Taipei, part 2: Top Ten Things I Love/Hate
Top Ten Things I Love About Taipei (in no particular order)
- Smelling the sweet scent of flowers sold by elderly street
vendors. They are sold usually with 5-6 flowers strung together and wrapped in a leaf. I don't know exactly what species or subspecies these flowers are, but I know that they are related to the magnolias. From my research, these flowers appear to belong the the genus Michelia (family Magnoliaceae , order Magnoliales). (Picture 1: Street vendor selling the flowers with an orchid for people going to the Hsin Tien Temple (also Xin Tian, Shin Tien, HsingTien), a religious Dao Temple. Here are some beautiful photos of the temple. - LemBu, my most favorite fruit in the world! LemBu is what we call it in Taiwanese, and in Mandarin it's "Lian Woo." The common English name is Wax Apple - I'm not even going to try to spell the scientific name
!. The LemBu variety in Taiwan is seedless and doesn't even look like the inside of an apple, but I can't find any links describing that variety or showing it cut open. LemBu is super juicy and you definitely will need to pee frequently if you eat some. Even if you happen to pick one that is not sweet, it is still yummy! On this trip, Dad found some at 80NT per kg (1 kg=2.2lbs; 80NT= approx $2.60). Unfortunately, I have never seen this in the U.S., not even in the Asian markets in California. If they do sell LemBu here, they'd be really $$ and probably not as fresh. (Picture 2: The LemBu I brought to eat on my flight home.) - Stinky Tofu!! It's so yummy, and yes, they kinda stink, but in a good way. The stinkier the better! You can find them in small mom & pop Taiwanese-style delis and restaurants in the U.S. I have alson seen them on the menu as "Tofu with Odor." In Mandarin, it's pronounced something like "Tsou DoFu." Stinky Tofu can be served many ways: braised, steamed, as a stinky tofu hot pot, grilled or fried. In Taipei, the there is a street full of stinky tofu vendors one after another, but I can't recall the name. However, the fried and grilled (and better tasting) varieties can be found anywhere, especially at the many night markets (see #4), and are usually served piping hot on skewers. *Drool*
- I can't talk about stinky tofu without mentioning all the Night Markets (article) in Taipei! The two more well known ones are the ShihLin Night Market and the HuaHsi Tourist Market (also HuaXi), which is also known as Snake Alley. Night markets are more than tourist attractions. The night market in the area of XiMenDing is very hip and less known to tourists. You'll never be without something to do or eat (my favorite activity) at the night markets!
- How to get to experience all the super things in Taipei? The MRT! The MRT is user friendly, fast, frequent, efficient and clean. (Pictures of MRT) In Mandarin, it's pronounced like "Jieh Yun." L.A. should learn from Taipei. There are many more people per square mile in Taipei and more users, AND Taipei has a better system than the MetroRail system of Los Angeles, which is dismal and uncoordinated by comparison. But of course, I prefer MetroRail to driving anyday.
- Taiwan-style shaved ice. It's fluffier and softer than the Hawaiian shaved ice that most Americans are familiar with. Go to any Chinatown in any city and you'll find some. In Taiwanese, it's pronounced "Tswhoh Bing." According to Dad, there really wasn't an equivalent Chinese character for "tswhoh" because that's strictly a Taiwanese word, until of late, when people got creative. In Mandarin, it's translated to "Bao Bing." There's also a new "invention" with even finer ice, called snow or snow flake ice. Taiwanese bing (ice) is served with sweet toppings (taro, boiled peanut, azuki bean, mung bean, almond gelatin, tapioca, mango, black pulms, pineapple, etc.) and then topped with brown sugar or molasses water and/or condensed milk. This is also found readily in the night markets (see #4).
Shaving ice. - The abundance of yummy and fresh bakeries. You can smell fresh-baked sweet breads everyday as you walk along the streets of Taipei. I could eat them all day. (Photo 3: My sister at a bakery near the Shuanglian MRT station.) This bakery has a type of "Pwo Lwo" (translated to pineapple bread in English for the resemblance to the skin-- there's no pineapple in it), with a thick crumbly crust on the outside and on the inside was like an awesome super croissant. yum.
- All the things to love about a bustling and large metropolitan city.
- All the specialty streets and districts. If you want cheap wholesale textiles, you go to a certain street. If you want snacks and preserved fruits, you go to another. There's an area where go get your herbs and tea. Etc., etc., etc. Of course, you can find those shops anywhere in Taipei as well, at the day markets and at the night markets. You get better deals and are guaranteed that at least one store will have what you want in those specialty streets/districts.
- Street vendor and mom & pop food stalls. You'll want to be a little careful with cleanliness of some of the carts and stalls, but when they're good, they're good. There is food everywhere in Taipei and you're sure never to be hungry. There are so many things to write about -- vermicelli soup, onion cakes, potstickers, meat buns, egg cakes, etc. I could go on and on and on.
Top Ten Things I Hate About Taipei (again, in no particular order)
- The humidity.
- Mosquitos. Damn, have you ever met Asian tropical mosquitos? They love to suck blood.
- The heat with the humidity. Really really sucky and suffocating.
- The uneven pavements and sidewalks. Not good for clutzy people.
- The VERY aggressive drivers and scooter drivers. They WILL try to run you over even if it's your right of way and WILL yell at you for "running into" their car.
- The smog. Not good for the skin-- yucky clogged pores.
- All the other usual things to hate about a very densely populated metropolitan city.
- Some of the stinky day markets with chicken, pig, duck and fish heads and parts of all sorts staring right back at you.
- The BAD hairdos of young Taiwanese students! There are more mullets in Taipei than all the midwestern and southern states added together! The mullets there range from short backs to very long backs. Yuck. More mullets here. (Er, my advance apologies if you have a mullet, but please reconsider...)
- The BAD fashions! I don't even know how to explain. It's like a bad mix of Japanese, Korean, Italian and other runway high fashion NOT made for normal everyday life!
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4 Comments:
Yes, I have met Asian tropical mosquitos. I don't DO mosquitos. I got positively eaten alive in Okinawa. My last mosquito attack was in Stockton, California. They're tiny there. They bit me so much that all the welts joined to make one big welt (all over my ankles). I couldn't walk for days and I actually had... well... I won't get graphic. It wasn't pretty.
I am thankful Allegra, or my ankles would be like your big welt (well, I didn't have problems walking. yikes!) I currently have about 14 red itchy scabby bites on my ankles. And a few on my arms.
I love your top ten things I hate. So true, especially the mullets and fashions. Sparkly shoes! But I still think stinky tofu is just that, stink tofu.
Erin, yes, I can see how stinky tofu could offend the olfactory senses. Hey, at least it's not even remotely as bad as durian, which smells and tastes like vomit and carrion, even if you get a sweet one.
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