The Dalai Lama arrives in Taiwan today. Providing the Chicom point of view is Saturday's editorial in the Xinhua Chinese Taipei China Post. Poor ol' President Ma can't seem to catch a break. He's destined for another life if he does, destined for another life if he doesn't. However, no meeting with the Dalai Lama is scheduled. At least he's got that going for him.

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In Little League World Series action, the Kuei San (龜 山 )Taiwan team from Taoyuan advanced to the championship game with a 9-4 win over Mexico. They will face Chula Vista, California. Game time is 3:00am Monday for us.

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Red A , I think I'll give the mao dou hummus a pass. When I eat them, they are like this (with simple instructions in Chinese). Also, Karl, lots of Taiwanese supermarkets sell the Taiwanese version of avocado. Karl, I have been lugging around a gift for 3 weeks that I suspect you will enjoy but I never see you out. I'll be at Mom and Pop's this afternoon if you would like to get it.

B- for Pen/Ploughmanship

Having trouble embedding the video, so here is the link. There is only a bit of audio at the end. This link from a Texas Monthly blog has a short report and interview.

Edamame Fever

Edamame is now a trendy health food item in the USA. Apparently this is a young soybean and is called 毛豆; pinyin: máodòu in Chinese.

The best edamame product I have found is edamame hummus at Trader Joe's. The stuff tastes great and reminds me of guacamole.

Maybe the J-hole or Karl can give it a try to make his own in Taiwan.

Here is a recipe.

DISCLAIMER FOR J-HOLE: YES, I REALIZE IT IS NOT GUACAMOLE, AND NOTHING CAN REPLACE GUACAMOLE. But maybe if you don't have any avocados or want to try something different it would work.

God Damn Squirrel

My rental house has a nice peach tree in the back.

There are a lot of peaches this season, and I have been watching them ripen up.

Then, when they finally get ripe, some god damn squirrel comes over and eats a bite or two out of each peach and leaves them to rot. The tree is full of yellow peaches with the red and orange ones on the ground with a chunk off them.

So now I have to pick them a little less than ripe to beat the squirrels.

If I were a Texan I would shoot the squirrel's and eat the peaches in squirrel pie form.

IJ, how do I BBQ squirrel?

America so far

Fridge is full of microbrew AND coors light, in case Karl pops in.

Microbrew runs about 7.99 a six pack.

Coors light 30 pack is 19.92 at Costco.

AT&T Uverse offers me phone, internet (15 mps) and TV for US$ 160 / month, including two Taiwanese channels...you know, to keep it real. This set-up includes DVR and video on demand - I think Taiwan is really behind in this area. Well, when you have one cable company what do you expect. Cable companies, a term I use loosely to include anybody running lines into your house, always suck, and when you have 3-4 to play against each other, at least they have to offer actual service once in a while.

Taiwanese family members universally agree that Pizza is better in the US. So far, the winner is Mountain Mikes.

IKEA got most of my furniture dollars and I enjoyed learning how they assemble stuff. I only blew assembly on one bookshelf - ironically after assembling everything else. Problem solved with spray paint.

Wife is actually cooking. She likes the dishwasher. Grapes and peaches in our yard. Local eating. Squirrels, too, but we're not Texans via Arkansas.

Parking. Curteous drivers. (Passed my driver's test 100/100 for the reinstatement of a 17 years old license.) Grandma to help babysit. Steak on the barbecue. Two fridges, one full of beer.

OK....so its been good so far. Here are some of the cons I have seen:

1. Costco food court. Taichung Coscto DESTROYS USA Costco in seating and condiment availability - no sauerkraut here, and only one hot dog station.

2. On average, Taiwan's government agencies are far more efficient than California's. Possible exception in the revenue department. 8.75% sales tax. Yet, our State is broke. Go figure.

Poker Report

Good Golly Miss Molly brought nothing but trouble.
Match the pot,hot seat in or out,deal rotates, straights beat flushes, 3 aces highest hand, one draw of one, must beat Molly. The pot saw 960, 1920, 3840, 7680, and finally 14360. There were players writing signatures and some giving autographs.

Good times. I saw the heavy folding black poker table out, I think it found a home at Steve's. It is still quite heavy and hard to tip despite the number of drunken beer holders.

These nuts kept the games running from about 6pm to 4am.

Is there a bounty on Brit Brett's rat tail?

Caption Suggestions?

This was the main photo on page one of the Apple Daily in Taiwan, Saturday, after Typhoon Morakut left the island. There was an island-wide typhoon day with the north and east getting the worst of it. In Taichung we got some heavy winds, overcast skies and about zero rain.

Later that day: Well, most everything above was wrong. The typhoon had not left, just resting between sets and it made sure all the island got a good soaking.

Award winning slideshow

You will MARVEL as my camera channels Marlin Perkins.
You will OOOH at heroic feats of gunplay.
You will AAAHH at the end.

Click PLAY and then click the bottom right to enlarge the picture and activate the controls. Click on SHOW INFO to get full descriptions and witty banter.

Back

Returned to Taichung late last night (Friday). Who's still in town? I'll be reviewing Southern Command (Mom & Pop's) starting around noon today if anyone would like to join.