On My Own

Hey Guys,

I know it's been a while since I've blogged anything new, but it's for good reason--I'm kicking butt making a Hilda costume, and there will be some great photos when she's all done, I promise! I just had my most recent fitting, and we got all 13 costume pieces on her and I now have all the information I need to finish her in all her real fabric with two weeks to opening, phew!

In sad news, my classmate/roommate/friend Emily goes home to Texas next week. I am really freakin' bummed to lose her for my last month here, but I am also really excited for her to go home and get married to her love, Andrew. Congratulations, you crazy kids! I'll be eating vegan tamales and watching weird PBS documentaries with you again next fall!

Last Monday, we had another cooking class with Angela Cheng. She taught us so many delicious dishes again, but most importantly, we learned how to make DUMPLINGS!

Tasty, simple egg dish with tomato

This was just a really beautiful display of chopped ingredients. I want to be as graceful and good at chopping as her someday! 

Fish with rice noodles

A spicy tofu dish--it made my lips and tongue numb!

Chicken with roasted peanuts and spicy chiles (Jim and Sweta really like spicy food, so she honored their request)

She also made a vegan dish for Emily with tomato and mung bean noodles. (Not pictured because we ate it all really fast!) 

DUMPLINGS!

Start with ground pork, chop it further, and mix it by swirling it all one direction

Finely chopped Taiwan cabbage (crisper than American cabbage) with the water squeezed out

Flour-dough dumplings, rolling the dough before cutting it into 1-inch coins, flattening and then rolling them out

Filling the dumplings with the meat mixture

Our little dumpling factory! :)

Well, our folding skills aren't exactly restaurant-quality, BUT they still tasted good!

Laying the dumplings in the pan

Fry them until the bottom is crispy

Then add water

And cover

OR take the other half of your batch and boil them! When they float to the top, they're done!

Our banquet (that Angela made for us, and we ate...haha)!

I just can't get over how close she lives to the 101!

After class, I went out to the National Palace Museum (where Taiwan stores many of it's treasures and artwork) on my own. I haven't really done anything on my own yet, and it was really nice taking things at my own pace. On my way there, I met a few other foreigners who tipped me off to a free English audio tour of the palace. It was really interesting, and all of the displays were really beautiful. Unfortunately, you can't take any photos IN the palace, so I don't have anything indoor to show you. I did get some nice outdoor shots, though.

From the plaza of the museum; the castle is a preschool in the town!

The NPM up close

Building #2, but there were no exhibits in that hall when I was there

Had to be a tourist

Pretty neat!

Giant arches

I walked down near the garden and the park (which were closing when I got there), but I saw these great water drainage slides (how cute)!

And a really beautiful sunset over this stage area

So pretty

Across the street was the aboriginal museum, but it was closed too, so I'll just have to go back once Hilda's done!

I'll leave you with this:

Peggie and Joey (Kao-Lien and Bai-Lan) got their annual summer shave!

Poor embarrassed Peggie...