March 15, 2011

We had to leave early for the airport but it was worth it for me when I saw the Hello Kitty Baby Changing Room, Waiting Area, and store.

Simon didn’t look like he minded, did he? Hee hee… Simon saying farewell to Taiwan for now.

Boarding for our next adventure!

Simon didn’t do as well on this flight as he only slept on takeoff and near landing. He basically stayed awake the rest of the time. But we made it!

We took a taxi to our friends’ (Peai Tean, Ray, and Reuben) condo as they offered to let us stay with them during our short stay in Singapore. We put my new luggage into our room and went out with Peai Tean and Reuben to get some things settled (phone card, exchange money, etc). These luggage are MIT (Made in Taiwan).

Simon’s first ride on the MRT to our dinner date.

We were meeting with some of my other ex-coworkers at New York New York at Jurong Point. We go there early so did some grocery shopping for Simon for snacks, strawberries, blueberries, and milk. Simon napped a little at the table before our friends came.

We met Samuel for the first time. He is about 1 week younger than Simon.

Simon had his own meal of chicken nuggets. He shared a bit with Samuel.

I had the crispy fish burger.

Simon’s new phone from Auntie Suanty. She actually got this phone for her son Samuel because he was always wanting to play with her phone. It’s one of those dummy phones from the Singtel store which she got for free.

Hi!

Simon and Samuel had a little bit of a confrontation. Samuel hits Simon. Simon gives Samuel a dirty look. Simon grabs Samuel’s shirt. But then they make up by holding hands.

They both really like the dummy phone.

Thank you Mei Lian, Suanty, and Samuel for coming out! It was great to see you all!

We couldn’t end the night so early so also went for some dessert.

Strawberry Mango snow ice. Very thinly shaved and delicious.

I had mango with tapioca and grass jelly.

A nice way to end our first day in Singapore.

March 14, 2011

This morning we ate at a better rice roll place. It is near the 7-eleven near our hotel. Ron’s mom mentioned it yesterday but we had already bought our breakfast so we went in search of it today. They were sold out of a few items already so those must have been good. This one had much better pickled vegetables and a crispier dough stick.

Today was pamper mommy day. Well, at least pamper mommy’s hair day. I haven’t had a hair cut since before Simon was born and haven’t had a color either. My white hairs seem more visible lately now too. So I thought it’d be nice to have my hair done while in Asia. Ron had to do the translating for the stylist and it turned out pretty nice. First round of coloring.

While I was being pampered, Ron and Simon waited around and also went out to get something to drink. Here Simon is with the bubble tea logo. Don’t they look alike?

Completed color, cut, and style. Not sure if I’ll be able to restyle it this way or if I’ll have time… but at least it will be like this for about 3 days since I’m not allowed to wash my hair so the color will last longer.

Simon was really tired once I was finished and fell asleep quickly in my arms. Here is the color of my hair in the daylight.

We met up with Ron’s mom and went to lunch at the original Din Tai Fung.

Fresh cucumbers with slight spiciness.

Simon checking out the menu.

Truffle dumplings… mm-mm good!

Shrimp and winter melon.

Crab.

Original flavor.

Din Tai Fung mascot.

Then we went to do some shopping, looking for baby stuff. We happened along to the hospital where Ron and his brother Henry were born.

After finding some educational toys for Simon, we headed to Raohe St Night Market to meet up with Grandma Chung’s youngest sister and niece. We had some beef noodle soup for dinner.

Ron’s cousin has this very unique pet called a sugar glider. According to wikipedia, it is a popular pet in the US but I’ve never seen one… maybe because people don’t bring them out of the house and they sleep during the daytime… it’s pretty cute.

We had plenty of snacks during the night including this okonomiyaki-like item.

It was piping hot and the wasabi gave it a nice kick.

The famous fried stinky tofu. We each had our own plate. Although tasty, it could be improved by smaller pieces of tofu and a thicker sauce. The tofu was quite airy so soaked up the sauce pretty well but was difficult to eat because each piece was so large and the outer shell kind of tough to chew through. Maybe local Taiwanese have sharper teeth?

About to leave the night market.

Thank you Auntie and Cousin Tina for coming out to hang out with us.

We went back to the hotel so Simon could get some rest before our early morning flight to Singapore tomorrow.

March 13, 2011

Today we went to visit Ron’s aunt on his dad’s side that lives in Taichung. We started out the day with some breakfast. Simon liked the pineapples.

We also found a rice roll stand near our hotel. It’s not really packed like a roll, more like a massive ball. This one has pork chop inside although with the regular dried pork meat, fried dough stick, and pickled vegetables.

Grandma Chung met up with us at the train station to accompany us to Taichung. Simon and Grandma waiting. We bought him this hat last night while in Danshui. To protect his head from the rain and or shield his eyes from the sun.

For the train, Simon had his own seat… sort of. He fit perfectly on the tray table and was still under the weight limit.

He had a little snack during the ride.

We made it to Taichung and were picked up in two cars by Ron’s cousins.

They treated us to some special mochi stuffed with cake and fruit filling.

Plus Simon enjoyed some fresh fruits, including the baby bananas. Simon and Ron’s niece enjoyed a banana together.

Then we all headed out for some lunch. Simon let Auntie hold him for a few minutes.

We had some wah guay and ba wan.

The yummy filling in the ba wan.

The kitchen in front where the ba wan are keeping warm in the vat of oil.

Definitely a yummy place. The best wah guay and ba wan that we’ve had this trip.

Nap time on the way to our next destination: Lugang, Changhua

When we got there, we briefly visited the temple and walked around to get some snacks. This is a green onion pastry, it is sort of like a stuffed cinnamon roll. It’s stuffed with green onions and served pretty hot.

This is 2 scoops of ice cream with some peanut brittle shavings wrapped in a crepe.

All the eating wasn’t just for us. We bought Simone a cup of these tiny but very sweet strawberries. He loved them and almost ate the whole cup by himself. He shared a few with us and with the little cousin that was with us. He also was fascinated by this water decoration and let out a few squeals.

We also stopped for a late afternoon snack of oyster pancakes.

Plus a mixed plate of other fried goodies: tofu, turnip cake, and some green vegetable.

Ron doesn’t like oyster so had a shrimp pancake.

Heading back to the car. This hat was useful today since it was unusually warm today.

They dropped us off at the train station but we weren’t able to get tickets back to Taipei for another hour. So we ended up waiting there and snacking on some mini croissants and saving some for breakfast.

As the sun was setting, our train was about to come.

Simon was a bit restless in the train. Thank goodness it was only about an hour and 30 minute ride.

We met up with our old Singapore flatmate Justine for dinner. Along our walk to find a place to eat, we came across the Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe.

Too bad no time to eat this time around.

We also ended up walking around a lot because Justine was going to help me find a hair salon to have my hair cut and colored. Unfortunately it was too late to do anything tonight but she did find a place for me to have it done tomorrow. So instead, we found a place to have dinner. She says she used to eat at this place when she was younger since she lives nearby.

Cold appetizer of cow’s stomach.

Beef noodle soup with fresh knife cut noodles. Not what I expected for the noodles since when they are “knife cut”, I imagine them smaller. But they had a nice chewy texture to them and the beef was really tender.

Ron had the ja ja mien.

Plus this beef roll.

And one fried meat pie.

We’ve been eating a lot. I wonder how much weight all of us have gained…

March 12, 2011

Our friends Mavis and AC wanted to take us out and about today so we met up with them near their house for breakfast first. Finally good egg crepe!

Good rice milk and good soy bean milk.

Ron’s favorite petal bun with fried dough stick.

Come here, highly recommended. They also have delicious green onion bread.

We visited their home briefly since their son was staying home sick and to borrow some warmer clothes for Simon. Most of his clothes were dirty and he only had clothes left for warmer weather (for when we go to Singapore) so Mavis let us borrow some of her son’s old clothes.

We went for lunch at Smoky Inn Restaurant, a German restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Amazing sausages with that nice snap! when you bite into them. Also an interesting duck breast dish with red cabbage, a bit tough but tasty.

After lunch, they took us for a drive to Ju Ming Museum, a famous Taiwanese sculptor. If you can find your way there, it’s worth a visit. He has some pretty interested pieces, many carved from styrofoam then bronzed. He has quite a few sculptures related to the military. These are paratroopers.

A soldier in a cage.

Attention! (There is actually an empty slot on the other end for you to insert yourself for a photo).

There is also a Children’s Play Area. Inside there is this map you can draw on… unfortunately I did not write dark enough but the green arrow to the right is from me and it says “Simon from California”.

Outside the children’s play area is this water painting wall. You use water to draw and as it evaporates, it disappears. Their daughter Jasmine drew the fish. I forget why we made Simon = the fish…

Ron as a paratrooper!

There is also a garden of tai chi statues.

The sculptor seems to have a sense of humor as he created this piece with spaces for you to join in the line-up.

Hmm… marriage = prison?

Simon was pointing at this plane.

We went for a tea break and had an egg custard. Simon was curious.

He really enjoyed eating it.

Watch him munching away.

I had a lavender milk tea to wash down the custard.

We then checked out other parts of the museum. We came across Albert Einstein and kept ourselves dry underneath his umbrella.

Then there was some random wall art.

Then inside the lobby before heading out.

A little nap on the way to Danshui.

We had a light dinner of pork buns and soup with wonton and stuffed fish balls.

Simon liked the broth but not the stuffed fish balls.

We walked around and played some of the games, did some shopping, and had more snacks. This is chinese sausage stuffed with green onions.

This is ba wan using a reddish tint seasoning and only meat, no mushrooms and very finely diced bamboo.

Deep fried mushrooms.

Last dessert of the night: Japanese pancake with green tea ice cream and red bean.

Mavis and AC dropped us off back at our hotel to get some rest. Thank you for taking us all around today and showing us some new things. It was lots of fun and now we were exhausted and ready to rest of the night.

March 11, 2011

Simon getting his groove on!

We met up with Grandma Chung for breakfast at the home of soybean milk.

But actually we didn’t think it was very good. The traditional way is to have the soybean milk with a bit of burnt taste, not pleasant tasting to me. The other breakfast items on their menu weren’t that tasty either so not sure if we’d ever go back to this place again. We went to catch the MRT to go to some shopping areas.

Simon went to a Mitsukoshi Department Store and Simon had his first experience with trying on shoes.

We bought him these pair of blue sneaker-like shoes. The brand is IFME (Japanese) and very well designed. It has velcro on each side of the shoe so you can tighten on both sides so his shoes will stay on tightly. We ended up buying a little bigger size to accommodate socks and his growing feet. I think they are 17cm.

In the toy department, Simon saw a model train set and started saying “chugga chugga”. He’s kind of quiet in the video.

Then we headed to Xi Men Ding to do some shopping. On our walk there we stopped by to have this meat pie. It’s pretty amazing to watch them make it since they stuff so much filling into it. It’s super hot and delicious when you buy it fresh.

At Xi Men Ding, I found these super cute shoes… and in my size! I have the white pair.

We walked around and did some shopping. It was a bit drizzly but at least not raining cats and dogs. We stopped by to have some noodles for a late lunch. This is when we saw the news of the big earthquake that hit Japan. We were lucky to not be affected and relatives in Hualien were unharmed. The footage of the aftermath was amazing and alarming at the same time. Only time will tell how much damage was really done but we hope that relief will come soon for the survivors.

Then we headed back to the hotel area and while walking around to buy diapers, we encountered this stinky tofu stand.

A little pre-dinner snack of stinky tofu and Taiwan beer.

Then we headed to Taipei 101 to have dinner with the Ou-Yangs, founder of ANKO, Ron’s parents work with them. They also invited my parents to join for dinner. We took the MRT near Taipei 101 and ended up walking a few blocks to the actual building. It was a foggy and drizzly evening.

We had dinner on the 85th floor at Shin Yeh, a Taiwanese food restaurant. It’s a bit confusing to find the elevators so it’s best to ask someone. We entered through the mall, had to go to the 4th floor, then take elevators to the 2nd floor, then check-in before they would allow us to the elevators to the 60th floor, and finally took another set of elevators to the 85th floor. We had quite the meal there.

Pickled grapes, Cucumbers, and ?. Appetite stimulating.

Chilled, braised abalone, pork sausage, and mullet roe roulade.

Double boiled fish maw with dried scallop, chicken, pork ribs, and mushroom.

Golden fried king prawn dressed with shrimp mousse and almond slices (it looks kind of like a koi fish to me)

Steamed fillet of cod fish with scallion and sweet soy sauce.

Wok fried pea sprouts with sun dried scallops.

Steamed glutinous rice dumpling.

Seasonal fresh fruits and a pineapple cake.

Sweetened almond “tofu” with peaches in syrup. I think they wrote “tofu” in parenthesis because this was actually tofu “jelly”.

Simon was a very good boy during the dinner. Other than he convinced Mrs. Ou-Yang to give him her strawberries from her vegetarian dish and then running around the room because he was bored… he was good by normal standards.

Looking out from the 85th floor window.

The Ou-Yangs treated us to this wonderful dinner. A big THANK YOU from all of us!

Simon seems to have really taken to the Ou-Yangs because after dinner he let them hold him and even smiled for the camera.

Tonight was also bye bye for now to my parents as they are leaving for Hong Kong tomorrow.

Outside Taipei 101.

Resting after another rough day of being a baby.