Magic Card Trick Online

For those people that want a little magic in there lives--check out this card trick. This is funny.
I think you should do this for your college class, Dad.

http://www.krazydad.com/bondoogle/

The Great Cheesecake Caper

Look everyone....I'm making a mess.....uh....I mean, cheesecakes!!

I just wanted to show you how many bowls it actually takes me to make three large and one small cheesecake......

Since it has been this Hobbs' family tradition to make a pumpkin cheesecake for the past four years...I decided that the tradition would live on.......even if I had to made it by hand with no electric mixer, and cook it in a toaster oven....and use weird crackers ominously called "Digestives" as a substitute for graham crackers. Apparently here in Taiwan, people have no use for graham crackers, so they simply do not sell them anywhere. Ugh. It almost foiled my plan. But, after careful sluething...and many taste tests, I decided on the Digestives as a substitute. I made a miniature cheesecake first as an experiment, and when it turned out to be very tasty...I was in business!

Here is Brian whipping up my famous pumpkin cheesecake.....

And this one is Melanie's famous Junior's cheesecake.......

This should give you an idea of what I'm working with here......not exactly state of the art equipment, but the desperate get creative!!!

And here is one of the delicious pumpkin cheesecakes.....just about done......three hours later!
All in all, a fun experience. Although I will be very happy to return to the United State and use my KitchenAid mixer and bake in a real oven.....but I do have to say, these awesome Taiwanese cheesecake pans are coming home with me! The springform pan that I used for the Junior's cheesecake was the right width...9 inches as prescribed...unfortunately it was not deep enough to hold all of the yummy cheesecake filling after the sponge cake layer had been baked in it.....hmmmm, dilemma! I'm still working on a solution. I think it will probably involve making more cheesecakes!!!!! Why does every small project turn into a HUGE nightmare!?!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Think about us poor people in Taiwan while you eat your yummy turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing!!!

Here is Madison's new Chinese dress. This is actually here Christmas present we are going to give to her.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!!!!!

Been there......seen that!

Oh yeah.....and we saw it a whole day before it came out there........sometimes it pays to be the lunatics who moved to Taiwan!

Kaohsiung, Every Day

Okay, so here is a view of our favorite street stand for noodles. It is a "restaurant" that is close to Brian's school...and it is slightly underground. I'm not sure if the underground thing is for heat reduction or because it used to be a mechanic's shop or what...but the noodles are soooo good! Oh, and here is a warning: the following pictures are graphic and display life and people as they really look here in Taiwan. Just wanted to make sure you were prepared....the following may not be suitable for rich American viewers......

Mmmmmmmmm....noodles are goooood! For those of you who speak Chinese (okay, so this is for Travis) this is our gan mien treat! It is really good, and they also bring us a big bowl of burn your mouth off boiling hot "soup" which is actually just broth with leeks in it. I made the mistake of taking a huge spoonful and sucking it right up.....WOW!! I have never put something that hot in my mouth before, instantly I could tell that half of my tastebuds had been vaporized. I still can't taste anything.

Here is Madison enjoying her noodles. She is really funny with chopsticks...she really wants to use them but can't quite get it. She uses one chopstick and her fingers...I tried to tell her to just use her fingers, but she really wanted to use chopsticks like us. It was funny.

Okay, we have no idea what this guy was doing. I guess he was just holding up the sign until the proper authorities could be contacted....er....something!

This is just a shot of the street...I'm trying to give you an idea of what it looks like here. It is always very crowded, and everything here just feels crowded...for instance, look at how close together all the shops are and how narrow the streets are. It is a completely different feeling from Idaho or Kansas...or really anywhere I've been in the US. Although if you have ever been to Chinatown in NYC, you can get a general idea...only you have to think of Chinatown on a weekend when everyone and their dog is there. Literally. And the big difference there is that it is like this aaaallllll the time! Oh! And if you look closely in this picture you will find our finger-lickin' good friend, Mr. Colonel Sanders!

Brian's Post

These are just a few of the students at this school. The school was celebrating a birthday.

Just A Little Light Reading....

Okay, so there really isn't anything new...but I just thought that this was really cute, so I posted it because we haven't posted something in a whole day.....enjoy! I promise the next post will be meaningful and insightful and entertaining!!!! (Or at least it will be new!)

Madison on our scooter

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

The Less Than Grand Tour

The Entrance

Living Room

Kitchen

The Stove

The laundry room (all washing machines are outside)

The Dining Area

Madison's Room

It's a bird....it's a plane....no.....it's......English Man, and his faithful sidekick...Princess Madirella!

Madison was a Princess.....is anyone surprised?

This our attempt at an orange dinner...we had homemade mac & cheese, doritos, salad with carrots, deviled eggs and orange Fanta....yummy! And the other one is the costume that Madison picked out for me. I am sporting a snuggly cape and a cool Chinese hat. I'm not sure her future in the fashion industry is set in stone.....

Hobbs Taiwan Halloween Special

It's a bird....it's a plane....no.....it's......English Man, and his faithful sidekick...Princess Madirella!