Kaohsiung, Taiwan: Day 4!

Get ready for a longggg post because today was a FILLED day! Because my dad’s side is quite large, anytime we ‘re in Kaohsiung it’s like a huge party and reunion with them all. They make sure you are well taken care of - and because Felix and I only had 2 days there, they made sure to pack this day to the fullest because it was the only FULL day we had with them.

We started off the day heading to Meinong and eating lunch. The family is a very intentional about all they do - if they know you like something, they make sure it gets done, and they’re very thoughtful throughout the process. We went to a Hakka restaurant (and my mom was Hakka) and it was delicious! We had some drunken chicken, pigs feet, etc.

I’m so sorry to my cousin for this horrible photo of him lmao.

We then went to the Paper Umbrella Cultural Village which was a great place for people all ages. We were such a big group from the youngest (my nephew who is 3) to the oldest (my dad who will remain numberless) but everyone had such a great time! There are many things to do from decorating paper umbrellas, to sandart and pottery or even making your own tea! Our first stop - we all decorated some paper umbrellas, which was fun but totally not fun because I was feeling lazy and not creative LOL!

Me and Felix with our paper lanterns!

We then continued on our journey to make some tea. The guy talked SO much about the history and products which got a bit confusing because there were a lot of chinese words that I didn’t know what he was saying haha. But then we ground up the different ingredients and got to try the tea. They also brought over some taiwanese style mochis and crackers to enjoy with the tea and it was such a fun little experience!

Before we grounded everything up!

Everyone in front of the cultural center!

Because we were all quite full after the food, mochi, tea and snacks, some of the uncles wanted to take us on a scenic walk. (in the HOT HUMID weather!) We went to the Meinong Lake which was such a beautiful sight — but over a mile of walking in the most humid weather was not ideal. However, we had a blast getting to catch up with our cousins and take a nice scenic walk while we were at it. (If you ever go here, go during cooler weather… and if not, bring bug spray!)

How beautiful, right!?

Just when we thought we were done, they decided to take us to the Pier 2 Art Center to walk by the water and to shop the little stores. They have some fun street art where some was silly and some were cool! They had a really cool shop called 無關 which was like a little book store but it was dark with individual lights to show each book and item. It was a really cool experience!

Then we went to Guo Jia Zongzi for a quick bite to eat some sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves. It was quick and delicious filled with flavorful meat and gravy on top. I had no veggies in that meal, but it was worth because so good LOL!

the little shop where they are making the sticky rice right in front of you!

You would think our day was done here, but alas, it is not… because after this, we went to go get shaved ices. It’s a staple here in taiwan to eat shaved ice with various toppings like fruit, red bean, condensed milk, jellies, etc. It’s much more refreshing and less heavy than ice cream! This place is known for their big sizes (you can get a bowl for 20 people to share!) and so we carefullly opted to buy one for 7 people and we STRUGGLED to finish it… but DANG it was delicious! We got mixed fruit with condensed milk and (asian) pudding.

how good does that look!!! Underneath all that fun is shaved ice with some liquid sugars.

Like… isn’t that massive!!?? That’s only for 7 people!!!

Of course, we had to stop by the night market — it’s what taiwan is famous for! Their nightlife is fantastic and let me tell you at 10:30pm on a Sunday night, this place was still booming! It’s like a street fair where there are many little carts of little bites or meals, and plenty of things to buy from clothes, to accessories for your hair or phone and even toys! I picked up a nail clipper (lol), some awesome hair ties and clips, and some fake nails. It all equaled less than $25! Such a great value (especially since the hair clips are SO GOOD!)

After walking around and shopping, we were on a high from all the fun (I shopped while Felix played games and claw machines). Then we headed home a little past midnight and finally were able to get some rest.

I can’t believe tomorrow is Day 5 already and it’s our last couple hours in Kaohsiung! It’ll be the end of our journey with family (which I’m SO SAD About!!!)… however, I’m excited for some new adventures ahead of us!!!!

Taipei, Taiwan: Day 2!

I am writing on the third day to recap yesterday’s adventures! We had another awesome (but hot) day in Taipei and every time we are back, I forget how much I love this place!

We started off the morning, of course picking up local breakfast foods. Breakfast is always carb and egg heavy.. and SO delicious. They have lots of savory foods like noodles, chicken burgers, buns, etc. I think breakfast and snacks are my fave in Taiwan and today’s didn’t disappoint!

We then went the the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall which is just such a beautiful place to be. It’s not too overwhelming but has beautiful space and buildings that are for sure picture worthy and worthy to see! In the main building is his memorial which on the hour, they need to change the guards. They have a mini show for visitors to watch.

Inside the Hall there were two exhibits of really pretty sea creatures that were painted as well as a Garfield one. Then there was also the museum that documents Chiang Kai-Shek’s life. There is so much beauty and history here, it’s definitely a must see place in Taipei!

Me in front of the main Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial building!

Inside the main building, here is the Chiang Kai-Shek Statue that is protected by guards that change every hour.

Us in front of one of the exhibit dolphins! lol - look how beautiful they are!

After spending a couple hours there, we headed off to Addiction Aquatic Development which is kind of like a marketplace for all things underwater. You can shop, you can eat sushi standing, or you can eat hot pot upstairs, you can pick your own seafood… you name it they’ve got it. And they are seriously so fresh and delicious. We had made reservations for the hot pot upstairs because you can sit (and we were with two little kids) , but if I could recommend anything, it would be to order the sushi from the market instead. Although the hot pot was DELICIOUS, there is a minimum cover per person as well as things being incredibly expensive. Our bill ended up coming to around 7,500NT (around $250, for 6 adults and 2 kids - which is a crazy amount for a place like taiwan). This is another must go place if you love seafood, sushi etc - but definitely stick to the first floor!

Just a small bit of the spread we had. SO FULL after this meal!

Us waiting for our hot pot!

After, we went home to rest a bit. I was DYING to shower after walking around the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial. And we had to pack our stuff since we were leaving our airbnb the next day. Then we spent the evening at some fancy restaurant at a hotel (I forgot the name… and the food was good, as was service, but sometimes its just not as fun as local food!) to enjoy our last meal with my grandma, aunt, uncle and cousin from my mom’s side. It was such a short visit with my grandma, which makes me so sad, but I was so happy I was able to see her. Hopefully I will be able to come visit again soon! It also was so special to be able to see my niece and nephew with their great grandma. <3

Me, my sissy, dad and grams!

Overall, another lovely, hot day. I can’t believe we’re already done with day 2 — vacations and family visits always go so quickly! Now we’re done with taipei for now and we’re off to Kaohsiung tomorrow!

Thanks for reading! X

Chiang Kai-Sheck Memorial, Addiction Aquatic Development

Taipei, Taiwan: Day 1!

Hi Friends, from the other side of the world!

My intention for (trying so hard) to write about our travels is to not only share with you all the amazing fun things we do, but to give you a better idea of our personal itinerary to maybe better YOUR trip if you ever go to these places! Felix is very thorough in making his itineraries and we hope that it helps you better visualize a potential trip for you in the future! The only place that won’t be very as touristy will be in Taiwan (our first leg) because we are spending most of our time with family that we are visiting, so the schedule is a bit more sporatic with family visits and what not! Also to note - today I was HORRIBLE at taking pictures because I was pretty delirious from jetlag. lol I’ll get better I promise :P

ANYWAY! Tuesday (technically wed morning) we headed off to Taiwan, Korea and Japan for yearly summer vacation! First up — TAIPEI, TAIWAN! Home of my mother’s side of the family! We traveled here a day later than my dad, sister and her family, but we are all staying in the same airbnb that is near by the Chang Kai-Shek Memorial, walkable distance to the rail. It’s a great location with a lot to see and do without being too close to a lot of people.

We arrived at the airport at 4:30am and to the airbnb at 6am. We walked around the neighborhood to grab some food to take back to the apartment to eat. After we ate, I was able to shower and clean up, and Felix took a nap.

Around 10:45am-11, we headed over to Taipei 101 to eat the ever so famous Din Tai Fung! If you are EVER in Taiwan, YOU MUST EAT HERE! The lines get long, but at 11am when it first opens, we were able to snag a seat right away. Din Tai Fung is home of the original xiao long bao restaurant that was founded in 1972. If you’ve been to other DTF’s around the world, it doesn’t compare to the one in Taiwan, so you must try it! If you’ve ever eaten soup dumplings, they are delicious steamed dumplings that have a little spoonful of soup. There is a fine margin for making xlb perfect - the thickness and texture of the skin (to make sure the skin doesn’t break when you’re picking it up), the soup inside (to make sure its flavorful but not too oily), and the meat (another.. flavorful but not to greasy). DTF has mastered all three and they give you the PERFECT bite of clean but meaty goodness!

Where they make the magic happen! :P

They have a range of many different XLB including even chocolate, vegetable and chicken! You can tell what flavor you have by the little yellow cut out of the item — this one is chicken (denoted by the little chick lol)

Then we walked around Taipei 101 which has a lot of highend, pushy people, but we were able to sample some really delicious snacks such as bubble tea cakes, and sunny hills pineapple cakes. Felix was able to pick up salted egg fish skin (OMG so good!) and I was able to pick up my favorite face masks from the most pushy saleswomen ever in the world. Although Taipei 101 is a must see place, I wouldn’t necessarily set your day to shop here because this is a known tourist spot where workers KNOW they can try and convince you to purchase more. Definitely set your day here to take pictures of the amazing building and grab a bite to eat!

After Taipei 101, we walked around our neighborhood and got some bubble tea (which you HAVE TO!), stopped by some bakeries and our favorite place ever — 7eleven. This place is truly heaven which I think I need to do a dedicated post for because it’s just the best place ever! Then we went back to our place to rest for a bit (and for Fel to take his second nap)

Grabbing our bubble tea — with the huge Irvins Salted Egg Fish Skin bag LOL

When we were ready to eat dinner, we headed over to the Taipei Main Station which has a huge strip of shopping areas and we were able to get some shopping done. By this point, I was slightly delirious from the jetlag (12 hours ahead).. however this area has such cute little shops to buy fun souvenirs and what not. Then we went to the food court area to eat some dinner (asia food courts, another place where its AT!)

After dinner, we went to see my grandma for a bit which I was legitimately not able to even talk because I was now full on exhausted, but that didn’t stop us from afterwards going to get some late night snacks. Taiwan’s night life is booming with people eating late and night and enjoying themselves. We went to the Da-an district to Yong Kang Street and there were so many people! We picked up some mango ices from Smoothie House.. and then we looked across the street where there was a long line for scallion pancakes.. and according to our aunt, she said the line is usually around the block! Thus… we had to pick some up and it was AMAZING!!! Although I went to bed SO FULL, I have no regrets of eating delicious mango shaved ices with boba on it… and scallion pancake with egg. It hit the spot SO GOOD.

In front of Smoothie House!

The scallion pancake place — she got to WORK. this place was bumping and SO delicious. You know when the place is run by older women that are hustlin’ — it’s damn legit! LOL

It was really hard to adjust to today because we arrived so early and felt like we had to power through our day since we have so little time in Taiwan, but it was such a lovely day spent with family in the motherland!

San Francisco Day 1: Exploratorium, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square

Wake Up, San Francisco! By the time you are reading this, we are on day 3 of being in the Bay Area! So far, it's been a ton of walking and sight seeing, but it's been fantastic! There is so much to see! Even though this is particularly broken down for us (since I have a couple of beauty business items to attend), we wanted to share with you how our itinerary went down! 

Today's day of business: 
Exploratorium
Pier 39
Fisherman's Wharf
Musee Mechanique
Ghirardelli Square

As a Side Note: Our originally plans were different, but because I had a beauty event, we had to split it differently. If you were to do the Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Musee, Ghirardelli Square, we would also lump that with Alcatraz and maybe Lombard Street. Exploratorium is a bit further below, so originally we had that with Chinatown and Union Square. 

Parking: We parked in the Pier 27 lot (it's open, not garaged), which is kind of in the middle of all the piers, which is nice. It's not too crowded and cost $20 for a full day (self service, put receipt on the dashboard). We parked at around 8:30 every morning and there were maybe only 15-20 cars there and although when we went to pickup the car (once at 3pm and once at 8pm) the lot was more crowded, but not full. 

Traffic: We are living in the Emeryville area, so we always had to cross the Bay bridge to go into SF. When we left around 830-9 on a week day, there wasn't too much traffic, only near the toll area ($6 cash). When we left around 3pm, we got stuck in a lot of traffic in SF en route to the bridge, but the bridge itself was a bit more smooth. You do not have to pay tolls leaving SF on the Bay Bridge. When we left around 8pm, there was hardly any traffic, only a bit heading onto the bridge. 

Exploratorium:
I wasn't anticipating enjoying this as much as I did. This was deemed as  great for "kids" so I was expecting to fight kids in lines and what not. lmao. When we arrived at 10am (when it opened), there weren't too many people, so we ran to go see the different exhibits we wanted to see first. Many of the exhibits land all on one floor, easily labeled with signs. By the time we were ready to leave around 11:15am (you can easily spend 2-3 hours here, but Felix and I are always super quick in museums lmao), it was quite crowded in many of the areas (especially near the entrance and the tinkering exhibit). Also, summer camps were all lined up ready to head inside (it was a thursday), so I can imagine any later, it would be PACKED. My personal favorite was 3: Seeing and Listening since it was probably the most visually appealing and had more areas for me to take pictures lol. 

Codmother Fish & Chips
Instead of continuing to see the sights, we figured to work our way to the top, then walk our way back down, so we bypassed Pier 39 + Fisherman's Wharf and went to go eat lunch first. This was located closest to the Fisherman's Wharf and is a little Stand shop with outdoor seating. Their Cod was delicious, fresh, and flaky. I really enjoyed eating this! Usually Fish and Chips leaves me feeling greasy and heavy, but this tasted really light and airy! Because we arrived around 11 something, there wasn't a line and there were some seats (no more shaded seats avail though), however when we left around 12:30, there was a line out the fence and people had started to share picnic benches. Also BEWARE OF BIRDS if you don't like them. They are not scared. 

Fisherman's Wharf/Musee Mechanique:
Before we took another hike further along the pier, we stopped by the the Musee Mechanique. This was definitely my favorite part of Fisherman's Wharf -- probably my favorite part of the whole day. It is an old school arcade with lots of fun little trinket-y machines. Some of these were so nostalgic and some were so retro, it was so cool to play and watch little teens / kids enjoying these old school games! Plus, they were all 25-50c! 

Ghirardelli Square: 
Then we worked our way up to Ghirardelli Square -- treated ourselves to a little ice cream. It was a cute little shop where you order with the host before you sit. I was so regretful of mine (expresso chip) - although the chips were yum, the ice cream was just mediocre. Felix's tasted so much more yums lol! 

Pier 39:
Then we made our way back down to Pier 39. If you have little kids, this is probably the best pier for them. The Aquarium is here (which we did not go to) as well as the sea lion center (which IMO was so boring because they just sat there lol). They also have a 7D experience that looked relatively popular. This pier also has a ton of shopping areas where you can get souvenirs and trinkets. They had an extremely cool, nostalgic candy shop with really overpriced sweets (but was cool to look at!) and even a lefty store -- a store of stuff for lefties! lol! 

If we weren't so incredibly tired from the night before (we arrived in the middle of the night and only had about 4 hours of sleep), we would've went to eat at Sotto Mare Seafood Restaurant, but we were so exhausted, we just wanted to go back and rest since it was a decent amount of walking. We opted to pick up something to eat on our way home and eat back at the hotel. PS. the place we took food out from was Monster Pho 2 -- it was DELICIOUS! Great bang for your buck if you're looking for good value and good viet food! 

Overall a great day! If I could give any advice -- get your day started early! I always forget west coast people just start everything a bit later than east coast, so when we arrived places early, there was never a rush! (ie. leaving at 8:30, dinner at 5:30, at the museum at opening etc). Just for your reference: all the walking we did was 18,519 steps (8.1 miles). 

Kin'd Review - Queens

Fel and I love finding new little gems - and there was a new thai restaurant in the area, so we knew we had to check it out! Near us, there aren't many great thai restaurants (you have to go deeper into queens for that), so I can understand the buzz! We've been here twice now, and both times were packed (even though one time we came at 9pm ish!) 

Although the outside looks kinda cheesy... and slightly like a mini golf course, the inside is spacious and romantically lit. It's a super cute restaurant -- and great date night spot. This restaurant is managed by a group of friends from Thailand, so what you are getting are authentic meals that they used to eat in Thailand! (thought that was a cool tidbit that I found off of yelp lmao!) 

Although many of the servers seem very nice, we had very mixed feelings about them with both of the times we went. The first time we went, the servers seemed stand-offish and didn't seem to care about us, whereas the second time, our server was very attentive and kind. I'm sure they are all very kind, but it was just something to note. 

Anyway, I usually don't opt to get any drinks because its usually SO expensive.. but they have extremely great value for their drinks! Their thai iced tea, which comes in a generous moscow mule portion is only $3! :D YAS!!! The taste was perfection and wasn't too sweet (which is what I always worry about!) 

This was the one and only appetizer we've gotten both times because it's SO GOOD. These are the chive pancakes. They look questionable, but I promise, you won't regret this! They are glorious triangular chive "pancakes" which are deep fried. The outside is crisp, but the inside is chewy goodness. Not even sure how to explain how it tastes, but my best explanation is a really soft mochi with chive flavor. The sweet soy sauce is the perfect compliment to these fried treats! 

Now onto the entree! Fel got the Garlic noodles with chicken. SO good. This is very similar to pad see ew, but without so much soy sauce and more garlicky. Although it was a bit on the greasy side, it wasn't any more greasy than any other pad see ew I've eaten elsewhere. The flavor of this dish was really standout. 

My friend got the Pad See Ew with Crispy Duck. Now I LOVED the crispy duck the first time because it  had a very crispy outside with a juicy duck flavor on the inside. This time, however, it wasn't as crispy, leaving it a bit more like duck with skin. However, the Pad See Ew was very flavorful and filling. 

Then I got the Pad Woon Sen - it's one of my favorite thai dishes that they don't usually have in all thai restaurants! It's glass noodles with lots of veggies and the meat (or protein) of your choice. It has a great peppery flavor and it was so delicious - I got this dish both times I was here! -will definitely be my go to! lol! 

So would I recommend Kin'd? Absolutely! I am actually looking forward to going back soon to try some other products (really want to try their curries!). Their extensive menu has something for everyone. Their price point is rather standard (noodles with chicken are $12) for a thai restaurant here. (They also have a lunch special: $10-$14 for a salad, app and entree.) We ended up paying around 20/pp with our appetizer, meal and drink. 

You can find Kin'd: 
192-03 Union Tpke
Fresh Meadows, NY 11366

Public Kitchen Review - NYC Lower East Side

Hey everyone!!! Wow, talk about it's been a long time, huh? However, thanks to the generosity of Garnier-- Felix, my girlfriends and I were able to enjoy an awesome brunch at the Public Kitchen.. and I wanted to share the experience with you. 

The Public Kitchen is actually inside to the back of the Public Hotel located in the lower east side (near Chinatown) at 215 Chrystie Street. It serves American food but describes itself as "the best of 'New York' food, 'World Food' and all the cultures that make up the eclectic mix and melting pot that is NYC.' They serve delicious brunch as well as dinner foods. Cost of brunch meals are between high teens to mid twenties. Cost of dinner I believe is slightly more expensive. 

At first walk in, I loved the modern, rustic look of the place. Everything is so beautifully wooden and bright. It also has a stunning smoker, wood-burning oven and grill by the bar where you can watch them putting finishing touches on their pizzas! 

They had a pretty unique cocktails list, so I got the Kumquat Mojito and my friend got the Raspberry Lychee Bellini (while my other friend got black coffee and hubs got coke). They were all deliciously fragrant and had the perfect ratio of alcohol and sweetness. Serious great start to the meal. 

lol, my friend wanting to photobomb ;) -- the left is the kumquat mojito, right is coke.. LOL

We ordered 3 appetizers (and fries), 4 entrees and 2 desserts. It was quite aggressive of us, but we tackled it with determination lol. 

First up were the apps. We ordered the smoked salmon over latkes (2), proscuitto wrapped broccoli rabe (2) and fontina cheese and the butternut squash (4) and basil dumplings. They were all in the mid to high teen price range and were all relatively small appetizers (thankfully since we ordered so much). 

The Smoked Salmon over latkes was by far my favorite as it had just the perfect blend of salty, crunchy, hearty, yet fresh. It was topped with some sour cream and caviar (?) which made it such a savory treat. 

The Butternut Squash and Basil Dumplings totally met my expectation. I was hoping it would have the perfect blend of savory and sweet.. and it totally did. It was crispy and creamy. I kind of wish it came with more than four... or that I ordered it myself because I totally didnt want to share them! 

The proscuitto wrapped broccoli rabe and fontina cheese was just okay for me. They were heavy on the proscuitto which made the actual appetizer very salty for me. Hubs and girlfriends still enjoyed it, but it wasnt incredibly unique or special to me. 

We shared the rest of the entrees because we have a friend that is obsessed with sharing food.. lol! First up came the black truffle pizza with three cheese and a farm egg. I am pretty sure we all died and went to heaven eating this pizza. The pizza was light but chewy and they did not skimp on the truffle. The fragrance was strong and perfect. Usually I dont like a lot of cheese on my pizza, but it didnt overpower any of the flavors, but complimented them nicely... and of course the best part of it all - the farm egg with the runny yolk which moved the pizza from delicious --> to perfection. The only thing that could make it more perfect was if there were an extra two eggs!! 

The other entrees that came out were the rigatoni pasta with basil-pistachio pesto with caramelized brussel sprouts, eggs benedict with smoked salmon and hollandaise, and the cinnamon spiced brioche french toast with caramelized apples and crispy bacon. So first up, the rigatoni was amazing. I actually applaud myself for choosing that one! If you like pesto, you will love this! It had such a lovely blend of creamy pesto with crunchy pistachios and the mustardy taste of brussel sprouts. You dont usually see these items mixed together, but it was seriously eye opening! this chef is quite the flavor master!

The eggs benedict was honestly just standard. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but wasnt the best or worst I've ever eaten. The potatoes were also disappointingly bland.. but they did have a nice crunch! 

Lastly that french toast was thick and custardy!!!! It almost had a crispy outer layer of cinammon goodness and the inside was a thick custardy layer of brioche. My girlfriends and I were obsessed with the almost bread pudding like texture of it, whereas my husband wished it was slightly drier! However, it was delicious and came with the cutest little bottle of maple syrup!

So... you thought we were done? So did we, until the waitress brough over the dessert menu! LOL! We ended up getting the tartufo and the carrot cake. 

The tartufo had a great blend of tarte and sweet and the tarte cherry sorbet mixed perfectly with the pistachio ice cream and the crispy chocolate shell. I thought I might not enjoy it, but when I blended all the flavors together - it was quite delicious! 

The carrot cake which came with a cream cheese frosting and coconut ice cream was also very normal for me. The carrot cake was slightly dry but made better with the frosting and ice cream... but I mean, it didnt stop us from finishing it... LOL. 

At the end if it, we left with great memories, full bellies and a new place to eat at! If we're ever in the area, we would definitely eat here again! Overall, I think the 'unique' sounding items on the menu are worth trying. You can tell that each of those menu items' ingredients were carefully chosen to create a party on your palette. I wouldn't reorder 'typical' items that you can order at other restaurants (ie. eggs benedict). Although they weren't bad, there are so many other delicious items on the menu that are worth a shot. 

My faves by far were: salmon over latkes, rigatoni with basil-pistachio pesto and of course the black truffle pizza with farm egg. Oh and don't forget to try out some of their cocktails! Mine was delicious! 

Public Kitchen
215 Chrystie Street
NY, NY 10002

If you're interested, please see our 'real time' vlog of the restaurant! :)