Rag Curls and Plaid

Whenever I think of rag curls, I think of sitting on my mom's bed at night as she tiredly tied up my hair. My hair was thick, as it still is, and stick straight (it has a big more texture these days). It never held a curl for long.

A few days ago, I decided to give them another try. The results were much better than those early efforts. The only problem? I put them in the night before a rainy day. They held up a bit better than I was expecting, though. The last picture is of my curls at the end of a drizzly day running errands around the city. The curls have definitely fallen out some, but they aren't stick straight like I would have expected.

I followed Solanah's tutorial here for a refresher on how to do rag curls. 

Outfit Details

Dress: LL Bean Signature Collection
Handkerchief: Borrowed from the hubby
Jacket: LL Bean
Rain Hat: LL Bean

287 Steps to the Top. Exploring the Scott Monument in Edinburgh.

No trip to Edinburgh is complete without a trip up the treacherous steps of the Scott Monument. And when I say treacherous, I do mean treacherous. The monument was built in 1844, although I have to imagine it was a pretty tight fit for the people then, even if the average person is bigger now. It's 287 narrow and winding steps to the top. The staircase becomes only more narrow and winding the higher up you get. By the end, we were practically bent over double, especially the hubby! 

We chose to visit on an overcast weekday. This meant our view at the top wasn't quite so clear, but it also meant the monument was less crowded. Plus, dreary days (and Scotland has plenty of them!) have their own magic. I've heard the monument can be quite dangerous on a clear weekend. Even on a slower day, it required some fancy footing to pass anyone going the opposite direction. As we were coming down, we passed a Scottish gentlemen and his girlfriend. We were near the top where things were narrowest. I had to stand awkwardly to one side with my body stretched across the hallway, my hands on the opposite wall for balance and support. The couple had to duck underneath my arms like we were in a game of London Bridges and then squeeze past the hubby who was above me where it was even narrower. With typical wry Scottish humor, the man commented, "It's a good thing we all know each other so well. Otherwise, this would be awfully awkward." 

The monument is located at E. Princes St. Garden. It's open April through September from 10-7 on Monday through Saturday and from 10-6 on Sunday. It's open October through March from 9-4 Monday through Saturday and from 10-6 on Sunday. It includes a museum with information on Scott's life and works as well as sculptures of characters from his novels. The trip to the top might be long and a bit tiring, but it's worth it for that beautiful view!

Rotten Chicken and Peking Duck - A Very Late Anniversary Post!

I wrote this post August 20th. I realize this is a bit late to post it, but the sentiments still hold true, even if it isn’t our anniversary anymore!

Yesterday was our 4-year anniversary. Well, actually, it was the day before our anniversary back in the States. But here in Taiwan, it was our anniversary. Living in a different timezone than the one you were raised in and got married in gets confusing sometimes!

I had a simple but nice meal planned: panfried chicken (one of the hubby’s favorites), sweet potato greens (pretty much the best thing ever!), and rice with mango sorbet for dessert. Then, the evening fell apart. First, the hubby came home sick and tired. Next, I discovered that the chicken I had bought only the day before smelled as foul as, well, rotten fowl.   

Not to be daunted, I went out to buy our favorite fried chicken from a local street-side vendor. This stuff is amazing! Fried chicken, sweet potato fries, shoestring fries, fried green beans, fried mushrooms, fried cauliflower—it’s delicious!

As I was walking to the chicken shop (unaware at that point that my plans would need to change yet again), I considered how much like marriage this anniversary was. Sometimes, you have perfect, beautiful days when everything falls into place. Sometimes, you don’t.

We’ve had our share of lovely moments. There’s the dinner we had just this summer at an out-of-the-way, family-owned Italian restaurant we stumbled onto on our last night in the UK. The restaurant was in Slough, the unwanted, ugly suburb of London. Despite its location, it was a perfect, romantic evening that neither of us will soon forget. 

Going further back, there’s the first breakfast we shared as a married couple. We sat out on the porch at our Bed and Breakfast. It was a working farm on a long, private, dirt lane in the countryside. The farmer’s wife served us homemade buttermilk pancakes, and we enjoyed the good food and sunshine, excited for the journey to come. 

Even further back than that, there’s our first date, tea in the park. I still remember the way he leaned his back against my shoulder while he talked about poetry and life. For a moment, I lost my breath. I couldn’t focus on all the wonderful, insightful things he was saying. My universe consisted of three things—him, me, and the sunshine.

We’ve had many lovely, perfect moments throughout our time together. We’ve also had unlovely, imperfect ones. Here are a few: the time we got lost and fought on our way to Biltmore, rainy days on our honeymoon when I got very grumpy, years of searching for a better job, an anniversary last year that wasn’t even celebrated because we were too exhausted and jet-lagged to think much beyond bed and the next exhausting school day, heartaches, frustrations, fights, hopes deferred and deferred again, and now an anniversary seemingly ruined by rotten chicken and an exhausted husband. 

Our anniversary evening continued in its imperfections. When I got to the chicken place, I discovered it was inexplicably closed. There was a dumpling place nearby, but when dumplings are a dime a dozen (actually they are more like $2 a dozen), that hardly seems special. Thankfully, a favorite Peking Duck place around the corner saved the day. We hadn’t visited it since coming back from the UK. To be honest, it was probably a better idea than the supper I was planning on making in the first place. 

So I got home. We ate our Peking Duck, curled up on the couch together, and watched a movie (something we hadn’t done in awhile). The evening wasn’t perfect, but it was our evening. We were together.

I can remember grumpy days as a child when my dad would tell me to straighten out my attitude. “But I’m having a bad day,” I would complain, expecting him to understand my excuse. “Your day is what you make it,” he would respond, expecting me to do right no matter my circumstances. 

Sometimes we can’t change those circumstances but we can change our reactions to them. Readers of this blog know that I liken imperfections in life to freckles, a mar on the face of perfection but a mar that can be beautiful. Marriage has its freckles. It’s up to us to make those freckles beautiful. If we look for marriage to perfectly meet our needs and make us constantly incandescently happy, we’ll probably be constantly unfulfilled and unhappy.

In conclusion, I guess the theme of this post is this. When life hands you rotten chicken make Peking Duck.

Ok. That just sounds disgusting. Let’s try again. 

When marriage hands you freckles, go out and buy some Peking Duck. 

Still not quite right. Let’s try one more time. 

My marriage is what I make it or what I allow God to make out of it. 

Note: I realize that saying “My marriage is what I make it” can seem insensitive to those in harmful, hurtful relationships. I’ve witness enough of the heartbreak that stems from these relationships to know you can’t oversimplify the response. Any advice that I offer here is primarily advice I’m offering myself. I don’t pretend to have insight into the married lives of others. 

I do believe, though, that no matter the brokenness and heartache, God can make something beautiful out of your life. 

A Day In Jiufen, Taiwan

Last Spring, during Chinese New Year break, we took a trip to Jiufen, a magical mountain town about an hour outside of Taipei. About a month ago, we took some visiting friends on the same trip.* It's a trip worth taking, full of history, shopping, food, hikes, and magnificent scenery.

History

The village dates at least back to the Qing dynasty. During its early years, just nine families lived there. When shipments were sent in from the larger towns, they would order nine portions, one for each family. Thus the name Jiufen (Jiǔfèn) which literally means "Nine Portions."   

Around the turn of the 20th Century, gold was discovered in the area. This led to a gold rush as well as a Japanese POW work camp which held allied forces during WWII. The mine was closed in the 70s. In the 90s, the town began its new life as a tourist destination.

Jiufen in the Movies

In 1989, the Taiwanese movie A City of Sadness was filmed in Jiufen. Although the hubby and I very much want to watch it, we haven't at this point, so everything I say about it is hearsay. From what I understand, the movie is set in Taipei during the 228 Incident of 1947 when the Republic of China came over from mainland China to Taiwan and, in the process of taking over the former Japanese colony, killed thousands of Taiwanese civilians. By the time the movie was filmed, Taipei had modernized beyond the 1947 setting, so filming was moved to Jiufen. 

Many believe Jiufen is also the inspiration for the market streets in the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away. 

Getting There

The first time we went to Jiufen, we took the MRT to Nangang Station and connected to the TRA there. We took the TRA to Ruifang and connected to a bus in Ruifang. This trip, we discovered we could take the 1062 Bus directly from Taipei to Jiufen. Much simpler!

What to Do

If traveling from Taipei to Jiufen for a day trip, I recommend taking the bus past the popular Jiufen Old Street stop and riding up to the gold mines at JinGuaShi. It just takes a few minutes longer. Up there, you can visit a gold mine museum, walk through restored mining tunnels, tour the grounds of the former Japanese Crown Prince's home, see old homes built for Japanese gold mine workers, visit temples, and visit a monument at the site of the old Japanese POW camp. From one of the temples, you can take stairs further up into the mountains and enjoy breathtaking views of the coast below. You can even see old chimneys from the gold mining days. They travel up the mountainside rather than standing straight up and are a bit hard to spot at first but are apparently some of the world's longest chimneys.

On our first trip, a local Taiwanese man, a recently retired engineer from GE, stopped us and offered a personal tour. He took us around to these different spots and showed shortcuts to some of the beautiful views. He also provided us with a fascinating yet sad perspective of the Republic of China takeover and the 228 Incident. Some of his own uncles were shot during the events. His tour has been a highlight of our time in Taiwan. He wasn't looking for money or favors. He just wanted to share his world with us.

Once you're thoroughly exhausted with all this education and sightseeing, head back down to Jiufen Old Street. On our first trip, we took the bus back down the mountainside. Our second trip, we walked back. Rather than taking the main road, our Google Map directions took us through little side streets, terraced roads with steps, and even through a traditional Chinese cemetery.

Those little buildings with flat roofs are actually grave sites.

Jiufen Old Street is, in and of itself, worth the trip. Really, you could take several trips to the general area to fully experience its delights--one for hiking, one for shopping, and one just for eating. In the market, we enjoyed peanut cilantro ice cream rolls. Apparently this is "Taiwan's Number One Special Treat"! It's really quite delicious, as odd as it sounds. We also munched on food from a number of vendors and explored handicraft booths. We ended the day with a lingering tea at sunset on the rooftop veranda of a traditional tea house.

A beautiful day. A perfect ending.

*The pictures in this post are a hodgepodge from both trips. Photos courtesy of the hubby (as usual!).

Happiness is Homemade

In case you haven't figured it out, home equals Maine in my book. Today, I was really missing home. Just in time to salve my longing, a package arrived from a friend back home.

One of the things I love about Maine is its stability. Nothing much changes. Don't get me wrong. Businesses come and go (far too often sometimes). New developments are built (also far too often sometimes). Overall, though, things stay the same. There are the same people, the same old hiking trails, and the same quiet evenings surrounded by fireflies and mosquitoes.

It's a world filled with respect for the past, a world where people still can jam every year, grow gardens, and attend community bean suppers. It's also a world where older ladies keep pieces of that past to pass down to the next generation.

A woman my best friend goes to church with passed on a box of old cross stitching patterns to her. My friend is amazing. She chose one of the patterns for me, got together supplies, and shipped it halfway across the world so that I could have a new project and a little piece of home.

I love the little tagline "Happiness is Homemade" on the pickle pattern!

Outfit Post: Denim and Lace

I don't normally do outfit posts. To be honest, I feel a little silly doing them. But I know I enjoy the occasional outfit post from the bloggers I follow, so here goes! 

I wore this last Saturday when we took a trip to the Taipei Fabric Market and explored the sights at Beimen Station. 

Outfit Details:

Vest: Dollhouse Brand, Thrifted, Similar here

Dress: Fleet Collection (purchased during going out of business sale)

Shoes: Birkenstock

Purse: Cambridge Satchel

Necklace: Vintage, gift from my grandma

Sunglasses: Uniqlo

Earrings: Gifted

Flashback Friday (Writer's Edition): Jack and Jane

Today, I went through my long forgotten Dropbox account and downloaded a couple dozen old files filled with scraps of writing. Much of this writing is awful; some of it has a few lines of promise; and other pieces just make me laugh. This piece made me laugh.

I wrote it in 2010, either right before or right after I started dating my husband. It's by no means autobiographical, but if you know us, you'll understand where the inspiration came from. The photos below were taken right around the time this snippet was written.

Enjoy!

Edit: I wrote this in one sitting 5 years ago with zero editing afterward. It was tempting to edit the life out of it before posting (especially the awkward tenses in the first paragraph), but I wanted to keep this retrospective. In that vein, I did only minor editing and proofreading before posting. Please forgive the imperfections! 

Our first photo together

Our first official couple photo

Jack and Jane

When you first see Jack and Jane as a couple—possibly sometime next September, or perhaps next year, or even several years from now—and you see them walking into the Corner Cafe on their first date, you’ll probably think to yourself, “They seem like a cute couple, but at the same time, something seems a little off.” And when you meet them again several weeks later at an art opening, your suspicions will intensify as you see how different they are. Jane loves bright colors and talks constantly. Jack stands by in his long black coat and listens to her chatter. Jane mingles. John sulks. Jane automatically treats everyone as her best friend. Jack looks as though he might bite anyone's head off. After these initial meetings, you will probably think their relationship is doomed to failure. However, when you see them again several years down the road, seriously dating and happy, you’ll think again of that first impression and wonder, “How did this all happen?”

Jack and Jane met in the park or maybe it was at a mutual friend’s barbecue. Jane might say the barbecue, but Jack might say the park. Who knows. Perhaps it was a mutual friend’s barbecue in the park. The point is, they met. They didn’t hit it off. It wasn’t that Jane wasn’t friendly enough. She asked him about his past, his family, his job, his house, his animals. And it wasn’t that Jack didn’t answer her questions. He told her he had been human all his life; he had a mom and dad and some siblings; he worked at a place of employment; he lived under a roof; and his animals were mostly furry. It was just that, for some reason, they failed to make a connection.

Jane walked away thinking nothing more of Jack than that he was slightly grumpy. She then forgot about him. She couldn’t know that Jack had tried to be kind, tried to talk, tried to chit-chat but had somehow failed. It wasn’t that he was shy. It was just that, well, he was private. Jack walked away thinking that Jane talked an awful lot. She seemed like a bit of a surface personality. And then he promptly forgot about her. How could he know that Jane was scared of people, that she talked a lot to cover her own fears, and that she found herself especially verbose around solemn pillars of self-assurance like Jack? It wasn’t that she was a surface personality. It was just that, well, she was private.

I’d like to say that after this meeting, despite their entire lack of actual communication, Jack and Jane couldn’t stop thinking about each other. That Jane fell asleep to dreams of Jack looking down at her with eyes full of stoic love. Or that Jack stayed awake at night, vainly trying to forget Jane’s rapidly moving mouth and trying not to imagine stilling it with a kiss. I’d love to say that Jane and Jack found themselves entirely in love after this one unsuccessful meeting. I’d like to say these things, but I can’t. The truth is, Jack and Jane didn’t think anything after this meeting. In fact, they so entirely forgot each other that when they saw each other three weeks later, it took both of them ten minutes of surreptitious staring and intense memory racking to remember where or when they had met before.