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). 

A Funny Gem in Greece ;)

I know we haven't written here in over a month. but this picture just made me laugh so hard..!!! We were in Greece and if you know me, I'm one of the biggest closet pervs you'll find lmao.. so when I saw these weird manpart souvenirs, I couldn't help but die laughing. Unfortunately, I don't have many perverted friends, or friends that were recently engaged to buy this for, so Felix and I opted to take a photo of it instead. LOL!!! Can you spot them...??? ;) 

Anyways - these are some things to look forward to on the blog. I am posting these now, so I can't go back on my word: 
-Document our eats around our favorite city - Queens! We both grew up in the area and are always eating here, so we thought, hey we should probably document our favorite places! 
-July we are getting ready to hit the west coast to LA, San Fran and Napa! We'll share with you all our hot spots and what we're up to! I'm going to do my best to blog as I go so we don't get behind! 

Barcelona - Day 1

Our first time  traveling to Europe was confusing, yet so super fun! It was amazing getting a chance to explore culture around Europe and getting lost in the history of each place. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of the info on my phone that I had of our trip, but I want to be able to share the pictures and stuff that we do have! 

For your reference - we went on a Princess Cruise first where we went from Athens, Greece --> Santorini --> Montenegro --> Italy --> Barcelona. Then we spent a couple extra days to explore Barcelona :) I want to unfold our amazing summer trip for you bit by bit! 

When we got off the cruise ship, we were relatively early (9am), so no one in Barcelona was awake lmao. If you didn't know, Barcelona operates on a completely different time schedule! Pretty much no one is awake in the morning. lol... literally. Things start to open around 11am (except major sights will be open earlier). Lunch is probably near 1pm and then legit everything and everyone siestas in the late afternoon. Then dinner is late night around 9pm and people don't get home til who knows when (I don't know because I couldn't stay up that late). 

We tried to take it easy on the first day in Barcelona because it was our first day on land (lmao) and we were pretty tired from the travel the day before. Because our hotel room wasn't ready yet (still had about 3 hours to kill), we decided to drop off our stuff and explore the area. 

Because it was 9am, there were virtually no people out besides tourists like us. We opted to take some pictures and head to the famous La Boqueria Market. We loved this place so much (we were there almost every day) because of its vibrant, fun environment and your ability to crave EVERY single thing there. They have everything from tapas, to cured meats, to candies to juices. Everything was so incredibly fresh, you couldn't go wrong with any thing you ordered! Our favorite thing to order of course was their Iberico Jamon. I am not one to love cured meats - but HOLY COW. the high quality piece of heaven had us buying extra and throwing it in our bags for an extra snack later! 

The inside of La Boqueria 

Yes. We had some of these at 9am. 

Iberico Jamonnnn! 

Outside the Market

Then we walked around - we visited Las Ramblas, some other Gaudi buildings and walked around the Gothic Quarters. Let me tell you something though - early in the morning, be very careful where you walk and hold onto your wallets. Because the Gothic Quarters have a lot of super cute, narrow alleyways, they are great to take pics, but they are also great to get mugged and pick pocketed - especially early in the morning when no one is there. 

In front of Las Ramblas

Don't even know where this is, but saw someone getting mugged shortly after. :-X

We then finally had some food to eat, then checked into the hotel and had ourselves (like in true fashion!) a nice siesta. Around 7pm, we had reservations to see La Sagrada Familia, which is definitely a must see in Barcelona. Absolutely order these ahead of time and I also recommend seeing the towers (we opted for the nativity tower). This place is so beautiful - I could literally cry. The way the stained glass peeked into the building and the whole detail and architecture of it all was just so phenomenal. 

La Sagrada Familia! 

In awe of La Sagrada Familia! 

Up on the tower, you were able to see a view of the whole city as well as the gorgeous details of the top of La Sagrada Familia. Just be warned, that you have to walk yourself down narrow ass windy steps to get down! 

Top of the Nativity Tower

The View at the Top of the Nativity Tower

Afterwards around 8:30pm, we grabbed a bite to eat. We know, still a bit early, but we were exhausted! We ate ourselves many delicious tapas + of course a pitcher of sangria and then passed out. Don't worry, we'll have our favorite food posts soon! ;)