Taipei is amazing! Food is cheap, Fashion is very trendy, the locals are friendly, why not move here?
I took a little trip with Cody to Taipei while she was here in Hong Kong and it was loads of fun. Having flown from Hong Kong, we landed at Taipei international airport, which was an hour or so from the downtown city area. Just a side note, Taipei is not very much developed outside its city area. The international airport looked like a local bus station from Binghamton (a small town in NY State where I attended UG). On the long bus ride from the airport to the city all I saw was small villages, stripper clubs, and Cops patrolling with a digital camera (that’s right a point and shoot digi cam).
The downtown city area of Taipei is however, very beautiful. With its mix of traditional (very very old) and modern architectures, you get to see a glimpse of Taipei’s history as well as their revolution with influences from the western world. It is without a doubt one of the finest cities I have ever visited. The only problem that I came across in Taipei was the language. English is not widely used there, thus if you can’t speak mandarin or Taiwanese forget about negotiating a good deal at any of the night markets (I am lucky I had my Cody with me).
Here’s a list of some of the places that I visited and recommend:
Shi-Ling Market (aka the night market) - cheap food and cloths
Xei Men - a very young environment, a hip & trendy hang spot, full of trendy shops
Taipei 101 - the tallest building in the world (as of 2007), home to the world’s coolest lift and shopping centre
Chiang Kai-Shek memorial Hall - an extremely large monument, you have to see it to believe it
Long Shan Temple - a very old temple in Taipei that is still being used
Wufenpu – fashion district with a large wholesale market
Dan Shui River Cycle Path - a very romantic river side path
Here’s a list of some of the places that I ate and recommend:
Din Tai Feng - (Zhong Xiao)- Famous Shang Hi buns
Mister Donut - (Fusing S. Rd / throughout the city) – very famous Japanese donut shop
Shi-Ling Market – hundreds of street vendor with food carts (ground pork meat bun, oyster omelet, deep fried spicy chicken cutlet, frog egg bubble drink)
Click here to the picture from Taipei: Day 1 l Day 2 l Day 3
Celebrating China National day was amazing. It was indeed my first time, but I can really get use to this. Thousands of locals and visitors packed the TST pier to catch a glimpse of the highly anticipated event of the year. The event consisted of a light show, projected on various skyscraper along the Hong Kong side followed by 30 minutes of pure fireworks. The video embed was the view that I had from the ferry side of the pier, directly opposite the central area.
Here is a link to some pictures as well: Click Here
“The Holiday” in plain English can sum up my last two weeks of the holiday season…
As you all know I went abroad yet again. This time back to the UK and France. Had much fun and saw some familiar faces. Hung out with Jams and enjoyed a lovely dinner with his friends and Family. Jams thanks again for your hospitality. The night out for wine wasn’t bad either considering we didn’t get any bread and cheese.
Too bad I wasn’t able to meet up with Dev, Steve and the Ghetto Boys but, never the less had an awesome time. I got to stay at a very classy hotel (a long way from those days in hostels) with a very beautiful lady that out right makes me laugh just about every minute. So happy to have spent my vacation with Cody.
While in London I continued my quest in becoming a foodie, I ate out at some awesome restaurants. My favorite was Hong Kong Diner in Chinatown. It was cheap, the food was great, and the atmosphere was very hip and lively, just the way I like. I also went up scale by paying a visit to the renowned La Poule au Pot. A very romantic French classic / bistro. I wouldn’t say the food at La Poule au Pot was amazing but, it was well worth the money paid cause I was stuffed. Vlad you would be glad to know that I tried looking for the “Up Stars Down Stairs” wonton noodle house that we went to when last in town. Sadly to say I was unsuccessful (only if I had that map drawn on that loosely paper your friend made).
Trippin’ to Paris was a wild adventure. Originally having booked a flight and then canceled due to a heavy fog overcast we were forced to take a coach service, which turned out to be a lot of fun. We road in a Benz bus with a very hilarious French dude that worked for BA (I have the video to prove it). It took about 12 hours including a 2 hour ferry ride but, surprisingly the time went by extremely fast (maybe because I had Cody with me). We reached Central Paris around 2 am and partied all the way to our awesome Hotel, which can not describable in words. There were French doors that opened to a balcony inside our bedroom, jealous yet?
Paris was yet an another city of randomness activities. We ate food, did the tourist thing, ate more food, had some laughs, and ate some more food. I really had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the hospitality the French has shown us (most notable: our Hotel front desk clerk and the bartender at the cafe across from our hotel.)
What I do for Christmas you ask? Well I went to see “The Holiday” with a very awesome lady that I fancy very much (want to know who huh?). We both loved the movie so it was very fitting that we were able to squeeze it in our very busy schedule for Christmas eve. Dinner wasn’t bad either because we both had a craving for Congee Village which was satisfied with a 30 min speed dinner right before it closed at 2am. Overall a very merry Christmas this year even though it wasn’t spent much with family.
New Years was a bit different from previous years. The day before New Years Eve I had a BYOB dinner with some friends at a low key Chinese restaurant and then headed to “PM lounge” for some more partying. For New Years eve I had lunch with my Korean buddy in K-town New Jersey, and I have to say the food was excellent (Thanks again Hans for lunch). For the rest of the day I was able to spend time with a very special lady. We didn’t do much, just hung around the corporate apartment but, sometimes it doesn’t take much to have fun. Even tough we didn’t hit any parties we had a blast spending time together and that was more fun then any party could of provided.
On New Years day and I got invited to a hot pot event amongst friends and it was absolutely amazing. I got to meet a whole lot of new people and had a lot of fun doing it. We watch movies, ate till we couldn’t walk and played UNO. Had an awesome time, very sad that it had to end, hope to do it again soon.
And that sums up my holiday, a pretty good one huh…
Really bad weather for this year’s Thanksgiving but it was never the less still awesome. I prepared a feast for family and friends, enough to make their belly’s pop. Pictures are up on my Flickr pool…
All good things must come to an end. So as good as Thanksgiving was I realize I had work the next day…Sigh. But, it didn’t turn out half as bad as I thought. The presentation went so-so and I got a ton of valuable feedback from my managers. Having the office to myself wasn’t bad either, I got a lot of work done.
The highlight of the day was with out a doubt: lunch. My manager took me out to this dinerish place called Chat N’ Chew on 15th between 5th Ave and Union Sq. Boy was it awesome. A very friendly, neighborhood atmosphere with a menu full of homemade style foods. I recommend the Mac and cheese; its hard-crusted top is to die for.
First tried Itoen Green Tea when I was in Japan and I fell in love with this drink. Not only is it healthy but it taste amazing. Its Unsweetened, no Calories, no added flavors or colors, and packed with vitamin C. It’s brewed using first flush green tea leaves and serves as a good source of catechins, and natural green tea antioxidants. Sadly it’s a bit expensive here in the States (about 2 bucks for 16 oz Bottle) to drink daily but, I try grab a bottle from my local Asian market when I can.
Cheon Yeon Cider is a Korean Soda Made by Ilhwa. It’s smells a little like cream soda, but it doesn’t have a strong taste. Instead it tastes somewhat like plain soda water with just a little sugary flowery taste. The flavor is so faint but the smell is pleasant and the taste is refreshing & lively.
A product of the US with an Asian Twist that means some awesome Beef Jerky. I use to eat Hsin Tung Yang jerky a lot as a child but havn’t had it much since. Last week when I was at the Hong kong Super Market (Flushing) I saw it on the self and decided to get, boy did it bring back good memories…
Lotte Toppa is a form of Pocky, a stick snack with a paste of flavor. This one in particular is awesome because it’s Green Tea flavored (My Favorite). I first had this in Japan while staying at Ayumi’s house and now I’m hooked.
I don’t know what you call this snack by SamJin in English but, boy is it tasty. It’s coated with chocolate shell,filled with a chewy paste, and peanut center filling. I bought this back from Korea and don’t know if it’s available in the States but, it should be at the local Korean market.
I don’t know too much about this drink but, it’s quite popular among ABC (American Born Chinese). It’s a Chilled Milk Tea Drink that has a green tea twist. Great for those summer days when you want to take a milk tea on the go. Tried it for the first time yesterday and I thought it was quite nice. Smooth and refreshing, can be found at your local Asian Markets.
For all of you that don’t know I’m currently on holiday and traveling in Japan (Tokyo) and Korea (Seoul). Just got done with round one in Japan and now I’m in Korea Staying at Park’s Place until next Wednesday when I return to Japan for 3 more days of fun before I head back to the States.
I have to admit Japan is a bit too much for me, especially Shinjuku, which is like the city in New York times a hundred. I can’t complain about Roppongi and Shibuya, two awesome places that I wouldn’t mind living in for a while. However, my favorite place to eat is at non-other then Tsukiji Sushi, which is an awesome 24 hour sushi restaurant in Asakusa. I went with a buddy there late and night and we had a blast; meet some really cool Japanese locals, had some awesome drinks, and great food. Big ups for Ayumi for hanging out with me and thanks to her dad for stuffing us with sushi.
Korea is more my style, a bit slower paced but still business as usual.
Luckily had the very funny Jinsoo and cute Kathy to pick me up from the airport or I might have really gotten lost trying to find my way around.
On the first night Kathy, J, Park, and I had dinner at an awesome traditional Korean restaurant then it was off to staying up all night in the middle of the city awaiting the start of Koreas match in the World Cup against France.What an awesome experience, we set up camp on the street with thousands of other people and we chilled around until 4am when the game started. I got to meet a lot of new people, which is awesome; and had a great time so double the pleasure. Well now I’m off to hang out with Bomi, G, Choi. Tell you more about my day and will post more pics later….
