Vegetarian Cooking at Fo Guang Shan Monastery

I had driven past the imposing Fo Guang Shan Monastery, just past I-Shou International School, and felt compelled to visit. I was excited to see that the Buddhist Monastery was offering vegetarian cooking classes in English and so joined up. Miao Ming, a Buddhist Monk, originally from Canada, has been living at the monastery for the past five years. She thought it was about time that the Kaohsiung community of ex-pats saw what the Fo Guang Shan had to offer. 

Ms. Wu is the awesome cooking instructor, and a warm hearted nun, our translator. 

During this particular class we made; 

1. Deep-fried Seasoned Beans
2. Celery and Dry Bean Curd
3. Bamboo with Oyster Sauce
4. Stir-fried Asparagus with Gingo
5. Stir-fried Noodles
6. Light Cucumber Soup

Well, Ms. Wu made the soup for us. And we ate it.

First, we learn about all the different ingredients; how to clean them and prepare them for each dish.

Ms. Wu cooks each dish, demonstrating for us. She cooks all of the dishes and we carefully look over each finished dish, admiring the colors and textures.

 Then it is over to us!

A little bit of salt...

Lightly frying the asparagus, gingo and lilly bulbs

Frying the beans

Who said too many cooks spoil the broth? The more the merrier we say!

From back clockwise: Bamboo with Oyster Sauce, Stir-fried Asparagus with Gingo, Celery and Dy Bean Curd

Deep Fried Beans and Stir Fried Noodles

When all the dishes have been cooked, we all head down to the dining room to enjoy our creations. 

I have learnt to cook lilly bulbs and gingo; wash, prepare and cook bamboo; cook and learn about 'veggie lamb' which is made from mushroom stalks; eat a delicious warm cucumber soup and more.

Highly delicious and recommended. 

After Typhoon Fanapi

Typhoon Fanapi was disastrous to the county of Kaohsiung. The level 3 typhoon hammered the area; flooding many homes and leaving many without electricity. Here are some pictures close to our street the day after the typhoon. 

At a random restaurant

Out the front of our apartment building

Fallen trees just outside the Hanshin Mall

Heading south along Bo-ai to the Kaohsiung Arena MRT

It took a couple of days, but the trees were restored to their original position, albeit, with some bandages and some extra support.

With the strength of the typhoon, I am surprised that there was not more damage. A school was shut down for a week for a cleanup, and apartment buildings were damaged and flooded. Let's hope that the worse of typhoon season is behind us. 

Freebies at 7-11

So, for a while now we have been collecting little stickers like this and from 7-11 and FamilyMart stores. every time you buy something over a certain amount, you are rewarded with one or more little stickers. The blue ones are from 7-11, and you receive red ones from its rival, FamilyMart.

I forgot to take a photo before we claimed our prize in 7-11, so here is a photo fromhttp://linnstrand.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html

We have been dutifully adding the stickers to our little chart, and today, was the big day. We claimed our prize.

We opened it up and were surprised with our prize. A large-pen-with-fan-on-a-big-girls-head-thing. It even came with batteries.

.

As you can see, Jeff was thrilled that the painstaking collection of stickers paid off. He now has a portable large-pen-with-fan-on-a-big-girls-head-thing and couldn't be happier  ;o)

Jeff's 100NT Haircut

Jeff had been to Uncle Bear haircuts, a barber-type shop in one of the MRT (tube) stations, but wanted something a little more. We walked around our neighborhood in search of a real barber. Not a big bear where you put your 100NT note in its stomach, receive a receipt, and then go into the store and in return for giving the barber the receipt, receive a haircut. No, Jeff wanted a REAL barber shop. Like the old ones in Morocco, where the greying barber will sit you down in an ancient ragged chair, unwrap a new blade and cut your hair in the style of every other Moroccan man.

But, our search was fruitless, and we ended up here.

Yep, a cheap 100NT hairdresser. But instead of having a giant Uncle Bear to put your money into, they had a slim lined vending machine, dispersing a receipt to be exchanged for a haircut.

Jeff sipping on iced milk tea before the haircut.

 During. No, he is not getting his haircut by a doctor or nurse, or any other person who wears a surgical mask. Here in Taiwan, if you are sick, or riding a scooter, it seems a surgical mask is a must.

And after.

We may need to search a little longer for an old style barber shop.

Shark Fin Soup Trade here in Kaohsiung

Photo credit: Jeffrey L. Rotman/ Corbis

I had heard of the notorious Shark Fin Soup, a soup made of shark fin eaten by wealthy Chinese, but I was unsure of the details. Unfortunately, I am now living in an area which is home to one of the worlds largest supplies of shark fin. I have seen the dried fins in shops in Hong Kong, as well as various stalls down at Cijin Island in southern Kaohsiung. 

I came across this article by CNN reporter Lisa Ling detailing the shark fin trade in Kaohsiung. 

It unsettles me to live so close to the port where the sharkless fins are unloaded into trucks and taken to be sold and made into a flavorless prized soup. As more Chinese are able to afford the delicacy, the trade has intensified. 

I am going to see what I can do to push this issue. Laws and regulations surrounding the hunting of and selling of shark fins are not being adhered to. I guess the push has to start somewhere...