Hiking, Sweets & PASTAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Tuesday January 29^th, 2013

Aaaaaaaand today was fantastic! …baby. Wow, fantastic baby! XD One day a couple weeks ago, I noticed a sign near my bus stop that said “Old Genliao” hiking trail was 710m away. That raised a little flag in my mind that exclaimed, “Check me out! I’m close to your house and provide exercise!” Therefore Kelly, Leo and I were going to check it out last week but they had to cancel. Thankfully we rescheduled for today and the plan was carried out successfully. From 9:00-12:30 that was what my time was occupied by.

This trail wasn’t very scenic because the peak was surrounded by tall trees that blocked the view overlooking Taipei city. But it had its fair share of stairs. Not quite death stairs but enough to take the wind out of you. Spider webs were also things to be cautious of, which is why I learned it’s always a good idea to take an umbrella with you to swat them away. Thank goodness I did! As a whole, the trail was nice and the workout made me feel thrice as better than yesterday. If another eventless day pops up in my schedule and the weather is good, I know where I want to go! ;D

Once down the mountain (late because Leo wanted to take a side trail before heading back down) Kelly and Leo went to their house to freshen up. I also went home for a quick lunch and shower. Right after I headed straight out for Yuanshan MRT station. This led me to a place called “The Story House” where I was to meet Akiko, Erin and Will.

The Taipei Story House is the only English Tudor style heritage building in Taiwan. Its architecture, European style garden and exhibitions are the distinguishing characteristics. Though the museum area is small, the current one showcasing is “The Taiwan Story of Sweets Exhibition.” This gives information over Taiwanese sweets from history, ingredients, types, etc.

These are cake molds, or kashigata as the Japanese call it. They do just as their name implies. Usually they are made out of wood but the exhibition also had other materials like tin, but I believe wood is the traditional method. I am actually really interested in the molds and maaaaaaaybe might find one or two to bring back to America. I say maybe because they are kind of heavy. We’ll see. The idea of baking/molding Chinese cakes back in Texas is really appealing. Remember, I’m a baking lover. ;)

This little area was fun! Each bottle held a liquid in it. Despite being held in beakers you ignore the science lab rules of wafting fumes to your nose. Nope, you just stick your nose right on top and inhale deeply. Why? Every bottle had a different scent of a flavor used in sweet creations. Anywhere from taro to passion fruit to banana to vanilla to other lovely scents you could inhale all day! It was fun! Or should I say, it was sweet (smelling :P)!

On the opposite side of scent-a-topia was what I thought was a fortune telling station. It seemed you pulled one stick from among many and whatever number it had on it, you pulled a paper out from the corresponding box. It was a small piece of pink paper with some type of food picture on it and Chinese characters. No English to be found and not comprehendible for my limited Chinese. I thought nothing of it and decided to show it to a Taiwanese person later for translation. (to be continued ;P)

Other cool stuff like “the artistry of the motifs and the cultural meaning behind them are both reflected in the molds used for sweets” from animals to fruits to gods were displayed in the exhibit. For example, a tortoise motif means longevity and a round shape means reunion. Those types of things are always interesting to learn about!

It didn’t take long to go through the short showcase so afterwards the four of us went to the “Story Tea House” next door. Here Kelly and Leo met up with us and we all had a drink over chitchat. This lovely cup c’here is a hot hazelnut latte. Dude it was good! I was totally bummed when they said they ran out of my original desire, a black berry yogurt drink, but this latte 100% made up for it! Then it was Andrea to the rescue when I noticed the bill was $500NT ($17US) overcharged. Whoo, good catch huh?!

Just before we left the area, I gave the mysterious pink paper to Leo for interpretation. According to him it was a recipe to make the sweet depicted in the printed picture. Upon hearing of this, I went straight back into the exhibition (inconspicuously snuck in through the back :P) and grabbed one of every pink paper available, over thirty of them! I now understand why I saw several Asian girls taking one of each. Their thoughts were the same as mine: ‘It’s free and it would be awesome to make these at home!’ What?! There’s no harm in taking them! Maybe I’ll learn the Chinese characters and will be able to make them in Texas. That’s the goal anyway! ;D

Quickly we ducked into a nearby aboriginal shop upon my request. I was told good things about it but never went due to the distance from my house. So yes, I finally got to check it out! And I came out with these two treasures! The right object’s pattern means promise and the middle one means peace. The left thingie (the leaf wrapped pyramid rice) was bought earlier at the Story House gift shop. Both aboriginal patterns caught my eye and their meanings triggered an interest in them. Yay I have at least something of Taiwanese aboriginal significance! ^_^

With our group narrowed down to Akiko, Kelly, Leo and I, we headed out for dinner at a favorite pasta place of the lovebirds (remember, that’s what I call Leo and Kelly). The pictures provided on the menu all looked yummy. Once my ordered “Gratin – Baked Pumpkin Sauce With Vegetable” was set on the table, yummy turned into scrumptious. Oh goodness me oh my THIS STUFF WAS SHA-MAZING! BEST PASTA IN TAIWAN BY FAR! Some of the BEST I’ve ever had even in America! I LOVED THIS SOOOOOO MUCH! It had two types of pasta, broccoli, cabbage, a little meat, pumpkin sauce and finally covered in a layer of cheese. Dude…someone please give me the recipe for this because I LOVE IT! Every bite was an explosion of mouthwatering happiness! So…fluffin’…good! ^_^ *drool* My apologies but I couldn’t resist revealing my true feelings. ;P

The night outing wrapped up with dessert nearby. My choice was a hot tofu pudding with taro. It’s basically tofu submerged in sugary water with chunks of taro floating around. Can’t say it’s my favorite, especially when it felt like a rock hit my stomach before even coming close to finishing the bowl. It was just too much and didn’t make the best of friends with my tum-tum. A nice little walk helped calm it down but not cure it. Regardless, I’m glad I tried a Taiwanese dessert and enjoyed it to some degree. Exploring aspects of the culture, that’s what a Rotary exchange is all about. :)

Ok friends, I bid y’all good night! ^_^