Shyness and/or a bun

[desperance]

For someone who spends so much time shopping and cooking, never mind being L, I am still ridiculously anxious about going into shops and restaurants on my own. Big serve-yourself establishments, no bother; pubs are fine, I know how they work; but if there's something new to negotiate, it's teeth-down-the-blackboard time.

Unless I've got somebody with me.

As witness: a little while back, a Chinese bakery opened just behind Chinatown here in Newcastle. I've walked past the windows a couple of dozen times, much drawn by the interest of so many curious buns - but it's a small shop, I didn't know quite how to handle things, I was just that edge too nervous to get across the threshold.

Until last week, when la_marquise_de_ was staying. She just wanted a bun. So, in we went; and - oh, that's what you do, you take a tray and a pair of tongs, and like that...

It wasn't exactly hard. But I needed to be inside to see other people doing that, and I needed someone else to get me in there.

And now, I am devoted to sampling one of every bun they have, with my morning coffee at the Lit & Phil (its being pretty much on the direct route from here to there).

Today's sample was the Taiwanese Chicken Bun. Must be said, I don't remember ever seeing these in Taiwan - but see above, under shyness and not-going-into-places. The whole island might be full of 'em.

It's an odd object: basically a doughnut, a semi-sweet deep-fried dough with chunks of chicken at the core. Which you wouldn't have expected, if it hadn't been called a Taiwanese Chicken Bun. (But then, the Pineapple Bun is not exactly filled with pineapple. As a matter of fact, it's filled with red bean paste. It just looks like a pineapple.)(But the Taiwanese Chicken Bun didn't fool me that way, because it doesn't look anything like a Taiwanese chicken. Their skin is black.)

Doughnuts filled with chicken. For the win, I think...