day two of the new year/day three of feasts

[backtracking to the 15th, Monday]

Today we walked to Costco. Yeah, you read right COSTCO! Our mission was to buy a cake for Wen-wen's (my cousin) 18th birthday and to bring to da ah-yi's (mom's older sister/my aunt) house for dinner tonight. Costco defintely keeps all their stores consistent, in terms of setup and products, even the menu of their deli is the same. Walking in the Costco I knew exactly where to head for cakes and vitamins. It's the same exact setup as all the Costco's I've been to. Of course, things are more expensive here...generally about a 30% markup. Tiramisu, New York Cheesecake, big rectangular frosting-covered generic cake, strawberry cheesecake...which to choose? There was a sampling booth for Bailey's (yummm!) which shocked both my mom and I. I don't recall ever seeing a sampling booth for any sort of alcohol in the states. The drinking age here is 18 anyway, and IDs are rarely asked for.

Anyhow, after purchasing a strawberry cheesecake, and running in the rain to the bus station, we took the MRT (subway term in Asia) to my aunt's house. While walking to my aunt's from the MRT station, I noticed plenty of good restaurants...if I lived in her area I'd probably weigh 500 pounds. She lives in a good area of Taipei, extremely convenient and near everything. We sat at her place for a bit, ate a few snacks--including these incredibly addictive dark chocolate covered pomengranates that my mom brought from US Costco. I ate more than I should have, knowing that I'd be eating dinner in an hour or so. They are that addictive. Afterward, we headed to the 8th floor, where my cousin + cousin-in-law and their adorable newborn baby live. There were 14 of us, all family...my mom, her two sisters, her brother (Jojo, the one I am currently living with), three of my cousins, my mom's two cousins, my cousin-in-law's parents...The food we ate tonight were specialties of Hunan province (China). My cousin-in-law's parents are from Hunan, so we got a taste of homecooked gourmet Chinese food tonight!

we made 300 or so dumpings!

the feast for tonight

egg dumplings

shreds of pork, or maybe it was beef - I didn't eat it, so I'm not entirely sure

everyone's favorite and my cousin-in-law's parents' specialty ~ pork butt

some kind of special vegetable; tasted like cabbage, but had a radish texture

pork + veggie dongfen (glass noodles) soup

seaweed with tomatoes and sesame mmm

Hunan sticky rice

strawberry cheesecake a la Costco

Another tradition of Chinese New Year is giving out red envelopes filled with crisp dollar bills, my childhood favorite [and still a favorite hehe] tradition. Ah, the joy of being part of a HUGE family. Every adult hands the young money! The average to give each person is 2000NT. The older you get, the less money you receive. But this time, I received more money than I have for the past years because I have so many relatives here. At home, my parents are the only people who give me a red envelope. I remember in my mid-teen years, I'd spend all my CNY money in a month...on new clothes and shoes. This time, all my cash will go towards good food, accessories, and of course my savings [that will contribute to all the loans I have to start paying off eeek!].