Foreword

Just returned from a rather productive trip to Taiwan. Constant Companion RR and I have managed to complete all the tasks we have set for ourselves before this trip. In the midst of getting things done, we also managed to spend some quality time with the family and even visited a couple of strange, new places.

A lot of different things happened during those 8 days, making it hard for me to write a cohesive blog entry. My best approach would be to serve each happenings individually in bite-sized portions.

11th January 2020

Voting! Excitement in the Air!

I arrived Taipei on 11th January 2020, the day where the Taiwanese held a major election.

It was quite amazing to see how passionate Taiwanese are during voting. There were huge crowd of concerned voters gathering at the streets. Temporary stages and massive amplifiers were set up on the streets. There were people giving intense talk to the sea of people who reacted just intensely. The entire vibe was not too much different from a Rock concert.

As the day worn on and the counting of the votes began, things only got more exhilarating. Quite a day really.

Rice roll, egg pancake and soy milk.

McFlurry. Served in a paper cup too. Nice.

Constant Companion RR and I ended the day with the traditional Taiwanese breakfast items; a rice roll, an egg pancake and hot soy milk. Yum.

12th January 2020

Seeking Advice over Lunch!

On the second day, we had lunch in a restaurant which serves in Vegetarian fine-dining. Not an easy restaurant to reach. It is located far from the city, somewhere at the foot of some mountain (I believe).

Constant Companion RR‘s dad had the difficult task of driving us there. En route, the GPS in his car got wonky and sent us on the wrong direction, up a long highway with no immediate way to retrace our steps. We managed to arrive at the secluded restaurant slightly past our time of booking.

The actual restaurant itself is built in what seems like an old warehouse. While the exterior (the warehouse part) is all rust and metal, the interior of the restaurant is real chic with wood and plants.

Tasteful pottery under ambient lighting.

2nd Floor.

Stairs to the ground floor.

Chef working hard behind the counter.

Ground floor.

A lot of wooden surfaces.

It is really nice in the restaurant; nature being the main theme of its decoration. We were led to the second floor of the restaurant where we were required to remove our shoes and leave them on a shoe rack before being brought to our table.

Besides us, there was another group of customers on the far side of the dining room. With gentle music in the background, the environment was quiet and elegant with soft, gentle music playing in the background; it was a conducive environment for conversation.

That was wonderful since one of the purposes of the lunch, besides bonding with Constant Companion RR‘s elders, was for me to ask for some life’s advice and guidance from them. Recently, I have been feeling lost and aimless and I thought tapping into the wealth of knowledge and life experiences of the elders will do me a lot of good.

Over the several different courses, we chatted and enjoyed the creativity and flavour of the dishes brought to our table.

Food was brought to us on planks of wood.

Pumpkin soup and something.

See? Planks of wood as serving trays.

Sweet fruit vinegar.

Sweet corn

Baby grilled corns.

“Monkey Head Mushroom”.

Asparagus.

Asparagus lightly grilled.

Tofu skin?

Some tofu skin and a sweet beverage.

Stinky tofu.

Soup.

Sushi.

To be honest, I did not know what was I eating most of the time during lunch, partly because I was focused on listening to the elders, but I did not taste anything which I dislike. I particularly enjoyed the grilled baby corn, the “monkey head mushroom” and the vegetarian sushi.

All in all, we had 10 courses. The last being a dessert which I have forgotten to snap a picture of. On the side note, one thing I noticed is that when it comes to fine dining, Constant Companion RR has no problem finishing her food. Hmmm…

It was a lovely meal. By the end of it, my stomach was filled with good food and my mind, with great advice.

After lunch, Constant Companion RR‘s parents brought us to a cafe which originated from Taichung, and is believed to be the creator of the ever-popular Taiwanese drink, the Taiwanese Bubble Tea.

This branch.

A hot Tie Guanyin Milk Tea. With “bubble”, of course.

A handy little massaging device.

We spent the next couple of hours in the cafe, conversing and I was also taught the Japanese technique of face massaging which has incredible slimming effect on the face. Instant jawline whenever you want!

Curry rice.

Cuttle fish soup and a plate of fried vermicelli from Ningxia Night Market.

After parting ways with Constant Companion RR‘s parents, we wandered around for a bit of dinner and a short trip to our usual night market, Ningxia Night Market before heading back and call it a night!