Wednesday, June 24, 2009

I'm going to get diabetes (part... I lost count)

I'm actually currently posting this from 日月潭 (Sun Moon Lake) in central Taiwan... I'm on an orientation trip that's more sightseeing than orientation (which can be good or bad). I know I said I probably wouldn't be able to post, but hey... I had to take advantage of the fact that I had a non stolen stable internet connection in god knows how long. Anyway, let me just say that it's absolutely stunning, and I ever run out food pics to post in the near future (unlikely), I'll post up some of the lake, and of me defacing a statue. I should add that I did show some respect by only taking pictures with less important people (namely people that don't show up in the history books). Also, sorry to disappoint, but no fobby peace sign pics... okay, well maybe there's one. It's somewhere on the internet, and you can go look for yourself it you're real bored.

Anyway, continuing with my series of diabetes posts... er, I mean dessert posts, I'm making an exception today. I'm not posting about a specific shop or cart, I mean... I guess I am, but more about a singular cultural food that's synonymous with Taiwan. Know those red adzuki bean fish you find at Japanese markets? Well... yeah, Chinese people stole that and made it our own. Which is a damn good thing, since the Japanese versions suck. They're barely filled and mostly about the aesthetics... what do I care how awesome a fish pastry looks in my stomach? In Taiwan they're known as 車輪餅 (car wheel cakes), and they're literally found everywhere. An egg batter is first poured into a circular mold, not unlike a waffle maker sans holes, which are aligned in several rows. Then a dizzying array of fillings is squeezed like frosting into one row... red bean, milk creme, taro, peanut, sesame, and even salty offerings like chinese vegetables. When the bottom layer is filled and cooked, the owner quickly pulls a cooked shell from another row and tops it over the filling. The slightly undercooked batter of the top shell basically glues the two halves shut.

I went and got mine at 光華紅豆餅 (Guang Hua Red Bean Cakes) since the man who runs that cart pretty much goes apeshit on the filling. It's usually so full that if you nibble at the edge, the paste quickly rolls out like lava... it's like a crepe on crack. At 10 NT (roughtly 30 cents) you can afford to buy... like 10 of these and make it a meal. I wouldn't though, this is how I became a fatty in the first place. Oh, and just for the record... I got peanut (cross sectional food porn ftw).

I did a little bit of running this morning (didn't want to get overly sweaty since I have no where to clean my clothes for 4 days). Did I mention this place is gorgeous? It's pretty foggy since you're up in the mountains, but you pretty much have a view of the lake the entire road route. I do have one complaint though... it's a mountain. Final distance (don't think I'm lame for taking it easy today... hills are hard) was something around 2.50 miles... I can't say that for sure, I can't find this place on mapmyrun. Hey... I wasn't even supposed to run today... go me!

distance for the day: 2.50 miles
distance biked for the day: 0.00 miles

distance on the year: 358.29 miles
distance biked on the year: 142.68 miles


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oh snap. I can control the text here?