Day 77 + 2: Taipei and Central Taiwan

We started out today going to lunch with Charlotte's mother and step father, to her step fathers favorite restaurant which serves large stews with noodles and different types of meat balls and vegetables.  After lunch we got ready and started heading to Charlotte's friends house who lives in a small town central-west Taiwan.   At the train station we picked up some Mr. Donut, although Charlotte likes Taiwanese donuts better, I do not find them as good as American donuts.  They are not as soft and chewier, plus they don't dip well in coffee so that is a definite negative.  We then got the high speed rail to central Taiwan.  The train actually goes faster then the ones we took in China and is cleaner, but you can tell its slightly older as the inside is not as nice as the high speed trains in China.  You do have the advantage of being sure there won't be a child peeing into a cup next to you though.

From 77 Days in China part 2

Mister Donut

From 77 Days in China part 2

High speed train

Once we got to the town we met up with Charlotte's friend and she brought us to one of the nursing homes that she is the manager of, her family owns multiple nursing homes in the area.  The Filipino workers were spending the night barbecuing in the back and playing the Wii so we joined them for dinner.  The other day while sick I was watching a lot of the movies they play on the English channel they played "There's Something About Mary"  One of the scenes they are eating corndogs and complaining about the lack of meats that come on sticks.  That is not a problem in asia, every meat possible comes on a stick and the BBQ was no exception.

From 77 Days in China part 2

All BBQ items come on sticks

From 77 Days in China part 2

Even chicken wings