It's all about food...Taiwanese food, to be exact.

Days have passed, and it's been filled with more warm weather (Ithaca makes you appreciate stuff like this), my family, and really, really good food. And all of these aspects of life here are very much interconnected.
Let me explain.

7-11's here are legitimately good stores, clean and super shiny, and well stocked with all kinds of good stuff. For example, here we are looking at assorted popsicles my cousin Minnie (in blue) and I got, including chocolate and pudding (the orangey one), green tea with red bean and condensed milk (the white one), and vanilla and red bean in waffle-like fish-shaped casing (which Minnie is kissing). The fishie was mine, everyone was jealous. :)
On the left is my cousin Angela and her fiance Byron, the middle is Minnie with our grandma, and on the right is Minnie and I with her dad, my uncle Alan, passed out in the background.
See? Family + Food = Fish-shaped ice cream.
And it doesn't end here!

A bit outside of my uncle's place is this fruit market. Oh my...it's a religious experience, the fruit here. In addition to the sweetest lychee, there's amazing apples, bananas, yellow kiwi, papaya, mango of course, and also GIGANTIC watermelons. In the left photo is my favorite fruit ever, although unfortunately it's out of season now. But still SO good. I'll give anyone a $1 who can tell me what it is in English....I really don't know.
So, we went there the other day with my aunt and uncle and picked up a ton, including ginger-marinated plums and tiny grapes with all of the above.

OK. And now...Bubble tea. Boba tea. Milk tea with Pearls. Whatever you call it--you know you love it. And yup, Bubble tea originated in Taiwan. HA. So, yesterday, we went to a restaurant that's original restaurant is in Taichung (central), and claims to be the one who invented Bubble tea. So we ordered a bunch of kinds, including original, Bubble tea made with Jasmine tea, and this kind with sweet sprouts in it. In addition, we got a bunch of traditional Taiwanese dishes, like congealed pig's blood and rice with peanut powder, dried squid, sticky rice balls, chilled seaweed, different kinds of noodles, and tofu dishes. All of it was delicious, but I'm still not a fan of the blood--I've never been.
The food is not at all foreign to me, but I love how its just completely normal here--lol, that sounds funny, but I don't know how to explain it any better. I like imagining bringing my American friends here, and imagining how they would respond to some of these situations. :)
Pig's ears and chicken feet are pretty big here, too...I like them both, but neither is extraordinary. But the bamboo shoot IS AMAZING...it's in season now.

Our adventures yesterday also included going to Taipei 101 (oh yes Kristina!), which holds the following titles:
1. World's Tallest Building from ground to structural top, ground to roof, and ground to highest occupied floor (only Sears takes the cake in ground to pinnacle--but who cares about an antenna?!)
2. World's Fastest Ascending Elevator speed at 16.83 m/s (thank you Matan)
3. Largest Count-Down Clock on New Year's Eve
It's HUGE, and a ton of really high end stores, like Gucci, Prada, Versace, Coach, Louis Vuitton (is that even how you spell it?)...the like. It was fun, but then it makes me nervous. I don't like going into stores where the cheapest thing is in the hundreds (or thousands), there are red carpets in the stores and the people who work there wear black gloves. But there are DEFINITELY people who love that--because it was packed!

My aunt Joyce and cousin Sean came to pick us up, and we picked up a ton of pastries and a loaf of bread for a little over 100 yuan (under $4), including egg custard tarts (one of my all time favorites) and beef floss pastries (again, if someone can describe it better, I'll be your friend).

And now, assorted photos that don't really fit into the food and family theme, but they're still nice to look at...?

My mom and me my first morning here. :)

Joyce and Sean (who is training to race in the Dragon Boat Festival right now--can he be any cooler? Or taller, for the matter. ARGH. I swear he used to be shorter than me :P)

My aunt Joyce began an interior design firm--this is one of her stores in Taipei. Such great bedding. My uncle Alan began his own firm, too, which just celebrated its 30 year anniversary. Interestingly, I found out a lot of the stores like Coach at Taipei 101 had their interiors done by his firm. Neat!

An ad inside Taipei 101, and great evidence of the influence of the West. Its advertising a serum that will make your skin whiter...

Ok, well, I think you've all had enough of me. Excuse me while I go eat some lychee.
love, angie