mmm-yoso!!!

Chiayi - A Lou Shi Turkey Rice (阿樓師火雞肉飯), Wenhua Road Night Market (Again), and River Bird Coffee Roaster (江鳥咖啡- 嘉義吳鳳北路店)

After returning from Alishan we had some snacks at the 7-11. I was quite shocked to see draft beer "pulls" in the store....you can get draft beer at a 7-11!

We returned to the hotel, took a short nap, then headed out for an early dinner. The Missus was really in Her element in Taiwan. She would chat up folks and get recommendations. We were so taken by the Turkey Rice that we wanted to have that again. The young lady at the Tea Shop right at the corner recommended a Turkey Rice shop named "A Lou Shi". She told us it opens at 4pm, so we headed on out and wouldn't you know, we found the place!

And there was quite a line! Since this is Taiwan, the line was a good thing! It moves so quickly.

Check out who was waiting for some Turkey Rice right in front of us!

One quick look at the counter and you knew what they specialized in.

The place was in continuous movement of folks ordering, eating, then vacating.....

We really enjoyed the stir fried veggies in Taiwan, so of course we ordered all of it!

All the greens were prepped the same way, blanched, then sauced, then minced garlic were added.

The ong choi was crunchy, there was a light sauce which heightened the flavor. The garlic added a nice pungency.

The lettuce had what tasted like oyster sauce on it, along with the garlic.

The yam leaves had a texture like spinach, without the "gooeyess", but also had a nice mild sweetness along with the chlorophyllic flavor.

All were quickly blanched so the flavors weren't leached and there was some crispness to things.

And of course, we loved the bamboo shoots.

Crunchy, with a earthy-nuttiness and a hint of sweetness.

This place served Turkey Rice two ways. Sliced and a version more braised.

   The rice was perfect, but the sauce was greasier and milder in poultry flavor than what we'd had earlier and the turkey meat was more chewy/tough as well. 

Overall, we preferred A Hong Shi.

A Lou Shi (阿樓師火雞肉飯)
No. 102 Wufeng North Rd.
East District, Chiayi City, Taiwan

Still, check out the line as we left!

We had to walk thru Wenhua Road Night Market on the way back to the hotel.

And the Missus decided to stop at this charming looking stand for some Douhua - beancurd pudding.

Which She enjoyed.

And of course there was a "show" going on at the Central Plaza that evening as well.......

There's always something happening here I guess!

In an earlier post, I mentioned having problems getting train tickets because of the Qingming Festival (i.e. Tomb Sweeping week). Well, in order to get back to Taipei, I ended up hiring a driver, which in terms of US prices is quite inexpensive. In fact, after doing this car hire, I went ahead and did the same for other "excursions" during our trip. One good thing about having your own driver is that you have greater control of your schedule. So, I timed things so we'd be getting to our hotel in Taipei right at check-in time. This meant that we wouldn't leave Chiayi until after 12.

So, after grabbing a snack at the Hotel, we checked out and stored our bags and decided to take a walk around Chiayi.

There was a kind of rusticness to Chiayi, making it quite different from Taipei and Taichung. Businesses dotted the landscape all along Wenhua and Wufeng Road.

On Wufeng Road we came along this shop and decided to get our caffeine fix.

It turned out to be quite the hipster coffee shop.

The young lady working was so nice and sweet, while also being a bada$$ barista!

She made the Missus's pour over and I got my cold brew.

And she gave us some "treats" to have with our coffee.

River Bird Coffee Roaster (江鳥咖啡- 嘉義吳鳳北路店)
No. 132 Wufeng North Rd.
East District, Chiayi City, Taiwan

After our nice caffeine stop, we decided to stroll on back to the hotel. We stopped to do some shopping (and sampling) along the way.

Right at the center of the city is a fountain that dates back to the Qing Dynasty when Chiayi was the center of the sugar industry. The fountain stands where the city wall stood during the Qing Dyansty. But there's something else that catches your eye.

Yes, it's a baseball player; specifically a pitcher. This is known as the "Kano" statue. The statue is of the late Wu Ming-Chieh, star player of the Kano Baseball Team, the team from Chiayi was chosen to represent "Formosa" in the Japanese High School Baseball Championship in 1931 and against all odds made it to the final, losing in the championship game. Wu Ming-Chieh was the pitcher on that team. It is said that the success of the Kano Team encouraged Taiwanese to play the sport and now baseball is considered to be the national sport of Taiwan. An award winning movie was made about the team in 2014. And this is a wonderful article if you'd like to have more info! Everyone loves an underdog story!

We walked back to the hotel and in a few minutes our driver arrived and we were headed back to Taipei.

Thanks for stopping by!

Chiayi - The Wenhua Road Night Market and Alishan National Scenic Area

**** Not much food in this one....though I did love that Pepper Bun!

I thought I'd give you a break on all my Paris/France posts and head on back to Taiwan......

After checking into our hotel and having lunch at Ah Hong Shi Turkey Rice, we relaxed for a bit. We were staying right off Wenhua Road, right across the Central Plaza. Wenhua Road Night Market is but one block away and we weren't very hungry after our lunch, so it was a natural pick for grabbing a light dinner and getting in a nice stroll.

  And even though it seemed pretty busy along the whole 500 meter route, there was a laid back vibe to things. And so, we actually enjoyed this night market more than the Yizhong and Ningxia Night Markets. Of course Taipei and Taichung are the first and third most populous cities in Taiwan at 7.8 and 1 million, while the entire population of Chiayi County is 260,000. The city just seemed quite laid back and we could take our time to notice people....and their pooches!

It seems like folks really like to take their dogs around in dog strollers in Taiwan!

We did get to take our time visiting various stands.

And ended up getting some baozi; sorry the photos of that didn't come out.

And our favorite item of the night from this stand.

   The woman working was quite a good salesperson. She saw the Missus and I walk up and immediately started conversing with the Missus. And apparently this tactic worked as we got a Hujiao Bing - a pepper bun. 

I found that I really enjoyed Hujiao Bing, a juicy meatball laced with scallions, a the flavor of white pepper dancing on your tastebuds....

This was one of my favorite items on the trip....until we came across an even better version in Taipei.

As night set in, we headed back to our hotel.

As I mentioned earlier; our hotel overlooked the Central Plaza. The hotel was a bit dated and kind of noisy, but it was interesting to watch the happenings at the plaza from our window. On this evening there was some kind of talent/music show going on.

The next morning we woke and headed on over to Chiayi Station where I grabbed something quick from the 7-11, before we boarded the bus to Alishan.

And we were dropped off right in front of the main gate to the area.

And very popular......

We found Alishan quite easy to navigate, with wooden walkways, easy trails, a pleasant experience for all.

There are actually four villages within the confines of Alishan.

As you walk within the park, you'll come across amazing trees. An example would be the "three generation tree". Where one tree grew upon another, each serving as a base for the next generation, a symbol for all who some here.

All the trees are known and have names.

It's quite impressive.

  There were very nice wooden paths and bridges making Alishan a very easy visit. Perhaps too easy for the Missus as She was getting kinda bored with the whole place. Whereas I enjoyed the view and the trees. Oh the stories they could tell!

We eventually found our way down to where the Alishan Railway Station was. This would have been our transportation here had all our planning worked out; but of course I didn't know anything about the Qingming Festival at the time.

From here we headed off.

This is the Tree Spirit Pagoda.

The relations between Japan and Taiwan are quite complicated and I won't really get into that because there's much I do not understand. What we did see in Alishan was the Tree Spirit Pagoda. Which the sign describes.

There are amazingly old Red Cypress trees, many of which have interesting shapes. This is called the Elephant Trunk Tree.

This is the Xianglin Arch Bridge.

Beyond which there was this wall, which was busy with people.

They were all interested in this flower.

The Missus tried to figure out the significance of this flower and asked several folks, but couldn't get a clear answer. Perhaps one of our "FOYs" can clarify for us!

From here, it was a close walk to Alishan Shouzen Temple.

And there was one thing I wanted to see. I had read that in every April....we were here in the beginning of April, moths will roost on the statue of the Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven, whose birthday is the 21st of April. We were here during the first week of April and guess what?

My goodness, do you see the moth? Whoa.....

At this point...well, the Missus needed some tea, with aiyu.

From here we walked back to the main village making a atop at a tea shop.....Alishan tea is quite famous a renowned and the Missus wanted to sample some.

And She ended buying  some tea.

Before heading back to Chiayi....

It wasn't quite noon when we headed back, so we'd have time to grab some lunch.

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris - Cimetière des Chiens and Chez Ajia

One of the great things about spending 2 whole weeks in Paris is that it gives us time to do a bit more exploring outside of the center of the city. We'd always been fascinated by cemeteries and had already visited Pere Lachaise twice on previous trips. On that subject, did you know that the oldest pet cemetery in Europe (it's often claimed to be the oldest in the world) Cimetière des Chiens, established in 1899, is located in the suburbs of Paris, right across the Seine from the 10th Arrondissement in Asnières-sur-Seine? I took a look at this web page, saw a familiar name, and convinced the Missus it would worth a morning visit.

So, there we were catching the metro after our morning croissant and coffee, ending up at the Mairie de Clichy metro station and then taking the 20 minute walk, crossing the Seine, and ending up at these gates.

Talk about a rather grand entrance! We arrived at just past the opening time of 10am, paid our €3.50 entrance fee and walked on in.

Right at the entrance is a statue of the famous rescue dog Barry (who is actually in the Natural History Museum of Bern).

The inscription on the plaque reads:

"He saved the lives of forty people. He was killed by the forty-first"

Though according to several sources Barry was retired to Bern, Switzerland to live out the rest of his years.

Lest you think it's just pooches interred here.....

There's even a cat mausoleum in the cemetery.

Some of the graves date back to when the cemetery was established. This one goes back to 1900!

This one is for the two pooches of a Princess.

And this one is for the one and only Rin Tin Tin....yes that Rin Tin Tin.

Still, it was the other tombstones that caught our attention. There were several folks in the cemetery tending graves of their beloved.

You can tell they were loved.

They give so much to us........

I know we still talk about Sammy and Frankie everyday. 

Sometimes when we travel, we're rushing from place to place, from event to event. Having some time to just stroll and think about how lucky we are and how blessed we are does one good and puts things into perspective.

Cimetière des Chiens et Autres Animaux Domestiques
4 Pont de Clichy
92600 Asnières-sur-Seine, France

We crossed the Seine and headed on back to out apartment. After a short break, we decided to head on out to do some "lèche-vitrine" ("window licking") the French term for window shopping. This took us down to the area around Rue de Rivoli. When it came time for lunch; the Missus, knowing we had dinner reservations at a Brasserie was craving some Asian food. I had an interesting place on my "list" named Chez Ajia, run by a husband and wife team, she is the chef and hails from Taiwan and her husband who is French runs the front of house.

We arrived just past 1pm and easily found a table. We found out that the nice gentleman taking our order is one of the owners; he was really friendly, spoke perfect English, and turned out to be quite entertaining; more on that later. The restaurant is what I would call "coffeehouse - cozy". What was interesting is that you are given a device with three buttons on it, like we have at many Korean restaurants here; to call for service or your check. The menu was full of basic Taiwanese "standards".

The Missus is always up for eggs, so we started with a basic Basil Omelette (10€).

This was like something you'd make at home, it could have used more salty - savory tones, the eggs were adequately fluffy.

We ordered the "Loh Bih" (16€) which had some of favorite side dishes.

The eggs were very tasty and the bean curd skin knots were nicely marinated. The pig ears were not seasoned enough and the smoked tofu and seaweed tasted like it came out of a package from 99 Ranch Market.

Meanwhile, the owner, I believe his name is Geoffrey came on over and started chatting with us. And frankly, this was the most memorable part of the meal. He asked us where we were from and we said San Diego...he then asked us where in San Diego and we said "Bay Park". He knew exactly where it was! You see, he spent a year in college at SDSU! And then for some reason we mentioned Hacienda Heights and Rowland Heights. And he said he spent almost year nearby when going to the University. He asked us where about and we mentioned being near Colima Road at HK Plaza. He then said something that made us totally crack up - "so, you could smell the chou doufu then....." Yes, I guess the "scent of Shau Mei" extends all the way to Paris!

The last item of the meal was our favorite, the Guo Bao (11€).

The bao was on the gummy side; but the pork belly was nicely balanced in flavor, just enough sweet to even out the soy sauce, the meat was very tender with a nice savory porkiness to it. 

It was a good way to end an interesting meal.

Yes, our first two meals back in Paris was Sichuan and now Taiwanese. Heck, we were spending two weeks here, why not eat like we live here, right?

Chez Ajia
4 Rue du Roi de Sicile
75004 Paris, France

Thanks for stopping by!

Chiayi - Ah Hong Shi Turkey Rice

After our hefty breakfast in Taichung, we really didn't feel like lunch before or during our train to Chiayi. Our main reason for heading to Chiayi was to visit Alishan. I was somewhat confused as to why I wasn't able to get train tickets to Alishan ahead of time and even more confused as to why I wasn't able to get THSR (high speed rail) and even any train tickets when we left Chiayi. I ended up coming across something referring to Qingming Festival, which I mentioned to the Missus. Turns out that during the 15th day after the spring equinox families visit the tombs of their ancestors and proceed to clean the site and make offerings. In Taiwan, the whole week is taken off. Everyone is traveling, so transport is in high demand. What we ended up doing once arriving at Chiayi Station, was to head directly to the 7-11 where Alishan bus tickets were sold. We bought two tickets for the following morning.

We were staying at the Orange Hotel, which was kind of dated and noisy, but was centrally located and overlooked the Central Square. Of course, right after checking in the Missus needed to get Her tea fix.

Tea and boba drinks were priced ridiculously low; like 30 TWD ($1/US) at many places.

And just within a block of where we were staying were no less than six shops! The young lady at this shop was especially friendly and while chatting with the Missus even made a recommendation we'd go to later on during our stay.

We got used to having 2-3 of these a day. The Missus got really spoiled by this....to the point where She considered tea priced at 35 TWD ($1.10/US) to be too expensive! Ten cents more?!?!?

Once our thirst was quenched we decided to head out for a late lunch - early dinner. There was a specialty of Chiayi that I really wanted to try. So we headed on out. I had a list of places, but the first one was closed, probably due to the holiday. As we walked on over to another shop I had on my list we passed this temple.

All the temples we came across in Taiwan were fascinating, ornate, and beautiful. And all are important to the local community. This one is Chiayi Cheng Huang Temple, which was built in 1715. It is dedicated to the "City God", Cheng Huang. For more history, information, and wonderful stories about this temple, please check out this web page.

It seemed like every corner in every city or village was packed with places like this in Taiwan. History, culture, and lore abounds......

Sometimes I wish I knew the places we'd stumble across so I could do more research ahead of time, but you really can't dictate the future. I didn't know that our first choice of a restaurant would be closed and we'd head on to our second choice. Which featured quite a line!

There's a specific dish that I'd read about, for which Chiayi is famous; turkey rice, yes turkey rice. According to several sources, online and in print, and of course the ever popular Street Food series, turkey was brought in by the military following World War II (Shades of SPAM® in Hawaii). Due to post war hardships, turkeys being larger and cheaper to raise than chickens became popular in Central Taiwan. I'm sure there are several origin stories.

Anyway, there was a pretty long line when we arrived, but as we quickly learned in Taiwan, lines are a good thing and usually move pretty quickly. Within fifteen minutes we were stationed at the door of the restaurant; Ah Hong Shi. 

And before you knew it we were seated. Tables had dividers so a four top could be converted into a two top.

You are given a slip of paper and mark off what you want to order and hand it to the Server. The Missus's Chinese reading and writing skills sure came in handy during this trip. We placed our order and items started arriving in no time.

Of course the Missus got the Pidan with Tofu.

For some reason, I found that the century egg in Taiwan had a much stronger, almost cheesy flavor, and the ammonia like finish was more pronounced. That tofu was very "beany".

We enjoyed the Bittermelon.

This was very puckery and bitter. We enjoyed it.

The Bamboo Shoots were earthy with a mild nutty-sweetness.

Loved the crunchiness as well.

And then the dish I was waiting for, the Turkey Rice. The Missus, is not a fan of Turkey in the States as it is often bland, dry, really lacking in flavor, so She was not particularly excited about trying Chiayi Turkey Rice. This totally changed Her mind.

Topped with lovely fried shallots and pickled daikon (aka Takuan), the turkey was so tender, full of earthy, well.....turkeyness. Think about having moist and tender turkey with the flavor dialed up to 100 on a scale of one to ten. The perfectly cooked rice was saturated with the sauce of the turkey. Man, this was so good!

At the time of ordering, the Missus was still not sure about getting Turkey Rice and decided to cover our bets by ordering the Lu Rou Fan, the braised pork on rice.

Loved the varying texture of the pork; fatty belly, pieces of offal and such. The braising liquid was soy based, leaning on the saltier side of the spectrum. This was good, though we'd have better later on this trip.

For me; this was all about the Turkey Rice! And, ahem, "Rice-ly so".

Folks don't dally at places like this. You eat, take your bill, pay at the counter, and get the heck out of Dodge.

After all, look at who're waiting their turn!

Ah Hong Shi Turkey Rice
No. 108 Guanghua Rd.
East District, Chiayi City, Taiwan

 Chiayi Turkey Rice!

Taichung - Yizhong Night Market, Revisiting Miyahara (Twice), and Doing Some Shopping

This is a pretty long post, so I'm going to try to keep the verbiage to a minimum.

After our late lunch at Taichung Rou Yuan we took the short walk back to our hotel and took a break. For dinner, we decided to visit another night market. We didn't feel like getting a cab to Fengxia Night Market, which is said to be the largest in Taiwan. Instead, we decided to take the 20-30 minute walk to the Yizhong Street Night Market instead.

Along the way we strolled thru Taichung Park, which has a large man-made lake.

Folks in Taiwan really know how to relax and seem to be very social.

As we crossed Jingwu Road onto Yizhong Street, things didn't look too busy.

But one block further down....well, man it was super packed.

It was just overwhelming to say the least.

Some of the lines were crazy. We walked from one end of the road to the other end.  Not only were the stands busy, but the shops that line the street with everything from food, to cosmetics, gifts, clothes, and knickknacks were as well. As we hit the far end of the street, things calmed down a bit, the crowd seemed a bit older and there was even some seating.....

From here we took a quick loop around the stands again and found our places.

This booth made Rou Jia Mo, which looked good. It wasn't the typical Shaanxi style rou jia mo like we had in Xi'an, but featured and light and almost flaky bread, not like the typical "baijimo" (flatbread). This was very tasty.

This booth was selling XLB like dumplings.

Which were being made on the spot.

You placed your order, was given a number. When your order was ready it was called out.

These were pretty darn good...so porky!

Because we'd had a huge breakfast and a late lunch; this was enough for us. Plus, even though this was a bit of fun; the crowds were getting to us.

We took a quieter, roundabout way back to where our hotel was located.

On the way back, we decided to drop by Miyahara again.

As I mentioned in that earlier post; Miyahara is owned by Dawncake whose main store we visited earlier. This place has all kinds of "stuffs" that you never knew you needed.

While this fanciful, "Harry Potterish" shop used to be an ophthalmology clinic, it's now known for all their stuffs and the ice cream served here is super popular. We loved this "punny" sign.

After all the walking we'd done, we slept quite soundly.

The next morning we woke refreshed.

And availed ourselves of the nice and huge buffet breakfast.

The variety was impressive.

Our train to Chiayi was not leaving until 120pm, so we packed and stored our luggage at the front desk and headed out to do some additional Pineapple Cake shopping for my MIL. On Ziyou Road we found several shops selling pineapple cake, after having tastes, two of them past muster and we bought some.

I thought that the Pineapple Cake from this shop was the best I tasted during our entire trip.

Of course, I don't have much of a sweet tooth, and I've had my fill of Pineapple Cake so don't even ask me to taste any......

We saw a location of Ten Ren Tea and having visited the SF location many times were curious. We walked in and were greeted by the sweetest woman.

The Missus loved one of the Oolong Tea's and was told it's a limited crop and is only sold in this area and is not exported so the Missus got it.

While chatting with the woman, the Missus was constantly cracking up. Later She told me that the woman was dissing other tea producers, but doing it in the most "sweetest" way that She couldn't help but crack up!

We did a bit more exploring.

And took our required tea break.

And even headed back to Miyahara.....

Before heading back to the hotel, picking up our bags and making the short Taichung Station. We weren't catching the HSR, so we could leave from the station in the city.

The original Taichung Station has become a historical park and the structure along with the very modern station next to it makes quite the juxtaposition of buildings.

The old rails have been converted to sitting and dining areas....

And of course, there was yet another craft market going on!

Of course we had a train to catch and did not have much time to dally, so my wallet was left unscathed!

And soon enough we were off to our next stop! Chiayi!

Thanks for stopping by!

Taichung - Shen Ji New Village and Taichung Rou Yuan (台中肉員)

After completing our shopping at Dawncake we headed on back toward our accommodations. On the way back, I mentioned Shen Ji New Village to the Missus. Once the location of government dormitories; the area has been renovated into a what's called a "creative and cultural" center. And since there was shopping involved, well, the Missus was all for it!

This was a Sunday, so the place was bustling with various stands selling all manner of things.

In fact, the Missus ended up buying a dress from one of the vendors!

Shenji New Village
Lane 368, Minsheng Rd.
West District, Taichung City, Taiwan

From here, we decided to cab it back to the hotel and grab some lunch in the area. Of course, the Missus had a nice chat with our cabbie. When She mentioned wanting a light lunch, he recommended a place close to where we were staying that served Rou Yuan (aka Ba-wan). He dropped us off at the bustling shop.

We had quickly come to understand that lines are a good sign in Taiwan and in most places they move quickly. Actually, that line is for takeout.

The place basically serves three items; the Rou Yuan, a mung bean noodle soup, and fishball soup. 

The line to dine in was much shorter and we were seated at one of the communal tables promptly.

Though it seemed chaotic, there was a system in place. Luckily for us, we sat next to two really nice young men who quickly knew that we were "newbies" here. One of them spoke perfect English and he quickly flagged down one of the Servers carrying the bowls of rou yuan and voila.... we had our lunch!

 The the outrageous price of NT$45....yes, I'm kidding, this equates to about $1.45/US we got a bowl with a large dumpling which was fried before entering the thick miasma of a sauce. The wrapper had a pleasant, somewhat glutinous chewiness. The sauce was thick, quite savory, with a hint of sweetness. The meatball was very tasty, though a bit on the tough and chewy side. The combination of flavors was excellent. And this was pretty filling.

The two young men eating next to us were great; the fellow who spoke English who coordinated delivery of our bowls also went up and got us napkins....I'd soon know to look for napkin dispensers on the walls of these type pf places. I regret not paying for their lunch!

Our "bill" was dropped on our table. And as is the "system" in Taiwan, you pay at the register; there's no tipping.

This was a fun and interesting meal at a Taichung business founded in 1933! After returning home and using Google to find the address I discovered this place has earned a Michelin Bib Gourmet designation! You gotta love those taxi drivers! They were making sure we stayed well fed!

Taichung Rou Yuan (台中肉員)
No. 529, Section 3, Fuxing Rd.
South District, Taichung City, Taiwan

We were loving our time in Taiwan!

Thanks for stopping by!

Taichung - Taichung Second Market, Taichung Sixth Market, and a Visit to Dawncake

For our stay in Taichung, I selected Le Meridian. The rooms were the most comfortable of all the places we stayed at in Taiwan.

And there was a vast and good breakfast buffet.

The variety was quite impressive. A nice variety of Western and Asian dishes.

You were provided with a card for your table. You left it on the "green" side for when you went exploring for food.....

And then flipped it to "red" when you were done to let the folks know they could clear your table.

We enjoyed our breakfasts here.

We enjoyed our time here.

Unlike the other places we'd be visiting, I hadn't made any plans for our full day here. We had one destination in mind for the day, we needed to get some pineapple cake from Dawncake for my MIL. And while Miyahara was owned by Dawncake, we decided to walk on over to the main store on Taiwan Boulevard.

During our walk it seemed like Taichung is a bit spread out and there was only 1 MRT line in the city at the time of our visit. So, we didn't do much except explore. Like in other cities in Taiwan we found an interesting contrast of the modern and stylish....

With the old.....

As the architecture seemed to change on every block on this portion of Taiwan Boulevard.

There were many alleyways winding their way around, with some of them specializing in electronic shops or hot pot and the like.....

There also seemed to be a large number of 24 hour arcades in the area.

One of the places the folks at the hotel and the Missus's Instagram searches recommended we visit was Taichung Second Market. While we weren't very hungry due to just finishing breakfast, we headed on over to have a look.

During the Japanese Colonial Period, this was known as Shintomichō, a high-end shopping area. 

Now it's known as a place to get "good grindz".........

And as we soon learned, lines are usually a good thing in Taiwan and they can move pretty fast, like at this Lu Rou Fan stand.

There's quite a variety of food available.

Along with the expected produce, seafood, and meat purveyors.

Taichung Second Market
No. 87, Section 2, Sanmin Rd.
Central District, Taichung City, Taiwan

We stopped for a short tea break.

Where the Missus noticed a super long line going down around the block. She went to investigate and I crossed the street to take a photo.

Apparently, this is a very popular place selling Castella Cake, named Banshin Castella Cake.

Yep, those lines......

All of this and it was just after 9 am!

We headed further up Taiwan Boulevard, to the rather modern Xitun District, full of office towers and high rises.

 We came across what looked like a hotel....it turned out to be the Splendor Hotel, with a bunch of vendors selling all sorts of plants and crafts. The Missus read one of the signs and noticed that the building is called "Park Lane" and on the third floor was something called "Taichung Sixth Market". Since it was still early and Dawncake didn't open until 10 we decided to check the place out.

We caught the elevator up to the third flood and arrived at what I'll call a very modern food hall/market of sorts. There were some food stands but they weren't open yet.

Like I mentioned earlier; we were struck by the contrasts of the old (Second Market) and the new.

While all the food stands were closed, we found this tea booth.

The young man working the stand was so kind and friendly. The Missus loves Her tea and he took the time out to explain the source and flavors of all the tea; which was from his family's farm in Alishan and told us to have a seat.

He proceeded to make us multiple samples of each! Telling us to take our time and enjoy.

It was such a nice experience and we bought a couple of bags of tea. 

We'll make sure to return if we're back in Taichung!

Taichung Sixth Market (in Park Lane by Splendor)
403 Jianxing Rd.
West District, Taichung City, Taiwan

By now it was after 10am and Dawncake was open.

The Missus's Mom enjoys pineapple cake, so we decided to pick some up on every stop during our trip. Dawncake is probably the best known brand from Taichung.

The shop is large and bright. We were given some samples and the Missus got Her Mom a box.

Meanwhile, I came across something I had seen the previous night at Miyahara.

And this time I just had to get it.

It's actually tea that is sold in what could pass as an album cover. So, the Missus got more tea and I got that wonderful album cover...because "I'm forever missing them....."

Dawncake
No. 512, Section 2, Taiwan Blvd.
West District, Taichung City, Taiwan

Happy Mother's Day!

Taichung - Dinner at Wow Cool (瓦庫燒肉)

As I mentioned in my previous post on Taipei, I hadn't realized that we'd be in Taiwan during a five day holiday weekend. So, the only rail transport I could get to our next destination, Taichung was the High Speed Rail that left at 546pm. It only took an hour to arrive at the Taichung HSR station, which was quite far from our accommodation located across from the regular train station in Taichung. On a positive note, taxi fare in Taiwan is very inexpensive by US standards and getting a cab to our hotel was a breeze.

It was dark when we arrived and we check in and headed on out. Right around the corner from the hotel is the famous Miyahara building, which is owned by Dawn Cake, a well known pineapple cake producer. 

The structure was once a large ophthalmology clinic owned by Miyahara Takeo during the Japanese colonial period. It has now been nicely restored with an interior that flaunts a Harry Potterish theme. The ice cream stand in the building is very popular. There was something that instantly caught our eye, which we'd end up getting at Dawn Cake's main location when we visited the next day.

Of course, there was the question of "what's for dinner"? It seemed that many of the places around the hotel except for hot pot places were closed. And, at least for us, it was just too hot and muggy to even considered hot pot. So, we went decided to go for a recommendation from the taxi driver that drove us from the National Palace Museum the day before. During his conversation with the Missus he mentioned that his grand daughter lived in Taichung and also told the Missus her favorite restaurant. He also said there was one item there that once you tried there "would be no turning back" to another version again!

So, we set out looking for the place, weaving down various streets and alleyways.

Folks at the hotel didn't seem to know about this place. Neither did several folks we came across at various businesses. Until one older gentleman pointed the way. Turns out the English name of the place is "Wow Cool"?!?

And it's basically Yakiniku.

We quickly ordered some liquid refreshment.

While the Missus perused the menu. There were quite a few groups of younger folks eating piles of pork, beef, and seafood. We just can't put all that stuff away like that anymore and decided on the Wagyu cuts.

And a good amount of veggies....which were of good quality and tasty.

   The Missus really loved the yamaimo and the meat was buttery, beefy, and so tender.

But what was so delish as to make us not be able to "turn back" once we tried it?

Well, it was the chicken stock provided for each table for free!

And my goodness, it was delici-yoso! 

So full of "fowl flavor", rich, with an wonderful "tongue feel".

Who'd have thought. You walk into a yakiniku joint, only to find that the chicken broth would have you "never turning back"!

This was an interesting start to our visit to Taichung.

Wow Cool
No. 16 Minquan Rd, Central District
Taichung City, Taiwan 400

Taipei - The National Palace Museum and Lunch at Dian Shui Lou

Our next destination in Taiwan was to be Taichung. Usually, I'd arrange for transportation and time our arrival to close to check in time at our destination. This time though, there was a little problem. Apparently, there a holiday Qingming Jie (清明节 - "Tomb Sweeping Day") which is big deal in Taiwan. Traditionally, during this period  families visit the gravesites of their ancestors and clean (thus the "sweeping") the sites and present offerings. This was a Saturday and the start of a 5 day holiday weekend where it seems everyone travels. Well, I had a heck of a time arranging transportation and in the end we'd juggle the HSR (High Speed Rail), TRA (Standard Rail), and Private Car hire to get us to our destinations. There were no HSR nor TRA tickets available during regular hours. I finally managed to get us a high speed rail ticket form Taipei to Taichung that left at 545 pm. And our hotel was nice enough to hold our luggage.

So, this gave us more time to explore Taipei. We really wanted to visit the National Palace Museum. There was one item we really wanted to see, the Jadeite Cabbage, dating from the Qing Dynasty, it is probably the most popular item in the museum. In fact, folks I know from Taiwan have called it the "Mona Lisa" of Taiwan!

Initially, the Missus wanted to walk the 5 1/2 miles to the museum! But I was kinda bushed from the 12 miles plus we'd walked the previous day and taxis were so reasonable in Taiwan, so I talked Her into getting a cab. Which turned out to be fun. The Missus got some good dining tips from our drivers and some input on the place we had lined up for lunch!

We arrived and paid admission, then headed to where the main treasure(s) of the museum are, only to find that the Jadeite Cabbage was on loan! Oh well, at least got to see this.

Can you guess what it is?

It's called the "Meat Shaped Stone" aka the "Dongpo Rou". Sure does look like it, yeah? Here's the version we had in Hangzhou....

Man, do the Taiwanese have a thing about food or what? So, while we missed the "Mona Lisa" of Taiwan, I' dubbed the "Dong Po Rou" the "Venus de Milo of Taiwan"!

All kidding aside, the collection here was amazing.

We were especially impressed with all the jade carvings and vessels. Some were so tiny and of course in keeping with the food theme, see the "eggplant" snuff bottles?

The carvings and designs were so intricate.

There's quite a bit too see here, but we enjoyed the ceramics and jade collection the best.

 Of course, in typical fashion, when there's just too much to see, like when visiting the Louvre, we called it after about 3 hours.

I think the next time we visit, we might arrange for a private or small group tour to get the most out of our visit. After all, we gotta see that Jadeite Cabbage right?

It was time to head off to lunch. During our walk the previous day, we passed a location of Dian Shui Lou, a restaurant that specializes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang style dishes and also serves Xiao Long Bao. According to the Missus, the poster outside the restaurant indicated that DSL had beaten DTF for best XLB in Taiwan! So, we decided to head off there for lunch.

In the basement of the museum is info desk and the friendly folks there will call taxis for you. When the woman asked where we were headed, the Missus replied "Dian Shui Lou, Huaining Street." The friendly woman told the Missus that her family often goes there for celebration dinners! 

A cab was called for us and we were given the Taxi's number, clearly visible on the vehicle, and instructed where to wait.

Our Taxi Driver this time around was super chatty and was quite enthusiastic about food. In fact, he made a recommendation for Taichung, his daughter lives there, and for a place we'd visit later in the trip. He said he preferred DTF over DSL though.

The restaurant wasn't very busy when we arrived, though it filled up quickly thereafter. I believe folks with reservations were guided upstairs. The decor is quite upscale.

Of course, after seeing "Venus de Milo" we had to order the Dong Po Rou.

 The fat on this was quite velvety, but the meat kind of dry. The flavor was a lot milder, lacking in the sweet-soy, ginger, and slightly pungent tones I'd used to in this dish. It also had a bit too much of a greasy mouthfeel for us as well.

We also ordered the Crab Meat Rice with Egg Yolk.

Lovely looking dish, but the rice seemed to have the texture close to congee which we didn't care for. Not much "crabiness" to this as well. The egg yolk added a touch of velvetiness.

We also ordered the combination Xiao Long Bao. Which in retrospect might have been a mistake.

It's because our favorite was the traditional pork version. First off, the wrappers were too doughy for us, second, some of the dumplings, especially the versions with basil and the shrimp and gourd were really bland. Of course, there was the "19 folds make it better thing"......but as far as we're concerned, you can have 30 folds....if there's a lack of flavor and "soup" and the texture is not to your liking it doesn't really matter, does it? I could go on in detail about each flavor, i.e. the shrimp and gourd didn't have enough "soup" and was really bland, etc......but I won't. I'll only say this wasn't as bad as what we've had here in San Diego. Still, we weren't particularly impressed.

Our favorite dish of the meal was the Bittermelon with Salted Egg.

Nice puckery-astringent taste with the savory-salty flavor of preserved egg. This was quite interesting and satisfying.

We also ordered the Chou Doufu here.

But while being nicely fried; crisp exterior, creamy interior, this was not especially savory and funky.

As a whole this meal was our biggest disappointment of the trip. Still, in terms of damage, at least from the US point of view; at $60 this wasn't too bad.

Dian Shui Lou (Huaning)
No.64 Huaining St
Zhongzheng District, Taipei 100 Taiwan 

And we got to see what I call the "Venus de Milo" of  Taiwan.....

Taipei - 2/28 Peace Memorial Park and Ningxia Night Market

After lunch at Lao Shandong Homemade Noodles we decided to slowly make our way back to the hotel for a break before heading out in the evening.

But first, we would stop at one of the hundred of tea/boba shops for some light refreshment.

We ended up making 2-4 "tea stops" everyday....these places are so inexpensive....our drinks would usually be 30-35NT$ - think $1 -$1.15! We stopped at so may places that I just couldn't keep up with documenting them.

We made several stops on the way back.

This one is the Taiwan Provincial City God Temple.

This temple is dedicated to the "City God", Chénghuángshén (城隍神).

This was quite a busy and colorful temple. This page has more info if you're interested.

There was one last stop for us. A few blocks away was a large and pleasant park, where the National Museum resides. On this day, there was a group of students looking to take what seemed to be school yearbook photos?

The park was lush, green, and quite pleasant, especially with temps hitting the 80's with the equivalent humidity.

It was fun watching folks enjoying their lunches; or in the case of this pooch trying to get a squirrel to play with it.

This park was established in 1908 by the Japanese; the first European style park in Taiwan. It was then renamed Taipei New Park when the KMT took over. The current name is in recognition of what is called the 2-28 Incident. Which is detailed on this sign (click to enlarge)

Event which led to Taiwan being under Martial Law for 38 years.

Hard to imagine all of this taking place in such a peaceful green area.

We got back to our room and took a nice nap in airconditioned luxury.

For dinner, well, we thought it would be a nice night to finally go to a night market. After doing a good amount of research, we decided on Ningxia Night Market. I know many folks recommend Shilin Night Market, but after doing some reading, it seemed that night market has many more tourists. We'd have our choice validated by several cab drivers during our stay. The best quote was "Shilin is the place where tourist and young people go to spend money on things they don't need. Ningxia has better food and less crowds." 

We decided to walk the mile and half to and from the market.

When we arrived, except for a couple of stands, things weren't too busy. Things would start picking up a few minutes later.

Ningxia Market stretches along a single street, lining both sides of the avenue. There are also restaurants on the street as well with any choices.

We decided to walk the length of the market before making our choices.

My first choice was a Scallion Pancake with Salted Egg Yolk.

This was crisp, fairly light, the eggy flavor coming thru quite distinctly.

Of course, once the Missus saw...well, more liked smelled the "fragrances" from this booth Her mind was made up.

The chou doufu was still being fried up, so we were guided to the table behind the booth.

Soon enough, the Missus's stinky tofu was delivered. Man, the smell was quite potent, though nothing like what we had in China.

And in terms of chou doufu, this was "all bark and no bite". It was crisp and smelled the part, but was very mild in flavor. I guess the Missus's rule for me still goes "if you can eat it; it isn't stinky enough!"

As we walked back down the street we saw this stand.

These looked good so we ordered some. After ordering, the mushrooms were refried to heat and crisp up.

Crisp and earthy enoki and two types of oyster mushrooms.

  We'd enjoyed the vibe at the Ningxi Night Market, though I think the Missus had gotten Her share of fried food and really wouldn't order much for the rest of the trip!

We also enjoyed the walk back which took us thru some other neighborhoods in the Datong where places seemed open a lot later than where we were staying. There seems to be more younger people and boutiques and other shops the Missus enjoyed.

I was kind of bushed when we got back to the hotel. I guess I was a bit our of shape and not used to putting in the mileage like we do in, say Paris?

Obviously, I slept well. 

Thanks for stopping by!