Despite landing in Taiwan late last night, I was up super early today at around 6am. Perhaps it is because I am still jetlagged or because I am just way too excited to utilize every second of my trip to explore Taiwan. Fresh and awake, I left the Howard Hotel, where I am staying, to explore the surrounding neighborhood.
My first stop: Yong He Dou Jiang (台北市大安區復興南路二段102號). Oh boy, nothing says "Welcome to Taiwan" than some hot and crispy sou bing you tiao, a deep fried, carbilicious, Taiwan-exclusive breakfast sandwich!!
When I returned to the hotel, the group wanted to go to Ding Tai Fung (No. 194號, Section 2, Xìnyì Road, Daan District) for breakfast so I had to quickly regain my appetite and head out for Round 2! I must say, being a Ding Tai Fung veteran, I was not very impressed with the food served. Not only did they run out of the glorious soup dumplings, but their normal dumplings were also quite the letdown! What happened to the chewy, yet miraculously thin dumpling skin?? Or the juicy, meaty, pork bits inside the dumplings? The dumplings were just ok.... nothing to rave about, and definitely not mind-blowing. But then again, we were there for the purpose of being there; to tell our friends and family that we visited not just any Ding Tai Fung, but the original one. And that, I suppose, was worth the trip.
Afterwards, we took some time to visit the area around Ding Tai Fung and a group of us ended up eating some mango snowflake ice. I've had mango shaved ice numerous of times, but I had never had snowflake ice! The snowflake ice came with strawberries, kiwis, and mangos and was topped with a panna cotta. The ice itself was creamy and tasted just like mangos!! It was a wonderful way for all of us to cool down from the hot and humid Taiwan weather!
Later today, we went to Taipei 101, with the intention of going upstairs to the observatory. However, the line was at least a 40minutes to an hour wait due to the obnoxiously large number of mainland China tour groups. Instead, we were free to roam the mall within 101 and knowing me.... I ended up in the food court, getting free samples and chatting it up with the sales people.
When I went back to the hotel, I met up with my grandma and my father for dinner at Mitsui Restaurant (No. 30, Nong-an Street, 1F, Taipei City). Do I even need to describe how amazing this meal was?? Mitsui, well-known for their fresh and impeccably plated Japanese cuisine, truly did not disappoint. Starting with the abalone, to the hokkaido crab, to the lamb chops, to the sashimi, the entire meal was amazing. Not to mention, we ordered a special soup for each person that consisted of the biggest fish eye that I had ever seen!
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