I found food coloring!!

I have lived here in Taiwan for almost six years now. The first year, I had to "import" taco seasoning and jello packets from the States in the Christmas goody box my family sent me.  Now I can find all of these things at certain grocery stores. However, when Easter was fast approaching I realized that FOOD COLORING, an all important resource for dying Easter eggs, was no where to be found.
Thankfully, a new friend, who enjoys baking very much, steered me to this shop near LiuZhangLi MRT Station (Brown Line): 

樂烘焙材料器具 (Love Baking)
http://www.facebook.com/lovebakingtw

Not only did they have food coloring (the traditional 4-colored liquid kind, and multiple paste kinds), they also had EASTER cookie cutters! They also stock many other baking supplies and ingredients. I highly recommend this shop!
AND it started raining while I was shopping, so the owners sent me on my way with an umbrella! An unexpected gift and a great experience!

MORE Dress Shopping!

I finally found my dress!!!! YAY!!!
(But I want it to be a 'surprise'... so no pictures online!)


However, here are some of the other dresses that I had to try on...

Finding a wedding dress for sale in Taiwan has been a challenge. After finding a few dresses that I liked, and only being told that I needed to purchase an entire wedding photography package, I decided to try my luck at Olivia's 2nd Hand Wedding Shop. (Near MingQuan West Road MRT Station, #130 ZhongShan North Road) : http://oliviawedding.pixnet.net/blog/post/23555215

Their dresses are all $100 (3,000 NTD) no matter the style, condition, etc. All of the dresses can be altered for each bride (basic alterations are included in the price.) I would like to change the neckline of my gown... so it's going to cost me an extra $10 (300 NTD) Not a bad deal for a wedding dress!!

If you do visit Olivia's be prepared to dive in and get your hands 'dirty'... the shop assistants don't help you much, and they don't hover, but they will offer their comments :-) Bring a friend, dig through the gowns and see if they have anything you like! :-)

Our Proposal Story...

One Sunday in March, we went to our Bible study group at church in Taipei. After Bible class, Edward told me that we had to be at Taipei Train Station at 4:00 p.m. to meet a friend who was going to drop off some English teaching materials for me (I am her English tutor.) We planned to go to the evening church service after meeting this friend.

Since it was such a nice day, I suggested we just walk from church to the train station - it's a good walk, but we had all afternoon and there are some nice parks along the way.

Along the way, just as we happened to get to CKS Memorial Hall with its beautiful surrounding gardens, Eddie got a text message saying the girl was running late. So I said, we could walk around the park, visit the free museum, enjoy the sunshine. (Notice how everything seems to be MY suggestion!)

As the sun was setting, we were just walking along and talking and I was starting to think we were going to either miss meeting this girl AND/OR be late for church. Suddenly, Eddie spun me around and gave me a big hug. (I found out later it was so I didn't see our friends from church who were there to take pictures for us!)

After this surprise hug, he led me over to the place where we had our first kiss (this "just happened to be" the same park) and pulled out a ring box from his pocket. He got down on his knee and proposed! :-D

Our friend took pictures the whole time! It was really sweet ~-~ and I was so surprised that I didn't have time to cry until later! :-D

Ming Chuan's 51st Anniversary!

Happy 51st Anniversary MCU!

This week was crazy! After a great week at home, I left Michigan on Monday afternoon. I arrived back in Taiwan late Tuesday night and had normal class on Wednesday... then on Thursday we had a "field trip!"

Thursday was Ming Chuan University's 51st Anniversary, so since no one else had to go to class- we decided to practice our Chinese in the "real world"-- A.K.A. attend MCU's birthday party!

Quen and I decided to embarass the tuxedo boys!

All of my classmates (minus the only boy Michael).
6 nationalities represented!!

And I can never make fun of Eddie for being a "cheerleader" again. (Well.... yes, I still can ;-) But it turns out that "cheerleading" in Chinese can also mean like a hip-hop dance squad/aerobatic team. Somewhat more "manly" than what I had pictured! Each of MCU's departments put together a different act for the annual cheerleading competition. I was really impressed by how creative their themes and costumes were! It's great to see that kind of school spirit!

Lin Family Mansion

Every day while taking the MRT (read: subway) I pass a stop that proudly advertises the Lin Family Mansion. Interestingly, my surname in Chinese is "Lin"-- but I never knew my family had a Mansion! One Saturday afternoon (after a traumatizing haircut) Eddie decided to cheer me up by visiting the mansion.

The buildings and gardens reminded me of some of the mansions we visited in SuZhou in China. Everything was designed taking balance and feng shui into consideration, the man-made mountains are reflected in a man-made lake.

For me the highlights of our visit were: the peacocks (reminds me of being a kid at the Saginaw zoo); the theater, which is two large covered porches set across from each other with a man-made pond in between; and the calligraphy inscribed on some of the walls, I can read some of the characters now!

Would I make a special trip to Taipei just to visit the Lin Family Mansion?? Nope. But if you're spending some time here and it's a great place for an interesting and relaxing afternoon.