The Winning Ticket 勝利的滋味

Hsu (left) and Cole wave to the assembled throng after their
landslide election as president.

DATELINE: 9 JANUARY, 2012 TAIPEI, TAIWAN
Despite having been in the country less than four months, Mark Ivan Cole and Yet-Ping "Ping" Hsu have been elected to Taiwan's highest office.
Running on the slogan "Hung Hao Chi!" 很好吃 ("This food is great!"), Cole and Hsu campaigned solidly for about 12 days while their son (and publicist) Ryan Hsu was in town.

As have all Taiwanese presidents since Chiang Kai-shek 蔣介石 took the reins from the Japanese in 1945, Cole and Hsu waved to the assembled throng from the balcony of Taipei Zhongshan Hall 中山堂. The crowd went wild. (Seriously, that guy in the picture there had to leave the area to regain his composure.)

"The campaign was very short but very successful," says Hsu. "We've gained a couple of pounds each, but the experience was well worth it."

(Above and following)
Hard on the campaign trail with family.

Terence, Ping, Ryan, Mark
Baba, Mama

Cole admits it's probably more like a couple of kilograms. "Everyone is so generous!" he says. "Family members treated us to such wonderful meals!"

Those little dishes are
just the beginning!

Ryan does his best.

Even breakfasts were an adventure. "We tried a bunch of stuff from one little stand, and it was all good, but there's someplace new to try every day," says Cole; "and that's just in Beitou 北投! We should have tried every item in every bakery in our neighborhood, but we simply ran out of time and space.

YuChi, Alice, Ryan and Ping.
Mmmmm, pork chop rice on the way!

"We visited a lot of night markets on the campaign trail. It's sort of the Taiwanese tradition: instead of kissing babies, you try the dumplings or the crepe."

Guapao 掛包 at ShiDa 師大夜市

Ping stands in line to order...something... well...you know
it's got to be good or there wouldn't be a line, right?

"It's not all fun and games," says Hsu. "We actually had to leave out a few night markets; plus, we never got to the Nio Ro Mien 牛肉麵, and we didn't get to campaign at our favorite [spicy dry noodle 辣涼麵] stand at the Beitou Market 北投市場.

"Worse yet, sometimes you reach physical limitations that cannot be overcome," she says with a sigh. "When you're too full, you're really too full. At times like that, we just sniff the air, look at each other and roll our eyes. We actually went into a fancy bakery in Taipei just to take a good whiff, do a photo op and walk back out. It was the best we could do at the time."

Ping and Ryan at Arno's crepes.
This was before the consumption of
two crepes and a bubble tea.

Cole notes that, as with many campaigns, the staff got a bit crazy during the final push to the finish. "But it's been well worth it," he says, echoing his running mate.

The president elect and campaign manager pose
in front of an unusual bovine by the Red House 紅樓.

Setting one last issue to rest, Cole confides: "We've decided that we're both President. That way there's no question as to who's First Lady... I think... Hang on. Hey, honey? Wait a second..."

As Cultural Advisor YuChi Tsai often says: "That's why we talk about food so much in Taiwan. It's a safer subject than family or politics."

Alas, even Ryan "Sure, I Could Eat!" Hsu
slows down, eventually.

The rest of Taiwan apparently agrees; they were all out there either eating food, getting food, making food, or talking about food--sometimes all of the above--regardless of who was president.

"No way is this campaign over!"