Final Exam

These past two days, I've been practically living at the coffee shops, helping my friend study for the exam that her boss is giving her today. I don't mind helping her, and sometimes it's even a bit fun, particularly since I'm the one throwing out the questions. Poor thing, my friend works at a hotel and has had to cram a lot of what I consider to be useless information these past two days, stuff that can be easily referenced on a computer system or cheat sheet and that is a waste of valuable time and talent to commit to memory (i.e., type of room, type of bed in each room, business hours for all the restaurants, 3 pages of acronyms, codes for different types of guests, etc.). But she works at a top notch establishment, and I guess this is part of the service you get for the exhorbitant prices you pay.

My Chinese studies are going well, and is a breeze and delight compared to working in hospitality.

I'm practically a local!

A field of tea. The tall plants aren't palms, they're betelnut trees.


What do you think is planted in this field? Pineapples!


Lanterns made by local schoolchildren


My friends take a break under a gazebo

I'm navigating through Taiwan like a pro! Here are just a few recent experiences worth mentioning:

1. The other day, someone at the train station asked me for directions and showed me piece of paper with Chinese scribbles. I'm thinking, great, of all the locals who are literate in this station, you come and ask ME. I guess I fooled her!

2. Taiwanese Specialties
I went to Nantou over the weekend with a friend of mine, who has a good friend living there. Nantou is south of Taipei, sort of in the middle of the island, a small agricultural town known for their tea and pineapple. You know you're in the boonies when there isn't a 7-11 around the corner! Anyways, us cityslickers wandered around town, got a few curious looks from the locals, and marveled at how much less things cost here compared to Taipei. We had a lot of fun eating very Taiwanese street food, such as freshly steamed buns stuffed with black sesame paste and ones filled with vegetables for breakfast, "meatballs" covered in a very thick tasty skin of starchy goo topped with sauce (my friend ate my meat filling, I ate the starchy goo), a bowl of savory white pudding, noodle soup with bamboo shoots and marinated napa cabbage, and of coarse, washed it all down with some pearl milk tea. Just realized I should have taken a picture of these delicacies, but that will only evoke more salivating. As a vegetarian, I have come to realize how invaluable it is to have a friend who is willing to eat my meat. haha.

3. Trash Pick-up in Taipei for Dummies:
All garbage must be contained in a government-issued trash bag that is light blue and has a special label on it. Trash bags are relatively expensive (approximately US$10 for 20 bags), but it also pays for the trash pick-up service, and we usually only generate 2-3 bags a week. Recycling is free and can be contained with any old bag, hence, locals LOVE to recycle. Trucks pick up 5 days a week for trash, with alternating days for certain recyclables, and stops at designated collection points. Trucks also come for a short window of time (7-8pm for our area), and you know they're coming by their flashing lights and sometimes they also play a ringtone version of Beethoven's Fur Elise. It's not unusual to see people with bags of garbage, waiting on the sidewalk for the truck to come by. In my 'hood, people come out with their kids and garbage in tow to the collection point at the local park about two blocks from my building. It's not so bad for us as we wait for the garbage to pile up and take it out once a week or so. For me, it is fun to see the cross section of life come out for this ritual, but once is enough. I'm not a fan of waiting for the trash truck, and I'm really missing being able to roll out my garbage once a week and have it picked up in front of my house. I really do miss my rolling trash can!

4. Maintenance
The doorbell rang this evening, it was our neighbors from upstairs coming to collect the monthly building management fee (HOA fees, for you Yanks). They were nice enough and explained to me that the tenants rotate managing the building, one month it is this unit, the next month another. I'm thinking, it sounds like no one person was willing to take on this responsibility, so they decided to do this ridiculous rotation to punish each unit once a year, but it seems be working. They also explained that the notice was posted downstairs and we're apparently the only unit that hasn't paid up. That figures, I have a habit of ignoring notices posted in the building, especially ones I can't read. It will be our unit's turn in another two months, and I hope to God that the building does not crumble to pieces under our stewardship simply because none of us can read Chinese very well.

Ruby Slippers

I just booked my flight back home. I will be back in the Bay Area March 2-26. Wheeeeee!!!!!

Firecrackers and Back to School

Empty car on the Taipei MRT (subway), as half of Taipei heads south for the New Year.


My Aunt and Great Aunt "Jimbo" riding the subway on New Year's Day.


High speed rail station in Tainan


My 3-year-old nephew. You can't see the Hello Kitty balloon he is holding, where HK is riding on a dolphin. Cute!!!

Hope you've all enjoyed your week off! Here's what happened this past week:

New Year's Eve (February 6th) is like Christmas Eve, where everyone comes together to enjoy a feast with the family. Dad and I celebrated at the house of my Aunt and Great Aunt "Jimbo", and we had a great time eating and talking.


At the stroke of midnight on New Year's day, hordes of people elbow each other at the temple in hopes of offering the first stick of incense, which is said to bring properity to the offerer. In the morning, hordes of people line up outside the major department stores waiting for a chance to win a prize in their New Year's Day raffle. People started lining up the evening before, but alas the scale of the prize did not correspond with their wait times - one person who waited 19 hours got a box of fruit, while another who waited a mere 12 hours won a shiny new car. Then there are the hordes of people (like myself, Aunt, and Great Aunt) who go to temple, praying and thinking good thoughts, and getting our umbrellas stolen...haha.

Then I high speed railed it to Tainan to spend a few days with my Aunt (my Mom's older sister) and her family. I saw a few family members for the first time, including my Uncle's teenage daughter, and my Aunt's precocious 3-year-old grandson, who loved pushing people's buttons and has the most adorable laugh whenever something breaks, crashes, or explodes. He also has the appetite of a kid twice his age! I also got to get to know my two little nieces and nephew, my cousin's children, teach them a bit of English, and listen to the little one correct me as I stammer my way through a children's storybook in Chinese.

Tainan is south of Taipei, approximately 4 hours by car and 1.75 hours by high speed rail. The rail line runs from Taipei to Kaoshiung in the south, which would normally take 6 hours by car, or roughly the same distance from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The system was designed by Japanese engineers, and sources say that even the Japanese were impressed at the smoothness of the ride. A good part of the rail line is elevated, and some parts in Taipei are tunneled. The rail stations are super modern, slick, and so clean that even the trash cans shine! The station in Taipei is particularly efficient as it is housed in the same station as the subway (or MRT), regular speed trains, and bus depot, and is right smack in the center of town. You can book your ticket online and pick it up at the station, and there's even a guy in an orange vest all ready to help you if you're a dork like me and had trouble working the machine eventhough the instructions were in English. It doesn't get any better, and as an urban planner, it nearly brought me to tears.

As I was walking to class this morning, I came across ear-bustingly loud firecrackers going off in front of store after store, leaving bits of red paper scattered like confetti. Staff from nearby businesses gathered around a pot of fire on the sidewalk, burning "gold paper" in hopes of greater prosperity for the coming year. This signals the end of the New Year holidays, and it's back to school for me!

You know you're a rat if...

Festive turnips


Inside a traditional market

Shin Nien Quai Luh (Happy New Year, in Mandarin)!! We are on the precipice of Chinese New Year, and Taipei is busy gearing up for the big day, which is this coming Thursday, February 7th.

Despite the consistent downpour of rain and unusually cold weather, the markets are bustling with people shopping for the big New Year's Eve feast. Fruit vendors large juicy Asian pears (bigger than my fist!) in beautifully wrapped shiny boxes, pineapple with bright red and gold ribbons, oranges and those miniature orange fruits that I think are called komquats. Tons of vendors are also selling preserved meat things encased in animal tissue and hanging from hooks, I believe the carnivores call these sausages. The banks are also packed with people who are trying to get crisp new bills to stuff into red envelopes, as you're apparently not supposed to give any old dingy money. At my bank, both of their ATM machines broke down and they're apparently out of crisp new bills. That figures, my bank never fails to disappoint!

As for my preparations, I've been busy cleaning the apartment, buying a new outfit, and buying delicious treats like nien gau or "grow cupcakes" (essentially the larger the cupcake, the greater your prosperity for the coming year).I'm going to see if I can make it out to the Dihua Street market later today, where they specialize in New Year's treats and paraphernalia, and it is supposed to be quite an experience just to walk through, elbow-to-elbow with the crowds, and sampling colorful sweets.

This will be the year of the Rat - you know you're a rat if you are going to be turning 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96, or 108 this coming year.