Assorted Treasures

SJ has lived in Taipei for over a year and their experience shows in their knowledge of the workings of the city. We were able to have some smooth and fun outings over the next few days. Some of this is pretty "basic bitch" stuff to do, but we do what we like and we like what we do, as Andrew WK has always told me.

After climbing Elephant Mountain and then exploring the exerbs of Beitou hot springs the day before, we took it easy that morning. I did wake up at 4am for a little while but then I went back to sleep! It was so great to wake at 7:20.

I had a great first breakfast of SJ's homemmade spelt noodles (honestly they tasted and felt like wheat noodles!), leftover stir fry, and yogurt with passion fruit.

After that we ventured out into the world and walked the dog, while looking in at several temples and shrines. The stone building with a triangle roof in the third picture is Bopiliao, a preserved block from the past (note to self to look up what era exactly). This is now a kind of open museum, that has historical and art exhibits.

Looking ahead to the next block of pictures (2nd pic) we also stopped at the market next to SJ's house and got some pork dumplings with a wrapper made of lotus root flour. It was very light and slightly chewey and provided a really good option for a non flour dumpling.

After that we went to Ximending- the West Gate District. This is a super popular area in Taipei for shopping and teen culture (wow i am so old saying that). We took the subway one stop to this area and were immediately greeted by tons of colorful store displays, long lines for bubble tea shops and desserts, a cart selling Mexican food (apparently it is bad), and just a lot of activity. We were there right at 10am when the stores were opening so as to beat the crowds/because I felt like it was the afternoon and we spent some time browsing, discussing fasion and maybe getting a souviner or two. We started to get really hungry to we stopped for a shave ice dessert to buy some time- this is milk ice, shaved into a pile of snow, topped with some ice cream, lots of fruits, and sweetened condensed milk. It was huge! See the picture where it is compared to my huge head! There are a lot more out-there and exciting versions of this treat but we wanted to keep it simple and also eat mango.

The pic of me next to the poop is outside of this instagram-trendy spot in the area that I think is gross and crass and am showing my dislike of it in this picture.

Im frustratingly not able to separate these blocks of picures, and some of them are duplicates....so just bear with me and read the story below. After our shopping extravaganza, I took another nap, we both did some reading and writing (SJ is a PhD student so has a lot of that), and we got some extremely spicy and shrimp-y Thai food, watched some "Atlanta" and went so sleep.

The next day, I woke up early and went to Wulai, which is going to be its own post. When I came back, I showered and we went to eat hot pot at a restaurant Sorel had wanted to try. This was a learning experience for us both.

If you don't know already, hot pot restaurants give their patrons a pot of flavored broth thats kept continously warm over a small burner, usually embedded in the table in front of you. You order what you want from a list of cuts of meat, seafood, tofu, veggies, noodles, and prepared foods like dumplings, meatballs and various curds, or you can order a set combo of veggies and meat.

I was getting ready to travel on my own so I was testing out Google Translate's photo feature- you allow access to your camera through the app, then hold the phone up to the written text you are trying to translate. If you set the settings correctly, there is a fairly good quality translation of what was in front of you. I tried to do this with the printed menu at the hot pot place (thankfully, most restraurants here have printed menus that you just mark what you want with a pencil and hand it in to the cashier, so it doesnt need to be said aloud).

I attempted to order chryasnthemum leaves (one of my fave hot pot veggies), pumpkin slices, blood sausage, and some baby corn. I was super nervous and counting from the lines on the printed sheet ("three up from the bottom of this middle section should be the corn" I was thinking), didn't ask for help, didn't say anything out loud, and did not order correctly- when my food was delivered, I got the blood curd, frozen tofu, some kind of fish meat ball, and a dumpling made out of eggs and chives. This was a the opportunity I had been looking for to try a blood dish, because Fan En had hold me that is one of her favorite foods in Taiwan- and I am glad I got to do it in the context of a hot pot restaurant because it was low cost, low pressure, and I had other foods to supplement. I did not like the texture of the blood sausage, so I haven't put pressure on myself to try it again. The fish balls and egg dumplings were not awesome either but I did like the freeze dried tofu, it had a texture that soaked up the flavors of the broth really well.

SJ was also learning they did not like this restaureur. She was very controlling of her patrons as well as disregulated. She didn't let anyone order independantly- she insisted in filling in all her patrons order sheets, she acted visibly annoyed at the specifcs of all our orders, and was kind of pedantic to everyone when they made requests- even the Taiwanese people dining around us. After people left, she didn't clear their dishes away and instead was organizing her trash. This made sense because the garbage truck was due, but she was just not organizing her time and efforts well. We felt bad she was working alone, but you gotta be strategic if that's the case. SJ had also ordered a plate of meat to put in the pot, and the owner placed this large plate of delictable beef half way between SJ and the patron next to them at the counter- totally ambiguously who it was for. Not wanting to steal someone else's meat, neither of them touched it. SJ waited until the lady came back from the trash run, and (thankfully!!) washed her hands before asking about the meet, which was indeed for SJ and pushed in their direction. The restaurant also offered free drinks and ice cream (typical for hot pot), but when we got glasses of what we thought was cold tea, it was actually a plum juice that had been left in the machine to the extent that it was fermented and I thought it was an alcholic punch.

After that we needed some refreshment and identifiable foods, so we went to a nearby dessert place and got a super-taro bowl, featured above in the picture with the motor scooter in the background. This was so delicious, with a base of shaved ice, topped with balls of taro mochi, regular mochi, boba balls, sweet red beans, and a type of taro syrup.

Places near the Ximen area are open late to cater to younger people and tourists, so we went to get foot massages - ~10 USD for 30 excruiciating minutes of getting the life kneaded out of your calves, ankles and feet. This happened the day after the elephant mountain and the day I walked all the heck around Wulai so I was ready for it! I also got a polish-less manicure and pedicure at a place across the alley from the many massage spots- this was $30USD for someone to do a really thorought job of cutting my nails and dealing with my cuticles. It was honestly great to not have to do this hygiene task on my own before my bodywork class and I got to talk to these two sweet Vietnamese kids who are studying Ecotourism in Taipei while they worked on my nails. After that, SJ insisted I try sweet potato and taro balls, which are little non sweet, fried donut holes. a delicious end to the fest of treats!

I also want to reflect upon the vibe of this night market- there's really nothing sleezy that I can see in it. There is some body services like the massages, nails, and some cheap piercing and tattoo spots, and there is some drinking within sertain restaurant stalls- Taiwan Beer is popular as well as a local spirt and some soju. But it's so much less,,,,idk sinful than any other tourist spot that I've ever seen before, including in the USA. No one is acting out of control, looking for attention or creating chaos. There is a lot of bright light flashing going on for store signs (super common everywhere, my migraine reports), but its not loud and there's not much hawking or soliciting. In some streets in SJs area and outside the market there is prostitution, but it was interesting that this "party time!!!" kinda area was just so wholesome on a broad level.