A recap for the first half of my Taiwan trip. It’s been almost half a year since then. Time flies when you are having fun I guess. There were just so many things I couldn’t fit into 10 photos. From the bottom of Kaohsiung up to the top in Taipei, there were just so many wonderful things. It was a super rough start for me from losing a travel companion to almost missing my flight, but that’s what made this trip so much more to tell. I LOVED IT! Taiwan will never be the same. 

I started in Kaohsiung and went to Sensation White, which is the biggest house party in Europe. It was pretty awesome and I met a lot of great people. Kaohsiung was more fun than I expected, I think I may even like it more than Taipei. Especially because of the night markets. Things were definitely cheaper in Kaohsiung. Then from Kaohsiung I headed to Alishan, a national scenic park at the top of a mountain. I saw my first sunrise ever in Alishan, it was totally worth waking up at 4am and freeze in hot pants with a under 10°C weather. From Alishan, I went with the tour to Sun Moon Lake. Supposedly one of the most beautiful lakes. Sadly, when I arrived I was so disappointed because there were so any tourist and it is not like what it used to be *or according to the locals*. 

Finally after a few days in the wilderness, I headed for the big cities. 

PS Why does tumblr rotate my photos! 

Had this amazing okonomiyaki in Tokyo. Makes me miss Japan so much, I am so hungry!

lazycreations:

#Okonomiyaki win

foodfuckery:

stroopwafel sandwich with strawberries, mascarpone cheese and chocolate

Recipe 

Love this.

(via prettyfoods)

Momokawa, Kips Bay
157 E 28th St

Star rating: ★★★★☆

I learned about this from a friend and decided to try it out. I haven’t really had authentic Japanese shabu shabu, but this was really good! Make sure you make reservations because I almost made that mistake, but luckily my friend was smart enough to make reservation last minute.

The place is small and it gets packed. We had the Berkshire Pork Shabu-Shabu with the Golden Soup and ramen. The golden soup is A MUST! It gave the meat more flavor and the vegetables as well. We had one of their today’s special which was a cold duck dish, it was good but maybe should have tried something else because it was somewhat plain in my opinion, also had their sashimi and it was really fresh!

So to conclude, this is not JUST a shabu shabu place, they have other japanese dishes on their menu as well. Overall I would come here again to try the prefix menu, I think it’s more value for your money, don’t know why I didn’t get that instead. The negative things about this place is the fact that it is on the expensive side so you cannot come here often, and their serving time is really slow. I guess it cannot be avoided, after all it is such a small place with limited amount of waiters/waitresses. But definitely recommend trying if you are into japanese cuisine.

Totto Ramen, Hell’s Kitchen
366 W 52nd St

Star rating: ★★★☆☆

After much anticipation, I finally decided to try this place out. Compared to the likes of Ippudo and Minca, this place was just OK. I was expecting quite a lot from the great reviews and hype, but after this, I think I want to go back to Ippudo and have their ramen instead. Me and my friend basically had to wait for an hour and half, we were starving so we went to eat dessert beforehand. I did not want to sit on the stairs next to the place like a lot of other people. I feel kind of bad for those people living there always having people block their entrance haha. Not that I am dissing those people who do sit there since I know the wait is horrible. 

Anyways, so after the long wait, we were seated by the bar table. My friend laughed about how we waited for so long and we only took about 20 minutes to finish our meal. I ordered the miso ramen, while my friend ordered the spicy ramen and we ordered some extra pork (I actually did not know it was the same meat from the ramen). I liked how they flare the pork with the fire gun! But the taste was just ok, a bit fatty for my taste. The portion of the ramen was big and I was fulfilled, however, the taste of the broth was just ok. It was thick, but not it did not have as much flavor as the one in Ippudo or Minca. My friend’s spicy noodle was ok, surely it was spicy, but I think that is all. The pork meat was a bit fatty and my friend couldn’t even finish it. Overall, it was a good try, I would not go back there for a while. 

On the side note, the japanese waitress was really cute haha. And it was interesting to sit at the bar table to see them cook.

The Chocolate Room, Park Slope
86 5th Av, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Star rating: ★★★★☆

My friend and I were around the area after Brooklyn Flea and was just looking for a place to chill. The lady told us there was a 15 minute wait, so we decided to shop around. After we came back we still had to wait a bit more because we did not want to sit by the bar. Their service was not all that great but acceptable.

I ordered the spice chocolate drink while my friend ordered the regular chocolate drink. For dessert, we ordered the black bottom butterscotch and chocolate layered cake (all thanks to fellow yelper’s suggestion) I made a huge mistake by order the spice chocolate. I am usually not a fan, but I thought I would try something different, I guess I thought wrong. My friend’s chocolate was good, but it was way too heavy for her and she was not able to finish it. “It’s like drinking a chocolate bar,” she said. 

I absolutely LOVED the butterscotch, it was amazing! Wish I had more of it. The chocolate layer cake was chocolate goodness! I am usually a fan of chocolate, but this was too intense, I wasn’t ready for it. Overall good experience, but unless I am craving for another chocolate overloadedness *which is not often*, I will not make my way to go all the way there.

Bosie’s Tea Parlor, West Village
10 Morton St, New York, NY 10014

Star rating: ★★★☆☆

Ok I’m not going to lie, I like this place but the likeliness that I will go back? Highly unlikely. There are so many other choices to choose from instead. This place is a great chill out spot. I think me and my friend sat there for about 3-4 hours and nobody ever pestered us. Really local friendly, the waitress is super nice.

But the food there? We ordered the tea set for 2 and it was just so-so. Their scones are plain, their macarons are way too sweet, so are their cakes. The sandwiches were also very dry. I would rather go uptown to Alice’s teacup. But I guess that’s me because I care a lot for the food. The tea was really good though, I got a coconut tea so it was something different. I actually shouldn’t complain about the sweetness of the desserts because I love sweet stuff, but their sweetness was a bit over that it covers the flavor or the dessert itself. My friend thought so as well. Though they had a variety of flavors of macarons displayed inside a fridge. Looking at so many flavors made it hard for me to choose!

On the other hand, their pricing is quite good for the quantity that we got.

Pearl Oyster Bar, West Village
18 Cornelia St, New York, NY 10014

Star rating: ★★★★★

Downside: they do not take reservations so make sure you are ready to wait or come on a quiet day, which is rare. Finally, I was sitting by the bar and the guy tells me as the weather gets better, the place only gets busier. One thing I love about this place is how the environment is like a local spot where the waiters and waitresses know some of the regular customer’s name.

For the appetizer we ordered the mix platter with shrimps, oyster and lobster. It was amazing, so fresh, only thing was the oyster was squished in the bottom of the glass (yes it comes in a glass), I was not happy with my oyster being squished haha. Then we had the famous lobster roll and scallops. The lobster roll was so good! Just so much lobster meat, and the bread that accompanied it was amazing as well. Maybe there was a bit too much sauce, but it was still good. My friend had the scallops and it was like a butter that melted in your mouth. It was so good. Oh my god, talking about it makes me crave for some now too. 

They also served Delirium beer which I had when I was in Brussels AT DELIRIUM BREWERY. Made me really nostalgic about my EuroTrip.

No doubt, I will definitely be back. But I will make sure I am ready to wait.

Murano, Venezia, Italia

I am getting a bit sentimental. I want to remind myself that I was actually there myself. Sadly my photography skills are not yet very developed.