You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘vacation’ tag.
I had so much fun on my trip. I don’t even know where to begin. I started my vacation with the intention of blogging photos of each day, but *pffffft*, that obviously DID NOT happen. Every day was like a whirlwind, & by the time I had gotten back to my hotel room, it was extremely late & I was exhausted. My two friends who got married had a beautiful wedding (with a few very minor glitches). I have never experienced a half traditional Taiwanese , half Western mixed wedding before, & my friends pulled it off wonderfully.
One part that really amazed me was that my male friend was asked to sing a song during the wedding reception. According to my female friend (who is Taiwanese), it is part of a newer type of wedding tradition where the groom is required to prepare & choreograph a special song (of one’s own choice) & sing to the new bride. I was so happily surprised to see my male friend, who is usually quite shy, get up to sing in front of the entire wedding party. He chose to sing a popular/well-known Chinese pop song, & he sang the lyrics in Mandarin…which was a feat by itself, since my male friend mainly speaks Cantonese & English & was not very familiar with the Mandarin language until he met his new bride. He was really great with the choreography too!
Overall, all of us as a group had a really awesome & memorable experience in Taiwan. For some of us, it was a first-time experience. For others, it was like visiting familiar territory. I didn’t go as crazy with the food eating as I had initially thought I would. However, I DID go a little buck wild with the shopping. I really wasn’t expecting to do that much shopping in Taiwan. I gave myself a budget (I did stick to it) & had planned to spend a majority of my shopping budget in Japan…but I could not resist all of the cute stationery popping up around every corner! I ended up purchasing quite a bit of postcards, greeting cards & sticker sets. (Yes, I was a bit of a naughty girl.)
I have a special use for all these things, I promise!
Here’s a quick rundown of all the things that happened on the Taiwan leg of our Asia tour…
A glimpse at the food we ate:
-
- 1
-
- 2
-
- 3
-
- 4
-
- 5
-
- 6
-
- 7
-
- 8
-
- 9
-
- 10
-
- 11
-
- 12
-
- 13
-
- 14
-
- 15
-
- 16
-
- 17
-
- 18
-
- 19
-
- 20
-
- 21
-
- 22
01. Won Ton soup noodles
02. Ramen Kagetsu Arashi (花月嵐拉麵) – tonkotsu ramen with onsen egg
03. Japanese beef curry with rice
04. Lion Head meatball (獅子頭 – shi zhi tou)
05. Locally farmed organic chicken with sliced green onions
06. Mini soup dumplings (小籠包 – xiao long bao)
07. Rao He night market – a very popular fried bun filled with minced pork & veggies
08. Fong Da cafe latte – this place is very famous & has been open since 1956!
09. Ice Monster red bean shave ice with ice cream & condensed milk
10. Ice Monster (very popular) mango shave ice with mango sorbet
11. All-you-can-eat hot pot – side A = spicy broth, side B = mild broth
12. You can choose up to 3 types of broth for your hot pot!
13. We celebrated our dear friend’s birthday with a tiramisu Mille Crêpe cake!
14. Believe it or not, Taipei is known for some really good Japanese sushi spots. We topped off our sushi extravaganza with some Negi Toro hand rolls.
15. We visited a 50+ year old beef noodle soup shop to have 紅燒牛肉麵 (hong shao niu rou mian – red roasted beef noodles).
16. Yes, we also tried Shanghainese food in Taiwan. This was some good slow cooked beef with some veggies in a delicious broth.
17. Didn’t get enough veggies yet, so we ordered a steamed cabbage dish
18. Shredded chicken noodle soup
19. Shredded bean curd served cold
20. Small river shrimp with a special vinegar sauce for dipping
21. The best thin rice noodles I’ve ever had at the 阿宗麵線 (Ah Zong Mian Xian – Ah Zong Noodle Line) food stall. No tables, no seats. Everybody just stands around the shop & eats on the sidewalk. You can add your own fresh mince garlic or special hot chili sauce.
22. A plate of duck with a bowl of soup noodles at 鸭肉扁 (Ya Rou Bian – Duck Meat Slice). I found out recently that the meat is actually wild goose, not really duck.
MORE PHOTOS AND INFO TO COME…
Photos courtesy of: http://www.walllbase.cc
The time has finally arrived! Tomorrow, I am jetting off to Taipei, Taiwan. I am incredibly thrilled to attend my friends’ wedding. (We are close friends with both the bride & groom.) Also, being able to visit a place I’ve heard so much about since my early childhood is exciting. I am so ready for this trip… I can’t wait to post photos soon!! Cheers.
My friends are getting married in two weeks. They are hosting their wedding in Taipei, Taiwan. I am so excited to be visiting Taipei for the first time in my life. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve heard so many awesome stories from my mom (who grew up there by the way), & I’ve always hear from my relative about how mind-blowing incredible the food is. I’ve been eating Taiwanese influenced food my entire life, so I’m really pumped up to be trying the real deal while I’m over there. Also, I’m so extremely excited that both of my friends are finally getting married…& that I get to go on an epic trip with all of my closest friends!
[ I remember my friends’ proposal like it was yesterday. Our whole circle of friends went to the San Diego Comic Con in 2011. In the spur of the moment, our male friend (the fiancé) had asked us to help him stage the proposal on the beach. We only had a couple of hours to pull the whole thing together, including: 1. helping him write her (the fiancée) a letter/message in a bottle, 2. get an empty wine bottle to stage a scene on the beach where they would randomly find said bottle, & 3. (the most tricky part of all) film the whole proposal with a friend’s Pro photography camera without her knowing they were being filmed. We somehow managed to make it work with our extremely limited resources, & voila! Our friends are finally tying the knot. ]
Not only will this trip be for our friends’ wedding, but it will probably be the last major trip my husband & I will take for a long time because after this, we are going to anchor ourselves down & get the ball rolling on continuing the family tree (if you know what I mean). [Bow-chicka-wow-wow!] After our friends’ wedding, my husband & I are going to stay in Taipei for a few extra days, then jet off to Tokyo, Japan to visit an old friend of mine as well as my cousins & my last surviving uncle (from my dad’s side of the family). Before we head off to Tokyo, we’ve got quite a bit of sightseeing to do in Taipei, since it’ll be our first time traveling there. I am definitely planning to take a lot of pictures, which I hope I will have time to upload on to this blog. *Fingers Crossed* Also, my mom has given us a laundry list of things to do on her behalf (e.g. take a picture of her alma mater college, visit the national museum, have lunch with one of her friends…whose nickname is Little Horse in Mandarin. I kid you not.)
After our little excursion in Taipei, we are off to Tokyo. This time we are going there with two of our closest friends (my husband’s best friend & his wife…who is a close friend of mine as well). We are all very excited to visit new neighborhoods & try new things this time. However, as per my usual routine, I must visit at least one or two of my cousins & I must visit my grandparents in their final resting place to pay my respects. Also, I will be meeting up with a longtime friend of mine (whom I’ve known since Kindergarten), & I couldn’t be more thrilled to see her after 5 years. We’ve both been very busy with work & family, so it’s been difficult for us to keep up regular contact with each other. This time in Tokyo, we are going to take it easy, go slow & really soak up all of the fun. I’m usually more of a fast-paced kind of girl when I’m on vacation. I want to cram in as much things to see & do in one day as I can, but this time my husband has convinced me to just slow down & really enjoy my time…for this may be my last overseas for a long time. Like always, I’m going to be taking photos galore in Tokyo, & like I said before, hopefully I’ll be able to upload them when I can.
I am so excited for this trip, I can hardly wait.
Rabbits & Foxes 
You must be logged in to post a comment.