One-Month Anniversary

Must...learn...self...control.

To celebrate the fact that I have survived a month (including but not limited to avoiding starvation, getting lost, and deportation), successfully made two presentations on things I knew absolutely nothing about before I came, and am progressing with my lab techniques, I decided to utilize a Friday night to explore. Yes, I was tired, but after last weekend I realized Fridays couldn't come fast enough and Mondays came way too soon. So I jumped on the good-old MRT and headed to the renowned Shilin Night Market.

Many have touted it as THE night market in Taiwan. Some say if you only have one night in Taipei, go here, because there isn't anything like it. Oh so true.

Shilin is amazing. It's like heaven on earth, and if the 95 degree humidity would go away, it would probably come very close. The diversity and quality of food was unbelievable. The amount of shops, with everything from traditional items to jewelry to socks to accessories to the obligatory rip-off 'Calven Klein' underpants (I knew 4 for $100NT should have been a tip-off) was incredible. The initial part of the night market (the indoor portion) was all food, and that alone was completely overwhelming. After circling mindlessly for 20 minutes, I figured I better jump in and look for a few of the legendary dishes I wrote down. I found two of them and scored! After the two, I didn't really look for anymore because I was full, and I'm tortured when confronted with too many choices. For info on my delicacies, see below.

One of hundreds of food stands. On the left is various skewered things--meats, vegetables, tofu--that can be ordered to be barbequed. On the right is skewers of glazed fruits, mainly strawberries. I have yet to try the latter, but I can assure you it will come.

The entrance to Shilin Market, sepcifically the food center. Treasures abound inside.

Inside Shilin. This was one alley. Multiply that by five or six, and then imagine another 5 or 6 crossstreets. Ahhhh!

Part one of my dinner. Not the best of pictures, but this is 大餅包小餅 (da4 bing3 bao1 xiao3 bing3), or 'small bun wrapped in large bun.' It consists of a rice sausage (something of which i was previously unaware) stuffed with vegetables, and then a sausage stuffed into that. Deeeelicious.

Part two of dinner: the famous oyster omelet, known by the natives as 蚵仔煎 (e2 zi3 jian1). It was mixed with potato starch, and topped with some kind of amazing peanut sauce. I'm now a big fan.

After getting a little food in me and calming down a bit, I realized I didn't see any other stands. That's odd, I thought. I knew Shilin Market had to have more than just food; why else would it be so popular? After walking down a block or two, another world suddenly emerged. A good comparison is when Hagrid first takes Harry Potter down Diagon Alley and Harry is overwhelmed by the sight of all the magic shops and broomstick stores. Then I started having a temporary panic attack like Rory did (Gilmore Girls fans, anyone?) when she visited Harvard. As she and Lorelai passed the library, Lorelai read a pamplet describing all the volumes of books in the library they were looking at, which was one of many on campus. Rory proceeded to freak out, exclaiming, 'I can't read all these books! It would take 6 a day, maybe more, until the day I die! I'm behind, I'm a failure!' Lorelai then tells Rory, 'Sweetie, I don't think they expect you to read them all.' The two then proceed onward with the tour, all the while Rory stating, 'I suck. I have so much catching up to do.'

I had to say I kind of felt that way. With every step I took was a new store and a new food stand with something I had never seen. Each small opening between stores happened to be an intersection, with alleys off the alleys off the alleys. Half-way down the main walk I just gave up trying to have a system and turned whatever corner suited my fancy. I did temporarily get lost a couple times, but obviously found my way back. This is not a one-night endeavor. I feel like I lost an hour alone by mindlessly staring at things, like in 'A Bug's Life' when the mosquitoes say, 'Don't look into the light!' The one enthralled mosquito has no willpower, stating, 'I can't heeelllp it...' and ZAP! (Wow, the movie and TV analogies are really working for me tonight.)

My zapping was in the form of purchases. No bargaining was done because prices were posted and one of the things I got was on deep sale. I suppose I could have tried, but I didn't know if that would be considered tacky or rude. My bargaining before had come on things where prices weren't posted. If anything's game, I might try next time. The main reason I have no self-control is because I want to buy something for everyone I know everywhere I go. Most of my spending has been entirely on gifts, but that's the way I like it.

The most challenging person to buy for is the little bro. I could always buy him a Hello Kitty stationary set, but somehow I doubt he would be very appreciative...although I think his friends would find it quite hilarious.

It's quite late, and I must be getting to bed tomorrow for the start of the real weekend. Want to know the agenda? You know where to find me.