Just how obsessive are the Taiwanese when it comes to food? I took a day trip to the mountains with my parents' friends a couple of days ago and this is how they talked of certain food stalls and restaurants: "That's where we came for popsicles." "This place has really special tea eggs." "I'm making a detour to get iced tea here." Do you know how devoted people have to be to maintain a business in the hills where all you sell are popsicles? Popsicles that are made of water and sugar. To be so specialized and successful that you are known for your tea eggs (hard boiled eggs steeped in soy sauce, sugar, and tea leaves)- things everyone can make. There are so many iced tea stands in Taiwan that I don't bother learning where they are. Because if I wanted some, I could just walk a couple of blocks in any direction and there will be someone selling me drinks. (and failing that, I'd run into a 7-11) And yet people drive out of their way to go to favorite stores..
People keep shaking their heads at me when I tell them all the things I've eaten at night markets. "Did you go to the crepe place? What about the tofu places?" "Uh... but I had iced tea?" Because it's not enough to eat at night markets, you have to eat at the right places, and being too lazy to stand in line, I tend to eat at all the wrong places. Vacation life is harder than you might think.
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