Day 3

The first thing I ate today was "nian-gao"- a slippery pan-fried rice block.  I've eaten this before at dim sum places but not on its own- I had only had it as a wrapper for veggies or seafood.  This time I had it dipped in soy sauce and it was so good.  It was accompanied by some yummy cheesy foccacia style bread.

From there we were off to this famous temple built in honor of Confucius, but of course I was still hungry (in case this hasn't registered yet, I can't function without a good-big-breakfast.)  I got one of those buns filled with pork dumplings (yum!) and then a coffee (looks like I'm gonna be having a daily cup, at least until the jetlag has completely worn off, which may never happen.)  We walked around the appropriately very simple temple and then ventured off to this cute little pedestrian row lined with stalls selling tea, snacks and trinkets.  I "made a cupcake" by stirring sugar in a little pan over hot coals and adding a little baking soda which was cool to watch grow but wasn't very tasty.  I bought a couple souvenirs, tried some cold oolong tea, and then we were off to the train station back to Taipei!  While killing time at the train station we went to a "sushi boat" Japanese restaurant.  I wasn't very hungry but Christine talked me into eating some sashimi, okra and a hand roll.

Of course, by the time we were off the train I was FAMISHED.  Christine's roommate, god bless her soul, heated up some AMAZING food for me- beef with seitan and some sauce, rice, greens, bamboo with carrots and mushrooms and another seitan dish.  While I waited for this to heat up I had a couple dried mango pieces but Christine, who was greatly amused by my misery, cut me off, not wanting me to ruin my appetite.

After lunch we chilled- I updated this blog and Christine took a nap.  After that we were off to one of the few establishments that was open (a lot is still shut down because of the new year)- the mall.  Our original intent was to get these famous dumplings that "literally burn your mouth," so when we found out there was a two hour wait I wasn't too heartbroken- as delicious as these dumplings sounded, they also seemed a little scary.
We decided to eat "curry"- a plate of food that comes with white rice, meat/topping of your choice, and "curry sauce."  Feeling a little nostalgic for Sevilla I got vegetable croquettes to accompany the rice with potato sauce.
After that we did a little shopping, where I was successful in acquiescing some AWESOME purple running shoes.  From there we went to the night market right by Christine's home, and upon arriving Christine and her friend Beatrice's mouths dropped- they had never seen it so dead, so desolate, so empty.  I wasn't able to taste some of the foods Christine was excited to introduce me to, but I did get a passion fruit green tea a-la-quickly, with yummy crunchy seeds and all, and it was delicious.