Archive for April, 2007
??? Dinner at South-North Restaurant
Photos by MJ Klein
Last night Hui-chen and I had dinner with her sister and her son, and her mother, at the famous South-North Restaurant in Kaohsiung. We know you don’t want to read a lot, so let’s get to the photos!
Sliced radish cakes. Pretty good.
Standard fried cabbage. There was a slight burnt flavor which always makes this dish more tasty. The wok must have been screaming hot!
Another standard in Taiwan, crispy shrimp and pineapple.
“Dong Po Ro” which we have had many times in Taiwan. This particular dish was a bit dry, but I ate it anyway! The bamboo was a nice touch, and isn’t always included.
Pork soup with clams, bamboo and mushrooms.
A mild flavored whitefish with a crunchy covering.
I know the photos suck, but I was at the end of the table and I had to take the shots from a low angle! Nevertheless you can see what we ate was excellent.
technorati tags:Taiwan, Taiwanfood, Kaohsiung
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Things That Suck
I’ve been laid up for a few days with a very painful middle ear infection. I am also quite bored, as I don’t feel well enough to do much of anything except spending way too much time laying in bed on my side, with eardrops in the bad ear. It sucks.
We have been experiencing some problems with the drains in our house being slow. That sucks too. So, we called the “honey wagon” and they came down and solved the problems – very expertly I would like to say.
Outside the house you can see water leaking through the wall. Its coming from the other side of the wall and up through the concrete instead of draining into the waste water system. It sucks to have water coming out of a place where it isn’t supposed to.
The solution was to “snake” the drain. Here you can see the tool in action, and a stash of various types of cutters. Normally, the snake has to deal with tree roots and such. The operator had to use more than 2/3 of the length to clear the blockage.
Now, the fun part of the job: cleaning out the first floor lavatory. This particular commode has been running slowly ever since we moved into this house. The experts suggested that we let them give it a good cleaning with the vacuum cleaner. This thing really sucks.
But, that didn’t solve the problem, and that sucked too. But, it didn’t suck as much has having to chip the commode off of the tile floor (commodes in Taiwan are cemented to the floor as opposed to being bolted), and reaming it out to find the obstruction.
The guys found the object and then had to re-cement the commode onto the tile floor. The cement made a huge mess and the guys had to clean it up. That really did suck.
This is the thing that was in the commode, blocking it up. Yup, a previous occupant dropped it into the commode and didn’t take it out.
They suck!
technorati tags:Taiwan, Hukou, newhouse, suck, drain
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Thai New Year in Taiwan
Hui-chen and I visited our friends Paul and Lee in Taoyuan last night. They both knew about the famous “water holiday” but neither of them had heard about the powder that Thais apply to one another during this holiday. While at Lee’s home, I wandered across the street to get another bottle of Sang Som Thai rum from the local Thai place, and when I came back I had powder on my face. Well, we just had to check it out!
By the time we got there, everyone was pretty much already liquored up and sporting powder.
The boss lady from a local store around the corner gets a handful of powder ready to put on Lee.
Unlike the Thais, who will slather it on good, she is being rather conservative with the powder.
Normally Thai places have a great selection of songs and this place is no exception.
Eventually, the Thais figure out that we are not put off by a little powder, and they let fly!
Lee and Paul investigate the Thai custom of water throwing, close up and personal.
I just want you to know that Lee and Paul weren’t the only ones who got the powder treatment! Someone dumped it on my head.
Lee decided to demonstrate his cultural knowledge and understanding of Thai customs by dumping water on this guy’s head. I taught him how to say “happy new year” in Thai. That came in very handy on this occasion.
Paul got carried away a bit and began throwing water on himself.
These last shots speak for themselves. Within a few minutes of my taking this photo, the guy shown here with Paul, passed out from too much partying.
technorati tags:Taiwan, Taoyuan, Hui-chen, Lee, Paul, Thai, newyear, Sangsom
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Parties & Friends
This week is the famous Thai New Year celebration, where they throw water on everyone in sight! Hui-chen and I were in Thailand last year at this time, but we missed it this year. We live in a Thai neighborhood and last night we saw many Thais celebrating in the local karaoke. Naturally, we thought about our friends back in Thailand and how much we miss them.
Karaoke is big in Taiwan!
You can buy a magazine about PC Office topics, and get a microphone with a 1/4″ unbalanced phone plug for home systems!
In Taiwan, even famous people sing karaoke!
Notice how large the book is! That book contains nearly all English songs.
Now, to think back upon and enjoy our past good times in Thailand, during the New Year celebration:
Sawadeebemai Kap!
technorati tags:Taiwan, Thailand, karaoke, party
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Operation Clean Sweep: BBQ & Brooms?
Last night I was grilling on the top floor, and was looking about my neighborhood from my elevated position as shown below.
I noticed how dirty the streets are. Not just plain dirt, but trash that has been blowing around for weeks. I got to thinking about just how much time would it take to actually sweep some of it up. I have come to the conclusion that a few individuals with brooms, dustpans and trash bags could make a huge difference in a relatively short time.
Here is what I would like to propose to the foreign community that lives here in Taiwan: Why don’t we stop bitching about the KMT, politics, teaching or whatever else that we can’t do a frigging thing about, and actually do something about a problem that we can solve (or at least help)?
My plan is simple:
Invite some foreigners over for a cookout. Have a few rounds of your favorite adult beverage and then take a walk around the neighborhood with a broom. Sweep up the street trash as you briskly walk about. In 10 or 15 minutes you will have gone around the entire block and made a visible difference. Your cold drink will be there waiting for you when you return!
Often, we are perceived as outsiders who are not part of the community. This is due in some part to the short term visitors who may not have the time or the desire to become part of the community. Of course, the news media is quick to document inappropriate foreigner behavior whenever possible. So, wouldn’t it be nice if (for once) the local people could witness some positive foreigner behavior, where it appears that the foreigners are actually part of the community instead of outside of the community. I believe that seeing us walking around sweeping up some of the street trash would be a positive step in the right direction. I believe that we might even be able to set an example, by showing people that they do have some power over their environment. I get the feeling that much of the trash blowing around is there because the local people feel that they can’t stop it from happening, so they don’t bother sweeping it up. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could start a simple, sustainable positive activity in our local communities?
Please give me your feedback on my idea. I’m willing to host the first Blogger BBQ at my home to put my money where my mouth is!
I am going out later to sweep up some street trash on my block.
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Rainy Days and Mondays
What is up with all this rain?
Fortunately, there is a bright side to the events of late, regardless of the rain:
Doesn’t she look wonderful in this photo?
We are getting married on April 28! (this also explains why we haven’t blogged much in the last few weeks).
technorati tags:Taiwan, MJ, Hui-chen, wedding
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