Air Raids and KGB

Earlier today I sipped a hot cup of something with a fellow kiwi in a case with a name beginning with R on the eastern side of Fuxing South Road in the block between Xinhai and Heping (a nice cozy place that would fit right in back home in Wellington). While sipping this hot cup, I mentioned to my friend that I liked the movie Pearl Harbour not because it was necessarily a good movie, but because I liked its 1940s atmosphere.

A random chain of thought then led me from this war movie to remember I took a few clips of the air raid drill back in August. Disappointed as I was at the lack of people screaming, running about waving their arms, and yelling "The aliens are coming, the aliens are coming!" it is still a little creepy to see the almost deserted roads and hear the sirens. YouTube is defeating me at the moment but once I have it sorted I will post the video clip.

During the weekend I paid another visit to the KGB. That is, Kiwi Gourmet Burgers, the takeaway that shows how a kiwi burger should be done. You can find it here:

This is the reverse of KGB's card. As a note to newcomers, one of the easiest ways to find a path back to a good eating spot is to pick up the restaurant's card. You can then show the card to a taxi drivers and bob's your bobo. Taxis in Taipei are very cheap compared to back home. Flagfall is 70 NTD (about $3.20 NZD), and a trip around town usually costs me about 110-150 NTD. YMMV.

Back home, potatoes are a kitchen staple. Roasted, baked, mashed, scalloped, boiled, hashed, chipped, microwaved, casseroled, souped, oh my! Here in Taiwan, potatoes are somewhat a gourmet item, coming in packs of two. Potatoes that is, not kilos. Eat your spuds before you arrive (Onehunga Roasts, I miss you! Call me sometime. xxx.) So here you have it - KGB chips.

Sometime I will give you a mini tour around the wonderful world of Taiwanese stationary. A combination of cutesification, chinglish and a lack of appreciation for colour schemes result in exercise books that I don't just use but also adore. Along those same lines, I quite liked the pattern on KGB's chip wrapper, and I will take care to heed its advice.