pantstributor

Asia Pants – Back in Taiwan!

Hey everyone! So, when I left you guys last I was rather excited about Taiwan and the super cheap super awesome etc. etc. bubble tea. Well…. I am in Taiwan, and having a great (and increasingly busy) time. However, I have yet to have bubble tea. I know, I know. I’m failing everyone, particularly Posh D, but all I can do is promise that things will get better. It works for Barry Obama, and we all love him, right?

So, thanks to my father’s ridiculous traveling, I have access to frequent flyer miles, which allows me to do things like fly to Asia. Our flight from Singapore was particularly special, as I was able to continue bringing the Posh with considerable force: we flew business class.

Now, initially I wasn’t THAT impressed. I even had a bit of a class warrior moment. Then they won me over. I’m a sell-out. They brought me food.

I got this on a plane. A PLANE. It’s worth mentioning, it tasted good. Just as I was thinking how impressive it is that they would serve healthy food in healthy portions to patrons realistically in between meals while on the flight, they brought me my main course.

I was genuinely shocked. Again, it tasted good! It actually tasted like real food. However, as my father perused the Economist and I played Street Fighter II on the fairly large television screen in the seat in front of me, they eradicated whatever pathetic vestige of my proletarian loyalty that may have remained.

Yes, that is real chocolate cake. Yes, it tasted like chocolate. That is to say, it tasted awesome. They won me over. I’m done. I might never fly business class again, and I just don’t know how I’ll cope. I was rather shook, really. How could I possible continue to bring the Posh like that on this trip? I have news for you guys: it’s not going to happen. Luckily for me, the Howard Hotel in Taipei doesn’t need to try and be posh.

Who does, when you have cookies that look like panda bears? Pandas are big here at the moment. They have panda bears in the zoo here now, something that wasn’t true the last time I was in Taiwan. It’s actually a long and complicated story relevant to Chinese and international politics, but the important thing is this: I have access to panda bears.

My dad was here for a few days and we visited one of his favourite restaurants here. It specializes in Sichuan food, which is known to be rather spicy. We got a few appetizers first:

I really like this one.

Okay, this gave me the worst reaction to any food I’ve had in years. I almost spat it back out on to the plate, which needless to say is gross and incredibly rude. Luckily I didn’t. It was tofu covered in some kind of peanut-butter paste thing. My dad and our friend Nina liked it so much they were genuinely concerned there was something wrong with me, so you’d probably all love it.

We had tenderized pork meat…

And we had pork with bits of vegetables and lots of spicy goodness. The real reason we had come to this particular restaurant was for my dad’s favourite, though:

It comes out like that on the naked flame, and it’s pretty good. It essentially consists of intestines and solid chunks of blood. I think it’s duck’s blood. It’s pretty good but I was more than happy with a slightly different approach to pork meat.

You take the buns in the background there, open them up, and voila! Pork sandwiches! Chopsticks are for suckers. Remember that if you have a chance to travel to Asia. Everyone will be impressed.

We had another fish head based dish. This was Fish Head Soup, not curry. It was also delicious.

I’ve been in Taiwan a few days now, but I’ll leave you for now. I moved into a new apartment, complete with insanely loud neighbouring dogs, and I have been eating more and more food. But more of that next time.

Before I go, however, I need to share something. Since I last left East Asia, it seems that the people there have developed an appreciation for the cuisine of my native land. For example, take this O’Brien’s Irish sandwich from Kuala Lumpur airport:

Or my new friend, whose name I forgot to ask and so will now be known as Jimmy, selling Irish French fries while wearing a silly Guinness-branded felt top hat in Taipei.

Unfortunately, they’ve all missed the point: Ireland doesn’t really have cuisine. Unless you count bacon and cabbage. Still, it’s nice someone is making an effort. Still, I’m going to keep taking pictures of food over here to return the favour. Talk to you all next time!

© 2009 Poshdeluxe.