吃喝台北 Food Glorious Food

Before I set off for Taipei, I listed out several things I would and wouldn't do.  I will eat in a Japanese restaurant.  I will not visit Jiufen, Danshui or Shilin Night Market because I've already done so.

But how often do things always work out the way we plan, right? As it turned out I didn't have a single Japanese meal. AND, I did revisit Jiufen and Danshui and Shilin Night Market. Actually I ended up in 3 different night markets - 士林(Shilin), 临江(Linjian) and 师大(Shida). In a way, I feel blessed. If not for my friends' vigorous appetites, I may never have sampled such a variety of foods.

Taipei is a food lover's paradise.  Good food come in various forms from fine dining restaurants to hidden gems inside the city's narrow alleys.

Fortunately Sally loves good food as much as I do and she is willing to walk long distances for it.  Like 明月汤包for instance.  It's a good 15-minute walk from the MRT station but she persevered, and I followed, huffing and puffing under the intense summer heat. 

The one we dined in was the 明月老店on 基隆路。It  has only 6 tables.  There is another branch just around the corner on Tong Hua Street (通化街) which looks newer and far more spacious.  We ordered only 2 dishes.

All 6 tables were fully seated when Sally and I arrived.

绍兴醉鸡 Drunken Chicken - I really like this cold dish.  The fragrance of the wine is too intoxicating for words.  The chicken skin is crunchy, reminding me of 猪脚冻。

小笼汤包 - Delicious steamed pork dumplings.  I personally think they are much better than the ones we had in Ding Tai Fung (鼎泰丰) !

I'm so in love with Taiwan.

一日游Day Out

Beautiful Sunday.

Kevin took us out on a day trip to Shifen and Jiufen.  The sun was blazing.  Everything looked amazing!

十分好玩  Shifen Waterfall

台湾 新北市 平溪区

又见九份 Jiufen Old Town

台湾 新北市 瑞芳区

"I'm not asleep. I'm in deep thought."

Oooh the sweet, sweet scent of pink guavas!

Hello! 台北

On this 2nd visit to Taipei I thought perhaps I could have afternoon tea at Paul but when I arrived at the restaurant I found it fully seated.

I didn't want to wait 30 minutes as advised by the restaurant manager.  A 15-minute walk landed me in the much talked about Hello Kitty Sweets restaurant. As one might expect, everything inside is like a fairy tale -very kawaii ... deathly sweet and deadly pink!

If you happen to be a Hello Kitty fan, this restaurant is to die for. If you're not a fan, the sweetness of it all could very well kill you!

There's a minimum spending of TWD300 per person. The food presentation is cute but nothing to write home about.  The berry juice tasted like something pulled right out of my medicine cabinet!

早安台北

On my second morning in Taipei, Sally had a craving for 豆浆油条 and any craving must be met (especially while one is on holiday). The hotel staff pointed us in the direction of  延吉街。A queue had formed when we arrived. It looks like we've come to the right place!

Quite a Q

Soy milk TWD15, 油条TWD13

肉松蛋饼TWD35

葱饼with egg TWD30

Rolling out fresh dough

The place is open 24 hours.  The 山东大饼, 萝卜糕 and 烧饼 all look pretty amazing.  It's a pity I can't stomach them all in one seating!

宏记豆浆

延吉街64号

MELAKA

Because Tammy fell in love with The Little Nonya, she felt she had to visit Melaka to experience the Peranakan culture.  I've already been to Melaka several times but was happy to show her the sights.  Our first stop was the Baba Nonya Heritage Museum.  This is my third time joining the one-hour guided tour of the place but I'm not yet tired of it.

Melaka is no longer the quiet little town I came to love a decade ago.  My favourite chicken rice stall on Jonker Street has flourished into a busy restaurant.  A modern shopping mall has established itself right next to Hotel Equatorial.  Frankly, I don't like the progress at all.  I much prefer to capture the sleepy side of Melaka.