Travel Log/Restaurant Review: SunnyHills Bakery for Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes and Hotpot at Shaburi

There are a few famous Taiwanese foods (besides their street food at the night markets which is so fun to eat!) Otherwise, two of the most authentic and affordable Taiwanese eats are hotpot (or huoguo) and pineapple cakes.  I went to a few of the more famous restaurants for these treats and wanted to share my experiences.

What is hot pot?  It is basically shabu shabu or fondue or food you boil yourself.  It can be a fun individual or group meal.  You order a list of raw foods based around a type of meat - usually fish or beef.  Then you order your stock which can be light or spicy.  Your soup selection is brought to you along with vegetables (cabbage, enoki mushrooms, etc.) and starches (handmade noodles and fish dumplings - they are better than they sound and not fishy!)  It is SO fun just chatting with friends while leisurely cooking your meal.  You get to create your own dipping sauce as well (mmm for sacha sauce with dried shrimp!)  It is a cool, somewhat healthy way to eat out.

We went to Shaburi which is in ATT 4 Fun (who named this mall?) and has a really great ambiance.  It is a little pricier, but comes with salad and dessert as well.  You can save a little by going a la carte as well though sesame ice cream is definitely a great way to end this meal!

899 NTD (about $30)
ATT 4 Fun mall

To be honest, I never loved pineapple cakes.  Some brands were too greasy, others were too sweet.  But SunnyHills Bakery sets itself apart.  First, there are the ingredients: this international cast of ingredients includes butter from New Zealand, flour from Japan, and free range eggs as well as organic pineapple from Taiwan.  This adds up to a simple, flakey, and perfectly sweet (not too sweet) cake.  The second draw of the bakery is the location.  It is based in a quiet, tree-lined residential neighborhood in Taiwan.  The environment is artistic and chic and I loved the random art work throughout the place.  You can order cakes to go and the bakery will invite you to sit down for a complimentary cup of tea and a pineapple cake (two cakes for the price of one - score!) The last two pictures are from the website because I quickly devoured my cake and there was none left for photos!

350 NTD for 10 cakes (about $12)
No. 1, Alley 4, Lane 36 Section 5 MinSheng East Road, Songhan District

Photo Love: A path to...

Go often to the house of thy friend (family); for weeds soon choke up the unused path.
Scandinavian Proverb

This was a path in a sleepy mining town in Taiwan, Jiufen (if it looks familiar, I blogged about it here).  I'm taking a trip in a few hours with my husband to meet my mother and brother in Taiwan (they happen to be there for a few days).  I was only there a few months ago, but we thought this was a great opportunity to meet each other and the rest of the extended family.  

Moments are precious and distance and the sometimes too quick passage of time certainly encourage me to see my family and friends as often as I can.  After all I have to do what I can to keep the paths to loved ones clear right?

I'll miss reading your blogs this week since I won't have much internet access.  But I have a few posts scheduled so you'll still be hearing from me.

Have a lovely week!

CnC Living Travel Log: Treats and Teatime on a mountain in Jiufen, Taiwan

I wanted to share a last post from my Taiwanese holiday to give you a peek at a cute little town with some interesting sites - a tea house in the mountains, a wacky sausage lady, and sweet and savory snacks.

Jiufen is a quiet town less than an hour away from Taipei in the North of Taiwan.  It was known as a gold mining town at the run of the century until the 1950s.  It is still a popular getaway due to its majestic mountain views and peeks at the Pacific.

Take a walk through one of its main roads - Jishan Street or Shuchi Street (it's a lovely walk and loved that lanterns adorned the way).

 There were lots of treats along the streets...
...mmm mochi

...brightly colored sweets

This is for Honey my Heart!

Adorable ceramic flutes for $3 (great for kids, we got one for each niece!)

Then of course the wig wearing sausage lady who insisted on drawing on our faces with face paint.  She did had some great wasabi sausage too so it was great food and entertainment!

Finally the tea house.

It's nice to do one "fancy" activity during vacation that also really represents the history of the place; the price for tea and snacks was also about $20/person with snacks so it was actually well priced.  This traditional Chinese tea house is at the site of Jiufen's historic mining operations center and retains many of the original Chinese cypress doors and Japanese style wooden frames.

The tea was wonderful and fragrant.  I learned that quality tea can be like selecting quality wine - a bouquet or aroma really differentiates each tea.  Our waitress educated us on the correct way to serve tea (steep fresh leaves in the hot water for a few minutes, pour out an initial cup that won't be as flavorful, and serve the tea thereafter.)

The artist/owner had cute paintings and sculptures everywhere.

Tea kettles and cups like this gorgeous glass ones were also sold.

So if you're ever in Taiwan, I definitely recommend this day trip!    Sausages, candy, tea - what more could you want? ♥

CnC Living Travel Log: Kisses for Free Japanese BBQ and beer in Taipei

I can't believe I forgot to post about one of the most interesting restaurants in Taipei (ok Modern Toilet restaurant wins for being most interesting/out there if you're into sitting on toilet seats and eating ice cream shaped like, well you can guess).  I always try to visit a branch of  Kan Pai Yakiniku, a Japanese bbq restaurant, when I'm in Taiwan.  The food - a variety of grilled meats/vegetables (grilled at your table), rice dishes, and some seafood are also consistently tasty and pretty affordable (you can have dinner and drinks for about $20).

But this is also one of the most fun restaurants I've been to because they have a promotion before 8:30 pm (or when the waiters get bored because we received the promotion at 9:30/10 pm): kiss someone at the table, let the restaurant take a picture, and get a free plate of bbq beef or a pint of beer.  There were a variety of people kissing of both sexes - the funniest we saw was two guys kissing with a napkin between them.  Not really a work kinda restaurant, but so fun with friends.

Here is the evidence on the restaurant walls:

 

So the waiter offered to take our picture towards the end of our meal.  The Mr. and I willingly obliged so he could get his free beer.  We smooched our winnings.  

 

Is free beer/grilled meat worth infamy on a random restaurant wall?  We thought why not (and if you never visit again, doesn't matter who will see you kissing right?)

CnC Living Travel Log: Food and fun at Taipei Shilin Night Market

Gotta love a place where you can find all kinds of food and random shoes late at night.

That place in Taipei is the Shilin Night Market in the Shilin district in Taipei - this is the largest and most famous night market in Taiwan.  This winding area in Taipei features a variety of food vendors with some small vendors selling everything from massage heat packs to hat situated on the side.
It's kinda interesting how they have food vendors in front of old temples.

In addition, you can find quite a few retailers open late (they open about 4 pm and close about midnight or 1 am) selling mostly outerwear or shoes.  Seriously there were a dizzying array of boots and pumps, many for about $30. 
Mr. Gadget also found some Lacoste shoes for about $60 (better priced than in the US or UK).

But really, we were there for the food.

The rough categories are

Then we have grilled goodies, including sausages

and corn (Taiwanese LOVE grilled corn)

...fried foods:
We started with some fried octopus (they had a variety of seasonings including a wasabi salt).  Yum!

Fried chicken breast (split breast so watch out for some bones at the bottom!) is famous here too.

...desserts/refreshments including a variety of jellies which at one stall were for some reason called frog eggs(is that supposed to be enticing?!)

These were the toppings (tapioca and aiyu jelly) for a fresh tory dessert.

  

and misc, including a variety of stone baked buns

and hot noodles (we only had medium hot - DELICIOUS but pretty darn spicy)

Definitely stop by and eat at the Shilin Night Market if you're in Taiwan!

DIY - Lucky envelopes for cookie favors (or whatever else you want to put in there!)

I'm enjoying a siesta in Madrid now and figured I should share some of my simple, styling DIY projects from a not really DIY kinda girl.  Don't worry Taiwan and Spain travel logs will be coming soon too!
I love seeing DIY projects, but not necessarily  doing them if that means I have to buy lots of random materials and tools (if you want me to invest in a rotary cutter, I really gotta use it!).  Basically, I'll only do it if it's really easy.  Yep, I am the lazy, every-woman Martha.

You may recall that I mentioned using these lovely but painstakingly tedious to assemble ivory boxes with scalloped edges as favor boxes for my NYC wedding (thanks dear brother for bringing them from Shanghai!).

We filled these with homemade pumpkin cookies and pyramid tea bags (recipe here).  We displayed this sign to note to our guests to open and consume the favors fairly quickly (my funny new aunt thought this was a signal to take 8 boxes so she could really throw down on some cookies).

I wanted to do something similar for our Taiwanese reception and I like sharing cookies.  Taiwanese people don't usually give weddings favors but they are familiar with giving and receiving lucky (red) envelopes.  I was inspired by some fun gold wrapping paper, which was still lucky and in our color scheme, and lack of suitable cardstock (oh I missed you Michael's).  My mom also suggested including pictures of us with a London or NYC background so we included 2" x 4" pictures of us with the Brooklyn Bridge reflected in the background.

Picture tip:
Kodak picture machines are great for reprinting pictures in a variety of sizes, especially smaller sizes.  Note some photo shops may not have the machines to print sizes other than passport size.

So here were my materials:

• wrapping paper (could also use cardstock but then would need a bone folder as well).
  
• sharp scissors (fabric scissors rock)
• cardboard (cardstock would be great)
• glue stick - a STRONG one
• pictures
  
• heart hole puncher

1. I designed a template in PowerPoint including at least 1" of give on each side (more if the contents are bulky).
2. I printed and glued the template to cardboard and cut the shape out.

3. I used this stencil to cut out the shape from the wrapping paper (note: you can cut multiple sheets but hold them tightly together or they will be misaligned)

4. I folded and glued the seams.

5. I glued the pictures to the front of the envelopes.
6. I punched the heart shape on the top of the envelopes.  I was going to use ribbon to tie the envelopes but couldn't find any.  I still liked the heart shape though!

There we go!

Definitely use strong glue because my poor aunt and brother had to reglue my pictures and seams because the cookies kept on popping out (also why you should incorporate a decent amount of give in the envelope template).  But DIY envelopes are good for a variety of flat objects you may want to include.

My Taiwan wedding - cake and earthquakes!

So I have a ton of recaps due including of course my wedding dinner (it was an intimate dinner of family and some friends and of course an excuse for me to wear my gown again).  Unfortunately I have few pictures for you because my brother has them all on his camera and who knows when I'll get those.  Oh well.

But I do have a picture of our cakes.   My friend has a lovely bakery in Taiwan and I ordered a large chocolate flourless cake and a tiny raspberry cake in case we didn't have enough.  The large cake actually turned out to be chocolate mousse with a thin layer of cake and raspberry (I guess Taiwanese people aren't as familiar with flourless chocolate cake).  It was still delicious of course.  As you can see the top was decorated with macaroons, chocolates, and fruit all cut into hearts (so my cake toppers just sat at the side of course).  Cheesy and awesome.

Apparently I overestimated because we had quite a bit of cake left over which of course made for a nice breakfast the day after :)

Otherwise, the dinner went fine and I got to see some relatives and friends I haven't seen in a while.  That of course was the main point - bringing together loved ones and feeding them a great meal.  There was some drama which I'll get into later.  But we got to show people our NYC pictures and I loved that Mr. Gadget was so great with my family even though he couldn't understand the language.  He's a very good smiler and nodder.

It was nice.

Then it happened.

At the end when most people had left and I was changing into my street clothes, I felt some movement and heard screaming from the waitresses outside.   I went into the other room where we had the dinner to see how everyone else was.  My aunt and Mr. Gadget were totally fine.  The tremors only lasted a few seconds and it was more the shock of the earthquake than the actual earthquake.

I took Mr. Gadget's hand and we walked out.  Everyone was ok. Talk about a wedding ending with a bang!

p.s. Remember to enter to win some lovely earrings here.

Dealing with anxiety and appreciating the cutest thing ever

We're leaving in three days which means there will be a whirlwind of cleaning and packing in the next few days.

I realize I have a million things to do including:

• order cakes (luckily my friend has a bakery and I've already warned her I'd place an order)
  
• finish favor envelopes (tedious but pretty easy)
• e-mail friends restaurant location
  
• finally decide on the garter (something wasn't exactly turning out as expected and now it will be shipped to me day I leave!)
• Design some slideshow and source equipment (cousin couldn't lend me a projector as expected)
• attempt to print wallet size pictures
  

I'm getting a little anxious because I have a week to go and 3 days left in London to finish all this up.  I'm worried and almost don't want to do all this extra stuff. 

Mom e-mails me and reminds me:
make it very nice and special.
Mom

Even though I'm tired I should do something (maybe I won't get to everything on the list) because it is the first time Mr. Gadget is meeting the extended family.  My family is special and I should do what I can.  It's hard though trying to figure this out in another country.

Martha Stewart has left me stranded in London.  I just can't find any craft stores around central London though Anna was kind enough to give suggestions.   So no fancy cardstock, craft punches or ribbons (seriously I had 27 rolls of grosgrain in NYC which my dad couldn't find, argh).

But it's cool.  I'm making do with what I can find and as I learned the first time:

you can't control everything, things will go wrong, but you run with it and it will still turn out great.   

I don't like to vent too much here, but at least hope that last bit of advice is useful.

So I'm ready for bed, not thinking wedding and leaving you with these thoughts.

Aaww cutest dog ever.

and of course cutest kitten ever.

Life is too short to stress, think cute and furry thoughts.

Oh and when I told Mr. Gadget I was looking for images of "cutest thing ever" he said "Where is the picture of me?"  Oh yes I married a comedian.

Taking a breath...final stretch before the Taiwan wedding and my couture garter!

Isn't it scary how much you can vow not to be like your mom and then end up exactly like her?  My mom can be a nervous stress ball taking on too much but still wanting to accomplish a million things.  So me!

My project this week - those cookie favors for my relatives for my Taiwanese wedding dinner.

Conversation with mom:
Mom: Are you doing something special for the guests?  Favors aren't expected, but you should do something.
Me: I'm going to give them chocolate chip cookies mom.
Mom: Nooooooo.  Chinese people don't eat cookies.  Get them something English.
Me: Like what?
Mom: Something London.  Something else.
Me: But these are English butter cookies with chocolate chunks - very English and American.  I'll put them in little bags.
Mom: Fine.  But wrap them with lace or make them nice.  Chinese people don't care.  But they should be nice.

Sigh.

But I will listen because I'm not really sure what I should and shouldn't do with my relatives in Taiwan.  I should be culturally aware while still trying to retain my own vision.  There is sometimes a more showy aspect in Taiwanese weddings which I'm not entirely comfortable with (ugh an entirely separate conversation around creating a slideshow).

Anyhoo, in other news, I won my lady Thirty Something Bride's custom couture garter contest!  Woot!  Well Mr. Gadget is certainly excited.  Sigh, I feel like I just got the Hermes Birkin of garters, I am so lucky.  I'm working with sweet Claire at Florrie Mitton couture to create a garter that's a hybrid of these and she'll be expressing it this week. 

 

I'm loving it for pictures and the vintage chic vibe (ME!).  What do you think?

How do you like your cookies wrapped? (and how do I transport cute favors 8000 miles away)?

So remember I told you I was a little domestic goddess wannabe and made cookies for our NYC wedding?  Well I'm thinking about what favors to give at the Taiwanese wedding and the same cookie theme sounds appropriate.  Although this time I'm going store bought because I don't have time to actually make cookies when I'm in Taiwan.  They are going to be chocolate cookies though so I can represent America's favorite cookie (oatmeal raisin would be awesome too but I can't find them here!).

From here

Now I just have to worry about how to package up those suckers.  I saw this tutorial on how to make your own boxes and was totally inspired.  I mean, this is pretty adorable.

But the time and effort just wouldn't be worth it.  Can you also imagine me transporting 30 of these little boxes in my checked in luggage?  Nope, me neither.  But they would be a cute little touch for an intimate homemade wedding.

So I'm planning on bringing assembling and transporting 30 little cookies and boxes from London to Taiwan but want them them to be at least passable.  Perhaps I should just wrap the cookies in pretty craft paper and put our stamp on it?  Wedding details are draining and this time I'm keeping it simple while still giving guests a treat.

I hope the fam still likes it!  

6000 miles away - how I'm planning my Taiwanese wedding

Wedding planning is hard...and planning it in another language is even harder.

Obviously. Ugh.

We're going to Taiwan and Philippines around Christmas time for our Asian wedding receptions. It's been a struggle planning the Taiwanese one especially because my reading and writing skills are about the same as those of my 7-year old niece. Someone told me to start watching tv so I'm starting to watch this cartoon.

I also don't want the typical Taiwanese wedding where I'll have to wear this (I love lace, but red lace gloves? No further comments.)I also don't want to pay to feed lots of random people.
So begins my planning for an intimate affair with good food and hopefully a good price!

I've come up with the following tips to keep myself sane (that are relevant for any destination bride):

1. Research as much as you can and review actual user opinions if possible. The expat and restaurant forums have been good for this (Taiwan Fun and Forumuosa for me) .
2. Visit in person if you can. Pictures don't necessarily tell the whole truth. I can't but my aunt can do this for us.
3. Get a wedding planner. My friends that have had destination weddings said this was a great investment. The wedding planner has knowledge and contacts that you may not have.
4. If you can't get a wedding, planner try to find someone local that can help. This is helpful if you don't speak the language or know the area as well and want to try to negotiate or create something custom. In some countries, this person may receive kickbacks for getting you to pick a certain vendor so be careful!
5. Ask around for advice. Friends, co-workers, someone may actually have experience in that area. It doesn't hurt to ask so tell people what you're doing.
6. Limit projects and what you will bring. You can only bring so much luggage and the overage fees aren't worth it. Of course you can always ask other people to help you transport things in their suitcases. But go easy on the projects and source locally if you can.

Any other tips? I really feel for destination brides now - it's hard work!