Monthly Archives: October 2008

And LeeHom Is Mine Forever

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We have a new pet!

LeeHom the Turtle

He is a Red-eared Slider Turtle and named after Lee-Hom Wang, an Asian superstar. How we obtained him is a long story.

Yesterday was National Double Ten Day, so instead of doing celebratory patriotic stuff, we decided to go to Danshui for the day. There was unbelievable traffic, but we walked around the area filled with cute little shops and street vendors in the on-and-off again drizzles of rain. The whole point of places like these is that you’re supposed to arrive hungry, so you can just buy a variety of snacks like lamb-meat-on-a-stick, etc. here and there. We took a boat across the river and back again and saw the great Pacific Ocean.


After a few hours, we headed back towards home, stopping at El Gallo, a Mexican restaurant in TienMu for dinner. It was amazing beyond words. Jen & I have been craving Mexican food for so long, and we finally found a place with pretty authentic food.

After dinner, we stopped at ShihLin Night Market which was also packed. People everywhere all the time, you seriously just can’t get away from it at all. Anyways, we saw these little tubs filled with fishes and turtles where you can sit and “fish”.


You pay $100 for five of those fishing sticks to hook a turtle. (The process is totally humane, if not a bit traumatizing for the turtles to be flying through the air.) But the line breaks easily, so you have to buy more, and if you hook 14, then you get a free turtle. We spent $300 just to get 14+ turtles, so the lady let us pick one. We then had to buy the house and turtle food for it, which was another $310. We spent a total of $610 for Leehom, so we’re hoping he’ll live for a long long time.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

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I was just washing the frying pan because I cooked dinner tonight. It was even my first time cooking seafood: clams with basil and red chili peppers, and it was delicious. Unfortunately, I sliced my pinky finger on the apparently razor-sharp edge of the pan.

During tutoring today, I had a sudden craving for Taco Bell and Mountain Dew. Jud would be proud. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no ways of satisfying these said cravings.

I have already sent in my absentee ballot. Riley asked me today if I knew if Obama or McCain won. I was so proud that he was even asking about US politics as a second-grader, much less remembered who was running. Unfortunately, I had to tell him that we had to wait another month to find out.

There’s this amazing bookstore a couple blocks away. The bookstores here are so much cooler than the ones in the US. The ones here have everything you can ever think of in the categories of office supplies with cute animal faces on them. And the endless choices of the different types of pens and pencils, it’s like heaven on earth for me. Unfortunately, it’s closing its doors on October 20.

I hear the Vanderbilt Commodores are doing well in football for a change. 5-0, I believe, and 13th in the nation? I do miss college football. Unfortunately, they don’t show the games on the ESPN we get here.

Like I said before, we have Friday off, which we will be utilizing to do some touristy stuff in Danshui. Unfortunately, I have to work on Saturday as usual, but Jen & I will be attending an engagement party in Taichung on Sunday.

Short Week

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Jen & I have been watching Amazing Race Asia, and they’re doing an episode in Taipei. One of the tasks the contestants have to do is eat a giant bowl of stinky tofu, and they had a very hard time keeping it down. Jen & I did that sometime last week, eating stinky tofu that is. We walked by a street vendor, and I decided that we had to try it, at least once. It tastes exactly like it smells, not pleasant. I remembered eating it and not hating it before when I visited Taiwan a few years ago, but I did not remember how bad it was. I thought it tasted different than the way it smelled, but no not really. At least now I know for sure.

There was no typhoon this weekend, thank goodness, otherwise we would be home all day for the fourth straight weekend in a row.

Saturday: I had to work from 10am to 4pm, and then afterwards, we went to Ying-ge to eat dinner with my grandparents who flew in from the States. They’ll be here in Taiwan for about six months. The entire meal was a bit awkward because it was with another side of the family that I don’t know that well, and Jen & I got to sit at the table with the elders and the male sons. Jim’s grandfather also kept pouring shots of Johnny Walker whiskey for us, as everyone went around toasting our table. Jen was a trooper and did a fabulous job, getting along with everyone but unfortunately the entire meal was seafood, so she pretty much had only soup for dinner.

We left Ying-ge and made it back to Taipei around 11pm and decided to go out for a bit. We ended up at Luxy for a few hours before crashing into bed.

Sunday: Fabulous night market shopping and came back with a ton of stuff. Why would anyone need to buy anything anywhere else?

Thursday, the House Bunny finally comes out here, and since we have Friday off, I’m dragging Jen to go see it with me.

Friday is Double Ten Day which is similar to our Independence Day, so we get a day off. I would like to know if I get Saturday off too, or else it would be kind of pointless.

Can Only Make Me Stronger?

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I am going to be sore tomorrow. I went to the gym for the first time today, and they set me up with a personal trainer. She helped me warm up, did some weights, worked on my abs, stretched, and then asked me if I would like to sign up for the 12-day or 24-day personal trainer regime spread out over a few months, which will cost about $1700NT an hour.

Nice try. I think I’m better off finding/making up a fitness plan of my own. Although it’s a bit harder to turn down a salesperson who can use your weight and body fat against you.

On a school note, because it’s the beginning of another month, we switched teams in my classes so everyone has a chance to win. My second graders were so whiiiiiiiny about not wanting to be on a team with the opposite sex. There’s only two boys in the class, so it had to happen.

“But Teeeeeacher, I don’t like the boys.” “Yeah Teacher, I don’t want to be on a team with giiiiiirls.”

“Too bad, guys. Besides, come find me in ten years and we’ll see if you still hate girls. Or in the girls’ case, the boys. Then we can talk.”

What Doesn’t Kill Me…

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Q: Asides from a full time job (or in my case, part time), rent and bills to pay, what else does every full-fledged adult need in the real world?

A: A gym membership.

I am now a proud owner of a gym membership card at a gym that’s on the way home from work. I got extremely lucky because I “happened” on a deal where I got really low starter rater and monthly rates. I’m paying $1288NT ($40USD) a month. Now I just have to motivate myself to go at least three times a week. The exercise counselor that signed me up promised to make sure that I show myself twice a week, or else I’m in trouble.

I can totally do this. Especially when I’m paying for it monthly.