December: Taichung and Holiday Fun

The holiday season has been upon us here in Taipei, and much of the city is decked out in lights and Christmas decorations. Christmas is not much more than an excuse for increased commercialism here. While the festive lights and decor help to induce some Christmas spirit, I will still have to work on Christmas day.

My decorated bedroom

December has brought increasingly lower temperatures and although I'm aware 11 degrees doesn't sound all-that cold, when you are without central heating, it makes for some chilly nights.

Early in the month I visited a "3C" exhibition at the Taipei World Trade Center. 3C, as I've recently learned, is a commonly used phrase in Taiwan meaning: computers, cameras and cell-phones. The place was packed full of young men drooling over the newest tech-products and the gorgeous women hired to promote them. 

In Mid-December, I took my first overnight trip outside of Taipei. I chose to visit Taichung, Taiwan's 3rd largest city, which is only a 3 hour bus ride from Taipei. I enjoyed exploring a new city and getting to experience a different part of Taiwan.

 

 A highlight of the trip was the Fengchia Nightmarket. The Nightmarket, which some claim is Taiwan's largest, surrounds the Fengchia University. The market has an exceptional selection of tasty eats including some very famous vendors of my favourite food 大腸包小腸 （sausage in a sausage).

Cuttlefish filled with rice.

大腸包小腸 is comprised of a sweet, fatty, Taiwanese sausage served in a greasy, slit, sticky-rice sausage which acts as the hotdog bun. The resulting concoction is one of the tastiest snack foods I've had anywhere in the world. 

I also discovered a new contender for the title of My Favourite Taiwanese Food. I don't know exactly what the dish is called but I'm going to call it Portable Peking Duck (PPD). PPD features all the familiar fixings of a Peking Duck meal wrapped up in a pillowy soft steamed flat-bread; absolutely delicious.

Another culinary discovery I made in Taichung was the first real brew-pub I've come across in Taiwan. The beer was of very high quality and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The second day in Taichung, was dominated by a visit to Taichung's massive National Museum of Natural Science. The sprawling museum complex featured a wide range of exhibits about everything from Chinese Traditional Medicine to the Mayan Doomsday prediction. The best part of the museum was the interactive science exhibit, much alike that at Vancouver's Science World.

 
I have been working a lot lately, with plenty of acting work for the magazines so as to get it out of the way before everyone is busy with holiday festivities. I also worked this Saturday, teaching, as a makeup day for a day-off I will get on New Years Eve. The Saturday shift wasn't all-bad though as the school had their annual Christmas party for half of the usual lesson time. It was nice to do something Christmasy to get into the holiday spirit.

This weekend, I also checked out the light displays at Taipei's Xinyi shopping district. The lights and Christmas displays were impressive but the Sunday evening crowds were a bit overwhelming.

Santa's Sleigh riding around the top of 101.

With Christmas just two sleeps away, I'm not certain yet what I will do to celebrate and I wonder if it will truly feel like Christmas without family and familiar traditions. What I do know is that my parents will be arriving in Taipei on the 27th and I'm anticipating that day more than the 25th.

Merry Christmas! 聖誕節快樂！