About Me

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Yilan, Taiwan
I just returned back to the States after 11 years in Taiwan with my daughter. Taiwan is an excellent base for us explore Asia, while living in relative (gun free) safety, while benefiting from a cheap and efficient national health care system. The people are amazing too. I have Taiwanese friendships that are 20 years old and I'm always making new ones! My coworker here in CO is from Taiwan.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Thoughts on Thanksgiving

Its that time of year again to be reminded to cultivate thankfulness. The other day my daughter asked me what "mashed potatoes were" after I explained what Americans usually do and eat on Thanksgiving. When I explained how to make them she said, "yuck, gross!" and I laughed. Of course Taiwan has potatoes and I occasionally buy them to make baked potatoes or hash browns, but she prefers sweet potatoes. In her English class she made  turkey hand print arts and crafts and learned about 'pilgrims and Indians.' The other night on the scooter she asked me "why did the English people leave England and come to America?"

Really I love Thanksgiving, the food, the fellowship, the 4 day weekend. But my conscious does bother me that I am somehow perpetuating the myth of a first Thanksgiving feast where the Indigenous and White colonists were passing and puffing the pipe of peace. There is this image of one big pot-luck of everyone bringing something to the table, but really if the Native Americans were teaching the colonists how to survive, I doubt the colonists contributed anything to the meal. It really is one big feel good holiday to subdue, contain and mask White guilt for the theft and geneocide of North America (in my humble opinion.) While I am channeling Lisa Simpson, please do not get too annoyed at my bursting the bubble on such a wonderful, family holiday.

I am all for teaching my child and students that cultivating thankfulness is akin to cultivating the presence of God. That gratitude is  a lifestyle and not just the name of a holiday. That being thankful for what I have keeps me out of any depressive self pity, coveting for more than I need, and that I actually get a lot help from friends.

Yet is is good to have a holiday and time of year to remind me that gratitude is worth celebrating. If only White America would come to terms with history, take responsibility I think the ripple effects of healing would be worldwide.

Thanks for my Taiwan adventure, thanks for employment, for my daughter and our health, for health care and living in a country where I do not have to worry about affordable access to medicine, dentists, care. For mild 70 degree Fahrenheit winters, tropical fruit and sea food. Thanks for my daughter's fluent Mandarin and my chance to learn it. For friends that help me when I need them most, for friends far away where we easily pick up where we left off. Thanks for Skype and seeing my parents every weekend. Thanks for a long lunch and a gym just around the corner. I am thankful to live in Tainan near the beach. Thanks for a simple life, for not owning too much. Thanks for Grace that covers me so that I never lack.


Sunday, November 28, 2010

Weekend Fellowship: Sunday at Guanzihling Hot Springs


The day after I met up with Eric in Yuanlin I went to enjoy some hot springs in Tainan County with Grace and family. I have been to hot springs in Taiwan in Beitou and Yangmingshan in Taipei City which are Sulfuric, Jhiben in Taitung County, and Dungpu and Lushan in Nantou County. There are so many hot springs on my list!


It was about a 2 hour drive there from our place in Anping (maybe less, but with Z and Grace's 2 sons playing and yelling in the back next to me it felt longer.) Before we took a dip we walked around an old temple built during the Japanese Colonial period, walked down numerous stairs into a valley on the side of a small hill that had a large Matsu statue surrounded by lotus and we walked the grounds before checking out the temple and outdoor eatery stalls near the water/fire display. The bee man selling honey (real honey as so much if it sold here is fake, or a mix) gave us bottles of free honey water for us and the kids (Grace is a beauty).







At the temple entrance a poem that can be read up/down, or right to left

We went to Grace's favorite bath house to soak, its not the best looking place, there are some new, snazzy hotels with hot springs water pumped into your bathroom tub that are lining the main road. She took me to the original Japanese established bathhouse, which looks its age. The water was fabulous, the smell was not the strong sulfuric, hard boiled egg smell I imagined. It smelled strangely of Chinese medicine. The water was a muddy gray and Z and I had our own huge bath room to ourselves.  After about an hour we were getting restless, I could of easily dozed off. I went in intervals from a soak where I was sweating to a cooling off/rest and found a game Z could play with the differnt shapes/sizes of water buckets. The only nuisance was my door didnt lock properly and when it did lock the owner had to unlock it for us to get out.
Japanese era bath house
After we  put our clothes on, I literally felt things moving around in my gut, there was alot of activity happening. Not like gas or cramps, but something was changing inside, I never felt that after a hot springs before. The  medicinal properties are said to "treat skin disease, neuralgia, and gastrointestinal disorders, " due to the high levels of alkaline and iodine. I imagined the ph balance was changing in my organs or something, there was some kind of chemical reaction going on. I'm sure the iodine was great for my thyroid.
Grace with the kids walking around town beside the mineral waters

Grace and her husband treated us to lunch which consisted of a nutritious Chicken garlic soup (free range), mountain veggies, fresh craw fish and fried noodles. Before we drove back to Tainan we stopped at Baihe Reservoir to take a walk, there were lovely views of the water being framed by misty mountains.
Baihe Reservoir


More than one website said, " With the exception of the Sicilian hot springs and the Japanese Kagoshima hot springs , the Taiwanese Guanzihling hot springs are the only other hot springs of this kind." For a detailed listing of hot springs click here: Hot Springs Listing . For more details click: Hot Springs in Taiwan .
Fire and Water
References:
http://www.go2taiwan.net/product.php?pid_for_show=24
http://www.saunas.com/FAQ%27s/Saunas%20of%20the%20World/taiwanhotspring.aspx



Saturday, November 27, 2010

Another day in paradise and misunderstandings

You know when life throws a shit pie in your face and you could let it go, some people's natural personality is to let it go and other people's personality is to throw one back and still others is to try and make some sense of it and go back point by point and try and find the truth because it all matters too much. Well that  was my Friday at SF (my workplace and Z's school). Another issue happened with A my manager at SF, and this time it has to do with Zen my daughter. Now I know why Taiwan does not have girls softball teams or girls soccer over here.

I got called into A's office because Z kicked s kid's shoe (the foot was not inside). A said Zen has a "kicking problem" and "kicking habit" (which is not true) and is a potential danger to other children. Of course I question her motive I told her I felt this was her critical spirit of fault finding and I felt we were under her magnifying glass again. Z's teachers and I have a rapport and they never mentioned anything about a kicking problem. She made some outrageous statement to me that had to be heard to be believed, my owner was there as an "objective" witness, (she was anything but objective) . My natural inclination is to defend my daughter and question A's line of reasoning and motive.

I kid you not, the principal, (my manager) wanted to know what changes in our routine interaction my daughter and I have had lately (as if that is her business). I told her I drop her off at a playmates for my Thurs night yoga class, she has been coming to my Friday night kickboxing class, and that we rough house all the time. She replied that it was maybe inappropriate to bring her to my kickbox class, and that I should not play rough house w/her. I replied that wrestling and rough-housing was a way we bonded and that my Dad and bros did it all the time and we never had any social problems at school. She replied, "well Taiwanese parents dont play that way with their kids"  " I am not Taiwanese" . Then she said vehemently, "well you are in Taiwan now so you have to start doing it our way." And then as a bonus she added, "plus Z is a girl and shouldnt be playing that way anyway." I was so livid I could of soiled my pants right then and there. This is coming from a woman who prides herself on her MA in Child Development from an American university- I mean it was blatant sexism and cultural bias (ethno-centrism) in the same breath. Obviously this was not a conversation, but I chose to be difficult and not just shake may head and agree and brush it off.

Z has had a some cultural adjustments to contend with. I think the first year and a half was hard for her, but I think she has made real progress for a toddler/preschooler. First there was the language barrier and then there was the space issue. Everywhere we go strangers come up to us, (to her) and pinch her cheek, touch her hair tell her how cute she is , give her candy, take her picture on their cell phone w/o asking me or her. She hates the extra attention, she doesnt like to be touched by strangers and she has a blood sugar sensitivity. I think some of her behavior has been a reaction to these adjustments. Now she can speak Mandarin, now she is the one who is exploring other people's space at school (she is a very physical, hyper kid, who grabs her friends and gives them big hugs when she seems them, which is NOT what Taiwanese people do.) So she has been learning how to appropriately respect people's space, not hug them or tickle them, etc. For a 4 1/2 year old I think she is absolutely fabulous.




Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Weekend Fellowship: Saturday in Yuanlin

This weekend I was blessed being with old and recently new friends. I knew this weekend I was going to meet up with Eric my old roommate from my Taipei days. I could have gone up to Taichung and met up with him and his old friend Andy, but I really wanted to meet his family, which were in Yuanlin.

About 9 years ago we both were squatting in an abandoned, condemned apartment building in Chuwei, just around the corner from the Kid Castle I used to work at. I sure saved some money living there. We had cable TV, internet, water, electricity. The things you do when you're young I guess. At the time he was just ending  a relationship with a woman  from Sweden and dating some Taiwanese women, one whom became one of my best friends (Alisse). He is from Santa Monica and has been to Thailand a  crazy number of times, plus India and so many other places, used to have a guru, etc. When we lived together he was always in purple Thai fisherman's pants and always was talking about karma, God and his relationships. And now after all these years we both are parents. He is married to a wonderful Taiwanese American woman named Diane and they are blessed with little Shanti, who has the cutest little voice I have ever heard. Poor doll was covered in mosquito bites and Eric was worried that it was something else.
Holding two angels


It was great seeing him waiting at the train station. Eric still looked the same just a little silver around his ears, but none the worse, now he is looking distinguished. Eric is the creator of the Happy Cow website that is an international guide to vegan and vegetarian restaurants. He was working on it back in the day and now he has people working under him and has been offered tons of money to sell his site. (He turned down the offers because he didn't believe their principles were as similar as his.)

It was a rainy day and we were kind of stuck indoors. Diane's mom had lunch prepared, which was hot and delicious. Brown fried rice, veggies, mushroom and chicken soup, fried fish and a homemade anchovy chili paste which she gave me 2 jars of. For dessert we had fresh fruit and lots of Oolong tea. We tried staying inside as long as we could. Zen was climbing the walls and it was past the girls nap times, we were all a little antsy. We decided to take a walk find a foot massage and McD's for the girls to play in the indoor playground, etc. As soon as we left the building, Shanti fell asleep so Diane took her back and Eric and I took Zen to the McD's to play as the park was out of the question in this weather. Eric commented ",you sold out!" and I did, now me a vegetarian of 17 years eating meat. "But my thyroid" I explained, my Doc told me...yadayada he didn't buy it, yet the both of us can't eat soy anymore. "Have you heard about spirulina?" he asks. Of course, I'm from Denver and it's still not enough to convince me to go back to vegetarianism, 'tho I miss being a food snob sometimes.
Zen and Shanti watching cartoons

We went walking around looking for  a massage. Diane caught up with us and we took a taxi around the corner to a row of massage houses. We ended up with a 600NT foot massage, 20 minutes foot saok with a mediocre neck massage followed by a  foot massage. Eric being a massage therapist, was unimpressed by his neck massage, but we both were in slight pain and discomfort at certain pressure points in our feet. Our two men giving us our foot massage assumed we were a couple and Diane told them in Chinese " No he is with me, she is his old friend from Tainan." And she left early and walked back to her mom's as they had their mom's cell phone and couldnt call her to tell them they would be late, and when she left she paid for my foot massage which increased my relief.
Eric and me getting a nice foot massage.


We walked back to the train station Zen throwing a fit that I wouldn't hold her, 'tho it was not much of a walk and I was tired and said, "fine, you stay here I'm walking to the station", which was mean and I regretted it later. After I bought our return ticket, Eric raced to the vegetarian place and bought us a lunch box and raced back to us on our platform minutes before our train came. Hugs good-bye and wow, it was good to see him again. If I make it to LA in March we will hang out again.








Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Chinese Medicine Part 3: When it hurts

We live in a toxic world, no matter how well you sleep, how loyal you are with your exercise, and diet. With work and stress it is easy to get out of balance. When Taiwanese get out of balance and become tired, with back ache, neck ache, poor sleep head ache, they quickly get some traditional treatment before making the appointment to see the Doctor. Part of a healthy regimen or as a treatment there is massage 按摩 an (4th) mo(3rd), cupping ba(3rd)guan(4th) , cupping with bleeding 血  fang (4th) xie(3rd), and scraping sha(1st) gua(1st). If those do no work then it is off to the Doctor.

I try to get a massage twice a month. I would do more if I could afford it. The woman I have been going to does the deep tissue, Chinese acupressure massage. It is excruciating. I am making animal grunts and my face is contorting into grimaces of pain and torture, but afterward I am as loose as a goose and everything is all worked out. Occasionally she will give me some cupping therapy, occasionally I go get some cupping somewhere else. She charges 800 NT for an hour and half, I usually go during my lunch break. She doesn't speak any English and I have been going to hers for almost 2 years and it such a blessing because I hold stress in my neck and shoulders and with training so hard at the gym as well, its just wonderful.

When I lived in Korea the parents of some of my students were Traditional Chinese medicine doctors. Every Monday during lunch me and 2 co-workers would go for treatment. First she would start out with having tea with us and she was very intuitive. For their particular constitution my coworkers usually got moxibustion, and I always got cupping and blood letting along with acupuncture. The blood letting is used with the same cups (like glass jars), they suction your skin into the cup and instead of leaving you there for some minutes, after the blood rises to the top, they get a little pin and start jabbing you and all the "bad blood" is released. It feels great. They show you what the blood looks like and it isn't the nice red liquid that you would think but dark, congealed, blobs, that looks like grape jelly. When I was in London I found a set of cupping jars (plastic) and bought it. It is now in  my folks home in storage, but whenever I went home I had my my mom help me (to her utter disgust.)
Photo taken of me in Seoul, S.Korea of cupping/blood letting.
I see some of my students come to class with their necks scraped raw. They were probably coming down with something and their folks used scraping to release the "bad chi". It really works. I have seen people use the lids from their Tiger Balm for scraping and I have 2 little tools for scraping/acupressure massage, one that is wood and the other stone.

Any of the above treatments can be done at home, the Chinese Medicine Doctor or the neighborhood traditional massage place of business (not to be confused with other types of massage places).


Friday, November 5, 2010

Traditional Chinese Medicine Part 2: Menstrating in Taiwan

Every ladies favorite topic of conversation (not really) but it does come up eventually (no pun intended). Ok there are no tampons here with applicators you have to buy the little "O-b's". The ladies here do not like to insert alien objects into their bodies no matter how convenient it is and this is not  a culture of swimmers (its the rare adult who knows how to swim well), so really there is no need for tampons. Thus there is only one kind of tampon to chose from. When I lived in Taipei I literally had to draw a diagram to show my co-workers how to insert a tampon (that was not the only diagram I drew for her, haha). When I went home for Chinese New Year, I brought back a hug ziplock bag stuffed with 'heavy' applicator tampons (who needs a tampon when its a 'light' day?) There are plenty of maxi pads to choose from, from all sizes, the night time ones are like adult diapers (Depends).

Better yet, when my co-worker (who just happens to be from Denver) went back to the Mile High City I had her pick up a bag of tricks from my folks. I had my folks go to Whole Foods or Vitamin Cottage and buy me a "Diva Cup". While my poor Dad was stuck buying it for me he ran into my friend who said she would give me a box of her "Instead" a disposable kind of Diva Cup. So I went through a box of "Instead" before I tried the "Diva Cup". The insertion still takes some getting used to. I have to roll it up and stuff it in and it seems to unroll in the process and its not pleasant, but better than inserting toxic cotton used with bleach purposely to induce more bleeding for corporate profit.  And then there is the whole business of taking it out. The vagina naturally suctions th cup into place as it collects the blood, so you have to pull and tug to get it our and when you do, its like a little BOOM of an explosion. With the "Instead" you just throw it away, but with the Diva Cup you dump it in the toilet, rinse it in the sink and reinsert, lessons my carbon footprint after years of maxi pads and tampons.

Taiwanese women during their period are more concerned with internal health, keeping the belly warm by eating warming foods.  Anything red, red beans, red dates (for the immune system), red jujube are added to stews or drunk in tea with warming ginger. Of course black sesame oil has a powerful heating effect and is added to foods. There is a sesame chicken soup, Doreen told me about that I made. Heat some ginger and garlic in alot of sesame oil, add half a bottle of rice wine, half water, add chicken, boil, simmer til all alcohol gone, add a dash of some dark brown sugar and salt to taste. Taiwanese women also add some fermented long grain sticky rice to their soup. Doreen likes a spoonful on a poached egg. I bought some made of the purple rice. Anything fermented is healthy for the immune system and intestinal flora. A Taiwanese women would defiantly not eat or drink anything cold during her period. Her period, like the time after a woman gives birth is an ample opportunity to assist the body in renewing herself. So when the period is finished it is time to eat '4 things soup.'

Here the young women refer to their period as "M.C." . The medical term is 月經 yue(4ht) jing(1st). More derogatory is  your "big aunt (mother's sister)"   da (4st) yi(2nd) ma(4th), speaking of which I am still amazed at how many Chinese words there are for aunt! Father sister, uncle's wife, wife of father's elder brother, wife of father's younger brother, about 8 different words for different kinds of aunts, everyone has their place in a Confucius society, and then English only has one word "aunt".

There are stories and I have seen it myself with my friend, who before giving birth were weak, not very strong, fragile or just average health and then after giving birth and having that month of having been (force) fed stews of meat with Chinese medicine, now they have radiant health, vibrant, looking better than before. I try to do a little of that every month.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Whats in a name

Hi my name for a few weeks was  貝 凯 言(Bei Kai Yan). 貝 (4th)  is a shell and a radical and pictograph for "money".  凯Kai (3rd) means "victory" and 言 Yan (2nd) is "speech, words". It sort of sounds like my real name.

My name used to be艷, until a friend told me it was the name of a "lady of the night'/Chinese stripper/ancient Chinese consort name so of course I had to change my Chinese name again. But then all my other Taiwanese friends said they definitely did not get that feeling from that name, so I went back to it.

Finding a Chinese name has been an interesting process and I have learned a lot about characters and how Taiwanese people find a name, their first impression when they hear it, etc.
 
In Chinese, the family name is first xìng = surname (specifically a paternal surname), followed by the given name míng or míngzì 名字. Chinese also have a nickname chuòhào 绰号. When they are born their parents usually give them a 'milk name' rŭmíng 乳名 before deciding on their personal name after consulting an astrologer.


A lot of foreigners get their Chinese name based on the sounds of their western name. I have always believed the meaning of a name has the power to ordain or preordain someones destiny or identity, if they realize this or not. Chinese people think along the same lines as me and names are so important they will consult an astrologer/numerologist to come up with the most auspicious name. Also there is also the whole business of how it sounds, the number of strokes the character has, if a name is being passed down the family and like us, if it will be ridiculed by their classmates in school.


I had  a great idea for my daughter's name Zhen-Ya, but my Taiwanese friends preferred it Ya-Zhen, as it sounds better to their ear and I have to take their word for it.  Astrology and numerology aside, my daughter's was easier to come up with a Chinese name. I liked the meaning of 'treasure' zhen and her given name is (yaTone 3zhen) 'elegant treasure'. She has been using that one for sometime now and as it is quite common I am debating whether to change it or not, but it does sound nice.

For myself, I decided to go more for the meaning than something than sounded like my English name (Kathy   kǎ dì). My former Chinese teacher Kevin helped me with my first Chinese name. I wanted something with mountains since I come from CO, but I like forests so I picked the very common surname of  林 (Lin) which makes sense since I was born a 'wood tiger'. He made my first name sounds like (jiaTone 1yuTone 2) 嘉瑜 which is the opposite of yoga which is 瑜珈 (yuTone 2 jiaTone 1).  Thus my my first full Chinese name was 林嘉瑜  a kind of spin off of the more traditional玉 .Whenever I said 林嘉瑜   it it just felt wrong, so I knew eventually I would change it.

By own research I can up with Yan Yan 艷 (beautiful words).
  • 言 yanTone 2  words, speech; speak, say 
  • 艷  yanTone 4 beautiful, sexy, voluptuous
It felt like "mine" and I confirmed with Doreen my friend (and language exchange partner) and she loves it too. In fact I wanted a whole new surname to go with it and we had it it down to two: 清 Qing and Du 杜 after the Tang dynasty poet 杜甫 .  The character 肚 means belly, to me the seat/core/gut of creative energy. But after other friends' responses I also do not want to give a bad impression, so I had nix this one too.


 So my new and improved Chinese name, which I love and hope this is the "one" is:
貝 凯

Here are some links I found if you do not have great Taiwanese friends:
http://www.chinesetools.eu/names/
http://csymbol.com/chinese_name.html
http://www.mandarintools.com/chinesename.html
http://goodcharacters.com/names/get_a_chinese_name.html


Like always, when in doubt ask your Taiwanese friends for advice.




Friday, October 29, 2010

Traditional Chinese Medicine Part 1: Food as Medicine

Taoist principles are apart of ever day Chinese cuisine and health. The Taiwanese look at food as medicine (or poison). Depending on the season, weather, time of day, a woman's menstrual cycle, etc, the Taiwanese can adjust their food/cooking to balance their body harmony and keep in health. All food can be divided into hot or cold (yin or yang), Typically, the Taiwanese try to avoid cold food for optimum health. Cold food doesn't mean just the temperature, but also its yin energy, like watermelon or citrus fruits. When a Taiwanese person is sick, they avoid all yin food, which is the opposite of Americans, when we are sick we eat oranges. All food is also composed of 5 flavors(sweet, sour, spicy, bitter, pungent) which correspond with the 5 elements (water, fire, earth, wood,metal) found in food, the body and all of nature; these in turn stimulate specific organs in the body. It can get very specific depending how deep you want to go, but the masters of this are the traditional Chinese medicine doctors and Taoist shifus. Really every plant, mushroom, meat has some kind of medicinal value and a specific combination can of course have stronger effects on the body. There is still the thinking that if you eat a specific organ you will gain that organ's strength, for example eating pig brain makes you smarter.

For the lay person or the average mom like me, this is what you cook, certain soups to heat the body. You can buy these soups in the local grocery store or the local traditional Chinese pharmacy where they have jars of herbs, fungi, dried endangered animal parts (like whole seahorses), etc and you buy by the weight. The following soups are the most common and based on plants although they are supposed to be cooked with meat, most likely pork or chicken. Thanks to my Taiwanese friend Doreen who is a "foodie" and wonderful cook. This is her advice: You just boil water, and put the herbs which are probably in muslin inside your pot like a tea and infuse. When the water is very dark add your chicken and simmer all. Add salt to taste, maybe a little rice wine and black sesame  oil for further heating properties. You can leave your herb muslin pouch in your pot as long as you want, it all depends how strong you want the flavor and the medicinal value. Typically you do not add vegetables in these. (I have to restrain myself from adding carrots, celery, etc, western style). If you want veggies make them in a side dish. Chinese cabbage is probably the only veg that will do in these.

Four things soup (si wu tang): This soup is composed of 4 main ingredients and used for women's health as a tonic for the uterus and productive hormones after her period (not to be eaten during!). It is also given to women after they give birth. It stimulates the balance of hormones, and the circulation. It has angelica root and lotus root. It is supposed to be cooked with chicken or pork in a soup. It can also be cooked with milk fish.

Eight Treasure Soup (ba zhen tang ): This soup is like they one above but only stronger, its has 8 key ingredients rather than four. It very much stimulates heat in the body and should be avoided if a person already has a lot of yang energy anyway. So if you are always thirsty and breaking out, do not drink this one.

Ten Gentlemen Soup 十  (shi junzi tang): Since men are more important (joke) they get 10 key ingredients. Most Chinese medicine for men has only specific goal in mind and thats to get the blood flowing to one area, take your guess where. Men no matter the culture share one common trait, that singleness of mind. Before there was Viagra there was this soup which is probably thousands of years old. Most of the terrible consequences of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), like the almost extinction of seahorses and other endangered animals come from men seeking to prolong erections. Having said that, women can drink this soup too if they want, it wont increase their testosterone or anything, just increase their blood pressure and circulation.

Four Spirits Soup (si shen tang ): This soup is traditionally drunk by children to increase their appetite and promote good digestion. Children like it because it does not have that dark color like the above soups, nor does it have the 'mediciny' flavor like the above. It is white in color and should be cooked with chicken or pork. You can add some carrots. Of course adults can drink this soup too to promote healthy digestion.

This is just a sample of how food is medicine and these 4 soups are probably the most commonly used in a typical Taiwanese household. I try to eat Four things soup 湯 once a month and it is safe for my daughter to eat too (although she will just eat the chicken).


Thursday, October 28, 2010

Moon Festival 中秋

Last month on the autumn equinox was the 中秋  (zhongTone 1 qiuTone 1)Moon Festival or mid-Autumn Festival. Festivities differ depending on region. In Taiwan it is a time for families to get together eat BBQ, blow off fireworks and fingers and eat. Just do not point directly at the moon because Taiwanese tradition says your face will be scratched up. (Don't ask, I am just telling you what numerous sources told me).

Last year I went down the street to Anping Harbor and walked around the family crowds with friends, ducking between the fireworks, carrying Z, trying not to get our heads blown off. It was very smoky and sounded like a war zone. I literally picked up Z like a football and ran in and out of explosions. This year my friend Grace invited me to go with her husbands family in Tainan County for some moon festival BBQ fun. Her son Jeffrey and his best friend Ethan are also Z's best friends/classmates so it all works out.

Megan and Cyprus
The day before my coworker and former housemate Megan (also from CO) gave birth to her firstborn. I visited her and then unnamed son (now Cyprus) and happy father admiring the new baby. New babies are great, makes me think of my experience good and bad. It made me miss nursing, but definitely not the sleepless nights!


Grace and family and Ethan and his mom Kelly picked us up and went to their family's shrimp farm where an old uncle harvested us a couple of buckets of fresh shrimp and fish to take back to the BBQ. On their fish farm they have their grandfather's grave and from there  a a beautiful view to the gigantic Buddhist temple complex, which we visited before going to the family home.

It was a nice evening of few mosquitoes and lots of meat. The kids were playing with sparklers. A fat uncle would light them up for the kiddies and he later would go behind one of the cars to light the big fireworks. It would all be illegal in the States, even the sparklers so I enjoyed that aspect of it although the kids were frightened of the loudness of the explosions and really they were too loud to appreciate their beautiful colors.

It was a late night for a school night. I enjoyed Grace and Kelly's company. Z was in heaven playing with her friends. I think we really got to appreciate what the Moon Festival is all about which is fellowship and family.


 
 
 
 


 

Saturday, October 23, 2010

What to bring to Taiwan

If you have been living in Taiwan and are returning home for holiday or family obligations, then your friends and co-workers will have already given you their lists. My friend went back to London and brought me back some Harrogate of Yorkshire loose leaf. But if  you are a newbie and have kids you still might not know what to bring. A new friend moving to Taichung with her daughters recently asked me what to bring and about making friends for her daughters, etc.

This is a bit of my email back to her:

Usually when I go to a new country or travel its very quick for me to connect w/ kindred spirits. But this time it took me about 6 months to find people I connected deeply with and find people my age w/kids. But thats me, I would not say that will happen for you. Most of my coworkers are 10 years younger than me and no kids so we dont have so much in common, but I do have some very close friends now. Most of dear friends here are Taiwanese. I lived in Taipei, Tamsui for 1 1/2 years in 2000-2002 to pay off my undergrad loan and I made friends for life there, who still come visit me and vice versa.

Hiring a maid or even an older auntie to help w/the kids is very cheap. You dont need to bring anything, no bedding, clothes, electric equipment uses the same voltage as in the States and you can find anything and everything here. I do recommend bringing  vitamins, supplements, essential oils as what you can find here is sparse and not good quality--there are no Whole Foods here and the small mom and pop health food stores dont have big supplies or much variety. Also if you are very tall, have big feet or in my case a big butt you will find alot of the clothes wont fit, but in bigger cities like Taichung and Taipei there are neighborhoods w/alot of foreigners and stores that carry bigger sizes. Taiwanese women have flat asses and I definitely dont so that can make for probs buying pants. All the bras here are super padded w/lots of under-wire, I just cut the under-wire out as for me I think its unhealthy. I-phones are cheaper in the States, if you brought some back you could make some $ in Taichung w/ the foreigners for sure!

I think if you join a gym, chinese class, tai chi or an english speaking church, etc you will meet more foreigners. Take your girls to the park and you will meet the same kids and their folks everyday, thats how I met my Chinese "parents". Taiwanese are super-friendly and they absolutely adore kids, you will actually be annoyed at how much attention you all get. Its very bothersome to always be bombared w/ attention, strangers touching your kids faces, taking their photo w/ their cellphone w/o asking etc. You will get so much attention and invitation to tea, dont worry about meeting people and making friends, it will definately not be a problem for you or your daughters. Taiwanese parents actually force their kids to talk to me or my daughter to practice their English so I dont think finding playmates for them will be a problem.

Xiao Liuqiu Yu

A view of the beach from the road. We later went back to this beach near the end of our trip.
Bihn and Erica picked us up bright and early as we drove 2 hours outside of Pindong to catch the 30 minute ferry from Dongang to Baishe Harbor in Xiao Liuo Xiou. I have been wanting to go there for some time, especially since my former coworkers always went and raved about it. Both Bihn and Erica were worried about getting seasick and forgot about buying some motion sickness meds at the pharmacy. I knew Z and I would be fine, especially after our island hopping around Penghu. The ferry ride was packed and undramatic. After we docked we were bombarded with agressive middle aged women trying to rent us their scooters and followed one them back and rented scooters for 200NT for the day. I brought Z's helmet and we were off.



Lingshan Temple on the cliff
 Our first stop right around the corner and on the cliff was the Lingshan Temple overlooking the sea. It was about 9 am and I was already sweating, the sun was strong and I was glad to have the sun on my skin. I lathered up Z w/ sunscreeen and checked out the temple. In some strangeway it reminded me of Haife, Israel and the Ba'hai temple/shrine overlooking the sea there. There was this huge coral rock above a water well and Z enjoyed plopping rocks into it as we snapped photos. We went back to 7-11 for batteries, water and snacks and hopped on our scooters following the road around the coast.
Lingshan Temple




The island was bigger than I imagined. I guess I imagined something like on of the smaller islands of the Pengu archipelago, but Xiao Liuqiu had a few roads that somehow intersected each other and we stopped sometimes to check out our maps. The next stop was some observation center that was void of people. We went down some spooky steps that looked dangerous and a bit flooded that opened out to a nice pavilion (and clean toilets) to admire the radiantly clean turquoise water.



We kept going and stopped at another temple, followed the road behind it and looked for a beach. What we found were people wading in calf length water, kids playing, some aunties catching something edible. There were sea urchins, different varieties of seaweed and starfish (which Z was loving). With the tropical sun shining down, it had this dazzling effect, of making everything sparkle and shimmer. The colors of  the rock were amethyst and coruscating with the different colors of fish, sea weeds, looking like jewels. It had this otherworldly feel. We kept exploring and found water filled caverns to wade through and squeeze through and were rewarded with hidden coves and beaches. It was magical, I felt like some kind of water faerie.

In fact, Erica took a picture of me and she said "you're glowing" and I said "no I'm sweating" and she replied " No I mean you're glowing white like a ghost!" And I was! Me so olive and tanned, I was turning into phosphorescence. I used photo editing software in the picture and adjusted the light to tone it down so I could have some skin color, these rocks and whatever jewels were in the water had some kind of ethereal effect on me.





When we were starting to get hungry we got back on our scooters and looked for a place to eat. We stopped at an overlook to admire some beautiful beaches (which we returned to later) and stopped for an ice coffee and ice-cream across from a hiking trail crowded with tourist buses (which we decided to forgo) and kept on going looking for a place to eat. I secretly prayed for a nice place and Erica stopped at the water rescue center and we went to  a place they recommended in the middle of the island. It looked very nice inside, very clean, table cloths, clean bathroom and empty. We ordered and were almost finished when the crowds came. They served a seaweed salad only found on this island which was good. We had orange fish, pork, a nice  fried rice. The meat sauce was just too sweet, it really wasn't for me but I ate it, of course Z didn't like it, but with Bihn's influence (who is her teacher) she managed to eat something.



After lunch Z was getting very tired and falling asleep on the bike. I knew that a melt down would be inevitable considering I had to get her up at the crack of dawn and she wasn't going to get a nap. Bihn wanted to check out the Lobster Cave which ended up being a waste, we followed the coast road, went to the nice white sand beach by the harbor, but I didnt like the vibe there. The sand was nice, white and soft, but it was small, crowded with tour buses, a parking lot full of more tourists and no shade. We went back to find those beaches we admired in the morning.

On the way we stopped at some shops near 7-11 to buy me something to swim in as I was dying to really get wet and I forgot our suits. Of course most of them looked like grandma swimming suits and I ended up with surfer shorts which was fine. Z had a whopper of a meltdown providing comic relief (and fear?) to the locals.  Z wanted me to buy her this beach dress. I didn't have the money and I knew I could get it cheaper in Tainan so I said ,"no." But when she has her mind set on something she is as stubborn as they come and I had to pick her up kicking and screaming acting like a wild banshee, she was not letting go of that dress she even was holding onto it with her teeth and I thought, "well I'm gonna have to but it anyways now." I was kind of too tired to care and Bihn wanted to give it a go with her and talk it out w/ her. Bihn was saying if she calmed down and whatnot Bihn would buy her the dress and I was like, "Bihn forget it, she lost it back there, don't reward her". Its kind of like bribing her to calm down. I understand she is beyond tired, but biting dresses is nuts. I sat her on the curb and told her of she didn't calm down I was going to ask these aunties to watch her for a couple of hours so I can enjoy the rest of my day. That was enough to calm her down and get her on the bike. After we were mobile she started talking morbid thoughts beyond the level of a 4 year old about death and dying (I cant remember exactly what she said, only that I was disturbed by it), stopped the scooter and said, "that's enough!" and after that she was fine.



Z, Erica and Bihn exploring the otherworldly coral coves. 

We found one of those beaches, which up close didnt have nice sand, lots of coral but in our tired states we still managed to chill and enjoy the end of the day. The sun was now not so strong. Erica crashed like a beach bum in the shade of some rocks, I plopped myself on some driftwood and Bihn and Z farmed seaweed. Z loves the water so she was in a prefect mood after that. When the sun was getting cooler we headed back to the harbor. On our way we made an accidental detour near Beauty Cave. Outside the Coco Resort was the most beautiful, quaint guesthouses (like cabins) overlooking a green field beside the turquoise sea. Not to be confused with the place next to it that was sandwiched w/ cabins and looked like a nice option for next years staff trip.



When I saw this place, I imagined it as a nice place to have a casual, no frills style beach wedding (not exactly beach) where the view is more important than the dress. They only had a handful of cabins, maybe 5 or six, including breakfast and a dinner BBQ. We made plans to come back and stay there. It looked very romantic. I can picture me sipping something, book in one hand overlooking Z running in the green grass, us having breakfast in front of our little cabin overlooking the sea. Sunsets must be stunning there. The air was clean and we could sea Kaohsiung out in the distance. Hard to believe that a place so close to Kaohsiung could be that clean.

Erica found an English school near the harbor and wow I considered for a moment what it might be like making a life here.We headed back to Dongang and took a detour outside of Pingdong to have some famous pork knuckles. I didnt like the pork meat, it wasn't like meat, it had this jelly consistency (" hen Q!"). In my defense I am a recent meat eater and didn't grow up in a home eating pork and after that was a vegetarian for 17 years. I was diagnosed with an under active thyroid after giving birth and had to start eating meat, so eating meat especially pork has all happened here in Taiwan (but thats another story). This restaurant did have a lovely wonton soup and mt greens stir fried with little dried anchovies and salted black beans which was heavenly.









Monday, October 18, 2010

Nantou Day Trip



My Taiwanese parents Amy and David Wu invited me for a day trip organized by their apartment building to Nantou Co. Have I not mentioned David and Amy before? I always am in conversation. I met them  after our first six months here in Tainan. They have a "grandson" Chinchin who is 2 years older than Z and those two are playmates. Amy and I used to go regularly to the Flying Club Gym before they tore it down and now we both go to E Powerhouse. They often invite me to their home for breakfasts and dinner or we eat out, go to some farmers markets, orchid markets, etc.  They are both 3 years older than my parents and David has  a daughter from a previous marriage who is an accountant to the stars in Hollywood. They both are KMT supporters, David being involved in KMT intelligence, I dont like to talk politics with them, but other than that they are my great friends. "Chin-chin" lives in their building a few floors below and he is Amy's grand-nephew, her sister died and she practically raised her nephew Chin-chin's dad.

This would be my 3rd trip to Nantou Co. The first was with Joy and Yanni a few Dragon Boat Festivals ago where we stayed in alpine like dwellings with picturesque views. The second being a school staff trip were Z and I shared a lonely and incredible cabin under brilliant stars, and did a nice morning hike. And now with David and Amy.

Anyway, I already knew what I was getting myself into going on this trip, but I wanted to spend some time with them. We left bright and early at 630 am and even tho everyone refused many times the bus company's offer of KTV, the stewardess managed to get 2 brave souls, plus herself, to belt out sad Chinese love songs  as the sun started to come up full force. Too early for overly loud KMT, Z had me stuff tissue into her ears.

We took a pee break at some temple to a god of fortune as did many other tour buses. I had to carry Z thru thick black clouds of toxic incense fumes, as every devotee did their ritual prayer with 3 incense sticks. We found the squat toilet and I pushed our way outta there as we were choking from the smoke. I bought Z a bag of chopped guava for a healthy snack and boarded the bus.

We arrived in Chunghua at the entrance of some park, walked out and started on a path along a rushing mountain stream. It was beautiful. The air was radiantly crisp. the weather not cool nor hot, cloudy and perfect for a hike. Unlike CO trails, the trails here are paved, or staired, so its pretty easy, maybe a bit slippery, but we just hiked straight  up pretty much, taking breathers for old David and Z. Z and I were sweating pretty early into it and I had to try and restrain her from running up as I didnt want her to pass out, and learn to pace herself. We walked in and along the stream and a cypress forest. Our trails met with the crowds at a giant cypress tree were we along with everyone took our picture. We kept walking to a forest canopy observation trail where we walked along the cypress heights, seeing what plants live off the cypress limbs and to sounds of unseen birds. A few teenagers would scream to hear their own voice which was the only bother. On the walk down I had to carry Z on my back and at the bottom was a restaurant where we lunched a modest 5 course meal. After lunch I bought some wild mountain vegetables (the curly insides of ferns which are edible) and noted fruit I had not seen anywhere else. We boarded the bus and continued to a lake, where Z and walked around, took some pics back on the bus to a tea shop, than a coffee shop, bought a yellow orchid that is now in my kitchen. Lots of bus, too much bus.

We ended the day in the most boring tour. I had no idea it could get so boring. After the bus company laid into us as we were tired and helpless, laying into us with product after product of magical creams for whitening the skin or for tired muscles and mosquito bites, etc, endless in your face buy this try this, they dropped us off at a factory. I guess its the most famous food factory in Taiwan and they had us look at boxes in their storage room before shepherding us into a room with a movie screen, and I knew I couldnt sit through that. I stood outside the door as they tried to get me to go inside. David tried to explain to the staff I wouldnt understand, but I countered that I could, I just thought that this whole concept would bore me to tears. So Z and I played hide and seek in the vicinity, Chin-chin and his mom also walked out a while later. Turned out it was more advertising to  buy more of their foods at cheaper than store prices.



More bus than dinner, a not very exciting dinner somewhere outside of Tainan and we were dropped off around 845 pm and I was exhausted. I very much enjoyed the fresh mt air, the lunch, seeing the cypress and bamboo forests, walking around the lake. I could of done w/o all the in my face advertising, the stop at the food factory. But it was a different experience I got to share with Z and David and Amy and I am grateful.


Thursday, September 23, 2010

Monkeying around

Sherry and her brother drove down to Tainan from Taipei. Michael had to look at a property in Kaohsiung for a client. It was great seeing them both but by the end of it I was exhausted! Mostly wiped out from Z's tantrums and she being just plain mean to dear old mom. I don't think she likes sharing my attention from anyone other than her.

Saturday we spent in Tainan. They arrived at lunch time and I took them to a local restaurant that is popular with the Anping locals. Sherry wanted to see the famous Tree House, but after going there didnt want to pay to see a real old and big banyan tree, so we went to the old East Gate and Michael fell asleep under the Banyan tree there. It was Z's naptime so we headed back to mine and for dinner Sherry wanted to find some local fish place that was reccomended in a Taiwanese travel magazine she brought. We didnt exactly find that one but we found a decent fish place and ate eel with noodles, loads of fish, clams, soups, cooked every which way and all washed down with Heinekin. Then we went to a bustling night market and it being 10 or so headed home for another beer and sleep.

The next day we headed down to Kaohsiung and arrived around lunchtime. We had eaten a late brunch on our drive down and I wasnt so hungry, but Michael's client insisted on taking us to lunch, promising it would be small and quick (I was heading for the local Caves Book store). She had made reservations so I relented. Little did I know it was going to be one of those 10 course lunches in a very nice Japanese restaurant. The food was great and I ate as much as I could and drank beer with it and was ready to take a well deserved nap when we somehow headed to Chaishan Nature Reserve for a stroll.

A stroll for Z and I turned into an all out hike and once we broke our first sweat (which doesn't take long) we were itching to climb this thing. Z did great; better than I thought, I didnt have to carry her and she kept up with my fast pace. I occasionally stopped when she needed a breather but she is a natural hiker. Our first encounter with the monkeys  (really they are macaques) scared the crap out of her. I told her before the old,  "leave them alone and they will leave you alone" speech, but she moved too fast too close and one of the monkeys bared its canines at her and some mentally disabled worker, blocked the animal and yelled "NO!" which scared both Z, me and the monkey. She cried, I comforted her, we moved on. About 30 minutes from the top (prob takes 1 1/2 hour to the top, not too big), we got a text to come back, the old lady couldnt walk further, so much to Z and I 's disappointment turned around and headed down.

My foot was bleeding, as I was wearing backless pumps. I wasnt planning on hiking. I can hike in anything but I definitely had the wrong shoes (reminds me of hiking a volcano outside Antigua, Guatemala and the young dude from BC hiking  in flip-flops with zero visibility and the volcanic sand cutting into his toes.) I will go back with Z and do that walk right, to the top and wait to watch the sunset over the sea.

Afterward we drove to the Hsitzuwan beach near the Sun Yat-Sen University and parked to see some of the sunset. Some monkeys were there doing the same thing and some local Taiwanese were feeding them french fries.

It was around 4 and I was ready to go back to Tainan but Michael wanted to eat "bing" (shaved ice sweetened with condensed milk and topped with flavors like red bean, mung bean, cooked barley, fruit) at some famous bing dien near the ferry to  Cijin Island. The place was packed upstairs and down with clients spilling onto the streets. The place is covered in grafiti and we waited for a table. It was nothing special, just huge bowls of shaved ice with fresh fruit served on sticky tables.

And then we made our way home taking the longest, traffic infested way and somehow ended back in Tainan around 830  and it was time to get Z ready for bed and us ready for the following Monday.


Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Pomelo Power

It is that time of year again (Happy Moon Festival!) when I am bombarded by gifts of pomelo. I seem to collect more than I can eat and the extra ones wither and shrink away in my kitchen so I thought I would find some pomelo recipes or experiment with some of my own. It would be fun to replace pomelo juice in recipes that call for lemon or orange juice (lemon bars, custard, orange honey cake...) Any kind of salad dressings or glazes.

Tonight I made a marinade for my chicken which I grilled on our electric grill (in lack of a decent balcony or yard to BBQ like the locals). I used my juicer and juiced a pomelo and mixed 1/4c. white miso, 1/4 c. pomelo juice,  dash of shredded pomelo peel, chopped ginger, dash of red pepper, dash of mirin, dash of rice vinegar and the chicken came out beyond great. I will try this with some fish this weekend.

In fact I am going to buy a bag of pomelos since they are so cheap now and juice as much as I can and if I have the energy, invite some co-workers over for pomelo Mojitos or just freeze the juice for future marmalade, marinades, custard pudding, muffins, cake, and more Mojitos.

some recipes I found:

Thai Chicken Pomelo Salad
1 Pomelo; -=OR=-

1 Whole cooked chicken breast
1 ts Chopped red chili
1 tb Fish sauce (nam pla)
1 ts Sugar
1 sm Lime; juiced
1 Head of leaf lettuce
1 tb Chopped fresh coriander
2 tb Crisp Fried Shallot Flakes
1/4 c Chopped roasted peanuts
CRISP FRIED SHALLOT FLAKES
6 Shallots; thinly sliced
1 c Vegetable oil

Preparation - Thai Pomelo-And-Chicken Salad

Pomelo looks like a thick-skinned, oversized grapefruit, and it is sweeter than the normal grapefruit. PEEL AND SEPARATE pomelo segments. Remove and discard membranes. Gently flake the flesh. If using grapefruit, drain excess juice. Chill. In large bowl, combine pomelo and shredded chicken. Mix together the chopped red chili with fish sauce, sugar and lime juice; toss with chicken mixture. Arrange on a bed of lettuce, garnish with coriander leaves, peanuts, and 2 teaspoons of the Crisp Fried Shallot Flakes. CRISP FRIED SHALLOT FLAKES: Slice shallots into thin slices. Be sure they are all the same thinness to ensure even cooking. Heat a pan with the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add shallots and fry slowly until browned and crisp, about 5 to 10 minutes. The moisture in the shallots should be completely cooked out. Drain on paper towel. Stored in an air-tight container, the shallots will keep several weeks. From Geminis MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

 

Pomelo Mojito

Ingredients

  1. 4 peeled sections of pomelo or grapefruit, chopped
  2. 6 mint leaves
  3. 2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate or orange sorbet, or better pomelo juice
  4. 1 1/2 ounces white rum
  5. Ice
  6. Club sodas or sparkling mineral water
  7. 1 lime wedge or pomelo wedge


  8. Directions

  9. In a cocktail shaker, muddle the pomelo with the mint and orange juice concentrate. Add the rum and ice and shake well. Pour into a highball glass. Top with club soda and garnish with the lime wedge.


http://www.bigoven.com/recipes/search?any_kw=pomelo
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pomelo-mint-mojito
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/02/goi-buoi-pomelo-salad-recipe.html
http://en.petitchef.com/tags/recipes/mango-pomelo-dessert
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/02/10/2524603/recipe-pomelo-chicken.html
http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/recipes/pomelo-or-red-grapefruit-granita/
http://en.petitchef.com/recipes/recipe-for-the-classic-hong-kong-dessert-willow-branches-of-aquarius-sweet-soup-with-mangoes-pomeloes-sago-and-coconut-milk-fid-567802