Follow-up to my earlier post on Diana’s wedding proposal.
For the last 3 days or so, the Taipei 101 now has a sign saying “Yes, I do!â€
Author: Eugene Glover
-
Back to the Rose Garden
Today was the day we celebrated Michelle’s birthday. In the morning, we gave her a present to tide her over, and took her out to the park to play.
By the time we got out, 10:00AM or so, it was swelteringly hot and humid. We lasted for the better part of an hour and headed out for lunch. (Dinner celebrations had been planned by my in-laws.)
We ended up back at the Rose Garden restaurant, which I reviewed earlier. Once again I had the curry katsu – this time at full hot and spicy – and it was delicious. I can’t recommend their curry sauce enough. This time I paid closer attention to their URL, which I had written down wrong before. Their URL is www.oisiiyo.com, and while the site is in Chinese only, I was able to get Irene to read up and get better information.
They are not a Japanese chain as I previously stated. Their story is that a Japanese citizen, living in Taiwan, missed his Japanese Ramen, and so went to Japan and convinced the winner of the best ramen in Japan award to share his recipe so that he could set up a shop in Taiwan. That was a success and later, he went back to Japan and got the recipe for curry from the winner of best curry in Japan.
Whatever the story, it’s good food!
There are about five locations around Taipei.
Technorati Tags: Blog, Food, Japan, Japanese, Restaurant, Review, Taiwan, Travel
-
I like Traffic Lights, although my name’s not Bamber…
I love the traffic lights in some cities in Taiwan. They have a countdown timer that shows exactly how long both the red and the green lights last. (Not sure about the yellow light.)
I’d like to think there’s no negatives to this scheme, but, of course, some jackass will use the knowledge of when the light is changing to speed up and run the intersection in a dangerous fashion.
Oh well, nothing’s perfect.
-
Dunkin’ Donuts – Taipei
An easy walk, even in the rain, from Taipei’s one Long John Silver’s is Dunkin’ Donuts.
What could be better than finishing off a nice fish meal with a tasty chocolate-frosted doughnut?
On my last visit, Mr. Donut had recently opened in Taipei, and the lines were horrific. Nonetheless, we had to try them and we were very disappointed. Perhaps that is the way they like ’em in Japan (and/or by extension, Taiwan), but doughnuts devoid of most sugar aren’t really doughnuts. That’s why I was looking forward to the introduction of a good, sweet American doughnut to the Taiwan market.
Dunkin’ Donuts prohibits photography in their establishment, but this being Taiwan, I decided to ignore that prohibition. It’s a flippin’ doughnut for cryin’ out loud! Why can we not take pictures?
OK, to the doughnuts. First, disclaimer. There are (or were) three major doughnut chains in my part of the US. Dunkin’ Donuts, Winchell’s and Krispy Kreme. To me, Winchell’s was the bast because it was the least sweet of the three. (But still far sweeter than Mr. Donut.) Krispy Kreme being at the ultra-sweet end of the spectrum.
I went with two basic types, chocolate frosted (which would be called Chocolate Raised back home, to differentiate from cake doughnuts) and Glazed (Glazed Raised back home.) Both were pretty close to the “originals†with a couple exceptions. Both were drier, which could possibly be a slight change in formula or they were a bit old. Second, the chocolate was distinctly less sweet, more of a bitter-sweet chocolate, but still good.
Maybe Krispy Kreme will move in and, adjusting the sweetness down to local taste, might be the best of all.
If I get the change, I might stop by for more Dunkin’ Donuts, but I won’t be high-tailing it out to Mr. Donut anytime soon, despite the fact that they’ve cropped up like cold sores all over Taipei.
I found Dunkin’ Donuts Taiwan from Hungry Girl’s Guide to Taipei.
Technorati Tags: Blog, Food, Restaurant, Review, Taiwan, Travel
-
Long John Silver’s – Taipei
I admit it, I’m a long-time patron of Long John Silver’s. My family used to eat there in Tucson at least as far back as 1974. While it’s not completely 100% authentic English Fish & Chips, it’s not too far off the mark, and it’s been very consistent for the last 30+ years. (Remember, I live in the desert, seafood is not the specialty of the region.)
Long John Silver’s has recently opened up in Taipei and my curiosity is too much for me. I was looking forward to eating fish & chips, especially since the apparent demise of the Frying Scotsman, this was my only opportunity. I was also quite curious to see how they’d “adapted it for the local market.†(Which is usually a euphemism for “screwing up the food.â€)
The restaurant was bright and clean, and more upscale than in the US. The food was served on real dishes and silverware! Swanky!
The combos didn’t appear to come with fries, so we ordered some separately. Then it turned out that the combo did come with fries, so we had far too many. My combo was two pieces of fish, fries (chips), a salad and an American-size soda.
My wife’s combo was one fish, one piece of chicken, two shrimp, fries, the salad and the drink.
I tried some of both my fish and my wife’s chicken. Here’s the verdict.
Salad: Well, this just isn’t a US item, so I have nothing to compare it to, save that it was lettuce with some Thousand Island dressing. (Thousand Island is the ubiquitous salad dressing of Taiwan. Taiwan must be one of the thousand islands.). Edible, but tiny. Thousand Island had an unusual hint of something like horseradish in it.
Fries: Absolutely typical LJS fries. I’m not a fan of them, but they were spot on.
Chicken: I noticed no difference between this and the domestic version.
Fish: The cut of the fish, the batter, the look and the feel were all exactly right. The fish was well-cooked and fresh. One thing – I’m not sure it was cod. Domestic LJS uses cod, which of all of nature’s fish has been bestowed the ultimately gift: It doesn’t taste like fish. Except, once in a while, you get a piece that turns a darker color towards one end of the fillet. Then, it starts to get a fishy flavor. This fish, from start to finish, has that fishy flavor without being the darker flesh. It’s not terribly strong, but it is distinct.
Because of that taste, I preferred to eat the fish with sauce. Something which we presumed to be an odd-looking tartar sauce was provided, but it turned out to be something like a cross between Ranch dressing (minus the buttermilk) plus garlic and sugar. We ordered an extra side of Thousand Island dressing (NT$ 5) which was closer to tartar sauce. I didn’t see malt vinegar or salt anywhere.
I had a similar experience on my first trip to Taiwan. At the time, I ate a lot in MacDonald’s because everything tasted exactly like back at home. It might not be good, but it tasted like home. Everything, that is, with one exception: The Filet O’Fish sandwich. That tasted fishier than the real thing. I’ve always wondered, is the difference based on the supply chain or an adaptation to the local taste?
Still, LJS was enjoyable and they seemed to be doing a fair amount of business. Perhaps they’ll survive until my next trip here.
I found LJS Taiwan from Hungry Girl’s Guide to Taipei.
Technorati Tags: Blog, Food, Restaurant, Review, Taiwan, Travel
-
Buy a Clue
Honestly, I really do have a brother-in-law, he’s not just a comic fabrication that I use to add levity.
He’s got a girlfriend – the same one he had last time we were here. We haven’t figured out why they’re not married yet. Then again, maybe it isn’t that hard to figure out why they’re not married yet.
Batrina (That’s the girlfriend. Don’t ask me where she got that moniker.) is going to England to study at Leeds for 1 year.
The picture here is a nice new piece of luggage/backpack that was on the floor when we got home from Alishan. It’s Johnny’s. It hasn’t moved for two days. He’s got no reason to use it. Why did he buy it then?
My wife got the story from Batrina. She bought it for Johnny. Long-term girlfriend going away for a year to a foreign country, buys her boyfriend a new piece of traveling luggage: It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out.
Johnny’s response: “Oh, you wasted your money. I don’t need luggage.â€
I’m going to buy him a shirt that says, “I am a cartoon character.â€
-
Prairie Dog Town – Yongning
One of my favorite pastimes in Taipei is to drop into the subway system, pick a station I’ve never been to and go there to explore. Since most of the stations are subterranean it’s impossible to have a feel for where you are.
Each station has a map showing what’s around it. Maddeningly, they’re oriented in a random fashion. North is almost never up, which makes it more difficult to visualize.
I chose Yongning station because of three reasons: (1) I had no idea where Yongning was (2) It’s the terminal station on the subway’s blue line, and (3) It’s a new station, completed since the last time I was here.
When I arrived, the map provided with with little hope, the major landmarks in the area were a cemetery, a waste water treatment plant and a cement factory. No parks, museums nor shopping complexes.
When I popped my head out of the station, I noticed that I was near one of the perimeter mountains around Taipei, that it appears to be an industrial area and that it was beginning to pour rain again. With my trusty umbrella in one hand, GPS in the other, I headed out in a direction that turned out to be South-West. The most distinct landmarks were the cow statues in the middle of a street. No clue what that was about.
What a bleak area. Double-stacked freight trucks plied up and down the streets, honking at each other constantly. Packs of wild dogs roamed the streets, following people menacingly and the inhabitants just stared at me like they’d never seen a foreigner. This area certainly seemed off the beaten path for tourists.
About 1.5 to 2 Km out from the station, I decided I’d had enough. The storm had turned into a proximate lightening storm, and I’m not comfortable walking in the lightening with an umbrella/lightening rod. I needn’t worry about that for long, for the wind started picking up, blowing at almost gale force. At one point, while crossing a street, the wind caught my umbrella and shredded it. The metal stays tore through the fabric like a big metal spider. One of them latched into the back of my shirt and tore a hole in it, effectively locking the remains of the umbrella around my head. I had a hairy, blind moment or two as I fought the monster off.
I was glad I visited, but I was equally glad I’ve “checked off†Yongning station and aren’t likely to need to return.
-
Rushing through Chiayi
Looking back through my previous adventures, I now realize that rushing through Chiayi and the train station is more the rule than the exception.
On our return trip this time, though, we made certain that wasn’t going to happen.
The train arrives Chiayi station at 5:00PM, the high speed train leaves at 7:36 PM. Even given that it might take us 30-40 minutes to catch the bus and travel the distance, we had plenty of time.
So we had to make a decision: Eat near the train station (my vote would have gone to MOS, and I would have had a good chance of winning) or catch the bus and eat at the High Speed Rail (HSR) station – which is only MOS.
We decided to eat at the HSR station and went to the bus stop immediately. The bus was pulling up as we arrived. The weather we perfect, the traffic not bad and we arrived at the station at 5:20.
The trains run every hour, so my father-in-law went to see if we could exchange our tickets for an earlier train. I went to the restroom.
5:24.
Irene,standing with her father, asks me, “Do you want to take the 5:36 train?â€
I say, “We still have 10 minutes to get food at MOS to go?â€
“Yesâ€
“OK, let’s do it.â€5:26
Irene heads to MOS, the line is long, she starts explaining that we don’t have time. The gates close at 5:34, and we don’t have the tickets yet.
Dammit, no food again!5:30
Back at the ticket counter, my father-in-law is still exchanging the tickets. They pull out one of those ridiculously complicated official Chinese-language forms (lots of boxes) and hand it to him to fill out.What the hell were they thinking? Why would they even offer to exchange the tickets for someone to train that leaves before you have time to fill out their stupid paperwork!?
5:32
Irene and I have tickets in hand, her father is still doing paperwork. We run for the platform without him. Wrangling the kids is tough enough. We could only hope that he made it, but if he didn’t there’s be a train in an hour and he’d have good cause the chew out the ticket agent for that entire length of time.5:34
Gates closed, but everybody made it.
Train arrives on time. I’m not taking pictures, but getting video instead.Interesting little side story. Back in 2001 when were we in Taiwan, I used to have a Sony Hi8 camcorder, which I purchased immediately prior to my first trip to Taiwan in 1998. (To say that Taiwan seems to drive my camera purchased would be an understatement.)
I really liked that camcorder (and still have it), on a trip around the island it began to behave badly. You’d click the record button, and it would “beep†accordingly to tell you that it was recording and stop instantly. You had to be extra diligent to make sure the record light was always on. I lost many a good shot because of it.
The digital age was upon us and I used that chance, and camera discounts in Taipei, to replace it with my current (also Sony) Mini-DV camcorder.
The “new†camcorder started exhibiting exactly the same problem at the HSR platform this day. I completely missed the train arriving. I was hungry and therefore not in the best of moods to begin with, but that clinched it for the day.
5:36
Train departs on time for uneventful trip back to Taipei. One problem, apparently my father-in-law didn’t do enough paperwork because they failed to refund his 7:36PM tickets. He was engaged in long conversations with a train staff member during the journey and then had to stay at the station to do more when we arrived.7:00
Taipei – we headed to MOS Burger (my insistence), then home. -
The old zen master chef
Here’s the old man, thinking of food in his own contemplative way in one of his glossy adverts.
And here’s his food, in actuality.