Pumpernickel bread.

At first glance, I thought this was yet another Engrish mistake. But after a closer look, I realized that "Devil's Fart" is correctly translated from the characters above it, which meant... Google time!

Interestingly enough here's what I discovered:
"Pumpernickel" originates from German words that loosely mean...
You guessed it! "Devil's Fart." Observe.

The German word "Pumpen" was used to describe flatulence, and the coarse texture of the bread encouraged such behavior from those who consumed it.
The German word "Nickel" is short for "Nicholas," a name often given to goblins, or the devil, or anything dark in nature. Had to do some additional googling to confirm this one -- especially with all the St. Nicholas stories out there.

Therefore when you put it all together, combined with the bread's common flatulence side-effect, you have Pumpernickel Bread -- aka Devil's Fart.

Taiwanese Beef Noodles (刀削牛肉麵)

Beef Noodle Soup with Knife-shaved Noodles. I have miserably failed to make this at home, so I'll resort to gorging myself on this every time I'm here. The soup has been stewing since early in the morning and is perfect for lunch - especially since it's cold and rainy out. The noodles are freshly cut to order. The chef uses a block of dough and gently shaves off long noodle-like pieces into the soup -- similar to using a carrot peeler. The result is an uneven textured noodle that's soft on the edges and chewy and doughy in the middle. Yummm...

Visiting the Motherland

Across the Pacific again and wanted to share some gems of my journey...

On my flight, there was a little packet that came as my congee topping..
It's shredded dried tuna that was creatively labeled "Flavored Tuna Floss"

Also - when I opened my suitcase I got a warm little welcome from the TSA who stuck a note in my suitcase informing me they had rummaged through my stuff. Routine inspection..