Yes, I've decided not to give everything away in my subject titles from now on - brevity is key! Also, it's because I spent 3 days in Hsinchu without Internet access and have a bunch of stuff to say.
On Friday morning, we drove from Taipei to Hsinchu. (It turns out I was wrong in my previous post - Hsinchu is not in southern Taiwan, it's just 1 hour south of Taipei. Sorry about the mistake - I know I'm horrible with geography.) The first thing we did when we arrived was eat - at a gloriously yummy order-whatever-you-want buffet at the Peng Yuan restaurant. All the food was of top quality, and you could order as much as you wanted for a flat price charged per person! I think my favorite was a special shrimp dish, that was served kind of like Peking duck - on a lettuce leaf, but with a little bed of crunchy bits under the shrimp instead of sauce.
Anyway, after lunch, everyone except for me got a haircut. I was torn between the low prices and trying to grow my hair out - imagine a haircut for about CAN$5!! Of course, in the end, I decided to keep my hair, but I was quite tempted.
Dinner was a light snack at a really posh tea shop (yeah, they have more tea shops than coffee shops, understandably). Then, we tucked in for the night.
The next day, we went to some small shops for a hearty breakfast of noodles, special dumplings, and the best meatballs in Hsinchu. Apparently, in the smaller cities there are still quite a lot of motorcycles!
In the afternoon, we browsed the markets for cheap clothes - shirts for less than CAN$7! (Yes, if you want good deals, go to Hsinchu.) Unfortunately, I couldn't stay outside for too long - the heat was just crazy. I had to rush from shady spot to shady spot otherwise I would have melted under the sun.
Dinner was a family affair at a well-known Szechaun restaurant called Chengdu - yes, named after the city. Despite my awful experiences with the Szechaun spices in Beijing, I decided to give the spicy stuff a try and found that it wasn't too bad. Usually, the spices they use leave your mouth numb in addition to the regular tongue-on-fire feeling that you normally get from eating chili. I guess the better chefs know how to dampen the numbing effect of the chili so it is more manageable.
My last day in Hsinchu coincided with Mother's Day. In Taiwan, Mother's Day is practically a full-blown holiday because everyone celebrates it - it would be impossible to forget Mother's Day. Thus, the whole family (aunts, uncles, cousins) came out of the woodwork and gathered in Hsinchu for a huge buffet lunch and mahjong. Yup, it seems mahjong truly is that popular, and you had better know how to play! I myself was not really familiar with the game, so I watched and learned - it's almost like poker in that the game is easy to pick up, but mastering it could take a long time.
Later, we went to the night market to pick up some food for the mahjong players (and ourselves).
I got to try lots of different things including noodles, shrimp/fish balls, clam omelettes, and Taiwanese-style fajitas. Well, okay, they're not really called fajitas, but I'm not sure how else to describe them! Desserts included shaved ice on top of fruits and other stuff, and this super yummy peanut puff. It was basically a cream puff, except the inside was kind of like cotton candy without the sugar, and the outside was covered in sugar and peanuts. Definitely a winner for peanut lovers!
That pretty much brings me to this morning, which consisted of our drive back to Taipei. Tomorrow, I'll be flying out to Singapore!
On Friday morning, we drove from Taipei to Hsinchu. (It turns out I was wrong in my previous post - Hsinchu is not in southern Taiwan, it's just 1 hour south of Taipei. Sorry about the mistake - I know I'm horrible with geography.) The first thing we did when we arrived was eat - at a gloriously yummy order-whatever-you-want buffet at the Peng Yuan restaurant. All the food was of top quality, and you could order as much as you wanted for a flat price charged per person! I think my favorite was a special shrimp dish, that was served kind of like Peking duck - on a lettuce leaf, but with a little bed of crunchy bits under the shrimp instead of sauce.
Anyway, after lunch, everyone except for me got a haircut. I was torn between the low prices and trying to grow my hair out - imagine a haircut for about CAN$5!! Of course, in the end, I decided to keep my hair, but I was quite tempted.
Dinner was a light snack at a really posh tea shop (yeah, they have more tea shops than coffee shops, understandably). Then, we tucked in for the night.
The next day, we went to some small shops for a hearty breakfast of noodles, special dumplings, and the best meatballs in Hsinchu. Apparently, in the smaller cities there are still quite a lot of motorcycles!
In the afternoon, we browsed the markets for cheap clothes - shirts for less than CAN$7! (Yes, if you want good deals, go to Hsinchu.) Unfortunately, I couldn't stay outside for too long - the heat was just crazy. I had to rush from shady spot to shady spot otherwise I would have melted under the sun.
Dinner was a family affair at a well-known Szechaun restaurant called Chengdu - yes, named after the city. Despite my awful experiences with the Szechaun spices in Beijing, I decided to give the spicy stuff a try and found that it wasn't too bad. Usually, the spices they use leave your mouth numb in addition to the regular tongue-on-fire feeling that you normally get from eating chili. I guess the better chefs know how to dampen the numbing effect of the chili so it is more manageable.
My last day in Hsinchu coincided with Mother's Day. In Taiwan, Mother's Day is practically a full-blown holiday because everyone celebrates it - it would be impossible to forget Mother's Day. Thus, the whole family (aunts, uncles, cousins) came out of the woodwork and gathered in Hsinchu for a huge buffet lunch and mahjong. Yup, it seems mahjong truly is that popular, and you had better know how to play! I myself was not really familiar with the game, so I watched and learned - it's almost like poker in that the game is easy to pick up, but mastering it could take a long time.
Later, we went to the night market to pick up some food for the mahjong players (and ourselves).
I got to try lots of different things including noodles, shrimp/fish balls, clam omelettes, and Taiwanese-style fajitas. Well, okay, they're not really called fajitas, but I'm not sure how else to describe them! Desserts included shaved ice on top of fruits and other stuff, and this super yummy peanut puff. It was basically a cream puff, except the inside was kind of like cotton candy without the sugar, and the outside was covered in sugar and peanuts. Definitely a winner for peanut lovers!
That pretty much brings me to this morning, which consisted of our drive back to Taipei. Tomorrow, I'll be flying out to Singapore!
Comments
will be posting again shortly... singapore is SO HOT!