Taipei - Day 3 - Morning - BEST MEAL - Hidden Treasure -

Morning! Woke up at 730am to msn and email... see those chinese characters on the keyboard... seeing them is like seeing *stars*, they all look the same to me...

Woke up early so as to try the dim sum at Yong Kang Street - The Restaurant with the Vertical Red Signboard - Gao Ji - We travel all the way from Xi Men Ding for this, as it was mentioned in some guidebooks and forums to be good.

When we reached there, the first dissapointment - dim sum menu is not ready until 1100, so we only get to eat the limited selection of the breakfast menu which are mainly just baos (buns). Tea wasf irst served...

2nd Disappointment - Nothing spectacular... not worth mentioning...

Xiao Long Bao - third dissapointment - Din Tai Fung in Singapore makes better XLB

Black Sesame Bun - 4th Dissapointment - The black sesame filling is so little as you can see... and its not very tasty lar...

Remember this restaurant - The price is not very cheap and food is not very nice... do not be conned by the travel guidebooks, they merely recommend this just because the restaurant setting is nicer... What matters is the food...

We are determined to find something nicer along this street, no, not Din Tai Fung pls! The queue for Din Tai Fung may be long, but mostly are locals who are attracted by the nicer deco, food wise nothing spectacular too... eat in Singapore lar. So we roam around and found this hidden Jewel! Omg... This is the best best best find we had in the days that we spent in Taipei. Pls listen to me and go to this shop along Yong Kang Street! You defintely won't regret! As i am typing now, i am missing the food from this place terribly...

Note the shop name

All the baos, su, chinese pastries... and a huge pot of oil... tsk tsk.. you know what's that for... it goes into your food!

First elation - Black Sesame Biscuit

Look at the amount of paste inside... its not just the amount... the quality rocks... the moment we ate our first bite, we really go oooohh... this is soooo good in sync. Without any hesitation, we asked the server to pack 3 dozens for us to bring back to Singapore! lol. this is how good it is! It is damn good... if i were to give it a CAP score, this thing scores 5.0/5.0! Its dry and crisp outside, but the black sesame paste melts in your mouth into watery black sesame.. The aroma filling your mouth - indescribable...

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This is the address

2nd elation - Prawn Meat Dumpling

Unlike normal prawn dumpling or Har Kow, this one is so special! There is one big juicy and fresh prawn that literaly burst as you bite on it! along with minced meat wrapped in the dumpling skin. As you bite, the hot soup oozes out, just like xiao long bao, but this has prawn, and this gotta be the Xiao Long Bao that I have ever eaten... beats Din Tai Fung downright!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Eight Treasure Yam Cake - Ba Bao Orh Nee - this is steam yam cake with 8 treasures, which are Chrysanthemum, Tangerine peel, Hawthorn, medlar, wild tea, honeysuckle, cassia seed and rock sugar. The first bite into it is like eating orh nee, but with the sweetness of the 8 treasures... niceeeee... But too bad cannot bring back...

And inside has hot red bean paste that ooz out... man... nice...
Red Bean Cake - This is a Chinese cake that has red beans embedded within, and red bean paste inside. It is steamed until soft, taste sweet and the texture is kinda chewy... love this too...

I love everything from this place... but too bad i have no time to go back there again, cos we are leaving the next afternoon. Back in hotel, I made a call to this place to check out what time they open, as I wanted to buy more of the Black Sesame Biscuit back to give to friends and also to have my breakfast there again, but sadly it is only open at 10am. =(

SO do take note... This place opens for business at 10am! It is a MUST GO! A hidden treasure that not many people know... Do not judge a book by its cover...

Taipei - Day 2 - Evening - Wu Fen Pu & Rao He Night Market

Wu Fen Pu
To Boys: Don't waste your time here, there is nothing much for you over here.
To Girls: There is alot of clothes of girls, realy alot, but price wise is no longer as cheap as last time...

Cherry Tomatoes with a prune slotted inside a slit - Love this! Its so sweet, and I am amazed by how this 2 so different food can complement each other so beautifully.

Papaya milk shake? ahh..i cannot remember... they all look the same... but is definitely another nice drink...

Rao He Night Market - This temple is the icon of this market

The Entrance
Duck Neck - A lot of locals Q up for these, but the neck look so skinny, got thing to bite meh?

Sushi - which doesn't appeal at all

Fried Crabs!

See how big they are...

Biscuit... many flavours to choose from...

I think we bought sesame... it was... so so... first food in the market and it was quite dissapointing... bad start!

Doraemon lovee this! and so do I! Its Dorayaki! Japanese Pancake with filling in the center. As you can see, there is Blueberry, Honey, Milk, Chocolate and so on... and we ate the coffee one! It is very niceee... very fresh cos its made fresh right there!

Bean Curd shop

It was a damn cold night... and we were really freezing out on the street. Hoping desperately to find some hot food, and we are so delighted to spot this stall!
Steamboat at the right time!
Flavours like Ma La Hot Pot, Pig Organs smelly smelly (translated directly from the chinese words), white pepper meat, mushroom etc... we had Duck Steamboat

Sizzling hot steam boaty!

Look at all the hungry face... anw the setting of the place is quite cute la... low tables and chairs...

Duckie Steam Boat - All the duck things that you can think of, and of cos... duck blood! the sauces that comes along are very nice, i drink them! and there is free flow of cold winter melon tea...

Fried Smelly Beancurd - that is not really smelly. Those in Shanghai are way smellier... very disappointed with this...

Bing Tang Hu lu... sugar coated Haw...?

Breads... I never eat any bread in Taiwan bcos I had enough in Cebu...

Fish shape Pancake

Mochi

Preserved fruits...

Fresh Fruits

Shan Dong Da Bing - BIG BISCUIT - very difficult to see the relative size, but it bigger than the size of your head + my head la...

Fruity Ice Cream - Something like I SCREAM yogurt sold in Singapore

Fitness articles

This is not a subsidiary of EatAndTrain. I am promoting this website to you because I happen to chance upon it, and I find it very useful, and the contents are certified not bullshit by me. Therefore, the nice FoodieGymmie would like to share this with you.

http://www.fitnesschapter.com

enjoy~

Exercise...the good and the not so good.

After training for so long, seeing people transform from fat to lean, thin to muscular, but of cause there are also people who failed in their fitness goals. So i came to my own conclusion as to why some people fail and why some achieve what they want, based on what i observed and my own thoughts. I will classify people into a few categories.

(In this context, exercise means a combination of weights training and cardio exercise; Junks refers to food high in refined carbs and fats)

1. DEDE - Don't Exercise, Don't Eat
People falling under this category have very poor fitness level due to the lack of exercise. They do not literally don't eat at all, but they eat just enough to sustain life. They don't look healthy and might look scrawny.


2. DEEJ - Don't Exercise, Eat Junks
These people do not exercise but they eat junk food. Therefore they might look out of shape due to the intake of junks, and are physically unfit as well.


3. ELEJ - Exercise Little, Eat Junks
These people exercise a little, but this gives them the illusion that they had work out and thus they deserve a good treat. As a results, what they input into their body later on due to this self-created illusion is much greater than what they workout. As a result, this in fact causes them to gain fat mass instead. They might be fitter than DEDE and DEEJ, but they might not be in shape.

Very often, this is due to ignorance, as they do not know what food to choose, the time to eat, the portion etc.


4. EREJ - Exercise Regularly, Eat Junks
These people exercise regularly, but they are not particular about the type of food they eat. In terms of fitness level, they are far better off than the 3 above. Just like ELEJ, they might be eating junks without even realizing due to ignorance.

This category is rather broad, as the frequency in which they indulge in junks varies. But in general, the less junks taken, the better shape they may have.

5. EREC - Exercise Regularly, Eat Clean
These people exercise very regularly, and have a very good knowledge of what to and what not to eat. They follow a very strict healthy diet. Generally they have better overall fitness than the rest and are in tip-top shape.

There are also exceptions, as they are some who exercise regularly, but might not achieve what they want and this are very often the case and is quite common. This could be due to wrong training methods. You need the right intensity, the right frequency and the right pre/post work out nutrition.

All these categories are very general, and of cause you can fall in between as these are not absolute.

So What Are you ?

Disclaimer: These are all based on my own personal opinions and views.