Longtime Gone

So, I know that you have all been waiting with bated breath for the next installment of my blog. I apologize for the delay, but I do have an excuse. I am claiming more adventure this week than hours in the day, and poor internet connection. "But wait!" some of you are surely saying, "Didn't you have these problems before, and still post fairly consistently?" Yes. This is true as well. I said that I had an excuse, I did not specify that it was a good one, which is why I am apologizing in the first place. This past week has been a little bit crazy, and so this post will explain all of that.

Last Sunday, I moved from my uncle's house to one of his friend's houses. His friend is a lady, named Anna, who offered to take me around and show me other parts of Taipei, and even an area where a group of Aboriginal Taiwanese people live. This way, I could experience more of Taiwanese culture before I leave.
Sunday, Anna and I went to a night market in the South of Taipei, that is famous for being held in really old and beautiful buildings.

Here is the name of this building, it means "under the big tree"

here is the big tree or Da Shu

 For supper, we had this delicious vegetable and noodle soup.

pickled cucumbers

(Clockwise from 1:00) Tofu, pickled white carrot, boiled egg, seaweed

With the sheer abundance of tofu and other soy products here, it must be incredibly easy to be a vegetarian here. However, I do not think that anyone observing a Kosher diet would have the same luck. There is just so much pork here. In fact, there is a famous Taiwanese dish, called pig's blood cake. I know, it sounds disgusting. but it actually isn't. It is made with sticky rice and pig's blood. It really doesn't have much of a taste. It just tastes like chewy sticky rice. But, I can now say that I have tried it.
                                          

 My tastes have changed a lot since coming here. The other week I bought a Twix bar from a 7 eleven, just to have something "American" that I hadn't had in a while, and it was way too sweet. I didn't like it. Taiwanese desserts have a subtly sweet taste, or they have a combination of sweet and savory flavors that creates the perfect flavor profile. I have become so used to this kind of flavor that I found myself thinking about how the Twix bar should have something salty in it, instead of being made of all sweet things. Also, I have finally acquired a tasted for tofu! When I first came here, eating tofu was hit and miss for me. I just couldn't get past the texture, but now, I find that I'm used to it, and I even enjoy it. I got to try this snack while I was in the night market: It is made with barbecued tofu that is brushed with teryaki sauce...

 ...Liberally stuffed with pickled white carrot and cilantro...

 ...then sprinkled with crushed peanuts and spicy red powder, (I don't know what the spice was)...

It was delightfully unusual tasting. It was so different from anything that I have ever had before, but it was all the more delicious for it. 

Now, I mentioned above, that it must be hard to maintain a Kosher diet in Taiwan. I also have the utmost sympathy for people with peanut allergies. If you have a serious peanut allergy, (I'm talking about people who can't be in the same room with a peanut), you should NOT come to Taiwan. Everything is made with peanuts. EVERYTHING. Crushed peanuts, boiled peanuts, stewed peanuts, peanut oil, caramelized peanuts. You name it, it probably got up close and comfortable with a peanut at one point or another.

 The next day, we went to Jingmei Night market.

I tried this traditional Taiwanese dish, it is a kind of dumpling made out of sticky rice dough and served with this red sauce. It was interesting. It is not my favorite kind of dumpling, because it is really gummy, but it was still good.

Here is Anna

 And here I am in this restaurant. The restaurant is tucked into a corner of the night market, and the seating is creative. Look how narrow this space is.

The red is pork with a crunchy rice puff coating.
There are also cucumbers and fried tofu.

These noodles are made out of rice. 

All of this food is so delicious. I really don't know what I am going to do when I get back to the states.

We had this crazy dessert. It is like a sweet bean soup, with some jelly, topped with shaved ice. It is pretty wild, and it is incredibly amazing. The textures are all so different, and yet, strangely, complementary. It is a very refreshing dish.


The next day, I went to the zoo. To get there, you can take a gondola up into the mountains. There is a special car that you can take, called the "Eyes of Maokong Gondola." It has a glass bottom, and the website said that it feels like you are flying. Naturally, I had to take that one, and it was worth it. The view was beautiful.

Here is the bottom of the gondola.

 Here are some of the pictures from the zoo:

lizards

Giant turtle. It was like 3 feet long. 

boa constrictor

King penguins 

hippo

African Elephants

I forgot what this thing is called...

Panda

More pandas

Later on, we went to a Shabu Shabu restaurant. It is a Japanese style food that you cook your self. 

 Each table has a burner in the center.

 You are given a large pot of broth, (see, it is divided into two compartments so that each person can add their own stuff), and a plate of vegetables.

Then, you order the kind of meat the you want, and you basically throw everything into the pot and let it cook, then you eat it with rice. It is very good, and it is fun to eat. 

 Wow, this is taking longer than I had expected. I'm going to break off the post here, because I am only halfway through the week's events. The next post will continue the saga. See you all tomorrow, enjoy this cute video of the panda until we meet again: