[Tainan] In Two Days

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During my week-long trip to Taipei last week, I decided to take a two-day trip down to Tainan (Southern Taiwan). Two friends and I headed down without much planning, so it was very much a go-with-the-flow type of trip – we even followed a local friend to visit a chiropractor…how very random to have my first ever chiropractic session in Tainan. Anyway, I’ve selected 25 photos from my Instagram to show you some lovely bits of this city, all addresses are at the end of this post for your information.

這次在台北一周時間,雖然有點趕,但還硬是去了台南兩天一夜。和朋友訂了住宿車票說走就走,完全是無計劃的閒逛行程,還莫名奇妙跟當地朋友去整了骨。人生第一次整骨就這樣在台南發生了,也是挺妙的。總之,從我的 Instagram 裡挑選了25張照片分享在這裏,希望給以後要去台灣玩的你一些美好的期待。

1. From Taipei to Tainan via high speed train is just under 2 hours for a price of around 1380TWD, very convenient. It does take another 20-30 minutes to get to the city center via a free transport shuttle, but it’s pretty easy breezy.

從台北搭高鐵到台南不到兩個小時的時間,車票大約1380台幣(280人民幣左右),非常方便。一下高鐵就是這個畫面,你看天氣好(熱)成這樣。趕緊跳上冷氣充足的免費接駁巴士,2~30分鍾後抵達市區。

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2. We had booked 謝宅 Old House Inn as our lodging, and as one of my travel mates is a regular customer, the owner personally came to pick us up and took us to lunch. His vintage Mercedes is super stylish despite the half broken door and air-conditioning…

在台南訂的住宿是 “謝宅”。因爲同行的朋友是常客,所以老板親自開車來接我們去吃飯。這台古董 mercedes 雖然冷氣和門好像都有點快不行了,卻還是很帥啊。(老板聲明:所有客人都會得到很棒的服務,不過接送吃飯這件事情不是大家都有的…)

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3. We went to a noodle shop called “吃麵吧” (Jai Mi Ba), owned by a young chef who previously worked at Robuchon Taipei. His dishes are an interesting fusion of Chinese noodles with western cooking techniques – we tried “檳榔花烤雞醋拌麵” (dry noodle with betel palm flowers, roasted chicken, and vinegar), “海藻透抽乾拌麵” (dry noodle with seaweed and squid),“蛤蜊豆漿湯麵” (soup noodle with clams and soy milk), all excellent. We were also treated to a serving of “黑橄欖甜餡餅”, a black olive dessert which delicious as well…must order.

老板怕我們被台南中午的高溫熱死,所以選擇帶我們去有冷氣,環境舒適的 “吃面吧” 用午餐。吃面吧的年輕老板/主廚曾在台北Robuchon工作過,他做的看似是中式面食,不過融合了西式料理的手法,非常有趣。我們嚐了 “槟榔花與烤雞醋拌面”、“海藻透抽乾拌面”、和 “蛤蜊豆漿湯面”,每一碗都美味。面被我拍醜了,所以放一張最後老板招待的黑橄榄甜餡餅(好吃,要點)。

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4. After lunch, we dropped by “清吉” for some fresh fruit juices. The lady in charge was very friendly and gave me some tips as I was hesitating between different choices…eventually I went for coconut juice + pear, perfecting refreshing on this hot hot Tainan summer day.

飯後,謝宅老板帶我們到附近的 “清吉” 水果店喝果汁。老板娘很親切,看我猶豫不決很久,還給了一些水果搭配的建議。最後我點了杯清爽的椰子+水梨+一點點甘草粉提味。

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[Taipei] Jin Feng Braised Pork Rice 金峰魯肉飯

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Jin Feng Braised Pork Rice 金峰魯肉飯

Add: 10 Roosevelt Road Section 1, Taipei / 台北市羅斯福路1段10號
Tel: (02) 2396 0808
Hours: 8am~1am
Price: 50~100 NTD/person
Visited on: 2012-06

Despite how easy it is to find a decent bowl of braised pork rice (魯肉飯 lu rou fan) in Taipei, Jin Feng has impressively made a name for itself as the best place for braised pork rice in town. The street side joint is small and admittedly not so pretty, but it’s always packed with patrons who are addicted to its perfectly braised pork bellies. Let’s give it a try.

So what is lu rou fan? Pork belly slow-cooked in soy sauce and five spices then finely chopped (but not quite minced), then served over a bowl of hot rice. It’s super fatty, and that’s what makes it so delicious. At Jin Feng, a bowl of braised pork rice is priced at 25~45 NTD depending on the size of your order.

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[Taipei] Kaohsiung Oden King 高雄黑輪大王

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Kaohsiung Oden King 高雄黑輪大王

Address: 523 Bei An Road, Taipei / 台北市北安路523號
Tel: (02) 2533 6304
Hours: 10:00am~12:00am
Price: 15~35 NTD/oden
Visited on: 2012-01-25

On a cold winter day like this, there’s not much better than a bowl of oden and hot soup as a late night snack. But what is oden, you ask? This winter dish, basically put, consists of skewered items like fish cakes, meat balls, turnips, deep-fried tofu, tofu skin, pig blood cakes, mushrooms…all cooked and bathed in a savory vegetable broth. There are countless street stalls in Taipei selling odens, but if you are not sure where to go, try Kaohsiung Oden King near Exit 2 of MRT Da Zhi Station (捷運大直站) – this is definitely a local favorite.

Kaohsiung Oden King

There’s always a crowd at Kaohsiung Oden King. Most people get the oden to go, but there are a few tables available for “dine in” as well.

The stall

Let the guy with the ladle know which items you want. Point, but don’t touch. All the prices are written up on the headboard, but you really don’t have to care about how much each oden cost – we just ordered whatever we fancied, and the total came up to be only 180 NTD for two people. What a steal!

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[Seoul] Street Food

During my Seoul trip, I designated one whole evening to a busy shopping district called Myeong-dong (명동/明洞). For shopping? Nah, for the street food, but of course. Seoul is known to be a lively destination teeming with carts and stalls of snacks ranging from the traditional to the weird. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to take a picture…Continue Reading “[Seoul] Street Food”