Travel - Taipei, Aug 2011 (Day 4 / 4)

I had great expectation on my last day here in Taipei during this summer trip but I started off with pretty much disappointment. Good that my disappointment was followed by excitement thanks to a great find of cafe and creative bagels! Yes, I had great hopes for Just in Bistro which is located just right next to our HOME Hotel, literally a few steps away. Another work of Justin Quek, Just in Bistro is situated in the trendy mall of Neo19 and offering a wide range of items coverage a various cuisines. Our visit was during lunch time and we picked items from the Asian set menu.

Travel - Taipei, Aug 2011 - (Day 2 / 4)

Typhoon Nanmadol was approaching Taiwan during our stay causing unstable climate and frequent showers. We were afraid we would be stuck in the hotel (not so much about flight delays or cancellation to be honest, really don't mind staying longer), but luckily by the time we got up the early morning shower has stopped and left us with a gloomy sky. I like waking in the rain, it is rather romantic as well but only if it is light rain or shower not heavy rain AND strong winds!

Travel - Taipei, Aug 2011 - (Day 1 / 4)

Like most people, I do enjoy afternoon naps whenever possible. After checking into HOME Hotel around 4pm, I spent 20 mins or so doing interior shots followed by a 5 mins rest on the sofa which turned out to be a 20 mins nap thanks to the comfort of the sofa!! Almost every time I attempt to take a 5 mins nap on this sofa, it ended up nothing less than 20 mins, it happened at least once every day during our stay! By the time I got ready it was 5pm already and our lunch was ... plane food, therefore we were quite hungry.

Travel - Singapore (Feb 2011) - Part 2/3

My previous Singapore post I discussed on my justifications behind my humble opinion on hawker centers, their necessity to the city to be exact. For this post, in addition to froyo and more food adventures, my leisure walks over my few days there somehow heightened my sense of ... observations or perhaps released  my urge to express myself via writings on subjects more than just food. It is a refreshing attempt but I quite enjoy this little change.  One of the reasons for my visit to Singapore was to experience the cultures as well as the environment, both living and perhaps working as well. Moving to Singapore to work / live crossed my mind several times (for various reasons) but before doing so I wanted to travel there at least for once or spend more time there. While I weight the option of moving there, I noticed the increasing number of Singaporeans (of all ages, mostly in the mid / late 20s) in Hong Kong, especially in the Central Business District and perhaps all around Hong Kong to be honest. Now here is the million dollar question, why on earth am I planning to move to Singapore while many are making their move to Hong Kong or other major cities around Asia or even the world?

Toronto - May 2010 - Day 8 (Lobster Attack!)

On Day 8, I have recovered from my jet lag but I leave in 2 days time, how wonderful! Wasn't really in the mood to think or do anything else for that matter so I let my parents decide where to eat for lunch. Somehow we ended up at a Korean Supermarket which I was not aware of. Apparently it was opened several years back and quite popular among the Korean (and Chinese) community living uptown. At the back of the supermarket is a section dedicated to food, food courts to be exact.

Coffee

I consume coffee on a daily basis, often more than one cup a day. I enjoy drinking coffee and I feel a peace of mind when sipping my espresso or cappuccino alone or with a few friends. Does the caffeine actually work on me? I am not too certain about that, at least no longer, but it somehow becomes a habit for me or perhaps I needed the peaceful moment every few hours. How about you? 

Taipei March 2010 - Day 2 (More Food Please ... )

Day 1 of my recent Taipei trip was mostly about experiencing the culture by eating my way through it and Day 2 would be pretty much the same. Taiwan was Japanese's first colony during the period from between 1895 to 1945 and its social and culinary cultures have been under much influence up til today. It is quite normal to find many Japanese restos in town with some claiming to be authentic while some are Taiwanese-styled Japanese cuisines which I am yet to try.

For lunch I went to one that claimed to be authentic I think. I wasn't quite sure how authentic it was but all I knew was that their stuff was pretty good and sashimi was extremely fresh! Before I get to there let me start from the moment I got up! HAHA ... My mom and I took a different travel plan so she got up way too early around 7am to head to somewhere far with my aunt while I continued to sleep until 10am. To my surprise, I found a bowl of Flour Rice Noodle 麵線 on the desk! It consisted of plenty of yummy pig intestine and cockles (鮮蚶), yum yum! but the "soup" was rather too thick and flavors were not strong enough but it was satisfying as the first thing in the morning! :) ... ooops, time to brush my teeth!

So after breakfast (and a cup of espresso from the Nespresso machine), it was time for lunch! Instead of taking the taxi, my cousin V and I decided to take public transportation instead. As mentioned, to understand a culture, one has to try to live like a local as much as possible! (scooter would have been my choice if I can get my hands on one!)

One of the first thing one would realize when taking the bus was that in most part of Taipei, buses travel in the middle of the road on a isolated lane! If that can be applied in Hong Kong, would that solve or at least improve the traffic conditions? Possibly! The payment system seems pretty complicated with different payment depending on the travel distance (or sections).

After a short ride, we walked towards our destination. Argh ... really hated the rain especially when I was on holidays!

Wow, street food vendors started working around 11am already!

We arrived a bit too early so ended up at the coffee shop across from the resto. (Honey Coffee on No 49 Nong an St, Taipei)

This place brews their coffee using the vacuum coffee making method and the Batista took her time to make each cup. I ordered a stronger Manhattan blend? (as translated). While strong and intense, it was on the acidic side. Oh did I mention the little milk tin was very cute???

The lunch was held at Mitsui Japanese Restaurant and the group has several outlets with varying theme and decor, definitely maybe worth visiting in my opinion.

My cousins (and her lovely friend W - "it was my pleasure meeting you indeed") ordered a different set lunches than I did. Their was TWD1,000 and consisted of the following items.

Delicious? Oh yes! I order the TWD1,600 set and consisted of the following items. Just look at the uni! OMG! I was speechless when it was served. After the short silence, it was exciting!

The sashimi platter was a little different than theirs with different types of fish, very fresh too!

Lobster was alright, no surprises though.

The following was a steamed fish wrapped with bean curd sheet and it tasted wonderful with the soup containing a rich and intense fish flavors.

Some kind of baked minced fish, interesting texture with rich flavors.

The beef were tender, juicy and soft with an excellent beefy taste to them. Wagyu beef if you ask me.

I was pretty full by now but I still have the soup and dessert. Wow the soup container looked like a piece of art with the colors and it being so spherical. It was a fish clear soup which I really enjoyed especially especially at the end of the meal. Very comforting indeed.

Dessert was simple with green tea ice cream and some fruits.; simple yet very satisfying indeed!

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Our next few stops included the new Bella Vista shopping mall and Taipei 101. I wanted to visit Bella Vista because of the buzz I have been hearing about it recently especially with the SALON DE THE de Joel Robuchon Tea Salon on its 3rd floor. To be honest, I find both Bella Vista and Taipei 101 rather BORING! They are just another luxury malls around town, nothing really exciting. According to what I was told, the owner of Bella Vista initially asked her father to invest into her little project of opening a cafe but her generous father gave her this piece of land (and a pile of cash for development) as well. This is one huge cafe indeed! [this is what I heard ...]

It was raining pretty hard outside on this particular evening and we really did not want to head out to find places so we decided to just stay inside Taipei 101 for dinner. We initially wanted to try the their food court which was huge compared to Hong Kong's but it was so crowded at 6pm already!

Look what I found! Dunkin Donuts! So tempted to grab a donuts before dinner but perhaps I should wait.

One would expect most food being offered here would be targeted for tourists and I would have to agree to a certain extend. However, there are still several places that offer semi-traditional Taiwanese cuisine. At least they have items that were new to me. We went to the only Chinese resto on the 4/F of Taipei 101 named Jiu Ru 九如 which specialized not only on Shanghainese cuisine but also some Taiwanese traditional dishes as well.

From Life as a Bon Vivant

We picked a few cold appetizer which included smoked fish, "smoked vegi duck" aka smoked bean curd roll and honey glazed lappa burdock (牛蒡) roots which was worth trying indeed for its crunchy yet gluey texture!

Only reason I ordered the Fried Vegetables with Tree Seed (山蘇) was because of the Tree Seed which I had no idea what it was. Apparent it tasted just like many other simialr greens common used by Chinese.

Another first for me was the Baked Mullet Roe with Garlic Sprout (烏魚子) which was very salty and texture was like preserved ham. This delicacy is famous in Taiwan and the supply is decreasing due to the disputes of the sea boarder with neighbouring countries as well as failure in controlling the already depleting reserves.

Deep Fried Pork Intestine was not for everyone especially with the overly visible fatty layers. The outer layer was crunchy and the placement of the green onion inside the intestine was great, giving every bite a more balanced flavors. I skipped the pepper salt because I didn't want to dehydrate myself!

Double Boiled Chciken soup with Yunnan Ham, Bamboo Shoots and Bean Curd Roll was alright, no surprises. Flavors of soup can be more rich in my opinion.

Another not for everyone kind of dish, it was the Deep Fried Frog Leg with Fragrant Salt which I enjoyed very much. Tasted like chicken but it was too dry could have been more juicy I think.

Deep Fried Buns looked nice but they were too hollow inside and very dry as well even after dipping into the condensed milk.

I really think I have two stomachs because otherwise there was just no way I can fit so many food inside me! No more food for tonight because I was literally stuffed! But guess what, I went down to the Hotel Lounge area later that night to grab some fruits ... I think my digestive system is in pretty good shape :)

We actually went to bed quite early (with a full stomach of course) because we got to get out at 8am on Day 3! It was an outing event to Yiland 宜蘭 (an hour drive from Taipei) for lunch! Zzzzz ... time to sleep!

Day 1 >> Taipei March 2010 - Day 1 (Eat, Eat and ... Eat)
Day 2 >> Taipei March 2010 - Day 2 (More Food please ... )
Day 3 >> Taipei March 2010 - Day 3 (I have a 3rd Stomach!)
Day 4 >> Taipei March 2010 - Day 4 (More Food and Cuties Spotted!)

Day 1 + Day 2 + Day 3 + Day 4

- End of Day 2 -