An Expatriate in Taiwan

The Expat is now on Twitter!

The Expatriate — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 08:49:21 +0000

Hi everyone,

Been a while since I’ve updated, I know. However, I have some news: I’m no on Twitter. You can see my feed on the right side over there. —->

Follow me, because I’ll probably be updating that more often. If I’m out on the scooter or biking and see something interesting, it’s easier and quicker for me to snap a picture and upload it to twitter to share with you.

This is a post from: An Expatriate in Taiwan. If you are reading this somewhere other than An Expatriate in Taiwan, please report it to the webmaster and please visit the blog at http://www.expatintaiwan.net.

The Expat is now on Twitter!

No related posts.

Vibram FiveFingers spotted in Taiwan!

The Expatriate — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 23:00:35 +0000

Went to Costco in Taichung on Saturday. I was very surprised to see that they were selling Vibram FiveFingers!

Unfortunately, they only had the Women’s Bikila model. However, they were very cheap. I’ve never been more happy (that VFF were available in Taiwan) and disappointed (that they had no men’s sizes or other models) at the same time.

Hopefully, this is a sign of good things to come. Here’s hoping that we’ll soon see more VFF in Taiwan.

Update: I have heard there are more VFFs at the Neihu (Taipei) Costco and the Kaohsiung Costco. I headed down to Kaohsiung and saw more female sizes, but there were 2 pairs of Men’s KSOs in the middle (no boxes), both size 42, which was OK for me. I bought one pair (NT$1999). I have yet to see any other models besides Women’s Bikila and Men’s KSO.

No related posts.

Baby in Car

The Expatriate — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 06:11:38 +0000

Spotted this on the back of a scooter the other day.

I think the fact that they make these plaques for scooters says something (not good) about Taiwanese society. The sad fact is, many people do take their children and infants on scooters, often without helmets (Why buy them helmets? They’ll grow out of them too soon!). The government should really crack down and do something about this.

No related posts.

Japan has awesome candy

The Expatriate — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 09:04:57 +0000

Just saw this on Youtube. Anyone know where I can get some of this in Taiwan?

Related posts: Awesome student response of the day

Awesome student response of the day

新年快樂！ Happy New Year!

The Expatriate — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:45:03 +0000

Related posts: 新年快樂! Happy New Year! Happy Bird’s Day

A look at Taiwanese citrus fruits

The Expatriate — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:48:12 +0000

I’m a big fan of Vitamin C and citrus fruits in general. It’s now that time of year that oranges are being harvested. You can hardly drive down the road without seeing one field or another being depleted of its nutritious stock, piled high on the side of the road, and left naked and alone to bear out the remaining cold of the winter with nought but a few leaves to accompany it until the Summer shall once again bear down upon it and bring forth new fruit next winter.

Mrs. Expat and I, indeed, stopped by the side of the road where such harvesting was going on and, being the curious type, ended up buying approximately 40kg of 柳丁 (liǔdīng). These were small, hard to peel, but juicy and sweet. We ended up giving a lot away to friends since we had simply so much of them (We still have some!), but have relegated the rest to juicing as they are simply too hard to peel and not worth the effort. Much better to cut them up and squeeze them for an early morning jolt of fructose.

Most Taiwanese will tell you that 柳丁 (liǔdīng) are “tangerines.” However, this differed from what I knew about oranges and tangerines. This got me thinking about the differences and I simply had to investigate this further.

According to Wikipedia,

The tangerine (Citrus × tangerina) is an orange-coloured citrus fruit which is a variety of the Mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata). Tangerines are smaller than most oranges, and are usually much easier to peel and to split into segments. The taste is often less sour, or tart, than that of an orange.

Armed with this knowledge, I headed off to the fruit market to do some research. Here is what I came home with:

From left to right (and largest to smallest) I have: 美人柑 (měiréngān), 樋柑 (tōnggān), 海梨 (hǎilí), 茂谷 (màogǔ), 橘子 (júzì), and 柳丁 (liǔdīng).

I decided I would take each of these in turn and take some notes to talk about the experience of each, and write down some benefits and disadvantages.

First up was the 美人柑 (měiréngān).

It peeled very easily, the rind coming off in large chunks. There were no seeds and it was very sweet. It is characterized by the large “nipple” on top and is very juicy. It cost approximately NT$20 for one. I believe these are what Americans would refer to as “tangerines.”

Next up were the 樋柑 (tōnggān) and 海梨 (hǎilí). I somehow forgot to take pictures of the latter, but it’s alright because both were very similar.

You’ll notice that outwardly, they differ in that the 海梨 (hǎilí) is much oranger and also has a nipple, whereas the 樋柑 (tōnggān) is lighter and rounder. Both of these were a bit harder to peel, starting off with small chunks but becoming easier as it went along. The segments of both come apart quite easily, but have some seeds and were much dryer – not nearly as juicy as the 美人柑 (měiréngān). The 海梨 (hǎilí) was NT$17 while the other was NT$19. It would be hard to give an edge to either or to distinguish one from the other. MDBG is not much help as it recognizes neither, but apparently the 樋柑 (tōnggān) would be a type of tangerine (柑 apparently means “large tangerine”) whereas the other would be a type of orange.

Next was the 茂谷 (màogǔ).

This one was characterized by having a very thin rind – much thinner than any of the others. It cost NT$20 and peeled very easily, exposing hard to separate, but soft, juicy segments. There were more seeds in this one than the others – at least one seed in each segment, but it was very sweet. Overall, I rank this one rather highly.

Next came the 橘子 (júzì), which is my absolute favorite.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is what Americans would normally call a “mandarin orange.” It’s rather small, but peels extremely easily (the skin nearly falls off) and the segments practically fall apart in your hands. The thin rind gives way to extremely juicy, sweet segments that still carry many thin, white strands of rind. There are seeds in these, at least one per segment, but it’s worth the effort to get through them as these are simply utopia in your mouth. The local fruit stand was having a sale: 10 for NT$30 and the 11th one was free. I bought 10 the first round to try them out and went back to buy 20 more. This is what I’ll be buying from now on.

I hesitate to include the last one, 柳丁 (liǔdīng), because, as stated, it simply can’t compare to the others. However, I did make an attempt to peel and rate it.

As you can see, it can barely be described as “peeling” at all, as in the process I managed to damage the soft segments inside and not make much headway in exposing the fruit after tearing off several tiny chunks of rind. It is, however, very juicy, but also has a lot of seeds. This is why I do not recommend you buy these to eat. If you want to squeeze them for fresh orange juice, however, these are the ones you want.

As I said, most Taiwanese would call these “tangerines,” but they seem much more orange-like to me (given the Wikipedia definition of tangerines). Below I have ranked my favorites in order.

橘子 (júzì) – Mandarin Orange
美人柑 (měiréngān) – A large tangerine?
茂谷 (màogǔ) – Tangerine or orange?

Tied for 3rd and 4th place:

樋柑 (tōnggān) – A type of tangerine?
海梨 (hǎilí) – A type of orange?

As stated, the last one I don’t include with the others as it simply doesn’t stack up.

柳丁 (liǔdīng) – A small orange?

So there you have it. An unofficial guide to Taiwanese oranges and tangerines. I’m sure there are more varieties out there and I would love to hear about them and the differences between oranges and tangerines. MDBG dictionary isn’t being entirely helpful in sorting out which is which according to the Chinese names (which may have some Taiwanese influence), so if anyone could help sort out the differences, I’d appreciate it.

No related posts.

Bathroom cartoons

The Expatriate — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 07:56:18 +0000

Here are 3 small cartoons that I’ve taken pictures of in various bathrooms.

Random stuff

The Expatriate — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 04:39:08 +0000

Just some random pictures today as I’m still trying to get stuff organized and upload all these weird little treats that I’ve discovered throughout Taiwan before the New Year hits.

Let’s start off with a dog we discovered in Kaohsiung’s Liuhe Nightmarket.

Now, some people might look at this picture and cry “Animal abuse.” Actually, that was my first instinct. However, after thinking about it, I’ve decided that this dog has had a pretty good life. He’s got a place to stay, all the food/scraps he can eat, and he gets plenty of attention. If that dog dies tomorrow, he’s dying pretty happy, probably.

Next up is a set of hooks. Where I saw them, I don’t remember, but they are pretty creative.

No, I didn’t buy them, but I wish I had.

Here’s a picture of a truck whose driver is apparently a huge Transformers fan. Beware! He’s a decepticon!

Finally, here are some pills that Mrs. Expat’s father (he’s a doctor) gave me.

What could be ailing me you might ask? Am I seriously ill? Do I need hospital treatment? No on all accounts. These five pills are the recommended medicine for the common cold. That’s right. The common cold, for which there is no cure, takes at least five pills in Taiwan. The common cold, which normally passes within a matter of days, takes at least five pills in Taiwan. The common cold, which – at least for me – hinders neither my work nor other facets of my life (besides having to carry tissues with me), takes at least five pills in Taiwan.

And this is one of the things that I just can not stand about Taiwan. For all it’s awesomeness and beauty, I can not understand students telling me that they missed class because they felt “uncomfortable” and had to go to the hospital. I can not understand why a student will miss class because they woke up and their arm was sore and their parents made them stay at home. I can understand why a student will miss class on a test day because they woke up and they sneezed once, so they required a doctor’s check-up.

I don’t want to get off on a rant here, so I won’t. Perhaps another time I’ll talk about NHI (National Health Insurance) and the frail mentality of 98% of the Taiwanese people when it comes to sickness.

Nightmarket Treasures – Internet Explorer

The Expatriate — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 09:37:23 +0000

These pictures are kind of old, but I recently dug them out and had to share them.

I like nightmarkets quite a bit. It’s always fun to go to different nightmarkets and see the different local specialties and find little treasures being sold. Once, last year, I ran across this gem:

Yes, that is an Internet Explorer 4.0 (Chinese Version) install disc. Of course, I had to have it. Mrs. Expat tells me I paid NT$10 (~US$.30) for it. Here are a few cleaner scans:

Quite a treasure. Now I need to find an install disc of Windows 95 to go totally retro.

A different type of drink

The Expatriate — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 02:19:19 +0000

In my time in Taiwan, I’ve had the opportunity to try lots of different foods and beverages. My philosophy has always been “try everything twice.” Simply, I think that if you try something once, whether you like it or not, there might be extenuating circumstances. Maybe you are having an exceptionally good/bad day, maybe the cook didn’t something different, maybe… etc. So, I try everything twice. If, after I’ve tried something twice, I still like it or a definitely don’t like it (very rare), I will continue to eat it/not eat it. It has served me fairly well thus far.

One of the weirdest, most outlandish foods I’ve had the opportunity to try here has been Snake Penis Wine.

It’s exactly what it sounds like: snake penises put into a bottle to add flavor to Gaoliang Rice Wine. Jane’s grandfather (阿公/āgōng) had a bottle of this. The bottle on the left is, I think, Snake Gall Bladder Wine or some other such snake organ. I don’t remember trying that one. As for the Snake Penis Wine, it wasn’t bad. If you get over the fact that you are drinking penis-flavored Gaoliang (generally, Gaoliang by itself is bad enough), it’s actually OK. Nothing something I would want to use to celebrate New Year’s, but it was nice to be able to try it.