Hualien Eats: Grilled BBQ Skewers at Zhiqiang Night Market

After eating the coffin bread, we are of course still HUNGRY. Hahaha. So we went to the next stall with the long queue and it's apparently selling grilled food on sticks. Any food.

The stall is called 第一家烤肉串 (Dì yī jiā kǎoròu chuàn).

How to order? Well, basically grab the plastic basket and...yes, I know, I was not kidding when I said the stall sells any food on sticks. Hahaha. A lot of varieties indeed!!! The price tag can be seen on top of the sticks. 

Spotted a big squid. Hmm~~~

They have veggies on sticks too. Like pepper and mushroom. 

After you are done picking what you want to have, pass it to the seller and pay the money. He will give you a number to collect the food later on. By later on, I mean more than 1 hour. Oh my gawd. 

For so-so grilled food (which I don't think can get wrong, am I right?), I don't think I am willing to spend that long time to queue the next time I come to Hualien. Lucky we come in 4. If I was alone, I'll die of boredom in waiting for the food. =S

Hualien Eats: Coffin Bread at Zhiqiang Night Market

When the night fell, it's time for us to visit night market. There are two night markets in Hualien but we decided to go to the bigger one, Zhiqiang Night Market (自强夜市/ Zìqiáng yèshì). Since the night market is not really within walking distance from our hotel, Classic City Resort, we took a cab to the night market.

When you don't know what to eat in any night markets in Taiwan, simply follow the crowd. Hahaha. This may not always accurate though as based on my observation, the Taiwanese seems to be a fan of queueing. Hahaha. 

First time trying out coffin bread. The queue is long so first criteria in picking food is ticked? =P

The ladies are working very fast in whipping out the coffin bread but since so many people buying the bread, we still need to wait for a while. Hungry~~~

I tried the black pepper chicken and mushroom coffin bread. Taste yum! ^^

We thought the queue for coffin bread was long enough but turned out we were wrong...very WRONG. Wonder why? Stay tune for the next post. =P (As always, thanks for reading! ^^)

Taiwan Hotel Review: Classic City Resort, Hualien

This is actually a throwback post which old pictures I just found on my phone. Hahaha. Last time, I went to visit Hualien with my happy-three-friends. Since we were going to explore the city, we spent two nights at Classic City Resort (courtesy of my friend who managed to find a good deal from Tripadvisor here). We booked this hotel because it's within walking distance to the train station. So we wouldn't have to call a cab to go to train station for our ride back to Taipei.

Since Hualien is apparently famous for its mochi (re: rice cake), we got two complimentary mochis in our bedroom. Nice! ^^

The room is pretty spacious and the bed is awesome (especially when compared to my hard bed in my apartment). Hahaha. Btw, there is cable TV and you know what, cable TV in Taiwan is pretty "open" on adult programme. So if you come with kids, be a bit careful when you channel-hunting, ok? XD

Our booking came with a breakfast. So we proceeded to the restaurant to get a fix of breakfast before walking around Hualien city. 

What I have for breakfast. Quite nice. Although I realised I did not take anything that looks green (or healthy for that matter). =P

There is a souvenir/ food shop just the opposite of Classic City Resort. So you can buy some gifts from Hualien at this store. Although you can still buy them at the station too. 

Overall, I am quite satisfied with my stay at Classic City Resort. The hotel front desk can speak good English and they are quite helpful and even gave us Hualien city map. You may want to consider this hotel when you are staying in Hualien. 

A note though, it's not near to the night market. So you still have to take a cab to visit the night market. 

I Love Taipei Main Station

Do you ever feel like you just wanna be alone and enjoy your own company? Okay, I feel that most of the time of my life. I wonder if my anti-social level has increased year by year. Is this bad? Oh well, I suppose as long as I am enjoying this trait of mine, I should not be so bothered by it. And so do you (if you are the same)! Haha.

Okay, apparently nowadays I have a tendency to ramble at the beginning of my blog post.

So today, I am taking myself for a date to Taipei Main Station (台北車站/ Táiběi chēzhàn). This bustling train station is an awesome place to waste time because there are so many things to see. I wrote a post about K Underground Mall before (see post) so if you want to check this place while you are at Taipei Main Station, you can do so.

Even though the station is busy, the crowd is still quite bearable because the station is huge. This is a big relieve for me who hates crowd. I walked to the train station part (not the one near the MRT station section) and went to the level 2. Apparently there are a lot of food here. Yumz. 

Make sure to check out what's currently on sale at Mr Donut (I think it's from Japan?) because sometimes they have limited edition donuts (yes, you heard it right). Like the Hello Kitty donuts from last year. Clever marketing gimmick. Which I fell for. Shame on me I know. 

I saw 老夫子 (Lǎofūzi) a.k.a. Old Master Q and his friend. if you are wondering who are they, they are comic characters which are very popular in Taiwan. My dad introduced me to this comic when I was in primary school (probably because he likes it too) and these comic characters never fail to make me laugh like mad. 

I google some of Old Master Q comic strip and found them in Google Image. Go check them out if you are interested.

Another thing that I love to see (and buy) in Taipei Main Station is facial masks. Because they seem to be on offer everytime I pop by. For example NTD499 for 3 boxes. 1 box contains 10masks. Awesome, eh? (if you are a guy, probably you won't feel that excited, huh? hehe).

So now you know where to go when you are bored right? Hehe. Do check Taipei Main Station out if you have the chance. =)

Taipei Eats: Prince Cheese Potato, Ximending

今天我真的很丟臉. 我真希望時光機器的存在. 但是五月天的歌說 "如果後悔不能後退, 是不是就只能往前?". Sigh. 我沒有辦法, 一定要往前走. 反正, 我丢脸的时候, 没有那么多人看到我了. Phew. Can they have amnesia? Please? Hahaha should I try to hit their head? #criminalminds

Haha okay, enough ranting about myself. If you can't read my scribble above..let's just say that I had a quite embarrassing moment today which I wish never happen. Up to the point I want to hit the head of those eyewitnesses. Hahahaha. I guess life goes on, huh? I'm gonna act blur and pretend to be cool about it. Cool~~~~ #damnitshard

If you guys want to skip my ranting ahead, you can immediately go to this part. Although my post is actually kinda short today. Hahaha.

Because I was having a bad day, I decided to cheer myself up by..eating something nice. So off I went to Ximending, and immediately made my way to Prince Cheese Potato!

I was too focused on the cheese potato, I forgot to take picture of the place. Thanks God for Google Image. =P

The shop name is Prince Cheese Potato (王子起司馬鈴薯/ wángzǐ qǐ sī mǎlíngshǔ). And it literally sells cheese potato. There is no place to sit and eat so I choose to take away the cheese potato.

And here is how it looks like. Yes the potato is drenched in cheese!!! Awesomeeeeeee. And surprisingly it does not taste too cheesy. I feel like I am in cheese heaven. (Yes, there will be cheese in heaven). XD

Okay, I think I am feeling better now. Thanks, Cheese Potato! =)

P.S. If you cannot find this store in Ximending, they have another branch near Shilin night market (just opposite Jiantan MRT Station). You will not miss it. The Shilin branch has seats so you can eat and enjoy the cheese potato there. =)

Taipei Eats: We Love Cookies, Gongguan

After hearing about yummy cookies shop at Gongguan from a friend who was studying at National Taiwan University (NTU), I (like usual) crave for cookies. How to get slim???

Heck, it's not everyday you can eat cookies, so let's just go for it. Hahaha. I know I was close when I smell fresh-from-the-oven cookies. Yum~~~

More cookies!! <3

You know sometimes you see something good but you are not so sure of whether they will really taste that good (you got what I mean?). This will not be a problem here because you can ask for a sample. Oh my gawd, why is Taipei very cool? I SELDOM see this happening in Singapore or Indonesia. I should just stay in Taipei forever...to eat. 

Okay, snapped back from my cookie orgasm. 

Other than cookies, the shop also sells cupcake. 

I decided to buy red velvet cupcake and three kind of cookies i.e. double chocolate, peanut and chocolate. I really hope the walking distance from my place to this shop can help me burn the calorie from these goodies. Hahahah.

Right...so how to find the place? To tell you the truth, the easiest way is to rely on your Google map. 

In the google map direction, just type "We Love Cookies Taiwan" and it will show the option like above. The nearest MRT to We Love Cookies is Gongguan MRT. 

The full address of the shop is below:

WE LOVE COOKIES

No. 17, Lane 283, Luo Si Fu Road, Sec. 3 

Let's eat mangoes!

I love mango season in Taiwan (which is usually in summer). Why? Because Taiwanese mangoes are really delicious. 非常好吃!! (Fēicháng hào chī!)

Another thing, don't they look bigger than usual mangoes?

If you don't feel like cutting the fruit itself, good news for you, you can find a lot of mangoes product all over Taiwan. Like mango ice cream for a start (which I bought from 7-11 so it's not expensive at all).

Or mango tart? I did not see this item when I came to Taiwan in winter so I think this item must be seasonal! Go get one from IJ Ysheng Bread Store (which are located all across Taipei, you will recognize it's purple signage).

And the yummiest of all especially when eaten on a hot summer day is of course, the ice mango (芒果冰/ mángguǒ bīng). This one I ate at Ximending. 

If you happen to be visiting Taiwan in summer, go eat the mangoes! Nom nom nom! =)

Taiwan Travel: A summer day at Shifen

We are back to Shifen! Simply because it's such a waste to spend a summer day doing nothing at home (although I am a huge fan of taking a nap). =P

So yeah, Shifen, 我回来了! (Wǒ huíláile/ I am back!)

We are going to see the waterfall because my friend has not seen it before. Along the way we saw the railway and a lot of people are taking picture with it (including my friend). Hehe.

If you are wondering if you are able to see the waterfall from on board the train, well no, you can't. So the only way to see the waterfall is by purchasing the entry ticket for access to the waterfall. The waterfall in summer...is kinda dry though. 

How do I know? Well, it kinda looks different from the picture on the ticket for a start. 

It's still pretty though albeit hot. Very hot. The sun is burning.

On the way back, we bought a pouch where we can hang our keys inside. Ironically, we have not used it until today. Hahaha. They look so cute though. The seller claimed that she has sewn them by her own hands. Handmade. MIT (made in Taiwan). =P

For my previous posts on Shifen, you can go to this shifen1, shifen2 and shifen3. Shifen is really a fun place. You should go! =)

Taiwan Travel: Inside Lin An Tai Ancestral House and Museum, Taipei

After we finally made our way inside the house, we were actually amazed at how big the house is. The miniature will give you the idea.

The dining room? I guess.

The kitchen.

This corner of the yard kinda reminded me of my old grandma's house. Hahaha.

There is a pond inside the house complex. Oh my goodness.

And a small pagoda to enjoy the pond view just like those in old Chinese drama. Awesome, eh? =)

The nearest MRT station to Lin An Tai Ancestral House and Museum is Yuanshan MRT. You can follow the map which is provided at the MRT station. That's what we do without the internet connection there. Hehehe.

Taiwan Travel: Lin An Tai Ancestral House and Museum, Taipei

One thing about summer in Taipei is...there is no guarantee that it's not gonna be raining. =S

And it's worse because it was totally downpour when we were visiting Lin An Tai Ancestral House and Museum near Yuanshan MRT. Oh man.

From the opposite road, we could see that some people are taking shelter and soon, we are totally going to join them (re: taking shelter). XD

Since there's literally nothing to do while waiting for the heavy rain to subside, I spent time by taking pictures of the inside yard. Which is quite romantic in the midst of the rain. 

It is still quite a distance from the gate to the main museum and house complex. At this point we were kinda contemplating of whether to run through the rain or just wait for a little wait longer. 

At the end, we decided to run through the rain as fast as we could and guess what we saw inside the main building. A group of students taking shelter. Hahaha.

Curious on what is inside the house? Stay tune for the next post! Hehehe. 

Taipei Eats: Mr J French-Italian Restaurant: The Food

What else to discuss after we talked about the atmosphere and the direction to the restaurant? Of course THE FOOD! Yum!

The restaurant serves lunch set which comes with bread, daily soup, salad, dessert (cake) and beverages. No worry if you can't read Chinese because as you can see, it has English translation! Yeay!

The salad.

The soup for the day is tomato soup. 

Toasted garlic bread. 

For the mains, we chose spaghetti with NZ beef and lemon sauce.

And smoked duck spaghetti with pesto sauce. Hope I don't mix up the names. Hahaha.

The set comes with a small slice of chocolate cake. <3

In general, the food taste okay. I suppose this is the kind of place where you spend your money more for the atmosphere instead of the food. If you are a fan of Jay Chou then you will feel that it's worth your money. =P