For breakfast or lunch you can try the surprisingly
good 'tu tuo yu gen' at the famous Hsiang Hsiang Tu
Tuo Yu Gen restaurant (»¨É¤g¦«³½Ã¼).
In English the only way I can describe it is chunks
of lightly breaded fish and other mystery things in
a warm soup of sticky goo. It tastes much better than
that description implies. Apparently this restaurant
has been at it for quite awhile and is widely acknowledged
by the locals I talked to as the best there is.
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The most unusual restaurant in Penghu must be the Da Fang
Guang (¤j¤è¼s) combination restaurant
and art gallery. Whether planning to have a meal in a reflective
environment or to enjoy a coffee on their sofas or while
walking around checking out the art - this one place worth
taking a peek at.
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In the evening, after enjoying your seafood, there
is a surprising number of nightlife options. For non-drinkers
there are plenty of coffee and tea houses. Reputedly
the best, and the certainly the oldest, is the Paris
Cafe - founded in 1957. In those days, American servicemen
used to drop by, but these days they are known for
the quality of their coffee.
Penghu boasts one internet cybercafe, the Eastern
Forest (ªF¤è´ËªL).
They also feature a wide array of video games, so
that should one be feeling withdrawal symptoms on
can dash in for a quick fix.
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For drinkers there are loads of options. Much to my surprise
there were plenty of pubs (not being able to sing, KTVs
and karaokes are no fun for me) - more than in cities much
larger than Makung on Taiwan. All of them are small and
personal, even the ones labeled 'disco' were not much bigger
than a 7-11. Check the map for some of the options.
After a day or sightseeing, a big dinner of seafood and
an evening of pub crawling - it's time to settle down for
the evening at one of Makung's plentiful hotels. Mostly
they range from around NT$600 on up, with good digs to be
had for NT$800 to NT$1300. Check the map in the center section
of this issue and the 'compass points' listings in the back
of the magazine for details. Note that in most hotels there
is no such thing as a 'single' - rooms with a large bed
for one or two persons are charged the same rate. Many hotels
discount heavily in the winter, and might consider discounting
during the middle of the week.
As you can probably tell by now, I love Penghu. It strikes
me as odd how many people in the Taichung area I meet who
have never visited this amazing place. In some ways, this
may be a good thing - as Penghu is not yet totally overwhelmed
with touristy tackiness and outrageous prices. So, between
you and me, Penghu is a great place to go. Just don't go
telling everyone or it will be spoiled¡K
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