Ju Ming museum + even more food
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 08:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterRandom things about Taiwan:
In other news, after discovering Nan Kongyuu, my manhua-reading hasn't been going very well. I read a one shot by Wang Yi Something, which seemed to be a nice, quiet shoujo piece on a grumpy, solitary painter and a politician, and I was enjoying the grumpiness of the heroine, which seemed genuine. Then I stopped reading when the evil fiancee started acting evil (boo random misogyny!) and flipped to the end to see if anything had happened.
Turns out, the painter boards a plane to her painting school, and the two stare longingly into space, presumably at each other. Then, the plane explodes! She dies thinking how wonderful it was to have known him, and he muses on her as the love of his life.
The end.
On a less randomly depressing and WTF-ish note, I have a huge batch of picture spam this time! Amazingly, not all of them are of food, as we went to visit a museum on Sunday.
Trees around my house.
Fish! Cleaned in preparation for steaming.
Two kinds of peas with chicken. The bottom dish is super time-consuming to make; it's a type of chicken called "ji rong," in which you basically scrape chicken breasts until it forms a paste, mix it with egg white, and then pour it in like egg drops.
Charsui! Not red like the ones in the stores because we didn't use much food coloring.
Still, it was incredibly tasty when we had it. I think I will try making this at home.
Steamed egg...
... with soup poured on top. You then spoon bits of the steamed egg underneath. The teacher said it's her family's variation on egg drop soup, because her family always wanted more egg.
Steamed fish! Alas, it steamed a little too long, so the bottom was a bit mealy.
Chinese zhajiangmien! It looks so different from Korean jjajangmyeon. But I think I can make the sauce now, provided I can find the ingredients, and this may end up as another cooking staple.
Dog sitting funnily.
The past three weeks' worth of calligraphy. The bottom two sheets are me trying a slightly different, thicker style, though it is hard!
A little cafe up in the mountains.
View of the mountains. It's been raining almost every single day here, as you can probably tell from the ominous clouds.
More ominous clouds, with bonus view of dried-up creek below!
The outside of the cute cafe.
Trees hung with wishes!
More wishes on trees. I think my favorite was one saying, "I get to work with TSMC [big Taiwan company]! Please don't let them fire me!"
A giant butterfly.
Hee, the sign reads "Go slowly so spirits can follow you."
Fancy Dinner #2! This time, Japanese food.
Uni on top of yamaimo. Um. It tasted a lot better once I mixed in soy sauce. I am sure gourmets are now turning over in their graves.
Sashimi, whoo!
Tasty broiled fish.
OMG giant tiger prawn cooked with some buttery, cheesy something on top. SO GOOD. Tasted a lot like lobster, but more tender.
Beef and mushroom on a stick!
A light clam soup. It would have been much tastier had I not been completely stuffed.
Not that being completed stuffed stopped me from eating dessert, which was mango with some kind of jelly and a little cobbler thing with berries and Asian pear.
And the fancy restaurant version of the Japanese pancake snack!
Sadly, the picture I tried to take before this was of a giant crab attempting to escape the tank, which was much funnier. But anyway! Giant crab, looking somewhat menacing! (At least until you eat it.)
On Sunday, we went to visit the Ju Ming Museum. Ju Ming is a Taiwanese sculptor who's most known for his giant tai chi sculptures. It was incredibly hot and muggy that day, though thankfully there were enough air-conditioned stops so I didn't keel over. The parachuting people are from his Living World series, which largely seem to be brightly painted sculptures of people.
More ominous clouds. It began to pour as soon as we finished walking around and had entered the gift shop, so though we had to endure the horrible press of moisture right before the rain, we at least didn't have to walk through it.
More parachuting people.
Ju Ming apparently did a big series on the military, which I am not sure how I feel about.
From the distance, you can see tons and tons of graves and a Buddhist temple (and still more ominous clouds).
The little cafe we stopped at for an air-conditioning break had cute tai-chi-statue-shaped butter cookies. They were pretty tasty too.
And then, the sole of my dad's shoe fell off!
The view from the cafe to the main museum. Underneath the curving windows is room for another exhibition.
The view of the valley below.
The valley below, only with more houses in sight. I am not actually sure where we are, but it's about half an hour to an hour from Taipei.
One of the larger pieces of work. All the people are life-sized, so the boat structure is towering.
Another view of the boat.
Me!
Still more parachutes. The sky was very beautiful if you didn't think about a) ominous clouds or b) horrible humidity.
My mom, not realizing she had become part of the sculpture while talking to someone.
More of the Living World series (you all know I took the picture because it was pink, right?).
The back of a fairly famous carving of an ox.
I like how you turn around, and suddenly, the chunk of wood is people and a cart and loads of lumber.
Living World series again.
A sculpture by Yang Yuyu, one of Ju Ming's mentor's. I think the title of the piece was "Phoenix Ascending."
Outside the museum, a row of ballet sculptures.
The outside of the museum, which is very shiny and metallic.
The sign is so not Engrish, as it translates the Chinese perfectly. And yet! Why in the world would people wearing raincoats need to use the elevator?
The outside of the museum again.
Fake birds on the lamppost! Truly, I am easily amused.
A view of the bridge leading to the museum while we walk toward the second exhibition hall.
The special exhibition was hosting an exhibition called "Something to Wear" by Rosa Ruey (an ABC from NY). The piece is supposed to be on clothes and toys and disposable art and all those things that I like, and I loved the exhibition, even though it was pretty small. You can wander around and wear some of the clothes she's made, everything is touchable, and some things can be wheeled around. I love the colors and the space and how tactile everything is. Also, the ambient music was sugar pop instrumentals with video game beeping noises.
More of the Rosa Ruey exhibit! I tried on the funny coat with the straight-jacket-esque sleeves. Turns out you can jump rope with the sleeves! Possibly I am too excited about this, but hey! I like museum pieces and art that you can play with!
A piece dedicated to benevolent mothers.
And then... DUCKS! Whoo!
Black swans as well. And yes, I was totally thinking about Ahiru and Rue the entire time we were by the lake.
More duck! Alas, we were trying to hurry back to the gift shop, as the ominous clouds were growing darker and more ominous, or else I would have tried to feed the ducks tasty bread.
I thought this one was a statue because it didn't move until I was only about a foot away.
These swans, sadly, are fake.
Happy and colorful random frog mural! And Mexican wrestler. But more importantly: FROG!
I saw some people painting new murals.
I love how the cats are escaping from the mural. They look very fat and happy.
The last of the water lilies... all the others had turned into pods.
And while we were wandering around the gift shop waiting for the rain to stop, I saw a wee frog about the size of dollar coin hopping around. I let it out the door because it seemed to be very confused (also, I think my flash scared it).
- I am grateful beyond expression that most bathrooms in Taiwan now come with toilet paper. Some even come with toilet seat covers! Still more amazing is the fact that people now seem to be sitting on the toilet seats as opposed to squatting on them and leaving the dirty marks of their shoes on the toilet seats.
- Continuing the theme of toilets, I went to a restaurant that has toilets that are smarter than me. They are the fancy Japanese toilets that are multifunctional, and though I have seen those before, these were different! As in, when you walked into the stall, the toilet lid would automatically open up for you.
- And one more: Din Tai Fung, my favorite Shanghai dumpling place and tourist trap extraordinaire (it's popular because it's GOOD!), is apparently appealing to its Japanese tourists by having the fancy Japanese toilet seats (albeit without automatic toilet lid opening) and the little thing that makes flushing noises when you press it so people won't hear you.
- Every time I think it cannot possibly get hotter or muggier, it does.
In other news, after discovering Nan Kongyuu, my manhua-reading hasn't been going very well. I read a one shot by Wang Yi Something, which seemed to be a nice, quiet shoujo piece on a grumpy, solitary painter and a politician, and I was enjoying the grumpiness of the heroine, which seemed genuine. Then I stopped reading when the evil fiancee started acting evil (boo random misogyny!) and flipped to the end to see if anything had happened.
Turns out, the painter boards a plane to her painting school, and the two stare longingly into space, presumably at each other. Then, the plane explodes! She dies thinking how wonderful it was to have known him, and he muses on her as the love of his life.
The end.
On a less randomly depressing and WTF-ish note, I have a huge batch of picture spam this time! Amazingly, not all of them are of food, as we went to visit a museum on Sunday.
Trees around my house.
Fish! Cleaned in preparation for steaming.
Two kinds of peas with chicken. The bottom dish is super time-consuming to make; it's a type of chicken called "ji rong," in which you basically scrape chicken breasts until it forms a paste, mix it with egg white, and then pour it in like egg drops.
Charsui! Not red like the ones in the stores because we didn't use much food coloring.
Still, it was incredibly tasty when we had it. I think I will try making this at home.
Steamed egg...
... with soup poured on top. You then spoon bits of the steamed egg underneath. The teacher said it's her family's variation on egg drop soup, because her family always wanted more egg.
Steamed fish! Alas, it steamed a little too long, so the bottom was a bit mealy.
Chinese zhajiangmien! It looks so different from Korean jjajangmyeon. But I think I can make the sauce now, provided I can find the ingredients, and this may end up as another cooking staple.
Dog sitting funnily.
The past three weeks' worth of calligraphy. The bottom two sheets are me trying a slightly different, thicker style, though it is hard!
A little cafe up in the mountains.
View of the mountains. It's been raining almost every single day here, as you can probably tell from the ominous clouds.
More ominous clouds, with bonus view of dried-up creek below!
The outside of the cute cafe.
Trees hung with wishes!
More wishes on trees. I think my favorite was one saying, "I get to work with TSMC [big Taiwan company]! Please don't let them fire me!"
A giant butterfly.
Hee, the sign reads "Go slowly so spirits can follow you."
Fancy Dinner #2! This time, Japanese food.
Uni on top of yamaimo. Um. It tasted a lot better once I mixed in soy sauce. I am sure gourmets are now turning over in their graves.
Sashimi, whoo!
Tasty broiled fish.
OMG giant tiger prawn cooked with some buttery, cheesy something on top. SO GOOD. Tasted a lot like lobster, but more tender.
Beef and mushroom on a stick!
A light clam soup. It would have been much tastier had I not been completely stuffed.
Not that being completed stuffed stopped me from eating dessert, which was mango with some kind of jelly and a little cobbler thing with berries and Asian pear.
And the fancy restaurant version of the Japanese pancake snack!
Sadly, the picture I tried to take before this was of a giant crab attempting to escape the tank, which was much funnier. But anyway! Giant crab, looking somewhat menacing! (At least until you eat it.)
On Sunday, we went to visit the Ju Ming Museum. Ju Ming is a Taiwanese sculptor who's most known for his giant tai chi sculptures. It was incredibly hot and muggy that day, though thankfully there were enough air-conditioned stops so I didn't keel over. The parachuting people are from his Living World series, which largely seem to be brightly painted sculptures of people.
More ominous clouds. It began to pour as soon as we finished walking around and had entered the gift shop, so though we had to endure the horrible press of moisture right before the rain, we at least didn't have to walk through it.
More parachuting people.
Ju Ming apparently did a big series on the military, which I am not sure how I feel about.
From the distance, you can see tons and tons of graves and a Buddhist temple (and still more ominous clouds).
The little cafe we stopped at for an air-conditioning break had cute tai-chi-statue-shaped butter cookies. They were pretty tasty too.
And then, the sole of my dad's shoe fell off!
The view from the cafe to the main museum. Underneath the curving windows is room for another exhibition.
The view of the valley below.
The valley below, only with more houses in sight. I am not actually sure where we are, but it's about half an hour to an hour from Taipei.
One of the larger pieces of work. All the people are life-sized, so the boat structure is towering.
Another view of the boat.
Me!
Still more parachutes. The sky was very beautiful if you didn't think about a) ominous clouds or b) horrible humidity.
My mom, not realizing she had become part of the sculpture while talking to someone.
More of the Living World series (you all know I took the picture because it was pink, right?).
The back of a fairly famous carving of an ox.
I like how you turn around, and suddenly, the chunk of wood is people and a cart and loads of lumber.
Living World series again.
A sculpture by Yang Yuyu, one of Ju Ming's mentor's. I think the title of the piece was "Phoenix Ascending."
Outside the museum, a row of ballet sculptures.
The outside of the museum, which is very shiny and metallic.
The sign is so not Engrish, as it translates the Chinese perfectly. And yet! Why in the world would people wearing raincoats need to use the elevator?
The outside of the museum again.
Fake birds on the lamppost! Truly, I am easily amused.
A view of the bridge leading to the museum while we walk toward the second exhibition hall.
The special exhibition was hosting an exhibition called "Something to Wear" by Rosa Ruey (an ABC from NY). The piece is supposed to be on clothes and toys and disposable art and all those things that I like, and I loved the exhibition, even though it was pretty small. You can wander around and wear some of the clothes she's made, everything is touchable, and some things can be wheeled around. I love the colors and the space and how tactile everything is. Also, the ambient music was sugar pop instrumentals with video game beeping noises.
More of the Rosa Ruey exhibit! I tried on the funny coat with the straight-jacket-esque sleeves. Turns out you can jump rope with the sleeves! Possibly I am too excited about this, but hey! I like museum pieces and art that you can play with!
A piece dedicated to benevolent mothers.
And then... DUCKS! Whoo!
Black swans as well. And yes, I was totally thinking about Ahiru and Rue the entire time we were by the lake.
More duck! Alas, we were trying to hurry back to the gift shop, as the ominous clouds were growing darker and more ominous, or else I would have tried to feed the ducks tasty bread.
I thought this one was a statue because it didn't move until I was only about a foot away.
These swans, sadly, are fake.
Happy and colorful random frog mural! And Mexican wrestler. But more importantly: FROG!
I saw some people painting new murals.
I love how the cats are escaping from the mural. They look very fat and happy.
The last of the water lilies... all the others had turned into pods.
And while we were wandering around the gift shop waiting for the rain to stop, I saw a wee frog about the size of dollar coin hopping around. I let it out the door because it seemed to be very confused (also, I think my flash scared it).
Tags:
(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 04:32 pm (UTC)Cool people sculptures!
Ji rong looks very yummy.
(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 04:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 09:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 04:50 pm (UTC)Damn you. :P
(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 05:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 05:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 05:17 pm (UTC)A piece dedicated to benevolent mothers.
For some reason that made me laugh most of all.
(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:10 pm (UTC)Possibly because you could hear my sarcastic commentary in your head ;).
(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 05:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 05:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 05:41 pm (UTC)My parents have a fancy toilet in the one of the bathrooms of their apartment in Korea. The number of buttons on it intimidates me and I refuse to use it.
(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:11 pm (UTC)Found the char sui recipe and will post!
(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 06:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 06:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 07:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Wed, Jul. 9th, 2008 09:17 pm (UTC)You know me...just something weird and fun.
(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 07:38 pm (UTC)So, wait, I have heard of this before in other cultures but I think the person who told me about it fundamentally misunderstood what was going on. It's probably not a cultural/religious thing against feet touching the floor, it's probably that people from more rural areas are used to squatting over an opening, and sitting down is not only weird but possibly sort of uncomfortable physically. Is that more what you'd think?
(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 07:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Wed, Jul. 2nd, 2008 06:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:15 pm (UTC)... one of my (white) coworkers actually said that about Indian people as well and I rolled my eyes at him and was like, "Dude, if you have been near toilets that aren't cleaned that often, you would want to squat over them too."
(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 10:37 pm (UTC)Aha! That makes sense. I was going for "vaguely art-deco-y Texas," which didn't seem very likely.
(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 30th, 2008 11:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Jul. 1st, 2008 12:37 am (UTC)---L.
(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Tue, Jul. 1st, 2008 04:11 pm (UTC)This sounds like a version of the noxiously cute "do not drive faster than your guardian angel can fly" bumper sticker here. (Also, hello, insulting to angels, who are traditionally pretty awesome.)
Love: all the sculptures, fat kitties, tai-chi-statue cookies! And eating a fish I've only seen on coral reefs.
I will think about you in hot, muggy Taiwan as I go to another hideous day of baking in my no-AC lab. Hopefully this will help rather than causing me to faint outright.
(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:17 pm (UTC)Hee!
And eating a fish I've only seen on coral reefs.
Oh really? That is so cool!
(no subject)
Wed, Jul. 2nd, 2008 05:19 am (UTC)I must have been using all the wrong bathrooms. :-) I quickly learned to toss a packet of tissues into my purse anytime I had to go out.
(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:18 pm (UTC)But yeah, I used to have a habit of taking the ads people handed out on the streets since they came in the little tissue packets.
(no subject)
Wed, Jul. 2nd, 2008 06:39 pm (UTC)Why in the world would people wearing raincoats need to use the elevator?
I'd guess the idea is that people wearing raincoats would drip and make the stairs slippery.
(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:19 pm (UTC)Ohhhh! That makes sense.
(no subject)
Thu, Jul. 3rd, 2008 09:45 am (UTC)Have a great rest of your visit!
(no subject)
Sat, Jul. 5th, 2008 04:20 pm (UTC)... although actually, if my shower were smarter than me, that might be sort of nice.