What is American? Who is American?

This morning, i read an article on BBC news. The article described the Facebook reception in response to a Facebook post from the Democratic challenger to Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake.

The Democratic challenger's name is Deedra Abboud. Ms. Abboud is a 45 year old Phoenix based lawyer of the Muslim faith. The Facebook post she published spoke to her endorsement and pride in the Constitutional separation of Church and State, an idea central to formation of the US government and the foundation upon which the Founding Fathers constructed what would become, today, the United States. After all, was it not Thomas Jefferson who wrote, in January 1st, 1802, that "I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church and State." The quote in Thomas Jefferson's letter was in fact taken from the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Needless to say, in the current atmosphere, her Facebook post was greeted with numerous angry responses, of which several were quoted by the BBC article. Several of these Facebook responses shook me to the core as they disclosed the general ignorance of these "Facebook patriots".

One such "Facebook patriot" suggested that she was espousing the ideas of "the Muslim brotherhood" which is odd in two ways. First, her idea of appreciating the separation of Church and State is an appreciation of the founding of the United States of America. Second, "the Muslim brotherhood" is agitating for Muslim Caliphate rule. More simply, and in plain American, "the Muslim brotherhood" is trying to establish a conservative Islam based government, or, a government with NO separation between Church and State. Thus, on two counts, this "Facebook patriot" was wrong.

Another "Facebook patriot" announced "Nice try but your first love is Satan (AKA Allah) and your second love is to a litter box your 'people' come from. You are as American as Chinese checkers." Where do i start? Satan is a fallen angel, formerly the First amongst the Heavenly Hosts (and i am a Buddhist... why do i know this?). Allah, well, he was a desert trader turned Prophet of God (which is also how Jesus of Nazarus was viewed by the Islamic faith, another Prophet of God -- again, i am not of the Christian faith, so this is the very basic understanding i have of it). So in the mind of this "Facebook patriot" Satan is also a Prophet of God? Just preaching to the denizens of Hell and Purgatory? That is actually not very far from the Buddhist figure named Kshitigarbha, who vowed to never achieve Nirvana until Hell can be emptied. So perhaps this post is from a very confused and slightly Buddhist "Facebook patriot". Finally, what caused me to laugh out loud was his/her juxtaposition of Chinese Checkers and American, as to suggest that there is nothing further from American (the ideal? the people? the??) than Chinese Checkers. Well, i laughed because i vaguely recall learning that Chinese Checkers was in fact not a Chinese game but an European game quite long ago (Junior High? College? i forget). The surprise was on me, however, when i investigated the history of Chinese Checkers. Turns out, the root game is (drum roll please) AMERICAN!!!! Turns out Chinese Checkers is a German variant of an 1883 game invented by an American professor and Harvard Medical School thoracic surgeon George Howard Monks called Halma. This finding was also confirmed by ye olde wikipedia, which has appropriate references to backup the text. So was this "Facebook patriot's" post actually one of support?

Anyhow, the article at the end was one that rather celebrated America as the ideal i hold daily with hope. One person to come to Ms. Abboud's defense was in fact Republican Arizona Senator Jeff Flake. Senator Flake's post celebrated the good people in Arizona who celebrates tolerance and diversity and that, truly, is the American ideal above all.

Taiwan Day 5, Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung harbor by day

A full day to spend in Kaohsiung and a day of homecoming. For the first 12 years of my life, Kaohsiung was my home, my formative years of education was also spent in this harbour city. It is not surprising that the full day in Kaohsiung was one of the days that i was rather looking forward to.
The morning begun with a visit to the temple where my grandparents', and my uncle's, ashes are housed. Incense and prayers are offered before we went back to my childhood home to visit relatives

The view of Kaohsiung from the Temple where my grandparents are installed

from my father's side. My home was the 4th floor in an apartment building behind the hospital that my family ran in the San Ming District of Kaohsiung. After the visitation of kin, i set off into the old neighborhood with Jenn. First stop, the Temple of the Three Phoenix. This temple is dedicated to a child deity. He is the patron "saint" to children and "takes in" children under his protection until they are of age (16). So, i thought, a visit to the temple is appropriate. The temple has not changed very

The Three Phoenix Temple

The child protecting
diety

much indeed. Sure, new signage and perhaps a fresh coat of paint, but over all, the temple is as i remembered. This day, the Temple was a quiet day for a visitor like me. There were just a handful of worshipers on hand offering their gifts of fruits and incense and prayers. We purchased a packet of

The view from the central temple to the entrance pavilion

incense and followed suite, offering our incense smoke and prayers to the child. Ever since i was little, this was the local temple that i would visit on occasion. In my memory are lodged the temple festivals, the firecrackers and the parades of disciples and temple associated figures.
From the temple, a short stroll found me at the San Ming market. It is the local market where pretty much anything could be had. Three meals of the day, sundry items useful in everyday living, clothing, luxury goods,

Door Guardian

the central incense/ash
culdron

groceries, and general gossip of the district/neighborhood. We strolled through the packed street and gazed at all that is being offered. Taiwan is now replete with scooters, and people has gotten into a habit of being astride these motorized conveyances at all times. They will literally ride up and coast into a food stand with the engine on idle, plant their feet and await their food to be made and given to them in a plastic bag. Needless to say, this makes a street quite crowded when there is a press of people and a press of scooter mounted persons!
At the market, we obtained an order of Aiyu jelly. Aiyu is a jelly made from a tropical fig varietal, cut into shape (cubes, strips, crumbles) and served in a slightly lemony sugar'd and ice'd soup base. It makes for a very refreshing summer drink with the aiyu jelly slip/sliding down your throat being a direct association with hot Taiwan summers. With the aiyu in hand, we also visited a riceball stand like that which i grew up with. A cart with buckets of cooked rice and containers of fillings for the riceball. The ball is always the same size, as is the price, but you can pick up to, in the case of this

The intricate decorations of the beam and ceiling

stand, up to 6 different ingredients. The fillings range from the classic pork floss and fried dough to various dried fruits, dried fish, and spicy pickled vegetables. Strips of scrambled egg and meat options influenced by the west (ham and such) were also available at this stand. We each got the classic pork floss and fried dough and called it good. The owner was so shocked by the simplicity of it, he only charged us the price of 1 rice ball for the two balls we got. So a double win! From the market, we walked by my old elementary school. There was some thought of going in

entrance to the San Ming Market

and taking a look at my old classrooms, but it was hot out, i've sweated through my tee shirt, and it is amazing how the heat just saps your energy. So, we looked at the school from the outside and went back to the hotel for a shower and a nap.
Dinner was a visit to the nearby night market, where we loaded up on take out foods for a feast in our hotel room. There were a few surprising stalls at this night market. For one, an Ukrainian fellow selling freshly fried meat crepes (Nalesniki or so the web tells me)... in hindsight, i wish i was hungry enough to purchase

the market hasn't changed much, narrow lane, with
now the addition of many more scooters

one and try it. Second, a number of Sushi stands advertising fresh sushi. The air temperature at the time was 87*F... i wasn't that brave to try it.
What we brought home was an order of fragrant crispy chicken (on top of the salt and pepper chicken we had bought and consumed at the market -- along with an order of stinky tofu), an order per person of ro geng vermicelli soup (the self same meat paste vermicelli soup i had mentioned in the previous blogs, but now i finally figured out how to "ping-ing" the silly thing), an order of fried scallion pancakes, Jenn's roasted corn, and two "bings" or "cookies", one filled with a peanut filling and

the Ai-yu stand, with swimwear on
display... and the raw ingredients of
the purveyed food to show that it is
all hand made and such

two large bowls of ai-yu (the caramel
coloured jello) and a bowl of tapioca
pearls (bottom right) along with a
bowl of grass jelly (top right)

one with a red bean baste filling.
The food at the night market was numerous but our appetite was sadly only so large. The stinky tofu that we got in Kaohsiung was superior than the one we had in Taipei. However, that could simply be an issue of take away versus eat in place. The Kaohsiung stinky tofu was crispier in the skin and more flavorful in the

the ingredient selection at the rice ball
stand... a feast for the eyes!

taste. Certainly the crispiness difference could be attributed to the different methods of food delivery. The salt and pepper chicken was a thing of beauty. We had walked up to the stall and found it unattended. A guy hurried up and took the order and kinda just did nothing until an older lady came out from the building with her gloves on to begin freshly frying the already breaded and fried chicken nuggets in the frier. She had also tossed in some fried basil leafs which is always a welcomed flavor to have with one's food. After the re-fried chicken is done, the guy took over again. Placing the chicken bits in a shaped pan and diligently salt and

the salt and pepper chicken stand,
or should i say the "pick it and we will
fry it for you" stand?

the salt and pepper
chicken... yum!

the stinky tofu... 

peppered the entire thing, shaking and turning every piece to make sure that it was indeed dusted and covered. The act of diligent seasoning took perhaps just as long as the re-frying. It was amazing, and his efforts shone through on the taste of the chicken. The salt and pepper flavor was spot on and unabashed. Eating the chicken with the fried basil leaf gave the whole bite yet another dimension of deliciousness! These two were eaten at the market, which, i do believe, makes it taste better. Perhaps it is the heat of the place, or the milling people and the stall owners' "thousand yard" stares as they wait for the next costumer to approach.
Of the food that was brought back to the hotel, the best was the "bing". It was rather disappointing,

86*F out, night market "fresh" sushi?
30 cents a go!

but also shows that we have been away too long. The scallion pancakes were great! Crispy and flaky on the outside with a chewy center. Sadly, the entire thing was dusted with a dose of MSG to give it that extra umph... Back when i grew up, MSG was added to everything as it forgave cooking and seasoning mistakes. However, now that i have been away so long, the taste is no longer expected or, i guess, wanted? The fragrant crispy chicken was sadly neither fragrant nor crispy. i had been fried and sat so the breading has gotten soggy in the night air. The flavor of the

The ro geng stall with the ro geng
bubbling away

ro geng revealed!

breading was also decidedly sweet. While i understand (as Jenn makes light of it at all times) that many Taiwanese meat dishes are sweet, this came as an undesired surprise. Oh well. The ro geng vermicelli was very bountiful and filling, the seasoning was customized in the take away bag by me asking him to add more of this and that and he asking after each spoonful "is that enough". It has certain flavor profile differences than the one we had in Taipei. For one, in Kaohsiung, he adds a bit of very finely minced garlic "mud", a staple to southern Taiwan cooking that i love but for the fact that it is garlic and it makes the next day at work a wee bit interesting. The soup was also lighter and thicker but the flavor wasn't as deep. All in all, a good bowl

the disappointing scallion pancakes and fragrant crispy
chicken... 8(

of ro geng, just not as good as the Liaoning night market stall that we went to in Taipei. Jenn was generally disappointed in her corn. It wasn't seasoned properly (too much seasoning she said) and wasn't cooked through properly and it wasn't how she remembered her corn from 30 years ago... there is nothing i can say to that. But, the "bing"... the "bing" was a thing of wonder. This is essentially an Imagawayaki, a traditional Japanese dessert that made its way to Taiwan during the Japanese occupation and, well, integrated into the Taiwanese food lexicon and is simply called "bing" or cookie.

Jenn's disappointing
corn being made

This dessert is made using an iron mold that is made from two mirrored image leaves of deep cylinders (about an inch deep). The leaves can be folded so that the molds will form a now two inch deep cylinder. The way it is made is thus. Batter -- like a waffle batter mated with a pancake batter -- is poured into the molds that is heated either electrically or, traditionally, over fire. After the batter has cooked for a certain amount of time, filling is heaped into the center of half of the array of batter containing cylinders. The mold is then folded up and heated through to cook the contents like an waffle iron. When the cooking time expires, the mold is then unfolded to present a completed "bing"/cookie/imagawayaki. We had purchased two. One with a peanut filling and one with the traditional red bean filling. In Taiwan, fillings of taro root, lotus seeds, black sesame and, more western influenced, cream, chocolate, or butter are also available. The peanut filling is made up of ground peanuts cut with some black sesame and sweetened with sugar. It was a gritty, sweet, peanuty, delicious filling. The pastry itself was what i remembered. The

the "bing"/cookie/imagawayaki
making process. He is putting
the fillings into the batter, he
will then remove the finished
cookies from the row above,
pour in batter, and then remove
the filling containing half
to put on top of the newly
battered half

packaging the finished product
for a customer

bottoms are firmer and of a more chewy texture while the side walls
are airy and pancake like. The batter is sweet like how a cream or sweet butter is sweet, subtle and not overwhelming. The red bean paste was thick, with the skin of the red bean coming across for that extra textural surprise in spots and on occasion. The red bean filling is definitely less sweet than the peanut filling, though neither is sweet when compared to most western desserts. They were a great way to end dinner and a fine walk down memory lane.

My description of the imagawayaki is not great, but here is a great youtube video that will make more sense. The fillings that is being made in order of placement is, as far as i can tell, this: red bean, oreo cookies, butter, green bean, taro root. https://youtu.be/8lRpgPbgDAU

the peanut is above, the red bean below, now i am hungry for some more!

Taiwan Day 5, Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung harbor by day

A full day to spend in Kaohsiung and a day of homecoming. For the first 12 years of my life, Kaohsiung was my home, my formative years of education was also spent in this harbour city. It is not surprising that the full day in Kaohsiung was one of the days that i was rather looking forward to.
The morning begun with a visit to the temple where my grandparents', and my uncle's, ashes are housed. Incense and prayers are offered before we went back to my childhood home to visit relatives

The view of Kaohsiung from the Temple where my grandparents are installed

from my father's side. My home was the 4th floor in an apartment building behind the hospital that my family ran in the San Ming District of Kaohsiung. After the visitation of kin, i set off into the old neighborhood with Jenn. First stop, the Temple of the Three Phoenix. This temple is dedicated to a child deity. He is the patron "saint" to children and "takes in" children under his protection until they are of age (16). So, i thought, a visit to the temple is appropriate. The temple has not changed very

The Three Phoenix Temple

The child protecting
diety

much indeed. Sure, new signage and perhaps a fresh coat of paint, but over all, the temple is as i remembered. This day, the Temple was a quiet day for a visitor like me. There were just a handful of worshipers on hand offering their gifts of fruits and incense and prayers. We purchased a packet of

The view from the central temple to the entrance pavilion

incense and followed suite, offering our incense smoke and prayers to the child. Ever since i was little, this was the local temple that i would visit on occasion. In my memory are lodged the temple festivals, the firecrackers and the parades of disciples and temple associated figures.
From the temple, a short stroll found me at the San Ming market. It is the local market where pretty much anything could be had. Three meals of the day, sundry items useful in everyday living, clothing, luxury goods,

Door Guardian

the central incense/ash
culdron

groceries, and general gossip of the district/neighborhood. We strolled through the packed street and gazed at all that is being offered. Taiwan is now replete with scooters, and people has gotten into a habit of being astride these motorized conveyances at all times. They will literally ride up and coast into a food stand with the engine on idle, plant their feet and await their food to be made and given to them in a plastic bag. Needless to say, this makes a street quite crowded when there is a press of people and a press of scooter mounted persons!
At the market, we obtained an order of Aiyu jelly. Aiyu is a jelly made from a tropical fig varietal, cut into shape (cubes, strips, crumbles) and served in a slightly lemony sugar'd and ice'd soup base. It makes for a very refreshing summer drink with the aiyu jelly slip/sliding down your throat being a direct association with hot Taiwan summers. With the aiyu in hand, we also visited a riceball stand like that which i grew up with. A cart with buckets of cooked rice and containers of fillings for the riceball. The ball is always the same size, as is the price, but you can pick up to, in the case of this

The intricate decorations of the beam and ceiling

stand, up to 6 different ingredients. The fillings range from the classic pork floss and fried dough to various dried fruits, dried fish, and spicy pickled vegetables. Strips of scrambled egg and meat options influenced by the west (ham and such) were also available at this stand. We each got the classic pork floss and fried dough and called it good. The owner was so shocked by the simplicity of it, he only charged us the price of 1 rice ball for the two balls we got. So a double win! From the market, we walked by my old elementary school. There was some thought of going in

entrance to the San Ming Market

and taking a look at my old classrooms, but it was hot out, i've sweated through my tee shirt, and it is amazing how the heat just saps your energy. So, we looked at the school from the outside and went back to the hotel for a shower and a nap.
Dinner was a visit to the nearby night market, where we loaded up on take out foods for a feast in our hotel room. There were a few surprising stalls at this night market. For one, an Ukrainian fellow selling freshly fried meat crepes (Nalesniki or so the web tells me)... in hindsight, i wish i was hungry enough to purchase

the market hasn't changed much, narrow lane, with
now the addition of many more scooters

one and try it. Second, a number of Sushi stands advertising fresh sushi. The air temperature at the time was 87*F... i wasn't that brave to try it.
What we brought home was an order of fragrant crispy chicken (on top of the salt and pepper chicken we had bought and consumed at the market -- along with an order of stinky tofu), an order per person of ro geng vermicelli soup (the self same meat paste vermicelli soup i had mentioned in the previous blogs, but now i finally figured out how to "ping-ing" the silly thing), an order of fried scallion pancakes, Jenn's roasted corn, and two "bings" or "cookies", one filled with a peanut filling and

the Ai-yu stand, with swimwear on
display... and the raw ingredients of
the purveyed food to show that it is
all hand made and such

two large bowls of ai-yu (the caramel
coloured jello) and a bowl of tapioca
pearls (bottom right) along with a
bowl of grass jelly (top right)

one with a red bean baste filling.
The food at the night market was numerous but our appetite was sadly only so large. The stinky tofu that we got in Kaohsiung was superior than the one we had in Taipei. However, that could simply be an issue of take away versus eat in place. The Kaohsiung stinky tofu was crispier in the skin and more flavorful in the

the ingredient selection at the rice ball
stand... a feast for the eyes!

taste. Certainly the crispiness difference could be attributed to the different methods of food delivery. The salt and pepper chicken was a thing of beauty. We had walked up to the stall and found it unattended. A guy hurried up and took the order and kinda just did nothing until an older lady came out from the building with her gloves on to begin freshly frying the already breaded and fried chicken nuggets in the frier. She had also tossed in some fried basil leafs which is always a welcomed flavor to have with one's food. After the re-fried chicken is done, the guy took over again. Placing the chicken bits in a shaped pan and diligently salt and

the salt and pepper chicken stand,
or should i say the "pick it and we will
fry it for you" stand?

the salt and pepper
chicken... yum!

the stinky tofu... 

peppered the entire thing, shaking and turning every piece to make sure that it was indeed dusted and covered. The act of diligent seasoning took perhaps just as long as the re-frying. It was amazing, and his efforts shone through on the taste of the chicken. The salt and pepper flavor was spot on and unabashed. Eating the chicken with the fried basil leaf gave the whole bite yet another dimension of deliciousness! These two were eaten at the market, which, i do believe, makes it taste better. Perhaps it is the heat of the place, or the milling people and the stall owners' "thousand yard" stares as they wait for the next costumer to approach.
Of the food that was brought back to the hotel, the best was the "bing". It was rather disappointing,

86*F out, night market "fresh" sushi?
30 cents a go!

but also shows that we have been away too long. The scallion pancakes were great! Crispy and flaky on the outside with a chewy center. Sadly, the entire thing was dusted with a dose of MSG to give it that extra umph... Back when i grew up, MSG was added to everything as it forgave cooking and seasoning mistakes. However, now that i have been away so long, the taste is no longer expected or, i guess, wanted? The fragrant crispy chicken was sadly neither fragrant nor crispy. i had been fried and sat so the breading has gotten soggy in the night air. The flavor of the

The ro geng stall with the ro geng
bubbling away

ro geng revealed!

breading was also decidedly sweet. While i understand (as Jenn makes light of it at all times) that many Taiwanese meat dishes are sweet, this came as an undesired surprise. Oh well. The ro geng vermicelli was very bountiful and filling, the seasoning was customized in the take away bag by me asking him to add more of this and that and he asking after each spoonful "is that enough". It has certain flavor profile differences than the one we had in Taipei. For one, in Kaohsiung, he adds a bit of very finely minced garlic "mud", a staple to southern Taiwan cooking that i love but for the fact that it is garlic and it makes the next day at work a wee bit interesting. The soup was also lighter and thicker but the flavor wasn't as deep. All in all, a good bowl

the disappointing scallion pancakes and fragrant crispy
chicken... 8(

of ro geng, just not as good as the Liaoning night market stall that we went to in Taipei. Jenn was generally disappointed in her corn. It wasn't seasoned properly (too much seasoning she said) and wasn't cooked through properly and it wasn't how she remembered her corn from 30 years ago... there is nothing i can say to that. But, the "bing"... the "bing" was a thing of wonder. This is essentially an Imagawayaki, a traditional Japanese dessert that made its way to Taiwan during the Japanese occupation and, well, integrated into the Taiwanese food lexicon and is simply called "bing" or cookie.

Jenn's disappointing
corn being made

This dessert is made using an iron mold that is made from two mirrored image leaves of deep cylinders (about an inch deep). The leaves can be folded so that the molds will form a now two inch deep cylinder. The way it is made is thus. Batter -- like a waffle batter mated with a pancake batter -- is poured into the molds that is heated either electrically or, traditionally, over fire. After the batter has cooked for a certain amount of time, filling is heaped into the center of half of the array of batter containing cylinders. The mold is then folded up and heated through to cook the contents like an waffle iron. When the cooking time expires, the mold is then unfolded to present a completed "bing"/cookie/imagawayaki. We had purchased two. One with a peanut filling and one with the traditional red bean filling. In Taiwan, fillings of taro root, lotus seeds, black sesame and, more western influenced, cream, chocolate, or butter are also available. The peanut filling is made up of ground peanuts cut with some black sesame and sweetened with sugar. It was a gritty, sweet, peanuty, delicious filling. The pastry itself was what i remembered. The

the "bing"/cookie/imagawayaki
making process. He is putting
the fillings into the batter, he
will then remove the finished
cookies from the row above,
pour in batter, and then remove
the filling containing half
to put on top of the newly
battered half

packaging the finished product
for a customer

bottoms are firmer and of a more chewy texture while the side walls
are airy and pancake like. The batter is sweet like how a cream or sweet butter is sweet, subtle and not overwhelming. The red bean paste was thick, with the skin of the red bean coming across for that extra textural surprise in spots and on occasion. The red bean filling is definitely less sweet than the peanut filling, though neither is sweet when compared to most western desserts. They were a great way to end dinner and a fine walk down memory lane.

My description of the imagawayaki is not great, but here is a great youtube video that will make more sense. The fillings that is being made in order of placement is, as far as i can tell, this: red bean, oreo cookies, butter, green bean, taro root. https://youtu.be/8lRpgPbgDAU

the peanut is above, the red bean below, now i am hungry for some more!

Taipei to Kaohsiung on the HSR, or Taiwan at 205 km per hour

They say that life's a blur. On the Gao-Tieh (literal translation, High Steel/Metal/Iron) or Taiwan High Speed Rail, Taiwan is a blur with periodic stoppages of structures and people. Be that as it may be, it was still a bit of a rush down memory lane, conjuring up images of childhood and growing up that i've not seen or thought about for quite a time. More on that later.

Breakfast is served

The day begun with what can typically be viewed as a typical Taiwanese breakfast. Rice balls, shao-bin (fried bread... but not the kind that folks in Britain grew up with, this is more like a fried pancake with a dough that is multilayered and will puff, delivering, at the end, a golden brown rough rectangle with a hollow center expanding out in thin chewy layers of dough to a flaky golden shell that tends to drop flaky crumbs wherever you are or will be going to -- a nightmare to eat in cars if you care about how clean your car/your shirt/your pants will end up), soy milk (sweet or savory, hot or cold or iced), thin pancakes

Egg coated pancakes with ham

Egg coated pancakes with bacon

pan fried in egg batter or rolled with fried egg and meats, and various baos (chinese buns with delicious fillings -- the combinations of the fillings are endless, but generally pork, or lamb, or meat and veg, or just veg). There are a number of breakfast only food stalls that open up around the hotel to serve the morning commuter. Those who walk, scooter, moped, or drive. Folks walk up and just yell an order towards the general direction of the shop owners/attendants and await the responding "oh!". If no response is heard, the order is then yelled at a louder volume, sometimes prefaced by a "yo! shopkeep!!" When you are at a popular stand, the atmosphere could be quite hectic and the cacophony of sound, quite chaotic. When the order is being processed, the conversation flows back the other way. The shopkeeper or attendant, if they are worth their salt, will be yelling back questions regarding add-ons, options, or spice levels. Unlike the order placer, the shop staff do not wait for a response, if you are out of earshot, then they will make your order however they feel it should be made. It is a system that works, unless you are the poor slub living above the shop with the windows open, then it works and works well as an alarm clock.

some times rice can be so beautiful, no?

The rice balls that i obtained was slightly changed from yesterday's balls. i had them add hot sauce in mine (i will have them add more on Saturday when we will again breakfast in Taipei) and had them omit the pickled veg in Jenn's. The soy milk was ice cold and served in an "insulating" take away cup designed for cold and hot drinks. Two shao-bin, one in each bag, was also obtained. Then the wanderlust took hold and off i went around the block, to see what else there is to be had. Around the corner, at a permanently covered alley between two buildings (permanent in that wall coverings has been put up and has stayed up

Shao-bin and two pork baos

the fillings of
the bao

and electrical fans has been mounted in place to cool the person slaving over the hot flat top grill) housed a small shop doing egg coated pancakes and soup noodles (with or without tripe). There i ordered two egg coated pancakes, one with ham, the other with bacon. i was quite tempted by the soup noodles, but, already, there was a lot of food for just two of us. The lady quite efficiently cooked up the egg coated pancakes with meat, drizzled the "house special sauce" and rolled the bad boy up before dicing the roll into chunks with dual spatula action. The diced up bits are then swept into the ubiquitous paper box and closed with rubber band and placed into a plastic handled bag for take away enjoyment.

And enjoy we did. My riceball, with the added spice, was nice, but i will want it to be a bit more intense (thus the comments above). The egg coated pancakes with the "house special sauce" and meat (the "house special sauce" is a hoisin like sauce) was wonderful. The egg added a fluffiness to the thin chewy pancake that gives spongy way to the salty meat awash with a hint of sweet hoisin sauce lovliness. The shao-bin were everything that it should be. Flaky on the outside, thing chewy layers on the inside that were just a wonder to chew on. Of course, a mess was made 8). The meal was finished off with the pork bao, steamed buns finished off on the flat iron to give it a nice charred and crispy bottom. A bite elicited delicious meat juice from the doughy pouch around the meat filling and it was delicious, rich and flavorful indeed.

The

HSR

Breakfast done, we packed and made our way to the Taipei train station for the HSR train to Zhuoying (literally means the "right hand side military camp", in the past, it was a military fortress and strong point). The Taipei train station is a large and airy building that,

#825 Train

arrives

somehow, has been turned into a huge sales floor for a bakery called "Breeze", purveyors of delicate Japanese inspired confectionary and pastries as well as western inspired tarts, cakes, and pies. Found within the station is also the ubiquitous 7-Eleven and, to my joy, a vendor

All Aboard!!

dedicated to selling Taiwan Railroad bentos. These are boxed lunches containing rice, meat, and vegetables designed for the nourishment of train passengers. When i was younger, the boxes were paper on the outside and foiled on the inside. Two rubber bands, each running diagonally from corner to corner, kept the lid closed and secured the plastic wrapped chopsticks to the box. These bento boxes would be sold by loud hollering ladies in straw hats and carrying huge baskets of the bento boxes. They would walk up and down the platform, collecting money from outstretched arms and handing up bento boxes in twos and threes. An entire train could be fed during the brief stop over... amazingly. The shop on the main floor was found easily by looking for the line of hopeful customers. This shop only sold fried pork chop rice bentos in three variations -- with pickled veg, with boiled seasonal veg that seems always to be broccoli and carrots, and a combo of the both pickled and boiled veg. They all had a soy sauce hard boiled egg and a sheet of soy sauce braised gluten. The shop in the basement seems to have more variety, but i didn't look closely. As a child, there were three options. Soy sauce chicken leg and thigh with rice, Taiwanese minced pork ragu with rice, or breaded and fried pork chop with rice. Each is served with a bunch of pickled mustard greens, a few slices of takuan (a traditional Japanese slightly sweet pickled daikon radish that always is of a bright yellow color for some odd reason), and a soy sauce hard boiled egg.

Taiwan Railroad Company Bento!

Breaded pork chop rice

With our bentos (the basic box, with just pickled veg) in hand, we went to await the train. The entire process is surprisingly civilized. We had business class seats, basically meaning that the seats are assigned. There was no pushing in line, there was no

A typical Taiwanese home, note
the stainless tanks atop. These
are fresh water storage for each
home/building for times of
natural disasters

bum rush for the empty seats. Folks calmly boarded and stowed their luggages and sat down. Then the train attendants pushed their carts down the line offering news papers and concessions. Every seat also gets an offer for a cup of coffee or tea or a bottle of water. A free "tomato cheese cake" muffin is also offered. i must admit, the "tomato cheese cake" muffin was good. Not exactly savory but not sweet. You can taste the "cheese" in the cheese cake and i even got a tomato seed for my efforts! Score!

The train ride was relaxing and quiet. The scenery flowed by but i gave myself a challenge to photograph a number of things. A traditional Taiwanese/Chinese house of the "Three in one" type (two vertical wings on each side of a horizontal main hall), a traditional Chinese/Taiwanese grave, and a local deity shrine. and something else typically Taiwanese.

a traditional Taiwanese/Chinese 3 in 1 home

a traditional Chinese tomb/mound