World Soy Milk King (世界豆漿大王)

World Dou Jiang (Soy Milk) King or so it says, directly translated. Yuki and I were in Yonghe（永和）during the afternoon looking for a good place to eat. But since we couldn't find anything that looked good, we decided to go to the ever famous 世界豆漿大王 (shi jie dou jiang da wang). They're famous for their soy milk if that wasn't obvious. Story has it that soy milk is not native to Taiwan, but it started in China. But during the wars between China, Japan and Taiwan, many immigrants immigrated into what is now Taipei's "New Taipei city" district. They brought along with them soy milk. And thats why most of the higher quality soy milk and famous soy milk restaurants were established in Yonghe. Particularly this establishment. Yuki has been meaning to go here, so we took advantage of this opportunity to try it out. We ordered two cups of cold soy milk, Xiaolong Bao, pot stickers and Xian Bing (餡餅). The soy milk tasted familiar, but I couldn't place where or when. Oh well. It was excellent! It has a different smokey and deep soy taste that other places doesn't have. Other places, like ones near me in Tianmu, are more sweet and artificial. The pot stickers were ok. The Xian Bing was good, but nothing to praise about. The Xiaolong Bao, surprisingly tasty! It's just about as good as Din Tai Fung! I was very surprised by this, I didn't except to find good xiaolong bao at a breakfast/dou jiang place. No lines and it's much cheaper than Din Tai Fung! MMMmmmmm soo good! I really need to have a return visit and see what other surprises they have stored up their sleeves. Afterwards, we took a long and confusing trip just to visit a eco-green Starbucks in Neihu. As confusing as the trip was, we got to explore and discover new things while walking. We discovered a Porsche mechanics shop. You know, in case I get a car in Taiwan, it has to be my favorite, Porsche. haha. And more on the dreaming, we discovered a kitchen ware store. A fairly large one with a lot of unique, imported and beautiful kitchen related plates, tools, pots and bbq grills. It was like a Taiwanese version of Williams-Sonoma. Both places were on Section 6, Minquan East road. Finally arriving at the eco-green coffee house, we got two cups of coffee and found a seat in a corner. I brought my laptop and worked on my resume. Although it was a pretty arduous to get to that Starbucks, it was nice to see Neihu. It was my first time, so I got to feel the vibe of this district. It's really more like Taizhong. Wide streets, modern buildings and much less automotive and foot traffic. It would be a nice place to live, if you had a car (Porsche ;)) and a garage. Distance to the MRT is far and the bus system is never simple. So personal transportation is a must there. Evidenced by the numerous dealerships we say from the window of the bus as we headed back home.

LEED Eco-green Starbucks (Neihu)
Southeast corner of Section 6, Minquan East Rd. and Section 6, Minquan East Rd. Lane 180
Neihu area, New Taipei district, Taiwan

世界豆漿大王 (World Soy Milk King)
台北縣永和市永和路二段284號
No. 284, Section 2, Yonghe Rd.
Yonghe district, New Taipei city, Taiwan

Secret

Last day of class. All we did was eat snacks and watch a movie called "Secret", which is a pretty good movie about a student that falls in love with a girl student. But they can't be together because of a secret that she cannot reveal to him. There's some fictional magic in there, so it makes it that much more dramatic. I can't describe it any more or it'll reveal the ending. But definitely watch this movie with a significant other. It's a great romance movie. Don't get me wrong, I love action and adventure movies too, but it's hard to accept Taiwan culture without also accepting their romance movies. This is probably a good time to also say that I'm dating someone here in Taipei. She's Japanese and if you've been following my blog, her name is Yuki. My family knows, my classmates know and so now the rest of the world now knows. Surprise! Haha, Anyways...after class, I had a dinner party with my good friend from Germany, Hanya. She's so friendly and full of life. She's such a great friend to have around and she has to return back to Germany. Taiwan and I will miss her. You really get to meet so many colorful personalities from around world here at Shida, and IT IS SO AWESOME! But the hardest part is really saying Bye to them, as not all can stay forever. See you later Hanya, contact me when you return or if I visit Germany :)

Din Tai Fung, Xin Yi rd. (original location)

Today I got a chance to go to the original location of the world famous Din Tai Fung. It's the one where you walk through the kitchen to get to the dining room. Along with my friends from the states, we waited over an hour for a table of four. Despite getting there early at 5:15, there was still a mass of people outside. So if your craving xiaolongbao from the original location show up REALLY EARLY or be prepared with cellphone games and hopefully be waiting with friends. Why would you go alone!? Well...the kitchen is no longer a kitchen. It's now partitioned with a big glass window and there's a small payment counter and a table. One single table for that lucky person that gets to eat in part of the original kitchen. The rest of us get to walk upstairs to the dining room. It's still a very narrow pathway and stairwell. The waitresses come out of a different stairwell that is so steep and narrow, it looks like they're climbing out of a cubby hole from the second floor. Moving on to the food. The xiaolongbao is excellent. It's the same great taste you get from the other locations. So if you could care less about the nostalgic feel and long wait, then by all means seek their other locations. And while your there, you definitly have to try out the red oil wontons (红油抄手). Fantastic!!!

Photos by Jeff Parker

Finally, Din Tai Fung!

Din Tai Fong is near the top of my list of restaurants to visit during my stay here in Taipei. So finally I got a chance to go there with my family (Hong-Mei and her husband). Their Xiao Long Bao (also known as soup dumplings) is amazing. We had two types, pork and crab filled. I'll let the photos speak...

Finally, they found me a local night market closer to my place of residence called ShiPai. Less than a mile walk. If I discover any delicious food, i'll be sure to post and share. Good night everyone!