Do you eat in the bathroom?

So in an attempt to amuse my brother, I thought YES! I'll take him to a bathroom to eat! And this is what happened....

...with toilet rolls for serviettes, toilets for seats, sinks for tables.....and whats for dinner you may ask?

...Fried Rice and Chicken Curry ofcourse!
just served in a cistern and bath tub... thats all!

and to finish a nice ice cold tea in a...stand up and vanilla icecream in a squatter....errr how's the taste buds?
for those interested....modern toilet can be found here
for those who have lost their appetite? please look here

A n i m a l s ' R ' U s

The difference in living in a metropolis? ............There is always something going on. Whether its an art exhibition, a concert or..... a pet expo, what ever your interests are they are catered for. Political assasination attempts, earthquakes, celebrity spotting.  No but seriously...back to pet expos...we came across this exhibition while walking to the ‘second tallest building in the world’ Argh!

Its just not the same as .. The Tallest Buiding In the WORLD! 


Anywho...so we were walking down the street and kept seeing dogs ...or better yet owners pushing prams with their precious pups tucked inside. Hey! Look!  a Dachshund with a polka dot bow tie, and there a Beagle with googles, and a Poodle with matching shoes, ....and then ...a ferret on a leash. OK! it was decided we chose animals over shopping. I know its hard to believe but I can prioritise! Ha!

But what we saw inside was a shock to say the least! Expecting your everyday pet expo of dogs and cats we were treated to bright and spiky reptiles, slimy green amphibians, turtles and tortoises of every size.  

Spine tingling spiders....

And to my absolute delight!!!! SHIBA!

I'm still recovering from the disappointment of not walking away with this little shiba puppy in hand! But one day I will be the proud owner of a shiba without the bow ties, googles and shoes I promise.    

T r a d i t i o n a l D e l i c a c i e s

On the weekend we took a stroll down the street ...Wait! let me explain this ‘stroll down the street’ quickly before we get into the food glorious food. Streets and lanes in Taipei do not always have footpaths or walkways and if they do they are usually quite narrow, so you usually find yourself navigating your way on the asphalt, weaving a path through parked cars, scooters, bikes and taxis, taxis, taxis! Added to all these obstacles did I mention it was the weekend; and so everybody is out and about. And I mean everybody! From toddlers with their doting parents, to procrastinating students, lost tourist, idle grandparents, loud aunties & uncles, cousins and cousins twice removed! You get the idea right? So against all the hustle and bustle of your typical Taipei sunday we made it to a busy Shanghai dim sum restaurant.

高記 Kao-chi is a family owned business, established about 60 years ago with just a humble food cart on the side of the road selling their traditional Shanghainese dishes. Today this spacious 3 storey restaurant is quite famous and draws crowds! 

We ordered the Pork Spare rib and the Cured Fish to start both delectable in their own way. The sticky sweet pork pieces were not over bearing but like a entree should starts your mouth watering. The fish is one of my mother-in laws' favourites, complete with strips of eggplant, the fish has the texture of a canned fish...err...an acquired tastes. Oh and the staple again - chinese green vegies.

The main events were the Steam Pork Dumplings/Xiao Long Bao, Shanghai Style Fried Pork buns and the Seafood noodle soup. The Xiao Long Bao on offer is quite delicious and totally comparable to the world reknown Din Tai Fung dumplings just around the corner. The dumpling skin is as thin as paper with the filling and soup inside melting in your mouth, you can't help but say...hmmmm yum!

Traditionally you can lightly dip the dumpling with your chop sticks into the ginger infused vinegar and then place it in the soup spoon, then adding a few strands of the ginger you eat it all up. But the highlight for me was the fried pork buns with soft fluffy dough and slightly crispy on the bottom. 

To finish we shared this seafood noodle soup, the soup base was quite light but flavoursome with soft noodles it reminded me of a dish my grandpa use to cook for us, it was perfect to end with. And so I end with it now ;)


But prepare yourselves for in depth post of Taipei Streetscape typologies! Ha! I can't help my self.

J e t l a g R e c o v e r y T r e a t m e n t

Noodle Soup has become an institution in Taiwan, a cultural symbol of the ultimate hearty meal representing long life and prosperity. So how better to recover from a 8.5hr flight? Noodle Soup with a kick, after two meals of bland, bland ..bland airplane food we needed a kick of some kind.....and so we turned to Lao Den’s Dan Dan Noodles, for a prescription of Spicy Noodle Soup.

With varying levels of spicyness, your taste is specifically catered for, the photos above show little spice level of both the Spicy Noodle Soup and the dry Dan Dan noodle. The little side dishes are also a must with a selection shown of the steamed intestines(don't flinch its surprisingly delicious), fresh tofu and century egg and the staple chinese green vegies. 

Next, some fresh, fresh, fresh coffee was required. And we were lucky enough to be treated to a very interesting new wave of coffee shops based on dripped coffee. The coffee is prepared in front of you almost like a mini tea coffee ceremony. The waitresses or baristas? pours hot water into the filter in a clockwise circular motion from the centre out and back in, this makes the ground coffee bubble and foam due to the freshness of the bean. You are asked to taste the fresh filter dripped coffee without any accompaniments first, kind of like a coffee appreciation class. The coffee tray you are preseneted with does include milk and sugar to be used at the drinkers discretion.  Very fancy.

 The Tiramisu coffee on offer is also quite nice, like drinking a cake...hmmm. 


So all in all we are all recovered and ready for everything to come ....probably more rain. Remember if travelling to the island of Taiwan bring an umbrella to every outing even if its sunny outside. 


P.S. Yay! 1st post out into the abyss