Last night we had our work banquet for Chinese New Year at a fancy restaurant in Taoyuan City. The dinner was served family style, with plate after plate of mystery food arriving constantly at our table. It was very traditional Chinese food, and most of it was quite delicious. We were able to identify a lot of the treats, including a rice dish with eel on top, sashimi, duck, a seafood stew, a chicken stew (with whole chicken heads floating inside), an entire foot long fish complete with his face, a veggie plate with mushrooms and bamboo, ribs, and shrimp cakes. There were also a few questionable plates that all had a fishy flavor and a strange consistency.
For Chinese New Year it is traditional for parents to give their kids money in a red envelope. So to make the celebration complete they had a raffle of red envelopes, but just like the receipt lottery I had zero luck. After dinner and the raffle, all the Taiwanese teachers ran around snapping pictures. I would say a good 90% of these pictures included a peace sign up against the face in true Asian style. Another thing the Asians love is karaoke. They have these places called KTV here, where you basically rent a private room, bring in your own drinks, and sing until the sun comes up. I have not yet experienced the joy of off pitch Taiwanese love ballads, but at the end of the party someone decided to turn the microphone into a mini-karaoke party, and I got a preview. Overall it was a tasty and entertaining feast!
mmmm.....chicken head
mmmm.....fish head
I will come to visit you but I will NOT eat the heads of animals!!! I am, however, practicing my WOW face.
ReplyDeleteAre you eating more seafood than you've ever eaten before in your life?
ReplyDeleteWhen you get back and miss some good Karaoke fun ..Sean, Christine, Jose and I went to this place in Manhattan that was all about the private room Karaoke. I personally enjoyed it cause I could sing my ass off without being boo'd and and we got sweet bottle service.
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