Lunch At Pearl Liang, Taipei

It was our last day in Taipei and we were flying later on in the evening. Our plan was to have lunch at Din Tai Fung in Taipei 101, but when we got there and took our queue number, we were told that the waiting time could be as long as 90 minutes. Outside the restaurant was packed with people. I actually hate eating in a crowded restaurant as much as having to wait long to get a table. I dislike it when the service is compromised because of the crowd. 

Anyway, I immediately remembered a Chinese restaurant at Grand Hyatt where we dined in our previous trip. Great place, great food. I just hoped that they have a table for two. And they did.

We ordered a few dim sum dishes and a plate of vegetable from the menu. Every single dish was well made and delicious. So glad that we had lunch at Pearl Liang instead of crowded Din Tai Fung.

Breakfast At The Grand Club Lounge

I like it when I travel and am able to put together a healthy breakfast like the ones I could have at home.  We were in Taipei and that's the breakfast that came from three small glasses of muesli that the lounge prepared. I added some sliced bananas and kiwi too, along with granola and some other dried fruit.  That'll do it.

Jean Paul Hevin, Taipei 101

The last time we went to Jaun Paul Hevin was in Osaka and we had such a pleasant experience and I was excited to find out that Taipei 101 has one too. I planned it out so that we could have an afternoon tea (chocolate) there on our second day in Taipei.  I had Matcha flavor hot chocolate while DH ordered hot chocolate. We tried and shared a sliced of cheese cake and one of their chocolate cakes. They were alright but we did not find them extraordinary. I was a little disappointed but as always, I would not know unless I tried.

Lunch At Shanghai Pavilion, Tainan

We were in Tainan for a few hours only, we took high speed rail train in the morning from Taipei and went around to see a few places and had lunch there. Our hotel in Taipei made a reservation for us at Shanghai Pavilion. The restaurant is nicely located on 38th floor and we got a table by the window, overlooking the city.

Shanghai Pavilion has a large menu selection. We decided to try their Xiao Long Bao and to make sure we have some greens, we ordered a vegetable dish too.

Then for the best part, the two of us had lobster cooked with mildly spicy chili sauce. The dish came with a fried bun that was sliced into pieces. We dug in and cleaned up the plate quite well. Delish.

Finally, we felt compelled to try their beautiful sliced pork belly pyramid layered with pickles. It came with a bun. It's not bad at all, but I feel that its presentation scores much higher mark compared to its taste.

Day 2, Around Taipei 101

It was a beautiful day we had on the second day we arrived in Taipei earlier this month. The weather was pleasant and the sky was gorgeous blue.

Grand Club Lounge, Taipei - Dinner

We flew off to Taipei earlier last week and arrived in the afternoon. By the time we settled in our room, the sun has set. The sun set around 5:30 over there. We were hungry and headed to the lounge to check out when they offered. We decided to have dinner there, they had food that could satisfy our tummies. We had burger, noodles soup, salad and very appetizing desserts.

Pineapple Pastry, Chia Te

Taipei is famous for its Pineapple pastries or cakes. There are so many different brands available and many of which can be sampled in many shops around the city. The truth is, it's so hard to choose which one is the best. The pastries from Chia Te Bakery are highly recommended and their Pineapple Pastry is is one of the most popular ones and the better ones. It is almost a must to try their pastry. And try we did.

The pastry is tender and buttery while the filling is not too sweet. There's so much goodness in it. It is definitely something to come back for!

More Pictures From Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial

Now we are back in the comfort of our home and my own computer, I am able to upload pictures to my blog so much more easily than doing it from my iPhone.....

Bellini Pasta Pasta, Taipei

I am so glad that DH is over with his obsession on visiting Chinatown and eating Chinese food whichever city we go. We have been to Chinatown in so many cities around the world, let me name some; Boston, San Francisco, New York, DC, Vancouver, Sydney, Melbourne, London, Manchester and so forth. They all look similar in some way. Of course when we visited Taiwan, it's like visiting a giant Chinatown. It's non-issue. Never mind about that, DH is now crazy about Italian food. Wherever we go these days, we have to have Italian food. (Sigh......) So when we walked around and we bumped into this restaurant, we knew what we likely ended up with.  DH checked out the menu, viewed the video presentation that was set out outside the restaurant and later on told us that the restaurant was ranked one in Taipei (God knows whose ranking that way, not that it mattered anyway....)

There were five of us, one of which did not want to eat. We had a mix of Fried Chicken Wings, Fried Calamari and Fries as appetizers. (Frying for the win!! It's holiday, I am more forgiving about eating fried food). This could have been DH's great day as we also had his favorite Pizza Margherita and Spaghetti Carbonara. They all were good, but for me, a person who loves strong seasonings, I could use more salt in all the appetizers. DH should have left a very satisfied man! I hope he was!

The Bench

The morning after the typhoon when we were in Taipei, we wanted to get out of our hotel just do something, anything. A bookstore nearby was open after 11AM and we took a walk there. This interesting looking bench was found on the way.

A Fancy Hat...

When the fine day arrived in Taipei last Friday, we went to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. So were lots of other tourists. A lady was walking in front of me with a very fancy and also functional hat. It was a hot sunny day after all.

Activities Resumes

We began to see to livelihood of Taipei after typhoon Saola moved away from Taiwan and workplaces, schools and attractions were re-opened. Tourists and people in general appeared in places. Shopping malls were crowded and business was back again. Streets were filled with cars and traffic was heavier than the days prior to that. Yellow cabs made much more noticeable appearances on the street too. Life seemed to be back to normalcy again. The picture above was taken in the afternoon outside Mitsukoshi department store. It was a cloudy afternoon after a beautiful sunny morning.

Waiting For Jeremy Lin

Jeremy Lin was in Taipei and he got thousands of fans here. It was super crowded at Xi Men, the place where the fans were scheduled to see him.

Boston Cream Pie

This cake or pie (actually is a cake) was served during cocktail hours last night at the lounge of the hotel where we were staying at. The cake was fluffy and yummy and the chocolate on top was so heavenly. It's worth every calorie!

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

The sun shone this morning and the worry of typhoon was no longer visible. We took opportunity of the good weather and went to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. The driver took us there in a short time and we began our sightseeing shortly under the hot sun. 

While Waiting...

The rain and the typhoon warning continued, many point of interests in Taipei were closed. We waited. My companies played Uno until the bookstore that we were going to, was confirmed to have opened.  Thank God for Uno!

Zhao An, Taipei

Good morning, Taipei. ( the picture was from yesterday, but it looks very similar this morning too.) Typhoon morning has been issued and .... Just waiting for things to get better....