Bodyworld visits Taipei

For those that don't know, Gunther von Hagen's Bodyworlds is an exhibit about the body's organs, bones, muscles and health. All the display models use real human tissue and muscles donated to science. It would be a little disgusting to some people, but I have no issue with it. It's been so plasticized that it looks fake anyways. Cost was $250 NT with my student discount. The exhibit was very interesting. You get to see cut outs of the human body in various areas. The liver, the heart, the brain, the bones, the spine. you can see the structure of all the ligaments and muscles and where they attach and how they work. It was a very educational exhibit about health and how the body is formed. Our human body is really a perfect miracle all working in harmony. Reading a lot of the placards, they all tell you about what your looking at and how to best keep it healthy. The overall conclusion I got was; eat healthy (low fat, more vegetables), red wine, constant exercise throughout your life, no cigarettes or excessive alcohol, lots of love and laughter and sex. If this exhibit ever visits your town, take some time out to see this exhibit. It's so unique! In addition to seeing Bodyworlds, I got to discover a new place. The National Taiwan Science Education Center. It's a 10 floor tall building with a huge atrium in the center. They had several exhibits on different floors that I did not get a chance to visit. It also has a small food court so you can grab lunch or dinner too. It's definitely the largest museum i've seen so far in Taiwan. I'll have to make a return visit to see what other exhibits it has to offer. However seeing this museum makes me want to go to the Washington Smithsonians or Chicago for their world class museums. The pictures attached are from Google, since there was no photography allowed inside.

National Taiwan Science Education Center
No.189 Shihshang Road, Shihlin, Taipei, Taiwan 111

Gunther von Hagen's Bodyworlds

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

Kuo Yuan Ye Museum of Cake and Pastry

So today, two of my favorite MTC teachers collaborated to take a field trip out to the Kuo Yuan Ye Museum of Cake and Pastry. Not only is this place a museum, but it also houses a cooking school to teach you how to make your own pineapple cakes. I was looking forward to this the entire week. From what i've been told, you need at least 15 registered in order to reserve a cooking class. So I may not get another chance to do this with my friends. We arrived around 12:30 PM at the Shilin MRT station because it's just a short walk from it. We were greeted at the door and immediately wisked up to the 4th floor. We were apparently a bit late. Oops! The class was actually pretty simple. No fancy dough needing, no ingredients. You could barely call it a cooking class. But it was fun anyways, especially with fellow classmates. Anywho, they already supply the pastry dough. All you have to do is roll it into a cigar shape and size, then cut it into thumb-sized cubes. Then flatten it and place a pre-cut pineapple jam cube in it, then wrap the dough around it. The final part is the fun part. They give you these plastic paddles with various animal molds in it. Traditionally it would have been wood. You dust your dough ball with a little flour and then pack it into the plastic paddle molds. Then you hit it against the table several times, very hard, on each side. Then flip it mold side down and give it a really HARD whack on the table to release it from it's mold. After everyone was done, they shuffled us into the museum section to learn a bit more of the history and tradition, while they took what we made and bake them in the ovens. They played fortune telling games and bouquet tossing. Apparently I'm getting married next year. First, the fortune telling. You ask a question and throw two red crescent shaped wood pieces on the ground. One up and One down means yes, everything else means no. Similar to the ancestral ceremony my family performed in Miaoli. Well the crescent pieces answered Yes. Then while I was taking pictures of the bouquet toss, it landed between my feet. And then once again, I was picked by the crowd to be the husband and throw the bouquet (I guess in chinese culture there is a male version too) to select my wife. Haha. Three times! Is someone trying to send me a message from above? We'll see next year. IF it comes true, it'll certainly make this day much more coincidentally significant!

郭元益糕餅博物館
No. 546號, WénLín Road, Shihlin District
Taipei City, Taiwan 111

乾杯! 1 Year Anniversary in Taiwan!

So today's plan is to have a relaxing day. Three things to do. Watch Transformers 3, eat lunch and find a special place to eat dinner. Why is it so special? Because it's my one year anniversary of living here in Taipei! For those of you that have followed me since the beginning know that I arrived July 24, 2010. So today, Sunday, would an exact year to the day that I have lived in Taiwan. After a lazy morning, sleeping in and missing breakfast in trade for some TV time in bed, we headed out to Gongguan. Yuki had to do get a chore out of the way first. She had to go to the Gjun office, which is a Taiwanese computer training center. She's signing up for 3DS Max classes. All the classes are in Chinese, so that'll be very challenging. I applaud her for her enthusiasm and will. Moving on to lunch, we went to a small pizza place down a small alley (not even sure it has a street name). It's a very small joint as you can see from the pictures. Seating for about 10 people. The decor, …well they tried. Fake bricks glued to the walls to make it look like an old style pizza place. But decor has nothing to do with the food. So continuing, we originally thought it used a ceramic oven, but a quick glance at the oven, we discovered it was only electric. They buried this giant electric toaster (taiwanese oven), behind a wall to make it look like it's a brick oven. Disappointing, but i'm willing to let that go because of the cheap price. Their menu consists of about 8 styles of pizza; vegetable, hawaiian, pesto chicken, mushroom, seafood, margarita…thats about all I can remember. Each pizza is about 10"s sliced six ways. All this for $100 NT. The taste conclusion, somewhere under so-so. The crust was thin, crispy and flavorless. I blame it on the lack of dough used and the electric oven. You just won't get the same flavor as a brick oven cooked with wood/coal. Even NY thin crust has more buttery, doughy flavor than this. The toppings, could use improvement. Not enough basil, not enough herbs and the tomato sauce...what tomato sauce!? The cheese wasn't bad though. I don't get that wonderful mozzarella flavor, but it was very hot and "cheesy". So overall, bad pizza. And being in Taiwan isn't an excuse because i've had decent pizza in Taiwan. But again, Taiwan's strong point is, it's CHEAP! $100NT ($20NT glass bottle coke) for a whole pizza isn't bad. If I visit again, I'll try the seafood. After filling our tummies, we headed over to the Gongguan movie theater. Student pricing, $300 for Transformers 3 3D. Although several of my friends have criticized it, I thought it was a decent movie. Tons of CG and long action scenes. Although the story may be cheesy or shallow for some people, I've been a fan of Transformers since youth, so I don't care. However I did miss Megan Fox. The relationship between Mikeala and Sam was built up over the first two movies, so it's a strong disappointment and sense of rejection over the new hot blonde replacement. In addition, her role in the film really isn't that powerful. At least Mikeala was smart, useful and independent. I've read that it was both the studio's fault as well as Megan Fox's fault for not returning for the third and final installment. In a nutshell, wiki said Megan Fox didn't realize filming a blockbuster film required hard work and long hours. What a prima donna. Anyways, if you want to watch two and a half hours of CG robots, CG action, gun-play and cool cars, then watch Transformers 3 in 3D. Otherwise save your money for the DVD. Moving on to dinner. I decided to splurge a little and eat at a All-You-Can-Eat grilled meat restaurant (吃到飽燒肉). It's in Gongguan and called 燒肉王子 (grilled meat prince if translated). The damage came out to be just under $500 NT per piggy. But the quality of the meat was pretty good as well as a wide variety of cuts. They had beef, pork, chicken, lamb, seafood and vegetables. For drinks, unlimited Taiwan beer and juices and soda. For dessert, unlimited Meiji ice cream as well as Ice cream filled grilled mochi. The waiters/waitresses were very nice and helpful, often getting another bottle of coke for me or helping me grill the meats. They also taught me how to grill mochi and stuff it with ice cream. Overall it was a very belly busting, fun and positive experience. If there was one thing I had to complain about, is the height of the grill and the exhaust hood. The grill is placed on top of the table, instead of inside a cubby hole IN the table, making it high even for someone as tall as me. In addition, the exhaust hood is too low, which means banging my head. I may or may not have a return visit, not because of the restaurant, but because $500 is about the normal price for a AYCE DIY grill. So there are other places that may be better, for the same price. Well, this has probably been one of my longer entries into this 1 year old blog. So I end it with, Cheers (gan bei,乾杯) !! To another year of food hunting and exciting new discoveries in Taiwan!

燒肉王子
台北市中正區羅斯福路四段142號
No. 142, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Zhongzheng District
Taipei City, Taiwan 100

Bacon. Bacon. Bacon. Bacon. It's Bacon!

I go to a small private gym near Shida campus. And in the back-room or changing room, there's a bulletin board with various business cards to promote local restaurants and what now. Someone tacked "Bacon" to the board. Just randomly. On a bulletin board directly across from the healthy diet papers taped on the wall. Reading brings back memories of a thick slice of bacon sizzling on a hot pan and wrinkle up as it fries. The juices bubble a little as it turns golden brown and crispy. Image that distinct bacon-y flavor of piggy as it dances over your tongue...Thought I'd share that temptation for those of you also on a diet. Haha! How inappropriate!

SushiX = Sushi Express

So i'd like to say now, for a student of a very tight budget, the ability to still be able to eat sushi is awesome. Thank you Sushi Express! Yuki and I have gone back to SushiX a few times in the past month. Since we usually go there after I get off from class, we frequent the location near the Guting MRT station. I'm still a fan of quality Sushi, but I'm such a fan of sushi, I can't do without it in my daily diet. So as my only alternative for cheaper sushi, it's really not that bad. The cuts are thick, the fat distribution is good and they seem relatively fresh. I usually get 16 slices of sashimi and 2 nigiri and a bowl of miso soup. Total cost $180 NT ($6). Wow, I think i've adjusted to the cost difference here in Taiwan. After converting the cost, $6 is hella (excuse my California slang) cheap! On top of that, I still haven't gotten sick from it the day after. Well, I think last time I wasn't able to provide pictures of the sushi, so this time I made sure to snap a few for you readers. You be the judge! What do you think, at least from a visual standpoint??

Thai night at Gongguan night market

I'll make this short. It was Thai night with friends in Gongguan. Dinner was spectacular as usual. Thai food is one of my favorites with it's many assortments of spicy and citrus-y flavors. All their curry's and pad thais, chicken, and fishes are always bursting with flavor! Afterwards we stopped by the really famous pearl milk tea place in Gonguan. They use fresh milk and their pearls are soft and sweet because it's made of black sugar (黑糖). They're always a line going down the street as people clamor for a cup of this pearl milk tea. The name of the place is Chensan （陳三＿）...I don't know how to read the last word, but you can see it in the picture. Until next time!

Really expensive macarons!

Today, Yuki had to take some photos for her travel article at Bellavita (I think). But the clerk behind the counter gave her the stink eye and wouldn't let her. So Yuki had to buy the smallest package just to take a picture. Four macarons for $90NT ($3 USD). OK, I'm exaggerating, but here in Taiwan you can get lunch for $90NT, instead of four bite sized macarons. But it is what it is, so after dinner, we ate it for dessert. I've always wanted to try it out and see what all the fuss was about, so it was a good opportunity too. Conclusion, Very good and tartly, but not THAT good! But they do look like cute, small, colorful hamburgers. Perhaps thats the attraction to taiwanese people is the fact that it's a foreign product, France, and that they're cute and colorful. For those of you that don't know what a Macaron (not to be confused with macaroon) is, here's a brief explanation before you search on Wiki. A Macaron is a sweet confectionary made of Almond paste, icing sugar and egg whites. They can be filled with buttercream or jam, however I think the one's in Taiwan are only jam. If you have some in your country, try a few out, they're delicious.

Grilling fail!

I tried the grill last night with Grace, Hatuyen and Yuki. But it failed. Despite spending so much on charcoal and the lighter fluid, it just doesn't want to light! Some of it is my fault for leaving it out for so long, that it must have dried out. But in the states, I usual buy the Kingsford Surefire stuff, and the only one I can find in Taipei is Kingsford regular. I'll have to try some different methods like newspaper underneath as well as soaking the charcoal in lighter fluid for ten minutes. If that fails, I'll just throw out everything and buy a butane gas burner grill from a camping store. My hopes of having an awesome charcoal grilling night here in Taipei may just be dashed. I wonder if anyone wants a unused charcoal grill and an opened bag of charcoal for cheap and take over where I failed? Anyone? :(

Indian lamb curry stir-fry

So today I'd like to share with you one of my favorite dishes at the Taipei Main Train Station 2nd floor food court. I did a quick search on my past posts, and I didn't seem to have mentioned this. I've had it several times, but have failed to mention it until now. But I believe I have mentioned my favorite red meat...Lamb! Succulent fragrant Lamb! And in the curry section of the food court, all the way on the left, you see a fake food display of stir fried lamb rice in a skillet. Thats the dish. I think it goes for $140NT +$10 for a cup of soda. They used to have unlimited refills, but it seems to have changed to a larger cup and no refills. Anyways, back to the lamb. Although this dish may be a far fetch from any real indian food, I still love the execution. Some fusion of Chinese and Indian. They also give you some naan and extra juices from the pan when they cook the lamb. I love adding the juices, it adds more fatty savoriness to it. I don't know where to begin to describe it, It's cheap and quite savory with tender lamb pieces. So if you like lamb and happen to be in the Taipei Main train station, two thumbs up recommendation to try this place out or at least the whole curry food court section!