"Covert" photos from dinner at Sushizen

We went to this one sushi restaurant twice this visit. The first time, the sushi bar was so hushed and reverent in atmosphere, I was reluctant to jeopardize my first dinner by taking photos. Day two, I snagged a spot next to the wall and was shielded by my family so I covertly snapped some pics when the chef was making trips back and forth to his old timey ice box. They actually built an old fashioned ice box to hold the fish and better regulate the temperature so it doesn't get too icy or dry.

I waited for the sushi chef to abandon his post

Some sort of chewier fin section of some sort of fish...I forget

This Uni [sea urchin] photo is upside down, but I did enjoy this "very delicious" fresh uni right side down

Fresh seasonal corn fried fritter

Lightly broiled Toro [fatty tuna]

Aji [Fish] had good aji [flavor]: I'm making up jokes that mostly amuse me

Scallop

King Salmon in a sauce with scallion and ginger

I got bolder and took a not so secret photo when he started beheading the live sweet shrimp. I swear the shrimp kept moving for a good 3 minutes after beheading

Freshly beheaded Ama Ebi [fresh sweet shrimp]

King Salmon Roe

Fatty Tuna, Shiso plus some sort of pickle maki. This one was actually one of my favorites, the flavor combo was unexpectedly "very delicious"

Tamago Yaki [Egg Cake] was super light and fluffy like cake

I can't remember what the heck this was, but it was [of course] "very delicious"

Black Sesame Ice Cream = Very Delicious

I was skeptical at first, but I've enjoyed black sesame ice cream twice in two very different settings and it's "very delicious" as my uncle would say. The sesame flavor is a little on the nutty side.

Fancy pants version at a nice restaurant

Convenience store soft serve at a rest stop

Food Halls: Daimaru Department Store

I'm on a mini family get away to Sapporo, Japan, the northernmost island. The abundance of local farms and fresh seafood provides for many things that my relatives would call, "very delicious" and "I think the best one." Whereas Adam and I pursue good food at in intramural / club sport level as weekend warriors, the rest of my family pursues good eating at a world class Olympic level. My "ordering" strategy is simply to say, "I'll have whatever you're having." 

One of my favorite things to do when visiting Japan is to wander around the vast gourmet food halls located in the basement of every department store. The food hall at Daimaru department store is smaller than the ones I've seen in Toyko, but even a "small" food hall is filled to the brim with lots of things to see and even more "very delicious" things to try. I wandered around for a good hour yesterday examining the goods and mourning my tummy space limitations. 

Cakes cakes cakes

Strawberry cake expertly packed to withstand a giant earthquake or the commute home. I've never seen so much packaging for one slice of cake that cost $3. 

Paper bag

Cardboard box

2 napkins wrapped individually in plastic

1 plastic fork

1 pack dry ice

1 cardboard divider to prevent cake from moving around in the box

and finally...

1 slice of Strawberry Cake

Wish I could buy one and just attack it with a giant fork

Carefully cultivated watermelons displayed like precious babies

Ginormous seedless black globe grapes

Some dim sum takeaway

Freshly fried fishcakes chock full of local seafood. This was "very delicious"

Zvy Dority would freak out over this display of her favorite food...rice and seaweed

Fried cutlet lunch boxes

Strawberry and whipped cream sandwich? It would be even better if they replaced the bread with cake.

Carbolicious Chinese Breakfast

I'm still jet lagged after four days so I usually require a nap in order to get through dinner. I also take  mini "breaks" from sleeping at night and I'm having trouble sleeping through the night. All this results in waking up at odd hours and much earlier than I'd ideally want to. This morning, I woke up at 4am feeling a little restless so I decided to venture out in search of a traditional Chinese breakfast of soybean milk, fried crullers, bread, buns, rice balls, etc.

Given my aforementioned illiteracy and unfamiliarity with my neighborhood, I had to be a little bit more resourceful when preparing for my early morning adventure. I googled my neighborhood and found a local English speaking blogger with a recommendation for a hole in the wall place that seemed close by. She didn't provide an exact address, but provided enough info to get me close. I walked over to the general area and found a 7-11 where I asked "nee eh li yo may yo shiao de dou jiang dien mah" or "is there a small soy bean milk shop nearby." The super cheerful clerk was then able to get me closer by pointing me to the next alley off the main road. Sure enough, I was able to find the small shop front based on his directions and I knew it was the right place because it matched the photo from the blog. Bingo!

Blog recommendation with general directions and a helpful photo

Bingo! My photo matches the blog photo...must be the right place

I took a photo of the sign just in case

They opened up right around 6am and I got a big pile of food. I ordered one of everything I saw other people ordering because I was worried about missing out and this considerable haul cost me about $3. My favorite was the classic fried cruller in a flat bread. Not only did I manage to feed myself successfully, I didn't get lost doing it so I'm counting it as a win.

Got one of everything I saw other people ordering. 

Clockwise from 12 o clock: 

cold sweetened soy bean milk

fried cruller in a flat bread

veggie bun

rice ball filled with fried cruller pickles and CSDPP (cooked shredded dried pork product aka pork floss)

scallion egg tortilla type thing

Close up of the fried cruller in flat bread. Basically fried carbs inside more carbs

Mango Shaved Milk Ice @ the "Bookstore"

To call Eslite a "bookstore" is a major understatement. It's definitely got a ton of books and a lot of English book, but it's a super cool department store / shopping mall / bookstore / boutique collection. By the time I finished [methodically] wandering around all eight floors, I needed a snack. I got a giant bowl of Mango Shaved Milk Ice. I've had regulars shaved ice, but I'd never had shaved milk ice. They pulled out big opaque milk colored block of "ice" and proceeded to shave the frozen block of condensed milk flavored ice over a bowl of deliciously sweet mango. More condensed milk drizzled on top for good measure. Perfect snack!

I must have looked baffled when they handed me this tray because they assured me that"the mango is under the ice, you'll see it after you dig around."

Sure enough, there was mango buried under the ice

Lots of perfectly ripe and sweet mango

Not Lost In Translation...Just Plain Lost

I'll frame my adventure last night in terms of Diamonds and Coals. 

Diamonds: I took the precaution of taking a picture of the building so I could recognize "home."

Coals: There are several buildings in the vicinity that pretty much look the same so it wasn't as helpful as I had hoped.

Sorta not so helpful precautionary photo since there are several buildings that look the same to me

Diamonds: Unlike the US, the naming convention for addresses in Taipei is very rational and logical. 

Coals: Woulda been helpful to realize this before I ventured out on my own. I spent a good half hour wandering around my building totally disoriented and looking like I was casing the joint.

Diamonds: People were very friendly and helped point me in the right direction when I asked for directions or asked what they had on the menu.

Coal: People were very helpful AFTER they realized that I'm illiterate and that I wasn't just asking stupid obvious questions in Mandarin like "what do you sell to eat here." The answer is always "[no duh] we sell everything [read the freaking signs you idiot]." I'm learning to preface all my questions with, "I'm illiterate, please pity me, can you tell me what you sell to eat."

How did I get so lost? Turns out addresses in Taipei are organized in a hierarchy. Major street name, lane number, alley number, building number and then floor number. Key piece of information that would have been super helpful when I was wandering around aimlessly. Basically I walked around my neighborhood for a good half an hour running into streets with the same name. What the heck? It's like walking in four directions and finding every street sign (small and major) named "Mass Ave." The street signs were actually saying something like, "This is the 3rd lane and 45th alley south of Mass Ave," but I thought they all said Mass Ave in my confused state. I have to admit the system is pretty genius once you understand it, but super confusing if you don't know what's happening.

Finally, I gave up trying to orient myself using a paper map and pulled out the iPhone. I ended up walking toward Taipei 101 since it's the tallest skyscraper around and was in the direction of civilization or at least very good eats. Once I got going, I was able to find the major streets and figure out where the landmarks were, but the little residential alleys threw me for a giant loop on the way out and on the way back home.

Walked towards Taipei 101 like some sort of beacon...I figured they at least had food there and cabs if I got lost

I cobbled together a very random dinner mostly because I couldn't visually figure out what street stands were selling and I was concerned about getting swiped by a zooming moped. I did enjoy a red bean pancake, a pork filled pastry, some iced tea and a bowl of minced pork rice for a grand total of about $3. The biggest Diamond is [knock on wood], I think I got all of my "getting lost" out of my system yesterday and it's been smooth sailing today.

Barely figured out how to order a bowl of minced pork belly rice for dinner

Nearly got run over by mopeds at the local night market

It's a Hello Kitty World!

My first full in Taipei did not disappoint. Today, I discovered my favorite Hello Kitty at every turn. Had I gone hog wild, I could be carrying a Hello Kitty bag wearing Hello Kitty unmentionables eating a Hello Kitty donut from Mr. Donut and playing with a little Hello Kitty toy car. I elected NOT to photograph the Hello Kitty unmentionables since I like to keep this blog friendly for all audiences.

Mr. Donut Hello Kitty Donuts: Check out the little pink edible bow on the donuts

Tiny Hello Kitty Toy Car: I totally would have bought one if not for the enormous line

We also checked out the special toy car and train event on the sixth floor of the Mitsukoshi department store. The place was a complete zoo as MGDub's mom GJDubya would say. I'm pretty sure every single child in Taipei was crammed into this place. While I'm partial to Asian babies, not all Asian babies are cute. I wanted a little Hello Kitty car as a souvenir, but I wasn't willing to wade through the sea of kids whining "I want a toy car" in Chinese of course.

Toy train exhibit with all the landmarks of the world including the local fav Taipei 101

Check out his cool Car shoes

Personal space? What a novel concept. Total chaos with everyone is up in everyone else's business.

We escaped down to level B2 to check out the food hall. I was fascinated by these "native" Taiwanese tall watermelons among other finds. 

Tall mini watermelons..."red inside" they tell me

Refreshing Bear Beer not be confused with Beer Bear which would be a bear made of beer

An enviable display of crunchy snacks. Adam's gonna freak out when he arrives next week

Zave Zority, this one is for you. Even though I'm illiterate, I'm pretty sure this snack is super spicy. First off, the pepper looks pretty bad ass. Secondly, there are five peppers on the bottom right and all are filled in so this must be the spiciest snack they make.

Frozen rice burgers. I'm intrigued, but not intrigued enough to actually try it

 Refreshing sweet treat: Tofu pudding with red bean, peanuts and some sort of chewy jelly. It was delicious!

Giant Ice Cream Photo Collection

A friend once told me gathering three items is all it takes to start a "collection." With five photos [that I can remember] so far, I'm well on my way to building a photo collection of me standing next to giant frozen treats. The first photo is from 2007 when Adam and I went to Japan for a few weeks. Adam had to convince me to take this photo between two soft serve ice cream cones, but ever since then, I've been super enthusiastic about having my photo taken next to any and all giant frozen treats I encounter in my travels. It really hits my "sweet spot" of giant food / fake food / ice cream.

2013: Lavender Festival at Farm Tomita in Hokkaido, Japan

2013: Taipei outside the Godiva at the Breeze

2013: Nashville

2013: Nashville

2013: Seattle

2011: Barcelona

2007: Kyoto, Japan