With Sandy... and Hot Pot

Last Thursday I got a pleasant surprise - a good Taiwanese friend Sandy, and her friend Laura, came to visit! We had a wonderful time talking and laughing together. First we biked around for a while and discovered a new park. It was HOT (the "feels like" temperature has been 113 F the last few days) and this park had a fountain. We enjoyed running through it to cool off. We also took some pictures (above & below). Note my new shoes - aren't they cute? (Canvas shoes of all colors and prints are very popular here in Taiwan.)

After working up an appetite biking, we went out for "hot pot". Have a explained hot pot here? I don't think so. Hot pot consists of a broth (many choices of flavor) and a bunch of random things that you cook in the broth over a little fire. The random things are usually all the same no matter where you go - fish balls, taro, corn, cabbage, rice noodles, beef (or pork or chicken), an egg, and a lot of thing that I can't identify but taste good. I had a Thai Coconut broth and it was fabulous. I'll have to get that once more before I leave. Here we are...