Tales from Taiwan

Shoot me down I know.....a despicable amount of time has lapsed since I last put my finger pad to the keyboard although a lot has happened since my last post.

Mainly the on-set of summer holidays which included a trip to France  which was delayed due to noticing that #2's passport had expired the night before we were due to leave....agggghhhhhh.

Anyway, the summer was for once, a reminder of what it could be like to live in Britain during the summer when that yellow circular shape in the sky pokes through....bloody wonderful!

Now I am going to cheat for a few forthcoming posts as my youngest sibling is currently teaching English in Taiwan and during the daily battle with humidity and struggling to manage her new Diana Ross bouffant whilst also controlling a multitude of children who are learning English as their second language.......her excursion trails around Taipei are rather amusing and I feel I should share them with you....

Tale One - The Unknown Dish

The soup story basically entails me quietly eating dinner on my tod

in a veggie restaurant when this sweet lil ole lady comes over to me

offering a bowl of soup with an excited look on her face.  In broken

English with an adorable friendly smile on her face she insisted " You

try.  Very good for you.   Very good for eyes.  You eat".   'Oh bless

her' I thought as she handed me the bowl.  What happened next can only

be described as the scene from out of Indiana Jones Temple of Doom,

where the villagers give them food and Willie doesn't want to eat it.

I took one mouthful of this soup and literally it was all I could do not

to gag.  I have absolutely no idea what was in this soup but the smell

is akin to the pools of rank, fetid water that gather around porta loos

at festivals.  I'm almost retching at the thought as the memory comes

back to me.  To make matters worse, the rest of the restaurant had by

this point gathered around with expectant faces eager to see what I

thought of this revered soup.  Every fibre in my body wanted to balk but

in true British style and wanting to be polite, I winced and swallowed,

forcing out an occasional "Mmmm" while tears slowly rolled down my

cheeks, and I wept for my tastebuds.  Honestly, if this stuff improves

eyesight I'd rather be blind!!!