din tai fung, fighting the crowds at sogo, new years day

Chinese New Year is a nine-day celebration, and therefore there are nine days of stuffing your face with way too much good food. It's like Thanksgiving times nine. Never-ending eating, all day for lunch and dinner. I felt guilty from all that I indulged in last night and promised myself that today would be 'detox' day in that I would only eat fruits and veggies. Completely unrealistic and impossible in the land of where your food fantasies come true! So, did I stick with my detox plan? Absolutely not!!

Today we went to the two SOGO's (Japanese chain multi-level, extremely overpriced department store) in Zhongxiao district. Both were incredibly crowded. There are, I believe, eight SOGO's in Taipei. They are always incredibly packed, which I don't really see why because everything is so expensive, even during their so-called sales. I guess it's because of the awesome food courts they have and all the pretty clothes! We first went to the Zhongxiao Dunhua SOGO, where JoMa (aunt) took us straight to a bakery in the basement. Ah the fragrance of freshly baked bread...so enticing. I shared a cranberry walnut bun with my mom. Afterward we headed up the escalators to each floor, only up to the 4th floor though because we decided to go to the other SOGO, which is right across the street. As we entered the Zhongxiao Fuxing SOGO, I saw a poster for Din Tai Fung, worldly famous for their xiaolongbao (traditional dumplings). So yes, we had to eat there for lunch. The wait, however, was two hours long, so my mom bought to-go, which still took awhile, but not nearly as long as the wait to sit inside the restaurant.

crazy, long wait

making xiaolongbao

veggies + mushroom + tofu baozhi (bun)

veggie dumplings

xiaolongbao

veggie + minced pork bun

So, that was lunch. When we got back, dinner was already waiting for us. Both my aunt and uncle cooked. I didn't even really feel hungry, but I proceeded to eat anyway. Ahh...

the tastiest shrimp dish ever. my aunt made it and won't tell us the recipe!

clam soup

"lionhead" - meatball

whole fish

this is a fruit native to Taiwan, called shi-jia. The literal translation is Buddha's Head. It's quite interesting. The texture is like a coconut, and the taste is sweet. Since being here, I have eaten three fruits I've never seen/eaten before. Taiwan is abundant in fruits!