Hi all,
I just spent a week in Taiwan on business and found the vegetarian
experience rather daunting. Not because there was no choice, but rather
because there was so much choice, and I didn't know what most of it was!
I was told by a local that vegetarians there consider garlic and onions not
to be vegetarian. Therefore, most of the vegetarian dishes I was served
were extremely bland, with way too much oil. "Slimy," as my coworker
described them.
I also had some vegetarian meals containing odd substances that I couldn't
easily identify. There's something scary about anything with a "meaty"
texture when you don't know the source. One Japanese-style lunch box had a
"sausage" and several other meaty substances of questionable origin.
My coworker, who normally avoids meat, decided she might be safer with
fish, and stopped declaring herself to be vegetarian! She changed her
airline request back to regular from vegetarian. I wished I had done the
same when I saw the odd food on the way back!
Well, travel is for learning, isn't it?
Julie in San Jose