March 8, 2011

The next morning, we visited Uncle’s corner breakfast/luncheon place.

We had some of their special dishes, my favorite being the eggplant.

Simon enjoyed eating something too.

I believe they are cooked daikon strips.

Simon was a hit with Uncle’s wife.

Simon had a taste of his first rose apple (aka wax apple). I love these so I can understand why Simon really liked them too.

We had a wonderful breakfast, Simon says thank you Grand Uncle and Grand Aunt.

After breakfast, Ron’s aunt picked us up to take us around Hualien and show us some sights then take us out for lunch. We went to this kind of rural restaurant but it had unique and fantastic food. We had a roast chicken which came directly from their farm. The meat texture was different than we are used to, a little more tough and much more flavorful.

Delicious greens. No idea what they are…

Purple greens. Tasty too but no idea what they are…

Fish from their pond.

Deep fried vegetables of some sort. The batter is a bit sweet and has black sesame seeds. I’ve seen the vegetable before in Korean appetizers but still don’t know what it is called.

Chicken gizzards.

This is a roasted fish cheek, complete with scales. The scales are almost crispy enough to eat like chips but not quite. The rest of the fish is for dinner tonight.

In the late afternoon, we went for a walk around the city. We stopped by 85C, a coffee and pastry shop. I had heard about it on the news, known for their salted latte. They had a really cute dessert case.

I decided to try the crepe cake. I ordered the salted latte and Ron had an iced coffee. The salted latte seems like just the foam is salted. It’s a bit weird at first but after you get used to it, it tastes pretty good and can be addicting.

The crepe cake isn’t as good as the one from Lady M and I daresay, not as good as the one I made with Virginia. It tastes like it is machine made. The crepes are tough and the cream is hard.

After our walk, we went back for a little rest before having dinner with family. They cooked us a feast! I felt bad that we couldn’t eat much because our stomachs haven’t adjusted yet.

The room we are staying in has two beds, both a little bigger than twin size. One of us has been sleeping with Simon, just in case he rolls too much and maybe off the bed.