Bringing Mom Home

Mother's Day (and similarly, Father's Day)are always difficult holidays for me. Honestly, any event involving honoring or displaying "thankfulness" are hard for me. What exactly do you give someone to really show them that you love and appreciate them? Can any thing actually do that?

parents are particularly hard. they are the people you owe the most to and who do the most for you. i don't care what you say, it's true. yes, sometimes (or often times)they annoy you, frustrate you, and irritate you, but, it's always out of love. and while you may forget that sometimes, their birthday and nationally recognized holidays are the few days that you absolutely can't forget. in fact, you're forced to recognize it.

i pondered real hard for what to get my mother this Mothers' Day. she's had a pretty rough 2010-2011 having dealt with her illness and treatment, recent diagnosis of diabetes, a tax return crisis involving Prudential, and taking care of all the kids (my cousins + my overly rebellious sister + even me, sometimes). somehow, jsut giving her stuff didn't seem appropriate, particularly since Mom never really needs anything (except for perhaps a live-in maid or weekly maid service-ooo, perhaps birthday present?). after much thought, i decided to make my mom breakfast/brunch.

i'm not talking about your run-of-the-mill omelettes and toast here. my mom's from Taipei and most of her family still lives there, including her sister, brother, and her parents. her dislike of flying (the 15-17 hour flight time doesn't help) and her work, has made it so that she rarely goes back to visit her family or the Taipei she grew up in. since i can't exactly bring my maternal family over from Taipei for the weekend (perhaps one day, when i'm a Rockefeller), i decided to make her a Taiwanese breakfast complete with traditional Taiwanese foods.

a lot of Taiwanese breakfast foods center around flour and dough. i have no idea why. it's completely delicious, but pretty time-consuming, particularly when working with yeast. and to make Hakka-style Bacon requires pretty much a whole day of marinating before you cook it. it pretty hard to do all that in secret in order to properly surprise Mom so, aside from the marinating, i had to do most of it the  morning of. while waking up on a weekend morning at 7 a.m. is never easy, Mom's satisfaction and stamp of approval on all the foods (which i prepared from scratch) made it all worth it.




Hakka-Style Bacon aka





Shen Jian Bao; although the dough was a little thick, this was well-received, particularly by my carnivorous cousin WongWong.

Breakfast Rice Rolls aka ; these are supposed to be made prettier, but whatevs, they still tasted the way they were supposed to. every Taiwanese child has received these at some point when going on a school field trip.



i also made a Pan-Fried Oyster Omelette aka  but it came out the complete anti-thesis of how it should look. luckily, the taste was passable, but i refused to photograph it based on principle. you can see it, the Sesame Chicken Soup, and Fried Cruellers in the picture below. 

Taipei 2008: the sequel

just tried Kellog's Cinnamon and Pecan Special K. not bad, not bad. i was pretty skeptical when picking it up at Target and i really did only b/c they were doing a special of buy 2 for $5.00-interesting how i found out they were doing the special. i'd gone to buy a box of Special K at CVS and the cashier behind the counter covertly whispered to me that if i really wanted to buy Special K i should buy it at Target. kind of conflict of interest huh? anyway, as i ate the surprisingly good cereal i realized what it reminded me of: Cinnamon Toast Crunch. and i loved that cereal when i was younger. so the apprehension was ill begotten and completely unfounded.

so, if it wasn't obvious before, then you weren't paying attention, but i never write these entries in any type of chronological order. as such, i'm going to finish up writing about my spring break trip to taipei now. yes, so many eons after the fact.

aside from all the eating and shopping, there were various outings, i mean i'm not completely devoid of being able to go to see cultural and historic sights and if you know me, you knew there had to be some drinking and other similar events sprinkled in there somewhere. for instance, we did check out Taipei 101. yea, it's my 2nd time there but this time i went at night vs. the afternoon and the view is as different as (forgive the pun) night and day. the city is just gorgeous when you see it from up high.

since Princess didn't speak any mandarin, my friends and i decided to take her to an expat bar. we decided to go to Brass Monkey which is an infamous expat bar. it's specifically designed to feel like a British bar and, if i remember correctly, it doesn't have too many beers on tap but carries an interesting variety of bottled beers (Asia's all about the Carlsberg which is really weird). the bar's fine, and it's definitely a breath of fresh air from the trendy clubs or lounges that are scattered around Taipei, but it has a serious negative which is it's the place to go if you're a white guy out to pick up and asian girl and vice versa-and you know how i feel about the asian fetish thing. it's just super demeaning and creepy. i mean, when there's an asian fetish involved, the girl doesn't even have to be pretty-she just has to be asian. *shiver* i shudder just thinking about how gross that is. however, Princess (thank god) didn't meet a white guy but instead some British asian guy who she promptly abandoned us for and left the bar w/. granted they'd only walked a block down the street to "talk" quietly in some side street but i had a proper "mother"-like freak out b/c i had no idea where she'd gone (and i'd specifically told her to not leave the bar) and i knew she: 1) didn't know how to speak the language (and the Taipei population is not that great at english); 2) didn't know the telephone number of the place we were staying; 3) didn't know my cellphone number; and 4) didn't know the address of where we were staying. it was a nightmare. i just imagined the way my family would kill me for having lost the person i'd brought to Taipei w/me, not to mention what Princess' family would do to me after my own family was done w/me.

obviously we did find each other and Princess came back to the US safe and sound altho i've decided to keep a safer distance b/c i can't deal w/the stress of worrying about my friends. i'm too old for that kind of stuff. i only want to worry about my friends when it's necessary (e.g. job, love-life, family stuff etc.) and of course, guys and girls alike get a few free passes where they can cause a little drama in the club (but they must be drunk otherwise i don't tolerate stupidity). otherwise i just want to have fun hanging out w/my friends and not have to worry b/c you put yourself in situations where rape is a serious possibility and i have to keep checking up on you. no thanks.

i'd learned my lesson tho after Brass Monkey and i just got out of Princess' way. we ended up going to Luxy b/c she wanted to see the British guy again. i'd been to Luxy before w/Ahjima and the DJ had really sucked that time, but this time they played great danceable music and i had a great time dancing the night away. at 1 point Princess and i even jumped on the stage. at some point in the night the "show girls" (girls the club hires to bring around promotional shots and drinks and do a little table-dance-like performance on the stage sporadically throughout the evening) came out on stage to dance and at the end of their little performance they try to get guys to come on stage and dance too. but of course, we're talking about asian guys (most of who can't really dance-particularly FOBs). so all the guys were being all wishy-washy about getting on stage so Princess and i decided to go up there instead. so fun.

near the end of the trip, British guy wanted to take Princess out on a date and so we made the arrangements and i went to hang out w/my friends. we ended up at Miramar. the place is really like a giant shopping center but being on the outskirts of Taipei it has a few extras to try and attract consumers. aside from a movie theater, there's also a rooftop ferris wheel that's featured in most taiwan drama series. i found out this ferris wheel is something like 2nd largest in the world. pretty impressive huh? i did ride on it altho i have begun to realize something as i've gotten older: i have a slight fear of heights. luckily, the ferris wheel has a very sturdy look and feel to it and it moves very slow. the view's pretty amazing and i definitely recommend giving it a try.

after the ferris wheel, Island and i went up Yang Ming Shan to grab dinner. the last time i was up there was w/a group of friends and it had a very "camping" feel to it, sitting up there in the mountains eating food taken from the mountain to make the dinner dishes. this time was totally different. it had started to rain as we drove up the mountain-which, by the way, makes the drive up the mountain seem even more treacherous. in the dark the roads seem even more wind-y and dangerous and there are very few streetlamps to light the way. the place we went to was known for it's view and only has outdoor seating so we sat huddled under a giant beach umbrella eating our dinner. the rain had settled down into a light mist by the time we were finishing and then they proceeded w/a fireworks display (which apparently they do every night on the weekends). i totally recommend doing this if you're trying to impress a girl you're w/. very romantic.

and then it was time to leave. it was so sad b/c the time just flew by. and there's still so much stuff i want to do and see...but i guess that's for next time. b/c i just can't resist going back there. i love it too much.

Taipei 2008: the prequel

i'm back....miss me?

i also can't let this go unmentioned: i'm sitting in Professional Responsibility and my professor is talking about deception and legal ethics and he starts going into this hypo and starts it by saying:

"i'm going to build this building. yea, it's 3X larger than everything else aroudn it but i don't care. i'm going to build it, just like a penis into the sky."

ahem, excuse me professor? that's really the only reason to come to class. anyways, back to the point of this entry...

for spring break this year, Princess and i went to Taipei for 10 days. technically i'm an ABC, but i spent many summers as a kid in Taipei and it always holds a special place in my heart. then when i was legal drinking age...phew, Taipei became my favorite playground as well.

we took a thursday flight out so we could maximize our time in Taipei and manage to have 2 full wkds in the city. we had a nightmare incident occur with lastminute.com: they lost our tickets (it happened in an X-files mystery kind of way; they were supposed to send it via FedEx and supposedly someone in Feil signed for its receipt but Princess never got it) and then we called American Airlines (AA) and were told that our reservations were on record so there was no worries. on the day of the flight, all hell broke lose. i've never spent that much time at check-in counter. apparently, lastminute.com had issued us paper tickets when they should've just made it e-tickets. and lastminute.com had the authority to change it, but they were too lazy. basically, w/only 30 mins left to get onto our flight, Princess and i had to pay for "lost tickets" ($100 each, although lastminute.com has promised to reimburse Princess for the fees-we'll have to see if that pans out) before they would issue us boarding passes.

the flight over was fine, tho 17 hrs is always brutal. we made a stop in Tokyo Narita Airport. the Japanese really know how to live. the terminal was nice: shower rooms for freshening up, free internet lounges sponsored by Yahoo, delish food. the only negative is how expensive everything is. we transferred to Japanese Asia Airlines (JAA). i totally recommend flying Japan airlines from now on. the food was awesome, the service was all smiley, and complimentary booze! after this trip i've made a not-so-shocking discovery. Asian stewardesses are so much nicer than white ones. ok, i know that statement's not PC but whatever, it's true. the flight from NY to Taipei was all asian stewardesses and the service was all smiley, dainty and polite. on the way back, the flight from Tokyo to NY was all white stewardesses and they were bitchy, rude and curt. it made a big difference.

we arrived in Taipei around 10 pm on friday night and altho i was raring to go, Princess was exhausted and jetlagged so we went straight to bed. the next day we headed over to DanShui, and since it was a wkd, the place was packed. tons of ppl on the street, eating street food, buying crazy cheap things, playing carnival games. we took a break at Red Castle for tea and coffee which i'd never been there before although i've been to DanShui many times. the view's amazing and it's a really nice setting. altho we were there in the late afternoon, the place would be an amazing dinner date. later that night, we went to RaoHe Night Market, which was Princess's 1st experience w/a Taipei night market. following the night market, we went out for KTV, which as everyone in Asia knows, is a huge going-out activity. we tried to get into PartyWorld (this and Holiday KTV are the biggest KTV chains) but the place was booked (see? it was friday night and KTV was booked). instead we ended up at K9 which is located in the 24-hour shopping center Core Living Mall. Princess proceeded to polish off an entire bottle of red wine by herself and then all hell broke loose. there were only 5 of us there that night and 2 of us managed to make-out scandalously. i was not 1 of them.

we did a lot of shopping in Taipei. phew, Princess can shop! i've realized we have very different clothing styles. she's classy and elegant vs. me who's casual and teeny-bopper. when i took her down the main shopping strip, for the 1st time i understood what it's like to be a boyfriend accompanying a girlfriend shopping b/c we would go into stores totally Princess's style but not mine and i would have to wait on the side while she tried on clothes. we checked out WuFenPu Night Market, which is all clothes and nothing else. that's my favorite shopping area. plus, at that point i'd gotten really good at bargaining w/vendors. i took Princess to XiMenDing, another favorite place for shopping but also for hanging out. however, this was the day before Princess got sick so she lost steam really quickly altho she did manage to maximize the shopping. lastly, we went to Shilin Night Market but at that point we were both really shopped out and we only shopped for souvenirs and trinkets.

so aside from major shopping, we also ate a lot of food. this is pretty typical for Taiwan. the country's all about food and drink. yet the ppl stay so skinny! i just don't get it and it's just not fair. aside from all the street food: deep fried thick japanese mushrooms, skewered quail eggs, seasoned guava and asian peaches, stinky tofu and duck's blood (don't knock it till you've tried it); there was also official meales that my family took us out to eat at.

G-ma took us out to a ladies luncheon w/her friends on top of the Taipei World Trade Center which was so elegant and "ladies lunching" style. it was about 6 courses including shark fin soup. then there was the Japanese meal Princess and i had in XiMenDing. it was at this adorable place called Big Car Wheel (that's a direct translation). the place has been around for decades and it's novelty is that is has the little train that goes around the sushi bar and you can take things off it. while the food was good, the ordeal was a little trying b/c Princess can't read chinese or speak it and so i had to do all the translation and read the menu (which didn't come in english-and my ability to read chinese isn't that great). of course a trip to Taipei isn't complete w/o visiting Ding Tai Fun: this is the must go to place for soup dumplings and chicken soup. the reputation of the restaurant is still going strong (it has probably been around for a decade or just under) b/c we still had to wait 45 mins before we could get a table. i know, i know, chicken soup sounds plain but it really is worth it. and asian chicken soup is never the same as the chicken noodle soup we have in the states. it's just not.

lastly, there was Ma-la hotpot and shabu shabu. i'd never had shabu shabu before and now that i have i think hotpot is 100X better. i can't say why, but it just is. needless to say, there was a lot of food consumed and just thinking about it makes me feel blech but at the same time crave for all of it again. especially asian bread. and all those small 24-hour restaurants for drinking beer and snacking. ah, Taiwan Beer. i miss it all.

vacation highlight #2: drinks

ok, don't get too excited about the title of this post. i'm not gonna be sharing a plethora of party alcoholic beverages. there's only 2 drinks showcased in this piece, but they were definitely fun highlights of the vaca.

chocolate milk:
ahh...this was probably one of the best drinks i've had in a LONG time. if only they had this chain in the U.S. rock, o, ahjima, cousin & i went for lunch in causeway bay while in hong kong. we weren't sure what we wanted to eat and ultimately stopped at the asian chain Azabusabo. i actually really like this place, although i don't think ahjima or o really cared for it. at lunch both rock and o ordered a chocolate milk and it looked damn good. between the apps we'd ordered and my meal i just couldn't imagine also drinking a chocolate milk w/ soft serve ice cream on top so i passed. later, while cousin, ahjima & i window shopped around causeway bay i kept thinking back to that chocolate milk. it just kept haunting me. so when ahjima & i headed towards the subway and passed the same Azabusabo i just couldn't resist and went in to order a chocolate milk. one of the best decisions ever.
fyi about rock's photo: right before i took rock's photo, it just so happened that he and o were talking about prostitutes (i have no idea how that convo happened). regardless, right before i took the photo, instead of saying "cheese", rock said "prostitute?". and when you look at that photo, it somehow all fits together.

flaming lamborghini:
this was the infamous drink of the weekend while in hong kong. chah-lee kept trying to convince somebody to do it. finally, on o's last night in hong kong, we made a little card bet that the 2 losers would drink it. that ended up being ahjima & jin. this drink is impressively lethal. it's a shot of henessy, sambuca & b-52, lit on fire and mixed together. yikes. here's a pic of the contents:
o and ahjma kept trying to get me to do one, but after seeing jin's expression after he did his, i knew that wasn't going to happen.
haha either way, i think o and ahjima enjoyed theirs. thankfully me and chah-lee managed to get through the night flaming lamborghini free.