1) spend quality time with relatives
2) sight see (for once)
3) eat as much great food as humanly possible
if given a letter grade for how well each objective was met, i'd give myself a B- for numbers one and two, but a solid, golden A for number three. i have to thank my cousins for my triumphant grade, as they absolutely excel at eating. in fact, i had forgotten how much more they love food than i do- something i think most people who know me would find difficult to believe.
almost everything that passed through my lips during the trip was delicious (and really, no exaggeration here). i think it was a combination of my family's good taste, my genetic predisposition to love taiwanese food (if there is such a thing), and the icky asian food that i've had to put up with since our move to boston. hearing me proclaim that i planned on gaining twenty pounds on my trip, my cousins accepted the challenge seriously. they did quite a bit of strategic planning, that often called for random stops on the road so they could wait in an absurdly long line for an interesting beverage or other street vendor food. we would then all share a portion to ensure that we wouldn't get too full before the next food stop.
one of the best places to eat a wide range of delicious goodies is at the night markets. i also really enjoy being able to watch as my food is prepared. here's a brief glimpse of some of the goodies we devoured.
hot hot hot scallion pancakes
i watched in fascination while this man made incredibly thin wraps (ours had a variety of vegetables inside) with just the twist of his fist.
i tried one of these for the first time - a thin crepe like shell with a red bean filling. we also tried ones with cream filling and vegetable filling. mmm. so. good.
