hammy anniversary

The hubby finally returned home from his business trip late last night - just a few hours before our 2nd wedding anniversary ended. Believe it or not, I was actually very happy to be reunited. And very happy that we made it through 2 years of marriage - apart. Happy Anniversary hubby! Pictures below from our belated anniversary dinner at Pizza Pub...

onion bread rolls

caesar salad

pumpkin corn chowder

beef steak pizza

veal cutlet

hazelnut something cake

happy hammy and the hubby

Jail Cell - Day 19

Today was my last day visiting Shady before her release. I was scheduled to go in one last time on Wednesday, but I was asked to forgo my visitation rights due to a sudden influx of newly imported doggies.  I am a kind and generous person, thus agreed to the request. Yeah, right. I figured she had 2 more days of quarantine left so it's not too bad.

I also stopped by the Taiwanese DMV to take care of paperwork for my car and surprisingly, it was somewhat like the American DMV. Full of crazy citizens and non-helpful employees.

MVO = DMV

last guava snack at quarantine center for Shady..

happy US.

Jail Cell Day 16: 5 more days left and Shady's a free dog! She told me can't wait to be outta there.

The hubby was supposed to return today, but he is still stuck in Myanmar for business. It's been a little over 2 weeks since I've been back, and he's been gone for the entire time. Hmmm...I have a feeling this is going to happen quite often - maybe I should have stayed in CA. 

On the bright side, my US Weekly came! I renewed my subscription not long ago and was able to transfer it internationally without a fee for one year. I'm so happy to read about Hollywood gossip instead of what's going between North and South Korea. I also got a maniped with a friend tonight and that made me doubly happy. Until I smeared the polish on two of my fingernails. Sigh. Guess I'm going back tomorrow to get it fixed.

call me, call me!

I finally got my iphone 4 today! I was lucky because it was originally ordered for someone else. The guy who ordered it had only 3 days to pick it up, but he was a no-show.. so I showed up.  Yay for me!

Today is also Thanksgiving but no one celebrates it here. I guess no one is thankful. But I am! I love you all - or most of y'all.

ham mobile

My car safely arrived in Taiwan last week and I was finally able to pick it up at the Port of Keelung today. Damages inflicted: none - except the battery. After not driving the ham mobile for almost a month, the battery gave out. The customs guy had to resuscitate her. There was a lot of cargo going in and out of the port. It felt like I was shooting a scene from Season 2 of "The Wire". No Greeks or Blacks, just Asians. Kinda creepy. If you haven't seen the series, you should.

It's so nice to be driving my car. Brings a little bit of Cali back to me.

just chillin'...

on a Tuesday afternoon:

pup: not for sale

tights galore

Wu Fen Pu market - Garment Wholesale district where vendors buy their goods

Jail Cell - Day 12

Shady seems to have gotten a bit more used to being quarantined and has even made some friends there. I know they've been feeding her extra snacks because her butt has gotten bigger. I shouldn't be talking, but I still love her and I can't wait for her homecoming next Thursday!

For lunch today, I was craving something non-Asian so my momma and I ended up at Aunt Stella's. It's mainly a place for cookies and cakes, but they do have a selection of "American" food off their menu such as panini sandwiches, pasta, salads, and waffles. We ended up sharing a salad and club sandwich set menu which included cream of mushroom soup and a drink of your choice. It definitely satisfied my craving. Until a few hours later, I had to run to the bathroom to release my goods. My stomach couldn't handle the milk that was either in my cappuccino or cream of mushroom soup! I've become one of those lactose intolerant asians. Oh well, it was worth it.

cream of mushroom soup - culprit 1

bbq chicken salad and Aunt Stella's club sandwich

cappuccino - culprit 2

cute kiddie cakes

traffic hour subway - random dood I didn't even notice when taking photo

fat profiling

I guess it's about time that I start looking for a job now that I've officially settled down in Taipei. I'm in the process of signing up for an online recruiting service like Monster.com, but the difference is that the resume form I've been asked to fill out requires that I include my height and weight. Hmmm..since everyone is so skinny here, should I lie and make myself thinner? I'm also supposed to include a photo of myself. This process seems kind of strange to me - it's called fat profiling! I'm contemplating on attaching my fat booth pic for them. I highly doubt I'll ever find a job here.

intervention...

Seriously. I can't stop eating. I went to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with my cousin, his wife and my mom today. The hubby is still in Myanmar for business. I snacked on popcorn, chips and green milk tea throughout the entire movie. And it was a long movie. I had no idea what was really going on since I've only seen the first two parts - but all I can say is there wasn't too much going on in this Part 1 finale. I sure hope Breaking Dawn will not be like this. After sitting for 2 hours or so, we headed to a Thai restaurant my cousin made reservations for. The food was delicious. If I don't stop eating, I'm going to be the creator of "the biggest loser" Taipei show. I'll also be a contestant. I. need. intervention.

namaste.

I've been searching for a decent yoga studio in Taipei and while yoga seems to be quite popular here, it is also very commercialized. I signed up for a free trial class at a studio called Pure Yoga. I was surprised to find that it was a 9-story, 33,000 square ft building with 10 studios and snobby employees. Definitely not a typical yoga studio. My trial "hot yoga" class was actually a modified 60 minute version of a Bikram class (as opposed to 90 mins). The instructor was white and taught in Mandarin. I couldn't understand what he was saying with his heavy accent. I didn't know how the students could understand him either. Fortunately, I've gone to enough Bikram classes to know all the poses. After class, he asked me a few questions in English and he told me he was from Vancouver and that he learned Mandarin after moving here 5 years ago. I told him I couldn't understand him. Apparently, traditional Bikram classes were taught when the studio first opened, but students complained about how hot and tiring it was to be in there for 90 minutes. He said that we (asians) just don't like to exercise very much and that it's just how the culture is. Therefore, modifications had to be made. I think he's right. We only like exercising our mouths for eating and gossiping.

Googled "asians doing Yoga" images and this was one that popped up

temptation...

I went to nearby pet store to buy doggie shampoo for Shady and found these:

I was so tempted to purchase one..or two. No Hammy, No...

Jail Cell - Day 7

Another pup visit - today's snack: apple.

Followed by a 55NT ($1.80) chinese hamburger: gua bao

streets of taipei...

one thing that never fails to disappoint me here:

mom and pop thai restaurant

pastries

japanese steamed egg

japanese oden

sushi rolls

street

Jail Cell - Day 5

Today was Shady's 5th day in quarantine. 16 more days to go. For some reason, she looked different to me. I want my old Shady back. She tried guava for the first time today and I think she liked it.

toe jam

Sometimes I am deathly ashamed of my people:

on the MRT..