Cole Porter with an Asian flair

08 Jan 2012 Leave a comment

by twgurl54 in Culture, Travel Tags: , , ,

Broadway comes to Taipei. Enthusiasm. Several co-workers and I decide to check it out and bought tickets. Theirs were on the 5th level (read: far from the stage) and cost 1500NT (50USD). I didn’t want to be in the nosebleed section of the 3000 seat Taipei International Convention Center, using opera glasses to see the action, so I spent 3200NT to sit in the 2nd section center stage. Excitement. We met up at Taipei 101’s food court for dinner (I had a salad from Jason’s Fresh Market). Anticipation. Afterwards, we walked to the Convention Center. It’s chock full of other musical theater fans and HUGE flower arrangements, Taiwan’s custom for sending good wishes.

break a leg

Hundreds of people, in a very orderly fashion, ascend elevators to find their seats. While I waited in my plush seat, I browsed through the program and watched a music video of the title song performed by the show’s lead performers on two Jumbotrons! (That was anti-climatic.) I wondered, would the live musical performance be shown on the large screens? (As it turns out, it was, making it a distraction to the action happening on-stage.) Hmmmm, I’ve attended Broadway shows before (NYC, LA, OR) and don’t recall ever seeing the show being broadcast on-screen. 15 minutes after the show was due to start, the 11-piece orchestra filed in.    Yeah, here we go!

And then….disappointment.

The good: the musicians, under the direction of a spirited band leader,played their hearts out.  two of the supporting cast turned in stellar performances (too bad they represented only 5% of the cast). the one tap dance number was rousing (despite the spotty choreography). the venue was lovely and a very civilized.

The bad: the sound board seemed to be manned by a tone and decibal-deaf technician. At times, the singers were drowned out by the orchestra and at other times they faded into the background. the leads seemed to phone their performance in (at one point, the male and female leads simple stood and sang – i’ve seen more spirited performances at a concert).

The ugly: what happened to passion? singing what you feel? sharing what you feel with the audience, in song? what happened to artistic integrity? many of the performers were difficult to understand speaking English.

So sad – a classic American musical chopped up and spit out; completely unpalatable. Verdict: it’s a MISS. I should have spent the ticket money shopping 101.

Writer’s holiday party

31 Dec 2011 Leave a comment

by twgurl54 in Foreign Food, Travel Tags: , ,

My work team celebrated this holiday season with a White Elephant gift exchange and dinner at a local “hot pot” restaurant.  I must say I was originally not too excited, thinking “oh great, an a;;-you-can-eat all-meat restaurant with no veggie options”. I could not have been more wrong! The 10 of us sat around a large table with “hot pots” (large vessels set over a gas burner) and selected which liquid to cook our dinner in. We vegetarians shared half a hot pot filled with some tomoto-based liquid and heaped our plates with all manner of non-meat options. In truth, I recognized very little of the plentiful veggie options but that didn’t stop me from trying as many of them as possible.When the liquid was gently bubbling, we used chopsticks to carefully drop items into the “hot pot” and waited for them to cook. (Of course, while we were waiting for the liquid to heat up, we helped ourselves to the dessert bar – my boss actually had 3 HUGE bowls of Haagen Daz!) After the items were cooked, the idea is to place them into a bowl to cool off and then dip them into a smaller bowl filled with whatever custom-made sauce you’ve prepared. Needless to say, I’m now a “hot pot” convert!

Hot Pot extravaganza

Christmas in Taipei

21 Dec 2011 Leave a comment

by twgurl54 in Daily Life, Taipei, Taiwan Tags: , , , ,

I finally got all my packages and cards mailed out last week; lord, I hope they make it safely to their intended recipients!  People here are so trusting. I have no doubt the packages will make it across the water. I am, however, worried about what happens to them once they land stateside (that’s a sad state of affairs, isn’t it). The postage was outrageous, but then again, the packages are travelling 10,000 miles and I had them insured. I carefully selected the gifts – all made in Taiwan. The Taiwanese pride themselves on their workmanship. And their pride is well-placed; it’s amazing to see how much care goes into even the simplest of items. I was invited to a co-worker’s house for a Christmas Eve party and to Yingge for Christmas day. It’ll definitely be a different celebration this year…

I found a live Christmas tree, all bundled up in the florist shop across from the bus stop. I wrapped my arms around it and breathed its smell in. Ah, such a lovely scent! I made the mistake of asking the price….are you ready for this? 20,000NT, the shoplady said with a straight face. That translates into nearly 700USD – for one 6’tree that won’t last one month. Yikes! Instead, I went to the “everything” store and purchased a  small fake white tree and some LED lights (both made in Taiwan). Total cost: less then 500 NT (18USD)! I can still smell the spendy pine when I turn the LEDs on…

Merry Christmas 2011

6:16pm earthquake #3

04 Dec 2011 1 Comment

by twgurl54 in Weather Tags: ,

This one was a BIG one – at least it SOUNDED like it. I could hear (and feel) the apartment building moving and the windows buckle.  The shaking kept up for only a few minutes. Odd, these ‘quakes feel…more personal. I’ve experienced others in the US but these (in Taiwan) are close. I mean, this isn’t a big island and we are sitting smack dab on a fault, with a huge drop-off shelf off of the east coast so it’s to be expected. Still, talking about it and living it are two different things. It makes me wonder what sort of natural disasters are in store for us in 2012…

Thanksgiving in Taipei

24 Nov 2011 1 Comment

by twgurl54 in Daily Life, Travel Tags: , , ,

As you might guess, it’s just another workday for us here in Taiwan; at least the sun is shining!  Also, very few people have an oven so no turkey this year! I think Wellcome had some whole turkeys for sale last week but I walked right on past. (I haven’t had turkey in years, seeing as I’m vegetarian but still, it’s the thought.)

When I got home yesterday, a note (in Chinese, of course) appeared in my mailbox. On my way to work this morning I stopped by the 106 post office on Anhe and showed them the note. I was made to understand that something from meiguo (may-goo-ow), America, was sent to me. Apparently, whatever it was, was on a truck out for delivery so the clerk called the driver and had the delivery guy return to the post office. Such great customer service! Turned out to be a wonderful basket of dried fruit from my parents. What great timing! I took the basket to work to put on the “feeding” table and sent the following message (a co-worker composed it) in Chinese:

 我的家人從加州寄了一份水果籃要和大家分享，感恩節快樂！My family sent a fruit basket from California to share with everyone! Happy Thanksgiving!

 Needless to say, it was devoured by my hungry co-workers (and me)! A happy day indeed!

Thanks Mom and Dad!

My Sogo guru

19 Nov 2011 2 Comments

by twgurl54 in Shopping, Taipei Tags: , , , , ,

If you’re ever in need of a makeover, I highly recommend heading to Sogo (Zhongxiao-Fuxing, the big green building). First stop? Go see Allan, manager of the Dior counter, on 1F. Not only is he adorable, he’s very knowledgeable about the latest in skin care and cosmetics. Despite the store being mobbed by shoppers taking advantage of Sogo’s annual sale, he took the time to listen to what I wanted and then suggested colors/products and actually showed me how to create several different looks. Who wouldn’t love that? And, if that wasn’t enough, he was willing to walk me around the floor, introduced me to the manager of a high-end and act as my translator. When I asked who I could talk to about complimenting his excellent customer service, he blushed, saying it was just part of his job. Of course, my purchases were elegantly wrapped. And at one counter, I was given a bottle of water; I felt like I was flying first-class.

NOTE: make sure you shop the Sogo accessed from the MRT.  If they don’t know who Allan is at the Dior counter, you’re at the wrong Sogo. Head outside and across the street and look for a GREEN building with the Sogo logo.

A slice of antique HEAVEN!

19 Nov 2011 Leave a comment

by twgurl54 in Daily Life, Shopping Tags: , , , , , , ,

I was talking with one of the volunteers from the Community Services Center charity auction about antiques and  how I enjoy hunting for antiques back home and had yet to see any actual antique stores/malls/estate sales/ secondhand stores here. She told me about a place on Roosevelt that was known for it’s great selection and low prices on antiques. I’d been meaning to go and finally today I did.

It was raining lightly when I hopped on the 235 and got off at the Guting MRT. I didn’t know the name of the store, only that I was to turn right onto Roosevelt off of Heping and look for a green and yellow building I couldn’t miss. From looking at a map I knew that Roosevelt was the main street adjacent to the Guting MRT but when I double-confirmed (Taiwanese-speak for double-checked) on my phone’s GPS, I didn’t see the name “Roosevelt” where I’d expected to. Hmmmm, now what? I used a life line and called a friend. Turns out I was on the right track, I just needed to cross the street and look for a storefront with “old stuff” out on the sidewalk. And then, there it was!

Wow! I felt like I’d just won the asian antiques lottery: two floors of room after room of every imaginable item. Furniture, pottery, masks, artwork – each one more strange and wonderful than the last! The icing on the cake was that the super friendly staff spoke English. And when I used the hackneyed ” is possible be cheaper a little” phrase in Chinese, the owner laughed, pointed to a sign (“one-price” store she told me) and then offered a 10% discount. Sweet! That’s certainly better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick! I ended up with a Japanese hatbox (complete with a gorgeous black wool hat), a “crystal” ball + stand, a gorgeous handmade wooden box with red and gold painted design, and what looks like an aluminum funnel with a old-fashioned corkscrew on top – to be used as a hat stand.

this is so "me"

Ahhhh, I don’t even know the name of the store but I know I’ll be back!

Will the rain ever stop?

19 Nov 2011 Leave a comment

by twgurl54 in Taipei, Weather Tags: ,

No one told me that “Winter” in Taiwan consists mainly of lowered temperatures, high humidity,  and non-stop RAIN. Ugh! Ok, not completely non-stop. I think last Monday night the rain stopped long enough so that I didn’t need an umbrella (a handy little Totes, one of the two smartest items I brought with me from the States) on my walk home from work. Seriously, if I’d wanted to live in a world of grey and green, I’d have moved to Seattle! On the upside though, I do find the sound of raindrops soothing while I’m indoors… and oddly, the wet weather doesn’t seem to affect the multitude of bicyclists and scooter drivers clogging the roadways. They cover up with colorful full-body rain gear and take each kilometer in stride.

Treasure hunt in Yunlin county

19 Nov 2011 Leave a comment

by twgurl54 in Taiwan, Yunlin County Tags: , ,

Once a year, my workplace holds a “camp” (read: weekend of workshops and teambuilding) for its 600+ engineering staff (which includes all tech writers). This year, the camp was held in Yunlin county, about a 3-hour bus drive south-west of Taipei.

Engineering Camp entertainment

So while it was grey and rainy in Taipei, it was bright and sunny (read: HOT) at the Jansufun Park! After a rousing welcome by our CTO at 11am ( I assume it was rousing; it was in Chinese), we were divided into teams of 22 (I was the only non-native on our team) and instructed to search the park for”cache” boxes containing cards with monetary values on them – 47 of those little suckers were hidden in various places and it was our *job* to find as many of the caches as possible. They called it “geocaching” – sort of like a grown up version of an easter egg hunt! Up the steep slopes, down the crazy rides,

Check out this ferris wheel!

we searched high, we searched low. We stopped for lunch and then continued. We stopped for a tea break and continued on. Did I mention that it was freakin’ HOT?? At each cache point, we were required to take a photo of the team. We were also required to stick together at all times (bathroom breaks excepted). Finally, at 5pm, we met up in the “Rainbow Theater” to find out which team had won….would you believe it? It was mine!!!

That led to a creation of the “top 10 things I learned while tromping through the fun park” exercise and me having to address to crowd (nearly 700 strong) to recite our list. I managed to make people laugh – oh wait, maybe it my trying to say a few words in Chinese that did that! In  any event, we won 10,000 (~330USD) and were finally able to check into the hotel. Ahhhhh…

The Prince Hotel

Earthquake #2

08 Nov 2011 Leave a comment

by twgurl54 in Taiwan Tags:

We’re sitting at our desks this morning and I could feel the building sway – we are on the 19th floor so you can imagine what that feels like! No one moved or really even said anything except for my “Is it me or are we having an earthquake?” Apparently these are so common no one reacts. Either that or this is a really Zen society…

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As for me, I will take the road less travelled…