Hsinchu (About 32 degrees and very humid)

We were told there was a free shuttle bus that would take us to Hsinchu city. Our apartment is within walking distance from the THSR so we wandered our way in that direction. Everything is of course written in Chinese and no one speaks English. We were on our own. Taking a chance with the only bus with English writing we got on. Thankfully we were successful! We rode the bus to the end of the line, and our hungry eyes spotted a beautiful yellow glowing arch. McDonalds! And breakfast nonetheless. This day is turning out great! Denise broke her 3 year ban on the food.

After our highly nutritious and satisfying meal we roamed around searching for the elusive Dongmen market. We must have stuck out like a sore thumb because a nice stranger could tell we were lost and pointed us in the right direction. The Dongmen “Market” in reality is a dark alley behind stores and buildings. Little old ladies sat on the ground selling fruit, meat, rice and clothing. We bought fruit, as it was the only food we could eat with no utensils. After buying cherries, oranges, bananas, grapes and some other fruit our total came to 541 NWT. We continued to wander around and stumbled across what looked like a mall. Thirteen floors of clothing and shoes later, we found housewares and groceries. Not being able to read 95% of the labels makes guessing what the food is a little game, and trying to cook it quite interesting.

After our first trip we bought:
Chicken
Rice
Soya sauce
Salt and pepper
Noodles
Bread (6 slices)
Jam
Mini croissants
Juice
Eggs
Sushi
A pot
For a grand total of about 1000 NWT

To eat our meals, we stopped at a 7/11 and bought paper plates, bowls, cups, a fruit knife and chopsticks.

Living it up Taiwan style.