I know it's been forever since I last posted anything. I am a little ashamed at the lapse. I've started writing my first novel and it's taking over my life. I can't seem to pull myself out of it long enough to do much of anything else - obviously including blogging. We also just got back from a much-needed two week trip to the U.S. We went to California and to Reno. I'll (hopefully) post some pictures from our time in the states soon.
For now I'm going to do a post that I've been thinking about doing for about a month now, which is how long it's been since we went to the night market with a couple of friends. The night market was great, if a little hot and crowded. In Taiwan there are several night markets, each specializing in different things. I'm pretty sure the Shilin night market that we went to specializes in tourists. It's the most famous of the night markets and always crowded with tourists and locals alike, eating the food and shopping for the goods and just creating extra heat.
I don't know what these streets look like during the day, but at night they are bustling with activity. People selling bags and shirts and umbrellas in the middle of the street, shoppers chomping on food, haggling with sellers for better prices, and just strolling through, and food vendors yelling to the crowd to advertise their crispy chicken, pork blood cake, and fruit.
We hit up the food section first for some dinner before the shopping bonanza began. The food section is in a whole separate building before you get to the market proper. Stalls crowd a huge warehouse, and heat and the smell of cooking oil hangs in the air.
We tried oyster omelette, which was good but a little on the slimy side, and Keelung tempura, which is a special deep-fried fish cake. The fish cake and pickles were pretty good but the bright pink sauce on top was a little strange.
Oyster Omelette
Keelung Tempura
We walked through the stalls and watched some pretty interesting food in the making, but eventually couldn't stand the heat anymore, and made our way to the shopping section of the market.
And of course in the shopping section, we ate more food. I tried pig's blood cake, which sounds pretty strange I know, but it wasn't bad. It was a little on the bland side. It almost reminded me of congealed malt-o-meal on a stick, covered in peanuts and cilantro, but of course with that small little detail about the blood. You really can't taste much of anything though.
The market itself is lined by two sides of shops selling mostly clothes, shoes, and handbags, with the occasional hair supplies, $1 store equivalent, or business card holders. In between the two sides of vendors are more vendors - mostly food (fruit stalls, pork blood cake carts, etc.) - and people crowding all around, trying not to bump into the vendors in the middle.
Even though it was inhumanely hot, and crowded, and not a single piece of clothing in the country could possibly fit my large American frame, we had a really good time at the market. We did a lot of people watching, tried a lot of new food, and got a good feeling for the night market experience. Now that it's gotten even hotter here, I can't imagine going back anytime soon, but I'm sure we'll find our way back to a night market eventually, if for nothing else than just getting some more massive deep fried chicken breast (sorry, no picture of this one available!)
Ha, I should warn you the heat was really terrible. Trust me, it's not the worst yet. Next time, we probably should go to another night market. I believe the one close to your house would be nice too. :) (of course we should go after September)
-Connie
This place sounds like mecca: Shopping + Food + Night time!
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