My Camera DIED!

So for some reason we exchange students were told not to come to school on Friday but rather Monday. We really don't know why but I'm not complaining because it allowed me to stay up later last night talking with the awesome Taiwanese peeps. But we used this holiday if you will, to take care of government stuff.

Before that twas lunch. My mother went out and bought it before she had to leave for an appointment. She told me "it's very delicious" but not what it was. Turns out that she was correct. In the blue bowl was either an onion or cabbage-like soup with a chunk of some brown thing floating in the broth. A thought perhaps it was a meat ball but twas not. It was later I found out the brown cluster was a tofu ball of yumminess. I don't understand why tofu has the reputation in America of being so yucky. It's delicious in Taiwan! I can only conclude that tofu is different in different countries because my mother said that the tofu she had in Switzerland was not at all appetizing as it is in Taiwan. So maybe American tofu is in the same boat. Tofu is one of my favorite part of the meals actually, which is great because it's so healthy. I finally learned that tofu is made from a type of bean that also makes soy milk. Thank you dear bean of greatness! 

The second part of the lunch was just a cluster of vegetables, more tofu (Yay tofu!) and of course rice. Enjoy the picture with its random pokemon ball photo-bombing ;P

Later it was off to the VISA office to get my Alien Resident Certificate thingie. Along the way, all down the streets, there were many, many people lighting fires. I've seen several of these fires for the past couple days and really became curious to what it was for. My parents explained that it is a ritual is for the ghosts that roam around the city. The ceremony includes setting food out on a table and burning paper money in the fire. By doing this, the people are pleasing the ghosts with their offerings of food and money in order to make sure bad luck doesn't befall their business. (So if they didn't perform the ritual the ghosts would haunt and ruin their business) Below you can see the woman to the left throwing the paper money in the fire just as the man on the right is doing. By the way, I believe the paper money is more like play money than actual currency bills. 

I know it's really difficult to see but the picture below shows both the fire pit and the table behind with the food and drink offering. Can you see the blue Oreo package? If the ghosts don't like Oreos I don't know what else to give them. I mean, come on, they're Oreos! The man's business should do well this year ;P

Here's a small shot of the large number of scooters that can be found in such a small perimeter. If you can see, they're a couple rows of scooters behind the first one. It'll have to do for now before I can get a better shot of the enormous numbers of scooters they have in Taiwan. Or I should say motorcycles because scooters to us Americans are referred to as motorcycles here. Same in Spain. Our idea of motorcycles are a bit different.

This is random but the TV in front of me just played a commercial with a weird display of testosterone. Ok so this guy is taking a shower under a waterfall. Looking like a kung-fu master half dressed with only pants, he shows off his skills by performing with some sort of soap. So he's doing kung-fu moves...while taking a shower....advertising some soap...ooooook. It's so hard to explain but try to imagine it. Good commercial though because it stands out quite well and imprints itself in your mind. I mean, come on, how can you not remember the fusion of martial arts and hygiene practices? :P

I'll finish up with no other pictures to show because guess what? After 1.5-2 months from purchasing it completely new, my camera decided to break down badly. I now temporarily have no camera. DARN IT! HOW THE HECK DID THIS HAPPEN? It wasn't shaken violently, it wasn't touched by water nor was it dropped. It just felt like being evil and not work anymore. Fantastic right? (Note the heavy sarcasm) Thankfully my mother said she has a camera that I can borrow until we take my dead camera in to get fixed. We just have to find the mentioned camera. XD I do have a warranty on my camera but the sad part is I left the receipt back in Texas. But apparently in Asia it is a lot easier to get electronic products fixed because sometimes you don't even need the receipt. You just have to bring it in and they'll fix it for free or replace it. I sure hope that's the case because that would be wonderful. We'll be able to try around Monday, so we'll see. But seriously, I've only had this camera for about 2 months. 2 MONTHS! Why does it have to break down at such a vital time in my life? Andrea is not amused. -_-

Tonight we had dinner at the Japanese Sushi restaurant I've previously been to. It was really awesome that we went because I actually was craving the food from there. :P I seem to require 4 things when we go there. (1) The egg, tofu and veggie soup (2) The egg and vegetable pudding thing (3) Seaweed ice cream cone (4) Raisin and nut tofu. THOSE THINGS ARE SO DELICIOUS! And only costing $4 for all of it and not bad in the healthy meter if I'm correct. :)

After that my mother and I took Larry to a small store of little whatnots. While they were browsing, my eye caught glimpse of something shiny. This glimmer was a colorful keychain of Taiwan with the different sections bordered and labeled. Now if you know me, you will know that I always get a keychain of any place I travel to as a memory and to expand my collection of places I've been to. So duh I need to get one of Taiwan. Just as I was about to check out, my mother grabs it out of my hands and buys it for me. Sneaky of her, but very sweet indeed. ^_^ I am thankful.

Until next time, love ya! :D