October

Another month has slipped away already, making it a total of 7 months that have rapidly flown by since I arrived in Taipei.

The coming of Canadian Thanksgiving gave me an excuse to celebrate and cook what has been the only western style meal I've prepared since my arrival in Taipei. My Thanksgiving feast was comprised of rosemary and oregano spiced broiled chicken legs, garlic-butter broccoli and coconut-cream mashed sweet potatoes all topped with home-made gravy. It was pretty good, if I may say so myself, but I'm sure it was nothing compared to the gourmet spread that my mother served at home. The standard seasonal pumpkin beer was unfortunately unavailable here. I was however treated to an 18% alc stout (the strongest beer I've had) which rounded off the holiday weekend nicely.

Thanksgiving was the first of three holidays that I celebrated during the month of October, the second being Taiwan National Day. Double 10 day as it is known here (falling on October 10th), the national holiday is celebrated with a large parade through the center of the city and a presidential address, all of which, I slept through as the holiday meant I had the day off work. Apart from the official government celebrations, the holiday is not widely celebrated. Taiwan's history and confusing political status have many wondering what they have to celebrate. The holiday commemorates the overthrowing of the Qing Dynasty and subsequent founding of the Republic of China, neither of which occurred in what is now referred to as Taiwan.
Nonetheless, I used my day-off to stroll around the flag adorned city.

A couple of weeks ago, a park very near to my house hosted a free concert for the Daniel Pearl Day of Music. Apparently, the free concerts are held around the world in memory of an American journalist who was killed in Pakistan. The absence of public drinking laws here meant the concert was a nice place to have a few cheap beers while listening to live music.

A highlight of my past month was claiming my receipt lottery winnings. The lottery draws take place every 2 months and all receipts here have a valid number. When I checked my numbers last month I was pleased to find that I had won $2600NT ($86CAD)! I didn't want to get my hopes too high until I claimed the cash just in-case I had somehow misread the numbers. I now have my winnings and I am eagerly awaiting the next lottery draw.

I recently chose to increase my experience with odd-foods. Unlaid eggs(eggs from inside a slaughtered chicken), are a fairly common nightmarket food here. The eggs, which just consist of yolks, tasted much like a normal egg but had a much chalkier texture that made it pretty gross to eat.

The third and most important holiday I celebrated in October was, of course, Halloween. I've always loved Halloween so I was anxious to see to what extent Halloween is celebrated here in Taiwan. Costumed party-goers filled most bars and nightclubs on this past Saturday night and I was among them. Dressed as a panda, I partied throughout the night. Not to have my Halloween Panda-monium limited to a single outing, I was out for another wild night on Wednesday. I had an excellent Halloween and I would have to say that Taiwan ranks pretty highly among the 5 countries in which I have now celebrated Halloween.

This weekend, my sister and her fiance will be coming to visit. I am really looking forward to seeing them and guiding them around this great city.

The following photos are from a religious procession near my apartment: