Part 2 - Vanny's Taiwan Travels - Food & Hotel - Taipei -

Heya All~ Back for Part 2 of my recent travel to Taiwan, this time about Taipei City - all about the food I ate and accommodation stayed. It was a rushy rushy morning where we checked out early morning from Icon Hotel in Kaohsiung to take a bullet train to Taipei City and up to the mountains in Wulai for our wedding lunch. Ya lah, im side tracking a little to show you guys what dishes were served for our wedding lunch in Taiwan. Apparantly quite different from our wedding banquet dishes in Singapore. It was a 13-course lunch but I only managed to take a few quick snaps of some of the dishes. 

This was taken almost toward the end of the lunch session. Mom was almost drunk, hubs was all red like a lobster. Haha. And come to think of it there were only 8 tables, imagine the amount of drinks there will be in the coming wedding banquet in Singapore. 

This was the first dish, which is quite similar to our "cold platter" in Singapore - filled with some sashimi, seafood salad, and cold-cut meats.

Then came the second dish which was "Buddha Jumps Over The Wall". Thou Im not a supporter of eating or even ordering Shark's fin, the soup was rather tasty. Even better than the usual thick soups served in our local wedding banquet.

Moving over to another dish was "Unagi with Sticky Rice". This was possibly the highlight of the lunch for me. I kept aiming for the Unagi. Haha. Wouldn't mind if we had this on our wedding banquet menu in Singapore - yummm.

Can't quite remember what this dish was.... I only recall its Abalone slices, on, erm, mixed veggies?

Muah Chee! I don't usually fancy eating Muah Chee, but not sure why I was quite hooked on this one. The texture was just simply different - slightly crunchy-chewy on the outer layers & soft inside. Topped with grounded peanut & raisins.

Wedding lunch quickly ended within a few hours and we made our way back to the city area and checked in to our hotel for the night - SWIIO Hotel @Ximending. It is located in the heart of Ximending, convenient location with pretty affordable pricing. Here you see the hotel lobby - small and cosy. They have a little pantry area as well as sitting area for hotel guests waiting to check-in/out.

Not sure if the hotel is small or what, place seems rather quiet. Great for travellers who like their privacy. Place was clean and comfortable, no complains.

When I mentioned that the hotel was small, like literally.

But since we only had a night of stay at SWIIO, nothing to complain lah.. Anyway like I mentioned in the part 1, that weekend was a long public holiday weekend in Taiwan so most hotels were already booked when we had to make this last minute decision.

And this was our bed for the night. Pardon my hubs photobombing, he had no where else to hide since the room was so small. Hahaha. But generally like I mentioned - hotel was clean, quiet, cosy, with good location & affordable price. Would recommend this hotel if you're just looking for somewhere to live in Ximending and not too bothered about room size. 

And down we go, shopping & eating time~!

Ahhh.. without fail, Ah Zhong Mian Xian is always a must-have. This is very popular in Ximending, always having long ques. Its similar to Oyster vermicelli (蚵仔麵線), except at Ah Zhong it is served with big intestines instead of oysters. With the chilli & vinegar, *slurpssss*!

Right smack in the middle of Ximending's cross junction, you will not miss this - Hot-Star Large Fried Chicken (豪大大雞排). The XXL fried chicken was as big as our faces, moist & tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. The red powder you see is a generous layer of chilli and spices powder to give an extra kick.

The next day I took Hubs to the Toilet Cafe @Ximending. I first visit this place last year with my Mom, thought the food here was not bad and not overpriced. Another reason was b'cuz their curry rice was pretty good, and that hubs is a huge curry lover so thought he may like it - and he did!

Haha - simply goofing around at the ground level entrance to the cafe.

Each set meal comes with a drink and a "poop" ice cream. Kinda tastes like Milo ice cream to me. Not gonna talk too much about this place since I've written about it before. You may read the blog post here.

After lunch we made our way to Cosmos Hotel, located right above Taipei Main Station. This was gonna be our "temp home" for the next couple of days. I didn't manage to get a nice shot of the entrance, erm, so took the photo off the web; http://www.booking.com/hotel/tw/cosmos-taipei.html

Again no own photos of the room, totally forgotten to get a snap shot of the room.. Pic taken from the web; http://www.booking.com/hotel/tw/cosmos-taipei.html
Well the room was pretty much the same as in this photo, except some how it looks slightly bigger and nicer here. Well you know, photos are touched up.

The toilet view.

And the bath tub view.

As this was a 4-star hotel, there were gym facilities. Great for gym junkies like me.. Need to make up for some time lost & for more food. Haha.

Clean towels and bottled water were provided.

Dressing area for those who need to tidy themselves up before leaving the gym.

Gym equipments were rather basic, I have no complains 'cuz its really better than having none at all.

Went to the gym twice on the last 2 mornings, was quiet all the way. Best lah! 

We went to try the hotel's breakfast buffet on one of the mornings. Was priced about SGD$16 per pax. Okay lah, the spread was not bad. Had western, Chinese, Japanese-style breakfast, and even oatmeal porridge for the health conscious group. Recommend to try.

Simply my favourite meal of the day.

Before we arrived I actually sent a note to the hotel to inform Cosmos it was our "wedding trip", and also here to take our wedding photos etc. As a nice gesture the hotel staff prepared a small slice of New York Cheesecake in the chiller complimentary for us. Though the surprise was really small, it was much appreciated since Cosmos Hotel was the only hotel who responded to my request. Thanks Cosmos Hotel!

Okay 'nuff of the hotel tour. Stepping out of the room we first stopped by the places closest by, right in the underground of our hotel area - the Taipei Main Station.

There were 2 underground shopping areas @Taipei Main Station. Here you see the Eslite Underground Mall.

At Eslite, its a little more "atas" (aka high class). We came across this shop which particularly caught my eye. These are paper cameras made of cardboards. They take rather decent photos (seen from the photo sample album below). Its really cool, would make an awesome gift for friends who love quirky stuff. Price was around SGD$70+?

The other underground shopping area gave me a feeling like I was in China - Zhu Hai. Those who have been there would roughly know what I mean. Hubs say he felt like he was at Far East Plaza. Lol.

Came across a toy & game shop and there were rows of these vending machines outside. Saw this bunny one and I knew I had to get one for one of my bestie who loves buns.

I was excited like a little girl looking at all the machines to see what was inside the capsules... Found this Sailor Moon one and had to get myself one of these for the fun of it - cheap thrills.

That night we went to Rao He Night Market, one of the bigger night markets in Taipei. Woah, the crowd was crazy! Well that's really b'cuz of the PH in Taiwan. We walked & walked then finally settled at a small shop selling seafood. Had some "La-La" aka baby clams.....

Grilled Clams....

Fresh Oysters.. *note: its not exactly a popular dish in Taiwan so please do not expect top grade fresh oysters. Don't say I didn't warn ya. Was not exactly up to my standards in terms of the freshness of the Oysters but hubby said it was "okay". But the Grilled Clams were tasty & fresh. Enjoyed my little can of beer with the seafood - Heaven~

We walked a little further more and grabbed more snack salong the way. Can you guess what this is? Its the legendary "Stinky Tofu" (臭豆腐) or fried fermented tofu. Its really not as smelly as it sounds la, not sure why the stink level of the tofus here were quite weak, maybe was accustomed to foreigners taste? Saying this 'cuz I've had "smellier" ones before. The tofu was served with some cabbage & shredded carrot in-between and topped with chilli & some special sauce - Oh im feeling hungry now.

Hubs got himself a baked potato snack which was topped with nachos cheese and ham (you could choose the ingredients you prefer as toppings). Its yummy but really fattening!

We finally decided to try a cuppa Yam/ Taro Milk after seeing it many times since our trip in Kaohsiung. You know how filling yam & milk can be, and we were always too full to try. Each cup was made with fresh yams & milk blended together. Was excited looking at the lady blending us a cup, but when we each took a sip... one word: disappointment. Didn't have much taste to it, simply a waste of calories. Felt like drinking plain milk but with extra hidden fat & calories to it. Nah, wouldn't order it again.

Corn was one food that I really could not resist. You can actually find Grilled Pearl Corn almost at ANY night markets in Taiwan. So for sure I was also there to hunt my corn!! You may choose to add sauce and/or chilli coating to your corn. *warning: do not ask for too much sauce/chilli. I made that mistake on my first grilled corn order, ended up the corn just tasted like something chewy with sambal chilli flavor.

Didn't manage to get a nice photo of the Grilled Corn stall, so got this pic from; http://www.thatfoodcray.com/taipei-cray-night-market-madness-part-two-shilin/

To tell my stomach it was the end of a pig-out session, I had to indulge in some sweet stuff - Shaved Ice Mountain (刨冰山) or Snow Ice. As you can tell our order was like with
special-specials, with super lots of extra toppings. Heck it,
how often do I get to indulge like this. His was Mango Snow Ice with Egg Pudding and mine was Matcha Snow Ice with Red Beans & Egg Pudding. For the first time my portion wins in the sinful department. Haha.. We finished the whole bowl of desserts each, goes to show how yummy it was.

Lunch next day was a treat from Mom's friend whom I previously house as guest when she visited Singapore. First time here at Tao Ban Woo but I heard they have a few outlets around Taipei. Its a 7-course meal which consists of a mixture of Chinese, Western, fushion cuisine. Place was full when we arrived but we made reservations pre-hand. So do remember to call before heading down especially on holidays or the weekends.

Starter: Mixed Salad with Beef Stew.

Starter: Salad with Mashed Potato. 

2nd Starter: Sauteed Abalone Mushroom with Ume Plum on the side. Loved the plum!

3rd Starter: Can't remember what soup this was that my Mom ordered - was some thick/ cream-based soup.

3rd Starter: I had a simple clear Chicken Soup.

4th Starter: Fried Salmon Rice Ball that Hubs had.

4th Starter: Im usually not a rice person, but this Sticky Rice with Fish dish was rather addictive. Reminded me of the Unagi Rice I had during our wedding lunch.

I had a mixture of Beef & Reef for mains. There's a lot more options to choose from but since Im not so much of a meat eater I had to balance out the red meat with some lighter meats. Both beef & fish were cooked just nicely - beef was juicy and just the right doneness while fish was fresh and tender.

This was my dessert; Pumpkin Puree in Green Tea Jello with Plums. I love this mixture, its new & interesting for me. I love pumpkin and this was just the right level of sweetness - gobbled up the entire thing.

One of the other options was a Black Glutinous Rice Dessert with Yam Paste Centre. A very Chinese-y dessert.

A quick photo with Mom & her friend. *Cheese*

After lunch we made an impromptu detour to Gloria Outlets near Tao Yuan Train Station. Mom's friend was a brand-junkie and she was telling us how cheap the branded stuff were going for so we just stopped by for a quick look.

Not bad lah, there were alot of known brands like Ferragamo, Loewe, Coach, and quite a few sport brands - too many to name. Popped by Puma and these 2 pairs of sneaker-booties instantly caught my eye. Nice right? Very Ga-Ga-ish, but I didn't bag them home 'cuz I figured out I wouldn't quite have the chance to wear them since I prefer to wear flats especially when I take my 8-month old out. 

Night came, and it was again time for eating & shopping at night markets - this time @Shilin. At Shilin Night Market there's an underground food area where you get mostly small stalls selling seafood, noodles, etc, those where you could order to "sit and dine" 

Look at how much people there were!

Again we had oysters, this time cooked ones. Its actually better than the fresh ones we had @Rao He Night Market.

And Grilled Clams (again).. sorry to bore you with repeated food. But then, it was really cheap & good we had to order again.

Some Grilled Prawns. I have no comments on this 'cuz Im not a very big fan of prawns.
This was for Hubs actually.

And again, Stinky Tofu. This time served in a slightly different presentation. I would say the "skewered" type was more tasty 'cuz it had more sauce, though this was also yummy.

It was a little chilly that evening so Hubs ordered Soup Dumplings to settle his crave for something hot. I wouldn't recommend at all 'cuz there wasn't any soup in it, yea it was hot but also dry. You can tell from the picture that the dumpling looked scrawny.

Whenever I travel overseas, one of the foods I always had to have were fruits. For some reason fruits anywhere else always seemed sweeter and juicier than the ones we have back home, more variety of cut fruits too. 

As strange as it may sound to some of you, every time I go to Taiwan for sure I'll have myself cups of White Bitter Gourd Juice. Its not as bitter as it sounds, somehow white bitter gourd is actually not as bitter as the green ones we have in Singapore. Most of the time some honey is added into the juice to balance out the bitterness. It is really a healthy alternative to having something to quench your thirst other than bubble tea all the time.

Some other yummy food you can find @Shilin; Taiwan Saugages, BBQ Skewers...

More seafood....

Some famous sweet snack bun with several fillings to choose from; red bean, green bean, taro, peanut, coconut, etc..

Some choices of Soy Sauce Braised Food (滷味).. Basically its food braised in some special five-spice soy sauce, a little sweet, not too salty and very aromatic with cloves, star anise, cinnamon and other spices.

And finally "Coffin Bread" which is made of thick toast which holds ingredients from seafood chowder, to ham and mushroom, or kimchi chicken, depending on your choice. Its Crispy on the outside and savory on the inside. Didn't order the Coffin Bread that night 'cuz we didn't have enough stomach space for that, if you'd like to see how it looks like up close you may click here.

We walked, looked, shopped, and again ended our night with some Snow Ice Desserts... this trip I totally KOed all the sweet stuff... Hahaha.. Heck lah, well deserved! Again finished ALL of it - so yummy luh~!! Mine was Peanut Butter Snow Ice with extra toppings of Red Beans & Egg Pudding. Sinful maxxxx!

His was Mango Snow Ice with Mango Ice Cream & extra Banana topping!

Okay, and that was the last of my night market food pics.. One of the mornings we went to try out a cafe near Cosmos Hotel, literally a stone throw away - Ikari Cafe. When you get to the lobby of Cosmos, turn left walk a few steps down and you will see Ikari. On the same stretch other quick breakfast options were 7-11, and on the right there was a small local breakfast shop selling Chinese-style sandwiches, steamed/ pan-fried buns etc. (abit like You Tiao Da Wang).

Coffee was rather decent, but there's no skinny version if you're into that. Really, think besides Starbucks no other cafes in Taiwan I went to offers skim milk - Boo Hoo.

On the last afternoon we finally went over to the streets opposite Cosmos Hotel. Apparantly there were many food joints there just that we didn't have time to explore as we had to rush to the airport after. We wanted to go to Dim Ho Wan (famous Hong Kong Dim Sum place) for lunch but the que was horrible - longer than in Singapore can!? Ended up at this random Chinese restaurant few doors down.

Ordered a set, was decent in all but the Beef Noodle was really far from expectations. Blah.. it was the first time I went to Taiwan without having a nice bowl of Beef Noodles before leaving the country - kinda disappointed. Lucky I've had all other yummy food - oh well.

I ordered Beef Noodle again since the last one I had in Kaohiung was not good. Oh man, this was worse. 

So that brings us to the end of this blog post and i hope you enjoyed browsing thru all the yummylicious food pictures. I know you must be feeling hungry by now. Haha, go grab something to eat. Bye for now!

Feel free to leave comments in the comments box below if you have any questions regarding this blog post and I'll try my best to answer them. Thanks for reading! : D

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