Food. Food. Food.

These people are all about the food. Seriously every where we go we are bombarded by new foods and interesting dishes. And I feel like we are the circus come to town. Everyone is like, lets see what we can get the Americans to eat and watch their reactions. Its crazy. We have eaten some crazy things over here because let me tell ya, they get creative with their meals sometimes. Let me show you a few things that I have had the pleasure of having since arriving in Taiwan a mere week ago. There is plenty of good things to eat as well, don't get me wrong, but these are just the choicest shock factor items :)

First we have duck tongue. I have actually had the pleasure of eating this twice. First at lunch in the ICU with all the nurses and then again at dinner with the ER staff. The second time was funny because they thought I would be grossed out but I just acted like it was no big thing and chomped down cause I knew I could handle it. They were surprised I think.

First Timer in the ICU

Duck Tongue Veteran

Next on the menu is Chicken Feet. Now these didn't really gross me out as bad as they did some other people, but I just don't get the appeal. There isn't any meat on it and there isn't really anything to it. You are just supposed to suck on the bone and eat the skin I guess. Nothing really appealing to me about it. But this picture is priceless.
We also had the "opportunity" to get some stinky tofu from the night market. Imagine, if you will, really old stinky socks mixed with a bad case of diarrhea left sitting out in the sun for a week or so and you begin to imagine the smell of this stuff. You are sense it a mile away and don't believe the people that say that it tastes much better than it smells. It tastes EXACTLY like it smells. This is the one and only time I have nearly thrown up because of something I ate here. Absolutely awful. Never again.

Right after we pounded a huge bite of stinky tofu. It hadn't hit us quite yet obviously.
After knowing the awfulness of the stuff.

This next picture is a little decieving. The ER docs at our table made a pact with us that we would try anything they ordered for us. So they tried their hardest to get us the worst. They made us eat this one without telling us what it was. While chewing my piece, Whitney guesses that it is squid eyes and the doctor says she is right! I stopped chewing immediately and didn't know what to do. So that is why I am pointing to my eye. However, don't fear, they were joking. It is actually squid mouth, which is still weird but somehow better than eyes. Much better.
Now these puppies are the biggest shrimp I have ever seen. We got to rip off the heads and eat the meat. This is the first shrimp I have ever actually enjoyed. Perhaps I am just becoming accustomed to it a little more since it is in EVERYTHING, or maybe I like the big ones better?
Now it wouldn't be asia without a little raw fish right? We were told that as long as we doused it is wasabi we wouldn't get sick from it...I might believe them because it makes me sleep better at night.

And this nice looking fella is an octopus. I didn't eat this particular one but I did try a piece of his friend at dinner tonight. Not so good this octopus. As my friend Whitney put it, it tastes like the ocean. Yum.
So those are a few fun things I have tried. Maybe I will post later about some of the good finds I have had like papaya and mango milk. Or the omlet - meat taco things I found the other day. Or the amazing fish I had tonight. Or the plethora of amazing pastrys and breads they have there. But that isn't as much fun as it is delicious and I don't want to make you jealous. And don't worry. This isn't everything nasty that I have tried so far and I am sure it will just continue. This is just a sampling :) Hao Chur!!