More food info

After a busy weekend of relaxing :D I treated myself to a cake type biscuit thing. I ate 'hello kitty' as part of my lunch. It had jam in the middle, it was like she was bleeding. It fits in well with me liking to talk to my food and torture it. lol. Like I do with jelly babies and freddo bars. haha. I had to be slightly quiet though as I was at work. I don't want them to think i'm crazy :D


Here are a couple of other things from other times. I've been taking more photo's to show you what random things I eat and see.

These are some rice ball thingys. I don't know the name and can't remember the Chinese. They are balls (made from glutinous rice) that have a peanut sugar stuff in it (not sticky) and coated in something. They are very nice, apart from the rice part. That makes them look like dumplings, but because the dough is made from glutinous rice it is incredibly stretchy and tastes like it needs to be cooked (I asked Minerva a good friend about them, they aren't cooked before you eat them).


This is 'gan mien', dry noodles. They serve noodles in soup here. So you have to specifically ask for dry noodles if you don't want them with soup. These are from a little place literally across from where I live. I had been buying various stuff to try it out but I generally didn't like anything I got there. I liked their noodles but not the flavour of the soup they came in, then I had the brainwave to ask for dry noodles. Yum! Best i've had so far in Nantou.

Oh, you have to be careful with how you pronounce 'gan', if you use the wrong tone you ask for 'f**k' noodles. I would prefer not to swear at people. Generally though, if you're a foreigner then it should be ok, they'll know what you are talking about.

A popular breakfast dish. Dan bing. Egg pancake type thing. It is very nice. You can get various ingredients. I rarely get them but on Saturday I managed to get one before going to work.

There is a little story to go with this one. I went to the breakfast shop, as soon as the workers saw me I saw the look of panic on their faces. The look of 'uh oh, a foreigner'. Last time I went there was a very long time ago with Zach and we had no problems ordering what we wanted. I attempted to ask for what I wanted, to no avail. Thankfully a local came to the rescue. A lovely guy offered his services in translation. I didn't know the english for the 'bin(g)' part, but he said I was saying it alright. So I believe the cooks must have panicked. haha. Oh well.

Imagined Earthquake

On Saturday morning there was an earthquake around 7am. It woke me up which was good because I had to be in work earlier than usual. So it gave me plenty of time to wake up before having to function. But whoever I mentioned it to had no clue what I was talking about. I really did think I imagined it, until I thought I would check the cwb website. It took me a while to find the right time etc. but I found my earthquake. I just wanted to share that i'm not insane. haha.

Travelling on the Bus back home

Again, it was so nice sitting on a bus. I stayed at a friends on Sunday evening and left ChangHua Monday mid-morning ish. I took lots of photographs from the bus. I'll post some here when I have the chance. For now i'm off to work :D Edit: lots of photographs :)

I'm not sure what these signs are for. I see them a lot in various places. There were a lot around in Ghost month (October) where they guide the spirits, or ward them off. I'm not sure. I'll have to ask someone about them.








This place I really want to check out. As soon as my scooter is fixed i'm going to go and find out what this place is. I've only seen it in passing from a bus window. It could either be a supermarket or a restaurant.




A temple in Caotun (草屯) that I want to check out some time.

Buddhist Hell

On Sunday Zach, Chien and I went to a temple that houses models about Buddhist Hell. It was brilliant! I had a great time. Though Zach made me jump a few times...there were dark areas with strange noises etc. Almost like a scary ride in an amusement park.

The temple that houses the models about Buddhist Hell. Chien came with Zach and I. It was so good because she could tell us what was going on. The various pictures are individuals being punished for different things. I can't remember which punishment goes with what person. The various 'sins' were, being a pimp, murder, rape, lying, cheating (as in adultery) to name but a few.




Zach getting his fortune.


The entrance to Buddhist hell.










A pimp. The limbs are being ripped off by a snake creature.


A man being ground up.






A man being steamed. Steamed buns are very popular and abundant here, this is the bamboo basket that is used.






A man being cut in half.


A liar getting his tongue cut out.


An individual receiving his elixir to forget his life before he is reincarnated.


St. Peter of the Buddhist world.


The entrance to the dark section. Eek.


It was rather dark here. There was a large section that was like a scary ride at an amusement park (as said earlier). I'm not sure what's happening in this picture.




This depicts the story of a particularly horny pig that was very happy to watch a couple of pretty ladies bathe.


Chien told us that this depicts the story of (I can't remember) either a deity or emperor. It was said that if you ate his flesh you would live forever. This picture shows two spider folks who are trying to do this.














Before meeting up with Chien and Anthony for film night, Zach and I wandered around ChungHua for a while. The next couple of pictures are from Kaihua Temple on Minzu Rd.
The main deity Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (The Hell deity and the Birth Goddess are also worshipped here).


The lavatory sign in the Kaihua Temple.










A glorious food stall. I couldn't resist taking a picture. Guess what they sell!


A food stall. I didn't eat anything from there. It was fried. A bit greasy for my taste.


The outside of a cool Buddhist store we found. When we arrived it was closed, but the lady returned from getting her dinner. She was so nice!


Zach buying some stuff.


A temple on a corner.