Miss No Good

This is a very popular tv-show in Taiwan, and I must say, eventhough I had no idea what they were saying when I watched it the first time, I still really enjoyed it.
The main character, Xiao Hua, is just SO over the top, that is makes it either too much or too funny. And for me, it's too funny.
But I guess you have to be or have been in Taiwan to really understand, that the way she acts is much like the way A LOT of taiwanese girls acts. I admit ;) a BIT overdramatized, but you get the picture, right!?
Now that I found a way to watch it with english subtitles I have yet ANOTHER good tv-show to watch. Thank you, Internet!!!
Ps - and it always help if there is a handsome guy in one of the leading roles, right!? Weibo Pan, or Wilber Pan is very very nice looking. He's a model/actor/singer (aren't they all??).
Miss Xiao Hua is played by Rainie Yang, a very famous actress/singer, a girl I've learned to like.

http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=b-oT3ZhrYBw

Mila and her tea

Mila got a few sips of my nai cha (milk tea) the other day. I can't tell, does she look like she enjoyed it??
:D

Today's business

Didn't do much.

Private driver

Today I wanted to go to Banciao (Xinpu mrt station) to check out a small morning/day market. But that didn't happen.
I happen to spend most of my time driving my dear husband around. Apparently he had some HUGES hangovers (been there) from last night bar-outing (done that!), so he could barely talk when he was going for work. Let alone drive....It wasn't really my idea but it wasn't a bad one either: the more I drive in Taiwan, the more confident I get, obviously! The traffic is much worse than the traffic I know from Denmark. People in Taiwan simply have their own rules, even my husband, who's a very good driver, but he would get LOTS of fines in Denmark if he ever drive there using "his rules" :)
So we took Mila with us (of course), put her in the baby-car seat, hub in the back talking to her (and relaxing and making strange noises into a plastic bag, wonder what that was all about, he he) while giving me directions.
He did pull a "nice" stunt on me - he told me in the morning to drive him to his office, but "forgot" to tell we had to swing by Linkou which is not NEAR his office. Thanks, honey.
I didn't bump into anybody and we didn't get into a fight about how I should be driving, so overall a good driving day!! :P

ps. My older brother might tell you differently, but I'm actually not that bad of a driver....... ......
...... ........................I am not...................really.......

A "small" list....

You know when you are Taiwanese/been in Taiwan too long when:

you can’t even be bothered to wake up for an earthquake

You can order the entire McDonald’s menu in Chinese.

Someone doesn’t stare at you and you wonder why.

You look both ways before crossing the sidewalk.

You turn left from the right lane, no matter how many lanes there are.

20 degrees feels cold.

You stop conjugating verbs.

You speak fluent Chinglish.

You drive on the shoulder to pass traffic.

Firecrackers and garbage trucks don’t wake you up.

You stop and look both ways before driving through a red light.

You don’t stop or look both ways before driving through a red light.

The shortest distance between two points involves going through an alley.

Foreigners smell funny.

You point out foreigners and stare at them.

You own at least one mosquito tennis raquet.

You know which turn signal should be on when driving the wrong way down a one-way street.

You prefer squatting to sitting (including toilets).

You can haggle with the best of them.

You don’t want to sit near the foreigners on the bus or in the restaurant.

Your English has gone to hell.

Foreign women look big and fat; foreign men look the same, but also hairy.

Wearing shoes in a house makes you really uncomfortable.

You shower in the evening.

You deflect compliments in the presence of foreign friends.

You fight to pay the bill.

You can tell what someone wants from what they don’t say.

Your kids speak better Chinese than you do.

Someone wishes you a Happy Easter and you remember it’s easter…

You no longer sweat.

You know where to buy clothes that fit you.

You’d take boiled peanuts over dry-roasted any day.

You feel embarassed for *other* foreigners.

You casually pick out and discard cockroach parts in your “biandang” (purchased lunchbox).

“Meibanfa” (there is nothing that can be done) or “bukenung” are perfectly acceptable answers to your inquiries at government offices.

You play black jack until 4 a.m. with your in-laws on holidays.

You stop caring about tones in your Mandarin.

You’ve taught another foreigner something in Chinese.

You’ve learned something in Chinese from another foreigner.

When someone back home asks you how things are going in “Thailand,” you are offended but don’t say anything.

You know just enough Chinese to embarrass someone who’s talking about you.

When you’ve been on vacation, you’re happy to return.

You wish desperately you could vote in local elections.

Your kid is half Chinese, I mean, Taiwanese.

Dry weather irritates your skin.

You feel like a kid in a candy store at Costco.

You learn more about the news from what it doesn’t say.

You have a favorite pair of flip-flops.

You think the best gifts are practical.

You think the best gift is money.

You’ve bought the same thing a dozen times … and will buy a new one when this one breaks.

You’re amazed at how low-tech everything is back home.

You bake in a toaster oven.

You can de-bone a piece of chicken in your mouth within seconds.

You can shell shrimp in your mouth within seconds.

You speak English in hotels to get better service.

You cut off gravel trucks and those blue Varica trucks.

You practice s-curves on the freeway at 120.

You cover your mouth when you pick your teeth.

Over half of your software is pirated.

You don’t buy anything unless you can get a discount.

You accept business cards with both hands, and inspect both sides without reading them.

You carry an umbrella with you for much of the year.

You try to tell people back home about Taiwan, and are angry when they look bored.

You smile when you’re embarrassed or angry.

Blogging (again)

So I’m starting up again. Blogging.

Why - well, my friend Michele have been nagging me to do it, plus I’ve been “witness” to some stuff that’s “worth” writing about

Today for instance…

Picking up Victor from Kindergarten. He is happy to see us (Mila is with me in the double stroller) and we take a little walk around the block getting some dinner, desert and zhen zu hong cha (victor’s pick). Crossing the intersection, green light and waiting for the next green light to get to “our side”.

CRASH!!!! I see a scooter sliding alone in the intersection. Accident - scooter hit by a car and the driver of the scooter (woman) was on the ground. I tried to turn the stroller away, so kids wouldn’t see. Didn’t really succeed at that, because this stroller is a heavy machinery. A EXTREME construction (watching too much discovery, ya say!?). Anyway, the green light hits and people (pedestrians, scooters, cars) starts moving and driving like there is nothing to take notice of.
Mind you, the woman is still right in the middle of the intersection and the car too.
Right after I heard the big crash and saw the accident I noticed NOBODY tried to help. All just stared, did nothing but look at the poor woman. The only person who tried to do something was the car driver, who started collecting the woman’s things (I guess he was too shocked to talk to her).

Well, green light. My direction. I couldn’t walk by and simple do nothing, so I stepped right in the middle of everything and scream from the top of my lungs: BACK UP, GET AWAY. STOP!!!! (I might have cursed one or two times, but anyway, it helped!!). I reached for the woman and asked if she was ok. My chinese is bad, so I asked with few chinese words and then the universal words: “You ok”?.
I tried pull her up and she told me it hurt (hao tong) but it didn’t look like anything was broken and there were no blood, so I pulled (gently of course) her up, took an arm under hers and made her walk to the sidewalk. Then another lady came and talked to her and two boys (students) helped the car-driver moving the scooter.

We left, I figured there wasn’t anything more I could do, since I didn’t see the actual accident itself and I couldn’t really explain myself to the police, if they happen to be non-english-speaking or understanding cops.

We then when to buy some nice cool tea to “calm the nerves”. The kids handled it well, I think. They sat in the stroller and didn’t cry or look scared. I kissed them both and talked about the accident with Victor. Here is his version: Car. Scooter. BOOM. Mama help lady Of course I reminded him that she was ok (he don’t have to know, if she isn’t) and that you always have to look for cars, lights etc when crossing the street. Yes, he told me and then - where is the tea, already!!!

This is my first partly witness to an accident in Taiwan, which I’m both happy and surprised for, because there IS a lot of accidents here, especially with scooters getting knocked a few meters along the road. I’ve heard stories about really nasty and bad accidents where again nobody seem to be willing to help out. And talking to hub about this he tells that people are afraid to get the blame for the accident, that the police wont trust your words. Still…it’s not like a pedestrian are going to get blamed for a car-scooter accident (where is my LOCO-face icon!!!).

I had to do something. And I did, wished hub was with me, then he/we could have done more.