I have to confess that my sense of direction is lousy. Mayz, on the other hand, has brilliant navigation skills. On several occasions, she had to steer me the right way. I would point directly ahead and say with confidence, "We should go there!" and she would say "No, we have to turn left!" And she would be right.
I mentioned in my previous post that we ate a couple of vegetables for dinner that we don't see in Singapore. They are WaWa 娃娃菜, and ShanSu山苏. The very next morning, on a walk through Dongmen Market 东门市场 we came upon them and here are what they look like:
WaWa 娃娃菜
Shan Su 山苏
If you Google "山苏" you'll see that it is actually a fern 蕨菜. Bird Nest Fern, to be exact. Mayz tells us there are plenty growing in Bishan Park. Serena says she has eaten a similar fern in Sarawak. Sometimes it is known as Paku or Midin.
Chinese New Year is approaching - my excuse to shop for family and friends. Mostly confectioneries.
June 1st 六月初一. I call them "8" rolls because they are baked in the form of golden knots in the figure of 8. I think they make excellent Chinese New Year gifts. I chose original, and chocolate but they also come in sesame, coffee, matcha, seaweed ...
L'atelier Lotus 甜满. I hadn't intended to buy Nougat Crackers 牛扎饼. Until we came across this shop in Yong Kang. The queue extended to across the street, which triggered our "See Queue Must Join" Syndrome. The shop has three types of nougat crackers: original (round cracker), scallion cracker (square), and the palmier 酥皮 (rectangular cracker). I had originally thought 酥皮 meant 'shortbread' and bought a box. It turned out to be compressed puff pastry.
Made my two friends stop by at Okura Prestige Hotel Taipei. "To use the washroom, and to rest our feet" after our long walk along Chifeng Street, I told them. It had began to rain so the timing was just right to fulfill my private agenda: buy the pineapple cake from the
hotel's bakery. Isn't this the prettiest packaging you've ever seen?!
By the way, did you all know that Chiate 佳徳 and Pan's 小潘 pineapple cakes are now sold at Watsons and convenience stores all around Taipei? I bought my box of Pan's from Watsons. This is going to be the first time I'll be trying the Pan's pineapple cake. (Sick of buying Chiate. I need a change.)
It is Serena's first trip to Taiwan and her family all requested for Chiate, so we still went to the Chiate store in Nanjing East Road. The queue was short.
Shang Shin Select 上信饌玉. Macadamia Dates 夏威夷潜艇. The direct Chinese to English translation for 夏威夷潜艇 is Hawaiian Submarine. I nicknamed them 笑口枣 for don't you agree that they look like smileys with red lips and pearly whites? They make meaningful gift for the elderly to wish them 笑口常开.
Other insignificant things that put a smile on my face:
I bought this!
Also bought this!
Mayz bought this. In Taiwan, cilantro or coriander flavoured chips are "in". I've only seen the Cilantro Pork Ball Soup flavour just once. I guess it is very popular.
Mayz told me she had seen this particular flavour of potato chips in a Family Mart. "There is no such flavour!" I retorted. So we had to look in every convenience store we pass just so she could find it again. We didn't have any luck at all. And then, after the trip and she was unpacking at home - guess what she found in her luggage? Apparently, she had already bought it!
"It looks like you've bought the very last one in the whole of Taipei!" I told her.
Bought a pack of crunchies for my domestic helper. Bee Cheng Hiang in Singapore also has crunchies but the packaging in Taiwan is waayy cuter.
Canelé 可丽露 from 松鼠Bonbon手作甜点
Hwa Shan Market 华山市场
Sweet
Vibrant
The Malayan Night Heron says "hello!"
Bak kwa with choyu from 快车肉干. TWD 299 (SGD 12) for this small packet. It contains only 9 pieces medallion-sized bak kwa.
旺$
On the MRT
At the MRT Station
Some people might disagree when I say that goose fat anything is a must-try in Taiwan.
梅花梅花满天下 愈冷它愈开花 梅花坚忍象征我们巍巍的大中华 看啊遍地开了梅花 有土地就有它冰雪风雨它都不怕 它是我的国花
.jpg)
