Day 2 of the Taipei trip, woke up in a cold and drizzling morning, the breakfast was not amazing but it seems to me that Taiwan breakfast is kind of like Japanese breakfast in a sense they both have rice with mini side dishes such as spicy bean sprouts and fried green vegetables.
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The hot spring hotel requires their customers to check in at 5pm but check out at 12pm, so there was really not enough time to spend in the room, but they do offer free shuttle for the customers and their luggage, or just their baggages and not the customers, so making use of this service to walk around without your luggage for most of the time and then have your luggage delivered to you at the nearby MRT stations is a great strategy!
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Leaving Beitou to Tamsui and there is a harbour walk with snack shops and restaurants. The snacks were all great! dry pork slices, Taipei 101-like ice-creams and potato crisps, pork sausages and many more. Their huge sizes definitely attract tourist to give it a go and kill their SD card memory, but the scenery is not to be missed.
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One interesting thing observed about the Starbucks Coffee in Taipei is that they don't just come in a shop, but the entire building! You see the photo below? That is a four-storey Starbucks coffee! Man, I would love to go there often to enjoy my coffee. Just look at the view from the above photo! The coffee shop is directly facing this!
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After picking up the luggage and went to check-in at a much cheaper hotel in Ximen, it was time for more walking around and snacking. There is this really popular noodles shop which serves fine melt-in-your-mouth noodles in soup in Ximending and is always very crowded, not sure if the locals like it but definitely attracts tourists. You can see some people eating their bowl of noodles on the street while others take photos of other people eating in the photo below.
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Many stores and restaurants have Japanese-scripted lanterns and banners to attract their customers and they seem to work very well!
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Absolutely a place with a nice blend of the Japanese and the Taiwanese cultures!
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Took the following picture just before leaving Ximen Ding, not exactly the same as Japan's-chō, but definitely an alternative if Japan isn't a choice on your list.
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Outside of the busy shopper's paradise, museums and artistic structures harmonise the atmosphere.
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Dinner time arrived and it was this station we were heading. There was only one restaurant in the plan......
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Leaving a quiet MRT station? Just because it was still early, it was so packed on the way back.
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And then we arrived at THE ONE!
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Yes, Hong Kong also has Din Tai Fung, but I won't want to miss the origin of the restaurant. Hey! Must see how different they are, right?
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And the differences were great! Not the taste really, but the portion and the price. In Taipei, the same restaurant offers double portion for almost everything but charges only half the price of Hong Kong's!!! You will have to believe me with the bill shown below.
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It was definitely a great restaurant to visit and had the time been longer, I would have had the same food again and again!
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Vocabulary: drizzle -- (vb) [I]to rain in small light drops -chō -- (n) [U] harmonise -- (UK usuallyharmonise) [I or T] to be suitable together, or to make different people, plans, situations, etc. suitable for each other
Looking back at this year, I think I have done some good jobs in my research and wrote some of the articles which I really like, particularly, those under the label Medical, Health and Fitness, Technology and the recent ones on radiation under Travelling and Living.
I see myself expanding in my pool of knowledge much quicker and I'm eager for more!!!
This year, I shall continue to expand my knowledge through detail researches and then of course, bring you the best of the digest.
My snappy doctor friend (see Medical & News: What Causes Cancer? -- Part 1 and Medical & News: What Causes Cancer? -- Part 2), who was not snappy yesterday, is going to visit Japan, and in our recently set up Whatsapp chat group a friend asked if the food in Japan is safe for consumption. This doctor friend said she doesn't care. Then of course, I knew the answer and told her, but she insists on not caring.
Is there anything wrong with her thinking? Nope. Doctors often see life and death as commonplace as missing breakfast. But how about the rest of us?
Many of us thought that as long as the air is clean, like the guy in the movie above, then it will be safe. The fact is of course NOT.
Why not? Because the worst is still in the ground.
Pay attention to the part which the plants pick up the radioactive elements from the ground, because even if the air is far below the safe limit of radioactive level, like the video below taken in Chernobyl (the region of the Chernobyl Disaster on 26th April 1986), the Geiger counter level started off at a rate lower than Hong Kong's ( roughly 0.200 μSv, microsievert, for most updated count, see Hong Kong Observatory Ambient Gamma Radiation Level ) and began to signal DANGER when placed next to a patch of grass.
And one of the most dangerous thing to eat? Mushrooms!
As shown and admitted by the Japanese government in the news below.
Then how do I know what food from Japan is safe to eat and what is not? This question suddenly popped up when I picked up two packets of 3.6 Hokkaido milk at a discounted price of $15. I heard those packets on one hand, found a great Android App from Market, check it and then decided to put down the milk.
Which app? FoodSafety -radiation in food- It is a really good app and I highly recommend you download it and check it when necessary, especially when doing your grocery shopping.
1) It lists out the date of update, the region, the test dates, the food type, the level of iodine (131) and cesium (137) in Bq/kg, becquerel per kilogram.
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So, from the above screen capture, mushrooms from region Miyagi has been tested on 16th November with radioactive iodine "not detected" ND but 1400 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium. Fukushima, the region of the nuclear plant explosions, has mushroom at 4900 Bq/kg of cesium!!! But the highest is Tochigi with 6940 Bq/kg of cesium!!!! Anyway, they all go under the Red upset face, which means they are over the safety level. Touch them NOT!!!
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2) The prescribed safe limits for radioactive elements recommended by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for each type of food are used in this app.
As shown above, the prescribed safe limits for radioactive cesium in milk is 500 Bq/kg. Although the Hokkaido milk gets only 0.1 Bq/kg cesium, I decided to put down the great bargain.
My snappy doctor friend might not care, but it is your body and your health at the end of the day.
Once again I say, Knowledge is power! The more you know, the better you take good care of yourself and your love ones!
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Vocabulary: snappy -- (adj) also snappish easily annoyed and often speaking in an angry way commonplace -- (adj) happening often or often seen or experienced and so not considered to be special Chernobyl
sievert (Sv) -- (n)[C] the SI unit of equivalent dose. It is the dose of a given type of radiation in Gy that has the same biological effect on a human as 1 Gy of x-rays or gamma radiation. microsievert (μSv), 10 −6 Sv
grocery -- [C](UK alsogrocery shop, US alsogrocery store) old-fashioned a grocer's
iodine (131) -- also called radioiodine, is an important radioisotope of iodine. It has a radioactive decay half-life of about eight days. Its uses are mostly medical and pharmaceutical. It also plays a major role as a radioactive isotope present in nuclear fission products, and was a significant contributor to the health hazards from open-air atomic bomb testing in the 1950s, and from the Chernobyl disaster, as well as being a large fraction of the contamination hazard in the first weeks in the Japanese nuclear crisis.
cesium (137) -- is a radioactive isotope of caesium which is formed as a fission product by nuclear fission. It has a half-life of about 30.17 years.
While I was away on my Taipei trip, perhaps the most exciting news is the hint of the release of iOS 5.0.1 Untethered Jailbreak. Pwned Apple Pwned!!!
Yesterday, it is finally officially out as cited on reputable Jailbreak website, Redmond Pie. Do note that this jailbreak only works on iPhone 4 / 3GS, iPod touch 4, iPad 1, so don't try this on your iPhone 4S and iPad 2!
Here's the video tutorial.
If you want to read the text, please go to the website below.
But before you start jailbreaking your iPhone, do read my earlier article, Technology: iPhone 4 Failed-Downgrade Rescue Tutorial (without SHSH) and learn how to back up your SHSH blob, just in case.
I went to Taipei for holidays for the first time and it was really fun! First thing I like about going to Taiwan is the duration of the flight. It took only 1.5 hours on a small plane, and 1 hour 15 minutes on a large one! Amazingly quick! I love it!
This is also the first time my Canon 7D-cum-24-105mm f/4.0-5.6 L is travelling with me, so this trip is a real test for its performance. And it turns out that my new camera has not disappointed me. In fact, it performed so well that I actually think my photography skills have improved with the familiarity of this camera.
Image from Locky's English Playground
My first impression of Taipei is that the Taoyuan airport isn't big and it looks pretty old, definitely nothing like the one in Hong Kong; the streets look very much like mainland China; the MRT (train systems) stations have a design which look almost exactly like those in Singapore, kept giving me a deja vu every time I took the trains; cars and motorbikes use low quality petrol or non-catalytic exhaust pipes which stink the place every time a vehicle drives past, despite these, there are many things very charming about Taipei.
Stone at the entrance
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Number 1, it is the scenery at the Hot Spring Valley of Beitou.
First glimpse of the Hot Spring Valley
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As an island on the Pacific Ring of Fire, it is reasonable to have real hot springs across the entire Taiwan, and thus, the spectacular rush of continuous steam and sulphurous gases from the hot spring.
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The hot spring water flows down from the mountain across the entire hot spring hotels region as shown in the photo below.
Hot spring stream
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Hot steam
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Hot steam and gases rushes through every openings of the sewage! Remarkable!
Hot spring signs
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A taste of the Japanese culture can be seen easily from the colonial architectural elements, such as the hot spring symbol above on a bridge across the stream.
Stream of hot spring
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Simplistic design of lamp covers
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Model of an artist's lodge
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There is no reason to be bored as there are museums, a library and parks for you to spend good relaxing time learning the history of Beitou and immerse yourself into the quietness of the natural environment.
Beitou Hot Spring Musuem
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Abandoned hot spring inside the Hot Spring Museum
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Do note that the museum closes at 5pm, but the library opens till late at night, so if you want to spend more time in the museum, you must not do your shopping first.
Green Natural environment
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It was really a great idea to spend the first day of the trip, what's more, the hot spring hotel has a hot comfy hot spring bath waiting for me.
Mites? Bye bye!
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Vocabulary:
deja vu -- (n)[U] the strange feeling that in some way you have experienced already what is happening now
Pacific Ring of Fire -- (n) [U]is an area where large numbers of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean.
sulphurous -- (adj) from sulphur a pale yellow element which exists in various physical forms. It burns with a blue flame and a strong smell and is used in medicine and industry.
sewage -- (n) [U] the system of carrying away waste water and human waste from houses and other buildings through large underground pipes or passages
remarkable -- (adj) unusual or special and therefore surprising and worth mentioning
immerse -- (vb) [R]to become completely involved in something
Christmas is drawing near and everyone is starting to get into their long-waited holiday mood (if not already in this mood since the beginning of December). However, let's not get too lazy before the holidays actually begin, why not learn some vocabulary about Christmas so that you can use them when you are shopping?
Then you should read on in this article for some more festive objects and their history! Would be kind of fun sharing them with your friends.
Christmas Food
Actually, different countries have very different Christmas food [1]. Christmas turkey maybe the most recognised and Mr. Bean's favourite but it is still not the ultimate food eaten in Christmas. In fact, for countries which do celebrate Christmas, I think only one thing is universal, and that is chocolate! But cakes and barbecue meat are not to be forgotten.
One of the words which comes out no matter in Christmas or not, Gingerbread is a wide-known festive food, an animation character and a version of the Android OS. Not to mention that it is also one of my favourite cute objects.
According to Wikipedia,
"Gingerbread dates back to the 15th century, and figural biscuit-making was practiced in the 16th century.[1] The first documented instance of figure-shaped gingerbread biscuits appearing was in the court of Elizabeth I of England. She had the gingerbread figures made and presented in the likeness of some of her important guests.[2]"
And according to the Guiness Book of Records,
"the world’s largest gingerbread man was made on December 2, 2006 by the Smithville Area Chamber of Commerce in Smithville, Texas, United States at their annual Festival of Lights celebration. The gingerbread man weighed in at 1,308 lbs, 8 oz,[3] and stood at over 20 feet.
How does it look like?
The world's largest gingerbread man cooked over an open fire Dec. 1 2006 in Smithville, Texas, USA
Image from franlan.com
Candy cane originated in Germany in 1670s and it was first made to keep the children from making noises when the choir is practising. it was made into a stick to remind the children of the shepherds who paid visits to baby Jesus [2].
It is also one of the sweet food I dislike but I really don't know why.
The drink for Christmas, apple cider is the most original, most natural seasonal drink, foggy brown in colour made from fresh apples, untreated and unfiltered. "Hot apple cider" or "mulled cider" is made after heating with cinnamon, orange peel, nutmeg, cloves or other spices[3], depending on personal preferences.
One of my favourite cakes when I am exceptionally hungry, the Christstollen is said to be a German cake made from orange and lemon peels, raisins, dried fruits, nuts, rum and cinnamon. The English version is called Christmas cake and the difference is the use of icing sugar on the cake top (they love icing on everything basically).
According to Wikipedia, Stollen was baked for the first time as Christmas pastry at the Saxon Royal Court in 1427 and was made with flour, yeast, oil and water [4].
Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, chicken, pork, beef, mutton, fruits, etc. Basically, anything! Depends on what you prefer, mince pie is one presentable yet easy to make Christmas food. My favourite? Apple pie!
The history of the mince pie traces back to the 11th to the 13th Century at the time of the Crusades [5] [6].
Alright, that's all for today!
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