End of the road

Unfortunately, it's now time to go home after a month of hedonistic fun and shopping. Changi Terminal 3 is the newest addition to the airport. However, the shops don't seem to be as interesting as in Terminal 2, or at least as I vaguely remember it.

However, we did spot something new. Prima, the maker of the famous Singapore laksa-in-a-pack, appears to have decided that it was more lucrative to release an all in one package complete with noodles. Sadly, no chicken or prawns are included. We'll have to wait till we get home to try out the 4 packets that we decided to acquire. Home, James!

My parents went to Singapore and all I got .......(la deuxième partie)

Well, it seems that the last post was a bit premature. Dragged no 1 child down to Jurong Point Shopping Centre in the afternoon for a look around. This place is pretty huge for a suburban mall. It had all the usual places Singaporeans love to shop in, with the anchor tenant being NTUC Fair Price, a bit of a cross between Woolies, Aldi and Big W. Of more interest was the huge number of eateries scattered throughout the place, it even had a little food lane in the style of Osaka eateries, that is to say, gaudy.

As it wasn't long before dinner we had to satisfy ourselves with a snack, at a place which sold, among other things, clam chowder. And pretty decent chowder it was too, served in a square bread bowl. We loved the eating instructions, which went something like (and I swear we didn't make this up) 'gracefully cut the bread into little pieces and soak them in the soup......'.

We also passed by a place going by the oxymoronic name of Awfully Chocolate, which sold something called cold poached chocolate. The sales girl (chocolatier?) didn't make a particularly convincing case as to why we should part with S$6.80 for essentially a slice of mousse (albeit very nice mousse) topped with cream. Nonetheless as chocolate and no 1 child enjoy a very special relationship, we had to get one. Yumm.

And yes, I did find that elusive t shirt (on special at 30% off) right towards the end of our tour of the mall. I'm not Singaporean but I love a good bargain as much as the next person.

My parents went to Singapore and all I got was this lousy.......

As any husband will tell you, this could also be the lament of the poor man of the house. Whilst the rest of the clan got their shoes, clothes, stuffed toys blah blah blah, all I got was a lousy t shirt. Actually I couldn't even find a t shirt that I liked and was prepared to pay for. However, I did manage to get a new Casio (sadly that nice Hublot Big Bang that I saw at the casino shops shall forever remain out of reach). Well it was cheap inexpensive and I did like it, plus of course I don't have to worry about it being damaged or stolen. Indeed the price of watches here are quite a bit cheaper than at home, especially Casios. Merry Christmas, old son.

This particular model (GA-100B) is part of Casio's XL range (no prizes for guessing what XL means), originally released a couple or so years ago. It's got the usual basic Casio functions plus a nifty red onboard led night light rather than the usual EL backlight. The (still) strong trend towards oversized watches is great for us old guys with fading close in vision. The only negative for me is the weird colour choice of red for the hour hand, which makes it less visible. But hey, I bought it for the bright red strap so I could be more visible. If one can't have red hair one can certainly have a red watch!

Drooltastic snack of the day

A favourite (albeit pricey) Chinese New Year snack serving is bak kwa (barbecued pork jerky). In Singapore Bee Cheng Hiang is the main producer of these yummy delicacies although at S$30 a kilo I didn't see a lot of interest whenever we passed one of their outlets. Nonetheless I had to have some of this greasy goodness so I bought a few slices the other day. There are a few varieties to choose from but the spicy version is good! It tastes nothing like the dried beef jerky one can get from a supermaket, being moist and succulent. Also, being a 'heaty' food, it should not be consumed in large quantities in one go. Strangely, the rest of the clan did not share my passion, so my favourite 3 words applied here as well: 'more for me!'. 

Cultural stop

No not putting the brakes on culture, but us popping into the Singapore Art Museum. It's housed in the former Saint Joseph's Institution boys high school, which was relocated to the suburbs years ago along with all the other surrounding schools. I guess this probably had something to do with skyrocketing property prices together with increasing student intakes with no means of expansion, and the government's desire to have that area (being close to the CBD) serve a fine arts type role. Indeed, the area has other museums, galleries and we even spotted a ballet school.

The entry fee was S$10 which is halved for students (thankfully no 2 child had brought her school ID with her) and free for local students. On show today were pieces from the finalists in the Asia Pacific Breweries Signature Art Prize 2011 (what a mouthful), many of which were pretty good. There were also a few exhibitions from other local artists and (I'm told) well known Chinese painter Wu Guan Zhong. I thought many of his pieces had an elegant simplicity about them, with the sparse but deliberate splashes of colour providing the appropriate emphasis on his subject matter. (There, my transformation to art critic extraordinaire is complete)

The Singapore Flyer

We caught up with another dear old friend yesterday. She had some spare tickets for the Singapore Flyer (biggest obervation wheel in the world, topping the London Eye by a whopping 30m) and it would have been a shame for them to go to waste so.......

But before that, lunch beckoned. We had ours at a Chinese place located at the Flyer's base, which also housed a food court modeled along the old kopi tiam style (obviously designed more for tourists since that type of eating house has all but disappeared locally). It's interesting to see that many Singapore restaurants with designs of grandeur have their wine stock on display at the entrance. Nonetheless, the place had quite decent food. 

One particular dish which I had not seen (or tasted) for many years was mini cuttlefish fried till crunchy in sweet thick black sauce. This dish was once commonly available at seafront food hawkers at Bedok in days of old. Love it. They also do a pretty good fish head curry. Strange dish of the day was coffee pork ribs - so we had to try it. It had that slight bitter after taste reminiscent of coffee but I'm not entirely convinced of the combination. 

After lunch the queue for the flyer was still long, but not too bad. With a local population of 5+ million, queueing is a way of life, especially on public holidays. 

The entrance was set up like an aircraft departure area, with real X-ray scanners as well. You can't be too careful with such a visible landmark. After a bit of an internal queue (with bits of history and stats of the flyer for passengers to help stop boredom from setting in), we got onto one of the capsules. Oh, and along the way there is the obligatory green screen photo op where your photo is taken and superimposed on various flyer backgrounds for later purchase if you want to. In our case, the genius behind the camera hadn't noticed that our friend was wearing green slacks and no 2 child had green hair. As a result our guffaws could be heard clear across the Johor Strait as we saw the results at the end of the ride, with one legless friend and one headless child. 

Air conditioned, each car (capsule?) can hold up to 28 people (although thankfully, there were only about 20 in ours) and is very stable. The views over the CBD were fantastic, and to a lesser extent the east coast. Looking down, there is a track which is the part of the Singapore leg of the F1 race series. The ride takes about 45 minutes, and for the adventurous, some cars are outfitted with tables and white linen for that in air dining experience that you can't get on a plane. 

This must be the world's largest snow globe, apparently normally open for entry (you can just about see the huge zippered opening) but not today due to 'inclement weather'. It was a nice day (ie not raining).

An excellent opportunity for some interesting aerial shots, the lotus flower shaped building below is the ArtScience Museum.

But sadly, all good experiences must end, or at least be replaced by new ones. We bade our friend goodbye, and hope to have her visit us sometime.

No booking needed: Singapore (7)

We had a modest lunch a few days ago at the nearby market hawker centre. I had a local dish enjoyed by Muslim Indians, also called mamak rojak. But it's not the same as the Chinese version, with the sauce being sweet and (I think) tomato based, and has fried items like dou fu, fritters etc instead of vegetables. This particular stall wasn't that great (as no 1 child liked to remind me throughout the meal) but a thirsty man doesn't complain that his water isn't Perrier (or more likely Evian if you're a local). 

Universal Studios Singapore

Went to Universal Studio Singapore (located on Sentosa island off Singapore) yesterday. Once in, it immediately hits you as a smaller version of its LA parent. Normally tickets cost around S$60-70ish depending on whether it is school holidays. But family packages are available for just a dollar more each than the same number of individual tickets. What the...? You say. Well by way of compensation, you do get $50 in gift vouchers which can be use in pretty much any store in the park, which is easily able to cover lunch. There is also a free app (iOS only) which provides maps and details of the attractions as well as real time updates on ride wait times. 

There were quite a few people around by the time we got there at 10:30 and trying to get a pic at the globe outside without unwanted extras proved to be a challenge. (Ok ok so I cheated and took this shot in the evening).

Once inside, we waited 20 minutes to get into our first attraction (Shrek 4D, with the same effects as Honey I shrank the kids that we saw in LA more than 10 years ago, with the addition of 3D effects and hydraulic seats). After that a unanimous decision was made to get express passes (for an extra S$30) which allowed us to bypass the normal queues (take that, you great unwashed!). The only catch was that it can only be used once per ride, which seemed fair enough.

Quality of the rides were mostly so so. The real standouts were the 2 Battlestar Galactica roller coasters (you get to ride as either human or Cylon). Fortunately as some of the clan weren't game on these rides it meant the rest of us got to go twice (woo hoo!). The Cylon ride was undoubtedly the more exciting ride with spirals and a vicious corkscrew at the end. And all this while dangling off a ski lift type chair over 5 floors off the ground. 

The other excellent ride was the new (?) Transformers 3D ride. In fact these rides were so popular that wait times were constantly at around an hour or more. Without the passes we could have spent a fair chunk of the day languishing in queues. Try that in 95+% humidity and see how long it takes for you to reach for the wallet.

Misnamed ride of the day was the Accelerator. Which sounds great until you see what it is - huge circus style slow waltzing tubs which you sit inside. Feeling ... dizzy .... already...... Needless to say we did not get on this. Unfortunately though, the Jurassic Park water adventure was closed.

The Waterworld Show, based on the movie, was good although the cast did spend 20 minutes pre soaking the front row audience. Here we encountered another example of that Singapore trait, 'kia su' (fear of losing or coming second best). We were a bit late and were let in with the second wave for the show, man I swear I've never seen little old ladies and women move so fast, all the time egging their kids on with the words of encouragement 'faster, faster!'

Lunch was at (for the location) a reasonably priced 50's style burger joint (complete with non functional jukeboxes). I couldn't resist the delightfully Singaporean named Shiok burger (shiok being Singlish for 'great!' as in good, a bastardisation of the word 'shock'). Rather than go into details I took a picture of the ad. True to its name, it was actually pretty good.

We left at around 7pm and encountered our first real queue of the day, waiting 25 minutes in line to get on the monorail back to the main island. No express passes here unfortunately. 

And the best ride of the day? Without doubt (for me) it was the cab ride into Sentosa in the morning. We met this old Malay cabbie who regaled us with pictures of his granddaughter and told us his family story (I assume it was all true). Best line of the ride - "If I die first, my wife will be happy, but I will be even happier". Aaaaah, Singapore.

Booking required: Singapore (6)

While at the Marina Bay Sands my brother in law took us all out for dinner at a place called Yu (translation: 'fish'. And if that wasn't enough to let customers know what to expect there were the obligatory tanks at the entrance filled with the night's dinner. And if you still didn't get it, the dining area walls are adorned with fish and underwater motifs. Even the chandeliers had little fish shaped trimmings.

Foodwise, it was ok but there were a few slightly unusual dishes. Didn't ask how much it all cost but given the location, probably a pretty penny.

A plate of smoked eggs with a dipping sauce. The rest of the party thought it was ok so I guess it's an acquired taste. 

Little mini tomatoes filled with a mayo containing sour plums. Nice touch on the decoration.

Dessert was the so called lava buns. These are steamed buns filled with runny egg custard. 

Marina Bay Sands Singapore

Went to the Marina Bay Sands hotel the other day as a guest (of a guest. No, we did not stay there, and I don't care if you call me tight. But if some generous soul or corporate were to offer .....) The Sands is a very impressive place indeed, designed, as all integrated casinos are, to reduce the overall wealth of their guests, with luxury shops and restaurants just about in every direction.

The rooms are huge and well appointed as befitting a hotel of this class. Views of the Singapore skyline out of the full length windows are simply spectacular. (Apologies for the poor quality attempt at a panoramic shot from my 2+ year old iPhone)

One of the drawcards of the hotel is the infinity pool located on the top (57th) level of the hotel. Despite the dreary day (it was both wet and windy) there were quite a few people up there, some swimming, some (kind of) enjoying the view (scenery, not the swimmers) and some were queuing to get into a restaurant. There was even a group in one of the outdoor jacuzzis. I guess if you've coughed up that much, you'd better take advantage of all the amenities, such is the Singaporean sense of value. I'm told that locals also use the hotel as a family getaway destination. 

No booking needed: Singapore (5)

Despite the miserable weather here (it's been raining every day since we arrived), no.1 child and I went down to Sim Lim Square to have a look around and also do a bit of exploring around the area. 

On our way to SLS (as it's known to the locals) from the nearest MRT we had to go through through the Bugis Street night market which, despite its name, is open all day. Cheap clothing and food can be found here at the various stalls, but definitely not as good as the true night markets in Taipei.

SLS was disappointing, with prices not far off what one can get on the internet including delivery. Certainly not worth the effort of carrying the stuff home particularly if there was no international warranty. Definitely a case of caveat emptor when shopping here and it's no wonder that many locals make their purchases online. Although the sales people in the few shops that I went into were very polite and helpful, I couldn't help feeling that the ground floor had the atmosphere of a used car lot.

Anyway, after that experience we went through the hawker centre at the nearby Albert Centre where we stopped off for an afternoon snack of rojak (for the uninitiated a potent mix of you tiao, sliced cucumber, bean sprouts, nuts, pineapple and prawn paste). It tasted pretty good despite missing a few critical ingredients like green mango, but hey it was only S$2.50. Far better fare here than in the big name food court the other day. 

No booking needed: Singapore (4)

Had lunch in the food court on the B3 level of the Ion shopping centre along Orchard Road. In order to get there we had to get off our bus across the road at Far East Plaza, and immediately thought we'd landed in a WW1 trench with the bloody Huns launching a mustard gas attack at us, such was the acrid intensity of the cigarette smoke. Turns out we should have expected this as FEP is a popular weekend hangout for many of the foreign workers in Singapore, and this is where they come to send money home to their families.

Predictably, the whole of Orchard Road was also packed with shoppers eager to make the most of the last full weekend before Christmas. However, the food court at Ion was a disappointment. The curry yong tao foo (a curry noodle dish where one can have their choice of extras such as dou fu, fish balls, and other fried bits) that I had was warm, not hot (which was probably why I appeared to be the only customer asking for this option, and I'm sure the fact that curry was an extra 60 cents over plain soup also had something to do with it). The rest of the clan thought their orders were pretty ordinary too. Plus did I say it was packed?

On the bright side there were quite a few Japanese ramen and other stalls, one of which had a longish queue, so we'll be back another time to check them out.

MRT mayhem

The big news locally has been the MRT. Normally the system works like clockwork with trains leaving every few minutes. However, sporadic failures across the network over the last few days led to a huge public outcry and an investigation into the issue, resulting in the system being shut down overnight for inspection.

Unfortunately this impacted our plans today and we had to head to church via bus. Which is normally pretty easy, but we managed to get lost. To compound our woes, my prepaid mobile ran out of credit just as I was trying to plot a new route to our destination. While we did manage to flag down a rare passing cab, it turned out that he too was clueless. We did get there eventually, but fortunately the service had started late due to the MRT shutdown so we were able to catch the sermon in the end!

IMAX - wow!

We caught the latest Mission Impossible movie (Ghost Protocol) at the newest IMAX digital cinema in Singapore, in the recently revamped Lido cineplex. It's still at the same location along Orchard Road as it has been for years. The quality is pretty good despite not being in the normal 70mm IMAX film format so no complaints here. Indeed, my brother in law (and me) even experienced a bit of vertigo as one of the scenes panned downwards from the top of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

And the movie? Awesome action every other second which is what the movie experience is all about. And more than a few great one liners from Simon Pegg, undoubtedly a pretty good comedic actor.

And where's the food angle? Well the popcorn they offer up was actually quite good, quite unlike the dry stuff I'm used to getting, so much so that I never buy popcorn on my rare visits to the cinema. In fact I managed to polish off most of a medium sized bucket (about the size of a KFC family bucket) by halfway through the movie. 

King of durians

The local market sells durians prepacked in styrofoam. Unlike the frozen stuff we get back home, these durians are opened and and the fruit packed daily by the particular vendor. This saves eager drooling buyers from having to open them (it takes a fair bit of effort and more than a bit of experience) and dispose of the skins.

Today's little beauties are of the famed musang king variety, widely hailed as the king of durians, and supposedly out flavouring the more common D24 (certainly out pricing them). Thai durians? Forget it. Musang king seeds are also a fair bit smaller than other varieties, so you do get a bit more bang for your buck. And the verdict? Pretty damn good, and a pack like this has a stuffing factor of a full meal, and indeed is often a meal substitute.

Oddly, this particular vendor bulks up the pack with a bit of extra styrofoam sheet and air underneath so there's really only a single layer of fruit despite the deep box. I wonder if they think they're fooling anyone!

No booking needed: Singapore (3)

I say old chap, time for a spot of afternoon tea, what. Well, high tea in Singapore has its followers but isn't as popular as the cup of coffee. Coffee chains (eg Starbucks, ugh) are commonplace but the local brew remains the staple beverage. Local coffee is made from beans which have been roasted in margarine and is either served black or with milk, either evaporated or condensed (none of that fresh nonsense). Mother's milk to the local drinker.

One such place to get a fix is a chain called Toast Box. Here one can get buttered toast with peanut butter, pork floss or kaya (a sweet custard like coconut milk, egg and pandan based spread), local coffee as well as snacks and light meals, all in a traditional kopi tiam (coffee shop) setting. That unusual cone shaped item on the left is a mound of butter.

No booking needed: Singapore (2)

A simple (!) breakfast from the hawkers at the local market. Nasi lemak (coconut milk infused rice with fried nuts and anchovies, a little egg and a piece of fish all wrapped in a banana leaf), pisang goreng (deep fried battered banana), fried sweet potato, curry puffs, you tiao (a long deep fried pastry), some dou hua, chee kuay (little steamed rice flour cakes topped with chilli, pickled vegetables and a bit of dried shrimp) and fried diced turnip cake (chye tow kuay).

Like many things today, even the humble nasi lemak has succumbed to the efficiencies of the production line. The 'sambal' and anchovies/nuts came in little tear apart sachets. It probably helps to keep the fish and nuts crunchier for longer without the sauce in the rice. Aaaah, progress.

Booking required: Sunny Singapore (1)

The next leg of our trip takes us to Singapore, where the heat and humidity immediately started taking its toll on the family. Unlike Taiwan, where the food is primarily Fujien based (but great all the same), Singapore food is a wonderful mish mash of multiple cultures. 

Our first lunch outside was at a peranakan restaurant with the groan inducing name of Peramakan (makan being the Malay word for 'eat'). Peranakans are the straits Chinese or locally born Chinese - descendants of the earliest Chinese immigrants to the region, who often intermarried with the local population. Their cuisine is a unique blend of Chinese and Malay cultures. Interestingly, the owners are Christian with Bible phrases adorning the walls. The food was excellent and reasonably priced (this is Singapore remember).

Clockwise from left: Seafood sambal, a salad of banana buds, papaya and starfruit (locally called belimbing), beef rendang, ladies fingers (or okra) and otak (steamed fish cake). The last item, a strange looking black dish, is ayam keluak, which is chicken braised in a sauce made from various local spices and keluak nuts. The nuts are poisonous in the wild (we do love living dangerously here at inflated reality) and require days of soaking in water before they can be used. The little McDonald's coffee stirrers are used to scoop out the flesh of the nuts which tasted nutty and just slightly bitter.

As always, dessert is the pièce de résistance of any meal, and for that we had a pengat durian, or durian mousse, with a cooked yam base. Like the Richard Blanc brûlée, heaven in a cup. Sadly, the rest of the clan begged to differ. Happily though, that meant more for yours truly!

Ice kacang, another staple local dessert with finely shaved ice, rose syrup, evaporated milk and a base of goodies such as jellies, red beans and sweet palm seeds. Topped with sweet corn and little jellies.

No booking needed: Goodbuy Taipei (10)

All good things must come to an end, or at least until the next trip. Our flight to Singapore, land of the lion, was scheduled to depart at a most unholy hour (7am). And this in Taiwan, land of the late riser, where some shops don't even open until 2 pm.

Having shopped till we dropped (carrying around an extra load of body mass wasn't helping either) we turned up at the airport a little apprehensive about the weight of our luggage. As any husband will attest, holidays always follow the 80:20 rule, 80% of acquisitions are made in the last 2 days (ok so I lied about the 20% part).

Thankfully, we came up short of the limit, having had the foresight to ship a fair amount home via parcel post. For those hapless men contemplating a trip here with their wives and teenage kids, here's a tip: post offices sell sturdy cardboard boxes for $NT45. This is important for 2 reasons (1) you don't want to look like a hobo scrounging for boxes at Carrefours or the local 7-11 and (2) the boxes they sell are the maximum size allowable under their postal rules. 

Of course, we had to have something to eat before leaving, so at the airport we had our last local meal: congee, xiao long bao (dumplings), a braised pork bun with veg and soup (number 16 on the menu) and of course, a couple of Mister Donuts purchased the night before.

Oh, and there's no typo in the post title.

Shopping in Taipei

One of the reasons why we continue to head back to Taipei for holidays (other than to eat) is the shopping. Although we landed in Taipei fairly light on luggage, like Topsy it just growed. 

One of the popular purchases among womenfolk are shoes. Shoes are extremely cheap if bought at one of the many night markets around Taipei, on average up to about $NT700 or so. Of course one cannot expect real leather, but they look pretty decent for essentially a throw away item after a few months wear. 

For the more mature (or financially well endowed), department stores provide an excellent outlet to give the wallet/purse/black credit card a workout on branded stuff. Sogo is the major store, but there is also Takashimaya, Ming Yao (no relation to the basketball player) and my personal favourites, Eslite and Hankyu. 

UniQlo, a Japanese clothing chain, is a popular destination for affordable clothing. T-shirts in particular, come nicely packaged in resealable zip lock bags. Just rip, pop out and wear. A UniQlo shopping experience is like heading to the supermarket, simply pick up a hand basket and start shovelling clothes into it.

Chingrish

One of the (somewhat) endearing features of visiting Taiwan (and China) is reading the local Chingrish (Chinese text literally translated into English). Numerous examples abound in night markets, where t-shirts and other items of clothing are often emblazoned with total gibberish. Makes an entertaining read, but not the sort of thing to impress your friends back home.

An outlet for Taiwan's state run lottery. I guess if you win, you get a 'lotter' cash (cue groans).

A packet of sweet buns at a local supermarket.

Memories of old Kaohsiung

While in Kaohsiung we took a trip down memory lane for the wife, having a wander around the area where she grew up. 

The childhood home, actually the one next door to this but the same architecture, now redeveloped.

The old kindergarten. Apparently it was the premier kindergarten in Kaohsiung at one time, and to get in kids had to sit for an entrance test. And you thought today's environment was competitive.

No booking needed : Back in Taipei (9)

Having caught one of the half hourly evening high speed trains back to Taipei from Kaohsiung, we arrived somewhat hungry. After wandering down one of the streets next to our local MRT station, we settled on one of Taipei's home grown fast food joints: Formosa Chang. Most famous for lu rou fan, it started out in 1960 from street vendor origins. 

The chain specialises in serving up quick meals based around either a small bowl of lu rou fan, shredded chicken and rice or just plain rice with which one can order a variety of side dishes. We had a piece of pan fried fish, vegetables, some sliced sausage and soup. Calling this fast food is an understatement, with some of the dishes arriving while we were still ordering. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was pretty decent fare. At the end of the meal, having spent $NT330, we even had a chance at a lucky dip, picking 3 coupons which entitled us to free side dishes on our next visit. 

Didn't take any pictures of what we ate but it looks just like what's in the Formosa Chang website www.fmsc.com.tw. And wonder of wonders, they also sell prepacked lu rou fan mix in foil pouches, ready to create 7 bowls of their signature dish (just add a dash of pork mince?) in the comfort of one's own home. And no, we didn't buy any, having had enough during our stay to last half a lifetime, or at least until the next trip.

New fruit of the day

We were offered this rather strange fruit to try while in Kaohsiung. It has the fitting colloquial name of dan huang guo (egg yolk fruit) as it has the texture of cooked egg yolk, despite looking for all the world like a mango. It tastes somewhat like a semi sweet eggy crumbly cake, and has a stomach filling capacity well in excess of its size.

Kaohsiung kaos

After Tainan it was down to Kaohsiung for an overnight stop to visit some relatives and have a quick look around. Kaohsiung is the second largest city in Taiwan, and was (and still is) a major shipbuilding center. Kaohsiung of old was a pretty industrial town, but like much of Taiwan, has been seriously greened up and looks nothing like it was before. 

Ai He (or Love River) wasn't originally somewhere where you'd take that special someone without bringing along a couple of gas masks. But it's now a very pretty place, rivalling any similar riverfront. It's also a bit unusual in that the water level comes fairly close up to the banks (or maybe it was because it was the high tide?) Unfortunately for us, rain put a dampener on on any such thoughts during our short stroll there last night. 

One thing that hasn't changed over the years is the massive scooter population, still the primary means of transport over here. It's a great place if you like the smell of 2 stroke exhaust and living dangerously. Never attempt to second guess a scooter rider's actions or you'll end up as road kill. There's no safe haven on the pavement either. One really has to be on high alert all the time.

Lunch was another sit down affair. I've learnt to stop fighting for the bill with elder relatives, having been admonished far too often for my efforts. This restaurant specialises in seafood with ingredients flown in fresh from the Penghu islands daily. Penghu lies in the Taiwan Strait off its western coast. You'll have to take our word for it that the quality of the food was excellent.

One new thing that we tried was a soybean based cake. Instead of normal flour, ground soybean is used. This particular cake had a red bean filling, and tasted just like a normal light sponge cake. Which is to say, nice.

No booking needed: Tainan (2)

Lunch was a simple affair, Taiwan's renowned beef noodle soup (niu rou mian, mine served 'dry' with a side bowl of the beef broth) and some rou yuan (meat dumplings). The noodles were great and the generous serving of meat ultra tender from the long stewing process.

A morning in Tainan

After rousing the sleepyheads amidst a ton of protestations, our new friend CK came by to take us for a bit of a look around Tainan before lunch.

An Ping Tree House. No, it's not a house on a tree, but a house where the vines of a huge banyan tree have overtaken and penetrated the entire house. Once considered haunted it's been preserved in a semi derelict condition and is a popular tourist attraction. It's certainly one of the more unusual places in Taiwan. 

Right next door is a museum depicting life in Taiwan during the time of the Dutch colonisation. It was originally the headquarters of the Tait & Co Merchant House.

Fishingboats moored in An Ping. We're told the catch from returning boats are offered for sale in one of the adjacent car parks from about 3pm each day.

New friends

We made some new friends today courtesy of some old ones. A more warm and hospitable Christian couple and their super charming 4 kids you couldn't find elsewhere in Taiwan. And Taiwanese are generally a friendly lot. Despite us calling on them with pretty much no notice (and our protestations), they insisted on taking us out for a quick sightseeing drive, dinner, dessert and then to their home. 

Yen Ping Road in the An Ping district. The first street ever built in Taiwan, yes Taiwan, built by Dutch colonists in the 17th century.

Pre dinner snack of dou hua (dou fu pudding) at An Ping's top dou hua shop. It's pretty massive place just selling one item, and we're told it's packed on weekends. TGIF.

Their dou hua comes with various toppings and flavours in syrup. This was a lemon flavoured bowl with tapioca balls (zhen zhu).  The unusual dark color of the dou hua comes from adding the ashes from burnt bamboo. Sounds strange but doesn't affect the taste.

Dinner was at a ma la huo guo (spicy hot pot) restaurant. Unlike Szechuan or Cantonese hot pots, these come with a spicy and sour broth. Just the thing for a cold winter night! No pics due the extreme crowds!

Dessert. This is a xing ren (almond) jelly place, which serves up really wonderful iced or hot bowls of almond jelly with a variety of toppings and other extras. And again, really nice. (The shop on the left)

Cold almond jelly with sweet yam, peanuts and red beans, enough for 2. 2 thumbs up.

Almond jelly with warm black sesame (zhi ma) soup.

These little food gems are tucked away among the hundreds of places to eat in Tainan, and we would never have found them on our own. Thanks guys!