From inside Typhoon Fung-Wong

It's been coming for the past few days. It was just a question of when it would hit. We've been watching its progress.

The supermarkets were packed yesterday with people stocking up for the lock down. Billboards have been rolled up and tied down; the warships brought in and the sandbags are out.

I got a text last night from my boss saying the city was going to be in emergency mode on July 28.

Sweet.

I love typhoon days; especially as I'm paid a salary.

We closed all the doors and windows and went to bed. Waking up this morning, the sounds of the wind and rain were whipping against our bedroom window that overlooks the harbour. Looking out we can't even see the other side of the docks.

Looking out the windows now, the streets are deserted. The storm has taken the country hostage and anyone who breaks the curfew is liable to get a flying piece of debris in the head. I'm sure the 7-Eleven will be open though.

It's surprising we have internet, as it comes via the cable TV cable, that runs out the bedroom window, flops around the outside of the house then heads up to the roof where it does a lap of the perimeter of the building, gets turned into a clothes line before disappearing down the back.

Many cables seem to run like this in Taiwan, which is surprising considering the country's overall typhoon-preparedness. All the buildings are made from concrete and covered in ceramic tile. Although the aesthetic is hideous, as well as boiling hot in summer and freezing in winter, they are pretty earthquake and typhoon resistant.

Having said that, you can feel the house move in the force of the storm.

Luckily we are on the fifth floor (less lucky to have no lift) and are immune from the flooding and landslides that affect other areas of the country. Well when the roof leaks, as it surely will later today, we may get some flooding in the kitchen.

What to do? You can't complain at a free day at home. Could catch up on the washing and attend to those dishes piling up in the sink but I think we might settle in for a video marathon with a couple of pipes of my favourite tobacco.

With winds of 200 km/hr outside, it might be best to stay indoors.

East V. West

I did a "cultural awareness" workshop for work and came across this simple illustration of the key differences between east and west. It was produced by Chinese-born graphic designer / artist, who lives in Germany.

Click here to see the full set

Funky Frog Food

I've just got back from dinner with my students and had an experience that has to be shared.

These students, over the past month, have taken great pleasure in shouting me "2nd dinner" after class. They are always ordering stuff they think will make my stomach turn.

So far I have consistently disappointed them, by eating what ever they put in front of me.

The first week it was pig's blood pudding. That was nothing, it tastes a bit like liver.

Photo from Jas

The next week it was "four gods soup". Apparently all four gods take the form of intestines. Bah humbug, I had plenty of that in Thailand. They say it's good for you but it tastes as good as it sounds.

It was served as a side dish to a collection of delicacies including pig skin. I'm quite fond of pig skin - usually roasted and glazed with brown sugar; also known as "crackling". This pig skin however, seemed to have been boiled and reminded me of undercooked crackling. It was fine, the little hairs threw me a little though.

This week though it was frog. The direct translation from Taiwanese is "field chicken" which is pretty accurate, it tasted a lot like chicken.

It was just looking at the leg, dangling from the end of my chopsticks, that made me feel a bit cautious. All I could think of was "Kermit the Frog". The skin had this amazing colour: black with grey spots.

It was so... frog like.
You get that I suppose.

Anyway, it was another string to my culinary bow.
You never know until you give it a go.

Well, I have,
and if you don't want to:
the answer is - it tastes like chicken.

Quite tasty really.


Photo from here

Kaoliang - Local Fire-Water

Kaoliang jiu (literally "sorghum liquor") is a national drink in Taiwan but it is also popular on the mainland and in Korea. Made from fermented sorghum, it's a powerful spirit, which comes in percentages of 38 and 58; one the ladies and one for the gents.

It can be bought almost anywhere for as little as 150 NTD ($US 5) and is commonly drunk straight with a water chaser. In my experience it tastes like ethanol and gives you with the feeling that there's a hole being burnt in your stomach lining.

According to the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation:

"The body is so full that drinkers feel mellow and sweet."

I've had it a few time and very rarely felt sweet afterwards.

Try it and see for yourself.

Perhaps this is the bio-fuel of the future. We'll see.