Another day, another buffet

Today we had lunch at a buffet on the 11th floor of IDEE, a schmancy fancy department store in Taoyuan. This one was noticeably better than the one we went to yesterday because the selection was much better.

So the way buffets in Taiwan operate, and how they are different than American buffets, is as follows:

-They are usually presented in a more elegant light, with hot dishes being served in silver platters/pots (plotters?)
-The selection is almost always a combination of Chinese/Japanese food with occasional instances of kimchee or other banchan, and there is always one pseudo-Italian pasta dish for people like my brother, who hate Chinese food
-There is a grilling/cooking system where the buffet sets out certain dishes that are cooked to order; the patron has to put a clip from his or her table--or write the table number down on paper--and put it into a bin that is taken by the cooks and served to your table by waiters. It's a combination between all-you-can eat and a restaurant.
-There is a station where you can order noodle soups that are also made to order, but you take them back.
-Dessert is like a small bake shop, with several cakes, flans, puddings, ice cream stations, icees, and fruit.
-There is rarely any soda; the drinks are usually fruit juices, teas, or bing sa (icees) that are yogurt-,fruit-,and even chocolate- and coffee-flavored. They're really quite good.

I really like the steam eggs (chawanmushi in Japanese) but they are a pain to pick up because they sit in a steaming bath of water and the tongs they give you to pick them up with are for another larger dish. The cup that housed my steamed eggs fell over into the water a couple times. I can see why people hate buffets.