Taiwan: Food and other things

I spent a lot of the day today eating. This first picture is a shot of one of my most favorite dishes in the whole world: clams stir-fried with basil, garlic, and chili peppers. Taiwan is famous for many things, but chief among all things in Taiwan is food.

 This dish is called 五更腸旺. It's made out of pig's intestines, congealed cubes of duck's blood, and spices. To a western audience this might not sound like the most appetizing dish, but it's killer. A little spicy and super tasty.

This restaurant is famous for its goose. This is chopped goose breast heated. I say heated because a very common dish in Taiwan is chilled slices of goose meat. I prefer to eat meat warm, but the cold one is still pretty good. This dish is great. The goose meat is really soft and salty and the chef keeps a layer of fatty, crispy skin on each slice.

One of the great things about eating in Taiwan is the amount of fresh seafood that is always available. Sushi and sashimi is everywhere and it is relatively cheap compared with Japan and America. 

Slaone and I are compiling a list of new foods that she tried on this visit to Taiwan. She is not the most adventurous eater, but she is getting there. Besides, Taiwan's food is so good that she can't really help but eat most of what I give her to try.

This is 鹹鴨蛋苦瓜 Salty Duck's Egg with Bitter Melon. Again, this is a dish that the conservative eaters out there will not immediately gravitate toward, buy you can trust me that it's worth it to try this one.

This really is a typical restaurant in Taiwan. I love the convenience of getting some of the best food I've ever eaten right outside of my door. 

 I love me some 空心菜 Hollow-heart vegetables. 

 This is 蒜泥白肉 White Meat with Garlic Paste. Taiwanese sometimes refer to the fatty part of pork as "white meat" because it's very white in color.

 This is a different restaurant. This place serves very traditional Taiwanese cuisine called 古早味切仔麵 Traditional flavored Noodle House. It has a very basic menu, which usually means the food is super reliable and all things on the menu are done very well.

 This is 紅燒白肉 Braised White Meat that was taken out of the braising liquid and then deep-fried to make it crispy on the outside.

The name sake of the restaurant: 切仔麵.

Part of Shida Street Market. It's still early in the evening so it is not that crowded. In a couple of hours this place will be crazy busy.

Sloane got a little tired and wanted to ride in Devon's stroller. She is too big for it, but it still gets the job done in a pinch. 

More food!  This restaurant is called 牛老大, the Elder Cow. Many restaurants in Taiwan have a stand full of 小菜 "little dishes," which usually means sliced pieces of tofu jerky, seaweed, cucumber, tea-boiled eggs, and various other delights. 

I usually don't do a lot of shopping, but sometimes it is pretty hard to avoid this in Taiwan because it is everywhere. 

Steamed Dumplings at the Elder Cow.

A Beef Roll, which is slices of beef and sauces and spices rolled onto a Taiwanese style tortilla. 

The crowd is beginning to build. This is not considered one of Taiwan's biggest or most famous night markets, but it is one of my favorites. I like it for its laid-back character and good food.

3 shirts for about $15.

Another thing that is nice about Taiwan: getting glasses is really convenient and cheap. I don't wear glasses, but I am beginning to feel like is it harder and harder to see the TV, so I decided to get set up with a pair while I was here. Like all other aspects of healthcare: dental, medical, etc. this is something I recommend to every American traveling here. 

Even Sloane got in on the action. She is a sucker for Hello Kitty and these look pretty good on her, too. 

Visiting relatives in Sanchong, a suburb of Taipei.

First Day in Taiwan

After a super long flight from LAX and day to unpack and prepare for the rest of the week, I bought a ticket for Taiwan's High Speed Rail from Taichung's Wuri Station to Taipei Central Train Station. The High Speed Rail in Taiwan is exceptional. It's super fast, cheap, clean, and very efficient. It got me from Taichung to Taipei in about 40 minutes. This is the first step of my trip and, so far, it's by far the best part.

This is the view from within. The seats are nice and big with lots of leg-room. It costs 25 extra Nes Taiwan Dollars (a little less than 1 US Dollar) for a guaranteed seat. Periodically along the journey there are vendors with food carts that come through the aisles if you want to buy some food for the trip, otherwise you can just pick something up beforehand at any of the ubiquitous 7-Eleven convenience stores.

 

Taipei's Subway system is a real pleasure to use. Even though at times it can be crowded, the crowds are very orderly and everyone is respectful. Compared with the subway systems of European cities, it's a lot cleaner. I only wish there were more stops throughout the city.

Taipei Central Train Station houses the convergence of three separate train systems: the Subway, the Taiwan National Rail, and the High Speed Rail system. It is huge, but for first timers it is really easy to figure out since all of the signs are in English. The intercom also makes announcements in four languages: English, Mandarin, Taiwanese, and Hakkanese.

highig

iugigi

I've never seen one of these in Taiwan before. 

First stop on the trip is the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Square. It has a new name: Freedom Square.

The building behind me houses a statue of Chiang Kai-shek

It is truly a magnificent building

Longshan Temple is a super active buddo-daoist temple in the middle Taipei. It is not the biggest, nor is it the most famous, but it is probably used more than any other temple in all of the country. I have no statistics verifying this, but it just feels this way.

One of the most special features of the temple grounds is that it has for years been a gathering place for a wide range of peoples. Her are a couple of shots of a group of older men playing xiangqi (Chinese checkers.)

 This guy apparently felt that the giant guardian lion statue was a safe place to sit and rest.

Longshan Temple is full of devoted worshipers and different types of religious practitioners. This girl is using incense to pay respect to her ancestors.

The gate at Longshan Temple is typical gate used in Taiwan at Daoist temples, but this one has an LED ticker attached to it for added advertising.

The only place that wasn't full of people was the center of the courtyard because it was directly in the sun.

The bottom trough of this candle holder was full of red wax.

The market place near Longshan Temple has a nice assortment of traditional Chinese foods and snacks. This place is definitely worth a stop on your visit to Taiwan.

hih

This guy had crowd of about 25 people huddled around him. They were all watching him pick the numbers for the next Hong Kong Lottery, which is legal in Taiwan if you just avoid using the name Hong Kong Lottery. 

Try your luck!

I mentioned the 7-Eleven of Taiwan. These are everywhere and you can get a lot more from one of these than you can in the USA.

 I'm not really sure what about half of these things are that have been stewing in this soup for most of the day. This creates very distinctive smell that I associate strongly with Taiwan's & Eleven culture.

This group of chefs was on  the street near Taipei Building 101. I don't know what he wanted, but he was super smiley and friendly.

I decided to treat myself to something sweet after spending the day out and about in the city. This is Paul's Bakery. It is not a Taiwan original, but it is so good.

I joined up with my kids for this part of the trip. This is Sloane and you can tell she is stoked to get to eat Paul's pastries.

Grace, my wife was also there enjoying the baked goods.

Grace's sisters Leslie and Kathy were both also there.

More to come tomorrow. It has been a long day and it seems jet-lag is finally catching up with me.

More Claire, Again

Look what she can do now...

And here she is smiling for the camera,

 dressed and ready for church,

eating, sort of, rice cereal,

getting some attention from her big brother,

 and, enjoying a beautiful spring day.