mom on gchat + smelly things = i ♡ taiwan

my mom's in china, so we communicate largely through gchat, since it's quick, easy, and free. she often asks about how school is going, as she did tonight, followed by a very abrupt and random farewell:

我看報紙說中國有好多Amyway的人去台灣旅遊，有人說想要吃“娃娃煎”！哈哈！要油炸baby嗎？他們想吃“蚵仔煎”啦！他們不會說台灣話啦哈哈哈，我要去吃飯了．愛妳！bye

now i don't know what "Amyway" means (perhaps Amway?), but translated, this means:

i read on the newspapers in china that a lot of "amyway" people go vacationing in taiwan, and some people say "i want to eat 'infant omelettes'!" haha! want oil-fried baby? they want to eat 'oyster omelette'! they don't know how to speak taiwanese! hahaha, i'm going to eat now. love you! bye"

well, it's much funnier in chinese, especially if you know the difference between "wa-wa jian" and "o-wa jian."

i really want to go back to taiwan, and the cigarette smoke coming from the neighbors downstairs totally reminds me of being at the night markets, wandering through the messy array of street vendors, with all sorts of pollutants competing for lung space. same with the smell from the gutters on the sidewalk. it's funny how so rank and foul a stench can put such a smile on my face.

oh, how i miss you.