Pre-Promised Videos

As a final house-cleaning before the Chinese New Year, here are some videos I promised way back which I had problems with earlier loading onto YouTube:

Air Raid Drill August 2008



Taipei Thunderstorm 2008



Closing off the year on MEK In Taipei, a thank you to all my family, friends and others who have visited my blog this year, especially those who left comments (all of which I do read and appreciate). A special thank you to other bloggers in Taiwan who have given words of encouragement and support for this little blog. Let's see what the Year of the Ox brings!

Blessings to you all! 新 年 快 樂!

An ICLP Chinese New Year Celebration

As you may know, I am currently studying mandarin at National Taiwan University's International Chinese Language Program (ICLP). This week ICLP kicked off the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday with a bit of a celebration; feasting and fun. Although I didn't manage to make it to the previous day's CNY activity (exploring the beauty of Chinese Calligraphy through the writing of auspicious Spring Festival Couplets) on Thursday I managed to remember to snap a few pictures of the afternoon's activities.

Of course, in preparation for the time of year ICLP had already decorated its floors with seasonal items, such as this display in the student common room.





Hanging from the ceilings in the halls were a number of red and gold decorations.



Many doors had red signs placed above or on their surfaces, such as this one:



Kicking off the afternoon was a speech from the Director, 梁 欣 榮 所長 Prof. Leung Yanwing, who was presented with a token of appreciation.



While respectfully paying attention to the speech, students chowed down on this gorgeous lunch spread provided by ICLP:









Still low-carbing, my plate looked somewhat less diverse than other students', but rest assured it was still all delicious. (Note: following up my previous entry on low-carbing in Taipei, I finally found flaxseed in both seed and milled form at Jasons, right at the end of an aisle next to the milk.)



Then followed a lottery, with just about every student winning something from ipod shuffles to cash prizes.



Here is a winner of one of the more expensive prizes - note his restraint in not having torn off the wrapping immediately!



In order to collect the prize, each student was required to give a 表 演 (biao3 yan3, performance). These ranged to reciting "lucky" mandarin sentences, to singing a few lines of mandarin songs, to telling blond jokes in mandarin, to this brave fellow who demonstrated some polished martial arts moves.



Following the feast and lottery, some clever clogs had come up with a fun gameshow, putting a twist on Name That Person - name that person's mandarin name! The majority were ICLP teachers and students, but a few celebrities were thrown in as well to mix it up.



Students then split the next few hours wandering around various activities. Down in the common room, head teacher 范 美 媛 Fann Meeiyuan 老 師 helped students try their hand at 麻 將 Mahjong.



In a separate room, 李 盈 瑩 Li Yingying 老 師 demonstrated on various students the fine art of 算 命 Fortune telling.



Of course, thanks to the assistance of this booklet:



And the magic of YouTube:



Students also got in some KTV practice. Even some future students got in on the act with tuneful renditions of Liang Zhi Lao Hu (which is set to the same tune we know as Three Blind Mice).



My favourite activity was led by the lovely 黃傳娟Huang Chuanjuan老師 who is one of my teachers this semester: 剪窗花、貼窗花、紅包袋加工 customising red hong bao envelopes.



Having acquired a red envelope, the first step was to choose a stamp design, such as one of these:





The stamp was dampened with some sort of liquid, much in the same way you would press ink onto a stamp block. The tricky part came after carefully pressing the stamp down onto the surface of the envelope. Metal shavings were carefully tipped over the dampened pattern - careful not to spill!



A few extension cords later, hairdryers were wired up and ready to push hot air onto the metal shavings, slowly melting them:



Until the final result, which looked something like this:



Definately the most fun activity for someone like me who would be a closet scrapbooker (if only there were enough hours in the day). Xie xie ICLP!

Jiu Shi Ying Gai De (Xin Nian Kuai Le)

First, you may be shocked to see that I am posting twice in one day. That's what happens when I create something so truely aweful I must share it with the world. Okay, you knew it wasn't going to take me long before I broke from the mandarin training and started to do crazy things to distract myself from the piles of cue cards. But seriously? Writing a song?

Thus the birth this weekend of Jiu Shi Ying Gai De (Xin Nian Kuai Le). Against all odds, a monstrous beast clawing at the heart of musicality and shredding it to tasty bite size morsels has erupted from my apartment. Not knowing much mandarin didn't stop me. Neither did a healthy ignorance of grammar. Nor a lack of a decent recording device - behold the marvel of a 20 buck on sale at Dick Smiths in New Zealand generic brand MP3 player with the front LCD panel smashed in. Yes, that's what I used. What's more, I had to put the piano damping pedal on for the whole song to limit all the distortion in the recording. To top it off, Americal Idol I aint. Not even Local 7/11 Idol. So, enjoy.

For the folks back home, here is a rough translation of the pidgin mandarin I've used:

(Verse 1)
Early morning in winter, I hear the music inside your heart.
More and more the cold departs,
Tomorrow you then need to fly.
Of course, the fragrant and fresh morning encourages me to hope you'll return,
It's best that you follow your music,
Perhaps the music will make you miss home.

(Chorus)
Happy new year, happy new year,
Build a new road towards tomorrow and graduate from today.
Happy new year, happy new year,
Right now we don't fear the world,
This is as it should be.

(Verse 2)

Don't forget, always,
In the night markets of life,
You get what you pay for,
My love is not something sundry.
Now, please decide carefully,
If we together seem happy,
Tomorrow we don't need to have concern.
We all sing, we all always sing:

(Chorus)
(Bridge)
We could sleep 1,010,000 years,
Afterwards all people male female old and young
Will for certain still be singing:
(Chorus).

Sightseeing: Pingxi (without the lantern festival crowds)

When most people think of Pingxi they think of the Lantern Festival, which once a year lures thousands of people there to watch lanterns drift up into the night sky. On a sunny but sadly smoggy day here in Taipei, I escaped with some fellow kiwis to this sunny quiet haven which is a short drive from the city (well under an hour). Many of the road signs have “Pinsi” as the pin-yin, so if in doubt look for the mandarin characters: 平溪.

Without the lantern festival crowds, Pingxi melts back into a small town centred around the rail line running through. Nestled in between thick forest-clad mountains, it remains drenched in the winter sun. If I were to describe the township as a piece of clothing, I’d say it felt like a snuggly winter fleece; a few years old, by no means fashionable and in need of a good washing, but somehow still a favoured piece of clothing.



One Taiwanese we stopped and chatted with who lived in a nearby town noted that Pingxi was often this peaceful and generally without much air pollution. If she decided to divorce her husband, she was thinking of moving there! (You often find out alot about a stranger very quickly by New Zealand standards).

Nothing says country township though like a path right over the rail lines. This picture is taken from the path:



Without a torch it was difficult to see much of the bomb shelter caves near budda’s rock. The ceiling was very low and the floor a clay dirt; if you’re a tall foreigner living locally, in any instance of falling explosive objects I’d recommending seeking shelter elsewhere!



To the right of the tunnel entrances was a typical homespun set of steps cut into the hillside.



Compare the pale clay rock step in this photo (one step) with the pale rock of the stairs in the first to see exactly how shallow and narrow these steps are.



This seemed to be the main street running through the township, with a number of trinket stores and xiao3 chi1 (little eats). Mostly locals with a handful of tourists and a couple of occasionally fiesty dogs wandered up and down its length. I picked up a car mirror lantern hanger and a cute cellphone charm (don’t forget to bargain.



Around smaller towns, I look out for the drain covers which often have a more interesting design than you’d see back home in (stuck-in-a-grating-rut) New Zealand.



On the other side of the township, we stopped off at Monet Café:



Just off the roadside, this was an outdoor café with a central pod surrounded by a number of tables under sun umbrellas:



On this particular Sunday, the café was very popular with a number of bikers (motorbikes not scooters) who were travelling mostly in small flocks:



Despite the heat, the majority were clad in top to toe leather jumpsuits complete with racy designs and supportive pads on every joint – straight out of an 80s costume party, but in their own way still rocking the cool. Compare bikers back home with these home grown Taiwan tough dudes (complete with peace signs):



Many of the tables were set around a series of small ponds. The waitresses would weave between the chairs and along the pond paths to deliver trays of (a little pricey but) pretty decent quality café food. Their various fruit and coffee based drinks were definitely ahead of the curve at least in terms of presentation. Although one friend warned against the vegetarian sandwhich (which contained fruit slices as the main ingredient) they had ordered on a previous occasion, this time their lasanga had a generous cheesy crust on top.



And in Taiwan, where there are ponds there are scary fish with huge mouths always looking for their next meal, which in this case was courtesy of a sweet father and son pair:



The café sells little packets of fish feed at 20 NTD a pop. All in all, a great roadside café to kill some time in the sun, just remember to take tissues for the bathroom.

By the bye, I hope this zebra near the caves isn’t a historical treasure. He doesn’t seem too impressed with his new leash!

Low-Carbing in Taipei: Mission Improbable

Right about now we’re about smack in the middle of the time between the new year as celebrated in New Zealand and the new year as celebrated in China. One common new year’s resolution is to go on a diet. For those of you in Taiwan who have decided that this is the time to give low-carbing a try – you’ve probably chosen the worst time of your life to start. Seriously – have you had a meal here lately? Rice, noodles, dumplings, with loads of sugar in most sauces. Good luck.

I am one of those idiots. Having low-carbed here since November, with a 10 day break over Christmas and New Year’s, I’ve come to realize that it’s not mission impossible – just mission improbable.

So, for anyone else out there that is thinking about giving it a try, or anyone who already is on low-carbs and is preparing to move to Taipei, here is the low-down on what I’ve been able to find where.

Books

Taipei 101’s Page 1 bookstore: walk all the way through the store to the far end, to the left of the children’s area: there you will find the health/diet section. In November, they had a decent range and had in stock a copy of the 2002 Atkins book. (As I bought it, I don’t know whether they still have it in stock.)

Grocery sources

My groceries are sourced from three different places: my local Wellcome supermarket in Shi Da, Costco in Neihu, and Jasons in Taipei 101.

Costco is where I buy the bulk of my groceries. Upside: decent quality, good range of meats (fresh, frozen and tinned), often find imported goods you weren’t expecting to see, such as Hass avocados from New Zealand. Downside: The packages are bulk size and one cart can set you back a lot of qian2. If you don’t chow through your veges, you may find they have spoiled before you have finished the package. So far I have had pretty good luck.

From Jasons, I generally buy cheese (they have a decent range), salad veges I can’t find at Costco, herbs, and dietary supplements.

Wellcome brings up the rear with the remaining herbs (generally coriander), and New Zealand cream and butter (Anchor). And cat food, which I hope to never eat.

A low-carb pantry tour



Philadelphia (everywhere)
3-lbs Daisy sour cream (Costco)
McCormicks herb and salad dressing mixes (Costco)
Tinned oysters, tuna, crab meat, and (a new one for me) chicken (Costco)
Anchor New Zealand cream and butter (Wellcome)
Babybel individual cheeses (Costco)
Anchor shredded mozzarella cheese (this time Wellcome but usually Jasons)



Convenient mix of frozen veggies, remove the carrots to reduce the carbs (Costco)



Buy bulk packs of meat, fish and poultry and divide them up into ziplocks for convenience. Picture here are ziplocks of chicken breasts (Costco).



Bulk Splenda in individual packets (Costco). I have yet to find jars of Splenda.
FiberMate –psyllium husks without too many carbs added (Jasons, pricey)
True lime – individual packets of lime flavouring for cooking or drinking (I use with coriander to make marinades and with sparkling water to drink) (Jasons)
Bulk macadamia nuts, one of my best buys – unlike other brands, is not swimming in extra added carbs, be careful for example not to buy honey roasted (Costco)

If anyone knows where in Taipei I can find flaxseed, I’d love to know.

Other frequent low-carb buys

Fresh salmon fillets and USA beef steaks (Costco, butchery department)
Frozen non-marinated salmon steaks (Costco, freezer department)
Assorted small packs of seafood such as cockles (Jasons)
Pre-peeled garlic and pre-shredded ginger (Jasons)
Sparkling mineral water in bulk (Costco)
Romaine lettuce, capsicums, onions and tomatoes in bulk packs (Costco)
30-count trays of eggs (Costco)
Bulk Kirkland non-marinated non-smoked non-precooked bacon (Costco)
And finally, a shout out to my favourite mushroom: Golden mushrooms!! (Everywhere)

Reading labels for Carbs

Ladies and gentleman, I present the only frozen pre-prepared food I have found in my Wellcome with acceptable carb levels. Mini chicken steak with garlic and black pepper:



On the reverse side of the package is the label showing nutritional information. Here are the characters for carbohydrates: 碳水化合物 (tan4 shui3 hua4 he2 wu4).



Be careful though: in this case, the information is for a 100 gram serving and package is 350 grams. Grams: 公分 (gong1 fen1)

Eating out

Eating out can far more of a challenge than back home in western countries. Take a city which uses carbs as its main food group, add in language barriers, and you may wish you’d stayed at home.

By far my favourite option for eating out low carb is hot pot. Find a nice low-carb base such as lemongrass (I hope), add green veges and a world full of meat, fish, chicken, eggs and bob’s your uncle.



(Picture courtesy of my older sister who visited over Christmas and New Years)

Korean BBQ can also be okay depending on what sauce the meat has been marinated in.

In western restaurants, do as you would back home. Order a steak with sauce on the side, order a green salad, and order another steak if you’re still hungry. Eat the topping but not the pizza base. At Burger King, toss the buns. Take the breading off the fried chicken. You can sometimes try this technique in Chinese restaurants (ever tried eating just the inside of the dumpling? Messy but can be tasty) to get by until you can get home and eat a proper meal. At my local Thai restaurant, I often order kebabs without the sauce or steamed lemongrass seafood.

At any restaurant In Case Of Emergency: Order a plate of qing1 cai4. Basically, sautéed green leafy vegetables. Sometimes, it’s as close as you’re going to get to low carb. Then eat the nuts you should be carrying in a Ziploc for times such as these, and you’ll be fine.

Cooking at home

Back home, low carbers try to recreate their favourite carby foods such as pizza bases or mashed “potatoes” using cauliflower. This year I’m hoping to figure out how to recreate some of my favourite Taiwan foods into a low-carb equivalent.

Witness my first attempt this year: Shaved ice.

Take a NZ weight watchers jelly (kindly provided by a visiting relative or friend), make up with ½ cup hot water (until crystals are dissolved), then the remaining liquid using chilled water. Grab your cheap Taiwanese electric beaters, and slowly pour in half a litre of whipping cream (you can buy litre cartons from Costco).

Beat beat beat until niiice and frothy. Set the bowl in the freezer for an hour, then beat again. Repeat (freeze, beat). Then leave to freeze overnight. Remove bowl from freezer, take a ceramic soup spoon (the frozen ice will bend a metal spoon) and scrape at the top layer to form the shaved ice. Once the top layer is off, the rest seems very easy to scrape (due to the gelatine?) and is remarkably like our favourite summer Taiwan treat.

Here is a bowl of lime (yum! Don’t bag it until you’ve tried it) low-carb shaved ice: