Hello, Internet. This is Rican speaking. Today, I want to continue yesterday’s travel topic. As I mentioned, yesterday we went on a trip with friends. After visiting the castle, we decided to head to a nearby town for some lunch.

As you might know, I’m a big fan of food. I love eating, just like most people who need to eat. I'm not sure about robots though, given all the artificial intelligence out there today. Maybe some of my audience are robots. If you’re a robot or any form of being that doesn’t require food, I sincerely apologize and hope you can still enjoy whatever you absorb to maintain your existence.

We found a Korean restaurant because they had air conditioning for customers who wanted to dine in. I don’t believe the chef is Korean because the atmosphere felt like most other Taiwanese shops, not really Korean. But how would I know? I’m just speaking my mind without much consideration. We ordered some Korean fried chicken and classic Korean noodles. One of the noodles was black bean sauce noodles, which is my favorite Korean dish. I tried black bean sauce noodles in Australia, made by a real Korean chef, and he made the best black bean sauce noodles for me. That’s a favorable seasoning.

I finally understand how it feels when eating Taiwanese or Chinese food in other countries—the feeling of, "Even if I randomly picked an old, bald, and friendly grandpa walking on the street, gave him the cheapest ingredients with a pair of chopsticks as cooking tools, perhaps the grandpa, with his eyes closed, dancing while cooking, could still make a better dish than this adorable cuisine." I’m surprised by this feeling I'm experiencing right now, in my own country.

I would never bring my Korean friend to this restaurant. The taste is good, no judgment. But if you mention the quality, it's like seeing Captain America and then looking in the mirror at my reflection. I'd say, “Yeah, you’re good, but nah,” with a shrug and a smile. This meal is standard, but far from achieving authentic Korean food. I still had a good experience because I love trying different restaurants I've never been to before. Life is about experiencing and discovering new things. We can express our feelings about anything just by trying to find the answers we seek.

A restaurant is something you need to walk into and get a meal to know the quality of service. So, there are no regrets in any decision—just keep trying and discovering. I know the service isn't my type, but I’ll make a better choice next time. I feel satisfied that I walked into this Korean restaurant.

Then, we found a famous coffee shop outside the town. There was a spectacular view from the coffee shop. We could see the green, natural, and vast farmland from inside while enjoying a cup of iced coffee. Seeing the green crops made me want to eat some rice. When I saw all those crops, I imagined my next meal’s ingredients might be harvested from this clean landscape.

My female travel mates had different opinions. They said, “I’m sorry, this is a fancy cake coffee shop, and you’re talking about pork rice? Damn you, Rican.” What graceful and authentic friends. Of course, I love cakes. We ordered some colorful and fruity cakes made with mango, passion fruit, mocha, and chocolate. I mean separately. If you put everything together, it would be a chaotic monster cake. Actually, that doesn’t sound too bad.

The best one was the mango cream cake. It was our favorite, and we finished it first, even though all the cakes were served together. The cakes were big, so we could share each one. My chocolate cake was the second favorite because I picked it, and I didn’t want to lose any other cake. So, I ate most of it and told everyone my chocolate cake was number two. They said, “Well, you almost ate half the cake by yourself.” What a group of people who refuse to admit defeat. Grow up, my friends. It’s not a competition. Even though my cake was the second favorite, it's not something I’ll brag about. Maybe.