The last two days have mostly been filled with work and sleep, but I did manage to take a few photos of the mundane things I've been doing.
First, the hotel that I get up and go to bed in every day
The photo doesn't really do it justice - the hill that the cars are on is artificial, raising the hotel above the surrounding area in a very pompous way, while also making room for a fancy shopping centre in the basement. The hotel has at least 2 people to open the doors for you (sometimes 4), one person to call the lift and usher you in, and - get this - one person to remind you of the step half way across the lobby so you don't fall up/down it.
Seriously.
Like, that's all I've seen them do. They watch you approach, trying to guess which step you'll be going up or down, then hurry over to you, gesture to the step, and say 'mind the step please'. Sometimes many people approach at once, and they have to rush the warning to one person so they can reach the next and warn them of imminent step danger. Admittedly, the lobby is basically black with gold decoration, so the step is a little hidden in the darkness, but I've had three days of the warnings, and now I just want to fall over just to stick it to them.
The next mundane thing I've been doing is eating. So far I've had Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, and a weird Taiwanese take on burgers (chicken and passion fruit sauce), and we walk past French, Italian, and German places on the way to work each day. But no matter where we go, the food has had 2 things in common - it has been lovely, and it has been cheap (with the exception of the Chinese place, which was only lovely).
This evening for dinner I had a noodle soup bowl with shrimp wontons, which was more than I could comfortably eat, and it cost $130 (that's New Taiwan Dollars). Sounds like a lot, but in British money that dish set me back just over £3.
I didn't take photos of the noodles, since I was in company, but I did take photos of my lunch, which cost all of $70 (around £1.70).
The skewer thing was some kind of deep fried seafood (possibly squid or cuttlefish). The lady that sold it to me was very insistent that I brush random powder 1 or random powder 2 on it - the pots with the powder were unlabelled, and had 2" paintbrushes in them for the brushing part. Random powder 1 looked like chili powder, so I went for random powder 2. I have no idea what it was, just like the rest of that part of the meal, but it was really good.
The buns reminded me a lot of eccles cakes when I first bit into them, with really flaky pastry on the outside. I bought 4 (I only meant to buy 2, but the lady selling them to me didn't want to give me change, so she gave me 2 more buns), and they had different fillings - bun 1 was a sweet one that reminded me a little of nutella crossed with peanut butter, and looked like coffee grounds. Bun 2 was cabbage and possibly feta or some other mild cheese - it tasted like it should be Greek, not Chinese. It also had a green dot on the top, possibly to warn potential eaters that it contained green food...? Bun 3, pictured above, was a very dry shredded meat thing. I saved bun 4 for this evening, and I'm eating it as I write - turns out it's the same as bun 1.
The final mundane thing I've been doing is window shopping. There is an arcade somewhere behind the hotel, with lots of those grabby claw machines (but differently designed, like there might be some chance of getting a prize), and a line of kinder-egg style toy dispensers in those machines you put money in and turn the handle round. A few of these appealed to me, and I may have to go back just to buy...
...(from left to right) Miniature Snipers, vomiting animals (probably TM), or the Garbage Collection. They also had a variety of animals, unwell-looking animals, and dead animals (I'm told these were 'sleepy animals' and 'sleeping animals', but I remain unconvinced).
Miniature Snipers is really speaking to me. I feel a need to go back and get one, or several. I'd quite like Miniature Sniper in a tomato, but I'd settle for Miniature Sniper in a peanut. Although I could get a can of sparkling wine for the same amount, so maybe I'll go to the 7-eleven for Chardonnay in a tin.
First, the hotel that I get up and go to bed in every day
 | |
| The entrance to the Taipei Regent. |
Seriously.
Like, that's all I've seen them do. They watch you approach, trying to guess which step you'll be going up or down, then hurry over to you, gesture to the step, and say 'mind the step please'. Sometimes many people approach at once, and they have to rush the warning to one person so they can reach the next and warn them of imminent step danger. Admittedly, the lobby is basically black with gold decoration, so the step is a little hidden in the darkness, but I've had three days of the warnings, and now I just want to fall over just to stick it to them.
The next mundane thing I've been doing is eating. So far I've had Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, and a weird Taiwanese take on burgers (chicken and passion fruit sauce), and we walk past French, Italian, and German places on the way to work each day. But no matter where we go, the food has had 2 things in common - it has been lovely, and it has been cheap (with the exception of the Chinese place, which was only lovely).
This evening for dinner I had a noodle soup bowl with shrimp wontons, which was more than I could comfortably eat, and it cost $130 (that's New Taiwan Dollars). Sounds like a lot, but in British money that dish set me back just over £3.
I didn't take photos of the noodles, since I was in company, but I did take photos of my lunch, which cost all of $70 (around £1.70).
 |
| Squid thing (left) and meat thing (right) |
The buns reminded me a lot of eccles cakes when I first bit into them, with really flaky pastry on the outside. I bought 4 (I only meant to buy 2, but the lady selling them to me didn't want to give me change, so she gave me 2 more buns), and they had different fillings - bun 1 was a sweet one that reminded me a little of nutella crossed with peanut butter, and looked like coffee grounds. Bun 2 was cabbage and possibly feta or some other mild cheese - it tasted like it should be Greek, not Chinese. It also had a green dot on the top, possibly to warn potential eaters that it contained green food...? Bun 3, pictured above, was a very dry shredded meat thing. I saved bun 4 for this evening, and I'm eating it as I write - turns out it's the same as bun 1.
The final mundane thing I've been doing is window shopping. There is an arcade somewhere behind the hotel, with lots of those grabby claw machines (but differently designed, like there might be some chance of getting a prize), and a line of kinder-egg style toy dispensers in those machines you put money in and turn the handle round. A few of these appealed to me, and I may have to go back just to buy...
...(from left to right) Miniature Snipers, vomiting animals (probably TM), or the Garbage Collection. They also had a variety of animals, unwell-looking animals, and dead animals (I'm told these were 'sleepy animals' and 'sleeping animals', but I remain unconvinced).
Miniature Snipers is really speaking to me. I feel a need to go back and get one, or several. I'd quite like Miniature Sniper in a tomato, but I'd settle for Miniature Sniper in a peanut. Although I could get a can of sparkling wine for the same amount, so maybe I'll go to the 7-eleven for Chardonnay in a tin.
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