3 sisters hair cutting adventure

so since all three sisters were in Taipei, we went to cut our hair.  Kay and Erica got perms, driving the cost of each of their haircuts over $1000 ntd.  i did without the perm, costing under $300 ntd.  haircuts are much cheaper in Taiwan.

I only have pictures of Erica.  She now has very Asian hair.  wearing very Asian glasses.  and making a very Asian pose.

To each (wo)man his/her solicitor

Kevin fell prey to Buddhist monk soliciting donation.

Kay fell prey to art school student selling pens that they designed.

Sshhhhh.... Slurpee is sleeping...

3 sisters nostalgic school adventure

since all three sisters were in taipei, we decided to visit our old elementary school.  accompanying male friends found the whole experience bizzare.  quote kevin:  weren't you locked up in there for twelve hours a day?  why would you like to go back to it.

most of my waking hours during childhood were spent in and around school.  without the school, there is no childhood memory!

the washroom i was in charge of cleaning in grade 3.  it used to be unisex but now it's separate.  i suppose that makes more sense, even though it never bothered me when i was younger.

Erica and the way to her classroom.

Kay and her basket.  the hoop seems so short now...

Kevin wasn't very comfortable...

"be a lively good student."  the sign looks so old now...

Taipei Restaurants Summary 1

Since it takes a while for me to update my blog, i am going to summarize my experience in the past month, staring with food.

鼎泰豐 Ding Tai Fung


One of the best known Taiwanese restaurants, a must on any tourist group's itinerary.  Their dishes are simple food, skillfully prepared, served by efficient but friendly wait staff, eaten in a pleasant but not fancy setting.  After going there a couple of times, I recommend:  蟹粉小籠包, their English menu call it steamed pork dumpling with "crab meat" but it's really the crab roes.  the crab roes lend a rich, buttery flavour to the pork, and the delicate wrapper is paper-thin.  Very tasty.  Also recommend: vegetable & meat bun, fried rice, chicken soup.  Their food are not cheap.  Sometimes it feels as if such simple food in such a no-frill restaurant shouldn't be so expensive, but then it's hard to find the same food so well-prepared somewhere else.

 

The bun that defied my expectations.  I expected the dough to be sweet but it was not.  I expected the filling to have more seasoning but it had not.   Then when I expected the bun to be bland and boring, the flavours emerged in many layers.  It was kind of zen.

 Erica devouring the last steamed dumpling...

Mo Mo Paradise

All you can eat sukiyaki place.  We like to go for the $ 299 NTD lunch with drink bar.  Sliced beef cooked in their special sauce, dipped in raw egg, hot and tender and savory and slippery.  it's beefy yet elegant.  Also great selections of vegetables and mushrooms.  

 

 Teppanyaki

This is a style, not a restaurant.  We ate at many places that do this, some better than others but I don't remember all of them.  Usually you order a main dish and it comes with bean sprouts, cabbage, rice, soup and sometimes drinks.  

This is in 士林 night market, whereKevin discovered this specific style of cooking.  Our favourite place is close to 雙連 Station, but i don't have a picture of that.

Wedding Photo Trip: Part 2 Heaven

Compare to the second day, the third day was heaven.  Our hotel room has a huge bathroom with hot spring directly piped in.  There was even a plate of rose petals to sprinkle over the water.  Outside, we are surrounded by park, valley, river, and mountains.  The air was fresh and the day was good. 

Here's some photos to share:

  

Kevin and his lastest pet.

 

Before the sun came up the mountain, we walked the trail over looking the valley.

 

Plum blossom in full force.

 

The hot spring park.  There was also a pond with doctor fish (that's the small fishes live in hot water that eat your dead skin, really).

  

Relaxing breakfast at the hotel.

 

Then the sun came out over the mountain and we hiked the mountain trail.

Wedding Photo Trip: Part 1 Hell

After Erica and James arrived in Taipei, we went on the very strange once-in-a-lifetime "Wedding Photography Trip".

First day, we took the high speed rail to Taichung and checked in Le Parker Business Hotel.  Then we went to try on our dresses.  Each person can pick 5 dresses and the stylist design something around the dresses.  Then we had to stayed around to talk to the photographer.  It was quite tiring especially because Kevin and I were still both a little jet lagged.  But it was nothing comparing to the second day...

Second day.  We were lucky that the weather was very sunny and nice.  We started at 9 am.  I had a ridiculous amount of make-up put on me, including 2 sets of false eye lashes. Erica had half her eyebrows shaved off.  Then we did 2 sets of studio photos before we headed out to Gu Guan 谷關.  I don't usually suffer from motion sickness but on the winding mountain roads to Gu Guan, I got extremely car sicked.  I was in the car, wearing a gigantic wedding gown in full make-up, trying very hard not to vomit.  We took photos after photos.  I felt cold, stiff, tired, jet lagged, car sicked and hungry.  By 8:30, I insisted to the photographer that we have to call it a day.  Which was a smart move, because Erica told me that their session went til 10 pm.

Here's some photos to share:

 

See all the eye lashes that weren't mine? 

  

My monkeys were in the pictures with us.

I puked in this dress...

 This dress kept on falling down...

  

 By this point, it was very hard to smile.

 

This is our Corona commercial.  Cheers!