As Chinese New Year approaches, all sorts of things are starting to heat up, or alternatively, cool right down here in Taipei. The season brings out all sorts of bizarre, but slightly more familiar behaviours among the local population. There is a general frenzy centered on cleaning up and renewal generally. One part of this is the clearing out of the house of any old rubbish or furniture, which partly precipitates the big cleanup drives which I talked about last week. The other part of this is the replacement with new things, so shops are full and supermarkets are bustling as people buy the “special and delicious” New Year’s food.Cass was caught up in part of this mayhem when she went down to the Jade and Flower Markets yesterday with her friend, Kathy. They traveled down on the MRT and had some sustaining coffee and cheesecake before entering the cauldron! The jade market was packed, but neither Cass nor Kathy saw any great bargains. They had gone down partly because it is known that traders will do good deals close to Chinese New Year as they try to rid themselves of stock and build up the cash coffers for the New Year. The adjoining flower market was absolutely packed: people see this as a cheap and very attractive option to dress up their apartments for the New Year: flowering plants being among the best sellers. Ironically, Cassy thought the prices were a little higher than usual, probably due to the huge demand at this time. She brought a beautiful cyclamen home and has been airing it on the verandah at night as (apparently!) they enjoy the crisp air. Cassy has had a soft spot for these flowers forever, but especially since we saw huge tracts of them planted out in public places all over France in the winter time.
I have had the most incredibly lazy weekend I’ve had for a long time. We had great plans to head out via various expressways to the east coast this morning, but when the alarm rang at 6 o’clock, we both decided it was far too early! By the time we did get up it was far too late, as the traffic would have snarled up and it had become noticeably colder with a touch of rain and wind about: not the kind of conditions to tempt you into the water!
We went across Chung Shan Nth Rd last night to the very nearby restaurant with a Japanese style. It is a kind of Japanese Taiwanese fusion and we really enjoy the friendly atmosphere and busy vibe. They are always packed (a great sign) and it is great value and very tasty. Cass tried a new dish which was a chicken curry ramen (noodles and vegetables in a hot broth with chicken pieces on the bone) served in a big wide brimmed bowl. The idea is to grab a stack of noodle and some other bits with your chopsticks and to slurp it up out of the bowl. Cassy is far too couth to do this correctly: the Japanese are the masters. The more slurping noises you make the more delicious is the soup and the more appreciative of its flavour you are! Some societies have all the right manners, I reckon.
On the way home from dinner, we stopped in at an “open house” that they were having a few doors down from our place here in alley 21. A ground floor unit with a very tight parking spot in front had been done up ready for sale. It was done quite well and was reasonably stylish, but the materials were quite cheap and the reno would not have cost much. It was about 2/3 the size of our relatively small apartment, very dark with no natural light and they wanted $915,000 (Australian). Maybe our real estate back home is not as expensive as we think it is!!
The third grade went to a huge American warehouse/retail outlet over in Neihu for one of our field trips this week. One of the school’s board members is the managing director and they put on an awesome trip, showing us the whole operation inside and out. We had dozens of dedicated English speaking guides and it culminated in an incredible feast for the kids of pizza, chicken and beef bakes, chips, lollies and ice-creams: as much as they could eat which was a dangerous thing! Photos this week are Dave and Wal with hygiene caps on in the sushi making department, some really excited kids, Cass in another pose with some very lazy spoilt cats.