Ugly and Adorable

 

Annabelle Tubbs III 

Jin Shan

 Japanese culture echoes through this mining area.

 Festive sakura greet the crystal blue sky.

 A steep walk to a Shinto shrine proves two things...

1. The Japanese are masters of using nature to their advantage.
2. My use of HDR is terrible and I regret that this is the only photo I took of these columns.

Delicious Organic Foods

Vibrant greens at my friend's place near Zhishan.

Adventures in Marmalade

 I picked off all half to mostly yellow fruits to make a big old batch of marmalade this time...

  
花了差不多兩小時去籽和榨汁；手指都開始因為裡面的酸度而刺痛了。
It took about two hours to juice and remove the seeds. My fingers were burning from the acidity.

因為用的是較生的金桔，所以煮出來的顏色比較深，但風味也比較好；味道更有獨特的酸的風味。
Because I used the greener oranges, the color was darker but the flavor was better. Much more tart and tangy.

Banqiao By Bicycle

新北市有類似UBike的腳踏車系統，顏色是好看的藍白相間。
New Taipei City has adopted their own U-Bike program with a more desirable blue on white scheme.

Walkways

忠孝東路在永春站附近的全景照。
A panorama of Zhongxiao E. Road near the Yongchun MRT Station.

Chinese New Year Day on Elephant Mountain

今天人很多，但天候很適合柔光攝影。
Tons of people today but the weather conditions were ideal for soft lighting photography.

一個學院的院子裡有個奇怪的騎著馬的雕像。
 A strange statue of a man on a horse in the courtyard of a school.

Butterflies and Moths

有些有顯著的對比色...
Some have striking contrast...

或細緻的蠟筆色配上細緻的翅膀
...or delicate pastels with equally delicate wings.

有些驕傲地以單色展現...
Some proudly represent one color...

有些炫耀他想像不到的美麗
 ...and some show off unimaginable beauty.

XinYi Lu

星期五的傍晚，信義路因著下班的人潮看著無限漫長。
XinYi Street seems to go on forever as commuters race home on a Friday evening.

Where am I?

隔離檢疫所和Gretel一同坐監的貓。這表情一臉的困惑並吶喊著"放我出去！"
A fellow cat in the quarantine room of the veterinary hospital. I would call this look a mix of confusion and "get me the hell out of here".

Tiamo Coffee

國父紀念館附近的提亞摩咖啡有平價卻高品質的咖啡。他們也有販售自製咖啡的設備，從生咖啡豆到特製水壺都有。
(菜單最上方的是美式咖啡，只要約一塊美金。)
Tiamo Coffee Shop near Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall has low prices for a high quality cup of coffee. They also sell DIY coffee equipment from roasting green coffee to specialty kettles.
(On top of the menu is an Americano for about $1 USD.)


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Abstraction

這杯咖啡不上不下的味道，讓液面的星空給掩飾了過去。
An astral display entertaining me as my mediocre coffee's flavors are suppressed.

Red Dragonfruit

晚餐後的紅色火龍果。味道清淡，小小的子咬下去的脆度卻讓人很滿足。
Red dragonfruit as an after-dinner snack. Mildly flavored but the little seeds have a satisfying snap. 

Forgiveness

我們的貓在動物醫院檢疫隔離。雖然她因為飛行過程受到驚嚇，又長時間因為隔壁間的狗狗們狂吠而緊張兮兮，我們去看她的時候她還是表現出對我們的愛和信任。
Our cat during her quarantine period in the veterinary hospital. Although she was understandably shaken from the flight and on edge from the dogs barking in the next room, she showed us that ultimately she still loved and trusted us.

Asparagus Juice

還不錯的飲料，尤其是想想他們費了多大的功夫才把蘆筍汁做成可口的果汁。如果你叫一個美國的小孩喝這蘆筍汁，我還真想看看他們的表情。
Not bad stuff...and a considerable effort has been made to make it more palatable as juice. I'd like to see the expression on an American child's face if you asked them to drink this, though.

The Amazing Fatty

我家的貓想騙人相信她會甚麼馬戲團的把戲(其實她只是躺在地上而已。)
Our cat trying to trick people into thinking she is capable of circus tricks. (She's lying on the floor.)

The Lantana

雖然馬纓丹在台灣很常見，我第一次看到這花的時候，還是覺得她是大自然的奇蹟。
尚未成熟的花像小蝴蝶一樣，吸引更多蝴蝶到來。
Though quite common in Taiwan, the first time I saw the lantana flower, I considered it a miracle of nature. The premature flowers represent tiny butterflies and may possibly aid in attracting them.

Sun Sets

又一稍縱即逝的機會，在大安區的巷弄中捕捉夕陽。
Another opportunity to snap a pic of the sun bursting through the alleyway in Daan district.

At the Fish Market

盆裡的魟上下擺動，對著路人發脾氣。
The sea ray at the edge of the tub was bobbing up and down and hissing at passersby.

Jam Session

第一次製作果醬，大成功！
First time ever making marmalade. Huge success!

Meet Your Meat

在亞洲，豬的每一個部位都是可以吃的。有些很柔軟，有些帶骨，但都很美味！
In Asia, every part of a pig is consumed. Some tender, some bony but all delicious!

Gray Area

規則就是拿來打破的！
Rules were made to be broken!

Strange Brew

星巴克的法式烘培豆到了本地的好市多看起來沒那麼新鮮，又好像被擠壓過了。
Starbucks French Roast looks old and pulverized by the time in reaches our Costco.

Rise and Shine

一大早的象山；或許沒有夜行的迷人，卻還是有它獨到之處。不管是上山還是下山的遊客都開心地道早安。
Elephant Mountain in the early morning. Not quite as charming as a night hike but special nonetheless. The travelers both up and down the trail were happy and eager to proclaim, "Good Morning" in English.

Thrift Store Finds

是時候辦個古早味的鬍子主題派對了！！
 I think it's time for a good old-fashioned Mustache Party!!

可以拿來演奏鐵達尼號主題曲的直笛。
A recorder for jamming out to the Titanic Soundtrack.

Granite Statues

佛寺花園裡的雕像。
Prayer statues in the Buddhist garden.

Yanming River

這條沿著陽明山順流而下的河充滿了鏽色。
The river flowing down Yanming Mountain was heavy with rust.

展開的樹蕨像是樹懶在伸懶腰。
Ferns unfurling to the sky look like a sloth doing a morning stretch.

The Active Side of Yanmingshan

 We started out in a small farming area.

當我們更接近火山活動較活躍的山區時，發現了硫磺石。有看到結晶嗎？
As we walked closer to the more active parts of the mountain, sulfuric rocks appeared. See the crystallization?

硫磺區蒸氣四起。
Steam rises from the sulfuric pit.

這區鳥類稀少；植物也掙扎著生存下去。
Birds in this area are few and vegetation struggled to grow in certain spots.

Sunday in Keelung