Chicken and Tomato Stew

What you need :)

Chicken+Tomatos (i used a can)

Soup stock (chicken, beef, vegi, whatever you can get) mushroom, youngcorn, an onion, a potato

salt and pepper, honey, olive oil, garlic, parcely

Steamed Rice

 

1. heat olive oil, garlic and chopped onion for about 5 min.

2.put in chicken cut into pieces and fry about 5 min, add chopped potatos, mushroom, youngcorn. salt and pepper.

3.when tender, add  HONEY, and soupstock.

4.add tomatos and cook for about 15 min.

Serve with steamed rice and sprinkle parcely :)

 

作り方★

鶏肉　トマト（ホール缶OK)　

スープストック（コンソメ、かつおだしでもOK)　

マッシュルーム、ヤングコーン　たまねぎ、じゃがいも

塩コショウ　はちみつ　オリーブオイル　にんにく　パセリ

ごはん

1.お鍋に　オリーブオイルでにんにくを炒める。たまねぎといっしょに5分ほど

２．鶏肉を一口大にきって１にいれ、5分ほど更にいためる（強火）塩コショウで味付けしながら

じゃがいも、マッシュルームなどの材料をいれる。

３．鶏肉がやわらかくなったらはちみつを加え、スープストック、トマト缶をいれ15分ほど煮込む。（弱火）

４．白いご飯と一緒にお皿にかざって、パセリを上から振りかけてできあがり★

 

Little Santa!

 My friend's baby :)))))

 

Jayden- Isnt he like the cutest baby on earth?!

 

超かわいいでしょ★お友達の赤ちゃんです♪

リトルサンタさんです。

Happy Holidays

台湾事情 Taiwan Talk

I have noticed many things that are different, by living in Taiwan for the total of about half year.... and here are top 3 "facts" which i think is really interesting.

 

BEST　　
本屋での座り読み公認！   

 You can OFFICIALLY sit on the floor and read books @ a bookstore.

誰かのブログには・・・
「地べたに座って本を読む人多し。
日本では見かけないけど、海外の本屋では良く見る光景。
台湾でもガンガン座って読んでます。

I saw someone' s blog "there are quiet many people who sit on the floor and read, thats not allowed and never seen in Japan- you can try if you are oversea."
 
TAIPEI NAVIより→「流行発信地でもある東区の誠品書店（敦南店）。その原動力は、24時間営業の解放的大型書店にあります。好きな本を、好きなときに、好きなだけ読むことができる、まるで図書館のような本屋さん。床で寝ようが廊下に座ろうが文句なしのこの空間、読書好きには天国です。 」

Taipei NAVI calls this "Book store Heaven" - and it is 24 hours open!

BEST
バスに乗り込むときのサバイバル感　

You must be ready to kill yourslef to catch the bus.

とある観光サイトには。。。
「路線バスも発達しています。初乗り15元。使いこなせれば、安上がりに行動範囲を広げることができます。
最近は電光掲示板に次の停留所が表示されたり、車内アナウンスがあるバスも増えてきました。とはいえ、やはり「降りる場所」が分かっていないとちょっと辛いかもしれません。乗るときも手を挙げてバスをやはり「降りる場所」が分かっていないとちょっと辛いかもしれません。乗るときも手を挙げてバスを止めないと止まりません。
コンビニや書店で路線ガイドブック（公車指南）を売っています。しかしこれも、初心者にはどのバスがどこを走っているのかがちょっと分かりづらい。また、リムジンバスの時も触れましたが停留所の名前と実際の場所が離れていたりして、降りたもののここはどこ？どっちにいけば？？という状況も考えられます。
乗りこなせればとても便利で安いのがバスです。意欲のある方はチャレンジしてみて下さい。 」
↑意欲のある方　の中に入れてるー　一応乗れるようにはなってきた。。

First of all, all the bus stop signs are pretty confusing for a foerginer, even for chinese readers- you pretty much huv to be aware of the number on ths bus, forexample 220, 7, 218 .... and there is the color with the number, and other symbols depending on what kind of bus you will be on... ><;  its tricky wehthere you pay first or last, you figure it out on the bus.

sometimes they dont stop if you dont show the driver clearly that you want to take the bus. if you just raised ur hand thinking that he noticed you , your bus is already passed.... you need to stand up and really, stare at the driver and wave, as the bus approaches you can step forward to be sure. :)

 

BEST 　　
バイクは若いにーちゃんの乗り物ではありません。
老若男女、そして犬まで乗っちゃいます！
Moterbike is no longer a ride just for young people.

It is ..... for Old, MEN, WOMEN, CHILDREN, and..... dogs.

誰かのブログ　↓
１．「台湾の人たちの運転の仕方も気になった。よく見れば2人乗りだけでなく3人や小さい子どもを乗せて4人乗りのバイクさえあった。前に子供用のいすを立たせて乗せているバイクも見かけた。
」
２．「またもやファミリーバイクの新しい乗り方を目撃した。

オトーサンが運転し、後ろのオカーサンが子供を背負う。
そして、オトーサンの足元には、白い犬が尻尾を振りながら乗っていた。

お犬様は、風を受けて恍惚の表情を浮かべていた。」
as someone's blog said

1.I was so shocked to see how people rode their bikes  here in Taiwan. When i looked closely, it wasnt only two people riding but three, sometimes four! the whole family- mommy, daddy, a kid and a BABY! This bike even had a small stool for a child to sit on! amazing.

2.Again, Ifound out the new way of riding the faimily bike.

Daddy drives, and Mommy sits behind him with a baby on her back. and a white dog by daddy's feet. "dog"  was feeling delighted with this perfectly cofortable breeze.

 

THATS TAIWAn!

Conversation with kids- from my education trip

kids say the funniest thing.

Me: "Grace, are you older than other kids?"
G: "Yes.Im 4 years old!"（すごく得意そうに。）
Me: I see, I thought so. You were really smart with that color and shape game. you knew all your shapes and colors! I was so surprised!!
G: Im bigger than him!" （3歳の子を指差す。）
U: "well but Im bigger than Preston." （Pは2歳。）
G: yah, but im bigger than you!　（Grace、Uriを指差す。）
Me: Im bigger than you guys!! See? （たってみせる）
G: BUT you are not bigger than the tree!　（木をさす）
みんな笑う。
Me: ya, its true.

U (この会話の中では自分は、一番小さい、と思ったUri,もう勝てない！っと思ったらしい、この一言)

WELL, IM BIGGER THAN THE COOKIE!

そこにいた全員爆笑

COOKIE? 　COOKIE?　COOKIE?　当たり前じゃーい！笑

Avocado Chicken Sandwich (LUNCH) Nov,25th

You need...

two slices of toast

half avocado

chicken breast (cooked and seasoned) I just fried it and salt and peppered :> nice and easy.

parcely, salt and pepper

Mayo

1. prepare toast

2.slice avocados, chickens

3. put chickens, avocados- you can put Mayo, salt, pepper or any other sauce you like.

(soy sauce goes very well with adovaco, lemon sauce also is good, ceaser salad dressing should be really good too i think)

 

アボカドチキンサンド

材料

食パン　2枚　　　　　アボカド　半分　　　　　　調理したとりむねにく　（なければハムなど）　

マヨネーズ　　　　　パセリ　　　　　塩コショウ

 

食パンを焼く

アボカドはスライスして、鶏肉はゆがいたものか焼いたものに、しょうゆ塩コショウなどお好みで味をつけておく。

食パンの上に、チキン、アボカドの順にのせて　マヨネーズ、塩コショウ、パセリをかけて　出来上がり♪

超おいしいよー♪　ソースはケチャップとかしょうゆでもおいしいよー★

 

 

11. My plants! Which one is your Favorite?

Plant No.1, 2, and 3  (from left to right)　　yay, VIVA 100 yen shop. (all of these plants are from 100yen shop)

100円ショップの植物だってとてもきれいなんだもーん♪

The one in the middle is "COffee Tree"

Plant No.4   Next to the fridge- This one was given to my mom- when she hurt her neck, she was in bed for few weeks- her friend gave it to her and she still talks about it.And as you can see a magnet sticker form Taiwan.

 

 

Plant No.5 and 6   "Rubber Tree" ゴムの木 Next to TV. and ofcourse, Christmas tree is fake :) These used to be just one plant, but it gre and grew ( you cant even see the top part in the pic, its soo tall. so we bought another pot and soil, then cut the whole tree and re-planted in another one. then it grew that tall already. the one on the left is the new one)

 

Plant No.7   Really really long---!!  I really like this one :) I tr to change my Genkan display every season- and now its Christmas :>

Plant No.8, 9, 10

These are really cute :) and two in the front are from 100yen shop. (one doller)!!!!!　the pink flower was given to my mom.  Ya, she gets flowers all the time. why not me.

and.... finally..... No.11   Another part of the "Rubber Tree"- it grows soooooo fast. we gatta get a pot for this one too, but we just put it in a glass case (its actually for tea. we didnt have anything so just replaced it haha)

 

 

So, which is your favorite plant?

 

More Cooking

Recently im really into

蒸し料理　　　　literally translated as "Steamed dishes"??? not sure. yah but you can pretty much out everything anything in a  bamboo steamer and steam whatever inside.  What i love about it is that its done in like.... 10 min.

All you gatta do is cook rice or noodles to go with, and prepare beer or wine- when i prepare chicken, potatos, and onions, i always have a glass of wine with it, and for beef and cabbage, i always have beer! its soooooooo good!!

 

This is Chicken (thigh), Moyashi, Mini tomatos, Green beans, Kabura (small JP radish), and spinich.

And you dont really need the sauce. If you like it spicy, you can make your own

spicy sauce, or any sauce actually, even tomato sauce or PONZU, soy sauce, Onion dressing, ya, anything!!!!

I always love my meat and vegis salt and pepper!!

Tomorrow i work at the studio and I already fixed my OBENTO (lunch box)

Three Manton (dont know how to say that in English or Japanese...) kind of NIKUMAN, a bread with meat inside- two (plaine) one (curry flavor) it was really cheap at the supermarket and I thought thats really convinient to bring :) Orange cup is for MISO soup- ill bring the instant MISO paste and just pour hot water from denki pot.  Then another lunch box of からあげ (fried chicken) and ちくわ入り玉子焼き　friend eggs with chikuwa. Then my box of "fruite paradice"- pinapple, Tangeirne, apples, Kiwi fruite　　自分で振り返ってもこのランチはかなりいい感じよ

by the way, people at work are really curious about my lunch- because I always bring something "different" form others.

Normally Japanese lunch box contains...

1.RICE  2.Meat  3.Eggs 4.Vegis.  Or....

Cup noodles, spaghetti, Curry, etc.. ONE PLATE MENU.

regular Japanese lunch box is actually really "めんどくさい”　to fix.... its pretty complicated. You have to make the eggs, and then fry the chicken, and then fix salad... and then... when you microwave it you have to remove the lettuce cause you dont wanna heat up the lettus and thats just sooooooooooooooooo COMPLICTAED for me.... i mean, if I just bought a cup noodle , yes its easy. but i honestly dont think its testes that good.... And, thats boring.... most of my life i have HAD this kind of lunch.. since i was little. SO now i got to know all these different food from other countries or even new type of food- why not try new things

One day I brought Bagle sandwich and everyone was like "wow- you are おしゃれ"

おしゃれ　means "fashionable" or "cool"  

When i used to work in INTL. preschool I remember Indian students bringing "samosa" (please forgive me if i spelled them wrong)or "chapati" for their lunch, or different kind of rice (kinda dry and long grain, with some kind of beans or nuts in it?) and American students bringing JELLY SANDWICH almost evryday,　Taiwanese students bringing "Shueichao" Chinese dumplings-  Swedish children bringing Pancakes, and i thought it was so cool. When children grow up in that kind of enviroment, seeing all these different kind of food- some people eat them with hands, others use chopsticks or forks... im sure they will learn "culture" through their ecperience- thats great "education".

Just to finish up this entry, can I introduce my

"diet" drink that I have been drinking? I strongly believe i will lose weight with this, i saw this girl lost about 50kg drinking this.

ITS GINGER!     

In my "favorite" cup J bought for me at the Flore Expo!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Day 2 and 3

We woke up around 830 and went to the breakfast cafe next to the hotel. It was rainy again

They had the Taiwanese style and Western style breakfast. Toast, Scrambled eggs, (it was with onion... dont like) and bacon..   Actually i liked the Taiwanese style breakfast better- what they had was Porridge and other stuff to put on it. Some dried pork flakes, vegi pickles, and spicy sauce.. it was yum.

After having breakfast, we went back to our room and decided to go back to bed again since the check-out time was NOON and it was only half past 9!! We ended up sleeping till PAST Noon.... they had to call us and literally asked us to leave!!!hahaha

We took his bike again and DID IT MAKE ME TIRED.... my helmet is so small that it doesnt have the cover on my face, and the rain was literally splashing in my face...  RAIN + WIND, i was almost crying. 

When we arrived at his home--- a little monster welcomed us :)

 

Oden- She is less than a year old... the idol of the family

 

We had planned to go to Flower World expo- J, me, Sho, and Sarah went together It was really nice. Sarah is a goverment official and an alumini of TAIWAN UNIV!!!! That is like equivalent of TOKYO Univ. of Japan.. i heard.. anyways, it is the best univ. in Taiwan!! wow!!

It was really nice time there, but it is really, really crowded and its hude area... so we didnt see much I bought some gifts to bring back to JP, and J bought me a cute Mug  I was so happy ;) he spoiled me big time during this trip

 

We went to "Luna D'Italia" in Taipei city -Italian Restaurant J and I always go whenever we get a chance :) I love this place especially their bread with special sauce, and their pasta, pizza, everything is really good :) J used to work with the manager there, and he is really nice to treat us goodies everytime we go there

I had Bongole pasta (some clams) and J had Risotto- it was sooooooo yummy  If i lived in Taipei, i would go there every week!!!!! Literally!!!!!!!!!

That night, we went back home and played "Scrabble" with his sister Sherry who is still 16 years old (J is 12 years older than her so along with the puppy oden, the little sister is also the idol of the family!!!)

And she kicked my ass. She beat us by like 100 points.... i was so ashamed Im a freakin English teacher!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Next day, we met YOSHIKO for lunch :) we had some Taiwanese traditional food it was really really goooooood!!

 

 friend dumplings with meat, and stir fried eggplants, egg rolls with cucambers and meat- oheverything was really really delicious!!

we walked around and did some shoppingand more talking, walking, had some bubble tea It was so nice to see her after a long time!!!!! She is my frist friend I made in Taiwan and we met like twice a week when i lived there.

Not only we were language exchange partners, we became really good friends and we had a lot of experince together, and we wished we would be able to spend more and more time together- but since I couldnt be in Taiwan anymore, We hadnt talked and we werent sure what is going on with each others lives... so we were so glad to catch up finally!!!!!!!!

 

 

Yoshiko and Me in front of                                    J and me at the flower expo

                 Hankyu Department store

Then we went to Taipei 101- it was more than i expected, i loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could see the clouds and strond wind made it even better   I looooooooved it! ( it was cold though)

 

TAIPEI 101!!! pretty!!!                                Its th view from the top observatory

 

 

 

 

My trip to Taiwan- Day1

What does Taipei look like in your eyes? Streets of heavy traffic? Rows if high-rise buildings? as a thriving modern city, surely Taipei can make room for green spaces and purity the city air.

 

 

I came back to JP in June and ive been here for 5 months. Yes, it was time to travel. And someone had a very nervous day at work- said " I couldnt concentrate at work at all because you were coming"

My stay was Friday- Monday 

Arriving at 7pm Fri   Leaving at 1230pm Mon

So yeah, not much time- but we have work, we have life, we decided to make the BEST out of it! and we did!!!! woohoo!! So our day (or night) started with HEAVY RAIN なんでやねんー；；　I took an airport bus to Taipei main station, it was because my flight was at night my J was working that day so I decided to take my adventure. Although i was pretty used to the public transportation in Taipei (MRT and city Buses) i had never taken a bus from the airport.. i had my friend pick me up every time or used a taxi, so it was a bit confusing.. After exchanging money to Taiwan doller (They use TWD as a currency) I found the ticket counters for buses and there were several companies, and some have NOONE standing in a line but only one company seemed really popular,

"U-bus"  and i knew U-bus, it's the green sign and i have taken that when i went to Jay yi - south of taiwan(sorry i dont know how to spell that in alphabet) 　so i said to the lady "Taipei main station" then this friendly person told me " oh, taipei main station, please go to that counter." and she pointed the other direction where NOONE was stainding in a line and a "unfiendly" looking lady was sitting bored at the counter, the company was 国光, Kon-kuan? (dont know how to spel again, sorry)which is pretty famous but i was worried. it was my frist time, and what if this bus never leave here or takes me to somewhere else? ( i knew, this was no middle east or south east asia but when a human panicks you kidna lose the normal thinking, so i was so afraid)

and i asked her "Taipei main station" and she told me  "125" so i paid, and told me "outside, 1213."  it was the number of the bus stop. i said "what time does the bus leave?" she looked at me like ARE YOU GONNA LEAVE ME ALONE NOW? and SAID  "5 MINUTES!"

so i was like.. OH! ok, thank you! and ran outside to look for "1213" and a friendly cleaning boy helped me to find it

(why, is the cleaning boy nicer than the bus ticket counter lady!? cleaning boy should get more paid!!)- but i get it, the lady is probably so sick of seeing so many forgeiners everyday.... hahaha

As I was walking i have the feeling which

hah, if i were in Japan the lady will be running around and shout

"the bus to OOstation is leaving in 5 minutes, is anyone here would like take this bus please buy the ticket as soon as possible- Anyone going to OOstation?"

anyways, i found 1213, then the bus looked "FULL" so i went around to the door side and the door SHUTS right in front of my eyes! It wasnt even 5 minutes as the lady said, it was like 1 minute!　So i was pretty mad and told the bus lady "im taking this bus! "  she goes "NO SEAT!" i was like "huh!?!?!?!" 

"what time is the next bus?"   again, the lady looked at me like

ARE YOU GONNA LEAVE ME ALONE IF I TOLD YOU?

and said   "5 minutes!"

ah... people in tis country like "5 minutes" a lot huh... hahah but it was never 5 minutes, who would imagine, it was like 15 minuets wait.....

well i safely got to Taipei main station, and met J we took a taxi to his home area, and stopped by at the night market to have something to eat quickly (cause that night we had a plan to go to Onsen, the hot spring)

You wanna know what I ate?

wonton noodle. oh did it just make me happy in 3 second.

its shrimp wonton, and the brown stuff is a fried vegis it gives the noodle really good flavor!!! this one got only little soup, and J had this, of course, i had a bite of his too

YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY

After dropping my stuff off, we went to Ulai, the Famous onsen place.

How did we get there?! Moterbike!!!! just a small one that almost EVERYONE in Taiwan rides. (they even have helmet shops, where only helmets are sold, but actually you can find really cute ones, even for children so if you need a colorful desgin helmet, Taiwan is a place for you)

This is our onsen hotel. 美人湯　means beautiful woman hot spring

Did i get beautiful after bath? Of course i did

 

our room

 

View from our room - Beautiful mountain!!!!

It was a greaaaaaaaaaat night   I slept soooo peacefully and didnt even wake up oncewhich is very unlike me! Very Good!

 

Cont. to "Day2"

Gorgetting Sarah Marshall

I like this line from this movie

"STOP thinking, JUST DO IT!" 

------then he jumps off from a cliff and almost dies. hahahaha

 

 

久しぶりに映画をみた★　（Skyperfect で）

一度見たことがある映画で、brokenheart　な男がその傷ついた心を旅行先のHawaiiで

少しずつ癒していくっていうお話なんだけど・・

 

わかるなぁー、その気持ち！

時間がかかるんだよね。　それに、完全に癒されて完全に忘れることってないんじゃなのかなぁと私は思う。

恋愛は、ひとつひとつ別のものだし毎回、何かを学ぶと思うし

すごくいい経験だと思う。

動物なら「コイツオレに気があるな。」ってないでしょ。

あ、でもニホンザルの赤ちゃんは自分を育てた飼育係がぬいぐるみをよしよししていると

jelousでめっちゃほえるっていうのがあったなぁ。。。

でもそれって恋愛とは違うでしょー！笑

映画の中では、なんと

元かの、元彼、今彼、今いい感じの男性の4人でdinner をするっていうシーンがあって

これってありえませんけどーーーーーーー！？

っていう雰囲気。　気まずすぎるよね！！！！！！！

 

I watched this movie a while ago, but i had time today and watched it on skyperfect!!Its about this guy who had his heart broken and got soooooooooooooooooooo upset that he cant do anything, so decides to go to Haiwaii to forget everything. but then he accidently meets his ex girlfriend at the same resort with her "new"

boyfriend!!!!!!  it makes him feel sooooo bad, and harder and harder to forget her.

and this "new" guy is such an a-hole!!!! he screws everyone he meets ( and he is a TV star) and he is kinda proud of it.... ><; yah, why did she fall in love with this guy!? ahhh who knows...

but, he CANNOT forget about her, more he tries, more memories flash back and he weeps....

yah, i TOTALLY understand THAT feeling, long time ago my heart was broken and i dont know if a person actually can be cured 100% after terrible relationship... but time will tell, yes, well in the movie he CAN forget and ends up meeting a girl after a while. I think every relationship is different, and you learn something from it every time.

And i wondered, do animals also have feelings (like love feelings) like people do....? I saw it on TV this Japanese moneky (girl) gets really jelous and starts screaming and go crazy when her carekeeper pretends that he cares more for the stuffed animal!!! I was really shocked and surprised to see it was exactly the same reaction to a human toddler panicking when a mom gives more attention to a baby sibling!!!

Just watching a movie i did a lot of thinking! hahaha