Ting pu tong in Qiazhong 12:02 PM

(I don't understand in Qiazhong)

One of the reasons why I love living in the area that we do is fresh shopping. We live in Qiazhong in Banqiao - it's a bit of a ghetto area - not as in dodgy - the Taiwanese don't really do dodgy. It's just old school and not very developed. So on a morning like today when there is a hint of sunshine in the sky I jump on the scooter and drive to the 7 eleven. It's a hundred meters from my house - but hey - I'm doing this Taiwanese style. So at the 7 eleven I fax my late internet payment, put money on my travelcard, put money on my phone and get a cappuccino.

I drive to the little market ( in a few seconds ) and there I buy fresh veg. Mmm what do I fancy today definitely some beansprouts. We need lettuce, an onion - oo oyster mushrooms yes please, a carrot and some tofu - soft tofu today please. That will be ebai san - 130 NT - R32 not bad. Then I stop next to the chicken and other knick knacks lady for 6 eggs - R8. I drive around the block - o jay, a nice a new drink station opened - they sell the best drinks here - from ginger and sweet potato milk tea to fresh granadilla juice with little jelly blobs inside.. next time.

I stop at my favorite omie for some garlic, coriander and some friendly exchanges that we both try to understand. Just one more stop for bread at the family mart - they have the darkest bread - well it wishes it was brown - it has a slight brown tinge to it - so we go there specially. That's it - ready to make some noodles - I bought some freshly made noodles before - no dry noodles - and we don't even say the word 'instant' in Qiazhong thank you very much. I zip home hoping that the internet is reconnected so that I can enjoy my coffee (that's currently hanging in a little bag on my scooter) in front of my favorite blogs.

My Da Dun Fine Arts Competition entry. 12:19 PM

It's a big competition - with 11 categories - big prize money, and foreigners are encouraged to enter. I've decided to draw a tea house. The theme of the competition is crossing cultures - what better way of doing this than over a cup of tea. Jiufen is the perfect place to gather needed inspiration and reference. I doodled the idea I had in mind, rounded up all materials needed - that in itself is a process - trying to mime brown gummed tape to stretch water color paper with is not that easy - and off I went.
I first did all the color work - traveling with the art board on my scooter - painting in different places, it's great! The tea house close to my house is my favorite spot with just enough going on around me that I can focus. The line work was the bit I enjoyed the most - and added that over the color. Off to the framers and sent off with the entry form. Fingers crossed.