Night Market Bonanza

Taipei, Taiwan

From the pictures I’ve seen, Taiwan is such a beautiful country, and I hate to admit I didn’t get to experience enough of it (excuse that I’ll just have to revisit in the future).  Enjoy photos from my short 4-day trip here!

Shilin Night Market (pc: Neil Wade!)

Shilin Night Market

Scooters: Widely Popular Mode of Transportation

Dumpling Masters @ Ding Tai Fung

Taipei 101

The Grand Hotel: oldest hotel in Taipei

Dansui’s Lover Bridge on a not-so-lovely day

National Palace Museum

My first Foot Massage!

Since I wasn’t able to eat/see/do as much as I had hoped, I’m also attaching a list of things I’m determined to do next time around:

- Night Market goodies: oyster omelette, crispy chicken, oyster thick vermicelli, steak platter, chua bin (shaved ice)

- Yang Ming Shan 陽明山國家公園 and “The Top”  屋頂上

- Jiufen 九份

- Hotsprings in Beitou

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Did I miss anything on the list?  Any additional recommendations?

“High Tea”

For my dedicated readers, you’ll know that I mainly travel in the US and never overseas.  I decided to change things up a bit and hence, have been MIA for the last little bit.  I took a short 3-week vacay half way across the world travelling in Asia bouncing back and forth from Hong Kong with mini-trips to Taiwan and Bali (featured in the next posts) in between.

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Hong Kong

To paint a picture, it’s like a combination of the following:

A) population density of Times Square EVERYWHERE

B) NYC’s constantly buzzing cabs, except switching the yellow out for red and minus the honking

C) San Francisco’s constant low-hanging fog

D) Miami’s humidity hitting at least 40 degrees

E) Seattle’s showers

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Easter in San Francisco

Had a fantastic long weekend in the west coast; it’s been months since I’ve been and I missed it so dearly.  Much chillier than what I expected (i.e. shorts + tee weather), but given that it was in the bay area, I suppose in hindsight I’m not too surprised.  Went around doing some sightseeing that I never previously got to do, and also partook in my first official food truck event!

Sightseeing Highlights

Golden Gate from the Marin Headlands

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St. Patty’s in Boston

Guinness Man!

Apologies for this way overdue post (especially since the event is actually attached to the nature of the post itself… oops).  Flew into Boston late Friday with the intention of celebrating St. Patty’s on Saturday and do some sightseeing on Sunday before flying out again in the evening.

Excited for a crazy weekend of Emerald madness, we were locked and loaded with a plan that originally excluded any form of shopping and incorporated minimal sightseeing, where the majority of the time/evening would be spent downtown… hmm, that didn’t quite go according to plan.

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Momofuku Obsession

207 Second Avenue, New York, NY

Never did I think it was possible, but the 4 months working in NYC had me exhausted of consuming steak and sushi (not together, obviously).  Since then I haven’t touched a single perfectly charred and seasoned juicy ribeye or vibrantly fresh and creamy uni.  This weekend was going to be all about trying popular tourist-y places that are actually good.

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NYC: East Side

I never really longed to go to NYC – that is, up until I had to spend 4 months there for work, in which case now that it’s over, I find myself constantly longing to go back.  There’s a never-ending supply of things to do, things to see, and things to eat.  I just can’t get enough of it.

After a 2 month hiatus, I finally returned last weekend.  Staying with a fellow foodie, not only were the days and nights occupied with om noms, but also gracious accompaniments to the Met and UES /East Village walks.  Here’s to discovering there’s so much more than what meets the eye; kudos to reddit bringing folks together. Continue reading →