I have found myself longing for a Wagamama Katsu Curry. Good News! In Taiwan there is a chain of curry restaurants called Mr 38. The pork (not chicken) dish is equally scrumptious and for half the price.

This company needs to have serious words with it's marketing department if they ever want to start selling these biscuits in the UK!

Lunch one Saturday after a busy morning. The rice (right hand dish) was delicious. The left hand dish was a noodle based meal. The brown 'things' in the noodle, which I was told were a Taiwanese speciality, looked like mushrooms. Wrong! After I had eaten most of the meal I was told they were in fact pigs intestines. Pigs intestines, hmmm, slightly chewy, but actually quite nice. So does it pass my 'would I have that again?' test...yes. 

First the good news, after our Typhoon (which was really only a Tropical Storm) I am fine.
Secondly, I have decided to devote the next few blogs to the subject of food. Something Taiwanese people talk endlessly about, and with good reason; there is a lot of it around and it's mostly all very tasty (and cheap). I start with the Taiwanese speciality of Stinky tofu or chòu dòufu. So called because the fermenting process of the Tofu leaves it smelling of, well there is only one polite word for it, feet! It really is a very bad smell, I am not joking. This little stall sells the stuff. Most days I have to walk past the place, and the stench wafting from it always succeeds in assaulting my sense of smell. And so it was that after being told once again by my Uni Teacher how great Stinky Tofu is, I decided to try it. And....much to my surprise....I liked it!! The chap that cooked it up for me didn't even charge for my trying it, they are a nice lot these Taiwanese folks.

No Uni today! There is a Typhoon heading across the Central & North of Taiwan so the Typhoon Warning is in place, which means most places should be closed today. At present (9:30am) the sky is grey but there is no wind, truly the 'calm before the storm'. 7-Eleven is open, so I have popped out and bought supplies (chocolate, biscuits and instant noodles!).  

Good job I have the 'Bourne' DVD Box set.

And, following the theme. Scooter safety. Question: How seriously is it taken here in sunny Taiwan? Judge for yourselves! 

Yes, that is a watermelon, and a strawberry next to it.

My Scooter! It's a 125cc Yamaha...which sounds like it should be ok, but I am not so sure. It doesn't like starting, which is nearly as worrying as sometimes it doesn't like stopping (although new front pads seem to have helped a little in that department). It is possibly the coolest means of transport I have ever owned...and all for less than £400. Not sure what the orangey things are on each side, front & back, I've noticed these on all the scooters, but no one seems to use them.