A night out
Prince Roy was meeting some friends for dinner on Monday, so I decided to skip badminton. The pug-nosed women could wait.
I got off work a little early, so I walked halfway to the teahouse where we were meeting before finally catching a cab. Prince Roy, Spicygirl, Dan and Eric were already there. Dan and Eric are both into martial arts, so a lot of the conversation revolved around that. I might have come off a bit badly by expressing my opinion that Tai-chi and competitions are a weird mix at best.
Our thirst for tea quenched, we took another taxi over to the Tonghua Night Market, which PR and SG visit weekly. I’ve always felt the Tonghua market a bit watered down as compared to other night markets, but maybe it’s just that that part of town gives it a different vibe. I don’t actually get over there that much in any case.
We found the restaurant PR and SG always go to, but their favorite chef wasn’t at the table. If you can imagine. PR promptly informed the management of this grievous error, and the skinny kid was dispatched to the kitchen and replaced by an older fellow with a yellow handkerchief around his neck. Our group responded with everyone taking out their cameras to document the event as he dumped our food on the grill and moved it around in an expert fashion.
My beef dish was good, and the other dishes looked good, though, so the guy obviously knew what he was doing. Eric and I didn’t have the spicy stuff, while the non-Taiwanese at the table all got super spicy dishes.
It was drizzling again as we exited the restaurant afterwards. We walked to An-he Road and went our separate ways. I set off to the nearest MRT station, taking pictures as I went because it’s been too long since I’d done that kind of thing. The nearest station was Da-an, where I used to live when I was at the horrible old Chungking Mansions Taipei. It was a great area, and still is; the mansions themselves were, and still are, a mess.
When I got to the Da-an Station, however, I didn’t feel like getting on just yet, so I continued walking up Fuxing South Road, taking more pictures, until I reached Zhongxiao East Road, where I finally got on the train home.
I honestly had no idea they would do that. SG said she saw the young guy walk off with this totally dejected look. We had that guy the first time we went there and he’s not bad either.
And then they went and found me some cabbage on top of that. Good to see that some people know who I am.
Dan couldn’t change his flight so no Taichung for us this weekend. Give me a ring if you have some free time. A bunch of AIT types are meeting at Alleycats tomorrow night from 6 if you’re so inclined.
Comment by Prince Roy — December 7, 2006 @ 2:46 pm
Poagao, actually I agree that in many ways Taichi in competition is in contradiction with it’s internal goals. But, that’s the nature of man.
It was nice meeting you and I am sorry I only had one day in Taipei. But, my teeth are done and I feel better.
I can only do that spicy stuff around PR. I had a Taiwanese ???? that PR and SG would have thought too mild. But it was more than hot enough for me. Otherwise it was MASS amounts of the BEST FRUIT ON THE EARTH!!!
I will be posting on all the eateries I liked on the trip asap.
I am back in the states now… Cheers, till next year.
Comment by AhDoGa — December 18, 2006 @ 3:16 am