May 23rd, 2015

From the corrections department...a few weeks ago, was touting the wonder that are flushable wipes.  While their benefits are still undisputed, their "flushability" has been called into question by the FTC.  The Nice-Pak corporation is standing by their claim saying they have positively tested based on the FTC's guidelines and they expect quick resolution to the issue, but in the meantime, and really all the time, don't over stuff the bowl.

Saw this headline on Yahoo news and had to click...The fascinating cultural reason why Westerners and East Asians have polar opposite understanding of the truth.  It seems that Western law originating from the Greeks "followed the 'law of the excluded middle', which states that if two people are debating, then one of them must be exclusively right and the other exclusively wrong." 

"The Chinese followed the "doctrine of mean," which states that if two people are debating, then they're probably both partly right and partly wrong — the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle."

This made me stop in my tracks as it is so obviously and astoundingly true.  Anyone that has been on jury duty or follows Western politics is painfully aware of the "law of the excluded middle".  Do I need to go into another diatribe about that?  Didn't think so, but I had never heard that term before and understanding the roots as to why people are so dogged in their opinions to their own detriment is powerful. 

As for the "Doctrine of the Mean", China's own history with this concept is interesting...having been the rule of the land for millennia, it was tossed by the Nationalists in the early 20th century as it was seen to be the hindrance behind their backwardness in the world.  As for the Communists, always wary of an authority other than their own, but seeing its deep roots in society, it is making a comeback in a movement called New Confucianism. 

A real example of this doctrine can be seen in, where else, traffic.  I have been told a bunch of times that in any traffic accident, no one is totally at fault and they determine the fines based on what percentage of fault you are in the altercation.    When you read about the doctrine of the mean, it makes a ton of sense and should be something we aspire to and will be making an effort to explore it more.  I feel the down side of it is that it lets butt holes off the hook a bit as they can do shitty stuff but never be totally at fault, but the tenant is solidly based in what we call the Golden Rule.  Wish I could hear a little bit more of that out of politicians.  Huge advantage Asia on this one.

I promised to pop into our local 7-E and take some photos of their "fresh" food offerings.  This is the closest one to our place (right across a 6 lane avenue).  There is a closer Family Mart on our block, but they do not offer the same smorgasbord as the Seven.

A really nice feature of the Sevens is that they almost all have restrooms.  As there are stores everywhere, the toilets are usually very clean and they don't care if you just come in to use them only.  This makes for the rare big city that doesn't smell like urine.  There are plenty of other unpleasant odors (like stinky tofu) around, but not seeing dudes peeing everywhere is a plus.

 The Sevens in the States offer food choices...I remember eating a 2AM 49 cent chili cheese dog in college on occasion, but it isn't your typical lunch destination.  I see people eating at the Sevens here at every visit.  They have tables and chair areas set up in most of them and they are never empty.  What to choose from?  They do have the hot dogs on the rotating wheel.  Everyone is horrified by these, but they must sell and they can't have many instances of food poisoning, otherwise they wouldn't be everywhere in the world.  Alas...no chili in Taiwan.

Things make a quick change for the bizarre soon after.  Menu not translated...I can only positively identify 30% of the choices, but can probably guess the right food group in about 70% of them.

Of all the items, I think that I might try the heated sweet potato before our time is up here.  At least I think that is what this is.  It looks fluffy and delicious, and is it possible to over cook a potato?.

 Now we move to the nasty main event.  A double decker stew of god knows what.  Actually, god probably doesn't know as this is an abomination and the progenitors of these things should be tried in the Hague for crimes against humanity.

People eat that and like it.  This was taken right at lunch time so the quality should have been primo, but look at the consistency of that water.   I know this is 7-Eleven and the bottom rung, but this is typical of the kind of food that is all over town. I read in travel guides and on line that the # 1 thing about Taiwan is the food...that Taipei has the best street food in Asia.  I ask everyone (by everyone, I mean expats) that have been here over 5 years what they think of the local fare.  They all say they like it, but when pressed for specifics, like what will they miss most when they go home or where do they eat, the answers are always the same.  "Din Tai Fung is good" is the first thing out of their mouths...granted, that's one place.   And then they start to get a glassy eyed look, maybe toss out some noodle stand or pancake cart, or that they get some great Japanese food downtown.  When I mention that Japanese food is not local, they sort of drift into the ether like a ghost.  We will meet the occasional Westerner that grew up in, or have parents from a place like Peru, where they butcher and eat every nail and intestine of an alpaca, that like the chicken feet or tendon soup, but they are the outlier.

Finally, we get the "boiled in something" eggs...

I've known Betty a long time and have been around variations of these things for just as long, but can I tell you a secret?  I have never tasted one.  All Chinese must eat them all the time cause they are ubiquitous, but as they used to say in my day...grody to the max!