Settling down in Tampa

After we returned from Taiwan, my parents came to visit us in Tampa. As a housewarming gift, they treated us to a weekend at Home Depot and a lot of handy knowledge, skills and "more power" from my dad. We had a list of little problems: flickering light sockets, sink problems, chandelier installation, etc. We also went from having no storage in our garage to having two long shelves on each side, hooks for our bikes, broom/mop organization and cabinets above our washer and dryer! It was amazing what a difference that made is our ability to organize our things and now we can park our car in the garage!

Britton is really enjoying his residency at Tampa General Hospital and I am more or less enjoying my current 13 week contract physical therapy job at University Community Hospital. We have really been making use of the bay-side trail near our house and are settling in well in Tampa. We've discovered a great Thai restaurant around the corner, made good friends with our neighbors and Samantha has finally stopped pulling her fur out...so life is good.

Britton just started working nights tonight (hence I have time to write this entry), so for the next three weeks I'll only see him on the weekends. Good thing we have a kitty!

Best signs

All around Taiwan, we saw signs that tickled us. Some merely grammatical errors, many phrases that an English speaker would just never say, and some with words that while technically English, are never actually used. Fun!

These must be really good people!

Did you know that ustulation is a word?
–noun
1. the act of scorching or burning.

2. pharmacology, the roasting or drying of moist substances.

The bakery could probably find a better word...


Just in case you don't read Chinese or English, the picture says it all! So that's what men do in the toilet!







Oh, and how would you like some Pro Sweat to quench your thirst?












We also enjoyed the mandatory picture warnings on cigarette cartons. Based on the pictures I can only guess that they advertise warnings that cigarettes will ruin your teeth and gums, fill your lungs with tar, poison your family, and even make you impotent. Got a light?

How many people can you fit on a scooter?

We saw 5 once, but this was the best picture that we were able to get: 3 on one, 4 on the other! Who needs an SUV? ;-)
(Did you know you can click on any picture to view it's full size?)

Tuesday 6/16/09 - Homeward bound

In the morning, Todd and Shu-Fen drove us to the the airport. We were very happy with our trip to Taiwan. Todd and Shu-Fen went out of their way to show us all their favorite things and neat restaurants and markets. It was wonderful to spend time with them and to get to meet the extended family! Thanks guys!

Monday 6/15/09 - Our last day in Taiwan

After waking up at Shu-Fen's parents' house, we took a picture in front of her mom's store (her mom is on the right). She was a very sweet host, making sure that we had water for the car ride as well a delicious gourd-based drink.

We went out for some freshly made noodles. This guys carves your noodles for you from a large block and it was perhaps the best noodles we've had.

Then we went to a massage parlor and got foot soaks and massages that were ...painful and entertaining. The men put their full body weight into our helpless carcasses until we wanted to scream for mercy but didn't speak the language. Todd, Britton and I were all in the same room and the sound of one of them being slapped on made me laugh, but I always knew that a similar torture was about to start on me! Strangely, it felt good in a very painful kinda way. At least the slippers that we had to wear fit us, unlike the largest slippers that Todd was given.

That night, after stocking up on rare grocery items, Todd and Shu-Fen took us out for our last meal in Taiwan. We went to a barbecue restaurant where you barbecue your food at your table. Think fondue, but with a barbecue embedded in the table instead of a pot. Amazingly, there was no smoke in the room and the meat was fantastic!

Sunday 6/14/09 - A meeting of the gods

On Sunday morning, Britton and I started walking toward the largest temple in the area. After about 3 miles, Todd and Shu-Fen came by in the car - thank goodness as it turns out we were only about half way there and it was hot. When we got near the temple, we parked and walked to the street that leads to the temple. Here, we realized that this was a special day.

Each Buddhist temple is built for a particular god and, occasionally, a god from a nearby temple is brought to another temple so that the gods can visit. Today, several gods were brought from nearby temples in a large parade. A god conference?

Men worked in teams to carry the statue of the god to the temple much like a member of royalty would have been carried long ago. Meanwhile the sounds of several small bands with large drums and fireworks are heard all around. Hundreds of small fireworks are set off at the same time (a loud and startling event) and smoke fills the air.

The men carrying the statue of the god, walked back and forth (like crab walking in marching band) through firecrackers as they gave off small flashes of light and loud popping sounds. The street afterward is littered with fireworks!

We entered the temple on the right side. Todd taught us that a Buddhist temple should always be entered on the right and exited on the left; the center entrance is reserved for the gods.

In the temple, we saw a man up close who had been cutting his back by slapping himself with a knife throughout the parade. This is his way of showing sacrifice to the god that his group brought to the temple today. Todd and Shu-Fen informed us that they've seen much worse.



Afterwards, Britton finally got an opportunity to drink directly from a coconut, something he had been longing for.

Back at Shu-Fen's grandfather's house, the four of us sat in the living room enjoying some cold watermelon on a hot day.

Before we left, we took a picture with all the family still present at the house. Unfortunately many people left while we were at the temple. In this picture are mostly Shu-Fen's cousins and uncles and her grandfather is standing in the middle.

We drove back to Shu-Fen's hometown and the four us had dinner at a sushi place with a moving track of sushi and other food that goes by all the tables in the room. You just take what you want from the track and the chef in the middle of the room keeps replenishing the track. At the end, your plates are counted for payment. Todd and Shu-Fen's stack was higher than ours and Britton suffers as the loser (but they are eating for 2 1/2!).

Saturday 6/13/09 - Meet the parents & extended family

On Saturday , we went to Costco! We are big fan's of Costco (as you probably already know) and now we have shopped at Costco internationally. We dined in the food court and had a slice of Peking Duck Pizza, yum!

Next, we drove about 30 minutes south to Shu-Fen's parents' house, the home where she grew up. Her mom owns a general store (the size of a 7-11 but more geared toward groceries and household goods than fast food snack items). Her family lives above the store on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors. Her dad owns an egg sorting and distribution company; he is basically the middle man between the farmers and the grocery stores and bakeries. Shu-Fen explained the sorting process to me in this warehouse across the street. We are told that this is his small warehouse, but the number of eggs in this room is pretty impressive. Again, I'm wondering why we refrigerator our eggs in the U.S.

We left Shu-Fen's parents house and headed about 3 more hours south to Shu-Fen's grandfather's house. We followed Shu-Fen's mother, neice, brother and his girlfriend in their car; we were having a family reunion!

Shu-Fen's grandfather lives in an old ranch style house in a very small town in the middle of the country. The house is well over a hundred years old, I'd guess closer to two hundred. The concrete floor and old wooden doors must have seen many generations walk in and out. In the modest sized kitchen all of Shu-Fen's aunts made dinner for the extended family. The nicely updated bathrooms are located outside the house, presumably because this house was built before indoor plumbing was popular in Taiwan. A raised wooden area in the main room used to provide sleeping accommodations for the family but is now an area mostly for the kids to play. Here Todd, Britton, and Shu-Fen's little cousin try to create spinning tops out of basically round Legos. When they were finished the little boy's top spun the best, ha!

For dinner, we had a huge spread of food. The table contained every type of seafood I've ever seen and several types that were new to me. They also had duck and duck soup and chicken soup and rice and fried noddles and pig knuckles (is that the same as pig's feet?). Britton sat down in front of a feast made for a king and then was told that he was sitting at the kids' table! We moved into the dining room for dinner with the adults and were coached in the art of pretending you've tried everything and keeping your bowl full and your chopsticks poised so that it looks as if you are still eating your food, otherwise you would instantly be given more food! In this pic: Shu-Fen's older brother's girlfriend, Shu-Fen's uncle, and Shu-Fen's older brother.

Our sleeping arrangements at her grandfather's house were family style. Todd, Shu-Fen, Britton and I all slept on these two mattresses. In this picture you can see the old concrete floor.

Friday 6/12/09 - University tour

On Friday, Britton got fitted for glasses. In Taiwan, you can get a really nice pair of glasses and lenses and the eye exam for around $150 (less than half of what we would pay in the U.S.). I love the way his glasses look on him, a bit hipper than he's used too, and he'll be the only one in Tampa with those frames! Don't worry, these are just the sample lens prescription glasses.

For lunch, we met Shu-Fen at her office and got to meet her boss and co-workers. Shu-Fen works for a company that distributes high-end bicycle tires to bicycle companies, like Cannondale, internationally. Her generous boss gave us about ten pairs of tires to take home with us! That's a few more than we will need in the next ten years, so if you have a road bike (very skinny tires) and want me to send you a pair, please inquire, we have a selection.

After lunch we wandered around downtown and went to a famous noodle shop that always has a line of people waiting for noodles. Todd and Britton and I split a small bowl and it tasted...kinda like intestines (then it was confirmed, the soup is made from intestines). Hmmm, glad I tried it once but I don't think I'll try that one at home.

Then, Todd took us to see his university campus. This is a picture of the engineering building where Todd we be spending the next 3 years. The campus is very tranquil with shade trees, lawns, and sidewalks; a true college campus in the middle of a huge city.

The bike parking on campus is amazing! Todd and I are actually hidden in the sea of bikes in this picture but you can't even find us! You really have to remember where you parked your bike.

This is a picture of the student center on campus, as it clearly say on the sign! We stepped inside here to look around, admire the coy pond, and use the bathroom.


I took this opportunity to take a picture of a typical toilet in Taiwan, the Japanese squat toilet. Don't cringe, it is actually quite comfortable to use as it is much easier for most women to squat than to hover, 'nuf said.













This is another picture on campus. Yes, that is double deck bike parking! Just pull a lever to lower the bike to the sidewalk! This is my kinda place!

Britton went to try out a $100 haircut place (= 3 U.S. dollars). You actually insert your money into the blue vending machine (who needs a receptionist?) and it gives you a ticket to wait in line for your haircut. Upstairs in a tiny both, Britton had his haircut and then was vacuumed to rid him of the stray hairs. A unique experience and a pretty good haircut.




That night we went to yet another night market to go to a Thai restaurant. Deeper into the market we got a "fire and ice" pastry - a hot sweet bun with a frozen slice of butter; not exactly the health food that we are used to but it was pretty good! This pic: Todd and Shu-Fen excited with pastry anticipation.