From Taiwan Food to Taiwanese Dentist

On my recent holiday to Taichung, I found myself sitting in a dentist chair. Why would one go to the dentist on a holiday? For most, it is an emergency, but for me it was purely for pleasure. Everywhere you look in Taichung you will find dentist offices up and down the streets, so after asking some locals why there were so many, I felt comfortable enough to enjoy a quick teeth cleaning. At first, I thought all of the dentists may be a front for some illegal activity, but the locals told me that the government healthcare is very good and takes care of most expenses, so everyone is trying to get as much money from the government as they possibly can. The cleaning was inexpensive and I felt it was necessary after all of the sweet and savory things I had ingested throughout my holiday.

From the moment I left the airport my food holiday started, and it didn’t end until I reached the airport six days later! The first meal I had before arriving to the hotel was one of the best meals out of the entire trip; it was rice with minced pork. I tried this dish a few other times over the six days, but none were as good as the first. We stopped in a small family run shop in the middle of a neighborhood, not on a main street. After the first bite, I realized that Taiwan’s food was probably going to be full of grease and fat. Not to say greasy, fatty foods don’t taste good, but six days of it are enough for a very long time!

As I thought with the first bite of my first Taiwanese meal, the food at the night market was so good, but so greasy! I found that if food wasn’t greasy, it was so sweet you could feel your teeth rotting with the first bite. I tried the fried chicken, sausages, unidentified things on a stick, squid, egg tarts, stinky tofu, soup filled dumplings, buns filled with meat, eggs and veggies, candied cherries and strawberries and so much more!

The second hotel I stayed in, InOne City Inn, was very fitting to my personality. The room was more than half the size of my apartment and the cleanliness was of a high standard. This hotel was artsy and funky with its décor and vibe, and although it was just down the street from the first hotel that I stayed, InSky Hotel, it was deeper into the Taichung culture than the tourist feel of the first hotel.

In the hotel courtyard, I found everything that I was looking for. I stumbled into a mellow, inviting café to have some excellent coffee before hitting the night market again. After only a short time in the night market, I had seen everything there was to see, so I headed back to the café to chill out before going back to my room. To my surprise, an outdoor pub with live music and draft beer had opened up while I was away. This was the atmosphere I had been craving, and it was so conveniently located just next to the lift to my room.

After partaking in almost every food that was put in front of me, having my fill of night markets and sitting too long in cafes, what else was left to do? It only seemed fitting to end my trip in a dentist chair to try and erase some of the damage I may have done, yet enjoyed doing to my teeth.