The Night Market!!!!! 02/25/09

THE NIGHT MARKET: WHAT AN ADVENTURE!!

















WELL!!! Do we have some interesting stuff to share!



But first, a word more about Ted's classes. He now has 30 students in his Leadership and Decision-Making class, and I have been busy in his office creating class lists, grade sheets, and team assignment sheets for him while he teaches. I also am the contact person for the students who want to email in their work or questions; I give the ones Ted needs to answer to him , and I print off any emails that are fulfillment of assignments, that Ted can then look at later.
In his Organizational Theories and Behaviors class, today only seven students appeared (up from three of last week!), but the students told him that more were coming by next week when final course selections have to be made! The fluctuation aspect is a bit frustrating, as Ted starts "real" teaching from Day One!!

Tonight, we treated Janet to dinner at a typical Night Market. A Night Market is a street that is blocked off after businesses close, c. 6pm, and vendors bring carts and stalls from which to sell all sorts of food and other items. The one we chose (where she had never been before either and was excited about) turned out to be closed on Wed (tonight)nights!!!So, after a reasonably long subway ride the wrong way, we turned around and went to the Night Market she knows well and likes. WELL! Even though we treated Janet to her food at the various stalls we ate at, she really was helping us the most, by explaining what our options were (there are hundreds!)and what were some of the more typical Taiwanese foods.
Ahem! We decided we did want to try the fried "stinky tofu," which, by the way, one can tell when you are in the vicinity of a stall that is selling it by using your nose. It DOES stink. We ordered just one helping for the three of us. Janet declined, however, and that should have been our first clue! We really did not care for its taste; it is tofu fried in a stinky sauce. But we felt good that we had tried it! When in Rome, you know....
Then, Janet suggested we have a glutinous fried rice ball and some soup that she likes a lot at the next stall. We did, and they both tasted very good. The rice ball was in a sort of sesame type sauce, very nice. The soup was relatively mild, in a clear broth with rice and what looked like chicken bits in it. We liked it, and I should have left it at that. But oh no! Curious Betty has to ask what those little bits were. The answer::::::are you ready??? okay, here it comes.....pig's intestines!!!!!! I smiled and thought I might not feel so good from then on (but I felt fine). We next had some sort of glutinous steamed dumpling in a soy type sauce, but the texture was just too jelly-like for us to like.
We also brought home an artichoke-looking thing, that Janet says is a delicious fruit; you take the outer leaves/peel off, and eat the insides. We will let you know....
We topped the meal off with another typical Taiwanese item:pearl milk, a mildly sweet cold drink that has little tapioca bead-sized balls in it that you drink through a big wide straw and chew on the tapioca balls.Strangely enough,it really hit the spot, because the night is very warm.

There are, incidentally, some unusual things one can buy at the Night Market. One delightful find, we think, were slippers for our three granddaughters! They are the traditional style; we got them, we hope, in slightly larger sizes than what Claire (the red ones), Kyra (the dark blue) and Maya(the black)currently wear. By the way, we have gotten used to the Taiwanese custom, even here in our own villa, of taking off our shoes when we enter and putting on slippers. The polite thing to do is also have extra pairs on hand for guests. (We have done that, but just plain ones, not special like the ones for Claire, Maya and Kyra!

Yet another ususual item we found for purchase at the outdoor pet stall are the animals they also have no hesitancy in serving to eat! Take your choice of a black pig , porcupine (that they insist is a different type of pig) or even a racoon (I didn't get a photo of that!)We are not sure if they eat racoons...
To my Mah-Jongg frriends: we discovered the ONLY mah-jongg I have seen here, also at this market. One can play (for money) and try to win something off the vendor!! No one was playing... It also looks very different from our game??
We ended the evening with the return subway ride (their subways are so clean, well lit, and well signed, they are a pleasure to ride) and then the walk up those steps. By the time we arrived here at our villa, we are all hot and sweaty and ready for a shower before bed.