The Rainbow Bridge

To nowhere?

Nah! to the Beach of course! No pot of gold though...

Kueishan (Turtle) Island in Taiwan

The beautiful coastal area of Taiwan was quite unforgettable as we made our way out to Kueishan (turtle island) along the Northeast coast.

The geography and majestic topography is absolutely one of it's kind.

All this beautiful scenery was shrouded with the intense stench of sulfur, only because of the volcanic activity underwater. God sure makes nature so breath-takingly easy to appreciate, but so hard to phantom.

Look at how small the little boat compares to the island.

Little craved our holes break the monotonous rock-wall. These were apparently dug out long ago for military defense again enemy war ships coming in towards Taiwan. Army soldiers can hide in there and shoot. Kind of like "Letters from Iwo Jima" style.

Apart from man-made incisions, nature also makes her statement with several inlets. Forgive my geography, it's been a long time.

And of course the highlight, underwater hot spring!

And, a man-made highlight, we caught a fish!

Taiwan Food Trail

I don't think we were there long enough to justify any flippant remark such as "Taiwan has no good food in the restaurants that are authentically Taiwanese". But for the short time we managed to get out of the hotel, we were pleasantly treated with a generous assortment of "Street-food".

A popular concept and way of life for the locals, the shilin market comes to life at nights, buzzling with hawkers selling anything from teen fashion to earrings, shoes and belts to yummy dumplings, heavily seasoned juicy chicken cutlet, drinks and sweets, to evading the alert cops ever-ready to disrupt and fine them.

Our food trail was short but definitely eventful while we were there!

The taxi stopped us in front of a busy alley, telling us that was a common meeting place for most locals. It was clearly a really convenient meeting point, considering it was the mid-point intersection where a busy cross junction splits the market into 2 separate sides, one mainly entertains the masses with games and a maze of little eateries. The other, caters to the hardcore shopper the bargain-hunter and the unfocused and adventurous greedy foodie.

The sweetest first sight to behold - Candied Fruit, baby tomatoes, cute little strawberries.

A little further down, if you have not already been distracted by the number of shops selling really cheap (SGD$8 - SGD$15) shoes and accessories; you would probably be fascinated by the several make-shift hawkers taking the opportunity while the cops are off fining other hawkers to lay out their attractive offerings of belts, t-shirts and hair accessories.

I caught sight of a different type of hawker - the food kind. But this little push-trolley was selling "pig-blood cakes"! Totally put off, yet curious, it was one split torn moment where I debated whether to try it or not.

Obviously I couldn't, so I settled for a sneak peak. These black blood cubes are generously slathered with your choice of either black sesame or peanuts. Quirky combination, but it does seem popular with the locals. Maybe someone can enlighten me on why it's such a popular snack!

The cart next to it was a personal pleasant surprise. One of my favourite Chinese phrases of all times, appears on a cart selling cakes! Literally translated as "chicken egg cakes" these little golden soft chiffon-like cakes were not only inviting because of the private joke we share, but also because they smelt too heavenly to resist. Ah, the beauty of eggs to smell like crap raw, but smell so gooood when baked.

After that, we took a break and started earring-shopping at one of the carts along the side. Suddenly the shop lights go off. Generator still going, she nervously peering over her shoulder and mentions, :"jing-char lai le". Meaning, the police is here. Naturally I though, this was my cue to scoot. But she told me to continue shopping! Curious, I asked her how come she isn't packing up and running, and apparently, as long as the lights are off, I can still stay and peruse and buy!

That sounded so naughty, so in-your-face rebellion! So I continued and thank goodness for that! I bought four lovely pairs of dangling earrings, all for only SGD$20! Plus I got a good shot of a cop in his true glory. Not so glorious for the poor hawker though.

After all that action, we got thirsty. At this point there was a fork in the alley and we veered to the left because we saw this.

I suppose we already eat the fallopian tubes in Chinese desserts, so what's the little frog eggs. Fortunately, it's just a term for the icy drink. Kind of like a mix of jelly and chin chow with ice. A very refreshing drink.

Thirst quenched, happy with my shopping goods, we continued with our hunt for more little eats.

Glutinous rice with crab, yum! Look at the uniform lovely brown with evident generosity of mushrooms.

The taste was expected, nothing much out of the ordinary from the variety we get in Singapore. I was slightly disappointed though, didn't really taste or see much of the crab.
However that moment quickly dissipated when I caught sight of a long queue for Shanghai fried buns - locally known as "shen jian bao".

Unlike the variety of stalls selling the same, this stall steams their baos while the others pan fry them. I picked a meat with vegetable filling and apologize for the absent close-up shot, gobbled down too fast!

Finally the last stall we saw before we crossed over to the other side of the market, was this tofu stand.

This little "frying-station" fronts a hidden store selling noodles and tofu. We stood here for awhile trying to understand the system. There is a deep-frying station where the bean curd is deep fried and cut into bite-size pieces. The second station is the preparatory station which mixes the tofu with a special sauce, and pickled vegetables. I don't think these were the traditional smelly tofu because they tasted and smelled heavenly.

Incredibly, we still wanted to venture to the other side of the market because we hadn't found the famous Taiwan chicken chop! So we crossed the busy junction and found ourselves in yet another rowdy side of the market. This side appeared more 'organized' as all the food stalls were tucked under a sheltered area.

While entering the market, we stopped at an amazing sight. Imagine advertising for ear-waxing like so! Doubt I'll ever try it.

When we got to the food section, there was apparent one main stall commanding the strongest presence and the most consistent queue.

We had found it! The chicken chop of Taiwan! And not just any chop, but "extra big big" chicken chop! Notice the sentence ending in an exclamation. It states this shop refrains from cutting up the chicken cutlets.

The Shilin chicken chops in Singapore, they will expertly cut up the pieces and then season them before putting them in the paper bags and finishing off with satay sticks for cutlery. This shop stuffs the whole cutlet into a paper bag and insists you put that bag into another plastic bag for one simple practical reason - it's soooo hot!

One bite. That's all you need to have your questions answered. Why is a queue? Because it's absolutely good stuff! Why don't they cut the chicken? Because without cutting the chicken into pieces, every bite is juicy and tender, plus the queue moves faster! Why the plastic bag? Because it's so hot, and so big, you are probably going to have to keep some for later!

Satisfied, we walked further into the market. There were several stalls selling staples and tucked adjacent to the toilet was a stall selling omelettes in various varieties.

With so many pictures and apparent accolades, we thought we so had to try their Taiwanese Aw-Jian (oyster omelette) since it was also recommended several times in a few tourist brochures.

The omelette was fragrant, but a little too starchy. Obtaining a muah-chee like constituency, it was a little too different from what we are used to to enjoy thoroughly.

Further down several stalls, we chanced upon another interesting find.

This name loosely translates as "Big biscuit wrap little biscuit". Such a queer item, I had to try it.

That's the little biscuit which they crush and wrap within.

And a nice flour wrap to wrap the biscuit. There were several flavours to choose from (red bean, peanut, sesame, curry, spicy, green bean, etc). I got the curry one, which was probably a bad choice to begin with. Sadly, the spices were a little bitter and I didn't enjoy my 'wrap' at all.

But that 'wrapped' up our tour and mini trail of the Shilin market. A pity we never got to explore the entire market in it's entirety. Stuffed beyond belief and tired legs were a blatant understatement when we left. But it was definitely a worth-while experience.

And we are another year older again aren't we