New Year in Taiwan

     Chinese New Year is the largest and most important annual festival in Taiwan. Also known as the Spring Festival, Chinese Lunar New Year and Lunar New Year, it is based on the Chinese lunar calendar, begins on the first day of the first month and ends with Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month. Before the New Year, families should complete their house cleaning, which signifies the sweeping away of the misfortunes of the previous year.

On Chinese New Year's Eve, every family will prepare the delicious food or go to the restaurant for dinner. The typical food are fish, mullet roe (fish eggs), rice cake, dumplings and spring rolls. Every member of the family should participate in the dinner and start only when all the family members are present at the table, which means reunion. In addition, we spend our days on family visits, and join the myriad of events and celebrations across different cities during the Chinese New Year period. My family usually go to Kaohsiung to visit friends and eat local traditional food every year.

As most of the shops will be closed during some days of the Chinese New Year period, Chinese New Year markets are great places in Taiwan to prepare for your Chinese New Year feast and prepare presents for your family and friends. Presents could be anything and depend on what you want to give. There are many kinds of stuff in the New Year market, including New Year couplets, candies and mullet roe etc. And even though we don't need to buy anything, some people go there to enjoy the New Year atmosphere.

These are the Chinese New Year red envelopes. These are one of the favorite Chinese traditions for children on New Year's Day. They are given with money inside. Who gives and how much depends on the personal relationship and the age of the children. My parents always give us after Chinese New Year's Eve. When we start working, the children give to their parents. You should avoid odd amounts and a ''4''. Odd amounts and 4 is the ''bad luck'' number for Taiwanese and Chinese as the pronouncing resembles death. ''8'' is of course the lucky number that means getting rich. The red color of the envelope symbolizes good luck and to ward off evil.

This is one of the important festivals in my country Taiwan. It is a meaningful and happy festival. I hope you can enjoy the photos and come to Taiwan to enjoy the traditional culture one day.                 

hidden gem-Krispy Kreme

   My second blog I want to introduce you about my hidden gem-Krispy Kreme. Krispy Kreme is a doughnut company. They opened their door on July 13, 1997. I chose Krispy Kreme as the hidden gem because I think although it is an American chain, not everyone knows about it. They also have some interesting stories. I hope you can enjoy these photos.



The first photo is the first store  in Winston-Salem, NC. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. is an American global doughnut company and coffeehouse chain. Krispy Kreme founder Vernon Rudolph bought a secret yeast-raised doughnut recipe from a New Orleans French chef, rented a building in what is now historic Old Salem in Winston-Salem, NC,  and began selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts to local grocery stores.

This photo was taken in last two weeks in South Downtown. They have the transparent window which you can see the entire automatic process and understand how doughnuts are made. I was impressed by their process-the doughnut making, frying, glazing and the packing parts of the process.

doughnut process












This photo shows lots of doughnuts. Because of the Halloween, they offer some limited edition doughnuts. They have pumpkin spice doughnuts and different shapes for Halloween. In my country we also have some limited edition for some festivals. On October 31, they also have some trick or treat doughnuts for children. They dare you to ‘taste your fate’ when you bite into the doughnut all will be revealed if you have been tricked with a fizzy lime filling or treated with a chocolate truffle filling.

This is Krispy Kreme's sign. If the sign light, the doughnuts are hot off the line. I wish the hot and ready sign would be lit more often. Warm doughnuts are the best. If you get the hot doughnut, it melts in your mouth. In fact, Krispy Kreme doughnuts are super sweet. For me, if Krispy Kreme doughnuts are not hot , I do not like them at all. I usually put them in the microwave to heat and eat with a cup of black coffee. 



The last photo is of the fundraising. Krispy Kreme has supported charities and played an active role in the local community for a long time. They have helped schools, churches and other organizations raise over $27 million through this fundraising program. I think it would be a meaningful program. We can help people who need help from a simple way.

These photos provide few introductions about Krispy Kreme. I hope you can understand more about my hidden gem through these photos. You can try to visit and taste hot fresh doughnuts.

Introduction

In this first blog post. I will share five photos with you. These photos describe the places, people, food and things that represent me. I hope you enjoy these photos and my stories.



The first photo is a picture of my homeland - Taiwan. It is shaped like a leaf that is narrow at both ends. My hometown Taichung is located at the heart and center of Taiwan. Taichung is known for some of the biggest and most delicious night markets.






This next photo is the Feng Chia night market in Taichung. Feng Chia night market originated as a small market around Feng Chia University, and became increasingly popular after the freeway system was built and nearby Taichung airport was renovated. Not only is food served in the night market, but also a lot of products are sold. You can buy many inexpensive, high quality products, such as clothing, shoes and accessories. You can eat delicious Taiwanese snacks and find marvels everywhere.






This photo is the Korean drama that I am watching now. It is the romance story between a mystery writer and a psychiatrist. The main actor suffers from a obsession ; the main actress is going through her first year fellowship in psychiatry at a University Hospital.. After she meets the hero, her life goes through big changes. They end up becoming married couple and things turn romantic. The heroine is one of my favorite actress.








This is a photo of my housemate and host mother. My housemate Karen is an exchange student from Japan. While my host mother is a retiree, she is also a volunteer of the church. We sometimes see a movie together on the weekend. This photo was shot last week before we saw a movie ''Silver Linings Playbook.''






The last photo is Taiwanese fried chicken.  Taiwanese fried chicken is seasoned with pepper and salt. It is one of the most popular snacks in Taiwan, It tastes like fried chicken, but it is smaller. I miss it so much.

These photos provide few stories about  me. But I hope you can learn a little bit more about me through these photos.