Author: Doris

Saw my first scooter accident today. Bam! Two scooters ran into each other. One driver got up, the other lay under his scooter which had flipped over. I didn’t stop to help, there were people already there and goodness knows I can’t even really speak the language. So I left the scene of an accident today. Bleh!

Vincie’s first tooth! Woo hoo! Bottom right one is barely poking through. He’s growing up, sniff, sniff. Went to Taipei today, saw Carrie and Asuka and had a nice time eating Peking Duck in their hotel. Yum, yum. It was quite different than what we are used to. The pieces of duck had more meat on them and the pancakes were very large, almost like whole wheat tortillas and the onion was not finely chopped, just a huge stalk of it in the center. They also had thin, thin scallion pancakes which were wrapped around green beans. That was yummy, but Jeremy thought they were too mealy. Then we went to Costo, and stood outside the door because we were too stubborn to pay the membership fee. They wouldn’t even let us look around to see if we’d like it… Sigh. Asuka urged me to be more aggressive, but he didn’t know that I’d already done my agressive thing by just asking if we could look around. I think Navier, one of my goldfish, is already slated to have a short time on earth… He’s swimming kind of sideways.

Today we went out to lunch with Ms. Liu, her husband, Leah and Droopy’s parents. It was *great*. Finally, Jeremy had someone to talk to in English. Turns out that Droopy’s dad works in the same field as Jeremy and speaks English very well. It was such a relief for Jeremy, I think, to be able to shoot the breeze with someone. Then we went to Ms. Liu’s house, which is an old, old house in which his family has lived in for more than 50 years. It was cool to see their stove which has huge gas burners. We picked up our 3 fish that they gave us (I’ve named them Luther Deux, Navier and Stokes) and put them next to our TV. Vincie is a bit unhappy today, he made a pretty big puke after dinner tonight.

So today we got a fish! Ms. Liu went to the petstore and got a small aquarium to put their beta fish in. Apparently their beta fish is not too well loved at their house. I’m trying to figure out where to put it so that Vince can’t gets his paws on it. His name is Luther Deux.

So I’m trying to be a bit more proactive, hahaha! I dropped Vince off at the nanny’s and I went and walked 3 kilometers at the gym. Bumped into Olivia’s (a cute-as-a-button 4 year-old) mother on the way there, she promptly told me the gym I joined was going to go under, their business isn’t too good. I *love* that it is within walking distance of my house. Anyways, after the gym, I bought dinner and was feeling pretty sorry for myself. I called Kay Dee to vent, which was nice. I got Vince from the nanny’s and I tried to squeeze through a tiny, tiny space between two cars with my car. I’ve seen George do it a million times, I hit both side mirrors. Luckily they are on hinges so I only have to bend them back. Then I went to the realtors and talked about the spa some more. They seemed to think it was very expensive. Oh well, at least I’m using it… Anyways, they invited me to lunch again, and discovered that they put yellow mustard in their soy sauce and eat raw garlic. Will gastronomic wonders never cease. Then I got George to drive me to Bei-Pu where there is a lot of ethnic food. The place was pretty quiet on the weekday. We also went to buy the famous Hsinchu peanut butter and strolled around the newly-opened pet store. They sell crocodiles (tiny ones…), hedgehogs, albino snakes, scorpions…. Crazy.. Otherwise, it looks just like the PetSmart.

So I’m feeling like I’m the queen of the lame-Os these days. I’m doing nothing except sitting on my hiney, not exploring the whole wide world which is Taiwan. Sigh. Jeremy has been under the weather, he’s caught Vince’s cold, so he came home early to rest. I’ve been really focused on watching a lot of Chinese TV. They have the cool subtitles on all the programs, so if they say a word often enough, and Vince gives me a few minutes, I can look up a word. I walked about 20 minutes to a major intersection where Helen and Ms. Liu told me there was a wet market, but I couldn’t find it. I wound my way back home. I have to say, walking for an hour in Hsinchu is like smoking a pack of cigarettes. Ugh, I do not like pollution. I like governmental regulations on pollution. People in the US do not know how bad it can get with a zillion two-stroke scooters zooming around. And I also like ADA regulations. Nothing like a good sidewalk with ramps, that would really cheer me up! I think Jeremy’s office has packed enough cubicles in their space so that the hallways between the cubicals are too small for two people to pass side by side. They are as wide as an airplane aisleway. Talk about a fire hazard. I also accidentally set on of our kitchen towels on fire today. (Can you tell… I’m a bit weary of being an immigrant today)

Got up and ran about 3 kilometers today. I’m as slow as a hippo through molassas. Ugh. Got Vince from the babysitters and went over to the realtor’s to say hello. I ended up eating lunch there! Yummy. They had this delicious beef noodle soup, yummy. I also tried seaweed, chicken’s neck, stomach and pigs ear. Voila. We got into a long conversation about how Americans and Taiwanese people eat their lobster and crab differently. I’ve always thrown away all that weird goopy stuff in the head and body of the crustaceans, but they *love* eating the yellow parts. Apparently next month is the best month for crabs because the yellow goop is at its ultimate peak.