Location: Hsinchu Yapi Sichuan Restaurant
Travel note summary: To gather everyone before Little Snowflake heads to Germany, our leader Big Boss once again rallied the Hsinchu gang of bloggers last Friday night at this Yapi Sichuan Restaurant on Zhongxiao Road. This place has been around in Hsinchu for quite a while. Due to various reasons, turnout was smaller this time—only Fish Family, Rita, Little Snowflake, Coffee Latte, Zai Zai Bear, and Morgan. Those who didn’t dine but stopped by to pick up Hei Shi Fu roll cookies included Haying’s family and Judy. Even Big Boss Elfin Cat rushed over, packed a takeout box, and caught a train to Yilan for a trip. Being a Sichuan restaurant, the dishes on the table were vividly colored—mostly red and other hues. We ordered seven dishes and a soup, including mapo tofu, spicy chicken, five-spice pork intestines, and stir-fried beef with chili. As someone not big on spice, I only tried a bit of each, finding that dishes with more visible chilies weren’t necessarily the spiciest—the real heat hid in subtler ones. At this gathering, Haying’s little Apple made her debut—absolutely adorable. Rita, just back from a business trip to Japan, also brought …