Delicacy in the Strips (revised)

BY ALAN LIN
See what makes customers shout “VA BENE” when they pay a visit to an Italian restaurant in the lane.

Spaghetti has long enjoyed its credit as one of the most typical Italian dishes worldwide, and it is always there on the menu when one walks into an Italian restaurant. In the course of time, it has also got its roots in Taiwan as many people are indeed keen to have a taste for this dish. With a lot of spaghetti restaurants opening across the island, its “exoticism” seems to fade as it gradually becomes a usual choice in Taiwanese daily meals. However, some spaghetti offered in several restaurants is not Italian at all. Several stalls just cook pasta with flavor packs and thus make the dishes look like “spaghetti.” They just want to appeal to ordinary people with their cheap prices, and the Italian flavor does not exist in those dishes. This makes the cook in Va Bene unsatisfied, and wants to offer real Italian spaghetti to ordinary people.

Located in the vicinity of National Taiwan Normal University, Va Bene draws lots of people to fill its seating capacity every day. “It’s OK!” is the English translation of Va Bene in Italian. Although “It’s OK.” does not sound that excellent, the delicious taste of spaghetti in this restaurant lies in such modesty. The owner of the restaurant believes that high price hinders ordinary customers to come, while low price would reduce the quality and flavor of spaghetti; thus, the cook here insists on preserving the original flavor of spaghetti while offering a consumer-friendly price. In a city of high cost of living, the comparatively favorable prices on Va Bene’s menu draw a steady number of people to visit.

The spaghetti Va Bene offered includes several kinds, and each has its own appealing savor. The pasta is not overcooked, and thus retains its chewy texture; yet, if one prefers soft chewy taste, the cook is willing to serve the spaghetti as customers wish. The spaghetti here derives its delicious taste from fresh meat or seafood and seasoning. With a favorable cost, one could enjoy excellent Italian food to his/her heart’s content without going to an expensive restaurant, and this is what makes Va Bene not just OK but GREAT!

Delicacy in the Strips

BY ALAN LIN
See what makes customers shout “VA BENE” when they pay a visit to an Italian restaurant in the lane.

Spaghetti has long enjoyed its credit as one of the most typical Italian dishes worldwide, and it is always there on the menu when one walks into an Italian restaurant. In the course of time, it has also got its roots in Taiwan as many people are indeed keen to have a taste for this dish. With a lot of spaghetti restaurants opening across the island, its “exoticism” seems to fade as it gradually becomes a usual choice in Taiwanese daily meals. However, some spaghetti offered in several restaurants is not Italian at all. The Italian flavor is blended with local preferences and offered at a low price, which makes the cook in Va Bene unsatisfied.

Located in the vicinity of National Taiwan Normal University, Va Bene draws lots of people to fill its seating capacity every day. “It’s OK!” is the English translation of "Va Bene" in Italian. Although “It’s OK.” does not sound that excellent, the delicious taste of spaghetti in this restaurant lies in such modesty. The owner of the restaurant believes that high price hinders ordinary customers to come, while low price would reduce the quality and flavor of spaghetti; thus, the cook here insists on preserving the original flavor of spaghetti while offering a consumer-friendly price. In a city of high cost of living, the comparatively favorable prices on Va Bene’s menu draw a steady number of people to visit.

The spaghetti Va Bene offered includes several kinds, and each has its own appealing savor. The pasta is not overcooked, and thus retains its chewy texture. It derives its delicious taste from fresh meat or seafood and seasoning. With a favorable cost, one could enjoy excellent Italian food to his/her heart’s content without going to an expensive restaurant, and this is what makes Va Bene not just OK but GREAT!

Chicken In the Box (revised)

BY ALAN LIN
The chickens in the heated boxes invite everyone to catch their taste.

Within the short brick oven, fire rages around the steel boxes. Located in Jiouchiunghu, Sinpu (Hsinchu County), the chickens hung in the boxes draw tourists here to taste their wonderful flavor. On holidays, a lot of hikers stand in a line to have a roast chicken as their “reward” after the long walk in the adjacent hills.


At irregular intervals, the cook would add some wood into the fire to keep it burning fiercely, and thus give chickens a special wooden fragrance. Some people may well ask what makes chickens here so special, as Tungtzu chickens are roasted in steel barrels as well. Indeed, both kinds share similar roasting ways; yet, if we say that Tungtzu chickens smell more pleasant than roast chickens by electric ovens, we could further say that roast chickens here have their succulent flavor reserved. The heated steel boxes allow the chickens inside to be fully cooked, and improve their savor. Besides, chickens here derive their refreshing aroma partly from Hakka preserved vegetables stuffed in their bellies, which are rarely seen in non-Hakka villages.



As the chicken is ready, the cook would not chop it into pieces but serve the chicken as a whole in a pot. At this moment, just forget your knife and fork at home and simply use your hands to enjoy the meal: It is no time for table manners!

Discussion on Olivia's Story

Writer: Olivia (Cloud Clarity)
Reviewer: Dana (Nada Copperfield)
Editor: Jason (Jackowacko Juliesse)
Organizer: Alan (karikan Kytori)

Report on the Discussion:

The writer’s story is about the sandwich of Hong Rui-Zhen Confectionary. Both reviewer and the editor think that the story is detailed enough for them to know about the appeal of the sandwich, and the pictures the writer took complement it well. Some of the sentences in the story should be rephrased to be more clear; as, for example, that “Perhaps you might think it’s a little exaggerated; yet, you still cannot deny the facts that the sandwich is at the top.” in the last paragraph, “at the top” makes the whole sentence ambivalent. If the writer agrees that the top ranking of the sandwich is exaggerated, how could it still be “at the top” in the following clause? Also, the reviewer comments that the story offers the exact address of the shop would make the story a bit like an advertisement. At this point, the editor agrees with the reviewer and raises his opinion further: the writer should try to assure the focus on the sandwich would not be blurred by Hong Rui-Zhen’s other product. All in all, everyone in the group think Olivia’s work is detailed and brief, which is quite good.

Transcript of SL Discussion:

[2009/03/11 7:19] Nada Copperfield: so now???????
[2009/03/11 7:19] Cloud Clarity: so the next news is?
[2009/03/11 7:19] Jackowacko Juliesse: it's time for next news
[2009/03/11 7:20] karikan Kytori: olivia's first or mine?
[2009/03/11 7:20] Nada Copperfield: i am going to be the evaluator
[2009/03/11 7:20] Nada Copperfield: what'te the name of evaluaotr
[2009/03/11 7:20] karikan Kytori: ok, princess' work first
[2009/03/11 7:20] karikan Kytori: just move on
[2009/03/11 7:20] Jackowacko Juliesse: i will be the editor?
[2009/03/11 7:21] karikan Kytori: then i'm the org.
[2009/03/11 7:21] Nada Copperfield: alright
[2009/03/11 7:21] Nada Copperfield: then i am not the evaluator
[2009/03/11 7:21] Nada Copperfield: sicne someone got the roel
[2009/03/11 7:21] Cloud Clarity: i'm the writer
[2009/03/11 7:21] Cloud Clarity: ok
[2009/03/11 7:21] Nada Copperfield: what's left
[2009/03/11 7:22] Jackowacko Juliesse: reviewer
[2009/03/11 7:22] Nada Copperfield: alright
[2009/03/11 7:22] Cloud Clarity: i'm gonna start: my news is about 洪瑞珍sandwhich
[2009/03/11 7:22] karikan Kytori: wait, i can't be the org of my own piece
[2009/03/11 7:22] karikan Kytori: ha ha
[2009/03/11 7:22] Cloud Clarity: http://weiarethenews.blogspot.com/
[2009/03/11 7:23] Nada Copperfield: muahauahua
[2009/03/11 7:23] Cloud Clarity: i will be the organzier
[2009/03/11 7:23] karikan Kytori: keep going
[2009/03/11 7:23] Cloud Clarity: for urs
[2009/03/11 7:23] karikan Kytori: ok
[2009/03/11 7:23] karikan Kytori: so i be urs
[2009/03/11 7:23] Cloud Clarity: yeah
[2009/03/11 7:23] karikan Kytori: go on
[2009/03/11 7:25] Cloud Clarity: i begin the article with asknig readers if they have ever though of listing sandwich as a delicacy
[2009/03/11 7:25] Cloud Clarity: and inviting them to 洪瑞珍 sandshich
[2009/03/11 7:26] Cloud Clarity: in the 3rd paragraph, i describe its appearence and its taste
[2009/03/11 7:26] Cloud Clarity: then move on to its celebirty also i n ptt and 一週刊
[2009/03/11 7:26] Cloud Clarity: then end
[2009/03/11 7:26] Cloud Clarity: that's all
[2009/03/11 7:26] Nada Copperfield: okay
[2009/03/11 7:27] Nada Copperfield: you article is really in detailed and i like it
[2009/03/11 7:27] Jackowacko Juliesse: yeah
[2009/03/11 7:27] Nada Copperfield: but
[2009/03/11 7:27] Nada Copperfield: what is the part two
[2009/03/11 7:27] Nada Copperfield: part one means
[2009/03/11 7:28] Nada Copperfield: well it's not the point thoght
[2009/03/11 7:28] Jackowacko Juliesse: and the location and i even can feel the delicacy of the sandwitch
[2009/03/11 7:28] Cloud Clarity: part ii means the fllowing weeks i will still doing Taichung's cusines
[2009/03/11 7:28] Nada Copperfield: okay then the detialed disvrption is also fine
[2009/03/11 7:28] Nada Copperfield: i mwan good
[2009/03/11 7:29] Jackowacko Juliesse: hmm
[2009/03/11 7:29] Jackowacko Juliesse: i think ur article is really detailed
[2009/03/11 7:29] karikan Kytori: what do u mean by "sandwich is at the top" in the last para?
[2009/03/11 7:29] Cloud Clarity: r u sure u rally think it is delicious by only reading the article?!
[2009/03/11 7:30] Nada Copperfield: by the picture
[2009/03/11 7:30] Nada Copperfield: but the words are also intriguing
[2009/03/11 7:30] Jackowacko Juliesse: and the peanut jam u describe
[2009/03/11 7:30] Cloud Clarity: cuz 一週刊honored it is the most delicious
[2009/03/11 7:30] Cloud Clarity: too exagerate though
[2009/03/11 7:31] Nada Copperfield: but i have an feeling that is it like a advertisment??????
[2009/03/11 7:31] Cloud Clarity: the sandwhich is still one of the top in "sandwhich field" (anyone get it= =?)
[2009/03/11 7:32] Jackowacko Juliesse: i get it
[2009/03/11 7:32] Jackowacko Juliesse: of all the sandwich sell in taiwan
[2009/03/11 7:32] Jackowacko Juliesse: its the first all over taiwan
[2009/03/11 7:32] Jackowacko Juliesse: right?
[2009/03/11 7:33] Cloud Clarity: yeah, alomost the best
[2009/03/11 7:33] karikan Kytori: i mean if u say it's exaggerate, the sentence behind should be the opposite
[2009/03/11 7:33] karikan Kytori: or less prestigious
[2009/03/11 7:33] karikan Kytori: it confuses me
[2009/03/11 7:33] Cloud Clarity: do u guys have better decription for that part?
[2009/03/11 7:33] karikan Kytori: whether u think it's the best or not
[2009/03/11 7:34] Cloud Clarity: but by adding "yet...?"
[2009/03/11 7:34] karikan Kytori: yep, that'd be more natural i think
[2009/03/11 7:34] Cloud Clarity: does that still makes u feel confused?
[2009/03/11 7:34] Nada Copperfield: no
[2009/03/11 7:34] Cloud Clarity: but i did add a "yet..."
[2009/03/11 7:35] Nada Copperfield: i know
[2009/03/11 7:35] Nada Copperfield: which is good
[2009/03/11 7:35] Nada Copperfield: and clear
[2009/03/11 7:35] karikan Kytori: i mean "at the top"
[2009/03/11 7:35] Nada Copperfield: muahauha
[2009/03/11 7:35] Nada Copperfield: maybe you should change the sentnece
[2009/03/11 7:35] karikan Kytori: if u think it's exagerrated, how could u think it's at the top?
[2009/03/11 7:35] Nada Copperfield: at hte top of what of what or sth
[2009/03/11 7:36] Nada Copperfield: what?
[2009/03/11 7:36] Nada Copperfield: oh
[2009/03/11 7:36] Nada Copperfield: i got i
[2009/03/11 7:36] Nada Copperfield: i know what you mean
[2009/03/11 7:36] Nada Copperfield: i am sorry
[2009/03/11 7:36] karikan Kytori: i mean maybe u could add "at the top list of sandwich" or sth
[2009/03/11 7:37] Nada Copperfield: i agreee with alan now
[2009/03/11 7:37] Nada Copperfield: here
[2009/03/11 7:37] karikan Kytori: not just at the top
[2009/03/11 7:37] Nada Copperfield: at the top means really at the top but you just mentioned that it is exagerated
[2009/03/11 7:37] Nada Copperfield: it;s ambivalent
[2009/03/11 7:37] Cloud Clarity: oh~infact
[2009/03/11 7:38] Cloud Clarity: i just want to say that \
[2009/03/11 7:38] karikan Kytori: yes, dana
[2009/03/11 7:38] karikan Kytori: thank u
[2009/03/11 7:38] Jackowacko Juliesse: maybe she just talked now
[2009/03/11 7:38] Nada Copperfield: first you say it prestigious then you say it's exaggerated then you say it's at the top
[2009/03/11 7:38] Cloud Clarity: if iit is not the best, it is almost the best
[2009/03/11 7:38] Cloud Clarity: so i can i rephrase my words?
[2009/03/11 7:38] Nada Copperfield: muahuahuaha
[2009/03/11 7:39] Nada Copperfield: but at the top would confused the readers
[2009/03/11 7:39] Cloud Clarity: how can i rephrase?
[2009/03/11 7:39] Cloud Clarity: so i say how can i rephrase this sentence?
[2009/03/11 7:39] Nada Copperfield: chane at the top
[2009/03/11 7:39] Nada Copperfield: that sentence confused readers a lot
[2009/03/11 7:40] karikan Kytori: i do not know how to say " 美味榜前幾名" or sth in eng
[2009/03/11 7:40] karikan Kytori: but i think that'd make it less confusing
[2009/03/11 7:40] Nada Copperfield: rank or sth/?// ne se
[2009/03/11 7:40] Cloud Clarity: hey~do u guys really think that it is like a advertisement? but i thought i mention things that advertising would never tell such as it is expensive and it has a plain look@@ what do u think
[2009/03/11 7:41] Cloud Clarity: ok i'll change "at the top" to "top 10"
[2009/03/11 7:41] Nada Copperfield: no advertisiment is my mi read
[2009/03/11 7:41] Nada Copperfield: cause i thoght that i read the address in the middel of the .lines
[2009/03/11 7:41] Cloud Clarity: ojhoh
[2009/03/11 7:41] Nada Copperfield: but then whe n i reread it
[2009/03/11 7:41] Cloud Clarity: that's a immitation from cusines magazine
[2009/03/11 7:42] Nada Copperfield: it's justbecaseu iam dizzy or sth
[2009/03/11 7:42] Nada Copperfield: i kwno
[2009/03/11 7:42] Cloud Clarity: also 食記 in ptt would add the infromation before they write
[2009/03/11 7:42] Cloud Clarity: so i add it
[2009/03/11 7:42] Nada Copperfield: i read it at the top of the article
[2009/03/11 7:42] Nada Copperfield: i sadi
[2009/03/11 7:42] Nada Copperfield: i said
[2009/03/11 7:42] Nada Copperfield: in the middle of the lines
[2009/03/11 7:42] Nada Copperfield: but that';s becaseu i mis read
[2009/03/11 7:42] Nada Copperfield: get the picture????????
[2009/03/11 7:42] Nada Copperfield: dizzy or sth
[2009/03/11 7:42] Cloud Clarity: yeah
[2009/03/11 7:42] Cloud Clarity: thx
[2009/03/11 7:43] Nada Copperfield: becaseu
[2009/03/11 7:43] karikan Kytori: here i agree with dana
[2009/03/11 7:43] Nada Copperfield: it ( ) confused me
[2009/03/11 7:43] Nada Copperfield: sorry
[2009/03/11 7:43] Nada Copperfield: read too fast
[2009/03/11 7:43] karikan Kytori: the focus of this paragraph seems to me on the shop
[2009/03/11 7:43] karikan Kytori: not on the food itself
[2009/03/11 7:44] Nada Copperfield: yeah
[2009/03/11 7:44] karikan Kytori: maybe a block at the side of the posting is fine
[2009/03/11 7:44] karikan Kytori: but in the paragraph it'll look like an ad
[2009/03/11 7:45] Cloud Clarity: what do u mean by block?
[2009/03/11 7:45] Cloud Clarity: i spend almost every para on sandwhich not on the shop
[2009/03/11 7:45] karikan Kytori: a little square containg the inf at the side
[2009/03/11 7:45] Cloud Clarity: the shop is not only sellin sandwhich
[2009/03/11 7:46] Cloud Clarity: but so many other things i didn't even mention
[2009/03/11 7:46] Cloud Clarity: except the penut brillte
[2009/03/11 7:47] Jackowacko Juliesse: ur focus is the sandwich they sold
[2009/03/11 7:47] Jackowacko Juliesse: ?
[2009/03/11 7:47] Cloud Clarity: yeah
[2009/03/11 7:47] Jackowacko Juliesse: right?
[2009/03/11 7:47] Cloud Clarity: i start in the first para
[2009/03/11 7:47] Jackowacko Juliesse: i think u just be focus on the sandwith
[2009/03/11 7:48] Cloud Clarity: yes i thought i did, didn't i ?
[2009/03/11 7:48] Jackowacko Juliesse: there is no need to introduce other product when u revise
[2009/03/11 7:48] Cloud Clarity: i only mention penut brittle in one sentence
[2009/03/11 7:48] Jackowacko Juliesse: i just mention before u revised
[2009/03/11 7:48] Cloud Clarity: Hong Rui-Zhen Confectionary has long held a reputation for its famous delicacies like peanut brittle and, of course, its advertisement sandwich!
[2009/03/11 7:49] Nada Copperfield: i got it
[2009/03/11 7:49] Nada Copperfield: i know hwy is that
[2009/03/11 7:49] Nada Copperfield: becasue you said
[2009/03/11 7:50] Jackowacko Juliesse: i just wanna u avoid being vague when u revise
[2009/03/11 7:50] Nada Copperfield: 洪瑞真 and the magazine
[2009/03/11 7:50] Jackowacko Juliesse: now i can know the topic of ur nnews
[2009/03/11 7:50] Nada Copperfield: but maybe you should said the sandwich
[2009/03/11 7:50] Nada Copperfield: ???
[2009/03/11 7:50] Nada Copperfield: i dunno
[2009/03/11 7:50] Nada Copperfield: magazine that paragraph
[2009/03/11 7:51] Nada Copperfield: not the topic
[2009/03/11 7:51] Jackowacko Juliesse: i am talking to olivia
[2009/03/11 7:51] Jackowacko Juliesse: haha
[2009/03/11 7:51] Cloud Clarity: i'm pondering
[2009/03/11 7:51] Nada Copperfield: i am talking to olivia too
[2009/03/11 7:52] Cloud Clarity: cuz i though i always focus on the "sandwich" itself but u guys so no
[2009/03/11 7:52] Jackowacko Juliesse: could u explain what u want to digest the magazine's aricle?
[2009/03/11 7:52] Cloud Clarity: so i'm wondering
[2009/03/11 7:52] Nada Copperfield: since she just metioned sth right befind my back
[2009/03/11 7:52] Nada Copperfield: digest?????
[2009/03/11 7:52] Nada Copperfield: more literal please
[2009/03/11 7:53] Nada Copperfield: we all did not get it sorry
[2009/03/11 7:53] Jackowacko Juliesse: i spell the wrong word?
[2009/03/11 7:53] Cloud Clarity: here is the para
[2009/03/11 7:53] Cloud Clarity: Next Magazine once honored the sandwich of Hong Rui-Zhen Confectionary to be the most delicious in Taiwan. Perhaps you might think it’s a little exaggerated; yet, you still cannot deny the facts that the sandwich is at the top. People from different counties often gather in Ptt Buytogether for ordering the sandwiches.
[2009/03/11 7:54] Nada Copperfield: alright
[2009/03/11 7:54] Jackowacko Juliesse: but u quote from other magazine let me think it's kinda of ad.?
[2009/03/11 7:54] Jackowacko Juliesse: i dunno, that's opinion
[2009/03/11 7:54] Cloud Clarity: humm
[2009/03/11 7:55] Cloud Clarity: i see ur point~i will rethink that para
[2009/03/11 7:55] Cloud Clarity: thx
[2009/03/11 7:56] Cloud Clarity: so r we going to move? or still have sth to say about my news?
[2009/03/11 7:56] Nada Copperfield: no
[2009/03/11 7:56] Nada Copperfield: you article is good
[2009/03/11 7:56] Nada Copperfield: detailed and brief

Chicken In the Box

Within the short brick oven, fire rages around the steel boxes. Located in Jiouchiunghu, Sinpu (Hsinchu County), the chickens hung in the boxes draw tourists here to taste their wonderful flavor. On holidays, a lot of hikers stand in a line here to have a roast chicken as their “reward” after the long walk in the adjacent hills.

At irregular intervals, the cook would add some wood into the fire to keep it burning fiercely, and thus give chickens a special wooden fragrance. Some people may well ask what the difference between these chickens and Tungtzu chickens, which are roasted in steel barrels as well, is. Indeed, both kinds share similar roasting ways; yet, if we say that Tungtzu chickens smell more pleasant than roast chickens by electric ovens, we could further say that roast chickens here have their succulent flavor reserved. Besides, chickens here derive their refreshing aroma partly from Hakka preserved vegetables stuffed in their bellies.

As the chicken is ready, the cook would not chop it into pieces but serve the chicken as a whole in a pot. At this moment, just forget your knife and fork at home and simply use your hands to enjoy the meal: It is no time for table manners.