Location: Hsinchu Typhoon Shelter Stir-fry & Beer House
Travel notes: Last weekend, after playing badminton for four and a half hours straight with friends from UMC like Zhiqian and Zongwei, I realized it had been a while since I had a shared meal. So we headed to Typhoon Shelter near Gongdao 5th Road. This street has quite a few beer houses and stir-fry joints clustered together—I've tried some but haven't hit them all yet. We walked into Typhoon Shelter; around 6 p.m., there was only one table occupied, but it quickly filled up and got lively. This area really comes alive at night! The five of us ordered five dishes, one soup, a plate of fried rice, a plate of fried noodles, four bowls of white rice, plus a can of cranberry juice and free unlimited ice cream (Du Laoye's brand, pretty good). Looking back at the photos, we had: sizzling beef plate, pork with garlic sauce, Thai-style lamb, stir-fried cabbage with fermented tofu, clams with loofah, and a pot of milkfish belly soup. Besides the decent fried rice and noodles, the dishes were okay—the beef was standard, veggies fine, the soup had plenty of ingredients, and the garlic pork was flavorful. The Thai lamb tasted more Ind…