A clue

As I was typing the last entry to my blog just now I got a knock on my door. When I opened the door, the above piece of paper was on my door step. There were no one there though so I was left quite puzzled.

Dear ... note ditching person:

Yes! I like cheese. I LOVE cheese. If for some reason you are trying to ditch cheese along with your zucchinis I would gladly receive them.

Unless you weren't talking about the eatable kind of cheese but the kind of cheese where you list all my good qualities. In that case, I like those as well. Of course, being Asian I am very practical would still prefer the eatable kind. So, you are welcome to leave a block of cheese with complimenting notes about me anytime you want.

Thank you.

Birthday for me

I have officially said goodbye to my 20s. Never mind I have been 30 years old for the last year. For some reason being 31 made it that much more real that 20's is in the past. I haven't given it too much thought as to how I really feel about being in the 30s. Although I get the feeling I will probably like it much more than being in the 20s.

20's for me was being a newlywed and trying to figure out who I am as an adult. Which meant it was just drama city. Not as dramatic of course as from 14-19 years old, but nothing can match teenage angst.

I wondered if I should be going through some pre-mid-life crisis, but seems kinda silly since once I think about it I am really living the life I have always wanted. Most importantly I think where I live has changed my total outlook on what it means to grow old.

My neighbors are some of the coolest people I know. My older neighbors are especially cool. I think it was a few years ago when I realize one truth. People might grow old on the outside but they are really just teenagers in the inside. I see so many retirement age people having the time of their life with their spouse who they are still amazingly in love with. It makes me look forward to that stage of my life and makes growing old something to look forward to.

So, to all the really cool people I know: Thanks!

ps. my birthday cake was a flan from Betos. I LOVE flan so my husband wisely used it as my birthday cake.
pss. It is also of note that apparently all the drama of the newlywed years has taught him the wisdom of putting 3 candles on the "cake" instead of 31.

View from the top

I had the opportunity to go to lunch at a really nice hotel for lunch. We went for the afternoon tea which was served buffet style. For $10 the buffet included variety of sea food (even whole fish which you could order as you will) and countless selection of hot food. I really should've taken some pictures of the food... but I was a bit preoccupied But never fear, I did take pictures of the most important part- desserts!

The restaurant was at the top of hotel so the view was super nice.

A random statue of a buda inside the hotel.

A Ferrari that was parked right outside of the hotel that caused my cousin to drive right past the parking garage.

FYI

The other day my family and me were walking to where my cousin parked his car (about 3 minutes away. Finding a space to park your car is a daily chore.) when my aunt all the sudden exclaims "oh, someones car got towed!" My aunt was pointing at some writing on the ground as she said this. My cousin looked at where she pointed and said "yap, it looks like they parked illegally." I was so lost. What does some writing on the ground has anything to do with someones car getting towed? It turns out the writing on the ground was a FYI message from the traffic police to the car owner whose car got towed. The top two lines of numbers showed the car's licence plate. The third line is the address of where the car was towed to. The fourth line is the phone number of the towing place. The last line is the city where the car is at. For some reason every time I look at this picture I think this is the funniest thing. Is kinda like a letter of connection from the traffic cop to the car owner. Sort of touching, isn't it?

Ice cream truck?

I was window shopping with my mom and my aunt last night when I heard music coming from somewhere down the road. For a little bit I wondered if it was a truck that was selling food like the ice cream trucks we have in the States that drives around with its signature music on. Alas, this is what I saw:

In Taiwan dump truck come around twice a day and who ever has trash will go out in the street to dump their garbage. Maybe we should all teach our kids that the ice cream truck is really the garbage truck in disguise.

Living it up in the hospital

I was a bit afraid of the hospital in Taiwan. I figure there was no way it would be better than the hospital in Utah, but I was wrong. My mom wanted a full physical check up and I got dragged along with her to share in the "fun". The hospital we went to was a new one and it looked more like a hotel than a hospital. It even had a piano in the front lobby. We registered in the morning and was given a full outfit to change into along with slipper. A team of nursers was there to make sure we saw the right doctors and given the appropriate test. I walked around in slippers, read magazines, and followed people around. The medical tests was not fun but I was really impressed with the hospital staff and how "spa" like they tried to make it.

I wasn't able to take pictures but here is a picture of the basement of the hospital that looked more like a mini-mall. It had a full on mall like food court, a bakery and even some shopping stores.

Wondering Around

We have been spending the last two days in Kaoshung, Taiwan. Kaoshung is where my family is originally from and where most of my relative still lives at. It has been a lot of fun just following my cousin around to see how their lives here differ from the west. It is especially interesting comparing notes on various things that makes our lives different.

Some things that are different:
Cars are a lot more expensive in Taiwan. Owning a car alone means you are somewhat secure financially, since their yearly government car tax alone cost around $1000 U.S. dollars.
Their hourly wage for a middle level job is around $3 - $4 an hour.
Living expense can be somewhat lower in Taiwan. Food cost is usually cheaper in Taiwan, but other things such as clothing are not necessarily cheaper than United States (which really surprised me since I expected it to be cheaper).
It is usually a necessity for both husband a wife to work full time to support a family with the current job market .

One of my cousin's precious car's home.

My cousin's friend's car had a little run in with the train sign, so it need some beauty help.