soo what did i do for my birthday? not much… actually. most of the day was actually spent doing work… lots and lots of reading. too much reading. ugh. but i did manage to have a bit of fun towards the end of the day 
had dinner on friday with my lovely lovely co-worker Mei Hsuan, who is super nice and super funny! We went to Grandma Nitti’s Kitchen in the Shida 夜市 area, on 師大路，93 巷。 It’s supposed to be a contemporary American restaurant, sporting american fads such as the “brunch/breakfast all day” thing… with choices ranging from omelets and waffles, to other sandwich regulars like smoked turkey, chicken club, etc. I had the “grandma’s signature” omelet… cheese, mushrooms, onions, and peppers. I must say I wasn’t impressed, but it wasn’t because of the taste, it was just because it wasn’t the usual american omelet. it tasted quite yummy but it was more of a taiwan omelet. the hashbrown was nice and crispy though.
on saturday, most of my day was spent doing work, but Mark did show up with a nice red-wine fruit tart for me. yum! thanks mark!! Later, on a walk through a traditional market with my cousin, we saw this little guy sleeping among the veggies.
We ended the night with a stroll through the 101 area. While walking past the A4 Shinkong Mitsukoshi, my cousin realized that there is actually CORN STALKS among the pretty plants!! Someone purposely planted corn as a part of the decor! I have walked through here SO many times and never noticed it there. We also noticed some corn growing on the stalks… so… we made sure no cops were around, jumped into the garden and stole corn. HAHA. we actually stole corn off of these government planted cornstalks outside of A4! Of course we were cracking up the entire time… and we ended the night with ears of corn stuffed into my purse. Look at these beauties!! Naturally grown corn, with no fertilizer. All the more beautiful when it’s conveniently ‘borrowed’.
We steamed and ate them. REALLY good. sweet, juicy, plump, and fresh! So.. next time anyone is walking by A4… you’ll see the corn stalks. But sorry… all the corn left isn’t ripe yet. My cousin and I stole all the ripe ones…
