{travel & eat} 2 Nights in Seoul

The first week of October is national holiday here in China, and the whole country pretty much takes the entire week off.  We took advantage of the week-long holiday and traveled to Seoul and then Bali.  Since we didn’t take a honeymoon after our wedding last year, we made it our honey/babymoon.

Saturday, October 1

Our first pit stop was Seoul.  M and I stayed with my 3rd uncle and his wife in Itaewon.  We arrived into Seoul early evening on Sunday, and ate dinner with my aunt and uncle.  After settling in, M and I wandered around the neighborhood, looking for something yummy to eat.

We started the evening at Jesters, a shop that sold pies, both sweet and savory.  I’ve never heard of Jesters before but I guess it’s from the US.  The guys working inside spoke perfect English with no accent.

Blueberry pie from Jesters. It was nice and hot, but just okay. I've had better pies.

Next stop, Caffe Bene.  First of all, they are EVERYWHERE in Seoul.  It’s kind of like Starbucks, where there’s one on every street corner.  In Seoul, every block has a Caffe Bene, a Starbucks, and a Paris Baguette.  However, they sell little Belgian waffles, which were super popular last year and still has a strong following this year (Korea is very trend- conscious).  I’ve been totally craving waffles and could’ve eaten three more by myself (sorry, M), but I restrained myself and shared the one we ordered with M.

Waffle with strawberry gelato. Very yummy!

Strawberry shaved ice with red bean and (more) strawberry gelato on top.

After our sweet snack and a little break, we decided it was time to eat something more substantial.  By this time, most of the street vendors had set up shop so we were in business!

Street vendor selling skewers, corn dogs, various tempura, wantons, potato wedges, and my favorite, ddukbukki (rice cake in spicy pepper sauce)!

After some traditional Korean street food, Malcolm wanted to try the ethnic street vendors also very popular in the area.  While walking around, we came across a vendor selling Moroccan sandwiches.  I didn’t know Moroccans ate sandwiches, but the line was long and very popular.  So of course, we joined in on the wait.

Took a blurry picture together while waiting for the sandwiches.

Ready at last!

M ordered the beef sandwich, which was ground beef, onions, potatoes, eggs, secret seasonings, white sauce, and cheddar cheese (from Costco!).

I ordered the veggie, which was onions (both raw and sautéed), potatoes, eggs, secret seasonings, white sauce and cheddar cheese. Yum!

Upon finishing most of the sandwiches, it was almost midnight and we were both stuffed and tired.  We headed back to my uncle’s place and called it a night.

Sunday, October 2

Sunday was our only full day in Seoul, so M and I started off the day filled with plans for eating more yummy foods.  Clearly, eating too much was (and is) not a concern for us.  After a morning that is not worth mentioning, M and I headed off to the Apgujeongdong area of Seoul.  In preparation for our Seoul trip, I searched the interwebs for some good eats recommendations.  On one of my favorite blogs, I read about a bakery called Le Alaska.  After checking out their website, I definitely knew this had to be our first stop.

It was fortuitous that we ended up taking a cab there, because there was no way we could’ve found this place on our own.  Situated in a tiny alleyway, Le Alaska was surrounded by other cute cafes and shops.

When you first walk in, you are greeted by shelves upon shelves of pastries, and the warm smell of pastries freshly baking in the ovens.

M's latte. It was really good coffee! I had just a little sip, which re-whetted my desire for coffee. *sniff sniff* Oh coffee, how I miss you!

My berry smoothie came with shaved ice, topped with a sugared raspberry. It was tart and refreshing, but not as good as M's latte!

M devouring a pastry

Not only were the pastries delicious, the decor of the bakery was super cute and quaint.

Such a cute cafe, with outdoor seating

After enjoying our pastries and drinks, we wandered around the area and came upon this super cool barbecue restaurant.  Fashioned out of two cargo crates, the restaurant was eye catching and we could smell delicious smells wafting out.  Sadly, we were too stuffed from breakfast AND pastries, so we took a few pictures and walked out.

Another popular area is Garosugil in the Sinsadong neighborhood of Seoul, which is a tree-lined street with shops and cafes.  It’s similar to 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica.  Known as a foreigner area, many of the shops are foreign brands and restaurants serve various ethnic foods.

M in front of the Marrimekko store with his new work bag.

While wandering around, this woman walked by with 6 little dogs following her.  While none of them were leashed, they faithfully followed their mama.  The whole sight was pretty cute.

I tried on some jewelry at a street vendor's shop. Everything was so pretty!

It was so ironic to come across a Forever 21 in Korea.  I mean, it’s a Korean-owned company based in the States.  It’s like the company returned back to the motherland.

A 3-story Forever 21!

After walking and shopping for couple hours, our poor feet were tired, so we decided to take a break at a cafe called Cafe des Artes.  Situated on a second floor building, we sat on the balcony and had a great few of the street below us.

My husband, Mr. Smooth

One of the best things about Seoul is the free wifi everywhere!  So while we were resting our tired feet at the cafe, we checked email, people watched, and enjoyed the cool fall weather.  While looking around, I noticed a restaurant (also 2nd floor) across the street.  Check out the kid at the table!  Hee hee…

Poor little boy fell asleep at the table! Too cute!

One of my favorite places in Seoul is Cheonggyecheon.  Originally a dirty stream that ran through downtown Seoul, the entire area was renovated during the mid-2000′s in an effort to beautify the city.  The end result is a gorgeous babbling brook with waterfalls, lighted pathways and indigenous plants lining the pathways.  As we were there on a holiday weekend, Cheonggyecheon was packed with families and tourists alike.  I swear, I heard Chinese being spoken more often (or is it just more loud?) than Korean while we walked the path.

Babbling brook in the middle of downtown Seoul

On our way to Cheonggyecheon, we made a pitstop at Dunkin Donuts and picked up a bat-shaped donut to enjoy.

A bat! Just in time for Halloween.

While walking by one of the bridges, there was a guy doing acrobatics above.

We threw a few coins into the stream after we read a sign that said that all money is donated every few months to orphans.

After talking to my dad, I learned that October 3 is a national holiday in Korea celebrating the unification of the country under one king (I don’t remember which king).  That Sunday, as M and I walked around the area near Cheonggyecheon, there were parades and actors dressed up in traditional clothing to celebrate the holiday.

A miniature replica of a turtle ship, the world's first iron-clad ship built during the 15th Century.

Me in front of a statue of King Sejong, who created written Korean.

M's new buddy

We came across this scooter that had a little guy in it!

This was the sign in front of the doggie in the scooter. It says, "Don't touch! He will 'RARR' bite you!" Hehe.

That evening, we met up with my eldest aunt and uncle, and my cousin J, for a buffet dinner at Hyatt Hotel.  After stuffing ourselves silly, J, M and I decided to hit up the night markets for our last night in Seoul.  Of course, because of the holiday, most of the night markets were closed, but we managed to go shopping for clothes at Doota, an open all-night mall.

First up, the night market.

Mung bean pancakes! My favorite!

M pouring some Sprite into J's traditional rice wine. Apparently, it's how all the young kids drink the rice wine these days.

Doota shopping mall. It's really big.

The following morning, M and I headed to the airport for our flight to Bali.  Next post – BALI!!  (Hopefully, it won’t take as long as this Seoul post!).

{travel & eat} Taiwan

This past weekend, M and I headed over to Taiwan to visit his grandma and dad.  It’s turning out to be an annual trip, as I looked on my passport and it turned out we had gone to Taiwan almost exactly one year ago to the date (it was off by a few days!).  Grandma is getting older (she’s 91 years old!) and with Baby Shu making his appearance in January, M and I will try to make another trip out to Taiwan in the spring so Grandma can meet her great grandson.

We decided to spend our first night in Taipei and indulge in some food goodness.  We arrived at the brand new W Hotel Taipei, where we were greeted in our room by a plate of pretty and pretty yummy macarons.  They hit the spot!

Our room was really nice!  Just as in the States, the hotel provided us with Bliss products and a tastefully modern room.

After settling in, we met up with M’s dad and M’s godmother for dinner at the hotel’s buffet.  It was pretty tasty.

The following morning, we went to Taipei 101 for some brunch.  We tried some burgers at Mos Burger (I guess a popular burger in Taiwan) with some dou hua, a soft tofu dessert with boba and jelly and peanuts and other yummy goodies.  We tried the fish sandwich and a seafood rice burger at Mos Burger, and both were really good!  I thought that the fish sandwich was better than the filet-o-fish at McDonald’s, although it might be because it was definitely super fresh.

Seafood rice burger. The buns were made out of rice cakes. Pretty yummy!

That afternoon, M and I made our way to the high speed railway station to catch a train down to Taichung, M’s family’s hometown.  Just an hour by high speed rail, we arrived at the station early and grabbed some lunch while we waited for our train.  While waiting, I took a picture with my new (Mexican gingerbread man) friend.

On all the subway stations and railway stations in Taiwan, these signs are posted everywhere.  I guess the stick figure with a soccer ball for a tummy would be me??

Our 2 night stay in Taichung involved mostly eating.  Granted, we ran a few errands, went shopping, but mostly, it was just eating.  M’s grandmother, while 91 years old and frail, out-ate all of us.  So we ate a lot, and after eating some more, M and I went to the night market at night.

One of the things I love about Taiwan is that they sell these HUGE drinks.  I heard that Half and Half in CA also carries these huge 1000 cc drinks, but I have yet to see them.  But in Taiwan, they are quite prevalent.  So imagine my surprise when we went to lunch with M’s grandma and his dad, and the restaurant had GINO drinks!!!

M's dad ordered the medium boba.

Big drink!

We found a stand that sold little Hello Kitty buns filled with red bean and other goodies. Unfortunately, Hello Kitty was just a gimmick and they actually sold egg shaped buns instead. Boo!

Eggs, not Hello Kitty. These weren't very good.

Fresh fruit with plum powder. We ate a ton of guava. So yummy!

The following morning, we ate breakfast on the street with the locals.  We ate some sweet rice sausages, lou bo gao (turnip cakes), and two kinds of soups.  Some of the food was good, some not so good, and I have never sat so close to the street before in my life.

After wandering around, taking a nap, and eating some more, we headed back to the night market on our last night in Taichung.

Bear donuts to tide us over in-between meals. They were cute, but not that tasty. Note to self: Do NOT eat bears!

Waffles with "nutella" and bananas

Not too bad, although the waffle itself could've been tastier.

Chewy, crunchy pancake things.

It was pretty tasty. We ordered it stuffed with a fried egg, basil and some chicken. (I picked out the chicken).

M really wanted the Chinese sausage "hot dog." Rather than a normal hot dog bun, the sausage was wrapped in-between a sweet rice sausage split in half. M really enjoyed it.

Something that I noticed this time was the prevalence of Korean influences.  It definitely wasn’t present last year, so it was amusing to see this time around.

A vendor selling duo bokki (Korean rice cakes in spicy red sauce)

All in all, it was a quick but good trip.  We saw Grandma, hung out with M’s dad, and did the things we needed to do.  Next up: Korea and Bali in less than 6 days!!

Good bye, big drink!

Holy Guacamole!

Hehehe…

So I have quite a bit of posting to do.  In fact, M has a post of our past few weeks traveling waiting on the back burner, waiting to be edited.  But with this nasty bout of studying that I’ve been doing for the past few weeks, the posting has mostly been nonexistent.  Plus, it’s not very helpful that my camera (and pictures) is in LA while I’m in Seattle.

Until I am able to properly post, here’s something to tide us over.

On February 6, M and I flew back from Maui, but due to delays on the runway and baggage claim (I bought some honey in Maui…sorry!  Had to check in my bag!), we didn’t leave the airport until 11 pm.  By then, M and I were starving, and M’s brother T took us to Plancha, a Mexican taco place near T’s house that closes at midnight.  (Actually, T dropped us off and made us walk home.  But it was okay because his house was only like 2 blocks away).

So the thing about avocados and guacamole is that they’re extremely expensive in China!  Clearly, they’re not local to the region so they’re imported in.  It’s like $6 USD for 1 avocado that may or may not be ripe.  Plus, at most Mexican restaurants in Shanghai, they add water to some lime-green powder thing and try to pass it off as fresh guacamole!  It’s highway robbery, folks!  So while we were here in the States, we’ve taken full advantage of the abundance of the amazing avocado.  Mmmmm!!!

Plancha…really clean, kind of doesn’t feel like the real thing, but was pretty darn tasty.  And the guacamole!  Mmm!  Nom nom nom…

M ordered the chicken tacos. Lots of chicken on fresh tortillas.

I ordered the potato taquitos. My favorite potato taquitos place is this little hole-in-the-wall in University District in San Diego. These were pretty close. And it came with tomatillo sauce, a side of black beans, and a salad. Yum!

Last but not least, we ordered a side of guacamole. It was so yummy! It was creamy, avocado-y, with the right bite from the onions and cilantro, a little sweet from the tomatoes, and the right acidity from the lime. Ahhh...heaven!

Daehanmingook, I heart You

I spent last week in Seoul.  My grandfather has been battling cancer for several years, and doctors fear that the end is nearing.  As such, my mom, her sister and brother from Seattle flew out to Seoul last Sunday, and I joined them on Monday.  In Seoul, we were joined by my mom’s other 2 brothers and 1 other sister.  Their youngest brother, Uncle Jae, wasn’t able to make it.  (Ironically, my mom and all her 6 siblings have the dolim, or first character of their names, of Jae.  Thus, I have 4 Uncle Jae’s and 2 Aunt Jae’s.)

My cousin D’s parents generously offered their ginormous apartment in Lotte Castle for all of us to stay in.  Because both 1st Uncle Jae and his wife are busy doctors, my mom and my aunts did most of the cooking during that week.  In addition, my 3rd Uncle Jae’s wife, Aunt H, played hostess/tour guide/nurse/mother hen, and drove the whole lot of us around town.  Aunt H really went out of her way to make sure we were all very well taken care of.

On my first day there, my 3 aunts, my mom and I went to my Uncle Jae’s medical practice.

My Uncle Jae's Medical Office

Dr. Shim

Dr. Shim and his sisters: my mom, Aunt Jae and Aunt Jae =)

Me and the Doctor

Afterwards, Aunt H took us on a tour of Changgyeonggung, a historic palace during the Joseon Dynasty, and then treated us to a delicious lunch nearby before heading over to the Korea University Hospital to hang out with Grandpa.

Intricate woodwork of the fences.

Not only is the designs painted on the buildings colorful and beautiful, the paint also contains a chemical compound that naturally repels termites.

After roaming the palace grounds for about an hour, Aunt H took us to eat lunch at a nearby restaurant.  Hidden amongst other buildings and narrow alleyways, the entrance into the restaurant was a steep set of stairs down.

Upon entering into this little rabbit hole-like restaurant, I ate the yummiest haemulpajeon (seafood pancake) and nokdujeon (mung bean pancake).  It was soooo yummy!  We ordered other dishes too, like monk fish with bean sprouts, but they all paled in comparison to the haemulpajeon and nokdujeon.  They were perfectly seasoned, and crispy on the outside but warm and chewy on the inside.  Yummm!!

Haemulpajeon

Monk fish with bean sprouts

Bonus items

Nokdujeon

It was simple, rustic, and absolutely perfect.  After a month and a half of eating Chinese food and mediocre Korean food, this meal was heavenly.

Hanging out at a hospital all day is surprisingly tiring.  You would think that sitting all day and doing nothing wouldn’t be that hard, but it really was.  My grandfather, with the difficulty of cancer treatment, spends most of his days sleeping, and is wide awake at night.  So while it’s really difficult for his night nurses, daytimes were oddly boring.

One of my uncles, Uncle Jae (hehe) is a professor of journalism at Korea University.  While I was in Korea, he asked me to review some articles he wrote to be published.  Since I was spending most of my day in a cramped hospital room, I gladly escaped to the Starbucks downstairs and edited my uncle’s articles.

Just for the Korean market, Starbucks makes rice chips! The packaging was pretty but the chips were eh. They tasted like any other rice cracker.

Being at the Korea University Hospital, the surrounding area was pretty much a college town.  I had a chance to walk around the area with my cousin J, and we stopped to munch on some waffles.

Waffles with cherry and blueberry sauce. Not as good as the waffles with gelato, but the waffles were light and fluffy with a nice crispy texture. Pretty darn yummy.

The aforementioned waffles with gelato. Gelato was almost Italy good. Not quite, but almost.

On Thursday night, my Aunt Jae and her husband treated the entire family out to dinner at Pul Hyanggee, a restaurant in Kangnam District.  Translated literally, it means “grass’ scent.”  Translated un-literally, it means something like, “the fragrance of nature.”  The restaurant serves traditional Korean foods prepared in a very natural way.   The menu is based on organic vegetables and uses minimal oils and seasonings; you could really taste the flavor of the ingredients used.

Traditional tiger for a traditional restaurant.

Mini pancakes. So cute and tasty!

Mushroom and rice gruel with tofu. I think there were pine nuts in there somewhere.

Pan-grilled tofu with crust (made from something tasty. Seaweed, perhaps?) and greens. This was one of my favorites.

This was something pretty darn yummy. Can't remember what it was. But I remember liking it. A lot.

From top right going clockwise: The pan-grilled tofu mentioned above; veggie wrap (like a burrito but fresher and tastier); a mixture of chestnuts, asian pear and something else. (Sorry, I was busy. Couldn't focus on all the food when I was focused on shoving everything into my mouth).

Bonus items! There were marinated eggplant, miso soup and lots of veggies. Soooo good!

Dessert: Plum juice

Traditional Korean puffed sweet rice dessert.

During dinner, my cousin E’s daughters threw on an impromptu singing performance.  My older niece is 8-ish and the younger one is 6.  Here, they are discussing which song to sing.

On the following night, I spent the night at Aunt H and Uncle Jae’s house in Itaewon, a neighborhood famous for it’s foreigner-rich inhabitants.  I had always thought that Korea was fairly homogenous, with the only foreigners being American GI’s or migrant workers from the Philippines, Vietnam or other like Southeast Asian country.  Instead, Itaewon is filled with those from the Middle East, India, and Africa, as well as Americans and Europeans.  It was great to see such diversity in Korea.

Aunt H took me on a walking tour of Itaewon, and we ate at a pojangmacha, or street food cart, for dinner.  I felt bad because Aunt H had just come off of taking care of my grandfather for practically 24 hours, but she was gracious enough to take me around her neighborhood and try the yummy street food.  It’s Korean food at it’s dirtiest and yummiest.  Actually, it looked all pretty clean and hygienic to me, but I did just get there from China.  ;)

Street food: various tempura, dukkbokki, and fried wontons, and fish cake on a stick. They also had corn dogs and fries.

Aunt H and her sidekick Mochi.

Dukkbokki. It was so yummy! Not as good as my mom's, but the rice cake was chewy, the sauce was salty and sweet, and had all the right bonuses included, egg, fish cake and cabbage.

The next morning, Aunt H took me to a hole-in-the-wall noodle house, right around the corner from her place.  The place was tiny, with only 6 tables.  Apparently, customers line up around the block during lunch and dinner hours to grab a seat at this restaurant.

Mmmm...kalgooksoo and sujaebi mix. It was warm and delicious. The owner gave me extra noodles to an already-huge bowl. I ate half and had to call it quits. I tried, but the noodles won.

On Saturday, my cousin D met me at the hospital, and we went out for a fun-filled afternoon of sightseeing.  D is my cousin from my dad’s side, whereas all my relatives up to this point had been from my mother’s side.  Because my dad and his brother are not that close, I hadn’t seen D in many, many years.  It was good to get reacquainted with D.

D took me to Insadong, which is a shopping area that focuses on the traditions of Korea. Thus, the streets are lined with shops selling traditional cloths, pottery, paintings and furniture.  However, in one of the alleyways, we came across a 4-story building, filled with cute and trendy shops.

The first Starbucks to be written in a foreign language -- Korean! That's right, that says, "Su Ta Buk Su Kuh Pee," or Starbucks Coffee.

This was the coolest building. Rather than installing stairs, the hallways were built at an incline, so you automatically walk towards the roof of the building. It's like the Guggenheim in NYC.

In the courtyard of the aforementioned building, there was a man selling boong-uh bbang, or sweet red bean-filled breads.  Normally, the bread is shaped as a fish, since boong-uh is a type of fish.  However, these were in the shape of strawberries and poop.  Hehe.  Thus, the cart advertised strawberry bread and poop bread.  It was actually quite cute.

Translation: Poop Bread, Strawberry Bread

My cousin D and me =)

On our last morning in Seoul, my two Aunt Jae’s, my mom, my Uncle Jae (or Dr. Shim), cousin J and I went for a walk/bike ride down to Hangang Park, just 3-ish blocks away from Uncle Jae’s apartment.

My cousin J, my mom, and Aunt Jae

J and I on bikes.

On the way back to J’s house, we ran into a little cart selling, what else, but boong-uh bbang!  So we stopped to get some.

Waiting for the boong-uh bbang

After a fun morning riding bikes and enjoying the park next to Han River, cousins J and D accompanied me to the airport.  I didn’t get a chance to shop in Korea as I stayed at the hospital most of the time with grandfather, but I did buy 2 kitty beds to bring back with me.  They were really light, but large in size, so J did the hard work of carting everything on the subway.

Cousin J, 2 really big boxes, on the subway.

One of the funny parts of living in Shanghai is that there are a lot of inaccurate usage of English words.  In Korea, because everyone is taught English in schools from a young age, it’s much harder to see weird Konglish phrases or signage.  However, I guess Koreans’ English is getting better, or at least, better enough to make puns.

For example, the Korean word for “perm” (like curly hairstyle perm) is pama.  I really liked this violation of trademark.  Notice the fro on the puma?  ;)

Although, when making fakes/replicas/knock-offs, perhaps they should realize that Tory Burch would never use Coach fabric for her shoes.

After a week-long visit with the relatives in Seoul, I am back in Shanghai and faced culture shock once again.  I miss my family, good food, polite people, and the ability to communicate freely.  But, I am happy to be back with my husband, so I guess everything balances out.

Editor’s Note: Although the pictures may evidence to the contrary, I did spend most of my time with my grandfather in the hospital.  It’s just that you can’t take too many pictures of relatives dozing off in chairs in a hospital room.  It’s no fun.  But food IS fun.  So there. Nom nom nom….

Still eating…

M and I recently returned from a short, 3-day trip to Taiwan to visit his 89-year-old grandma.  Taipei is only 2 hours from Shanghai on a direct flight (everyone groans about how in the past, there were no direct flights to Taiwan from Shanghai so they had to fly through Hong Kong), and we landed in Taipei at 10 am.  We had a few hours to kill before meeting his friend E for lunch, so we hung out at 101, which is a super high-end shopping mall.  They had all the usual high end stores, including LV, Miu Miu and whatever else that falls within that price range.

I had no interest in those stores.

But, HELLOOOO, DOU HUA!!!

Dou hua is a Taiwanese dessert of tofu, boba and assorted red and green beans in a lightly sweetened cold soup.  It is so freaking yummy!!  I had my doubts, as the thought of sweet tofu kind of threw me off.  But I’ve changed my mind.  I’m a believer!!

After eating the dou hua and wandering around 101, we met up with M’s friend E, his wife and their beautiful baby girl.  M and E took a sweet picture together with E’s baby.

After eating lunch with E’s family, M and I took the high speed train from Taipei to Taichung. The next 3 days, we spent hanging out with M’s dad and grandma.

So, before we left Shanghai, my mother-in-law (“MIL”) asked if we were going to stay in a hotel.  M said that we would be staying with his grandma.  My MIL then asked again, “Are you sure you want to with grandma?  Don’t you want to stay in a hotel?”  Note to self: If your MIL repeatedly asks if you’re making the right decision, that means you’ve made the WRONG decision.

We arrived at M’s grandma’s house, and … suffice it to say, the house hasn’t been upgraded since the 1960s?  1970s?  When did indoor plumbing become popular?  Because the last upgrade this house got was probably the bathrooms.  I think the experience of staying in the house was most like going on a mission trip.  (hehe)  Very similar accommodations.

Grandma is 89 years old, and while she has difficulty walking, she is still mentally very sharp and she has an excellent appetite.  M’s grandma and dad treated us to delicious meals for almost every meal during our stay there.  In fact, I weighed myself when we got back to Shanghai, and I gained 1 kilo, or 2 pounds.  (I am very sad.)

M and his dad at dinner

M, Grandma, Dad and me

The next morning, M, his dad and I went out for breakfast.  We grabbed some traditional street foods.  Since I don’t eat meat, I got sweet rice sausage and fish ball soup.  M and his dad ate meat-filled buns, or bao.

Street food for breakfast

Vendor heating up sweet rice sausage on grill pan. Sweet rice sausage is just sweet rice in a sausage casing.

My fish ball soup. This cost less than a dollar.

Bao: meat-filled buns.

My sweet rice sausages with ketchup-ish sauce.

After breakfast, we took a cab to run some errands.  Every cab in Taiwan, as in the US and China, has the driver’s taxi driver ID posted somewhere in the cab.  Normally, the ID is posted either on the dashboard, or on the back of the passenger seat.  This is a picture of the cab driver and the driver’s ID posted in the car:

Note the difference between the driver and the ID.

I was commenting to M that it was so rare to see a female taxi driver.  We then both looked down at the ID and we were like, uhhhh….haha. I really hope that she was driving on behalf of her husband and didn’t acquire the ID through other, more nefarious means….

That night, M’s dad’s cousin and her husband graciously invited us to dinner.  They live part time in Taiwan and California.  Ironically, they live in La Jolla while in the States, and they traveled the least distance to our wedding back in February.  We had dinner at Hakka, which seemed like a modern Taiwanese meal.  Everything was very delicious, and the ambiance was so pretty.

These noodles were delicious! They were the perfect consistency, chewiness and texture! In a salty sweet bonito broth, these noodles were the star of the meal.

On our last night in Taiwan, M’s dad took us to a cute little Italian-ish restaurant called Jane & Tony.  It was very Asian-y, cute and seemed like a perfect date spot for high schoolers and college students.  The food was okay; it was kind of like kids’ meal food in adult-sized portions.  But the place was really cute and fun and we had a great time.

At night, M and I roamed the streets of Taichung and experienced the night market.  It was so much fun!  It’s just a bunch of street vendors selling food, drinks, clothes and shoes.  We had lots of fun wandering the streets, eating a lot of freshly cut guava and looking around for funny, silly, fobby things.

M standing on a busy street at night market.

Does your tea, par-ty?? hehe

This vendor sold freshly cut guava. She sold bags of freshly cut guava, with each bag containing about 3 guavas. M and I ate bags and bags of guavas. They were sweet and delicious.

The guava vendor also sold pineapples, pears, and other cut fruits.

Knickknacks waiting to be purchased.

A cute store sign

On our first night in Taichung night market, we saw someone drinking tea in a HUGE cup.  It was the funniest cup we had ever seen because unlike the 7-11 Super Gulp, where the height of the cup is tall as it is wide, this cup was the same height as a regular boba cup (maybe a tad bit taller) but it was super wide!  We searched many tea and juice shops for this ginormous cup, but to no avail.  Finally, on our last night at the night market, we found it!

It was as big as my head. It was freaking huge!

While wandering around the night market, we found this in one of the shops. Hmmm....

On Wednesday, the day we were returning to Shanghai, M, his dad, and I took the high speed train to Taipei and met up with Mr. C’s Aunt M for lunch.  Aunt M, who is also M’s godmother, met us for lunch at Din Tai Fung, a very famous chain of restaurants, of which its Hong Kong location won a Michelin star!

After lunch, Aunt M took us around the corner to get some mango shaved ice.

Aunt M and us

After the mango shaved ice, M and I went to i-Baked, a cookie shop created and owned by the sister-in-law of M’s friend E.  Taking an idea similar to Diddy Reese in Westwood, she opened this little cookie shop near a college campus.  The interior was really cute.

After eating, eating and more eating, we finally boarded our plane and returned to Shanghai.  Upon arrival, I weighed myself and it was so sad.  Time to exercise!