Big chickens make me laugh - Day 13 - May 18, 2010

Big chickens make me laugh. Why? I don't even know. I saw one today in Shilin Yeshi (Night market) and I just giggled and laughed.

Look how huge it is!


Maybe the reason why I cracked up was because it was so random. I'm just walking around eating my rou baozi (steamed meat bun) and I see this big chicken.

Anyways let's start with lunch!

Lunch Fail

Went to a small restaurant on the edge of Shida's night market. Thought it was going to be pretty good but it wasn't at all. Good thing I didn't spend much!

40NT = $1.28


What I ordered was basically noodles with pork and sauce. They overcooked my noodles so it was kind of soggy. There wasn't much flavor either in the sauce and not enough meat. They also put ooky green onions and bean sprouts haha. I'm not a fan of those two. I can stand eating green onions but bean sprouts >_< You know me and bean sprouts, we don't roll well together.

After work, I took a 2.5 hour nap. It felt GOOD. I'm not really sure why I slept so long. I've been getting almost 7 hours each day. Sometimes less, but I do need a lot of sleep haha. Then I headed out at 6:30 for dinner and Shilin Night Market.

Pho Pho Pho



Dinner was definitely better than lunch. I went to Thanh Ky behind Shida. It's a Vietnamese restaurant. According to their menu, they are famous for their Pho. Their Pho was okay tasting, I liked it more than lunch though haha. The restaurant itself is pretty small, but it smells like Vietnamese food =D Mmmmm.



Their prices aren't too bad. They sold fried spring rolls for 90NT=$2.87. I thought it was kind of expensive since it only came with two. That's what you would pay in the states.

I ordered the simple Beef Pho. The Pho was definitely not Pho Hoa. Golden 28's pho taste better than this one. Instead of using the skinny white noodle, they used a flat and wide noodle. The restaurant also overcooked my beef because it was chewy. I probably wouldn't order their pho.

This small bowl cost 95NT=$3.03. Not a bad price. I wish they had soy sauce, sriracha, and ho-sin sauce available =(


Shilin Night Market



Shilin night market is huge. There are so many stores to shop out, restaurants to eat, and stands to pig out on. I especially like the stands because they sell really cheap and good food.



I decided to try the rou baozi (steamed meat bun) for 12NT=$0.38. It was my first time trying a baozi in Taiwan. I was really surprised, I thought the baozi was going to suck but it was really good! It's like eating meat from dumplings but in a different dough. I was expecting less flavor but it was tasty =)



I also explored the Shilin Market. I thought it was a supermarket but it's a bunch of night stands with yummy food!. Definitely should have had dinner there. There will be a next tme though =)

Purchases of the Day

It's so hard to resist from buying so many clothes! I managed to get two things that I have to buy. A purse and boots =)

Purse: 200NT=$6.38 - Boots: 650NT=$20.75 - Good deals =)

Laundry takes so long! - Day 8 - May 13, 2010

Doing laundry in Taiwan takes forever. I seriously mean forever. The washer is about the normal time, but no matter what, the dryer is the longest. I remember last year I had to wait for over an hour and a half for a small load to get done. It's happening again this year!

Except the dryer door is broken. So what do you do when the dryer door won't close to start the machine? Find heavy stuff to make it close. WIN! Well half win really because the door gradually opens and it would stop the dryer from going.

Piggy piggy piggy



I saw the BBQ restaurant yesterday when I had lunch with Theresa and Xiao Wang. The piggy and ducks looked so good! It had to be lunch for today =D

95NT = $3.03


Even comes with all you can drink soup if you dine in!


Exercising in the Park



There are machines at the park that you can exercise with. What you do is sit on there, and push the handle bars. You pretty much lift your weight. It was kind of cool because the seat goes up when you push.



Took some shots of the area behind Shida (NTNU).


I love dinner

I went back to the area behind Shida for dinner. Went to a restaurant that makes dumplings, xiao long bao, noodles, congee, and more. The food there was so good! At least what I ordered was really good!

I forgot to take a picture of the storefront but here is how the inside of the restaurant looks like. I was sitting on the second floor.


I ordered Mung Bean Noodles with Shredded Pork for 60NT = $1.92. It also had onions, vegetables and shredded ginger in it. The broth was simple, not much flavor, still pretty good though.


I'm not much of a fan of a lot of sesame seeds, but the Fried Onion Cake: 20NT = $0.67 was still good. The middle had so much flavor. I like =D


The best for last, Xiao Long Bao! They are steamed dumplings with a flavorful soup inside. This one is made out of pork and it is just amazing. You have to be careful when you pick it up with your chopsticks because you don't want the wrapper to rip. If it does rip, all the yummy soup will come out. It was good like how people said it. I still have to go to Din Tai Fung (Famous for xiao long bao). It's suppose to be the best there. Can't wait to see how much better it's suppose to be because it's already so good!

It's steamed in the container with a cloth underneath so it would be easier to pull off. I failed once because I let the xiao long bao get too cool.


For the rest of the night, I just went around Shida Night Market for a little shopping. Found even more new stores there. Even this frozen yogurt place! It looks really good, haven't tried it yet because I was too stuffed.


I wish I can eat forever and for free too haha.

Last but not least, a picture of the shared living room at the hostel. Cute little painting =)