Me and my pink chicky mug :)

Ok, I've really been overeating (binging on some occasions) and I can't figure out why, so I've taken a vitamin and will continue on to see if maybe that helps. I've really plumped up.

Had a nice hike with my Uncle Robert in the moutains. Too bad I didn't bring my camera. I saw my favorite trees again... the "Pencil holder" tree... apparantly this tree has been around since the dinosaur age. My uncle also told me there are ~1100 species of ferns in Taiwan.

We saw grasshoppers, "black eye" toads, and he told me the names of some of the plants: "Crossing mountain dragon" fern, "Carbon mother" plant... I can't remember anymore, but the names were all interesting. There was a fern that supposedly had medicinal properties that could help fight cancer... and growing right next to it was a poisonous one! :D A very very pleasant hike. We sweated like crazy... in December. I'm dreading the summers here already...

Today I visited my Aunt Annie and my cousin Joyce. Had a serious talk about family matters with Aunt Annie, then Joyce woke up and came downstairs to eat. She and I then had a pleasant chat... I told her about my theory that the reason why I was more prone to being bitten by mosquitoes was because half my ancestry is European and therefore my phermones attracted mosquitoes whereas Taiwanese have evolved to not attract mosquitoes as much. :D

My Aunt took the salsa we made last week... and cooked it with tofu strands and mung bean noodles. Not too bad when I added more salt... :?

I have decided to upload some pictures:

This is where I sleep... on a nice wooden bed	My cousin Joyce and her boyfriend. He's such a gentleman!
My cousins Jeff and Nancy, and I.	My cousin Nancy... I didn't like the way I looked, so I cut myself out, but I think she looks really pretty here... :D
Here's the cappuccino I had... so speciall... wah...!	Here I am with a new winter jacket, hat, and gloves... all for the low low price of about US$30.

Took another vitamin today and my appetite is getting back to normal.

Everyone's worshipping today again. Don't know why. Went with my Uncle Jemmy (Jeff's father) to the nearby temple to worship with him.

Oh! Today after my run and shower and lunch, I went walking and finally found a food stall that sold red bed cakes! I've been craving one for a while, so I bought 2 and 1 taro root cake, 3 for $10NT. They were just ok. Speaking of food, the bananas here are superb! wah! All the fruits are good. I had pomelos for the first time and love 'em! Especially when they're juicy.

Anyway, today I decided to bike to the Sports Park and run around for some reason. The landscaping is so serene and beautiful. I definitely will come back to take some pictures. Aunt Annie says this Sports Park is the largest park in Southeast asia.

*sigh* it is 3:30 in the morning and I can't sleep. I went downstairs to grab something to eat... my the cockroaches here are rather large... >:P yeech!

Anyway, lying awake thinking... the other day Aunt Annie came by to pick up some things from A-ma and I went to ask her if she "needed a bag" but instead ended up asking her if she "needed a deer." Damn these tones.

Today got up late, and felt lazy, so I didn't take a shower. I feel so naughty!

A-ma didn't cook lunch today, so I decided to eat... STINKY TOFU! I've never eaten this before, so I must try it! Last time I was here, they wanted me to try it, but I didn't dare... :D Anyway, wasn't immediately hungry so I set out in search of the Wellcome store. This is an Asian chain store that supposedly sells all kinds of international food, even South African. So I figured I'd check it out and see if they had any chips and salsa :D

I couldn't find my map, but I vaguely remembered where the train station was, so headed out in that direction. Luckily, there was a big sign a few blocks down pointing to the train station, so I didn't have any trouble. I stopped by a store across from the station and asked where the Wellcome was located and found it a few stores down. Well... not much there. They had a lot of American *potatoe* chips... and some cheese and lunch meats, but everything else was pretty much Taiwanese. So much for international. But I did find oregano and basil for a little over $1 per bottle- so cheap! I'll use these herbs in my spaghetti sauce this Sunday.

Well, became hungry so decided to set off for the stinky tofu restaurant. I -thought- I knew where the restaurant was located, so instead of returning home then setting off along a familiar route, so just started biking... man, good thing I didn't take a shower cuz I got lost and ended up biking for quite some time! But after a while (and after asking a few strangers for directions), I managed to find my way... :)

ok, so got to the restaurant. Let me explain: stinky tofu is stinky because... they use rancid tofu. From what I understand, it has mold on it, then they deep-fry it. Sounds appetizing doesn't it?!? But I was determined, so ordered a dish. It came out, and I took a bite, and...... it wasn't too bad! After finishing, I felt pretty happy and took a leisurely ride home... and that's my adventure with stinky tofu. :)

Today I woke up at 6:30am! Finally! After a nice run, I came home and ate a breakfast of egg cakes and chicken hambao. Hambao is the transliteration of Hamburger and their version has some sort of meat in a bun, but they'll add vegetables or eggs, and some sort of sauce for breakfast.

After I ate, I went upstairs to lay down in sleepy contentment. Fell asleep til 2 then got up and I went to Aunt Annies. She taught me how to make meat rolls wrapped in soybean wrap and we also made sweet taro balls. Had a lot of fun. I've decided to add a food section.

Today I made spaghetti for everyone. I wasn't sure how it would turn out since I couldn't use ground beef (Jeff isn't allowed to eat beef), so I used ground pork instead. Didn't turn out too bad and even A-ma ate some.

Felt like getting a cheesecake and cappuccino, but no one would go with me, so I'm stuck here listening to Ya-Ting playing the piano and trying to decide whether or not I should just go by myself... I guess I will. :P I need some dessert... mmmmm.....

*sigh* I knew I should have insisted my cousin go w/ me. The owners kept coming out asking me questions and trying to practice their English. It was kind of fun tho... But I was right-- the husband -has- been to Italy. Only Milan, tho. I swear the food there is great! The cheese cake has a thin crumbly crust with a light glaze and a few raisins on the bottom. The cappuccino is spiced with I think nutmeg.

Tomorrow Uncle Jemmy wants to take us out on a hike... at 6am. I'm not sure, but I think he's lost it. Or maybe because it's been pretty warm the last few days. I can't believe it's winter.

I had set my alarm for 6am, but kept snoozing until 7:30 when I finally decided to SHUT THE D@MN THING OFF. So I laid there with my coffee hangover trying to decide if I should get up or not, when not long after my uncle called up the stairs to see if I wanted to go... "Don't make me decide!" I said... "I don't know...! Is Jeff going?" Jeff's croaky voice came up affirming he would. *sigh* ok....

Actually, a nice cloudy morning. Here are a few pictures from the hike:

The legspan of this spider is as big as my entire hand...	I love the flowers on this tree.
Here I am with a baby palm... ahh~...	Aunt Kim and her son Jeff. Oh, what a naughty boy.
The really straight trees are coconut trees. It's Taiwanese name is "Heaven Reaching" coconut tree.	The Chinese love red. I especially like the wispy cloudy clinging to the mountaintops...
A panoramic view of Lo-Tung. Those are all rice paddies... they look like mirrors...

On the way down, my Aunt Kim and I began talking. I told her about how I was already planning my April trip to either Thailand or Japan and she said she was a little envious of me. I told her I was envious of her, of how she was married with a good husband and had 3 beautiful children. She told me she felt that the Taiwanese were the luckiest ppl out of everyone (even Main Landers, even Americans) because the Taiwanese had a long history and a long culture. She likened individual human growth to a tree where culture is the fertilizer, therefore the richer the culture, the richer the person. She said because the Taiwanese culture placed emphasis on the family, ppl were stronger for it, for no one can live and grow in a vacuum (and to answer any questions, yes, I'm paraphrasing).

She also said for personal growth, one had to live through hard times. Just like a sapling, one starts out weak and small. The sun shines so bright, it seems like it's going to burn you. The rain rains so much, it seems like its going to drown you. The wind blows so much, it seems like you'll never be able to stand up to it. And yet, if you are flexible and accept these hardships, slowly slowly, you grow... grow until one day you are so large so beautiful that the sunshine feels fine, the rain is a blessing, and the wind is nothing to be afraid of... and then you can sprout forth branches and leaves, and these are your progenies.

It's nice to finally meet someone who thinks about these kind of things, too.

Any~way, after the climb, we went for rice noodles. I came home, had "Mutual goodness" a sweet fried bread with soymilk, then later we ate at a buffet. Check it all out on the foods page :D :d....