Fresh Mex night in Hsinchu

After LuGang, we took a train over to Hsinchu to visit my cousin. Then promptly joined her and her friends to a local bar and drank ourself silly. Then promptly crashed out back at her place. This morning...correction, late morning, we headed over to a famous mala beef noodle soup place (麻辣牛肉麵). It's called Sichuan Duan Chun Zhen Chongqing famous snack (四川段純真牛肉麵). There was a long wait so I was very eager to see how good this place was. Seems everyone in the crowd was in the same agreement. After 30 or more minutes, we headed in and was escorted to a small square traditional wood table with bench seats. The interior had a very simple dark wood and white walls theme. It was also very clean and tidy. My cousin told me to order the regular noodles, not the mala one, because they were all spicy to begin with. She was right. The regular one was just perfect on the spiciness. The hand made noodles were Q (Taiwanese term for perfect chewiness) and the meat tender with a good marbling of fat. And their sour vegetables 酸菜 is really good. It's not the normal dark green limpy cabbage you find at just about every beef noodle place. It was lighter in color and tasted a lot fresher. Different and a positive check in the quality department for me. I really liked it! Overall, I'd put the dish up at a high 8.5/10. If your ever in the area, you must try this place out. Apparently it's a chain so there are other locations. Later that evening, we had ourselves a mexican dinner. I cooked some quesadillas and my cousin made tacos. It turned out to be a very simple and relaxing weekend. Also I discovered there was a rather large and extensive indoor bouldering gym called iClimb in Hsinchu too. So i'll have to plan another visit to we can all go together and climb some fiberglass rocks.

Sichuan Duan Chun Zhen Chongqing famous snack (四川段純真牛肉麵)
新竹市建功一路135號
03－5748838

新竹市武陵路62號
03－5408165

Bouldering is my anti-age

First day of my new age. I'm going to exercise. "I'm not old, I'm not old" I keep telling myself. So I brought Yuki along with me to a local rock climbing/bouldering gym near my house. It's off the Shipai MRT station so it's about a 20 minute walkable distance from my house. It's a fairly sizable rock climbing gym (They call themselves IDEA) standing at 3 stories tall, inside the much larger Beitou activities center. The Beitou activities center has a olympic size pool, billiards tables, basketball courts, squash/racquetball courts, weights gym, spinning room, fitness room, store and a Moss Burger. Yes, a Mos Burger. Ironic how the only food choice in an activities/fitness facility is a fast food establishment. The rock climbing gym isn't that bad. It definitely has height, but falls short on the space. Most of the space is for belaying. There isn't much space for bouldering (no ropes), which is what I prefer. I found traffic jams a frequent occurrence. There are no overhangs except for the one 50 feet above your head for the advanced belay climbers. If there's a class going on, they boot you off your spot. You can't belay unless you have a license from them. It costs $990 NT and is only held once a month. The marking system is different than the standardized system the US uses. Speaking with a instructor, they say they don't have their own path marked out. All the tape is from other climbers. Sometimes they aren't maintained and they peal off, creating an incomplete path. So you essentially have to create your own path. That can be taken as a positive or a negative. Bouldering fees cost $150 per person all day. $80 for shoe rental. $20 for chalk rental, but it can be shared. But it's reasonable priced for an all day entrance and walking distance from my house, so it'll suffice. Others that don't live near, may not like it as much. I also hear there is a larger, more challenging facility called Y-17 in Taipei city. I'll have to visit that one another day. Well this is good for now, my hands are very crunchy and dry and sore from the climbing. See you when my fingers heal!

100號, Lane 39, Section 1, Shípái Road, Beitou District
Taipei City, Taiwan 112
02-2820-2880
www.paidea.com.tw