END OF THE WORLD

I lied! One more thing. 

Can you spot me (you have to be quick!) I must say that even now that I see the finished product I don't really get the concept, way too highbrow for me. 

Now, finally here I come.

THE LAST SUPPER

Now, off to the airport!!

TAIPEI TIMES

This (rather unfortunately) is what first comes to mind when I reflect on what the past six months here have been like. My teacher kept harping on about how we just got a bad year, apparently it doesn't usually rain this much but....

Anyway, irrelevant now - here I come!

NATIONAL DISH OF TAIWAN

Same as Lanzhou actually, beef noodles.

Slow cooked beef (cheap cuts but if cooked right falls apart in your mouth), noodles, a little cabbage and spring onion in a beef stock broth. The ultimate beef noodle place to me has super tender cuts of meat, a really flavourful broth and a chewy noodle. A bad bowl can be totally inedible, a good one, the perfect thing to eat on a cold and rainy Taipei day. Needless to say, I've been eating them quite a lot lately!

Looking forward to that NZ summer (I hear it's waiting for me to arrive...)

HOMEWARD BOUND

I am leaving this fair city and coming home in 4 days and counting down...

I can't say that I'm sorry to leave, my bags are packed and I have already made a list of all the things I'm going to do once I'm home!

Very excited to be living somewhere new (Auckland), not so excited about the prospect of finding a job, I've been looking for a month so far to no avail... I think it may still be a few more months until something happens. Anyone have any ideas?

In the meantime I can busy myself with home decorating, cooking, reading, finding my way around Auckland etc, I don't think unemployment will be too too horrible :)

These last fews days will involve going to school (finishing my last pesky time card, I will not be missing those), eating froyo, vegetarian buffet, drinking green tea with milk (just discovered this weekend, weird but totally works) and generally counting down the hours...

See you soon!

CHEESY DELIGHT

I really am leaving Taiwan with a bang.

Tonight: a vegetarian pizza shop, with toppings such as "Ginger Superman" "Apple and Cinnamon" "Kimchi" alongside more classic options such as "Rosemary Potato" and "Cheese".

Not much indoor seating (one table that seats 6?) but a lot of customers, there is always a huddle of people standing on the street outside awaiting take-out and groups sitting in the park opposite eating these delicious cheesy wonders. The thing I like most? The size. Each the size of a modest dinner plate - the perfect serving. A good thing too as within 3 minutes walking distance are Froyo AND the cookie store and if you're in the mood for more savoury, those yummy potstickers.... It's a great area to just wander around, picking up snacks at your leisure (not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.)

FRIDAY NIGHT FRY

It's been too long since this has happened!

Guo Tie, or potstickers, whatever you want to call them, are pretty delicious. Dumplings that are fried on the bottom, one of the many reasons why I got so fat in Shanghai and thus, not a regular feature in my current diet. Third time since I've been in Taiwan perhaps?

These particular specimens are pretty near perfect, golden brown, crunchy on the bottom but chewy on top, yummy pork filling. Plates and plates were going out of the kitchen, big plates. How do these little people stay so svelte when they eat this way?