Shock of the Day: Food is Home

I am currently chatting with a friend in Thailand and I made a realization that the concept of home has changed for me now that we are moving all over the place.  We'll it's more like my concept of home has evolved over the years.

I indefinitely consider Hawaii home.  It's where I grew up and lived most of my life.  My family is there and I've got a lot of memories invested in that place.

What has changed is it seems that now a days, especially since I'm moving more often and not making a firm home base as I did in Hawaii, I may have added a new criteria to the list.

FOOD (and drinks)!

Good food that make me feel at home.

Yes, I am now using a food as a way to feel anchored to my location.  It sounds weird but it's true.  At the rate that we are going at traveling and seeing new things, I won't have a new home home for a while and that fine.  I've now found that food is my way to connect myself to a place because it's as close to a feeling of home as I'll get on my fleeting visits or stay.

My first ever Flat White in Western Samoa in an Italian Restaurant of all places!
Best Flat white so far but whenever I drink it (now available at Starbucks) it takes me back to Samoa.

I guess you can say it all started with basing a good trip on the best food we can find in the region, but now it's come to the point where I miss food just as I would miss my home.  I get HOME SICK for food.  I can care less about the place as I've enjoyed my visiting and seeing new sites but food and drinks are where it's at!

YES, of course, meeting great people and seeing beautiful scenery is great but that in itself is an added bonus on top of the food.  I know it sounds a bit fucked up, me putting food over more tangible things like people and actual places but hear me out.

I miss people and associations and I also miss and yearn for those good times that we've had with them more than anything.  In fact, I still pine over my times with friends and family in Hawaii, Thailand, Japan and California even.  My separation from those people were really tough but I think once I left Thailand the first time, I may have mentally prepared myself for not coming back in a way I never did before.

Yes, I knew I wasn't going back to my other homes, but my leaving for Taiwan was different.  I knew I was leaving Taiwan in two months and then going back to Thailand for a week before heading for China.  That may have steeled me from getting too attached to people and places as I've done in the past.

Don't get me wrong, I made some really great friends there but in the back of my mind, I always knew I would leave so I lived more in the moment there than I did in most other places before hand because of that very finite end in sight.  Hence, why I've invested more into food and less into everything else.

I think that's why I really honed in on my need for food as not just a emotional crutch -which it really is - but also a thing to keep me grounded in my lofty state of carpe diem as I flit around like a butterfly moving from place to place.  My attachment to the places and people were just as fleeting as my attachment to the food but while I had it, I'm totally committed.

Doesn't this look amazing? Taiwan's famous Manguo Bing!  It tastes as good as it looks.

Once it was gone, it was gone.

Maybe I associate food as comfort and a way to feel safe and just....GOOD.

I really don't know, honestly!

Back to the ranch...

Maybe it's also because I can associate good food with great memories as well.  The cake below is my absolute favorite for it's subtle flavors and overall scrumptiousness but....it may also be well loved because it was also the cake I chose to be my wedding cake.

Almond Teres Cake at my favorite baker in Hilo Hawaii (BI) at Moonstruck Patisserie

I just know that when I'm in Hawaii, I want good poke, kalua pig and go to my favorite Hilo dives to make me happy.  These foods reminds me of home and familiarity and brings me to my happy place.


I know that if I am in Thailand, I want to go to Salaya in Nakhon Pathom and eat at "Crazy Bird" - We named it that because I have NO IDEA what to call it and have my Tom Kha, Prikang, and Gai Pet Met Mamuang (I can't spell Thai stuff) and then go around the corner, get Cha Yen or Nam Manaow to drink or even eat Kao Soi Gai.  I love getting my fresh fruits and Mango with Jim Nam and oh, Muslim chicken.  These foods remind me of our time living in Thailand and how all I had to do was walk across the street from my old home to get great food and around the block to get everything else I'm hankering for.

Cooling off with Malaysia's version of shaved ice, Cendol

Unagi in Hiroshima or Miyajima Island on a nice rainy day

If I'm in Japan, I need to eat Matcha ANYTHING but I also want to eat Shabu Shabu, I love their bento boxes - don't judge me but I find bentos from the grocery store to be the best!  Buying sweets and getting just about anything from vending machines - I mainly LOVE cold season because then you can get hot cocoa in a can from vending machines.  Don't get me started on all-you-can-eat/drink buffets over there because the food is VERY good (nomi houdai and tabe houdai)!  These food remind me of the great time I've had in Japan and I can always aesthetically appreciate the presentation as well as the great taste.

When I'm in Taiwan, I want to eat Mango Bing, Niu Rou Mian, and drink Zhen Jiu Nai Cha and many other great street food delicacies at the night market.  I just think about the batered deep fried mushrooms, jipai, bacon wrapped grilled cheese, nai cha and so many more good foods!

Now here in China, I am associating Niu Rou Mian and Chou Doufu and Rou Jia Mo with Shaoxing.

I can be home everywhere and when I eat good food I can feel at home because it's like a security blanket.

The Golden Rule I did learn though, was not to eat a country's cuisine in another country.  If that Thai food isn't from Thailand (or in my case from a specific eatery within BKK) don't expect it to taste perfect because you'll most likely be disappointed.

It will NEVER be the SAME!

You're just setting yourself up for failure because you were jonesing for that perfect Prikang, well, save it for when you go back for a visit.  If you find something that is exact, you're VERY fortunate but honestly, the best way to feel at home in these new places is to find what food is their specialty and eat at that location.  It makes it a lot easier to transition to the new place you are visiting or living in by giving you something you can look forward to or rely on.

So instead of wishing to revisit that same exact experience, how about try something new until the next time you can say hello to that 'old friend' again in the future.

I promise it makes the wait that much more bearable. 

Shock of the Day

This is for yesterday, June 27, Day One

Well, it's not surprise that lugging around heave luggage is more than cumbersome.  What I didn't anticipate was the fact that I wouldn't have a place to put them.  My suitcase and backpack are substantially big and I was hoping to do as we did in Japan - place it in a locker for a day and forget about it.  

Well, it didn't quite work out that way and I was hauling all my crap with me everywhere I went.  I still hate looking extremely out of place, i.e. walking into a mall with huge bags that weigh a ton!  

....So, I didn't.

I had 3-4 hours to kill at me meeting point with my couch surfers and I stayed there and just waited.  It brought me back to the time when I was CSing in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and I had to do the same thing only...all day long.  That wait back then was brutal but I didn't mind.  I did a lot of people watching and sat waiting for my host.  This time around was a piece of cake and I also had my computer but didn't really use it.  

I met my host and then they were nice enough to drive me back to their place and we chatted, ate and I walked around trying Chinese Pancake - I can't remember how to say it - but it was delicious!  I need to start taking pictures of these things.

Shock of the day:  Taiwan is like Japan...only with Mandarin and Taiwanese language :P

It's immaculate and orderly and clean.

OH!  And they drive on the same side of the road as we do in the US.  Everything is so orderly and nice that even I - I don't enjoy driving like I used to - would feel comfortable jumping in a car and driving.  Hooray!

Had a great time see new things and meeting my hosts.  I stay with them again this evening and then head to Tainan.  

I'll keep you posted!

Preparing for Two Months of Exchange in Taiwan

I'll be leaving for Taiwan on Monday and it's funny, even though it's only two months, I'm more nervous about this temporary displacement when compared to my first international move from US to Thailand and even my upcoming move from Thailand to China.

Granted there are a few uncertainties with this move, finance - not having income or a job for the time being, so I have to budget well - new setting, new language and new set of friends to make on my own.

Probably the aspect of being on my own for the first time in a long time with out a network of people I've never met is a bit daunting but I guess it will be the first time since I was on my own in 2007-08 when I was in Japan.

I'm also preparing to move out of the apartment since we will be staying with friends when we move from Thailand to China so packing has also become a purge of sorts.  Luckily we live in a tiny apartment and I've only been here 6 months so I haven't really had the chance to really hoard many things.

Thailand's cost of living is rather cheap, and apparently so is Taiwan but seeing as I don't have any steady income, I'll have to budget and really plan out the next two months.  Maybe I'll be fine after the first week, but I'll be curious to see if I'm still pretty nervous about the situation or not after that point.

I do look forward to seeing a new country and location but at the moment, it's not at the forefront of my mind and once I get over the initial shock of being on my own (sorta), I'll should be fine.

For the time being, I will try and do what I did during my last trip of posting shocks of the day in Taiwan because I realize it's a great gauge on my own expectations as well as how my view of living and culture around me may change over time.

Until next week when I post my first shock of the day, I'll be posting from Taipei and hosted by a couch surfer.

See ya then!

Going to Taiwan for Two Months!

This an update brought to you by my recent purchase for a ticket to Taiwan!  WooHoo!

While it'll be all fun and games and hobnobbing while I'm there, I do have a purpose of going to Taiwan so suddenly.

One, I was chosen to be recipient of the TUSA or Taiwan-United States Sister Relations alliance (TUSA) Summer Scholarship Program 2016 (Wow, that's a mouthful).  National Cheng Kung University will be hosting us during this time and our classes, private tutors, excursions and home stay experiences will all be covered by the scholarship.  

Mission Statement:
“Promote peace in the world by creating closer friendships and understanding between the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan.”

The other main purpose of this program is Chinese language intensive studies and Taiwanese cultural education.  There are supposed to be a variety of electives that we may choose from to enhance our experience but I'm not quite sure what they are.

I'll be doing this summer program from June 30 - August 24 so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping I can pick up the language much better when immersed in it.  

One thing I'm encountering when trying to learn Chinese is since my brain is so familiar with Japanese, the similarities I find between the two languages are throwing me off, especially the written portion.  Both the simplified writing as well as the meanings can be slightly different but that small change is to confuse me. 

I think one of the things I'm going to do while I'm here learning is keep a blog as I did of my travels about the things I learn during my trip to Chiang Mai and Krabi.  It'll help keep me writing as well as reflect on my experiences in a new location.

I'm nervous about what I need to bring and not bring but mainly it all pertains to my budget.  Cost of living in Taiwan looks to be comparable to where I'm at now so I'm trying to see if I can plan out my budget as I'll have limited funds to make this work.

I'll have fun no matter what though.