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Friday, August 18, 2006 · posted at 7:58 AM

National Palace Museum - home of 70,000 artifacts taken from the Mainland during Chiang Kai-Shek's flee. Somewhere in mainland China there sits an empty museum waiting for something to display...

Things of interest:

Jade...everything
Man, the Chinese sure love their jade. There were jade bear goddesses, jade pig-dragons, jade cicadas, jade jewelry, jade weapons. However the winner of the day was the jade cabbage - #1 proclaimed by the tour guide - complete with jade inspects.

Good old Napa cabbage - good for fermenting kimchi, steaming shao lum bao (soup dumplings), and making decorative items.
I've also seen this piece labeled "Jade Bok Choy," however, you can see the ruffling of the leaves along the sides. Bok choy has smooth sides. Oh yes, this ABC knows her Asian produce.

a late Neolithic (5000-1800 BCE) necklace with shell beads

Translation: we never have and never will be rid of the puka shell necklace as an accessory.

a ship in an olive pit
I'm impressed by any artwork you need a magnifying glass to see. Hell, I've even been taken in by the "Your name on a grain of rice" bit! Not only was there a miniature boat, complete with sails, carved into an olive stone, but there was a poem scrolled on the bottom of it!

And you thought the ships in a bottle were a major feat...

auspicious animals

The term for any creature that looks like nothing on this earth.

the "cow" wine vessel
Unlike any cow I've ever seen... And then you find out that that's because it's not really a cow. The idea is that if you store the wine in a vessel shaped like an animal that tastes good, it'll also make the wine taste good. So this particular vessel was a hodge-podge of hen hao chi (very good to eat) animals: sheep and cow legs and rump, pig legs, rabbit ears and... you guessed it, gao tou (dog head).

There was a dog in the street and one of our tourmates joked, "Uh oh. Dinner."
According to a National Geographic special I watched in the hotel the previous night where a chef prepared a 3 foot long bull penis for human consumption, Taiwanese people will eat anything... and apparently collect everything!

I'm sure there were many, many more interesting items, however, I have a short attention span when it comes to museums, and even more so when it involves 40 tourists crowding around the same display case as the guide narrates in 3 different languages - only one of which (English) I understand remedially.



	Friday, August 18, 2006 · posted at 7:58 AM National Palace Museum - home of 70,000 artifacts taken from the Mainland during Chiang Kai-Shek's flee. Somewhere in mainland China there sits an empty museum waiting for something to display... Things of interest: Jade...everything Man, the Chinese sure love their jade. There were jade bear goddesses, jade pig-dragons, jade cicadas, jade jewelry, jade weapons. However the winner of the day was the jade cabbage - #1 proclaimed by the tour guide - complete with jade inspects. Good old Napa cabbage - good for fermenting kimchi, steaming shao lum bao (soup dumplings), and making decorative items. I've also seen this piece labeled "Jade Bok Choy," however, you can see the ruffling of the leaves along the sides. Bok choy has smooth sides. Oh yes, this ABC knows her Asian produce. a late Neolithic (5000-1800 BCE) necklace with shell beads Translation: we never have and never will be rid of the puka shell necklace as an accessory. a ship in an olive pit I'm impressed by any artwork you need a magnifying glass to see. Hell, I've even been taken in by the "Your name on a grain of rice" bit! Not only was there a miniature boat, complete with sails, carved into an olive stone, but there was a poem scrolled on the bottom of it! And you thought the ships in a bottle were a major feat... auspicious animals *The term for any creature that looks like nothing on this earth.* the "cow" wine vessel Unlike any cow I've ever seen... And then you find out that that's because it's not really a cow. The idea is that if you store the wine in a vessel shaped like an animal that tastes good, it'll also make the wine taste good. So this particular vessel was a hodge-podge of hen hao chi (very good to eat) animals: sheep and cow legs and rump, pig legs, rabbit ears and... you guessed it, gao tou (dog head). *There was a dog in the street and one of our tourmates joked, "Uh oh. Dinner."* According to a National Geographic special I watched in the hotel the previous night where a chef prepared a 3 foot long bull penis for human consumption, Taiwanese people will eat anything... and apparently collect everything! I'm sure there were many, many more interesting items, however, I have a short attention span when it comes to museums, and even more so when it involves 40 tourists crowding around the same display case as the guide narrates in 3 different languages - only one of which (English) I understand remedially.	Recent Posts Why We Fight. When I was in college, I met many p... Gullible's Travels. As Christian Finnegan once sai... Crimes and MisdemeanorsWe're all faced throughout ... Girls For Breakfast. Eighty percent of the reason ... What Jim had, above all, was enthusiasm, He'd weig... To Jim, attempts at imitation would put the emphas... Little sleep, no investment portfolio, no family a... The Requisite of Personal ResponsibilityIn a study... Crunchy granola. adj. A term used to describe a pe... Will work for (campus)food, a dot com.One seldom h... Morning news babie goose ryan bluemouse daves son dawntaught desiree diorama emily escadawg galveric high entropy invisible cube jepgato kyellow lilly mhuang mogbert nudream starfish + coffee verbivore Archives March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 January 2007 March 2007 April 2007 November 2008

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