Taiwan!!!

Due to several complicated situations, I had to go to Taiwan, 2 weeks before my wedding. Some asked me whether I was sure about that, since that would be the most crucial time to coordinate the final details of the wedding. Well, not that we had much of a choice, and there were more pressing matters at hand... So Alex and I met up at KLIA on the 30th of November, and together we flew (our first time flying together!) to Taipei!

The MAS aircraft that we got was pretty rundown, much to our dismay. It didn't even have in-flight entertainment! Thank goodness it was only a 5 hour flight and the Nasi Lemak served was pretty good!

So...
After more than 5 years...
I was finally on the Taiwan grounds!

But of course, drama always stuck to us, no matter where we are... And guess what? Alex's luggage was detained at KLIA, back in Malaysia! To cut the story short, we had to make two trips to the airport (took a hired cab, high speed train, bus) to collect his luggage, only to find that it was held because of suspicion of bringing drugs, which happened to be our blocks of Whittaker chocolates from New Zealand @___@


That aside, I was very excited about my stay in Taiwan. Quite nervous and anxious due to some family issues, but mostly just excited to try out the many Taiwanese snacks that I have heard Alex bragged about all the time lol.

So this post aims to make you salivate! I shall spam this entry with the dishes I tried (some for the first time) and still crave for now!

#1
The standard Taiwanese snacks

 Kumara or sweet potatoes sliced, coated and deep fried to perfection, with tangy and sweet plum powder added onto! That quickly became one of my favourites, to the point of mild addiction lol.

Next, we had deep fried 甜不辣 (Alex's favourite) and deep-fried chicken fillet, marinated with honey, powdered with chilli!


#2

This was a real surprise. Who would have known that green tomatoes, dipped into a mixture of sauces and ginger can be so refreshingly addictive!


#3

Mutton soup, topped with slices of ginger - very comforting dish during the chilly weather in winter ;)


#4

Noodles fried in a sweet and tangy sauce with some fresh pieces of eel! You can taste all its freshness!


#5
During our 9-days stay in Taiwan, we had quite a lot of 便当 (taiwanese bento)..

Delicious, convenient, and a good variety to choose from!


#6

 

This easily became my favourite guilty pleasure! The creamy milky custard, hot and piping in a crispy pastry... ahhhhhhh...


#7

Glorious, glorious, stinky tofu!!!! I used to be scared of this dish, and the smell that comes with it. But I came to realise that it was because I had this dish at the wrong places.

Alex brought me to this small stall by the road that was very close to a school. It was packed with people, taking turns to savour their tofu, consuming the whole dish in mere minutes, and leaving as soon as they could to make place for the rest in line. We waited for close to 20 minutes and it was so worth the wait!


#8

 What is a trip to Taiwan, without some gooey oyster goodness, also famously called as 蛤仔煎???


#9
and I present to you... the most wicked dessert of all..

Shaved ice, with brown sugar syrup, red beans, condensed milk and a whole piece of 统一布丁! So so so good!


#10
But to me, nothing beats traditional dessert...
How about a huge piece of Mochi, prepared by a lady who has been doing this trade for over 30 years, loaded with roasted and grounded peanut and sesame seeds?

I love every bite of it!


There is still so much food that I would like to share with you all. I guess I have to continue in future entries ;)

All these pictures are making me real hungry now. Probably it's high time for me to do my womanly duties and prepare dinner hahahaha..

Till the next entry~
Ciao and God bless :)