The Doulos international book fair in Keelung port 15/05/09

Not much to say about it really because after 10 minutes, we were off the boat...

Big disappointment only because I had great expectations for this floating bookstore that travels the world..The whole concept is cool but the book selection was very disappointing..nothing cultural, old or international.
...http://www.doulos.org/

We took a 45 minutes train ride from Taipei to Keelung and a long arse walk under the mighty afternoon sun.






Keelung city!

Engrish

Mere seconds after making the comment to Emma about how I'm surprised there's no typo on the sign...I spot this!
Keelung train station

Sinful...

I want a Sinful shirt too but what's sinful is her skirt. As she walked ,..the left and right cheek of her tiny little butt popped out to say hello...luring lots of perv eyes including mine!




Aqua con gas (spanish translation on the bottle for Sparkling water). All pics can be enlarged with just one click.



Stinky for supper


Blue potatoes? Made from naturally blue potatoes it says.

Miss Montreal much?

Not if I've got THIS now. Purchased at City Super! for 99 nt.
I'll sprinkle it like fairy dust on salad, rice, stinky tofu..

19 floors up...

I just climbed 19 flight of stairs back to my apartment..

One day, when both of the elevators will break down, Hsin will have the last laugh...right now? I am not laughing...Dizzy

I went to Thailand and back...

For mother's day, we went to a Thai buffet restaurant called Spice Market in Xinyi distrist near 101.

mmm so good me mom thinks..(Check out the resto's decor)



Challenge 1..eat a huge raw oyster as big as my face. Although I wanted to eat all two, I couldn't do it after the first one. I garnished it with some lemon juice and house-made Thai spicy sauce. Sooo good! Raw oyster craving (thanks to Dave and Jnet) is satisfied for a month.

It looks small here...


but when you place them on a standard large plate..


Challenge 2..I am always up for some stupid challenges. A challenge to eat freshly ground hot peppers and chili paste on a basil leaf with garnishing. I was only going to do it if someone tried too hehe (I always have this belief that if someone can do it, so can I! I jump you jump?). I took 2 leaves. One for daddy and one for me. He was skeptical and reluctant. He sampled a bit of the paste on his toothpick but he couldn't go through with it. My mom, who loves spices didn't want to try (Shen jing bing she said).. so I naturally chickened out as well until a lady sitting next to us also tried some and reassured me that it edible (but she also tells me that she likes Mala spicy hot pot).

After overcoming the mental block, I went for it!..Annnd ...NO tear NO sweat NO pain like I imagined...just a numb tongue which I cooled down quickly with some delicious Movenpick all-natural vanilla ice cream. mmmm


Challenge!







Singha Thai beer is pretty good especially when paired with spicy seafood.



Camera quality pics are bad so I didn't take too many pics...
Raw shrimps are a rarity to find unless served really fresh but here they are!



Grilled and seasoned giant shrimps



The resto was mom's pick but mainly because daddy has never been while she, Mel and I have already been TWICE (Thanks to Lohie-ah!)..Today, for mother's day, a steep 850 nt/ person. So we o-wned the buffet..but we usually dominate at buffets anyway.
Pad thai, tom yum soup, 4 types of curry, seafood, Thai drinks, Thai noodles, Thai soup, Thai meat Thai evelyting.

Qbec pole dancers!- Mtl update

Have you guys heard about this new reality show? Pole position? no? (see video link!)

Montreal dancers vs Mont-Tremblant dancers lol Mont Tremblant?!

http://fr.video.canoe.tv/recherche/anne%20marie%20losique/pole-position-1-:-le-combat-des-filles-!/20384415001

Pole dancing is a great way to workout BTW!

Dad's new head gear

It is against the law to be embarrassed by your own parents..I work harder than most kids..

Alright, I know sun protection is important.

I am now member of a secret society...

Today's trip to Neihu's Costco.
Mom was telling us how Annie and Peter were boasting about the delicious American tasting hot dogs at Costco. So for lunch, we had 1 hot dog along with 1 beef/cheese burrito wrap, 2 family size Caesar salad (I wanted one for myself because I haven't had a salad for so long!) and 2 bowls of clam chowder to share.

And check this out, they had Beijing duck pizza? We didn't try.









I am most excited with the imported Hass avocados I got (60 nt each :( !..Time to make guacamole! Other than avocados, I'm missing the rest of the ingredients...lemons, tomatoes, red onion, etc.
I also got V8 drinks, oatmeal cereal, German sausages, Almonds from Spain, and much more!

You see mom with that bag of pretzels? Yea, we told her to put it back because I didn't want to share with her.

hehe






Total damage today: 11 400 nt!

Weird flavored chips? Green onion chips!

They are..okay.
I had to try it. I love green onion!

Look what I got in the mail! Thanks Dave!

One month later, ....good thing you didn't put ice cream in there.




From Tyrone Bailey! lol



I finished the bag of Doritos in two days..actually, in two seatings... *guilty face

Ning Xia road night market..makes Shi Lin night market's food look like shiet.

Another new night market to explore. We went there to eat oyster pancake (o-ah jian) which mom claims is the best she's had..it was crispy, full of lettuce and a very generous amount of oysters. The sauce was great too which helps a great deal. It really makes the ones I've tried in Shi lin night market look really bad.

After ze pancakes, we went into the night market (the oyster pancake resto was near the entrance but not IN the market *thought I need to specify) to eat this broth filled with different parts of cow and pigs..intestines, liver, kidney, tendons, meat balls etc. (no pics). It was tasty!
After, we had little dumplings to go and to share. There were other things we wanted to eat but no room in the tummy. We've already set our eating course for next time!

This market is right by Shuang lian mrt station..exit 1, turn left and walk for 7 minutes ..







30+ year old oyster pancake resto...but later, we found another one inside the market which is 42 years old WITH a lineup! Will try that next time.






Look at the three huuuge oysters! mmm



I am not convinced that it is okay to eat sashimi and sushi at a night market but people were eating it and I didn't see anyone vomit or make runs to the nearby bathrooms. I'd go for it if mommy wasn't there..I'd risk diarrhea any day for a good slice of sashimi.






These dumplings looked so delicious and immediately got our attention. We bought a box of 8..lookit the chilly sauce..mmm but they tasted good not great.





Can't wait to go back to try some more food we've spotted. Rice vermicelli with intestines, Hk style congee, taro ball with porc stuff desert, hakka resto, another oyster pancake place..and the seafood restaurants were all over. They cook all types of seafood right on the spot..it's amazing! With open fire grills, ovens, flaming woks...


this place had a huge line up which I almost went for except I wasn't hungry anymore and it looked liek it would take a while. taro with dried porc inside and then fried mmm i love taro!



Random spotting: This guy was selling hygienic stuff..here, he's explaining how to use this ear wax removing device..we know it as a simple stem with a curve at the end to get the ear wax. He was saying something about 360 degree rotation and etc to the lady..i giggled..he's making ear waxing a science!

Satisfying my western food craving

I found this German bakery here in Damshui and one of their best seller is this herb pita thing. It's so savory, soft and really tasty. I spread Mozzarella on it and some Italian herbs and red pepper, bake it for 10 minues and my prayers are answered. F carb-less diet. ok ok I will start, next week..or after i'm done eating all the carb stuff I've got stocked in the fridge and cupboards.

I'm getting a Costco card soon! Mom got a membership and I'm her free +1! weeee

Mother's day is on Sunday..same as in America!

I shopped around for Lilies..I got ripped off..this one stem with three flowers was 120 nt but they were the nicest in size, color and shape I've seen so I got them. I wasn't able to bargain because it's mother's day.
At the night market tonight, I saw another flower shop..they sold lilies for 70 nt. Godamn it.
It's making the house smell so nice, I wish I can afford to buy a whole bouquet but it would have been 500 nt+. Apparently, carnations are the flowers to get for Mother's day so they had tons of those for sale. Carnation were also way cheaper but I don't like carnations..it reminds me of charity and Vday flowers sold at Durocher St lambertttt

Trip to Jiufen (May 3rd 2009)

A friend from elementary school was in town visiting Taipei with his pilot classmate and Cathay coworker. They wanted to go to Jiu fen for some sightseeing and so they depended on MOI to take them there.

We took the train to RuiFang and then a 10 minutes bus ride up to Jiu Fen. We stopped by at a great cafe for smoothies and drinks while enjoying the view, walked the old street twice to eat some fish balls, grilled squid, sausages, peanut shaving thingie, miam miam!

It's not their first time to Taiwan though. They are also going to visit Kenting for a few days.



Sammy sleeping, Teresa and Michael.






Famous Jiu Fen sight!









Camera experts..Canon, D300 oh my. They know how to use the cameras 100 x better than I do.



Then we went to this greatttt super fun restaurant in the heart of Taipei city called Ken pai. Everyone was rowdy, loud, drunk and having a good time there. At 8 pm, everyone gets a free beer if you chug your drink..and it counts, even if it's one sip!
Also, if you kiss someone for 10 seconds, you also get free meat for the grill. The marinated stuff was soooo good! Two thumbs up!