Taiwanese gourmet delights

The food in Taiwan is fabulous. We have eaten so many great meals. The restaurants are excellent and really kid-friendly. The street food is so tasty with some of the highest standards of cleanliness and even greater standards of tastiness. The produce markets are packed with delicious fruits and vegetables- many we have never seen before, but are delighted to try. Many of the markets will give you samples of the fruits as you shop to entice you to buy! Yum- I love shopping here!

Here is a sample of some of our favorites. The fruit we collected at the green grocer.


Check out the size of that water droplet in the middle of this...green vegetable.


Our favorite local dumpling house. They have the best crab dumplings and Amelia likes the hot and sour noodle soup. Amelia's biggest problem here is that she is so excited to eat everything that she can hardly wait for the food to cool down.




There is a night market that is walking distance from our house. Amelia has tried just about everything we offer her. It has been amazing to see her culinary tastes blossom. Before we left home, she seemed like she was getting set in her ways (not terribly- but a little). We weren't sure how she would take to travelling. She has been incredibly adventurous. She even likes "stinky tofu" that we bought at the market- grilled over smoky wooden coals, coated with a spicy sauce (only a little) and served on a stick. Yum! The stinky part comes from the extra fermentation process that leads to a distinctive odor.


And our latest food adventure- squid on a stick. She liked the tentacles the best.


And just for Luc- a picture of his snack foods. Beef fillet chips, seaweed chips and the gold-medal Taiwan Beer. Yum! The Taiwanese equivalent of pickle chips and ketchup chips.
There are so many wonderful culinary options here. I am sure that we will have more to say on this subject!

Keelung and Jiufen

Luc went to Keelung to give a talk at the National Taiwan Ocean University. I had the pleasure of spending the day with Ya-Ting and Luc's NTOU host Ming-Huei. They were very sweet and generous hosts. After a huge banquet lunch, where Amelia met half the restaurant, we drove to the nearby mountain town Jiufen.

We were told that there is a point just North of Taipei where it always rains. Like an invisible line you cross marked by sheets of rain. It was drizzling in Keelung, but as we ascended the mountains, the water kept increasing. By the time we reached Jiufen, it was pouring buckets of rain. But the streets of this little village were still packed with tourists. Very cute town that normally has an amazing view to the ocean, but was obscured by gray skies. We still loved it and found some cute ceramic souvenirs.




Just a cute picture of Amelia devouring a little treat someone gave her in the village and then taking a picture of Amelia eating it. We asked what it was and Ya-Ting told us that it was dried pork! Luc was so proud and bought a pack for later.

Taipei Zoo

We went to the zoo on the nicest day this week. Sunny and warm. It was beautiful. It was the first time that I have spent quiet intimate time with a panda bear. The San Diego zoo had a great exhibit space that was constantly packed where you were constantly moving to keep traffic flowing. This morning when we were there, we took the long way to walk up the far ramp with the stroller- not realizing that there was even a bear in the outdoor enclosure. Everyone else was zipping up the stairs and into the building. It was still a bit cool. But we were treated to the most amazing panda bear walking right towards us. Just out for a morning stroll and we just happened to be there to say Good Morning. Pretty amazing.

I won't bore you with further explanations. But I hope you enjoy this selection of photos including some choice signs.





There is a Leopard lounging way in the back...

Playing at Da'an Park with papa

Amelia insisted that we take papa to see the cool playground. She wanted to show him her favorites.




This time Amelia did a better job of making friends. She made a nice slow approach- watching the other kids first. She was even offered a bucket and small shovel and all three kids played together for a while. It was very sweet. Of course, the other two kids were much older! That always helps.

Wanhua District walking tour

We went to the oldest district in Taipei to visit the temples. There are three temples in an easy walk sprinkled with tourist markets and food stalls. Just after exiting the metro there is a large plaza with some fountains and an outdoor market. As were were entering the plaza, a nice older man was cooing over Amelia. She gets so much attention. And he reached in his bag pulled out a pastry and handed it to her. So nice. A great way to start our adventure.


Then we headed to the Longshuan Temple, the largest of the three temples and by far the busiest. There were lots of people there making offerings and praying. Amelia managed to make a new friend while we were there, but we didn't manage to see everything before she melted. Maybe the fresh influx of sugar didn't help. At any rate, I think we'll have to return to see Mazu the Taoist deity of the sea. She protects seafarers and I think we might need to pay our proper respects.



Nothing like a playground break to brighten up any little girls outlook!


The next temple was Qingshan Temple that was on this small street and surrounded by large buildings. It didn't even look like there was a foot of space between them. Modern buildings engulfing this little intricate temple.



We stopped for lunch at an entirely random restaurant that was off the street. Amelia was a trooper and tried a bit of everything, but it wasn't really her thing. The texture was too much for her. Even the noodle-ish dish was a bit too gelatinous for her. At least she tries. It was enough to propel us through a farmer's market where she was offered lots of fresh fruit that she devoured. Yum. Then onto the last stop- Qingshui Temple.

We found these fresh pork buns steaming in the largest bamboo steamers that I have ever seen. I couldn't resist and neither could Amelia. This made up for our odd lunch and she ate nearly an entire bun!


Amelia loves pork buns! Up until now she has primarily rejected meat. Maybe this will be the end of that?

A more distant view of Taipei 101

We moved to our new apartment today. It is great. Closer to the University for Luc and a good central location for me. Sad to leave the big breakfast spread, afternoon cocktails, and daily maid service, but great to be in a larger space with some ability to prepare our own meals. Although Amelia has been a champion for trying new things. I can't believe how adaptable she has been.

Every morning she came down the elevator into the lobby and saw this:

She would get so excited she would run to it pointing and sometimes screaming for emphasis. Even more exciting than the Christmas tree in our living room. Maybe she prefers the smell of lilies?

One last trip to Taipei 101 and then down the street to our new digs with a great view of Taipei 101. Luc and Amelia exploring the public art including a Taiwan beer ad. Amelia liked the flowers which is why we keep ending up in front of it. Personally I love the statue of the family meeting carefully placed in a quiet corner that has been designated the "smoking area" after the recent smoking ban in Taipei 101.








There is a great rooftop garden at the new apartment. I love the Asian aesthetic and use of water in gardens. Here is Amelia trying to ride the little elephant fountain!


You probably can't see it very well. But in this last shot, we are trying to figure out how the washing machine works. It is ALL in Chinese except Panasonic. Hmmm. Our clothes come out smelling clean- so I guess that is good enough. Some of the other appliances are a bigger mystery- like the dish dryer. I kept asking Luc-" you mean the dish washer?" "No. The dryer." It is indeed an electronic dish dryer!