1 June 2010 in Taiwan

half a day more before they head home. he had got up early to run some errands for the wife, while waiting for the rest to pack up and check out.

after which, they went to look for brunch. spotted this along the way, but didn't try it.


eventually they ended up settling for braised pork rice again. super sinful. all fats all over again. 30NT


some of them probably got sick of it, so they ordered the shop's trademark pork ribs noodles instead. this tasted quite good, can't remember the price though.


the perennial favourite side dish of a certain colleague.


was it mentioned that they just had brunch? once they reached the airport, they ordered food again.

braised pork rice again, this time with the whole chunk intact for greater eating pleasure. a 100NT?


he had pork bone soup ramen instead. 150NT(though very tempted by the braised pork)


2 of them also had a basket of xiao long bao 小笼包 each, but they were too hungry to take any photos of them. sorry about that.

signing off with some pictures from onboard the plane, and this will mark the end of the taiwan trip.


looks really cottony, huh.

31 May 2010 in Taiwan

this was to be the second last day in Taipei. They had decided to visit the iconic Taipei 101.


Some building taken on the way there, not too sure of the name. however, it seems to be beside the hakka association on google maps.


reached taipei 101 mall and went to the basement for food


stuff from flavorfield, however, he was only tuned for savory stuff at that moment


walked past a omu rice stall, displayed portions looked generous and really delicious. however, it seemed that only the plate was huge, and the omu rice wasn't even half as good as his wife's cooking. cost around 150NT


a colleague had korean barbecue set, looked really good, but it tasted disappointing as well. around 150NT too. half the squid was left untouched


went to the supermarket to get some drinks. being conservative, he had wanted to get some lemon tea. however, a colleague suggested that he get the asparagus juice that they spotted earlier. not the best tasting of juice, even though he likes to eat asparagus. 25NT


once lunch was settled, they paid 400NT for the entrance ticket to Taipei 101's observatory tower.


stayed around until the sunset, wind was really strong and cold up on the 91st storey.


everything else looked like toys from such a height.


the descending elevator ride was much slower than the ascending one. probably to prevent the filling of butterflies in stomachs. left the place and took the train to danshui to visit the night markets. bad timing though, maybe it was a weekday, and stall owners were already brushing and washing their equipment when they arrived.

settled for some chicken rice which was reminiscent of hainanese chicken rice. never judge a book by it's cover, the meat was very tough, and the skin was like rubber. made the effort to finish up everything as he was very hungry. 80NT for another disappointing meal this day

30 May 2010 in Taiwan

2nd day in taiwan on their own expenditure. woke up not too early, and headed round the corner for a breakfast set.

ji ma chen 吉马陈 mee sua shop at ximending 西门町


fat, succulent oysters and braised pork intestine in vermicelli soup. ah, heaven...


the breakfast set came with lotus dumpling and a drink. all for 89NT. dumpling's not as oily as back home, and also smaller in size.


next, they headed to long shan si, and after that, went to the nearby huaxi market.


near the end of the street, a few of them wanted to stop for some chinese dessert. the shop owner was well bearded, somehow, seemed highly skilled.


just next door was a sinful shop. and look what they got. brought this over to enjoy with the dessert, and got chided. the dessert master mentioned that his was a vegetarian shop, and no meat was allowed to be consumed on his premises. the drooling stopped and the meat eaters had to move elsewhere. 70NT


took the mrt somewhere else (can't remember) to head for another famous mee sua shop, chen ji 陈记


ordered the 60NT big bowl, and wow. just typing this post makes him hungry at midnight. oysters were even fatter, and were coated in dough. the intestines however were not as good as ji ma chen 吉马陈. still, it was just as enjoyable to have good oyster mee sua.


took a little walk to ease the stomachs, but the heavens were not willing to let them rest. they strolled right into a dessert shop! mango ice with pudding, every bit of ice was heavily flavoured with condensed milk, don't be fooled by white ice, and the mangoes were ripe and sweet. the trip so far was sweet to the mouth, hard on the stomach. 70NT?


and after fooling around, or being fooled around by food, it was almost time for dinner. formosa chang 胡须张 as recommended by one of the dudes. seemed like they had a special offer, 10NT for braised meat rice!


for the whole of the trip, it seemed that their braised meat meant braised fats. small bowl of rice topped with fats. sauce was good, gobbled up in no time. oh the toll on the heart...


as if it weren't enough. he ordered pig trotters. something must have been wrong somehow, virtually no lean meat on this, just skin and thin layer of fats on big bones. around 80NT


a healthier dish of toufu


body builder didn't like fat pork, so he ordered 2 lotus dumplings instead. no prizes for guessing if he ate the pork belly in the dumpling. (ok, ok, he gave it away and guess who ate them? keeps you guessing...)

29 May 2010 in Taiwan

had a filling breakfast this day. simple meals look very good under orange/yellow lighting huh.

sandwich


egg wrap - a little like roti prata with filling


finished up with packing to check out for taipei. a colleague got hungry on the high speed rail and look what he got. chicken bento. smelt really good, especially when his was the only meal in that car.


finally reached ximen mrt station to start searching for our hotel


saw this really huge heineken poster on a party world building. made for it, probably.


checked into their "3 star" goodground hotel, where some rooms had no window, and the aircon was was centrally controlled. SGD80/night, wow.

good thing that it was right smack in the shopping (food) belt. just around the bend was the famous a zong mee sua. immediately ordered the 60NT big bowl. slurped up everything gratefully. look at the queue.


also found some time to get their butts down to freedom square to watch the change parade. drizzling all the way, got themselves wet but luckily not sick.


and the best part? took the mrt to jiantan for shilin market.


the chicken cutlet was really a huge portion. somehow the batter did not stick onto the meat, and it sort of enveloped a layer of hot air between itself and the chicken. the batter also seemed to be the same one used to make oyster omelette over there. one thing worth noting is that the cutlet wasn't boneless.


next on the expedition list, 红油抄手 as recommended by colleague


looked like normal dumplings topped with vegetable and extremely salty satay sauce. the below is the normal 抄手.


红油抄手, supposed to be spicier?


close up after he had bit into one


still not feeling satisfied, they decided to attack another stall. 棺材版 coffin board again. the bread tasted better than the one they had at 六合 night market.


that was all for this day. perhaps.

28 May 2010 in Taiwan

met up early this day for the assault on the xiao long bao they missed out on.

just 40 NT, and really good. had 6 plates in total... imagine how filling that is.


the aunties in action, they had actually mistaken them for japanese tourists.


next, they headed to donggang for sashimi. once there, they saw many beheaded tuna lying on the flood. huge fish. let's move to the catch.

tuna and some chin fillet. disappointingly, the fish they bought didn't seem fresh at all, and the chin was frozen. try chewing on frozen sashimi...


tuna belly


still have no idea what this is. they had mistaken it for swordfish.


and finally at the night (can't remember the name) market for dinner, a dish of chicken wrapped sausage.