Girl's Day Out

Jennifer and Sabrina invited me to go shopping with them today. Many stores were still closed for the holiday, so we went to a large department store.  We had a late lunch...(which was Yammy!--hehe... mispelled signs everywhere in the food court!)

...and then after a bit more shopping, we realized it was already 5:30!  We set out to look for a specific tea house, but after about 30minutes of walking we found out it was closed.

We back tracked and went down this beautiful alley with many little shops and stands.  I've only been here during the day and thought that it looked just as nice lit up.  There were still many Chinese New Year decorations and lanterns.

We stopped and had some yummy traditional Tofu Pudding.  This had red beans, peanuts, and 'pearls'.

 

Jennifer loves sunglasses!

New Year's wishes printed on rabbit cutouts. 

This picture of the lanterns doesn't even do them justice!  They looked really cool!

Jennifer and I are standing in front of the Confucious Temple sign. (I think!)

Jennifer and Sabrina

We had such a nice day walking around and shopping!  :-)

Tomorrow I'll be going to the mountains with Bettie and Yuki to visit with Bettie's mother for the New Year.  I feel honored that I was invited!

Chinese New Year is upon us!

All the locals are gearing up for the most important time of the year--Lunar New Year!  They will be saying goodbye to the Year of the Tiger and hello to the 

Year of the Rabbit.

I've been practicing my 'Gong Xi Fa Cai!'  It literally means 'Wishing you good fortune in the new year.'  But people say it just like they would 'Happy New Year'.  My teacher said that people would really appreciate it if I said it to them, and that seems to be very true!  they are so nice here!  

Along with the saying, people usually give out a red envelope with money in it. The amount of money has to end with an even digit (lucky numbers) and odd numbers are associated with funerals. The red color is very prominent here as it symbolizes good luck and is supposed to ward off evil spirits.  I bought two of these envelopes for my teacher's daughters and put American dollars in them.  I wonder if they'll use them some day... :-)

In the next week or so, we are going to a lantern festival!  I'm so excited!  You write your wish for the new year of a piece of paper and put it in a red lantern.  Then people release the lanterns and they float away with your wish.

This is a picture of  a lantern festival:

 

I'll be sure to upload pictures of all the Chinese New Year festivities.  Stay tuned...

Nutty Carrot Fries?

Yes, please! I found a recipe for Nutty Carrot Fries and just had to make them myself! I loved it so much that I just had to share them with you!

I used smooth peanut butter (about 1.5 tbsp) with some EVOO (1tbsp) in a bowl and threw the carrots in the bowl to coat them.  Then I lined the baking sheet, sprinkled them with a bit of salt and into the 200degree Celsius oven they went.  I flipped them after 20 minutes and then baked them another 10minutes--they came out perfect.  SO YUMMY!!  You can also use parsnips.  I will definitely have to try those some day!

Here's a picture of Nutty Carrot and Parsnip Fries:

Taichung

I fell in love with Taichung as soon as I saw it!  I thought it was such a cool city and I'd love to visit again!  I spent my days walking around the city.  I am a firm believer that I experience the city better by walking than by riding a bike or scooter.  Here are a few pictures of my two days in Taichung:

The first day I needed to find a post office, but I found this temple first!

 Small canal

National Museum of Natural Science

Entry to the walkway up to the museum

Botanical Gardens

It's Year 100: Year of the Rabbit. There are rabbit displays and artwork everywhere.

 

I saw these ducks on the corner of the Art Museum!  They are made of wood, but they fooled me at first!  When I saw them I was already thinking about how I would get around them.  :)

Why are they giving this puppy beer?

This tree was so unique I just had to get a picture!

'Damn Sweet' Tea!

 Sun Cakes are famous in Taichung.  I had to get one with my afternoon tea.  It's a flaky pastry with a gooey middle. I just got the original flavor, but I picked up the brown sugar one for Aaron.  Yummy!

 

KTV

I uploaded some pictures today and realized I haven't shared my KTV pictures with you! I decided to make a collage for you:



This was my first KTV (karaoke) experience in Asia. We were celebrating a few birthdays (mine included!). We sang, danced, ate, and sang some more! I had no idea that people go to KTV in the middle of the day and stay until dinner. One of the ladies knew someone who worked at this KTV location and we had a VIP room and got free food! You can't beat that! :-)

At first I was a bit hesitant to sing, but everyone else was doing it, so I did too. I sang all the English songs they chose for me. Side note: Drinking would have improved both my singing. I might need to go back and try it again one evening.

Something to note about KTV in Taiwan--The songs tend to be sad and sappy Chinese songs. I really don't get that. I was leaning more toward singing Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, but sad love songs were most popular with the group.

Taichung

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful Birthday wishes, cards, and gifts!  I really appreciate your thoughtfulness!

I'm sorry I've been MIA this past week!  I don't really have a good excuse, except that I'm staying busy by exploring the city.  I met a girl from Nashville (of all places!) and we've been to a few new places in Tainan. It's cool that I'm now the person to show someone around town. AND helping with a bit of Chinese!! ;-)  After 2.5 months here, I'm happy that there is still so much to see and do.  Plus I still have the rest of the country to experience...yay! 

We are actually in Taichung right now.  Aaron had to come here for business, so I tagged along to see what Taichung has to offer.  I REALLY like it so far!  It's so different from Tainan, which was pretty surprising to me. Tainan was the old capital and is really known for its history, traditional food, and culture, whereas Taichung is a city with high rises, modern shops, ethnic food, large museums, and a night life.  :-)  Taichung is the 3rd largest city in Taiwan.

When I finish taking pictures tomorrow, I'll be sure to post them!

Mahjong

My homework from today's Chinese lesson is to study the Mahjong tiles. Chinese New Year is approaching and many families play this game together. I have only played the computer version, but it is quite different than the real deal. The best way to play is with 4 players. I'm sure Aaron will have all these pieces memorized in a few minutes so I need to start studying. I'll start with the numbers...
I hope I have them in the correct order! ;-)






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