Sunday, August 3, 2008
Typhoon Kalmaegi
One Friday morning we headed in to work only to be turned back home when we came to the main road. The typhoon dumped 140 mm (about 5 inches) of rain during the hour we were out driving. The scooters had a rough time of it, and we saw shops being flooded. We spent the day working from the apartment. I was glad we didn't have to go back out. (Click on the photo to see more photos!)
Canal walk
I enjoy going for a 30 to 40 minute walk in the morning (if we don't have to be at work too early). There is a canal a block from our apartment that provides a good place to walk. There is plenty to see and I can go different distances and different directions to mix it up. I brought my camera a few times. These photos were taken before Typhoon Kalmaegi. (I'll post some additional photos later to show some damage done by the storm.)
You will see some interesting graffiti, some pedestrian bridges of various designs (most seem quite new), views of the canal itself, and some of the people who are out early in the morning. There is a sign for "no swimming" as if it wasn't obvious. There is a photo of the police scooters lined up outside the police station. Each bridge has Chinese writing - wish I could read it! A kindergarten has a really fun picture on the wall facing the street.
Come along on my walk - enjoy! (Click on the slideshow to see the photos enlarged - you can view it as an album or a slideshow.)
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Q'tie
Last Saturday, I got my hair done for the first time here in Taichung.
It was a social event. Two young women that I work with brought me to their favorite salon, called Q'tie. It's just past my favorite Carrefour store. We spent about 3 hours there! They interpreted for me and Eri(c), the designer. I explained how I usually fix my hair and that I wanted it colored to cover the gray, and cut short.
I was given a Japanese style robe (yukata) to put on over my clothes, and then brought to a large table with a flat screen TV showing movies. After providing my friends and me a drink (water or tea) and some snacks, two people did my color - while I watched TV!
Then I had a wonderful scalp massaging shampoo.
Next, I moved to the chair where Eri would cut my hair. His assistant gave me a wonderful back and neck and scalp massage. Then Eri did the cut. When he was finished he made sure I was comfortable styling it myself. It turned out great!
It's a week later and I have found that I can blow dry it, air dry it, or skip the shampoo one day, and it still looks good! I guess I should post a picture. (This is the "air dry" version -no real work on my part!)
Driving to work
Many days in Taichung are hazy and it's hard to remember there are mountains close by. Here are a couple of pictures from a clear day - below is taken from the parking lot at our factory. Several rows of mountains are visible.
We pass several schools on our way to work. This is a Middle School - it has an observatory!
We usually turn left at this intersection on our way to work. The "sextoy department store" is our landmark! Note the Smart Car!
This is the intersection of Da-Yeh and Wen-Shin Roads. Our favorite Carrefour store!
Across the street from Carrefour is a temple. And here is a closer view of Carrefour. 
The Rich 19 building has a fancy "light show" at night.
The school bus seems to be advertising a Taiwan version of Harry Potter!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Household appliances in Taiwan
First let me apologize for the delay in posting my second blog entry! I have been traveling quite a bit but I’m back in Taichung to stay for a while – at least 2 weeks since my passport is now with the immigration lawyers for processing my resident visa!
Here in Taiwan we have a very nice modern apartment. It is fully furnished and the landlords were quite generous with the appliances they provided as part of the rental. But here in Taiwan, there are some interesting differences with the appliances.
Let’s start with the kitchen. We have a 3-burner gas cooktop. Cooking is much faster than with the electric stove back in the US. The number 4 is considered bad luck here (the word for 4 sounds like the word for “death” in Chinese) which may or may not explain the 3 burners as compared to the usual 4 in the US. There is no built-in oven. Instead, we have a combination microwave/convection oven. The kitchen is so small that the “oven” is on an appliance cart in the corner of the dining room. But before we leave the kitchen for good, there are a few more items of note.
Since Dan really likes cooking with the Foreman grill in the US, we brought one here. It stays on the counter-height surface that is part of a pantry cabinet behind the kitchen door. When Dan cooked with it the other night, it took up half of the counter space in the kitchen, and since I left it there to cool down, dish washing was a challenge. I had no where to put anything!
Speaking of dishwashing – I am the dishwasher! There is no automatic dishwasher. We do, however, have a dish dryer. It’s a box mounted above the sink, with a rack for holding the dishes. You load it up, close the door, and push a button to choose the drying time (15, 30, 60, or 90 minutes). I have found that 30 minutes works pretty well. Big things don’t fit in it though. We have some square dinner plates that do not fit at all! Those have to be handled by the manual dish dryer with towel, because they are also too large and heavy for the dish drainer we bought! And any way, the counter is way too small for a pile of dirty dishes, clean dishes to be rinsed, and a drainer!
Here in Taiwan we have a very nice modern apartment. It is fully furnished and the landlords were quite generous with the appliances they provided as part of the rental. But here in Taiwan, there are some interesting differences with the appliances.
Let’s start with the kitchen. We have a 3-burner gas cooktop. Cooking is much faster than with the electric stove back in the US. The number 4 is considered bad luck here (the word for 4 sounds like the word for “death” in Chinese) which may or may not explain the 3 burners as compared to the usual 4 in the US. There is no built-in oven. Instead, we have a combination microwave/convection oven. The kitchen is so small that the “oven” is on an appliance cart in the corner of the dining room. But before we leave the kitchen for good, there are a few more items of note.
Since Dan really likes cooking with the Foreman grill in the US, we brought one here. It stays on the counter-height surface that is part of a pantry cabinet behind the kitchen door. When Dan cooked with it the other night, it took up half of the counter space in the kitchen, and since I left it there to cool down, dish washing was a challenge. I had no where to put anything!
Speaking of dishwashing – I am the dishwasher! There is no automatic dishwasher. We do, however, have a dish dryer. It’s a box mounted above the sink, with a rack for holding the dishes. You load it up, close the door, and push a button to choose the drying time (15, 30, 60, or 90 minutes). I have found that 30 minutes works pretty well. Big things don’t fit in it though. We have some square dinner plates that do not fit at all! Those have to be handled by the manual dish dryer with towel, because they are also too large and heavy for the dish drainer we bought! And any way, the counter is way too small for a pile of dirty dishes, clean dishes to be rinsed, and a drainer!The last kitchen appliance I’ll mention is the refrigerator. It’s really nice. There is a large upper section with a door, and a large refrigerated drawer. Under that drawer is a freezer drawer. Plenty of space for food (and beer)!
I should mention some of the other items on our appliance cart in the dining room. In addition to the microwave/convection over, we have a toaster (we bought a standard one with wide slots for bagels) and a water boiler. The tap water here is not recommended for drinking. Many people use bottled water. We have a special tap in the kitchen with filtered water, which we use for drinking after boiling in the water boiler! The water boiler is an insulated container that holds 4.5 liters of water (about a gallon). You simply fill it up with the filtered water, close the lid, plug it in, and turn it on to boil. I haven’t timed it but it doesn’t take
too long. You can make tea or coffee (we brought a French press for simplicity) directly from it – quite convenient. When you are ready to use water from the boiler, you unlock it and push a button (you can choose “strong” or “weak” – 2 Chinese characters I have come to recognize) and the water is pumped out into whatever container you hold under the spout. We bought a couple of special plastic pitchers that are good to 120 degrees C, so we can “download” the water to them to cool and use for drinking. One goes in the fridge since Dan likes cold water. I have grown to prefer room temperature water, so my pitcher stays on the cart. We also have a wide mouth bottle with a lid that we use for water in the bathroom – mainly for brushing our teeth.
Outside the kitchen we have a small “balcony” that is equipped as a utility room. There are 2 air conditioning units mounted there, blocking most of the view (but also providing privacy from the street). We keep our cleaning supplies such as broom, mop, bucket, and squeegee out there. We also have a “state of the art” combination washer/dryer. No, it’s not a dryer stacked on top of a washer, or vice versa. It is one top loading unit that theoretically “does it all.” In actuality, it is a fine washer but useless as a dryer. I have yet to find where the warm damp air exits the thing. (Maybe that’s why it takes 3 hours to dry a few socks!) And since it is a top loader, there is no “tumbling” action. Imagine the drum turning with warm air blowing around in there on your clothes. Can you say “wrinkle?”
I should mention some of the other items on our appliance cart in the dining room. In addition to the microwave/convection over, we have a toaster (we bought a standard one with wide slots for bagels) and a water boiler. The tap water here is not recommended for drinking. Many people use bottled water. We have a special tap in the kitchen with filtered water, which we use for drinking after boiling in the water boiler! The water boiler is an insulated container that holds 4.5 liters of water (about a gallon). You simply fill it up with the filtered water, close the lid, plug it in, and turn it on to boil. I haven’t timed it but it doesn’t take too long. You can make tea or coffee (we brought a French press for simplicity) directly from it – quite convenient. When you are ready to use water from the boiler, you unlock it and push a button (you can choose “strong” or “weak” – 2 Chinese characters I have come to recognize) and the water is pumped out into whatever container you hold under the spout. We bought a couple of special plastic pitchers that are good to 120 degrees C, so we can “download” the water to them to cool and use for drinking. One goes in the fridge since Dan likes cold water. I have grown to prefer room temperature water, so my pitcher stays on the cart. We also have a wide mouth bottle with a lid that we use for water in the bathroom – mainly for brushing our teeth.Outside the kitchen we have a small “balcony” that is equipped as a utility room. There are 2 air conditioning units mounted there, blocking most of the view (but also providing privacy from the street). We keep our cleaning supplies such as broom, mop, bucket, and squeegee out there. We also have a “state of the art” combination washer/dryer. No, it’s not a dryer stacked on top of a washer, or vice versa. It is one top loading unit that theoretically “does it all.” In actuality, it is a fine washer but useless as a dryer. I have yet to find where the warm damp air exits the thing. (Maybe that’s why it takes 3 hours to dry a few socks!) And since it is a top loader, there is no “tumbling” action. Imagine the drum turning with warm air blowing around in there on your clothes. Can you say “wrinkle?”
After several experimental laundry adventures, we went off to an appliance store called “BEST” located in the nearby Carrefour. There we made our “BEST” purchase in Taiwan to date – we bought a simple stand alone, tumbling clothes dryer. It doesn’t have all the features of our Sears dryer in the US, but I am very happy – the clothes get dry in a reasonable time and no wrinkles!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Sunday evening in the neighborhood
What does it mean when you meet someone you know in the local grocery store?
When you have lived for less than 3 weeks in a city of 1 million people, 6,000 miles from the place you’ve called “home” for 19 years, it means something different than it does in that “old Kentucky home.”
This evening, we ran into Hong and Ken and their 3 children in the Capit’an grocery store. Hong and Ken worked with us at Corning in Harrodsburg, KY and have lived here in Taichung for several years. It made me feel just a little less “new” and “foreign.” I had found someone to chat with in the store!
Before shopping at that store, we had taken a walk to explore the neighborhood and found a “restaurant row.” A few gems that we’ll have to check out sometime are a Sushi “conveyor belt” restaurant, as well as “Ice Monster” with a variety of hot and cold drinks including smoothies, and “Big Tom” for ice cream, complete with a cow and calf statue outside.
Next we went to the open air fruit and vegetable market and got a long thin eggplant and some peppers, which Dan is cooking with pasta for tonight’s dinner, a lime so we can have a gin and tonic later, some tangerines for lunch this week, and green beans and baby corn for tomorrow’s meal. For that we spent about 250 NT$, or about $8 US.
We headed off to Taichung-gang Rd. to shop for Suncakes to bring to Andrea’s teacher friends in France. Suncakes is a specialty from Taichung. They probably won’t stand up to French pastries, but will be something different and exotic to bring as a little gift for the people who have been so kind to Andrea during her teaching assignment in Oyonnax. We’ll be heading to France in about a week, stopping off in Danville for a few days on the way. We’re looking forward to checking in briefly with friends and family in the US, and to our special vacation with Andrea in France and Italy. But even so, it feels right to be settling in here in Taichung.
Right, and hot! We worked up a sweat carrying our bags back to the apartment - it was quite warm and not much breeze stirring, even at 7 pm. After leaving our bags in the apartment, we went back out to Capit’an for some meat for dinner and some bagels for breakfast - and found our friends Hong and Ken, and felt like just a bit more like we were home.
When you have lived for less than 3 weeks in a city of 1 million people, 6,000 miles from the place you’ve called “home” for 19 years, it means something different than it does in that “old Kentucky home.”
This evening, we ran into Hong and Ken and their 3 children in the Capit’an grocery store. Hong and Ken worked with us at Corning in Harrodsburg, KY and have lived here in Taichung for several years. It made me feel just a little less “new” and “foreign.” I had found someone to chat with in the store!
Before shopping at that store, we had taken a walk to explore the neighborhood and found a “restaurant row.” A few gems that we’ll have to check out sometime are a Sushi “conveyor belt” restaurant, as well as “Ice Monster” with a variety of hot and cold drinks including smoothies, and “Big Tom” for ice cream, complete with a cow and calf statue outside.
Next we went to the open air fruit and vegetable market and got a long thin eggplant and some peppers, which Dan is cooking with pasta for tonight’s dinner, a lime so we can have a gin and tonic later, some tangerines for lunch this week, and green beans and baby corn for tomorrow’s meal. For that we spent about 250 NT$, or about $8 US.
We headed off to Taichung-gang Rd. to shop for Suncakes to bring to Andrea’s teacher friends in France. Suncakes is a specialty from Taichung. They probably won’t stand up to French pastries, but will be something different and exotic to bring as a little gift for the people who have been so kind to Andrea during her teaching assignment in Oyonnax. We’ll be heading to France in about a week, stopping off in Danville for a few days on the way. We’re looking forward to checking in briefly with friends and family in the US, and to our special vacation with Andrea in France and Italy. But even so, it feels right to be settling in here in Taichung.
Right, and hot! We worked up a sweat carrying our bags back to the apartment - it was quite warm and not much breeze stirring, even at 7 pm. After leaving our bags in the apartment, we went back out to Capit’an for some meat for dinner and some bagels for breakfast - and found our friends Hong and Ken, and felt like just a bit more like we were home.
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