Taiwanese Tidbit #7

HOT POTS

A hot pot is a popular traditional Chinese dish. All the Taiwanese I've met love them. It consists of a broth (in a pot placed on your table over a flame), and several ingredients which you cook in the broth. It usually includes a variety of things: thinly sliced meat, leafy veggies, mushrooms, eggs, seafood, etc. Ingredients vary from region to region (in China). Hot pots are a big hit in the winter, but you can eat them in the summertime, too...restaurants just turn up the A/C full blast. Wikipedia informed me that hot pots "boast a history of more than 1000 years."

It just goes to show you why Asians tend to be healthier. This is a dish they crave.

This time, my broth was a pumpkin broth. Yum.

Fenny and her hot pot. :)

God Gave Me You

My sis, Nicole, heard this song on the radio the other day...I love it. I can't
stop listening to it. And when I watch the video, I think of how God has blessed me with so very many outstanding people in my life. So this goes out to my beautiful family and all of you other wonderful people in my life.

God gave me you.

(PS Go here to listen to the song in better quality.)

三義 (Sanyi)

At the end of April, my friends Wala, Megan, and I went to a city called 三義 (Sanyi) in hopes of seeing May Snow. When the tung trees' beautiful snow-white blossoms come out, and the flower petals fall, it appears as though it's snowing. (Go here to get an idea of what I mean.) We got to see the snow-white blossoms on the trees, but the ones that had already fallen had been damaged by rainfall the previous day. We still had a wonderful time, though...it's impossible not to when you're with such cool people.

Wala is such a nice friend. He brought us a traditional Taiwanese breakfast. It was a rice ball with meat and various cooked vegetables inside. (I forget what it's called.) The Taiwanese literally do eat rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Wala took us to see this famous train station, no longer in use.

Wala is an amazing photographer, so we took lots of pictures (though I still need to get his). He says that he "takes pictures for God," because God has created this beautiful world for us. So Wala does all he can to get out and enjoy God's creations, and to capture their beauty with his God-given talent.

Sanyi Old Street

Sanyi Old Street

I wish I had Wala's pics...we also met up with his sweet friend Vivian from Taipei, and we just all had a wonderful time together. Wonderful friends, enjoying the beauty of nature...it really doesn't get much better than that, now does it?

A Lucky Find in 台中

A few weeks ago, we were hanging out in 台中 (Taichung), and came across this cool little art fair in the park. There were all these art students drawing people's portraits for free! I don't think any of us had ever had that done (cuz it's usually expensive), so we jumped on that opportunity. :) Here's Whitney getting her portrait done.

One of the artists.

Megan's probably turned out the best.

I was pretty happy with mine. You could tell it was me.
Much better than I could ever do, that's for sure. And free!

We enjoyed some Cold Stone across the street. Thank goodness for Cold Stone in Taiwan. :) I learned recently that the Chinese Cold Stone menu has a "sweetness factor" for every combination. As do many other countries, Taiwan has less of a sweet tooth than do, say the Americans or the French. A lot of things our taste buds crave are just too sweet for theirs. So this little "sweetness factor" thing on the menu ensures the Taiwanese know what they're getting their taste buds into when they order their combination of choice.

One of my friends bought "The Hungry Caterpillar" in Chinese, and
Kevyn treated us to a delightful little story time after ice cream. :)

KTV

Williams, Kevyn, me, Megan after KTVing it up on a Friday night

KTV (karaoke, Taiwan-style) is a very important part of the Taiwanese
experience. I've been a few times now. You go to a KTV place, and rent your own private room (complete with couches, a TV, and a couple of microphones) for four hours or so. You get to select all the songs you want to do, and sing your heart and soul out for hours on end. It's great fun. They even provide refreshments as part of the experience. The Taiwanese tend to be more conservative, and often choose slower songs. Kevyn remarked to us, "You guys always choose the fast songs that you can dance to, and we always choose the ballads." :) There are definitely some cool things in Taiwan that I think we could use in the States, and KTV is one of them. Love it. :)

台北 Temple Trip

April 2010. Love these people.

Taiwanese Tidbit #6

Let me preface this post by saying that I love the Taiwanese.
But their idea of what is and is not dangerous is one of the aspects
of their culture I understand the least. It's dangerous to eat ice
cream or anything cold in the winter, swing really high, or
go anywhere with wet hair. But...four on a scooter is not?