Taiwan Trip

TRIP TO TAIWAN

Flight to Taiwan Via Singapore Airline.

With in flight entertainment available, passengers on board will be able to immerse themselves in over 1,000 entertainment options (movies, music, games and etc) available on Kris World which is accessible via both a touch screen handset or the personal 11.1-inch touch screen monitor.

Beside those you can also make use of the USB ports which is conveniently located under the monitor to charge personal devices such as iPhone, iPod and etc during the flight in their new Economy Class cabin.

Meals on Board

After the flight take off about 15 minutes or so, the cabin crews will start serving beverages like water, juice, beer or wine together with a pack of nuts or crackers to go with the drink(s).

[Singapore Airlines] Meal On Board - Adult Menu

[Singapore Airlines] Meal On Board
- Snacks and Beverages

Stay connected

Pre- Paid Micro Sim Card

[STAY CONNECT] When you arrived to the Taoyuan International Airport, first thing we do is to purchast this 'pre-paid micro SIM card' which comes in handy for us to stay connect via their 10 DAYS unlimited data usage at NT$800 (AUS $28.65). You can purchase this at their mobile network kiosk using your passport upon arrival at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after you clear the immigration custom.
Personally I find their network coverage is still quite good even at high mountain area when we stay at Sun Link Sea Resort, Nantou (Taiwan). Furthermore you can even share the network data between you iPhone and iPad using the "hotspot" function like what I did for my boy's iPad.

Food In Taiwan

After traveling about 45 minutes away from the Airport, we stop over at Ching Hwa Restaurant (锦华大饭店) for dinner before heading to Wu Fen Pu (五分埔) wholesale centre for our 1st shopping spree in Taiwan. Dinner for the night comes in 10 course dishes with one of their famous local dish known as Wuxi Paigu (無錫排骨) but unfortunate I did not snap photos for the rest of the dishes because everyone is hungry and I don't even get a chance to take a shot before they are gone.
Ching Hwa Restaurant
锦华大饭店
10447 台北市新生北路
2 段 28 号 2 楼
Telephone: (02)2522-1100
Website: www.jeanhwa.com

1. Braised pork rice (滷肉飯)

"Where there's a wisp of smoke from the kitchen chimney, there will be lurou fan [braised pork with rice]," goes the Taiwanese saying.

The popularity of this humble dish cannot be overstated.
"Lurou fan" is almost synonymous with Taiwanese food.
The Taipei city government launched a "braised pork rice is ours" campaign last year after Michelin’s "Green Guide Taiwan" claimed the dish was from Shandong Province in mainland China.
A good bowl of lurou fan comprises finely chopped, not quite minced, pork belly, slow-cooked in aromatic soy sauce with five spices.
There should be an ample amount of fattiness, in which lies the magic.
The meat is spooned over hot rice.
A little sweet, a little salty, braised pork rice is comfort food perfected.

Jin Feng Lu Rou Fan (金峰滷肉飯)

10 Roosevelt Road, Section 1, Jhongjheng District, Taipei City; +886 2 2396 0808

2. Beef noodle (牛肉麵)

You know a food is an obsession when it gets its own festival.

Beef noodle soup inspires competitiveness and innovation in chefs. Everyone wants to claim the title of beef noodle king.

From visiting Niu Ba Ba for one of the most expensive bowls of beef noodle soup in the world (TW$10,000) to a serendipitous foray into the first makeshift noodle shack you spot, it's almost impossible to have a bad beef noodle experience in Taiwan.
Lin Dong Fang's beef shanks with al dente noodles in herbal soup are a perennial favorite. The streetside eatery’s secret weapon is the dollop of homemade chili-butter added last.

Lin Dong Fang (林東芳)

274 Bade Road, Section 2, Jhongshan District, Taipei City; +886 2 2752 2556; Niu Ba Ba (牛爸爸), No. 16, Alley 27, Lane 216, Section 4 Zhongxiao Donglu, Da'an District, Taipei City; +886 2 2778 3075/ +886 2 8771 5358

3. Oyster omelet (蚵仔煎)

Here's a snack that really showcases the fat of the land in Taiwan. You've got something from the sea and something from the soil.

The eggs are the perfect foil for the little oysters easily found around the island, while sweet potato starch is added to give the whole thing a gooey chewiness -- a signature Taiwan food texture.

No wonder the soup was voted best snack to represent Taiwan in a poll of 1,000 Taiwanese by Global Views Monthly a few years back.

Lai's Egg Oyster Omelet (賴記雞蛋蚵仔煎)

Ningxia Road Night Market; +886 2 2558 6177

4. Bubble tea (珍珠奶茶)

Bubble tea represents the "QQ" food texture that Taiwanese love.
The phrase refers to something that is especially chewy, like the tapioca balls forming the "bubbles" in bubble tea.
It's said this unusual drink was invented out of boredom.
Liu Han-Chieh threw some sweetened tapioca pudding into her iced Assam tea on one fateful day in 1988, and a great Taiwanese culinary export was born.
Variations on the theme include taro-flavored tea, jasmine tea and coffee, served cold or hot.

Chun Shui Tang teahouse (春水堂)

48 Yi-shu St., Longjing, Taichung County; +886 4 2652 8288

5. Milkfish (虱目魚)

How popular is milkfish in Taiwan?

So popular that it has its own themed museum in Anping and there's a milkfish cultural festival in Kaohsiung.
The bony fish might pose a challenge for amateurs, but it’s loved for its tender meat and economical price tag.
Milkfish is prepared in numerous ways -- in a congee porridge, pan-fried, as fish ball soup or braised.
For home-style preparation, retro Izakaya-style restaurant James Kitchen serves pan-fried milkfish with lime. A bowl of scallion lard rice is a great complement.

James Kitchen (小隱私廚)

65 Yongkang St. Da’an District, Taipei; +886 2 2342 2275

6. Slack Season danzai noodles (擔仔麵)

You've gotta love a place called Slack Season, and it should be one of the first pit stops on any culinary trip to Taiwan.

The iconic eatery originated in Tainan about a century ago. A fisherman sold noodles during the slack fishing season and the joint became so successful he quit his original trade altogether.
The signature bowl of Slack Season noodles is served in shrimp soup with bean sprouts, coriander, minced pork and fresh shrimps.
The bowl of comforting flavors is so addictive that a man from Tainan supposedly ate 18 bowls in a row at the restaurant.

Slack Season Tainan Main Store (度小月)

16 Jhongjheng Road, Tainan City; +886 6 223 1744;, see website for details of other locations.

7. Pan-fried bun (生煎包)

Like the fluffiness of cake and the crunchiness of potato chips? The pan-fried bun gives you the best of both worlds.

The buns are made with spongy white Chinese bread that is pan-fried on the bottom. Break one open to reveal the moist porky filling.
A Shanghainese staple, the Taiwanese version differs in two ways: it's slightly bigger in size and it hits the pan upside-down.


Hsu Ji (許記), Shida Night Market

Taan District, Taipei City; +886 9 3085 9646

8. Pineapple cake  (鳳梨酥)

This iconic Taiwanese pastry -- mini-pies filled with candied pineapple -- is one of Taiwan's best food souvenirs.

For one of the best pineapple cake experiences, try SunnyHills, which uses only local pineapples. The result is a darker filling, rougher texture and a sourer taste.
The pies at other shops are filled with a mix of pineapple and chewable bits of winter melon. They have a fruity sweetness and a golden casing of crumbly, buttery pastry.
Stores that replace pineapple completely with winter melon to cut costs are committing a big no-no.

SunnyHills (微熱山丘)

1/F, No. 1, Alley 4, Lane 36, Section 5, Minsheng East Riad, Songshan District, Taipei City; +886 49 229 2767

Start shopping

Wu Fen Pu Wholesale Centre

Since Wu Fen Pu (五分埔) is pretty near to the restaurant where we had our dinner; Tony, our tour guide decided to let me have an hour to shop around the wholesale centre before heading back to our hotel. Since this is our 2nd visit to Wu Fen Pu we are quite familiar with the surrounding which has rather similar layout and concept like the Chatuchak Weekend Marketin Bangkok.

If you are traveling on Free and Easy Trip, you can get to Wufenpu by either MRT via Houshanpi Station (台北捷運藍線後山埤站) or Train at Songshan Station (松山車站) and take a short walk 5 - 10 minutes walk to reach the destination.

Wu Fen Pu is like a maze where there are rows of shops selling similar stuffs like female/male clothing, shoes, accessories, bags and etc. So it will be good if you can find a central mark/shop to start with then follow the lanes along so that you won't be going round and round the same area (because most of the shops look quite similar too). On a side note, since this is a wholesale centre try to gather your purchase for clothes / items in bulk like 10 pieces or more (sharing between friends) to get a cheaper price.

Suzanne Ho

Reference:

http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/asia/taiwan/
http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/
http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002033
http://www.ellenaguan.com/2013/12/day-1-our-family-trip-to-tawain-2013.html
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0FDVl1EZXNpgGj4wGLJ4p5HEsjLoYtGB7iKSg3OLP4prmMjjhZy6uDI6AQ0j2wmVYMQgQ2SK5Lag4Rzv_2FU8S1qIA-1h2sKDZfnffHPd33FA6YF5343kL2XrUBxI9zenIp5EhISOuESX/s1600/TW+Day+1+-+1B-8.JPG
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhboY3k6Ju6BJQHjk5cTYbRglwlJWVu8Kr1J-yQyaiwVT4OIM5upGVHLY5OD_hLHwMyqzr3oCqvAMJksks0QlTJObG9HP3pd2Yh725eWId9ofsOFgkvDpQMaW1r_riPuVFy7SA_Ve7-PygV/s1600/TW+Day+1+-+2D-4.JPG
http://mygfisguminho.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/taiwan-trip-day-1.html