my iBirthday

My 28th birthday ended up following a theme--everything started with "I!" A few friends and I went Ice Skating, shopping at Ikea, out for Indian food, and got Ice cream (on an Island)!

iCe skating
After getting lost--and it was my fault--we finally found the Taipei Ice Arena. We paid for our tickets and got all suited up, only to find everyone leaving the ice for a 30-minute cleaning break. So we watched the Zamboni go around and Helen got increasingly anxious (she'd never skated before as the ice got shiny and slippery under the Zamboni's brushes.

Helen manages a smile as I give her a helping hand

I hadn't been skating since junior high school, but took to the ice like a fish to (arctic) water! I was about to try a triple-axel, but I didn't want to show off (haha).

"Look, Mom--no hands!"

With Wayne--he left us all in his dust! (Roller blader)

Helen making her way through the practice area

...and plopping down for a rest

Happier with the skates on her hands!

Sporting a rosy, "I-just-made-a-snowman" glow! (Hard to come by in Taiwan)

The outside of the Ice Arena
(Of course, a ginormous TV screen)

A giant hand with a cell phone

That's 73 degrees Fahrenheit, mmm!

iKea
We had an hour to kill before the restaurant opened so we stopped in to Ikea and got a few things--a wok, some chocolates and pepparkakkar (ginger cookies) to hold us over before dinner.


iNdian food

After another minor detour, we found Tandoor Indian Restaurant a minute before 6 pm--opening time! We shared delicious appetizers...

Dinner was too good--I forgot to take pictures till it was gone!

Cool napkins!

A little night market stroll in Ximen-Ding

iCe cream

Dessert at Coldstone!

Peanut-Butter-Fudge-Something-or-Other Delicious!

Notice the lovely betel-nut juice dripping down the wall next to me! Only in Taiwan!

dinner 11.18

left: sauteed onion and soy bean
right: baked sweet potato
sweet potato topping: tahini, chopped walnuts, minced garlic, lemon juice

bazeb and confuseb

I have a young student who faithfully switches his "b's" and "d's" when writing. On his last spelling quiz, he got 7/10--and all his mistakes were because his b's and d's were reversed. What to do!

I've been very surprised to find that many students have problems with this. Since they already have to learn thousands of detailed characters, I assumed that symbol recognition would be no problem for them. Really, what's another 26? And in comparison to traditional Chinese, Roman letters look like bean sprouts dropped into soup! But I digress. I mentioned the problem to one of the Taiwanese assistants at school, and she said she'd come in to class and have a chat with the kids.

She drew a capital "B" and a lower case "b" on the board, and then launched into a mini-workshop on Bb/Dd. From what I could understand (it was in Chinese), she told them that a "B" looks like the profile of a pregnant woman, and "b" is her baby. Since the baby is inside, they both face the same direction. A "D" is the profile of a woman after she has the baby, and when the baby is out, it looks at the mommy: D d. Hmm. Maybe a bit of a stretch, but since then, the students seem to be writing the curvy consonants facing the correct directions.

Tonight I was biking home and noticed a sign near a taxi-car company that made me sigh despondently--and I realized I should surrender the hope that my students will one day be free from Bb/Dd confusion. There, in large letters, advertising the company's website, the sign read:

www.car-clud.com.tw

Maria's Birthday Cake

I've created a cake recipe in honor of my fabulous sister Maria's birthday (November 10th)! Here's the recipe!

Mi Hermanita Maria's Torta de Cumpleaños

INGREDIENTS:

1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. Hershey's Natural Unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 c. white sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

4 mashed, ripe bananas
1 c. warm water
2 large eggs
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. safflower or canola oil (I used grapeseed)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (I used Starbuck's vanilla syrup)
1/8 c. Kahlua

3 oz. chopped walnuts
1 3.5 oz. bar of Dove Dark Chocolate (71%), chopped into small pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in the center. Butter a 9x13-inch cake pan and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

3. In another large bowl, whisk together the bananas, water, milk, oil, eggs, vanilla and Kahlua. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix. You may notice the batter seems thin. Add the chopped walnuts and chocolate pieces. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

4. Let cake cool. If desired, top with frosting, whip cream, ice cream, or 23 candles!

Happy Birthday, Maria!

...and another yummy dinner from last week!

Sauteed Onions
Purple Rice
Guacamole
(Mashed ripe avocado, tomato, onion, cumin, and fresh lemon)

sunday morning drive

I'm kind of obsessed with riding my bike, Bluebell.

My apartment complex on Jhong-Shan Road

My street

My apartment complex, from the other side

And again! From a few blocks away. I live in "the country!"

Two men flying a remote-controlled airplane on an empty lot

I like living where there is red dirt and palm trees. The mound of buildings between these two trees is where I live.

an afternoon in Danshui

A beautiful mountain range that I can see from where I live

A monument to missionary George Leslie Mackay, who arrived in Taiwan in 1871

An interesting take on Starbuck's!

And on a boardwalk! Perfect!

A Dutch fort from the 1600's

Danshui River

A golden temple in the mountains