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Hi everyone, Been a while since I’ve updated, I know. However, I have some news: I’m no on Twitter. You can see my feed on the right side over there. —-> Follow me, because I’ll probably be updating that more often. If I’m out on the scooter or biking and see something interesting, it’s easier and quicker for me to snap a picture and upload it to twitter to share with you. Went to Costco in Taichung on Saturday. I was very surprised to see that they were selling Vibram FiveFingers! 
Unfortunately, they only had the Women’s Bikila model. However, they were very cheap. I’ve never been more happy (that VFF were available in Taiwan) and disappointed (that they had no men’s sizes or other models) at the same time. Hopefully, this is a sign of good things to come. Here’s hoping that we’ll soon see more VFF in Taiwan. Update: I have heard there are more VFFs at the Neihu (Taipei) Costco and the Kaohsiung Costco. I headed down to Kaohsiung and saw more female sizes, but there were 2 pairs of Men’s KSOs in the middle (no boxes), both size 42, which was OK for me. I bought one pair (NT$1999). I have yet to see any other models besides Women’s Bikila and Men’s KSO. Spotted this on the back of a scooter the other day.
I think the fact that they make these plaques for scooters says something (not good) about Taiwanese society. The sad fact is, many people do take their children and infants on scooters, often without helmets (Why buy them helmets? They’ll grow out of them too soon!). The government should really crack down and do something about this. Just saw this on Youtube. Anyone know where I can get some of this in Taiwan? I’m a big fan of Vitamin C and citrus fruits in general. It’s now that time of year that oranges are being harvested. You can hardly drive down the road without seeing one field or another being depleted of its nutritious stock, piled high on the side of the road, and left naked and alone to bear out the remaining cold of the winter with nought but a few leaves to accompany it until the Summer shall once again bear down upon it and bring forth new fruit next winter. Continue reading A look at Taiwanese citrus fruits Here are 3 small cartoons that I’ve taken pictures of in various bathrooms.
Just some random pictures today as I’m still trying to get stuff organized and upload all these weird little treats that I’ve discovered throughout Taiwan before the New Year hits. Let’s start off with a dog we discovered in Kaohsiung’s Liuhe Nightmarket.
Now, some people might look at this picture and cry “Animal abuse.” Actually, that was my first instinct. However, after thinking about it, I’ve decided that this dog has had a pretty good life. He’s got a place to stay, all the food/scraps he can eat, and he gets plenty of attention. If that dog dies tomorrow, he’s dying pretty happy, probably. Next up is a set of hooks. Where I saw them, I don’t remember, but they are pretty creative. 
No, I didn’t buy them, but I wish I had. Here’s a picture of a truck whose driver is apparently a huge Transformers fan. Beware! He’s a decepticon! 
Finally, here are some pills that Mrs. Expat’s father (he’s a doctor) gave me. 
What could be ailing me you might ask? Am I seriously ill? Do I need hospital treatment? No on all accounts. These five pills are the recommended medicine for the common cold. That’s right. The common cold, for which there is no cure, takes at least five pills in Taiwan. The common cold, which normally passes within a matter of days, takes at least five pills in Taiwan. The common cold, which – at least for me – hinders neither my work nor other facets of my life (besides having to carry tissues with me), takes at least five pills in Taiwan. And this is one of the things that I just can not stand about Taiwan. For all it’s awesomeness and beauty, I can not understand students telling me that they missed class because they felt “uncomfortable” and had to go to the hospital. I can not understand why a student will miss class because they woke up and their arm was sore and their parents made them stay at home. I can understand why a student will miss class on a test day because they woke up and they sneezed once, so they required a doctor’s check-up. I don’t want to get off on a rant here, so I won’t. Perhaps another time I’ll talk about NHI (National Health Insurance) and the frail mentality of 98% of the Taiwanese people when it comes to sickness. These pictures are kind of old, but I recently dug them out and had to share them. I like nightmarkets quite a bit. It’s always fun to go to different nightmarkets and see the different local specialties and find little treasures being sold. Once, last year, I ran across this gem:
Yes, that is an Internet Explorer 4.0 (Chinese Version) install disc. Of course, I had to have it. Mrs. Expat tells me I paid NT$10 (~US$.30) for it. Here are a few cleaner scans:
Quite a treasure. Now I need to find an install disc of Windows 95 to go totally retro. In my time in Taiwan, I’ve had the opportunity to try lots of different foods and beverages. My philosophy has always been “try everything twice.” Simply, I think that if you try something once, whether you like it or not, there might be extenuating circumstances. Maybe you are having an exceptionally good/bad day, maybe the cook didn’t something different, maybe… etc. So, I try everything twice. If, after I’ve tried something twice, I still like it or a definitely don’t like it (very rare), I will continue to eat it/not eat it. It has served me fairly well thus far. One of the weirdest, most outlandish foods I’ve had the opportunity to try here has been Snake Penis Wine.
It’s exactly what it sounds like: snake penises put into a bottle to add flavor to Gaoliang Rice Wine. Jane’s grandfather (阿公/āgōng) had a bottle of this. The bottle on the left is, I think, Snake Gall Bladder Wine or some other such snake organ. I don’t remember trying that one. As for the Snake Penis Wine, it wasn’t bad. If you get over the fact that you are drinking penis-flavored Gaoliang (generally, Gaoliang by itself is bad enough), it’s actually OK. Nothing something I would want to use to celebrate New Year’s, but it was nice to be able to try it. |
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Copyright © 2007-2009 An Expatriate in Taiwan - All Rights Reserved |
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