day 009

// took a while to figure out how to buy our train tickets



// "we" ordered so much, they had to wheel out the meat on a cart next to our table

day 008

// trekked out to explore chiang kai shek memorial hall while my other half was bedridden



// famous pepper pies being filled with pork on the right, cooling on the tandoor on the left

day 007

// dumpling feast at din tai fung



// zipped around the track in the new audi a1 ... so cute!

day 006

// shilin night market, close to midnight



// fried chicken, bigger than my face

side trips

in case you missed these posts on my other blog ...

[ click here: side trip to yingge ], just a quick train ride from taipei



and a [ click here: day trip to asahikawa ] from sapporo

one-day tour of taipei

we're just finishing up our third full day in taipei right now. taking a quick break before we head out to dinner. and possibly some more shave ice tonight, before we leave for our flight to sapporo early tomorrow morning.

anyway, our first full day in taipei was the longest day ever. seriously, longest. day. ever. and super tiring, due in part to the long day of travel just the day prior. and due more to the endless amount of walking we did.

i'm pretty sure we ended up packing all the highlights into that one day:

mini xlb at din tai fung (the mini ones are available only at certain hours on the weekends)



shopping/walking throughout taipei 101, shin kong mitsukoshi and bellavita



ride-along in the new audi a1 (i want one!)



back to the shilin food market for snackies



back out for beef soup noodle dinner



and back to shilin night market for dessert





then back to our room, where i passed out straightaway.

sure, all the walking and traveling can get a person tired. but i think there's something else that has added to the stress of being here in taipei: feeling lost and handicapped, mainly because of the language barrier. apparently, just because i look like everyone else here, they expect me to understand what they're saying. unfortunately, that's not the case, and i end up giving everyone the spitzer face and shaking my head.


getty images via nymag

luckily, i'm pretty good at reading maps and know enough chinese characters (or at least being able to compare characters) and have used universal hand gestures to make it work.

days 2 and 3 in taipei were a little more fun and relaxed. more on those days later.

Taipei...before my downfall

After 18hrs of travel, including a super short connection in HKG, we decided to skip tucking into the comforts of our bed and decided to hit up the Shilin night market just a few blocks from our hotel. One of the "greatest hits" from the night market was our first snack:



Yep, it's fried chicken that's pretty much as big as your head. As far as I can tell, it's pretty much an entire half of a chicken, leg bones and wing tips removed. Nicely spiced, I picked up on cinnamon, star anise and lots of white pepper. (aka, crushed up bandaids...no, it's not as gross as it sounds, unless you're one of the lucky few who are sensitive to it). I'm pretty sure that the breading makes use of some sweet potato starch....while the crust is super crispy and crunchy, as the oil and chicken juice start to soak the crust, it gets this really nice chewy texture to it. It's somewhat similar to the "popcorn chicken" that you can get from boba tea shops back home...but definitely some significant differences.



Next up on the "greatest hits" list was the oyster pancake. Kind of hard to describe really...it's definitely no omelette, as the egg just seems to be the binder for all of the stuff in it. There're of course the oysters, we got shrimp as well, and then some greens, maybe cabbage, and some slimy starchy thing...not noodles, but definitely there. Like I said, kind of hard to describe. The oysters were pretty much warmed through rather than actually being cooked...nothing like fried oysters. All of it's topped off with a mild chili sauce. Interesting range of textures and new to me flavors, but personally not my favorite.



I keep being tempted by these gigantic sausages (yep, go ahead, comment, I dare you), but no matter how much I walked around seeing various carts with them, I did not see a single person eating one. So, is this like a to-go meal for the family...or just a joke that they play on unwitting tourists? (edit: later we figured out why we didn't see people munching down on giant tube steaks...they cut it up for you and serve it with raw garlic...and it's delicious!)



Looking to wash things down, we ordered up some freshly juiced bittermelon. Spiff actually hates bittermelon for the most part, but the taiwanese stuff (in addition to being white rather than green), is pretty mildly bitter. Even better it's pretty crisp and refreshing...definitely worth a shot regardless of your fondness for the thing. I'm pretty sure it would make for an excellent cocktail ingredient.