Who needs $1 Stores when you have Daiso - Day 26 - May 31, 2010

Breakfast Sandwich for Lunch



Looks familiar? It's the hanbao jiadan. I bought this at the breakfast shop behind Shida. I use to get one of these last summer all the time. However, it cost more than others. This place charges 35NT=$1.09. But they have more vegetables and the fried pork pattie taste fresher. This breakfast shop uses lettuce, tomato, corn, and cucumbers for the vegetables. They also had a really light ketchup flavor and a fried egg. Yum yum!

Vietnamese Dinner



I ate at Madame Jill Vietnamese Cuisine in Gongguan Night Market. Their food has improved from last year! But their stuff is pretty pricey.

Deep fried chicken with pickled carrots and cucumbers for 110NT=$3.43


The first two pieces of chicken were really good and flavorful. The drumstick didn't match though. The soup was also really salty, but yet addicting.


Daiso



Daiso is basically Taiwan's version of our $1 stores in the states. Everything in Daiso cost 39NT=$1.22. It's a tiny bit higher but everything in the store is so much better! It has everything, frying pans, hair ties, makeup, containers, toys, scrap-booking material, and more. Of course, you probably don't want to get your mini frying pan or makeup there because most likely they suck. But there are some good finds there!

There is even a section for massage tools and snacks.


I don't know if the balloon boobs are a good find, but they're definitely funny. There are also tools to make bento boxes! I bought a couple of them =)

Why can't Korean BBQ be this cheap in America? - Day 21 - May 26, 2010

Mosquito Bites of the Day: 1
Total: 11

I got bitten on my toe >_< They won't leave me alone! That's one of the worst spots to have =(

I'm still surprised by how cheap some food is here in Taiwan. But there are some things that are expensive here. For example, a double cheeseburger from McDonalds in Taiwan is around $3.00. I wish the double cheeseburger was cheap here, I would be all over that!

Fail #13



I was reading a Chinese/English menu at this restaurant. I saw one that said a pork and vegetable dumpling for 20NT=$0.62. I was thinking it was probably this huge dumpling or multiple dumplings in a dish. Well turns out it was a bao-zi type of deal (steamed bun). It did say 大包 (da bao, big wrap) I think on the order sheet haha. Oh well, I was going by the English.

I also ordered a fried silk bread for 30NT=$0.94. This was really good, you just have to eat it with something else or else you get tired of the bread taste. It doesn't taste as good if you take it to go and eat it later.


Extreme Two Hour Fail #14

To get to Gongguan Night Market, you can take the MRT or take bus #74 to get there. Taking the bus is a lot cheaper than the MRT, about half the price or less depending how far your destination is. Well I usually go to the bus stop by Shida (NTNU). Well, I saw these other signs and I thought the loop to Shida wasn't going to be that long. Turns out the loop was an hour long.

I had to stay on the bus for an hour, get off, pay, and hope onto another #74 going back towards Shida to get to Gongguan. So it took me two hours to get to Gongguan to eat Korean BBQ for dinner when it should have taken about 15 minutes.

Along with that, it turns out that Gongguan Night Market is about a 15 minute walk from my hostel. I never knew it was on the same road! What a FAIL.

Korean BBQ Time!



On the bright side, the longer bus ride made me hungry so I can eat more at the restaurant =) The restaurant is near the Campus Book Store. It's across the street from a small water park. I think it's a water park -shrugs- I was pretty disappointed with the restaurant that night because they gave less side dishes. There use to be at least five but it went down to three. LAME. But their meat still tasted good =)

Side dishes: Seaweed, bean sprouts, and kim chi
Meat: Pork (on the bbq thing), chicken, beef, lamb, and steak or thick pork pieces?
Others: Rice, Cabbage, Asian vegetable, carrots, tofu, and clear skinny noodles.

263NT=$8.21