Fancy Dinners with the Gos

So my friends Samantha and Kerwin are big gourmands with big pockets. We've been to a couple of fancy dinners since they came back with their newborn daughter, and more are in the plans. Here is a list:

Tutto Bello
Italian, with famous wine list.
I'd say it is mostly okay... I can't really agree with the 'over the bridge' (過橋) pasta...
a Chinese phrase meaning that they serve you undressed pasta and then pour the sauce over the noodles.

Le Petite Cuisine
French, with a famous chef, Justin Quek, a Singaporean.
It's mostly okay as well... horrible espresso...

A Cut Steakhouse
we'll see in a week...

Umai Micasa
Japanese in the plans

Paris 1930
A French restaurant reputed to be the best in Taipei, in the Landis Hotel.

Based on my experiences of these 100USD dinners, I understand better why New York is such a great culinary destination. Not just that New York has excellent food from almost all cultures around the world, the restaurant industry is also much more mature and refined, and cheaper! Yes, I said it is cheaper in New York... For the same amount of money, it is really hard to match the level of sophistication you find in New York restaurants, from decor, lighting, the waitstaff, menu design... What I enjoy the most in New York, are actually the 30-70USD places with casual ambiance, like Otto or Barbuto.

Flower Market

There is a weekend flower market close to our house. There is also a jade/antique market next to it that is very popular with tourists. The flower market is always teaming with people, especially on a nice day like yesterday. Most of the merchandise there are potted plants, with some cut flowers and planters, seeds, soil, fertilizers etc. I bought some herbs there (which I am proud to report, has past the one month mark so they are going to live! Thanks Dad!) like rosemary and thyme. It is just a fun place to browse, if you don't mind the crowd, and with my complete ignorance in gardening, is fascinating. There are lots of moss and orchids that is very popular here, with the humidity and all. The light purple orchids in the picture looks really amazing... but I don't think I can do it any justice with my black thumb. There are also some tchotchkes at the market, such as these 'pen hanging device'... The traditional Chinese calligraphy pens are pointy brushes so after you use them, you need to rinse and hang them to dry. But I think these are going to be cute with some jewelries or keys. For those of you who are planning on visit me in Taiwan, here is a preview of an interesting site!

Square Watermelon

There isn't much else I can say but to show their existence... and they cost almost 30 USD a pop.

In Memoriam

It’s been tough couple of weeks. There was no one to blame and only what ifs. My cousin Isabel asked us to take care of her 2 Malteses while she is visiting the US for work with her husband, Vincent. Mei-mei (little sis) and Dumpling have been to our place before and my brother KY loves taking them out for walks. Since Isabel and Vincent both work 12 hour days, the dogs rarely go out of their house (they use wee-wee pads). The dogs love to go out and basically freak out when they are roaming about. Most of the time, they don’t really listen to your orders and in retrospect, I don’t believe they know about roads and traffic.

Two weekends ago, when my brother was walking them after dinner, they rush into the street. Mei-mei passed away immediately and Dumpling was severely injured. Dumpling was admitted to the vet hospital of my school and was watched for 8 days before they operate on her split abdominal muscles. She will go back Friday to remove the stitches and have the blood works to make sure her liver and anemia are improving. The whole ordeal is extremely difficult for everyone, especially Isabel and Vincent. My brother is also stricken with guilt.

I feel that while it is an unfortunate accident, the bigger issue here is the lack of understanding/respect for pets and poor, or really, non-existing, animal policy. My friend Annie sent me this website, Animals Taiwan, that has a lot of information about the stray animals. Taiwanese people mostly still have the mindset from the agricultural days. For example, my grandma and father thought that we just need to buy Isabel and Vincent another dog and that would be the end of that. While he agreed with us, my father thought that it was the ‘right decision’ to save Dumpling, as if there are options. Not that they don’t like animals, but they don’t think of animals as living human companions, but toys. Another issue is the lack of outdoor space. I think many people keep their dogs on a leash or in a cage at their home. There is only one municipal dog run in Taipei city. While you see people walking their dogs often, a lot of times the dogs are off-leash on busy streets. I am not sure what is the best way to change this but there are periodical events and campaigns to raise awareness of these issues. I can only hope that it will change. In the mean time, I cannot be more sorry about the whole thing and hope that Isabel and Vincent would find it in their hearts to forgive us.

Spring

It's been in the high 70s up to mid 80s for the past week, with high humidity. For me, it's pretty much summer, although for people used to the weather, it's only mid Spring. One sign of spring is the mosquitoes swarming. We bought this electrical zapper that looks like a racket. I picked up some tricks from my brother, KC, and killed more than 30 one night, in doors, with closed screens on all windows... here is a 'harvested specimen'.

Another, more pleasant, sign of spring are the 'wood cotton' flowers (Bombax ceiba). All the leaves fall out in the winter and they bloom before the leaves come in, with huge orange flowers. They are often times plated along streets.

Mazu

Mazu is a traditional Daoist goddess that is popular in southeastern China and Taiwan. She is supposedly a girl, with the last name Lin, whose magical powers bless the seamen. She also died when she was young, around early 1000's. Mazu literally translate to 'ancestral mother'. When I was in college, my roommate often lent me her scooter and her portrait was on the keychain. I always liked to say that Lady Lin helped me (being that I never really had a motorcycle license)...

So the reason that I am talking about her is that her birthday is apparently coming up and one thing they do here is to carry her statue around to bless her territory, so to speak. I guess the Catholics do similar things. Today is the beginning of one such trip (apparantly Mazus from different temples have different schedules) and it is broadcasted live. Many polititions, such as the newly elected President, Ma Ying-ju, are there to 'ask for blessings'.

It is amazing to see how many people are there for the festivities and how technologically advanced they are. The website for this temple in Da-jia is very sophisticated, so are others. Her tour around the country is even tracked with GPS. Another interesting thing is how commercialized it is, with lots of 'dolls' of Mazu sold everywhere. I need to learn more about Taiwanese religious practices.

Hello Kitty

So Nina, this post is for you...
I was walking around my neighborhood, trying to find a shop that sells baking supplies (it's really difficult) and came across this:

I can't really find a website to the store, but I did came across this blog: hello kitty hell






And on the news, I also heard about the hello kitty hotel rooms:
http://www.grand-hilai.com.tw/english/kitty.htm

More over, by googling the phrase 'hello kitty hotel rooms', I found that there are S&M rooms with hello kitty themes... although I didn't further investigate for the fear of poisoning my computer... It's a weird world out there... ;)

Taiwanese election

For the lack of better focus, politics to Taiwanese is like religion to Americans. The presidential election is on March 23rd so this Sunday is called 'Super Sunday' here with lots of events and parades through out Taiwan. The parade route for the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party) in Taipei is on our block. I even got a glimpse of the candidate. What it reminded me of, is the various parades in New York, like St. Patty's Day. People seem jovial and calm, even though their candidate is the underdog by a decent margin. Although I thought there would be a lot more people. What happened was that the people were spread out a lot so there is a really long stretch but not very concentrated.