Serving Shoes and Misunderstandings

So today we were going to go on a trip but due to complications we didn't and it just ended up being a lazy day. So if you want to, read on. Nothing much save for a couple asia fun facts.

I finally took a picture of a normal breakfast in our family. We eat around the coffee table in the family room, right in front of the TV. So we have our fruits, bread and milk. FYI, the ice cream on the left is not normally part of the morning meal. ;P I was smart this time and took a small bite of the grape before I ate it all. I say that because in Spain, I ate a grape whole and found out it wasn't seedless. Not a pleasant surprise. But yes, the grapes do indeed have seeds in them. On the side we have our protein of almonds and life force of water. Aaaaand that's it :)

Instead of the initial trip destination, we just went around to some stores for my brother save for the phone store for me. I now have a working phone for Taiwan! Yay! I think it's an iPhone 3...it's an iPhone something that's a bit thicker and rounder than my own. I'm not sure but I'm just thankful that my counselor provided me with a phone, period. ^_^ But it has no cover on it...do you know what that means? It means I can go shopping for adorable asian phone covers! I see something extremely cute in my future just as soon as I figure out where I can buy them ;D

We then went to a shoe store for my brother. The system is different from America and I'll show you why. First of all here is a display of shoes. If you can see, the shoes are wrapped tightly in plastic. Like, super wrapped in plastic. There's no getting in to the actual shoe. Look at the below picture and you might be able to see the plastic wrapping better. That's what the shininess on the shoe is. Just a few weren't wrapped. I don't know why, but ok, whatever they want.

Oh the umbrella reminds me, today as you guessed it, was raining. The typhoons are still in the area but nothing really serious in New Taipei City at least. Just a bit of rain and wind. So no worries about safety or anything. ^_^

Secondly the shoe system in the store had a small box-like opening at the bottom of the back wall. In this hole is a conveyor belt that both takes and spits out shoe boxes. So the employee on the floor is essentially a waiter. He inputs the customer's shoe order in the computer above the machine. Workers/chefs in the back then find the requested dish and deliver the leathery meal via the magical transportation box on the floor. The waiter then walks the shoe to the waiting customer and see if it's a match made in heaven. If not, the process is repeated with a different recipe. Like my analogy? :)

Afterwards we took the bus to a shopping mall to the toy store in order for my brother to play some games. We tried a Pokemon game but both machines of the same game ended up being broken. So instead we played the animal versus game that I mentioned before. I used my baby again, the horned owl character, and guess what? America prevailed again! (The owl is from America) Bwhahaha good job my baby! Though I bet my brother will beat me next time, I like to think of my darling owl as a good luck charm of unbeatableness. I'll savor the thought when I can but really it all boils down to me and my bird loving bias. ;)

Stopping by the food court at a burger place called "Moss Burger," my host father asked what I wanted. He was pointing to the food menu so I thought we were having a meal. Though to me it was strange because it was 3:20 and we didn't have lunch, so I just thought it was a really late lunch. So I choose a curry burger with veggies, a salad and iced tea. When the meal came I found it weird because here I was with a full blown meal and my father and brother only had drinks and sides. It was then that I find out this was not a meal but instead teatime. Teatime! Oh I'm so American because I didn't know they had teatime. I knew of coffee and tea breaks but for some reason I wasn't thinking properly. Oh well, on the positive side my linner/dunch was yummy. Get it? Linner? Dunch? Get it? *eyebrow wriggle*

I've noticed the majority of my blog is just meals and food. Because guess what? It's time for me to talk about tonight's dinner! Yay more food talk that may be boring to youuuuu...sorry. My father and I left the house to wait for my mother at 7-Eleven, a VERY common convenient store. As my father was stopping at the ATM, I browsed through the magazine rack. K-Pop buddies, are you there? Because this is what I found...

 I love how the magazine has all these well known names, yet it's totally biased to BEAST in name and picture. (Woah, right as I was typing "BEAST" the audio I'm listening to currently, said "beast." THAT'S AMAZING! I know. I'm so easily amused ^_^) But anyway, on the top and slightly to the right of the cover it states it costs 88 NT dollars. That is roughly 3 US dollars. I was trying to ask my mother if 88 NT is an expensive price for a magazine or if it's normal. Practicing my Chinese, I spoke the number 88 in Mandarin to her. As I finished my question, her eyes widened in amazement. From her reaction I guessed that yes, it was really expensive. She then confirmed my deduction by saying that's extremely pricey and more like a monthly or yearly subscription rather than one issue price. Now the last statement confused me because that would mean magazine pricing is dirt cheap if $3 US is considered a lot. My mother and I kept going back and forth with how expensive the magazine I saw was until the language misunderstanding was cleared up. Now in my mind I said "88." But my pronunciation was wrong and instead my mother heard "848"which is about $28 US. So she thought I was saying a single issue cost $28. Nooooow it all made sense. That is my failure of the day ^_^

Onto the actual dinner, it was at an italian restaurant called "Tomatoes" but had a asian spin on it as the place was feng shui-ed. The meal big, not nearly as ginormous as the previous italian restaurant was actually quite tasty.

 Starting off with a healthy salad with italian dressing...

Moving on to chicken mushroom cheese whatnot

A bowl of onion soup. Oh goodness, I now confirm that I love onion soup. Who knew how sweet it actually is? (Lots of people except for Andrea apparently)

Pastaaaaaaaaaaaa! 

Finishing off with orange juice and the Chinese pudding flan thing. The difference with the beverage is, as my father says, it's only 10% orange juice and the rest is sugar and water. Never in my life have I ever tasted such a sweet and sugary orange juice labeled beverage before. Something I expected to be healthy and provide my needed vitamins ended up being the exact opposite. Who knew? XD

As of now, tomorrow will also be a lazy day as nothing is planned except for Mandarin and Chinese character studying. Until next time, peace off! :D