If you eat 30 lychees, your nose will bleed.

A colleague of Scott’s informed him of this recently, because Scott really likes lychee fruit. We’re not sure if this was a warning or a challenge so we’re taking it as a challenge. Check back for results.

Mangoes are also a fire fruit (so we’re told), which we eat a lot of, but we’re not sure what medicinal and magical effects they have, yet. We heard papayas make your boobs bigger, so this is a fruit I won’t be eating because who needs more boob sweat when the “feels like” temp is 109°?

Lately, most days feel like beach living, but without the beach. We live about 26K or 1 hours drive from the west coast, but the real beaches are northeast, east and south of us, which is more of a weekend jaunt. It’s the combination of the clean air, light, and blue skies with fluffy clouds that feels so beachy to me, like an urban version of Stone Harbor (a fond memory from childhood). I feel this beachy sensation the most when I hop on my bike, which I ride day to day for errands.

At lunchtime I caught the tail end of a market near our place and restocked our fire fruits and bought a warmed cabbage filled steam bun to eat immediately. I was really hot and could feel my brain starting to melt so I pedaled to 美軍豆乳冰, a favorite little spot to cool my jets and enjoy some soybean milk ice.

I’ve been here 3 times and she knows what I want before I attempt to mutter it in Mandarin. This is a nice feeling and it happens often. Sure, Scott and I stand out here, but after living in Portland for seven years, just two restaurants could acknowledge us as familiar (Whole Bowl and Dove Vivi -– XOXO Shelly and Memory). This is another testament to how friendly and observant the Taiwanese culture is.

Wondering how YOU can beat the summer heat? Well, our daily newspaper, the Taipei Times ran a public service announcement on how to do just that. Enjoy.