Night out in Taiwan

Saturday night we were graciously invited to join 10 other teacher’s and their spouse’s for an entertaining dinner at one of Taipei’s themed restaurants.  Themed restaurants are sort of a fad here apparently and they come and go.  We learned that there is a Ninja theme which is where we originally thought we were going and then it was decided it was a little too risqué.  There are several others including an airplane theme, toilet bowl theme (strangely intriguing), and the one we went to was a hospital theme with an unlikely name of the DS Music Restaurant.

There was hospital paraphernalia throughout, including X-rays, hospital gurneys used for tables and IV Drips for beverage delivery.

The waitresses and bar staff were dressed as nurses and others were running around in surgical gowns.

Here’s an IV drip filled with the local Taiwan Beer.  By the way, the name of the local Taiwan Beer is very easy for us foreigners to remember.   It’s “Taiwan Beer”.  So easy even a caveman can remember it.

Shots arrived in test tubes.  Fruit drinks in Beakers.  Because there were 12 of us we ordered a bunch of dishes and shared tapas style.  The fare included Gung Pao chicken, Sweet and sour fish, Shanghai style rice, another rice with mushrooms, Braised Pork, Teppanyaki chicken which arrived in a flaming half pineapple, Lemon fish, water spinach, and cabbage. 

This is the braised pork, it arrived with the skin on it, we ate the meat underneath and it was melt in your mouth good.

A short time later a nurse stopped at the table to play a dice game with each of us.  We each took turns shaking our dice, the goal to get a higher total than the nurse.  Winners got a treat, injected by syringe, while losers got something foul tasting.

Guess which one I got.  The white one tasted of vinegar.  Nancy of course won hers and tried the yellow one which was a sweet lemon.

Here’s a new friend of ours, Katie, getting her “treat”.

After we had eaten we were informed that a short performance was going to begin in a few minutes and could all the males please sit toward the outside of the table.  As I was the only male already seated thus and fearing the worst, I entreated the other men at the table unsuccessfully to move to my side.  The show soon began and involved dancing girls.  I was lucky enough not to be pulled up on stage and but I learned a valuable lesson nonetheless.  Always sit toward the inside where you are not accessible.  What happened next shall not soon be forgotten but you’ll not read about it here. 

Let’s just say it’s not the sort of entertainment we were expecting…Nancy may have a few more pictures to add I’m not sure.  Another nurse came around a short time after the “show” with another dice game and Nancy played and won a shot of beer so, me, being the slow learner that I am volunteered to play and lost.  Earning myself a rather sharp whipping across the buttocks.  Chalk it down as another first….

We decided to call it an evening before it got any more out of hand and all headed our separate ways but determined to do this again, perhaps at the toilet bowl restaurant.