Wandering Fel

Social Place offers instagrammable dim sum on plates and this is the reason of why I’m including it in my list of Taiwan instagrammable food (which I will conquer when I have the chance to revisit Taiwan). The dim sum restaurant is located within walking distance from Zhongxiao Dunhua MRT station. Its FB page show English translation of its menu (woohoo) for the benefit of those of us who can’t read traditional Chinese characters on the menu. It opens daily from 11AM to 10PM. Based on @wennick’s insta post, Social Place seems to be decorated in Tiffany & Co’s color and this would elevate your instagram game to the next level. After all those kind of blue-green-ish does not come often in the restaurant setting.

Let’s talk about the pretty dim sum items, shall we? First, they have Pear-shaped Dumpling with Crab Meat (138 NTD) which I thought was dessert item. Looks can be deceiving after all. I would definitely order this because they are so pretty. If you are not sure on what to order, it seems safe to go for the dim sum platter (238 NTD) and @yen.food.life’s platter looks so interesting, it even has heart-shaped something. The charcoal custard buns (138 NTD) are another must-order item since it comes in black color with gold dust sprinkled on top of it. Custard buns have become exceptionally luxe.

Have you ever thought that your rice roll (zhang fen) can come in color other than white? Nope, me neither. But Social Place manages to pull Steamed Rice Roll with Shrimp (138 NTD) off and serve it in pink which I suspect is beetroot’s color (and hopefully not chemically induced coloring). Next item which I would like to order is definitely the Steamed Rose Floret Bun (58 NTD) because well, rose-shaped ice cream is so last season, right? I wonder what’s the filling for the rose bun though. Hmm.

Social Place does serve other normal items (but less instagrammable) in their menu like rice, noodles, congee, chicken, etc. You can try them out but don’t forget to check out their dessert department because it’s not everyday you can eat your mahjong tiles. Yes, you read them correctly, Social Place includes the mahjong tiles (108 NTD) in their menu. Don’t worry, they are actually coconut pudding so your teeth won’t break from eating them.

Ahh, just talking about the food makes me want to go there and try them out myself. Hope they are as nice as they look on menu and instagram.

Credits: @jjeanllin, @shannonliu, @zoelin090, @yen.food.life, @rabin1030,  @wennick, @akumatw, @fanialin

I’m gonna start today’s post randomly. I mistook someone in the pantry for my own colleague. In my defense, there are a lot of baldy slim Asian guy out there and all of them seem to be in dire need of caffeine. But it’s probably time for me to buy myself a good pair of glasses. Hmm, but if I do that, I have to live frugally in terms of food expense. Aw, shucks!

Anyway, since reality is kinda brutal, let’s check out another instagrammable café in Taiwan, Cheevit Cheeva. I found out online that this café is actually originated from Thailand. The original café is located on the banks of Kok river in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand. Chiang Rai, hmm, that sounds like Chiang Mai and Chiang Mai kinda annoyed me although it’s actually not the area’s fault. My ex-crush used to flirt with me and then decided to get hitched together with a Chiang Mai girl who happened to be his Airbnb’s host. What the heck is this sorcery. Oh well, it’s probably love. Or black magic. I don’t wanna know.

Cheevit Cheeva café is located within walking distance from Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall MRT station so do give them a visit if you are nearby. The café looks so pretty and cozy and it definitely makes the list to one of Taiwan instagrammable food. It opens daily from 10AM to 11PM. Alternatively, other than Taipei, you will only be able to visit the café in Bangkok and oh well, Chiang Rai.

Credits: @imprincemickey, @purasara, @hisonja2578, @fishcan_another, @taipeifatty, @1njoyourlife, @cala216______

 What’s the best thing about summer? Everyday is an ice cream day. Especially when you are young and does not have to be so concerned about glucose in your blood. But really, I think ice cream is my most favourite dessert unless you count bubble tea as dessert but I will count it as beverages instead. Did you remember last time there was taiyaki ice cream in Singapore? (Taiyaki is the fish-shaped pancake originated from Japan, if you dunno). I recalled there’s one at the basement level of Vivo City but it was gone before I tried it. Boyfriend said the taiyaki ice cream was not as nice and it’s not as good-looking as it looks on the display. 

But it seems that nowadays taiyaki ice cream is making a comeback. Although unfortunately, they are not in Singapore, so you probably have to try it while you are flying to Taipei. Hahaha. Fish Bay at Zhongshan sells a higher level of taiyaki ice cream. For a start the taiyaki which is used as the cone is black in color (hmm, charcoal? Sesame? Ok, most likely charcoal). Second, it seems that you can do a lot of mix and match here like the taste of the ice cream and the toppings to go with it. @liyu_foodmap shows that you can still opt for normal cone (but in badass version of black) if you don’t want the taiyaki. Toppings shown on Instagram vary between popcorn, cereal and a piece of waffle. The color of the ice cream offered by Fish Bay are all so pretty, they have purple, green, pink and what’s that...bluish greyish whitish? Gosh, I can’t tell but it looks good. 

Price-wise, @_lien.eatingdiary mentions on her caption that her ice cream costs NTD110 but she got it during one-for-one two weeks ago. Oh wow, that must have been a great deal. I wish Fish Bay had the deal going on longer but anyway, since the ice cream + taiyaki cone looks so instagrammable, I would still probably buy 1 at its normal price. Oh gosh, I’m so vain. But it really looks nice on picture, don’t you think?

From the map provided, it seems that you have to walk a bit from Zhongshan MRT though. Make you way to Chifeng Street Lane (which is the street behind the main street where Etude House is located) and you just need to walk straight. 

Credits: @_lien.eatingdiary, @liyu_foodmap, @sandy10_21

"Been standing in the corner, studying the lights. 

The dreaming of escape will keep you up at night."

The dreaming of escape, huh? I can totally feel it running in my veins. The dream has been so strong recently up to the point that I just feel like do it. You know? JUST DO IT. That kind of Nike's feeling. But then again, there is no point in rushing up certain things and some decisions are not to be taken so lightly without talking to God. So let me ponder upon this "escape-plan" again over the weekend. 

Should I escape to Taiwan again? At least if I decide to escape to Taipei, I will be able to eat the super yummy teppanyaki at Chamonix in Zhongshan.

"Under this pressure, under this weight, we are diamonds taking shape."

Oh man, the last time I was having this strong urge to throw in the towel without concrete future plan was...hmm, let me see...oh wow, exactly 8 years ago. Everybody says that you are supposed to know what you want and find where you belong by the time you hit certain age but turns out I'm going back to the start. Am I in some kind of The Scientist's music video? Uh oh.

Not really sure how to solve this situation since the solution will not come within a day to be honest with you. I guess I'll just update this blog to finish my soon-to-be-completed Taiwan travelogue. Hehe.

Whenever I visit Yongkang Street, I dunno why but I always ended up eating at Kao Chi. Probably because there is always a super long queue in front of the original restaurant of Din Tai Fung. Kao Chi seems to be the closest alternative in the vicinity and I do suspect they get customers via this manner so they should not really complain to Din Tai Fung. I won't even be surprised if they turn out to be owned by same owner.