For lunch, I ended up heading to the school to use their computer lab. While I was there, I happened to meet one of my old school mates. I'm always so happy to go back at MTC. For now, most of my friends from MTC are still there. It's a happy environment for me. Everyone's out and about, happy to learn Chinese, discussing in their own language about where to eat for lunch/dinner, plans for the weekend or trying to solve a Chinese problem they had in class. I even still see my old teachers walking the halls too. And it puts a smile on my face that they instantly still remember me. After my business with in the computer lab, we headed to MaryJane Pizza. If I recall, I reviewed this place before. I have definitely ate there before though. Well..it's still the same. Same thin artisan crust with the same unique toppings. I still miss my old fashioned Chicago deep dish style, but I'm definitely starting to see why the Taiwanese make it their way. It's a lighter fair and allows you to leave room for dessert or more street food. We had a group of 4 in total. Therefore we ordered two pizzas and that made for more sharing and more fun. As an added bonus, my friend found a coupon for a free cake dessert. Bonus points! Afterwards, I headed back with my friend to her home because I wanted to use her oven. It's a small portable one, but it works just fine. So I decided to cook a simple dinner to all the housemates to enjoy. Potatoes Au Gratin! Such a simple recipe. Slices potatoes, onions and a heavy cream/cheese sauce. Of course there's more ingredients than that, but you can google it and find hundreds of recipes online. But if you want my recipe, feel free to ask me. I also take special joy in introducing western cuisine to two of the Taiwanese housemates.
Asian cuisine doesn't use as much potatoes and cheese and cream as French cuisine does. So it's a special treat for them, they were happy and returned their plates empty. I hope I have more opportunities to use their oven in the future to cook more oven-required cuisine.MaryJane Pizza
No. 25, Lane 44, Tàishùn Street, Daan District
Taipei City, Taiwan 106
HI,
ReplyDeleteDoes MTC use Simplify or Traditional Chinese characters? If what you learn is Traditional, would you be able to read the signs in mainland China?
Thanks!
Traditional. Some signs in mainland China will be in simplified. But I'm still a strong believer in learning Traditional. Because it's easier to learn from Traditional to Simplified than vice versa, also, simplified is easier to guess once you know Traditional.
ReplyDeleteOMG, are you serious?
ReplyDeleteYour Caucasian classmates actually okay with learning traditional? I go to school in UCSC and all my white classmates have already struggle for writing in simplified.
How about typing Chinese? Do you guys use mainland pinyin or the Taiwanese style of inputting characters?
I am thinking about taking a break after college and learning more Chinese.
Thanks for the advices. =)
Yes, they're OK with it. They see the benefits. It's harder, but simplified or traditional, it's all still difficult. Typing wise, you can choose which ever one you want. Native english speakers tend to pick PinYin. I pick PinYin because it's easier to guess the PinYin when I don't know it and also, I don't need a special keyboard like Zhuyin.
ReplyDelete