Boiled, hot and spicy goodies!

As I have come to realise during this past week while losing myself in this gorgeous city, is the culinary obsession that the Tainanesse (not sure if this is the correct way of calling them, but fuck it) have with food.

Menu and prices.

There are many exotic things and many not so exotic ones, and this, more than exotic is unique and interesting; think for a second on a buffet, an omelette bar and a Japanese shabu-shabu, are you there yet? Ok, now forget the details of each of these things and let us meet this local delicacy.

There are literally hundreds of this kind of joints around Tainan, the first thing you will notice is a cart outside the little shop containing a ridiculous amount of delicious things; from blood-rice cakes, sausage and meatballs, to any kind of fresh veggies, noodles and mushrooms of all sorts, passing through all the imaginable (and unimaginable) permutations of tofu.

The goodies

Minoru's Diary in Taiwan: Finding a flat & getting to know a city.

On day two I embarked myself in the titanic task of finding a suitable place to live for my next months in the City of Tainan, Taiwan. And I say Titanic for two main reasons: 1. I don’t speak Chinese, and 2.  There are only two types of flats available for a short period of time; either very nice pricey places or very cheap “shitholes”. With the help of a Colleague and a Professor (both locals) I set up a few appointments and off I went. Most of the places I saw were small, dark, smelly and dirty, but very cheap, nonetheless, the first flat I saw was very big, bright, and in general, awesome. However, people continued telling me that the horrible places I saw were very convenient (more on this word on future posts) and that I should not take the first place because it was too expensive and far away from my place of work (around 1 hour commute). I start to get the feeling that the locals prefer not to move a lot, to be close to work rather than having a nice place to live, I guess everybody has their own priorities. 

So despite of the insistence of the locals not to take the nice flat I liked since the beginning, I decided to take it. I was advised to call all the landlords of the places I didn’t like and explain why I didn’t want to take their place, and to look for reasons that would sound euphemistic enough… In the end I decided that the “reason” I would give them would be that I absolutely needed a place with a kitchen. And so, before I knew it I was setting up my moving date; the land lady would pick me up at my hotel to take me to the flat and do the whole charade (moving, contracts, payments, etc.).

I now have a lot of free time (adding the fact that the jet lag keeps waking me up at ungodly hours in the morning), so armed with my trusty camera, my now Internet connected cellphone, a big bottle of water and some tourist brochures, I exit the comfort of the air-conditioned hotel room into the hot and humid land of wonders that is Taiwan. 

My plan is as usual; there is no plan. I just walk and wander as I please, taking turns whenever I feel like, in search of hidden wonders and off-centre places. This works awesomely, somehow I find myself surrounded by an overwhelming amount of temples, shops, restaurants, and well, Taiwanese. 

A view of the NCKU Garden.

Let's Roll Some Oysters!

From the outside, Chen’s Oyster rolls looks a little bit like your typical fast food chain, but don’t be fooled by these looks, Chen’s Oyster Rolls holds great surprises for your taste buds. It is the real deal, real fast and delicious food and all of the ingredients are acquired just a few meters away in the Fish Market; its hard to get any fresher than that!

The logo!

Soup In Your Dumplings (No kidding!)

The firs thing you can notice when approaching HaoWeiDao (上海好味道小籠湯包) Soup Dumplings (other than the giant red and yellow sign) is the open kitchen, in which a group of cooks in red shirts prepare the dumplings with great mastery. The dough is rolled with small and thin pins then they are filled with a gelatinous broth; savoury, packed with meat (or not) and different veggies. Then in the hands of a couple of “dumpling masters” they are closed and beautifully placed in the steamer.

The craftsmen behind this lovely creation.

Minoru's Diary in Taiwan, Day 1

Just in the immigration line in Taipei I can quickly tell who is local and who is not. Immediately I can recognise the Europeans, most likely Scandinavian coming in the same flight from Stockholm as me, a Spanish couple and a group of French youngsters. And the first thing I notice other than the obvious fact that they are not Asian, is the height. I think to myself: -No matter, I think I will blend in just fine. 

Silly me; my cover has been compromised, the Taiwanese can immediately tell I'm not from here (not sure if they can figure out where I am from though) I was not able to blend in as a local, apparently I'm too tall and not asian enough...(who knew!).

This is a weird yet familiar feeling, the locals try to speak to me in English whilst the foreigners who see no difference between me and the Taiwanese approach me with a "Ni hao". I'm feeling just as I always feel, a foreigner, a person who looks different as everybody else, yet, strangely, very much at home.

The THSR (High Speed Rail) is impressive, a very fast, clean and modern train. Connecting the north and the south it is one of the most convenient ways of moving around the Island. So, one and a half hours after my boarding the train I get to Tainan, the place I will be calling home for the upcoming months. I see a 7-eleven and decide to get myself a SIM card and a Metro Card (they call it Yo-Yo Card and it works here as well as in Taipei and some other cities for buses and trains).

Suddenly I realise I'm super hungry, I haven't eaten a proper meal since my departure from England, I see a cute little joint that serves "Running Sushi", - Not particularly local, but it will do - I think to myself. So, my first meal in Taiwan, Sushi... Like my first meal in Germany was Indian, and my first meal in Spain was Chinese. If you think about it for a bit, it is really not surprising how good that sushi was, after all, the Japanese occupied the Island for some time, there is still some remnants of those times in the food culture here. 

After indulging myself in some very nicely prepared sushi, some heartwarming miso and a nice cup of o-cha, I walk to the hotel I will stay in until I find a flat, I notice the humidity and the nice temperature outside, - A nice change after Europe - I think to myself. The hotel is nothing special, cheap and clean enough,  the only thing in my mind is that after 40-some hours of traveling without sleeping (Nottingham-London-Stockholm-Beijing-Taipei-Tainan) all I want is a hot shower and a bed.