Oh Mommy, I am ready for winter!
Originally uploaded by beuk

Mommy I miss you while you are in Japan. Say hi to Obama-san for me.
Don’t worry about the cold. I am all set. Love -G

Ok, ok, if you follow me at all, you know I love to rant. I have tried to keep quiet for some time now but with places like this in Taipei, it is just too difficult.

We were out and about in Taipei on Saturday, as we are want to do, and looking for an ice cream place. I remembered seeing a lil place 1/2 way down from city hall on Ren-Ai Lu. Indeed we found it easily. Our first clue that something was amiss was the name, “Mi Casa.” Not the name I would have chosen for an Italian ice store. Next, when we went in all we saw was bread. Not unusual for Taiwan, as the only way Taiwanese can survive is via bread, but we did not immediately see the ice cream. After crossing the store and 1000 stares, we reached a freezer. The flavors were disconcerting. There was black olive, taro root, and pea. Yes, pea. We chose to opt instead for the traditional caramel (care-ah-mel for Sangeeth) and coffee. We were advised that if we were eating in we could get a larger portion than the take home portion. No problem we took a seat outside.

After we were settled outside we were told that in order to sit outside there was a minimum purchase and that two ice creams was not enough. What? Fine, whatever. We ordered 2 coffees to get our bill up to the minimum. Then the ice came. The caramel was … burnt. and the coffee had freezer burn. Both were inedible. This is asking saying a lot, as it takes a lot for this family to shirk ice cream. It sent B into such a tirade that she was still complaining when the lady came with coffees and didn’t pull any punches. “This is horrible.” is one of the nicest things I can quote here. Needless to say, our hopes melted much faster than the freezer burn.

Our thoughts were two-fold: We think the store is trying to make its own ice cream as the containers did not have a brand. We also think they know they don’t get repeat business, therefore the minimum fee.

If you are looking for a rest, skip this store, head to the end of the park, turn right and eat at the Ben & Jerry’s knock off. I am no Hungry In Taipei and indeed her write-up is better than mine, but even she says the caramel is burnt.

Micasa ain’t Su Casa
Originally uploaded by beuk

Got a lil bit excited tonight when we saw Mi Casa down by the 101.
Could it be a new Mexican place? No. It is
a nice Japanese restaurant. Now I am no HungryInTaipei, but the food
was good especially considering we walked in 5 minutes before they
closed AT 9:00!!! We had assorted sashimi, mushrooms, and a crepe.
The mushrooms were fantastic.

Only in Taipei is Mi Casa not Mexican, but a good find none the less.

One of the strangest things I am doing now is taking Japanese classes. Not because that in itself is strange, but because my teacher does not speak much English. This means I mostly use Chinese to communicate and ask questions (no-no #1 in learning an Asian language). It actually works out pretty well.

I routinely find strange phrases that make me wish I could just run off and get a Ph.D. in linguistics. (By the way, after reading this you will see why I am crap at languages. My wife can hear a phrase and repeat it like the world’s best Mynah. Me, I need to build all kinds of crazy mnemonics too have a clue. That said, once I know it, I know it.) I am starting to have a lot of crossovers and routinely find myself searching for English words on conference calls with the States due to the rewiring in my brain.

Here are some interesting observations and examples:
Tate Mono (pronounced: Taa Teah Mo No) means house or building. I find this one of the easiest words for me to remember because I love the Tate MOderN in London (pronounced T-eight). It is easy to remember Tate Mono as a building. A NICE building :)
Biiru, Kohii, Noto, Tepurekoda (Beer, Coffee, Notebook, Tape recorder) all sound very close to the English word, but drink to much Biiru…
Otearai (pronounced: Oh Teah Ah Ra EE) meaning toilet and you may have a hard time finding this if you can’t say it! The Brits got this one right with “Loo.” Side Note in China “Lu” means street, which often doubles as the toilet.
~ no ~ no ~ no when describing possessiveness (as in My wife or My book) you use “no.” The problem is there is no limit so you can get sentences that to an outsider sound like “No, No, No!” Interestingly enough the word for “No” in Japanese is “Iie” or what Mr. Miyagi says a lot (seriously go back and watch).
Leggo Eggo I swear this had a meaning, but I forgot to write it down I was laughing so hard.
Shite this actually means “give” as in “Mama cyu shite” (Mama give me a kiss) or “Mama ryori shitte” (Mama give me your cooking). Not to be confused with “Mama your cooking is shite”.

Now all that said, Chinese also has its funny phrases. We were at the flower market last weekend and B wanted to know if the flowers were suitable (he shi) for direct sun, so I told the lady:

“Zai Tai Tai de yang tai, tai yang tai da” or “On wifey’s porch the sun is quite strong”

The lady answered “no problem” in the blink of an eye. It didn’t phase me until we walked away how strange that (mostly) correct sentence was AND that someone else could even understand it! Gotta love Chinese.