How many night markets are there in Taipei? Great question, JFGI! The problem is, there seems to be no easy answer. Shilin is the biggest one, located at the Jiantan stop on the red line. That’s the only one I had vivid memories of, but as it turned out, it’s also like the worst one. Unless you’re a tourist. The food there is pretty bleh and most of the things being sold in the underground food court are way too similar. Oh wait, Shilin does have some good shopping though, including this hip hoppy store, Trend Setting, where I bought great semi-harem-y capris, from a local Taiwanese brand no less.
Anyway, Shilin is usually not the move unless you need to take a touristy sweep through the area. From what I hear, the best food is at Raohe, or at least that's the one my uncle prefers. Earlier in the night, I met Angie at Shida night market, which is located next to the university I’d be attending. It was quieter and smaller, mainly just one main drag, and the food there was definitely different than at Shilin.
For one, there was “lantern braised stew” or “lu wei,” which seemed to be very popular as there were lines around the many places offering this item. Now that I’ve eaten it, months later, I can tell you that the line is not necessarily due to popularity, but also because the wait time to eat this stuff is very long. Basically you select from a variety of meats and vegetables and then they take the basket from you, proportion and organize your selections, and then dip it into a soup that has been cooking all day. So basically you are eating O.P.S. (Other People’s Soup). It tastes a little like the ramen I made in college, which was just whatever I could find in the fridge thrown into a huge pot and then dished out like I was late night Iron Chef.
At Shilin, we caught up with Daisy and her cousins for a few minutes before they jetted. Angie and I hung around to try our hand at popping balloons via darts and air powered pistols. Apparently I can’t throw pointy things with accuracy or strength but my gun game is strong. Thank you Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Tonight’s haul: A Rilakkuma pencil that was exactly the one I wanted out of the mystery box. This sleepy bear was too good to be used in real life so it remains in my closet, sleeping.
It’s been fun seeing all the different mascots that businesses use here, the ones that have no resonance to me because they aren’t in the States. The various Line mascots for example, like Cony (rabbit) or Brown (bear). Or the 7-Eleven rainbow headed creature, Open Chan, also Kumamon (black bear). Rilakkuma also happens to be Japanese for “bear.” There also seem to be an awful lot of mascot bears for a country that boasts very few bears. This is a good time to discuss the plight of the native Formosan black bear, Taiwan’s own endangered and on the verge of extinction mammal. The Formosan black bear's popularity has been eclipsed by the panda and now nobody cares about it at the zoo. Is that not the saddest story you ever heard? And ironic since Taiwanese people hate just about everything Chinese. "All those tourists!" And now they are about to lose their native bear...
And what the hell is San-X with its menagerie of knock-off Sanrio characters? I like anthropomorphic things — last year I was collecting anthropomorphic vegetables — but these things are hideous. Except for Kogepan, the burnt bread bun, he’s cool.
Anyway, Shilin is usually not the move unless you need to take a touristy sweep through the area. From what I hear, the best food is at Raohe, or at least that's the one my uncle prefers. Earlier in the night, I met Angie at Shida night market, which is located next to the university I’d be attending. It was quieter and smaller, mainly just one main drag, and the food there was definitely different than at Shilin.
For one, there was “lantern braised stew” or “lu wei,” which seemed to be very popular as there were lines around the many places offering this item. Now that I’ve eaten it, months later, I can tell you that the line is not necessarily due to popularity, but also because the wait time to eat this stuff is very long. Basically you select from a variety of meats and vegetables and then they take the basket from you, proportion and organize your selections, and then dip it into a soup that has been cooking all day. So basically you are eating O.P.S. (Other People’s Soup). It tastes a little like the ramen I made in college, which was just whatever I could find in the fridge thrown into a huge pot and then dished out like I was late night Iron Chef.
At Shilin, we caught up with Daisy and her cousins for a few minutes before they jetted. Angie and I hung around to try our hand at popping balloons via darts and air powered pistols. Apparently I can’t throw pointy things with accuracy or strength but my gun game is strong. Thank you Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Tonight’s haul: A Rilakkuma pencil that was exactly the one I wanted out of the mystery box. This sleepy bear was too good to be used in real life so it remains in my closet, sleeping.
It’s been fun seeing all the different mascots that businesses use here, the ones that have no resonance to me because they aren’t in the States. The various Line mascots for example, like Cony (rabbit) or Brown (bear). Or the 7-Eleven rainbow headed creature, Open Chan, also Kumamon (black bear). Rilakkuma also happens to be Japanese for “bear.” There also seem to be an awful lot of mascot bears for a country that boasts very few bears. This is a good time to discuss the plight of the native Formosan black bear, Taiwan’s own endangered and on the verge of extinction mammal. The Formosan black bear's popularity has been eclipsed by the panda and now nobody cares about it at the zoo. Is that not the saddest story you ever heard? And ironic since Taiwanese people hate just about everything Chinese. "All those tourists!" And now they are about to lose their native bear...
And what the hell is San-X with its menagerie of knock-off Sanrio characters? I like anthropomorphic things — last year I was collecting anthropomorphic vegetables — but these things are hideous. Except for Kogepan, the burnt bread bun, he’s cool.