Tropic of Cancer, Taiwan

Sometimes when you're traveling, you have to stop and take the touristy shots that everyone else takes. You have to fight your way through the crowd and get your two seconds to pose quickly in front of whatever monument or sight is around. So, Pipkin and Domo took their turns in front of this tower that was erected (giggle) to mark the Tropic of Cancer.

You have to do the "group shot" - or in this case the couple shot. Either you set a self-timer or you ask a kind tourist you trust to not run off with your camera to please take a photo. This is always challenging when you don't speak the same language. Then you smile real big and if you have a sense of humor, you hope someone is photobombing. Not sure if this qualifies above, but that lady on the left has a sour expression and a shirt that proclaims oh no she didn't!!

Next you grab the camera and take a selfie with the camera all up in your face.

And, at least one of you has to do some sort of funny pose, so you turn it around on your friends and let them go crazy. RAWR! It's like Domo's got some sort of portal to the heavens going on here. Or maybe a strange growth out the top of his head.

Shihyusan - The Stone Umbrella

Pipkin and Domo continued up the eastern coast of Taiwan and hopped along Shihyusan Recreation Area, where they had gorgeous views of seawater carved potholes, arches and caves.

The park's famous Stone Umbrella stands on a large spit of rock that extends nearly a kilometre into the sea.

It looks rather small in the photo above (in the center, it stands above the spit) but it is rather tall if you were to stand underneath it.

There's a calm, cozy bay by the spit, but Pipkin didn't feel like going for a swim and providing the local sharks with dinner. Labbit is quite a rare treat here!

Labbits Fuel Up With: Bacon & Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cookies

It's been a while since the labbits put up a cooking post. It's been far too hot in New England to bake and besides, it's salad season in farmland paradise! There's been a lot of arugula salads with strawberries and blueberries, and greens with shredded raw beets, yum yum! The heat wave ends tonight so there may be some heat in the kitchen as the labbits cook up some summer squash and zucchini burritos.

Summer is also triathlon season for Masher McBuns and his friend Doddy Blue. Labbits are (mostly) vegetarian, but for the serious triathlete, and for the plush mini labbit, sometimes a little BACON is in order. And so, Masher and Doddy decided to bake these Bacon & Chocolate Chip Chocolate Abominations Cookies. These are decadent. These are sinful. These are for the labbit who MEANS BUSINESS. These are the moath amayznghf ookiesh. Oh - pardon me. Was just eating one. :)

Doddy Blue did his first 70.3 triathlon in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, so he was a labbit who meant business. Here's how you make the best cookies ever. Print the recipe here.

Bacon & Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients:
12 strips Applewood Smoked Maple Bacon
3/4 cup softened butter
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation:
Cook the bacon on the stove until browned; break into bite-size pieces (not crumbles). Reserve 1 1/2 tablespoons of bacon grease and mix in with the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla and remaining ingredients. Do not over-mix! Form cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 350 °F. Allow to cool on a wire rack before storing in an air-tight container. Because these cookies have bacon, store these in the refrigerator for up to one week (if they aren't eaten by then) and microwave on low for 10 seconds to warm them up and get those chips gooey. Enjoy!

Boy is it ever tempting to eat these cookies pre-baking. Mmmm, maple bacon chocolate chip cookie dough...*drools*

Yields: About 3 dozen 2" cookies.

Recipe: Adapted from Kim Youngblood

Water Running Up

Humid days will fog up a lens...

It was another hot and humid day in Taiwan when Pipkin and Domo visited "Water Running Up" - a 1.8 km irrigation canal from Dulan that flows...upwards?!

 

This pretty park's thin canal winds through gentle slopes where small leaves and flowers will fall into the canal and get whisked away upstream. Pipkin's little mind was blown but Domo quickly solved the mystery. (SPOILER ALERT!)

The trees and landscape surrounding the park create an optical illusion that only makes it appear as though water is flowing uphill. In fact, as measured by Domo's iPhone level (there's an app for that!), the canal actually goes downhill.

Pipkin was disappointed that he was fooled so easily, so he hopped off to enjoy the flowers in the park and to eat some grass. Since Pipkin wasn't going to talk to Domo, Domo decided to strike up some conversation with the locals.

After Pipkin got over feeling so airheaded, the pair headed to north to the Tropic of Cancer.

Cute Buns at the Fu-Kang Hotel

No, this isn't some sort of joke after the whole fake Asiana pilot name gaffe. Pipkin and Domo really did stay at the Fu-Kang Hotel. It was a cheap hotel in Taitung County, Taiwan, with quite possibly the worst shower ever, with electrical wiring running through the inside of the shower!

Pipkin thinks the hotel spent their shower budget on all these custom toiletries. You can wash and comb your fur with their Fu-Kang shampoo and comb! Brush your labbit teeth with Fu-Kang toothbrush and toothpaste! Keep your ears dry in the electroshock shower with a custom Fu-Kang shower cap!

The hotel did have an upside - the breakfast was pretty good, and they served up these cute little bunny buns.

Almost too cute to eat. Almost.

That's a lot of Fu-Kang buns in the oven!

Dem buns! So cute!!