LoveJY

I spent a week in Taiwan; usually a week is not worth it, flying an expensive 13-ish hours from LA, but this time, it was only 1.5 from Shanghai. Although it does take about another 1.5 hours to get to the airport, it’s all by public transportation, which is cheap and within walking distance. 5 minutes from my door is the metro, which takes me to the maglev station, which shuttles me right into Pudong airport.

Anyway, here’s one of my favorite things about Taiwan: going to 姥姥’s house. There is never a shortage of food, and there are always, always, always freshly made 狮子头 (i.e. GIANT meatballs) that she makes with a special recipe to make them super soft and tasty. My mom now has the recipe, and I’m determined to learn how to make them too. Our 姥姥, who is actually my mom’s godmother but has become so close to the family we consider her our grandma as well, used to make star-shaped chicken nuggets for my brother and me when we were younger. A little disappointed that there weren’t any this time, but only in a selfishly childish way.

The view from another one of my favorite places in Taiwan: DanShui. Beautiful scenery, irresistable shops with billions of cheap things, or claw games (think alien squeaky toy from Toy Story)! Last time Ricky and I won 30+ stuffed animals and little things from the claw games. This time, I only got a mini pack of cards. As much as I love Taiwan and the people there, I have to admit it felt weird after getting used to the way things work in China. I guess I really am starting to become familiar with Shanghai and considering it my home.

The speed of the maglev from the airport. 30km in 7min 20sec.

Back in China. Saw this in an old-town area, behind the place where we got our custom (partial-) cashmere coats.

Same area as last time, where I took the picture of the rubble in the foreground with the cranes and high rises in the back. The place has been pretty much cleared out, with the exception of 2 tiny shack-sized homes, and we saw workers laying foundations for new high rises.

No Spitting!

Just dinner on a normal night. 58rmb to stuff ourselves with enough leftovers for lunch!

Last night, I was bringing Cheesepuff back to my place, since Ricky was taking care of him for me while I was in Taiwan.  The taxi driver was the nicest one I’ve had yet.  Most of them just say “到哪儿?” (Where to?) when you get in the cab, but he said “你好!” (Hello!), and cheerfully too. He was easy to talk to, but what surprised me the most was whenever the cat meowed, the taxi driver meowed right back! Chinese people don’t usually do things like that, especially in front of strangers, but he just laughed and said “它有同伴了!” (Now he has a companion!)

I think it’s because of things like that, that make me realize I don’t feel so out of place here anymore. It’s not so much seeing someone exhibit the “nice” behavior that we’re used to in westernized places, but learning to recognize the good hearts of the people here, no matter how they express themselves.

Interesting juxtaposition. That word always makes things sound more serious than they really are. Anyway, I went shopping for kitchen supplies today, and decided to spend a little more money on the cutest sponges I’ve ever seen. I suppose it’s all part of a subconscious effort to make home more homey–and the fact that I almost can’t resist these kinds of things. I’m having an internal conflict; my nesting instinct versus desire to be mobile. Why get attached to something you know you’ll have to leave? Ah, so philosophical. In the end, I still believe it’s better to have loved and lost, than not to have loved at all.

On a lighter note, Ricky and I ate at Saizeriya tonight, and noticed this sign as we were paying for our dinner.  I don’t mind at all, since I don’t expect everything to be spick and span here; just thought it was funny how it actually says “Fail”. The food is not bad… Not great either, but the price is definitely fair. Glad I had my P&S with me all day; I’m going to keep with me wherever I go from now on, because there’s always going to be something that I’ll be glad to be able to look back at someday. And I must start using shorter sentences.