Just some quick updates before the next post. MKG did a better job describing the food than I did:
like tiny minnows crispy on the outside, sticky on the in, found in an unassuming bag of snackmix. Oh the HORROR! But actually they're kinda salty and altogether OK.
To answer Dave's question - Unfortunately no, I have yet to eat scorpion off of naked asians. I've been told that's more of a Japanese thing.
Update #: 6
Currently: same smoke, same noise, different internet cafe.
Unsurprisingly, the most shocking thing on the trip so far has been the language. Taiwan doesn't see too many American tourists - and hence, there's hardly ANY english spoken - much less than anywhere I've been in Europe or Japan. Even the sight of Western looking people is uncommon. School children giggle and shout "hello" when I walk past them - and all I can offer is a Nee-How in return.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to learn much mandarian chinese yet, although I'd like to learn more in the future. Just telling the difference between when one word finishes and another begins is challenging - as many of the words sound extremely similar. It's the difference between a ching vs. cheng, shin vs. shen, or hao de vs. huai de. The last combo is for 'good' or 'bad' - so if you're slightly off in your pronunciation, then you're totally off in the meaning. Also, there's the whole issue of tones and characters (hànzì). So far, the only hànzì that I recognize on a regular basis are for 'exit' and 'fire'.
Which means that ordering food from a menu without pictures is still quite a challenge. And by challenge I mean - I cannot order food off of a menu without pictures. Heck, I could barely get a cup of tea from a small shop that sold only tea.
Can't wait till I return to the land of phonetics,
AK
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