooker, loads of flesh, sweat, two chopped off arms and the notion of gluttony and desire.

Got my lower-left wisdom tooth pulled out this afternoon (am still quite wise), and now the spot looks like a bloody battlefield. The entire process didn't take too long and wasn't particularly painful, just heard the loud sounds of drills, hammers and pliers working away in the mouth. The dentist cut the gum and then the tooth into four pieces, and pulled them out--he's amazing. However, now it is a bit awwww because am eating Mum's congee and the numbness has gradually vanished. I'm not supposed to talk.

I have been on various shopping missions to purchase my ultimate bag of the year, something that one can carry for years, but yet to find an item that will make the buyer go 'wow'. The dark purple Coach bag I've used for decades looks nice and has the right size, but the leather is wearing out. TWN is still the kingdom of 'make-believe' name brand merchandise--the Fendi and LeSportsac looks absolutely real. On another hand, take a look at these gorgeous London designer bags. I want, I want~~~

Have been searching around our flat and found that we have loads of goodies to sell on www.ebay.co.uk--what fun! Hilfiger wallets, IKEA chairs, Liz Claibourne silk scarfs, books and wine... But none of these can be compared to cousin M's Tiffany diamond ring. Note to eligible bachelors: if you are to break up w/ your fiance, do it within thirty days.

Am not fully recovered from jetlag for I woke up this morning at quarter to six. Still it is better than being nocturnal or suffering from insomnia, I suppose. You can hear the sounds of scooter engines and the oriental music old people dance to at the parks. I must have some greasy Chinese breakfast before Mum comes home today, I thought. This lady is a scary health nut who prefers putting in her mouth anything that is organic or whole wheat--she makes her own bread and yogurt for crying out loud. As you can see in the last pic, the egg role is something I tried to make in UK, except using Mexican wraps.


The alley outside our flat

Old people doing exercise in the park

A Chinese breakfast

The weather is surprisingly chilly here, wasn't what I had expected or remembered. It felt even colder than London. People assumed that I would be running around in short sleeves, but quite the contrary, I was wrapped up in scarfs and gloves. In the first two days not only was I moaning about the temperature, the traffic and subsequent noise and air pollution proved rather annoying. I was also aware of how different people dress, talk and eat. However, after being outdoors a day or two, I gradually became used to the atmosphere. While braving the incompetence of some of England's social system, the efficiency and convenience here is absolutely divine. Can buy daily necessities just around the corner, don't have to queue in banks, don't have to wait for days for a decent dental treatment, stores close till 21:30, dry cleaners and tailors can get your clothes done the next day, being served with smiley faces, etc.

Night view of Sogo department store

Also met up some high school and uni friends for lunch and supper. They both arranged the meal at some new hip Chinese restaurant named Kiki, which specialises in spicy dishes. The odd thing is that the owner will not allow photographs taken in the restaurant, because their interior design is soooooo special--whatever. Anyways, didn't remember what everyone was talking about cos was very sleepy, but high school friends said I looked skinnier, and uni friends said that I have not changed a bit.

Real estate ad car

It probably felt like the shortest flight from Europe to Asia ever, and smooth as well--we did not experience any turbulence throughout the journey. Thanks to HY's mum we enjoyed the privilege of having our meals FIRST, because she specifically ordered the 'non-beef meals'. Well, everyone gets two choices anyways, and you'd always get something that does not potentially have mad cow disease. But it sure is nice to watch everyone waiting to be served while you have already finished the meal.

Most of the flight was in darkness. Yet it was in the afternoon when we flew across China, and boy look at these mountains. A view nice to see from above, but maybe not so pleasant a place to live in.

Lastly, Taiwanese newspapers on Dragon Airlines suggested that home is not far away. On this page two annoyingly skinny TWN pop stars are trying to gain weight--as if I'm so interested in their diet. Am back to a place where lank and bony figures are considered beautiful.