Tofu from Taiwan

Risk of the Day

Sleepy driver.

Classification:     NTD (Nutty Taiwanese Drivers)

Control:                Moderate (2/4) – shout at him if he’s dropping off!

Likelihood:          2

Impact:                 4

Score:                   8

Another day, another few and varied meals ahead.

We started with a short walk to a breakfast cafe and had an egg and noodle pancake-type thing wrapped round a slightly sweet load-bearing element. Easy! Uncharacteristically, I was rather relieved to find it was not involving octopus, garlic, chili or any really strange new tastes, textures or smells.

Then to visit various centres of the hospital group, after paying a courtesy visit to the superintendent and deputy superintendent: both psychiatrists. My over-riding impression was of sense of space, and apparent belongingness, even in wards of over 100 patients. Yu-Li, being a rural area with much space, takes more than 80% of its patients from outside Heulein county. But I was left feeling that we have lost something in the UK by selling off large rural estates, as well as spacious urban ones, to property developers - and rehousing many of our most frail and vulnerable citizens in 'fit-for-purpose' pressure-cooker hospitals and therapeutically vacuous community residences.

But there is always greencare - and I was shown round the hospital farm, which has 34 hectares of arable land, and where suitable patients find work, and cycle to and fro from the hospital. The main production is of rice - they have paddy fields as far as the eye can see, and all the machines to turn it into 25kg sacks ready for the kitchen. In fact, it does just about suffice for the 2500 patients in the hospital group. They did have pigs until the price of pork fell too much, a few years ago. I was confident and enthusiastic with them that it could all be turned into a thriving greencare therapeutic community!

Greencare - Taiwan style? [Hospital in the distance, paddy fields in the background]

Then over the coastal mountain range for a rather special lunch: a seafood restaurant on the Pacific Ocean in the sunshine. Phoned Ben in California (trying to wave was not successful), -16h, and Nicky at home, -8h: felt like we were truly spanning the globe! Then a great drive south along the pacific highway to a visitor centre, and back across the mountains.

Just a small dinner with some work colleagues, he had said. Well, two tables each of 15 people from the hospital was not small in my book*. The seating had to be carefully arranged to maximise the Chi - me next to the superintendent, who was next to the deputy superintendent, with Lue my host on my right, all on the psychiatrists' table (including the friendly resident who was laughing the whole time); the others were adjacent. Then there was the food: lobster, chicken, lamb, tofu, prawns, crab, pork, more strange chicken legs, ostrich, duck, special rice and then birthday cake. With toasts throughout, to and from everybody - collectively and individually. Maybe a bit like group analysis' maxim of 'in the group, of the group and by the group'!

Then the big one - thankfully not in the restaurant where I would have to do it in front of the assembled multitude - STINKY TOFU. Bought home in a double-layered plastic bag (which still had me quivering) presumably to prevent undue atmospheric pollution (I reckon horse poo, though Wikipedia says ripe cheese and decaying flesh), Lue decanted onto a plate for me. But I had a 1cm piece and knew that I was not going to be able to see it through. "Oh well, at least you can tell Nicky the the food was horrible so she doesn't get jealous of your trip", said Lue, quite helpfully.


* Banquet number 6 (I think!)

New Thing of the day

It has to be stinky tofu
This is the first thing yet 
that has truly defeated me..