Today (6/3) we started the day off by going to a kitchen where we learned how to make ZhongZi. I thought that this experience was both interesting and fun. I’ve heard a lot about ZhongZi recently due to the dragon festival. I have also seen the bamboo wrappings hanging in various spots all over the city. I was interested in what these were so I was excited when I found out we would be making them. We started by cooking various components that would make up the middle parts of this dish. While some things were difficult like constructing the bamboo leaves into the right form, I also found it fun to learn how to do something new. I really feel like learning how to make this dish, as it seemed like a signature dish, helped me experience more of their culture.
We also saw how bubble tea was made and I thought it was interesting to see the processes behind the food I eat normally. If we had just ordered these things in a restaurant, I wouldn’t have been able to appreciate the food for the effort it took.
I then finished my day by heading out and hiking around the Grand Hotel. We were originally scared of this hike because it contained a steep looking staircase but as we walked around there were numerous outlook points where we could see the city. While we were looking it surprised me how big Taipei 101 was, you could really see how much taller then every other building it was.