Tuesday, February 2, 2010

out with the asia fam

So in case anyone’s wondering why I’m actually IN Asia, a bit of a back story:

My dad traveled to Asia for work for basically a year, on and off. It was a really stupid case involving dog food (well, he doesn’t think it’s stupid, obvi) but he basically fell in love with Asia. As well as with Sally, a fetching flight attendant he met on all his flights back and forth.

The rest, as they say, is history. He was headed back to the far East (Bangkok via Taipei) for a business trip, she was tagging along to visit her fam, and then I tagged along because I am recently graduated and have NOTHING TO DO WITH MY LIFE.

Anyway, Sally’s fam were incredibly hospitable. Here are a few examples.

One night they took me out. To karaoke. For FOUR HOURS.

At…

DSCN0642

Hahahaha. First they fed me, OBVIOUSLY (I’m hoping, by the end of this post, you will be able to see a FRACTION of what they eat. And they’re all tiny. Mystifying!). Some of the spread:

DSCN0634

Squid, chinese celery, and hot peppers:

DSCN0641

Broccoli root (? How Sally tried to describe it to me) in a rockin’ salad with lots of garlic and cilantro:

DSCN0635

More awesome salad type thing:

DSCN0636

Tofu, dried fish, green peppers, hot red peppers.

SOY SAUCE EGGS:

DSCN0637

In a rich soup with pork.

The chef, Sally’s mother, in her kitchen with her rockin’ wok.

 DSCN0640

And then karaoke. Sally’s nephew set the soulful tone with his hipster glasses:

DSCN0653

Sally’s niece Michelle and her new hubby:

DSCN0645

But the one who ROCKED IT was Sally’s big sister Mai. Boundless, BOUNDLESS energy.

DSCN0657 

OBVIOUSLY, there was a huge spread of food and drinks:

DSCN0648

Milk tea, beer (it seemed to be BYOB), a karaoke menu, and this bad boy:

DSCN0649

Snack plates are a bit different over here, eh? From what I could tell, mostly tofu in various forms and smoked meats and more soy sauce eggs.

Also, popcorn chicken has made it:

DSCN0650

But their dipping sauces are vastly superior over here.

Moony, Sally’s sister, insisted I try the rather self-explanatory:

DSCN0654

Don’t like beer any better in Asia.

And a gorgey fruit plate:

DSCN0656

Another fun thing I did with the Asia fam- night markets! They seem to be huge all over Asia, and are exactly what they sound like. Markets. At night.

DSCN0546 DSCN0549

Crowded and crazy and full of random things!

DSCN0542

And, of course, OMNIPRESENT FOOD.

DSCN0548

Wouldn’t you want to buy something at this adorable squid stand?

Most of the food was served from outdoor booths, like this one with CRAZY WAFFLES! (They were good!)

DSCN0545

This was after we got hot pot, and I was stuffed, but I was still offered:

DSCN0550

Corn on a stick with barbecuey sauce (yum)

DSCN0544      

Fried sweet potato and taro puffs on a stick (YUM!)

Aaaaand…. Taiwan’s famous stinky tofu.

DSCN0553

It, um, tastes better than it smells? (That is not saying much. Perhaps it is an acquired taste).

Then we went home and my hipster cousin made me eat “Boston Pie”, apparently a big thing over here.

DSCN0556

It bears absolutely no resemblence to Boston cream pie (which is good, since I don’t particularly like it). I choked down half a piece (chocolate mousse cake, basically) and called it a night.

DSCN0557

6 comments:

Whitney @ Lettuce Love said...

Whooaa, all of that food looks incredible!

Jess said...

Everything looks SO GOOD! How sweet of Sally's fam.
<3 jess
xoxo

Jessica@Dairy Freey Betty said...

soooooo fun!!!! I'm envious right now in a serious kinda way! hehe

MelindaRD said...

That is so awesome that your dad met her that way and they got married and all that good stuff. Lucky you getting to go visit and experience it all with not much the tourist perspective but more of a real life experience with I am sure tourist stuff thrown in. Glad you are enjoying yout trip. Looks like lots of great food.

Veggies, Cake & Cocktails said...

Looks like you had a blast. What an experience!

Michal said...

Stinky tofu haha that made me laugh! I would love to go to asia some day I love the culture and the food looks amazing!