Friday, July 13, 2012

KAOSHIUNG & TAINAN


Our hotel in Kaoshiung had this AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG AMAZING bakery on the ground floor... it took everything in me not to buy one of EVERYTHING!


I discovered this really peculiar channel on our hotel TV.  I kept seeing asian people randomly walking up to these phones, place a call and then walk away and I kept thinking "what kind of show is this?? is this like "asia punked" and I kept waiting for something to happen.  AND then I would see people coming in and out of these swinging doors right next to the phones wearing uniforms that looked remarkably similar to the hotel staff at our hotel and  and it suddenly dawned on me that the reason why the uniforms looked so similar was BECAUSE IT WAS OUR HOTEL!!  And these phones were the courtesy phones in our hotel lobby right next to the reception desk!!!!!


So I sent the Hub's down there to pretend to use the phones BAHAHAHAHA!!!!  Look at his facial expression hahahaha.


It was pouring rain so the Hub's offered to go out and hunt for some food and this is what he came back with!  The egg custard tart on the bottom right was out of this world.. the best egg custard tart I've ever had in my entire life... it was so creamy and rich I wish I knew what this place was called ARGH!

Unagi bowl

Later in the evening we had some hotel grub.. Love love a great slab of unagi over rice.. this was pretty nommy!

Club sandwich
Look at those giant slabs of bacon!!  The fries were super delicious as well. 


Buffet breakfast on the top floor of our hotel has this gorgeous glass ceiling. 



The free buffet breakfast was actually pretty impressive they had lots of yummy things to eat and they even had yogurt drinks!!!  I LOVE LOVEEEEEE yogurt drinks!



My Dad and The Hub's... not sure when are why but my dad has started doing this thing with his arm as of late....


Hubs made me take this picture.


Gorgeous hotel lobby!  



A hotel with a Dior store built in.. LOVE IT!


See he does it again here!! bahahah!


The hotel had a HELLO KITTY SECTION!!! YAY!


I wanted to take this home SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BAD!!!!!!!! 

It's a Hello Kitty toiletries kit with the hotel name embroidered on it.  It had a hanging toiletry bag in light pink and a face towel, soaps, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, lotions, shampoo, conditioner and a couple of other things.  $1080 Taiwanese dollars is roughly $30 US.. so I passed on it.. but it was SO SO CUTE that I had to document it! 


Life size jade cabbage!!!

I have a strange obsession with jade cut into the shape of chinese cabbage AHAHAHAH I DON'T KNOW WHY!!!  But for years and years I have really wanted a jade necklace in the shape of a chinese cabbage hahaha.


The gorgeous hotel lounge!




Delicious iced coffee drink.. the bottom was STRONGGGGG pure black coffee.. I think I was suppose to mix the top part with the bottom.. but didn't realize it until after I'd eaten practically all of the whip cream. OOPS. hahahahahah


Waiting for the mall to open!  

Total sidenote but seriously how fob are The Hub's shoes? HAHAHAHAHA ironically he did not buy those shoes in asia.. they are actually from Quiksilver.  Who woulda thought?!


::WAHHH::  They are opening a Uniqlo store!!!  I hear they are opening one in San Francisco you lucky ducks! 

Why don't I have a Uniqlo store near me :(


Kaoshiung skyline from our hotel room!


City streets! 


What happens when The Hubs has too much free time on his hands bahahahaha.


Various egg custards for sale at the train station.. we tried the milk pudding and it was very delicious.. although truthfully it tasted pretty much like the ones you can get at 7-11.


Lots of adorable train themed toys and stationary being sold in the vending machines at the station.


Lunch @ 7-11 muhahahah.. one of my favorite things to do in Taiwan.. the chicken curry was actually DELICIOUS and we had a couple of tea eggs and slurpees!

Takoyaki
There was a takoyaki stand right outside of my grandmother's chinese pharmacy.  Takoyaki is a popular Japanese street dish and is essentially a savory pancake batter ball filled with pieces of Tako (Octopus) and Tenkasu (Deep Friedd Tempura) and covered in various sauces.  This was delicious and had huge gigantic pieces of Octopus inside.  It was 6 balls for $1 USD!!!  So crazy cheap!


We also grabbed a bunch of salty Chinese snacks at 7-11 my favorite ones from my childhood are the ones on top called "Patata"!


The most delicious fried chicken EVER!!!!!!  I love fried chicken in Asia.. they go a lot easier on the breading and it's usually done with all cornstarch and I much prefer it.  I generally feel the breading in the US is too thick.


Playing with our food!


I was so excited when I discovered my absolute favorite childhood dessert "Pudding" that's literally what we call it in Chinese is now in an ice cream bar form.  I have to say after eating it I prefer the regular "Pudding" version.. in the picture..  It's basically an egg custard dessert.. have you noticed every country has their version of egg custard dessert.   The French have Cream Brulee, The Spanish have Flan.. the English have trifles.. ohh the Japanese have a savory version Chawanmushi.. I can go on for days!!  Muhahaha I think I have a serious obsession with anything egg custard based!


The park directly across my grandmother's house.  I actually lived with my grandmother for a few years when I was a child so I have very fond memories of playing at this park practically everyday when I was a child!


As we got closer and closer to the water I realized there were a lot of children crowded around the lake.  Upon closer inspection I realized....


They were feeding TURTLES!!!  


TONS AND TONS of turtles!!!!  There were DOZENS of them.. here are a few courageous ones attempting to climb the rocks to get some bread!

Taro bun w/ Pear Apple drink
OMGGGGGGGG this drink was SOOO NOMS~!!!  I tried looking for it afterwards but I couldn't find it anywhere ::sadness::  I was in a rush when I picked it and I just grabbed it because I was looking for something refreshing to drink and pear w/ apples looked good but when I started to drink it I realized it had pear jellies in it!! The pear jellies were SOOOOO NOMMY! BEST.DRINK.EVERRRRRRRRRR!!!


Dedicated to Mr. Turtle :)!


Laetitia cream puffs.. pretty decent.. but Beard Papa still takes the cake! 


Samanatha Thavasa!!

The store is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute! OMG!  Everything is so whimsical and adorable.. although sometimes I can't help but feel like a lot of their handbags are sort of a rip on Miu Miu.. like they have a line of bags that look IDENTICAL to Miu Miu's bow bags. 


Giant Teapot w/ Teacups!!! LOVE~! 


Mr. Donut!!  To be fair I don't think I love love their doughnuts.. but they are sooo pretty and so cute the drink however was DELICIOUS!!  It's a blended strawberry and apple ice drink.

Lu Rou Fan
Last meal in Taipei!  Even the minced Pork bowl at the airport was delish!!!


I always thought Shu Uemura went out of business.. because they closed down all the beauty bars in the US but turns out they are still alive and kicking in Asia.. and have the MOST GORGEOUS packaging ever!!  The bottles on the inside are clear with brightly colored flowers and butterfly's on them.. I was tempted to buy EVERYTHING but resisted muhahaha.


But I did however picked up a bunch of Asian mags at the airport for the flight home WOOT! :)  THEY WERE SOOOOOO CHEAP!!  Omgosh all 4 mags came out to roughly $8 bucks US!!  And they are HUGEEE too!!  My favorite mag is Vivi mag (top right) and I've purchased it in Japantown in San Francisco before and it was $20 bucks for ONE magazine!  

42 comments:

  1. LOL the video camera tv channel is hilarious! OMG the hello kitty toiletries are so cute!!! I want one too! >< I love Asia. Only there you can find cute stuff everywhere and really yummy snacks! I miss it... Looks like you had a great time Lisa! =]

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  2. Lucas is HILARIOUS! love him!

    i love how Lucas probably just buys EVERYTHING cause he isn't sure what to get.

    is that turnip cake at the hotel breakfast?!?!?!?!

    Japan has "Purin!!!!"

    and the taro bun and pear/apple drink look SO GOOD! i'm hungry!

    the mr. donut donuts are SO PRETTY and the icee thing looks delish!

    umm why do the magazines have plastic over them? HAHAHAH...

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  3. Ah, your dad is so funny and your story about the tv channel is hilarious. All the food looks so delicious too... I totally want that egg tart... mmmmmm

    xo, alison*elle

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  4. Everything looks SO delicious! *droooooooooool* I agree with your sentiments about asian fried chicken - SO much better due to the thinner batter (if any batter/coating is used at all). Your hotel also looked BEAUTIFUL! And can I just say that I LOVE Beard Papa's! I love buying them and storing them in the fridge so the custard gets cold..mhmm..my absolute favorite flavor is MANGO!

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  5. Ok, where do I begin?! What a fun filled post!! Is that the Asian fist pump your dad is doing? Totes awesome. XD And what's the meaning behind the jade cabbage? I've seen it but never know.

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  6. 1) your commentary is hilarious.
    2) i love your photos, i kinda wanna meet your hubby because he sounds funny/does stuff that i would do.
    3) now i am hungry and would like to go to asia. that is all.

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  7. hi lisa! i love love love reading your travel posts because you have the most amazing photos and you really share every aspect of your travels. :)

    p.s. yummy, yummy food! i want to taste all of that! ;)

    <3, Mimi
    http://whatmimiwrites.blogspot.com/
    Want a summer scarf? Enter to win a $20 ScarvesDotNet Gift Certificate!

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  8. ah all your favorites are my favorites too hahaha. so lucky that you went..i miss going back soooo much! must go back and stare at your pics again!

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  9. I love reading about your travels. The pictures are amazing and the foods looks so yummy. My colleague told me that the 7-11 in Taiwan are the best because they have everything unlike the one in the USA.

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  10. I always enjoy reading your blog posting! and yes they are opening a uniqlo is san francisco. it's taking over the space of DSW. Looks like its going to be as big as the ones in NY!

    I love eating taiyang bing as it is not too sweet as Laopo bing.

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  11. i love looking at your travel pictures, it always makes me daydream of vacation haha.
    I love the cutsie asain food, omg!!!!
    That hello kitty set is so cute! i think i would have gotten it and then have no idea what to do with it after i've gotten it haha
    TURTLES! i love turtles, i miss my turtles so much now ...SO CUTE!

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  12. aww looks like you and your friends are having a seriously great time travelling away from home. I long for a trip like that as well! And the sweet delicacies at the hotel is so deliciously enticing! xoxo
    thanks for commenting on my blog honey, would you like to follow each other?
    A
    xx
    http://epiquemoi.blogspot.com

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  13. omg taro buns are my favorite!
    LOL the video thing is too funny.

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  14. You've made me hungry!!!!!!!!!

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  15. I need to visit Taiwan ASAP. The food looks soooo delicious. I don't even think staying there for a month will be enough to satisfy my taste buds if I try to go around and get a taste of everything. I loooove dan ta (egg tart)! Those pics definitely bring back some great childhood foodie memories!

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  16. What a great time. Taiwan is definitely on my visit list. LOL. Your husband is so cute. I send my husband out all the time.

    Beauty, Fashion and Seattle | Cheap Makeup Reviews

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  17. really like your taiwan trip posts!!!
    hehe if your dad releases two fingers it would be the victory sign! =P
    I love the yoghurt drinks there! its so much cheaper compared to here..i bought one whole pack and drink it every morning and night at the hotel haha.
    loll at the hotel "spying" channel..wonder why do they have it..
    arghhh the magazines are so cheap there? why didnt i see it at the airport!?*hits head*

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  18. Your Taiwan trip looks like a lot of fun. The bakery sure has some delicious cakes and sweets.

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  19. I've never made it beyond the airport in Taiwan when I was 15. The food porn pictures are hurting my tummy!

    ANDWHATELSEISTHERE | SHOP

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  20. LISA!! you're always making me jelly with all your food posts!!!! everything looks absolutely "nommy"!!!

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  21. I absolutely cracked up about the tv channel!
    Looks like such a fun trip, you've made me so hungry after looking all at that yummy food!!

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  22. The hotel you stayed at looks so dreamy :P So many goodies inside and it looks amazing!
    Ahh all your food pics make me feel so hungry!

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  23. HAhaha you always crack me up! Those food photos are all amazing. I'm so hungry now!

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  24. YUMMY!!! All that food :) I just returned from Vegas and the Aria buffet had the BEST creme brulee I have ever tasted!!! Gosh I love food ;)

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  25. What a fun trip! I used to get pudding popsicles at a super market near me, but I haven't for a few years now...I still notice Shu Uemura products a lot, where I live. Their shampoo seems to be really popular. :)

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  26. ok, wow. that bakery looks amazing, actually all the food does, and i just love your travel style: hit all the designer shops!! haha

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  27. OMG all your food pictures make me so hungry! haha...your dad is quite funny with the fist in the air. perhaps he is inspired by all the fist pumping done by everyone on tv! =D

    juletsheeeh.blogspot.com

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  28. The part of summer before July 20 is the time to eat unagi here in Japan! :D JUST IN TIME FOR YOU YAY. Shu Uemura. DROOL. Too bad you didn't buy much :<

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  29. Both DH are drooling over the food (especially the yummy custard and the filled bun ooohhh)
    We want Uniqlo here too *making a pout*
    Lovely pictures! Thanks for sharing, looking forward to your updates!

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  30. you seem to be having a great time! love that camera thing.. haha..

    thanks for stopping by and share your thoughts and the sweet comments..

    xx

    selvia

    http://www.am2pmchic.com/

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  31. Miss Taiwan - seeing your pics - the food the sight, but especially the food. . . every time I update myself on you. . more travels, more food, and more coveted items I want :)

    Red Soles and Red Wine

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  32. i love vivi so much, my friend just picked one up for me in hong kong, i wonder if it'll be the same :p and ur dad is so cute with the arm thing, parents are peculiar and i love the HK set!

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  33. i don't know what to comment first! first of all i loved the hotel! as long as there is dior and hello kitty! this is truley heaven!
    and the food is fantastic i am so so jealous!

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  34. Lisa Lisa Lisa, my dear Lisa. Did you know that I nearly impoloded when I was half way reading this because it was just too awesome!! I had to read this twice to let it sink in hahaha let the comment start...

    OMG! When I stayed with my aunt in her apartment in hk they had one of those security camera channels too and your hubs expression: creeper! He's stroking the phone ever so gently lmfao! Your dad is so cute and your hotel is like Hotel Fairmont here with all the luxurious stores inside! That Hello Kitty set! UGH! I would have stood there and literally debated with myself why it would be a good purchase lol

    o0o0o I remember Paris having a uniqlo and I was pretty surprised! LOL They had lots of cute stuff and I wish I bought some now >< Omg 6 takoyaki balls for 1$? If my bf every saw that he'd cry each time he pays 5$ for 6 balls here lol Eep! Samantha Thavasa!!! You see that brown bag in the corner with winnie the pooh hanging off it? When I was in Tokyo last year I was practically breathing on the display glass thinking about getting it. I didn't but sometimes I wish I did and I know what you mean about some of the "questionable" designs they have. They have some cute stuff but I find the price for their bags quite high. Shu Umera has the cutest limited edition packaging! Oh and ditto for the friend chicken! Actually whenever I eat Churches chicken or KFC I don't eat any of the fried skin <-- I know some people consider it a sin lol Sorry for this super long post =( Hope you're doing well girly!

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  35. Love your pictures Lisa! The hotel looks beautiful - that's kinda weird how they have a channel dedicated to the courtesy phone though haha. All of the foods in your pics looks so yummy :D

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  36. These are great photos! :) The food looks yummy :)

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  37. everything look so perfect !!! :X i love it !! :D

    xxx

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  38. I haven't been to Kaoshiung and Tainan in years! Is this your second trip back to Taiwan this year? Lucky duck! I so love all the food and cutesy packaging everywhere! And yeah, so sad Shu stopped selling in the U.S. :(

    xx Vivian @ http://diamondsandtulle.blogspot.com

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  39. Your dad!! Hilarious. Maybe he watched Jersey Shore and likes the fist pump. Haha.

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  40. Very nice ambiance!Nice photos!Hotel is simply "wow".
    Asian Travels

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