Saturday, June 26, 2010

Tainan pt 1





When I got to Tainan, I was shocked to see blue sky. In Taipei it had been raining for 40 days and 40 nights, and I had forgotten that sometimes the sky is a color other than gray. I took the high speed train, which was nice except for the lack of information at the station. I was looking for a hotel and no one could give me any advice at all. Poor. I took the free shuttle bus into town and ended up in the middle of nowhere. Stupid bus driver wouldn't tell me anything, it's possible his mandarin was not very good and I couldn't ask in Taiwanese. So I took a taxi who took me to a place that fit my criteria: clean, not too expensive, in a convenient area. It probably would have been cheaper if he didn't take his cut, but at least he helped me find some place. It was nice to drop off my stuff and go get lunch. I wanted to try two things Tainan is famous for - dan zi noodles and the fried shrimp rolls. Unlike Taipei, people in Tainan were actually kind of impressed that I can speak some Chinese and my hotel staff were pretty nice and helpful. They sent me in the right direction and off I went. You can see that the pics of my lunch are too dark, I was still learning how to use this camera. The noodles at this place were really nice, great texture and a perfect, salty enough but not too salty, flavorful broth. The fried shrimp roll was also good, served with a mixture of that apricot duck sauce and wasabi and pickled ginger on the side, both excellent for cutting the grease of deep fried shrimp. The home made winter melon tea was also good and refreshing.