The wee atlas
  • Blog
  • About
  • Index

First trip to Taiwan (lots of eating involved)

1/12/2016

 
Even though the streets were filled with English coming out of the airport, I’ve never felt so lost in a developed Asian country before. Trying to figure out where to eat (or what was even good) was confusing!
 
I now understand why so many of my friends’ parents wanted them to be literate—you wouldn’t be very independent in Taiwan without being able to read a few words. I actually discovered that my cousins learned simplified Chinese in Singapore and actually couldn’t figure out the traditional characters either. It made for some very interesting experiences. (Also, Singaporeans have a very different mandarin accent—must be from all those other dialects that get smushed together.)
Picture
Pretty hard to order food if you're illiterate....
Kind of a mashup of Vietnam and Hong Kong—it may not have been as clean as Singapore but it was a lot cheaper and had a lot more character overall. The history of the country is a little strange (well I mean, it’s hard to really say who was right or wrong when you consider what happened in the last century as both Japan and Chiang Kai Shek did do some good for the country). 

For Foodies:

Overall most things were pretty tasty and cheap. I’m still biased towards my Singaporean roots, so not every Taiwanese-style dish I tried was my favorite. However their fried donut (yu-tiau) was probably the best I’ve ever had, Ding Tai Fung is definitely better in Taiwan, and the night markets are unlike anywhere else I’ve been. But don’t go looking for fishballs here-- those are better in Singapore.

Breakfast

Picture
Toh-giang: Breakfast of champions that involves wonderful tasting yu-tiau and soymilk (tou-hueh).
Best place for traditional breakfast? You can't miss it (with the woks and the lines in the morning)-- it's directly across the street from a fruit vendor and just past the local wet market on the opposite side of the street. 
Picture
This place is good.

Lunch/Dinner

Jin Din Rou-- we came here because of Uncle Joe's recommendation as this place is supposedly better than Ding Tai Fung, The quality of all the dishes was amazing. 

Ding Tai Fung. Where consistently good xiao long bao can always be found. I swear it's better here than the branches in LA and Singapore. Taipei 101 has a decently large place but be prepared to wait!

Mah-lah Huo Guo (numbing spice hot pot) is a big deal here. This place was pretty good (good beer selection and good plum drink, too. Chicken feet has my seal of approval. Also, yutiau with spicy savory soup is pretty tasty! 

​DING WANG MALA GUO near the Daan MRT Station
(Detailed review and our inspiration came from here)

This place is amazing. Definitely smells like a fish market from the parking lot below, but you can find everything up above. From live octopi in crates (seriously!) to durian inside of deep-fried yams (quite tasty) and a whole lot of fresh sashimi and grilled meats served at a hipster-esque stand-up sushi joint, this place is pretty awesome. Apparently the area is sectioned off depending on how you want your meats cooked (fried, raw, bbq, etc). Definitely worth a visit!

Snacks/Dessert

Picture
Mango ice. Yum!
Picture
Ice monster is pretty famous for it's mango ice.
Shaved ice is taken very seriously here! Ice Monster (this particular branch is within 2 blocks of Taipei 101) is really well known for its mango ice.

​Night Markets

Raohe Night Market; This night market had more food than the other ones we had been to. Definitely worth going to for the fresh mochi, fried pancakes, and pan fried chicken. (There are also outfits for your lap dog....)
Shilin Night Market: Food, street performers, and clothes and stuff. Highly recommend the frog eggs drink and the torched beef here. Fried chicken was pretty decent, too.

Jiufen and Shifen: Touristy towns of Taiwan

1/11/2016

 

Jiufen

Jiufen was a Japanese colony back in the day-- made to be the example colony to show the world that the Japanese were good powers to be under. Supposedly also the village/town that inspired Spirited Away. It did feel somewhat like the movie.....

There are tunnels but I didn't get to them. However I did find a waterfall a little ways on the hill past the restrooms....

Where to eat

Picture
Picture
Chicken restaurant. Have you ever seen gelatin like this on a chicken? Yum! Located on the main street in the old town sort of halfway up the hill.

Getting here

Take the regional train up to Ruifen Station from the Taipei Main Station. Don't lose that ticket! (If the machine eats it let the attendant know.)  You'll then need to hop on a bus or take a cab.

Shifen

Picture
Picture
Picture
Pretty popular to launch lanterns here. (We launched one but I definitely had to suppress my thoughts on ecosystem impact). Didn't seem like a whole lot to do and the stores seemed to repeat themselves. The waterfalls were about a 30 min walk out and no one really felt like walking to see the "Niagara Falls" of Taiwan.

Places to go next time:

  • Abandoned Smeltery (Shuinandong)
  • Golden Waterfall
  • Tunnels in Jiufen!

Historical Taipei: The Red Playhouse, Chiang Kai Shek's House, and the National Palace Museum

1/8/2016

 
A historic theater in the Taipei Ximending area-- I noticed it as we came out of the MRT to go to Ximending (which is a local night-life/young people area). Great history (most of it was in Chinese) and there are some local artists with their wares in the back. It was built when Taiwan was a Japanese colony-- originally as a market building, then a theater, and now a tourist attraction.
Yangmingshuwu (aka Zhongxing Guesthouse) was the summer residence for Chiang Kai-Shek in the mountains of Taipei.  Full of historical photographs of meetings with important people (mostly Western powers) and relics from the Chiang's life (like old outfits and a watercolor stand)-- it was a pretty grand place (which made me wonder about how lavish their life must have been). Beautiful grounds with secret tunnels, alcoves for hidden guards and machine guns-- this is like Taipei's version of Hearst Castle.

The easiest way to get here is probably by taxi-- and there are roughly 4 tours that run every day (probably best to call them before you go). It didn't seem like you were allowed to wander around the premises.
The National Palace Museum is probably most famous for it's cabbage and pork belly jade carvings. Unfortunately the cabbage has been relocated to the newly opened National Palace Museum to the south (but they have pictures of it up in case you wanted a closer look). Really intricate jade carvings, woodblock prints, furniture, sculptures, cauldrons, paintings, and jewelry are located here. Apparently only 1% of the collection is displayed at any one time. If you walk to the library (which is across from the main building and behind the food court area) there is a timeline that shows roughly when things were brought to Taiwan from China. Basically Chiang Kai Shek "stole" the artifacts from Beijing and brought them (mostly on the beds of pickup trucks) across rafts and into a vault that's been dug into the side of the mountain. Apparently Chiang not only stole the artifacts but also stole most of the gold, which is why Taiwan was a force to be reckoned with in the late 40s.

Easiest way to get here: MRT then take a cab. There is a bus system that runs but it's quite a distance from the station and cabs are cheap.

Houston, TX: A guide to the JSC & Sugarland Area

12/21/2015

 
Texas is pretty flat. Houston is kind of like any other major city-- full of freeway interchanges, toll roads, and skyscrapers.

I however, didn't spend that much time in the city. 

I did spend a bunch of time in Sugarland (where one of my friends grew up) and at the Johnson Space Center (because, well, I figured it was worth going more than once.

A closer look at the Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Picture
A new exhibit they're constructing-- it's supposed to be finished by early 2016.
Picture
One of the tours you can hop on takes you to mission control. Unfortunately you only get to see a video feed of the newer mission control used for the space station, but there is at least the original apollo mission control (complete with ashtrays built into the seats)
Picture
Their other tour brings you to the astronaut training facility. Really impressive! (Also if you're a FIRST FRC veteran you'll probably appreciate the Robonauts' facility....)
Picture
Nicely restored Saturn V rocket. I can't really describe how large this thing is! It's amazing.

Food.

Picture
Yelp helped us find this place-- a mini container in a parking lot. It wasn't bad (though the potato salad was more like mashed potatoes that tasted like potato salad). BBQ is a must :)
Picture
You can't go wrong with this.
The food was pretty decent. I think they had the option of pho or ramen and a bunch of various Asian side dishes. I'd definitely go here again if I was back in Sugarland....

Ky Ans Kitchen- ​11134 TX-6, Sugar Land, TX 77498

Boston's Alden and Harlow and Cambridge on Halloween

10/31/2015

 
No secret burger left, but pretty awesome nevertheless. Really rich and filling food. Man those pancakes (with the popcorn) were amazing. And that pork belly, the fried bok choy.... Alden and Harlow is a pretty cool joint and I highly recommend it!

Also Cambridge had a bunch of folks riding bikes all dressed up for Halloween. It just so happened I parked on the street that everyone was taking to what seemed like the meetup spot by the river....

Toronto: Land of Amazing Food and tiny metro tokens

10/20/2015

 
No seriously, by LA standards Toronto is amazing. 

Here's a place that has basically every Asian cuisine you might have been dying to have.

For example: a Malaysian restaurant with Hokkien mee and rendang and a whole bunch of other deliciousness. (Not very creative name at South Asia Malaysian Cuisine, but oh well.)

 Crown Prince Dim Sum 
I'm pretty sure this was Crown Prince. It used to be a high-tea place but now it's just a large fancy Chinese restaurant with a bunch of fancy banquet hall rooms. It is a treat to have dimsum on such pretty porcelain plates, though!
O Mei: they really should have named it Oh Man. (Because you will be rolling out the door in a seriously satisfying food coma.)
A trip to St. Lawrence's Market: try some local cheeses, walk around downtown...

Montreal-- my first trip to Quebec province (2nd to Canada)

10/17/2015

 
Picture

Schwartz's Deli

Ok, it's touristy, and I've had better plates of beef. But it is sort of a tradition to go to, and it wasn't bad, though I don't think I'll stand in line for this place again. 
I introduced my parents to poutine (gravy + cheese on fries) and creating sandwiches from mountains of meat and potatoes. The district this place is in is kind of cool, though-- and definitely is worth a walk around!
See? Great area to walk around. These are some fantastic wall murals and great architecture. Oh, and there's no shortage of cured meats along the way :)
Crepes! There is a whole chain of restaurants dedicated to crepes and chocolate-- called Juliette et Chocolate (Juliette and Chocolate). Worth a stop.
Beautiful nighttime scenery along the waterfront. It is a walk back up a hill if you're going back into the central downtown area, so keep that in mind. Old town is very reminiscent of European cities.

La Sauvagine is a decent French restaurant (and wasn't hard to find a table at, either).

Vermont in the Fall

10/16/2015

 
Multiple people have told me that New England in the fall is gorgeous-- and to make it a point to drive up to Vermont.  So when a couple of family friends wanted to me to meet them in Toronto in October, I figured it would be a good time to go hit those backroads.
Highly Recommended Stops
King Arthur's Flour Bakery and Cafe (~1.5 hrs from Boston)
Ben & Jerry's Factory (~2 hrs from Boston)
Burlington, VT-- try Hen of the Wood (~3-4 hrs from Boston)

If I had more time, I would have investigated the Von Trapp Family lodge (surprisingly, my mom didn't care if we went there or not). There seems to be a lot of great backroads (that I didn't drive on)-- but one day I'll be back to find all those covered bridges!

King Arthur Flour

King Arthur Flour: Industrial baking, great food, and a bunch of cool things you can bring home with you! (Like flour, baking supplies, local cheeses....) Great lunch stop. My folks and I were the only non-whites there, but it was nice to see that the local senior center brought some of their seniors here to socialize and have a change of place.

​Ben and Jerry's

Ben and Jerry's-- great ice cream comes from happy cows, and this is a pretty awesome local success story. It's not a large operation by any means, but they do give you a sample of whatever flavor they're trying out that day (I think that day was like a birthday cake flavor or something). Mm fresh sugar straight from the source. Along with some prank gifts and a bunch of funny T-shirts, this was actually a surprisingly popular spot with the locals.

If you're not into being shuffled around a tiny viewing area, and really love ice cream, then just go straight to the store and order a cone (or two). 
Picture
This is what happens when I hand my camera to my mom. On the other hand, you get a pretty good idea of what Vermont looks like.

​Hen of the Wood

Picture
Just some meat, chilling out (you'll see it on the way to the restroom)
Interested in trying a farm-to-table restaurant? With great service, an awesome drink selection, and some fantastic food? This... was worth it. We luckily scored a table (I think I nabbed it 48 hours in advance) and it was on par with any of the great places I've eaten at in LA.

Note: very low light means it's hard for parents with various stages of cataract to see. Luckily, they were equipped with their smartphones. And luckier still, we weren't chased away for shining bright lights onto the menu!

Burlington, VT to Montreal

There's a lovely backroad (highway 2) that will take you up through the island that's a little north of Burlington in Lake Champlain. Worth the drive if you have some time. Lots of farms up here.
Picture

Hoi An: Where you can walk around memories of "Old Vietnam" (aka. Most colonial port towns in Southeast Asia circa 1880-1950)

7/25/2015

 
Vietnam doesn't need an amuseument park-- Hoi An's Old Town is a major attraction! It's a mixture of old buildings with lots of character, a clothing or bag store almost everywhere you look, and a ton of tourists (really, it felt a lot like walking through Epcot and could be the place with the highest concentration of white tourists in all of Vietnam).  There's even 1950s music that gets played over the loudspeakers in the evening, and a lantern celebration takes place every evening!  And if that isn't enough for you, there are Vietnamese cultural lessons (language and cooking), music performances, and more for you to "immerse" yourself in.

If you're expecting "real" Vietnam, walk a few blocks outside of Old Hoi An. Additionally you can go to Cham Island or the neighboring countryside area (aka. Marble Mountains) or perhaps a less-tourist focused city (Danang). However if you just think of Old Hoi An as its own thing (like an Asian Epcot) then it's quite enjoyable. We bumped into a family we had met in Phong Nha and they were saying that it was a pleasant city to be in because of the pedestrian walkways and they didn't have to constantly worry about their children walking around (here sidewalks are sidewalks, as opposed to scooter parking, as in Hanoi). Lots of great buildings and temples, but after a while you kind of wish there was more to the buildings than just a plaque and a bunch of tourists all crowded around (especially annoying with those selfie sticks).
Picture
All the blue dots on the map are their ticket/information centers-- in order to visit the 20+ attractions in Hoi An (old houses, museums, temples, etc) you need to buy a $6 ticket (120,000 Dong) that will allow you entry into 5 different places.

Food in Hoi An

They're famous for certain things, particularly a noodle (cua lua? it looked like not-so-soupy udon) and chicken rice (Com ga). Frankly I guess I must love Singapore's Hainanese Chicken rice (or maybe it's that chicken skin) too much because the shredded Hoi An chicken white meat just wasn't doing it for me. The other dish that I've always wanted to try (but it's hard to find and I always assumed it was an omelet) was banh xeo, a fried rice pancake with shrimp and pork and beansprouts that gets rolled with a rice wrapper and lettuce and some papaya salad. It's quite good (even if it is pretty oily). 

Places I approve of (I'll put pictures of the rest of the food up eventually):
Morning Glory/Mrs. Vu's Market/any of those restaurants-- has great food from all parts of Vietnam (very very tasty and authentic)

Streets/Streets Too which is a pretty good restaurant that takes in orphans and trains them to work in a restaurant-- they force all the local workers to speak English to each other all the time so that they become fluent enough to be able to work at any other restaurant or resort catering to foreigners.

Bale Well isn't bad-- I think we could have sprung for the chicken rice instead (Joe thought that he didn't need to try the Hoi An Chicken Rice since he's already had Singapore's version). The locals ordered it and it looked really good (though they did make a pretty good version of banh xeo). An ok-decent restaurant. 

Didn't really find many restaurants in the area where the locals went (and I wasn't sure how good the street food was in terms of cleanliness so I actually didn't have a banh mi off the street or try their deep fried shrimp pancake). The one place I found was a bit out of the way (north of Tran Hung Dao about a block west of Lao Cai) there seemed to be a place where a lot of locals were eating (I think it was close to the ride-a-Vespa-through-Vietnam tour agency).

How to get here

Picture
Great view and different feel to the city when you're on a motorcycle
Picture
The only time I'll ever ride on a motorcycle (probably)-- totally worth it!
Initially I read that folks would charge $20 (400,000-500,000 Dong) for a taxi to go from Danang train station to Hoi An. These folks stopped me on the way out and had me at 300,000 for a minibus ride-- and then convinced us to go on the back of their bikes (they had Danang Easy Riders on it-- which is sort of a group of folks who guide you around Vietnam on a motorbike). He stopped for coffee and tried to convince us to ride out to the countryside (Ho Chi Minh Trail, Marble Mountains, etc) but I was pretty tired of seeing the same scenery and really wanted to spend time at the beach and so after briefly stopping at a tailor, the Easy Riders dropped us off at our hotel and drove away. 

 

Getting Clothes Made

Picture
Admittedly I was skeptical about getting anything made (Louisa's previous experience wasn't very good and she didn't recommend it). Our motorcycle drivers were obviously getting a commission from Tuong's (located @ 67 Trần Hưng Đạo). However after some bartering (I didn't get super local prices but all things considered, it was great service throughout the fitting process).  You need to come back for a minimum of three fittings, and they had actually messed up my order (I wanted 1 shirt to be sort of a round neck blouse instead of a button-down, and had asked for non-skinny legged suit pants) but they actually made the shirt for me for free to apologize for their mistake, and kept re-doing the pants until I was happy with them (the tailor even came out to see how the clothes fit me each time I came by for my fitting). They packed my new clothes for me, cleaned up the stitching where I requested, and gave free water and wet wipes every time we came through. Overall pretty impressed with the efficiency and the quality, and now I have some custom silk shirts!

Adventures in Ninh Binh

7/16/2015

 
Picture
The view from one of Ninh Binh's famous attractions, Hang Mua.
It was quite a relaxing ride by train from Hanoi to Ninh Binh, although a bit rocky and bumpy in parts. There's rice growing all around the city!

We arrived (after a few frantic Google Maps checks to make sure that the previous 2 stops weren't Ninh Binh) around 11:30am (took the 9am out from Hanoi) and found ourselves not as close to our hotel as we had liked (apparently the train now stops at the new train station and although Google showed that the hotel is close to the train station, it didn't show both stations, just the old one).

It's a little bit eerie, stepping into this industrial countryside town. It's not quite as bustling as Hanoi and is way more spread out. It almost felt like a ghost town. I kept seeing all these folks waiting at their stores-- which made me wonder (because we did see a lot of people just sitting and relaxing in Hanoi too)-- what exactly is a typical day in the life of a Vietnamese person? Do they work? Or is it like they have specific seasons where tourists come by? In any case, it was odd, and it was a little strange to have so many pushy people try to get you to take a cab or go to their hotel. We had a tough time differentiating between who was trying to get us to buy something and who was just trying to help.

But hey, we came here for the view. (Or at least, that's why I dragged everyone else along-- I wanted less-touristy Vietnam and I certainly found it.) But as my cousin put it as we hiked up the ~500 steps to the top of Hang Mua to get a good view of Tam Coc: we tortured ourselves so that we too could take "stock photos."
Picture
It was really a lot darker than this (there was a pretty large thunderstorm rolling in-- we just barely missed being poured on by about 10 minutes).
Picture
Picture
My job is to make their lives difficult.
Picture
We hiked all the way up that switchback... and paid $2.50 to do so :P
Picture
Picture
Entering the Trang An Caves
Picture
home stretch! everyone else wanted to get off the boat sooner so they all started paddling while I continued to take photos :P
Before getting to Hang Mua (Mua Cave-- pronounced Hang M-oa  emphasis on the oa) we took a taxi to Trang An, a local limestone cave area that is very scenic (and apparently is a newer tourist attraction as it was built to attract Chinese and Vietnamese tourists around 2010. 
After all this we decided to head back to Ninh Binh for dinner. However, it was pouring by the time we arrived at our hotel and we didn't want to chance it with the lightning and thunder going on outside. Finally when it seemed to calm down for a bit I ventured out on the town with my cousins. Boy, is this a sleepy town. We crossed over the river, and noticed that there weren't a lot of restaurants so we headed back to where we saw all the people hanging out.

It so happened that we found a Vietnamese BBQ/Hot Pot restaurant (heated by real charcoal)! Missing my summer BBQ I decided we'd eat BBQ (meat!!). If we could only decipher the menu....  Many Google searches later, I'm still at a loss as to what these places are called, and what exactly it was that we ate.
<<Previous

    Adela Wee

    Traveling the world since 1994. Taking notes about the places I've been so that friends and family can go there too!

    Archives

    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2014
    December 2012

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Asia
    Caves
    Europe
    Good Eats
    Nightmare
    North America
    Ocean
    Scenic
    Shopping
    Space
    Temples
    Tips
    Trains
    Transportation
    Worth Another Trip

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • About
  • Index