Cupcakes, Daisies & a simple touch of Zhi Wei: 2014

Hello everybody!

More updates about Taiwan! This post is specially dedicated to the amazing foods around Taiwan. I will have a serious summertime sadness after completing this post. As you or may not know, Taiwan is famous for their amaze balls foods from night markets.

First Stop: Night markets

阿给 - One of the most famous stalls in Danshui Nightmarket (淡水老街).

#1 Oyster Noodles, 蚵仔麵線.

This is basically a bowl of noodles with oysters and a mixture of shredded carrots, mushrooms etc. You can technically get this everywhere in Taiwan. The texture of the soup is not watery like how you get in every other soup based noodles. The whole dish is viscous and this is why, people eat this bowl of goodness only with a spoon.

#2 Ahji, 阿给

This simple dish is made of deep fried bean curd on the outside, wrapped with glass noodles and marinated crab stick. Served with sticky-textured sweet and spicy sauce. I doubt there is an English name for this 'cause I'm pretty sure this dish is named after the creator. I personally do not really enjoy this but I do know people who love this very, very much.

#3 Braised Pork with Rice, 滷肉飯

This is a simple yet very heartwarming dish. I can eat this all day, everyday and I am not even joking. I absolutely love this so much and even though I used to be able to get this back home last time, it just does not taste the same as the ones I eat in Taiwan.

#4 Soft Ice Cream on U-shaped Cone, 勾勾冰霜淇淋

This is such a creative way to enjoy your ice cream. This would be too much for one person to finish so it's best if you could share it with another person. I guess it's a thing for Taiwanese couples to date in night markets. And this is why the people in night markets come up with all these weird ideas that are meant for young couples.

#IceCreamFallingOnTheRightSideOfMyCone #IceCreamFail

#5 Taiwanese Sausage, 台式香肠

When you hear people say Taiwan, instantly Taiwanese sausage pops into their head. I absolutely love it, crunchy on the outside and filled with flavors on the inside. Yes, it's really good. Sometimes I get really upset when I finish it and wish it comes in larger size. Make sure you drink LOTS of water after this though, it's the same feeling you get after eating lots of chips without drinking water.

#6 Deep Fried Squid, 炸鱿鱼

This is not like every other calamaris you get from any Italian restaurants. This has got more of the springy squid texture than the crunchy battered skin. I especially love it when you drink beer when eating this. Amaze balls.

#7 Fried omelette with oyster, 蚵仔煎

This is the one of my other favorites among all. The oysters within the egg is still gooey and slime-like. No it's not disgusting, it's the best thing in the world! It may not look very appetizing in the picture but trust me, I had to take this out 'cause the stall was filled with customers and there was a crazy long queue. That's how good this is.

#8 Cola Biscuit, 可乐饼

I have no idea why they call it biscuit when I think it's actually just deep fried hash brown with sweet corns. I was expecting it to taste like coca-cola at some point but there wasn't. I was really disappointed with this.

#9 Stinky Tofu, 臭豆腐

This is my absolute FAVORITE. I know I've mentioned a couple of my favorites at the beginning but this, this is amazing. I am a very tofu person and this is all I eat whenever I visit night markets. It can be really stinky but the taste is just.. I just can't. I can't emphasize how amazing this is. A must-eat if you ever visit Taiwan. It is usually topped with pickled vegetables to neutralize the strong stinky taste.

#10 Frog Laying Eggs, 青蛙下蛋

Please do not take the literal meaning of it's name. This is one of the famous drinks in Taiwan after bubble tea. Like mentioned in my previous Taichung post, it has Aiyu (爱玉) jelly in it with lime juice and sugar. It is a very refreshing drink for the summer. If you're interested in knowing how did Aiyu (爱玉) jelly came about, click here.

#11 Papaya Milk, 木瓜牛奶

Another Taiwanese drink - papaya blended with milk. You can purchase this fresh or carton form. It does not bother me much 'cause this is one of my other favorite drinks in Taiwan. There is a Chinese saying that drinking papaya milk can help with growth for young ladies. But I genuinely love it, no other reasons. HAHAH.

Second Stop: Foods from all around Taiwan

#12 Green Onion Pancakes, 葱油饼

Pan-fried pancake with green onions. This is one of my favorite breakfast dishes in Taiwan. It goes the best with soya milk, savory from the pancake and sweet from the milk. Perfecto.

#13 Gong Yuan Eye Clinic Ice Cream, 宫原眼科冰淇淋

This is one of oddest thing I've seen in Taichung. The process basically starts from choosing 3 ice cream flavors from countless different flavors, moving on to choosing 3 toppings. Their selection of toppings are not just your everyday chocolate and rainbow sprinkles. They have pineapple tarts, cookies, cheesecakes and many, many more. I was literally mind blown.

#HappyFaceFail. But I'm posting this just to show you the size of the whole thing. It is HUGE.

#14 Traditional Taiwan Amis Food, 传统阿美族美食

This traditional dish is cooked in Areca Leaf (槟榔叶) - a Taiwanese tree. The dish includes fish and prawns which were freshly caught by the fishermen in the village in the morning and finish off with fresh vegetables. This dish is not cooked over the stove nor in the oven, they used hot stones. More update on this in my Hualien update.

#15 Sugarcane Shaved Ice Dessert, 甘蔗冰甜点

This is one of the specialties in Hualien, a village in Taiwan. Instead of using plain shaved ice, they used sugar cane to give out the sweet taste. Topped with two choices of toppings. One of their famous topping is malted yam. It just goes really well with the subtle sweetness of the ice. Like wise, will mention this once more in my Hualien update. Stay tune!!

#16 Mango Shaved Ice, 芒果冰

This is your typical contemporary Taiwanese dessert, which includes freshly cut mangoes, mango flavored shaved ice and topped with mango ice cream. So much mangoes but you can never have too much mango! This is seriously the bomb. In this particular shop, they named this dessert First Love, (初恋情人). I don't know why at first but I agree with it now. Who needs love when you've got this. HAHAHA jokes.

Hope this does not make you hungry. Okay, I have serious summertime sadness now. I miss you, Taiwanese foods.

Lots of Love,

zhi wei x

Waking up to such peaceful and gorgeous view in the morning.

.. And with my most favourite man on Earth. Life is amazing <3

After another hearty breakfast, we made our way across to another island to have a scuba diving session. I promise you, that was the best experience I have ever had so far. We've got to swim with the fishes and play with them.

AND! We managed to get really, really close to eels that were hidden under the bridge. It was so amazing yet scary at the same time. That's cause you will never know when they're gonna stick their heads out to hunt for their meals. If you happen to go to the beach, SCUBA DIVING is the thing to do.

I think I look like Ariel from Little Mermaid but with legs in these pictures

Oh, cheeky mum x

After heading back to our resort, I've managed to take a couple of nice pictures of the beach and me, of course. HAHAH. The beach is really, really gorgeous. You definitely will never get tired looking at it.