Taipei: FOOD and PEOPLE Everywhere!!!

A little breakfast pastry.  I was so happy to discover that Taiwanese love chocolate!  Yessss.

An enormous block of peanut brittle that is shaved into dust and things are rolled in it like rice blocks with pigs blood cooked into it.  they have these blocks all over the place used for many different types of treats.

Individual tepanyaki tables.  You don't have to be a party of 8 to get fed in this town!

This man takes his preparation very seriously.  It is a ritual for him to create each bowl of whatever it is he is making with porridge and beans and pork balls and other things.  I can't eat everything but watching him was impressive and mesmerizing.  THESE PHOTOS ARE NOT POSTING IN THE ORDER I WANT THEM TO! I APOLOGIZE IF THIS SEEMS DISJOINTED. I HAVE TRIED AND TRIED TO POST THESE IN ORDER AND CHANGE THE ORDER AND I GOT NOWHERE.  

It seems nearly every street in Taipei is teeming with life, people, motorbikes, neon, more and more and more!  It is so exciting I can barely sit still because I want to discover all of the city.

Strawberries or cherry tomatoes on a stick dipped in caramelized in sugar.  The cherry tomatoes have a slice of plum in the center.  They take their cherry tomatoes very seriously around here and truly appreciate them.  

These are called king mushrooms and they are indeed king sized.  They slice them in half and grill them or deep fry them.  They are the size of a slab of prime rib!!

They have some amazing cooking carts at these markets;  this is a very effective cooking pan that nicely browns each and every bun.

A closer look a pan frying delicious pork buns.  They have a delicate yeast dough and as you can see these are quite large.  Only a dollar.

This is the entrance to my favorite night market.  Stop and look at this photo for a minute.  This is a work night and there are thousands of people here eating and shopping and eating and shopping and behaving so nicely.  no shoving, no smoking, no drinking (although I don't know why) and no running.  Everyone is so civilized.  And hungry.  I have been to a night market nearly every night.  I have skipped going to restaurants because this is such an exciting experience and they are all over the city and each one is different.

Caramelized sweet potatoes