Taiwan – Part 3

Five months on and I still miss Taiwan. Granted that I was only there for 15 days, I should be so over it. But you see, the thing about Taiwan is this: it’s quite unforgettable.

I can only think of two main reasons. Firstly, I spent most (all 12 of it) of the 15 days up in the mountains. Secondly, I’m a sentimental person, one who cherishes memories so much so that I collect keepsakes from every holiday that I’ve been on. I always bring a journal with me and note down the highlights of my trips and this Taiwan trip, it was no different. Stuffed in my bag all the time even as I walked up steep mountain slopes was a journal with a purple coloured velvety-textured cover that I had bought from Borders. I was too lazy to snap a shot of it so you’ll have to imagine.

Journaling helps to jog one’s memory and that is probably why I will never forget Taiwan. I have the pages of my journal open in front of me as I type this. Oh and you know what they say about holidays and all – it’s the company you’re with that makes a difference. Allow me to just say how glad I was to be up in the mountains with four of my most favourite ladies in the world: Grannie, Xiao yi (youngest aunt), Krystle (my dear cousin) and Christine (my angel of a sister). Yep, it really was quite an estrogen-driven trip I’d say. Ha.

So pardon me for posting up part 3 so late. I’ve been caught up with other stuff and totally forgot about this post. I suppose it’s better late than never. I just know that I would rather share this beautiful side of Taiwan with you than have these photos stay neglected in the depths of the hard drive in my laptop.

According to my journal, I was at Li Shan 22 December last year and this is where I’ll continue from, in this third part of my lovely Taiwan trip.

For starters, here’s a photo of the cool place we stayed at which was called Swallow Castle:

I’d say the coolest thing about the place has got to be their electric bed warmer. You know the ones you see them use in Korean dramas? It looks like a comforter and it’s placed on the bed under the sheets. Now don’t ask me why I associate them with Korean dramas! It’s true – I checked and found out that the one they had was made in Korea. See I told you! Anyway, up in the mountains where it gets really chilly at night, an electric bed warmer is as close to heaven as you can get. I actually found it quite hard to leave the bed in the mornings.

Okay moving on from bed warmers, to breakfast. We had our breakfast here for the two mornings we were at Swallow Castle, and the breakfast area was so cosy it felt like I was in my own home:

Breakfast in Taiwan is always a porridge affair. Hotels and inns usually provide porridge and side dishes like fermented beancurd:

Don’t baulk at that photo! It really is yummy. Oops, I forgot that my tastebuds are weird. Yep I love things that most people hate. Perfect example: blue cheese.

Here’s my sister and aunt busy over breakfast. You can see the variety of dishes offered:

There’s cabbage, fried anchovies with peanuts, Chinese black fungus, the fermented beancurd thing and some other red thing (sorry I forgot what it’s made of!). Oh my aunt and I loved the fermented beancurd so much we bought a few jars (yes, Swallow Castle sells their own homemade fermented beancurd). We have since finished it (duh, it’s been five months!) and are craving for more. Anyone going to Taiwan soon?

A little introduction about Li Shan. Li Shan, translated to English, would literally be Pear Mountain and that is not without reason. There are many fruit farms on Li Shan and the biggest one I believe is Fushoushan Farm which Christine and I managed to go to, after hiking up more than 4km.

The view on top of Li Shan is beautiful and breathtaking. It seemed almost foreign though, considering how much of a city life I’ve had in Singapore, with more concrete jungle in my surroundings than actual mountains and fruit farms.

We were quite amazed at the size of the fruit farms and I started wishing I had my own fruit farm. Hmmm what a lovely thought. I guess that could happen, if I one day decide to run away from the city and plant myself in the mountains (I could always come back to Li Shan eh) and grow my own pears and apples and live quite happily.

Of course to do that, I would have to find out more about the mountain don’t I? So I did, and I went to the Li Shan visitor center

Krystle and Grannie

And in the process, I thought what better way to imagine myself living on the mountain than to dress up like one of them. Okay they don’t really dress like that. Those tribal outfits are worn by the tribes living deeper in the mountains. At the visitor centre, I got to learn alot more about their way of life too

Like how they lived in wooden huts. Ah-huh, no kidding.

Of course they had to shoot animals for food. I tried my hand at that, although imaginary, it was quite fun.

They no stoves of course, only woodfire.

Yep, you could see how intrigued I was. I’m not sure if I’d survive in a tribe. Maybe I will?

Anyway, back to the fruits. I told you about the abundance of fruit farms didn’t I? So obviously there would be loads of fruits for sale:

And that’s not all. There are many fruit stalls all over the place. I just didn’t bother taking photos of all of them.

One fruit stall owner was quite the entrepreneur. He sold other stuff like hot comforting pear soup and barbecued meats:

Including entire quails. Yes, quails. I ate some. They were delicious. You will notice that I avoided posting a photo of me eating it. Yea, I think you wouldn’t understand why I found it tasty. It did feel weird, I’ll admit. Especially since it still has its head intact. Well what can I say, I’m adventurous, to a certain extent (read: will not eat worms or maggots).

After that yummy snack, we walked about to take in the sights…

It’s really easy to take beautiful pictures when the surroundings are so damn gorgeous. These shots you see were taken when I was going up the mountain to the huge Fushoushan at the top of Li Shan.

There were plenty of pretty flowers and plants… and of course dandelions!

I love dandelions mostly because they are fun. I love to blow at them at watch the small fluffs fly away.

Oh and acorns too:

Big fan of acorns. I still have those you see up there. Yep, I’m a ‘hoarder’. I hoard old and weird memorabilias and keep them till I find out how useless they are 10 years down the road and decide to chuck them.

This is one of my favourite shots:

Somehow, it doesn’t look like Taiwan. It feels as if I was in the woods in a huge forest.

Here’s an abandoned church:

And a flea market of sorts! It reminds me of our pasar malam here:

One cool thing about being up in the mountains is the ‘random-ness’ of things. Out of nowhere, at the least expected places, there will be things and people and stuff you won’t think would be there. I’m not sure if I make any sense. May not, but hopefully you get my drift. Here’s a random stall set up by a lady who seemed to be selling fish soup. I love how you can have the mountains in the backdrop.

And guess what, I saved the best for the last…..

The PEARS we picked out fresh from the farm!

Okay, we didn’t mean to steal them! They were ripe ones which fell to the ground so rather than have them rot or birds peck at them, we decided it would be better in our stomachs and so we cleaned them and had them after dinner.

I have alot more photos but it’ll be impossible to post them all up so I picked out only the most interesting and beautiful ones.

There will be a part four, and five and six…. I promise.

Don’t you just want to go to Taiwan right now? I know I want to fly there on a broomstick this very instant. I miss those pears.

Lai Lai Family Restaurant

Now that I’ve been to Taiwan, I look at the country differently – I have more affection for its culture, and many various facets, everything from the way they communicate to how their food is flavoured.

One thing’s for certain – I miss Taiwan. I miss the cool weather, the mountains, the hospitable people and of course the food. Yes, especially the food.

So you can only imagine my delight whenever I pass by a restaurant that claims to be selling Taiwanese food. Some are obviously bucking the trend while others are really authentic. At least now, I can’t be fooled because I’ve eaten the real deal

Last weekend, after Easter mass on Sunday, my sis and I were searching for a new place to eat. We were pretty ravished since it was about 8pm+ when we reached town. We were craving for something Indian but we were at Liang Seah St so I guess that was quite a stretch. Nevertheless, we decided to walk further down the street in search of something delicious.

We didn’t have to walk far before we came across this restaurant with the prominent 来来 (Lai Lai) logo. Translated to English, it means come, come. I was very much tickled by the image of a concussed cow/bull as well. I kept calling it ‘dead beef’.

Anyway as soon as I saw it was an eatery selling 台湾小吃 (Taiwanese food), I knew I had to go in. It’s been a long time since I last ate Taiwan food.

Sis and I didn’t take long to figure out what to eat. The obvious choice was the beef noodles ($6.80). I wanted something different so I had the braised pork rice ($5.20). Both were really good. So good that I regret not bringing my camera to take photos. But it’s okay, I went there again this week with my colleagues and this time, I brought my camera!

Here’s a shot of the lovely beef noodles:

The broth was really good. Sis thinks it was even better than the one we had at a roadside beef noodle stall in Taiwan. Perhaps it was. I didn’t protest. The beef itself was tender to the bite. Trust me, it’s that good – we cleared the bowl well and good.

I don’t have a photo of the braised pork rice but you should try it if you’re a fan of those fatty bits of pork. The sauce was also really yummy. I love nuts and totally appreciated it being served with the rice. Oh, one more thing – if you love chilli, you have to try the dried chilli concoction that’s placed in a small jar on every table. They mix the chillies with fried shallots that’s super crisp. Quite addictive actually. I did finish up a fair amount.

The second time I went there with my colleagues as mentioned above, I had the Taiwan vermicelli ($5.90):

You can choose the type of meat you want – fried fish fillet, pork meat balls or shredded chicken. I chose the meat balls. I really like this vermicelli. It’s kind of different from the normal mee sua we have here. Check it out:

Slightly thicker in width, this vermicelli has a better bite. Brings back lots of memories

My other colleague had two side dishes, the beef tendon, and a smoked egg.

I didn’t try them so I can’t comment! But she said it was good. The egg looks yummy too. I’m currently into hardboiled eggs with soft centres. Liquid yolk is always delicious.

Here’s how the interior looks like. You’ll get a glimpse of the ‘dead beef’. haha.

The exterior:

Can you see the logo? I like it alot, it’s quite distinctive. Love this place as well. Will be back again soon. I want to try the rest of their menu!

I still have more photos from my Taiwan trip that I haven’t posted! I will definitely be putting up more soon. A great chance to reminisce and let all of you appreciate its beauty!

__________________________________________

Lai Lai Family Restaurant
No. 20 Liang Seah Street
Tel: 6837-1556
Open daily 11:30am to 3am

Taiwan – Part 2

You know how it is, when you come back from a holiday and your friends will ask you how it was?

Usually it’s an “oh, it was great!” or an “well, it was quite good”, and then there’s the “hmm… it was a’ight I guess?” and the mandatory “okay-lah“.

But then again, there’s also the “Man, it was fantastic!”, kinda bordering on “It was the best holiday ever!”.

And the latter was more accurate of my own response. I’ve been telling everyone how wonderful Taiwan is, how picturesque the moutains are and how it was like me being in a Chinese painting. And it is true, that was how I felt. I literally fell in love with Taiwan, their mountains, the people, the food and the fresh mountain air.

Friends who know me, would know that Taiwan wouldn’t actually be my first holiday destination choice if I could choose to go any where in the world. It’s not because I don’t like the place but mainly because of my poor Mandarin. I can speak the language (studied it for more than 10 years, duh) but due to my English-speaking background, I’m not that proficient.

So, I was initially sceptical when my aunt said that she was going to Taiwan and asked if I wanted to come. Perhaps I was guilty of having some not-too-spectacular assumptions of the country but most of it stemmed from my fear of being reminded of my language handicap.

I really wish I can speak Mandarin properly, fluently, without having to ask people for help time and again. Yes, I hate Mandarin classes in school but only because I really struggled. The strokes and idioms always confuse me. Try as I might, I couldn’t fanthom the language and grasp it strong. Fast forward to today, and post-Taiwan, I’m very very eager to give it another shot and work on it. I will make an effort to check the dictionary when needed and ask. One should appreciate one’s heritage, no? Or maybe I should just pick up Malay from my Dad yes? Hmmm I think I should handle my Mandarin first.

Ooops, okay, this is a food blog! Sorry for digressing, but I got to warn you that my Taiwan posts won’t always be about food. Hope you don’t mind! The trip was more of a travel and scenic trip than a foodhunt. Not that I didn’t hunt for food, no no. I did! haha… but that wasn’t my priority I mean, when you’re in a place that’s so beautiful, food takes a backseat.

Soooo…. yes, this post is about Taroko Marble Gorge. Okay actually Taroko is a national park and the marble gorge is one of the main attractions. You heard right. This is where pure marble comes from, after being cultivated for thousands and millions of years. People harvest them to make furniture, tiles, sculptures. The marble’s really really beautiful and you’ll see why:

Isn’t it gorgeous? My mouth was agape most of the time. It was beyond magnificient and beyond spectacular. If you think the photos look amazing, wait till you look at the gorge in person. I was blown away. Lovely lovely stuff.

You know how much I love adventure right? So you won’t be surprised if I crossed a suspension bridge. Well not that it was a flimsy bridge (which would have made it more exciting eh!) – it was actually rather strong and safe. But heh, it was uber cool.

Yea, a mandatory shot before crossing the bridge.

And another two, taken on the bridge:

Realised then, that I love bridges and the thrills of crossing one that’s so high. Haha, sadist much! No no, I just like adventure Yea, I have a secret fantasy of being a female Indiana Jones. So sue me ;p

Here’s a pagoda that we climbed:

It was pretty high. Climbing the steep stairs were tiring, but worth it.

We went on a few trails that day. My favourite one was the 砂卡礑 (Shakatang) trail. We also went to 燕子口 (Swallow Grotto), 布洛湾(Buluowan) village, 绿水合流 (Lu Shui He Liu – some river/stream), and 九曲洞 (Tunnel of Nine Turns).

Check out the photos:

Love the stream. The water’s crystal clear. And that was a good thing because I fell in. Yep, klutzy me fell into a shallow stream. Well I slipped actually. One of the rocks was too slippery. So before I knew it, I dived. Haha. It was rather hilarious actually. My cousin and sister (they were there when it happened) had a hearty laugh!

Here’s me and my cousing krystle, all smiles. Me, very much refreshed and clean now.

Okay since this is after all a food blog, here are some food photos. Not alot but hopefully enough to not have you complaining that I didn’t post enough food shots

That’s bamboo and they fill it with glutinous rice, steam it and we just buy it by the stick, break it and eat it from there. Very yummy actually.

Did I mention how we all fell in love with Taiwan’s instant noodles? They are amazing! Seriously. Trust me when I say that. I was never a fan of instant noodles but I became one in no time when I went there. Their instant noodles taste really good and they have actual real meat. Let me explain. In the bowl, there’s a seperate retort bag that they include and you have to open it after its warmed up in a bowl of hot water and add it to the cooked instant noodles. Here’s what I mean:

That’s beef noodles and that’s beef tendon if you’re wondering. One bowl like that costs about $2 SGD which is rather reasonable I think.

If only they had stuff like this here. Damn, I really miss Taiwan right now. Not just their instant noodles. Or their ferns:

Yea, their ferns are good, green and delicious. That’s my stash. I was a farmer for a day and went through the fields collecting ferns. hahaha.

NOT.

I think it belonged to the natives. It was by the road and I nearly ran off with it. That was until I remembered that they can actually run after me and hunt me down!

So there you go, part 2. And there’s more, much much more to come. But once again, I seek your patience!

Here’s a really scenic mountainous parting shot:

Taiwan – part 1

I miss Taiwan, especially the mountains and the cold weather.

It’s been about 12 days since I came back and looking at all the photos I took, it only makes me want to go back.

Sounds pretty silly considering that I was there for only 15 days. It wasn’t that long a duration but I guess what makes it different was precisely most memorable – the company coupled with scenic backdrops and great food; oh yes not forgetting the cold weather.

In order for me to have a permanent or some would say semi-permanent record of my holiday there, I’ll post up my experience and plenty of photos here. It’s going to take quite a while, considering that I took more thn 1 GB worth of photos and that I spent 15 days there. So one post isn’t going to be enough. But I’ll try my best to summarise and give you only the most delicious and scenic accounts of my time there. Do be patient because I’ve started work and might not have enough time to post that often, but I’ll try.

And so, let me start with my first day in Taiwan. No, I doubt I’ll be doing a day-by-day account. Rather, I’ll be showing you the highlights and the interesting stuff. Hope you enjoy it!

The railway counter where we bought tickets to Hualien, our first destination.

We landed on the evening of 19 December 2007, Wednesday around 5:30pm at Taiyuan airport and had to take a bus to the railway so that we could then take a train down to Hualien to stay for the night before setting off for Taroko Marble Gorge in the morning. The train ride took about 4 hours and by the time we got to the hotel (Azure Hotel), it was past midnight.

But before we set off for Hualien, we managed to grab dinner and dessert and I, ever the shutterbug, went mad snapping shots left and right.

Here’s the wee little night market just outside the train station:

Was waiting for my aunt to get the train tickets so I went to wander about for a bit.

The snacks look so yummy..

But I didn’t have time to get anything.

It was okay though, because dinner kinda made up for everything

This signage made me very happy because we haven’t had dinner (took Jetstar and we didn’t want to waste $10 for crappy food!) and was famish! :

Apparently, on the 2nd floor of the train station, there was plenty of food offerings.

We went to a food court which looked quite swanky. I like.

I’m not really sure about the correct names for the dishes in the next few photos so bear with me while I try to vaguely explain. It was yummy though, we finished the food up pretty quick.

This is obviously charsiew.

And this one below, erm I’m not sure! Some pork thing I think:

This one’s oyster omelette. I quite like it. The way it’s cooked is quite cool actually. It is dressed with a tomato-based sauce.

This is obviously tofu:

And this is ngoh hiang, which tasted different from the ones I usually have:

Dessert followed soon after. Sis and I couldn’t help but say no when we came across this shop:

Perfect in everyway, the soft served icecream has a nice green tea sauce drizzle and a soft sticky red bean filled mochi. I like! And those yellow bits are sweet potatoes I think. Delish!

And of course, Mister Donut. But we were too full to get any, so I just took some photos for you all:

And then there’s Milkhouse, this popular bakery in Taiwan. I soon realised that it’s kind of their equivalent of our BreadTalk:

The golden buns you see above look really tasty. Most of them are made out of sweet potato and pumpkin. How unique. Me likes.

And they sold lamingtons too!

Couldn’t help taking a photo of Starbucks bilingual menu. And after this Taiwan trip, I am convinced that Starbucks IS really taking over the world. You’ll know why later:

Love the look of this shop:

One of their offerings include HUGE cream puffs:

Mr Brown Coffee is kind of popular with the locals. I don’t think I’ve seen Mr. Brown in Singapore. Is it from Taiwan? Might be! There’s Mr. Brown coffee everywhere, in 7-11, and also in obscure places like on top of cold mountains, in heated cans sold by make-shift stalls:

The train station where we waited for the train to Hualien to arrive:

Sorry Taiwan, but I can’t help but be amused by their many ‘cute’ English expressions in posters and everywhere else. I took quite a lot of photos of their ‘editorial mistakes’ and will post more up in later posts.

Here’s one poster I didn’t quite understand or rather, I took a double take when I realised that they found it more important for you to press the emergency button than to RUN right away.

Hmmm, okay, maybe it’s because I don’t live there and I don’t know the exact railroad situations? …

The train was pretty comfortable, and it helped that it was rather clean and nice:

Reached Hualien pretty late, past midnight to be exact. We checked into the hotel, and I wanted to take a walk. Right in front of our hotel was this cool 24-hour cafe. It looked super modern and classy. Loved it and love their selection of cakes. I got drinks instead. Wasn’t very hungry.

Yes, couldn’t help snapping a shot of that cute lion cake!

Remember what I said about Taiwan’s 7-11 being so much better than the ones we have here? Well, check that out. Okay it’s not like super fresh but it’s novel! You can have warm sticks of fishcake & other things.

I also like their selection of coffee, tea & milk. Look at how they’re all lined up! Kinda like in a supermarket.

And of course, no coffee shelf is complete without Starbucks.

Here’s more cuteness from 7-11′s mascot:

Ya, their own housebrand. Cool eh?

And here’s one more cute photo I took of this Sushi Express banner:

Ah, I miss all that Taiwanese cuteness.

I can’t wait to go back. There’s so much more I haven’t explored! Although I must say, we covered quite alot in those 15 days.

So, here’s the end of part 1. I hope you like the photos and found them appetising :p

More to come….

Embracing 2008!

Me and my dearest cousin Krystle

Am BACK home! Well I actually flew back on 2 January and reached Singapore late at night.

Felt the humidity the moment I stepped off the plane!

I really miss Taiwan! Those 15 days were absolutely fantastic. I visited more than 5 mountains and attractions. Also managed to catch the countdown in Taipei!

Witnessed the spectacular fireworks from Taipei 101 (2nd tallest building in the world) that lasted 188 seconds:

The next one looks really fiery and red!

I have LOADS of photos. Not just of food but also of mountains and the scenic surroundings.

To quickly summarise, here’s a list of the places we went:

花莲 (Hualien) > 太鲁阁 (Taroko Marble Gorge) > 梨山 (Li Shan) 清境农场 (Cing Jing Farm) > 合欢山 (Hehuanshan) > 关子岭 (Guanziling Mud Spa) > 阿里山 (Alishan) > 台北 (Taipei).

We didn’t follow any tour group. My industrious aunt did all the research and made all the bookings, calls and arrangements prior to the trip, ensuring a smooth sailing 15 days of relaxation and loads of exhiliarating fun.

I do think my aunt can be a successful travel planner. She doesn’t join tour groups and usually plans her holidays on her own. My grannie is blessed with such a capable daughter like her. Likewise, she’s an aunt I’m blessed to have!

Though we were in the mountains most of the time, it wasn’t boring. I kinda like the peace and tranquility. Even my aunt was a little surprised at our thorough contentment with the entire trip.

This was a much needed break. Ideal to end the year with. I look plenty of photos, more than 1GB worth. All packed with delicious pixels dying to make you drool and scenic greenry guaranteed to unleash the poet in you.

I don’t have time right now to post all the photos especially since I’ve started work today so I’ll do them slowly. So please bear with me yes?

Here’s just a few squick snapshots – think of them as teasers!:

One of my favourite breakfast choice – one that I’ve come to love. This was in Taipei. It’s rice stuffed with porkfloss, with fried dough fritter and an optional Taiwan sausage. Filling but nutritious (the rice part esp! duh!)

Basil omelette! I loved this one! Had it at this great restaurant at Alishan. It was so good that we patronised this place two nights in a row for dinner. Their hot pot is delicious too!

And how can I leave out 7-11! I really adore Taiwan’s 7-11. Yes it sounds ridiculously stupid but I can’t stop cooing, ooo-ing and ahhh-ing the cute 7-11 mascot. I know that the adjective ‘cute’ is not something most people would associate 7-11 with. But trust me, in Taiwan, 7-11 is king! I get excited whenever I come across a 7-11 in Taiwan. I can’t help it – their offerings are so much more cuter!

That’s how it looks from the inside….

and here’s some cute packaging! Don’t you just love the mascot? Uber cute.

A’ight that’s all I have for now!

Will try my best to upload more photos asap.

Happy New Year to you and you and YOU!

May this new year of 2008 be fruitful and awesome!