Christmas Food Fair at Mitsukoshi

Last Sunday afternoon after church, I took my family to Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Xinyi shopping area for snack time... and some Christmas spirit atmosphere (not shopping).


And we were very happy to find a local food fair event outside Mitsukoshi A8 and A11 malls near Bellavita. It was a very cold day and the steaming food in display were just perfect! : )


Fried Squid Balls with some dash of ground pepper... so good!


Hot peanut soup, tangyuan soup, and almond tea... served in the old traditional way.


Pig's Blood Rice Cake (米血糕)... the one local food that I could not try because of Christians not allowed to eat blood.


Fried Taro Balls... everything that were formed in a ball, my kids would want me to buy. : |


Squid BBQ...


Black Pig Sausages (黑豬肉香腸)... wonderful!


How could I resist? Especially with a smiley on the cook's apron. : )


Hotdog waffles, quail eggs, and hot ginger tea...


Green Onion Pancakes (蔥油餅)! Not today though...


Sugar Cane Juice... definitely 100% pure extract. : )


Sugar coated strawberry and cherry tomatoes... my daughter wants it too! : |


The blend of crispy sugar coating and soft sourly strawberry and tomato is perfect.


Another art of stinky tofu - BBQ style (串燒臭豆腐)... not fried but sort of semi-boiled and stewed and then grilled in sticks.


My wife loves this better than the fried one... they are grilled outside but moist inside and they still put pickled cabbages on top. : )


Flavored Potato Fries cut in elongated twirls... they have a special machine at back to cut them. : )


Crackers in oh so many coated flavors...


Sesame Oil Chicken Soup (Ma-You-Ji or 麻油雞)... also my wife's favorite and most women especially after giving birth to replenish their lost energy. The owner asked my wife if she wanted to add chicken testicles for more nutrition. My wife said, "No thanks!" : )


Our last stop... tianbula (甜不辣 or battered fish paste) and fried stinky tofu! They offer tables so we went inside and ordered both.


I told the owner to make my tofu crispy so she needs to fry it just a little bit longer than the usual.


While my stinky tofu is being fried, we savor on the boiled tianbula (Taiwan's version of oden) and hot soup... one bowl served with a sweet sauce on top includes a big piece of rounded tianbula, fish balls, small pieces of tianbula, steamed triangle tofu, and daikon.


My son always wants three ingredients only for his order... the white round fish ball, the long tianbula brown pieces, and daikon with soup.


My kids are having a wonderful time even outside the cold weather. The food really keeps us warm and feeling good! : )


Here comes my fried stinky tofu. It was not as good and tasty as the ones in night markets. And it was not that stinky too. : )


Taiwan oranges... packed with Vitamin C for the cold winter.


Time to stroll around the shopping area after a hot and delightful snack treat. Sure was a lot of people during weekend. I will be visiting Bellavita again soon with their food court now opening.


Do you feel the Christmas now?


I will blog about this huge Christmas ball (snow dome) and our favorite soft-serve ice cream at Mitsukoshi next... to be continued. : )

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Sing My Love

I love this song rendition of Kim Walker very much and so is my daughter! We listen to the Chinese version by Joshua Band every day while driving our car and my little girl would singalong the chorus lines. This is what every Christian should be doing no matter what our situation is... sing our love and praise to Jesus! : )



I am always amazed how singing praise changes everything in you. If you are striving in prayer and find it futile sometimes, maybe God wants you to turn to praise instead! Where prayer is a battle, praise is victory! : )


(Verse 1)
Words could never say the way He says my name
He calls me lovely
No one ever sees the way He looks at me
He sees me holy
Words can never hold this love that burns my soul
Heaven holds me
Oh, heaven holds me

(Chorus)
Can't hold my love back on You
Can't hold my love back on You
I've gotta sing
I've gotta sing
Sing my love
To you Jesus yeah

(Verse 2)
You will not believe the way He touches me
He burns right through me
I could not forget every word He said
He always knew me
Earth could never hold this love that burns my soul
Heaven holds me
Oh, heaven holds me

(Chorus)

Oh, nothings gonna stand in the way
Nothing can get in the way of the love tonight

(Chorus 2)
Can't hold my praise back on You
Can't hold my praise back on You
I've gotta shout
I've gotta shout
Shout my praise (love)

Bridge:
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord
My soul makes, makes its boast in the Lord


Here is the Chinese version.. 我不能停止去愛你 (約書亞樂團 Happy Day)




言語說不出 祂如何形容我
稱我為被愛
沒有人像祂 是這樣看我
看我是聖潔
言語容不下 這愛焚燒我心
天堂環繞我 喔 天堂環繞我

我不能停止去愛你 我不能停止去愛你
我要歌唱 我要歌唱 我愛你 (X2)

你不會相信 祂觸摸我生命
祂挑旺我靈
我不會忘記 祂所說一切
都穿透我心
全地容不下 這愛焚燒我心
天堂環繞我 喔 天堂環繞我

來讚美主 來讚美主
我的心 稱頌主 到永遠

我不能停止讚美你 我不能停止讚美你
我要歡呼 我要歡呼 我愛你 (X2)

Sing Praises (from Watchman Nee devotional book)
"My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing, yea, I will sing praises." - Psalm 57:7

Our problems in life are in general of two kinds. The first kind is circumstantial, arising from the turn of events. This may be met and overcome by prayer. The other kind is more personal, the suffering of being hurt or humiliated by others. For such affronts and misunderstandings prayer does not seem to avail. I myself had prayed, and I know. It is futile to wrestle with such problems and to strive in prayer about them. I want to suggest that you should turn instead to praise.

You should bow your head and say to the Lord, 'Lord, I thank you. I receive this bad treatment as from Your hands and I praise you for it all.' By so doing you will find that everything is transcended. What the Lord has permitted to come to you cannot be wrong. Everything that He does is perfect. As you thus praise God, your spirit rises victorious over your problems and God Himself takes care of your hurt feelings.

Amen!

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SALON DE THE de Joël Robuchon (Bellavita)

Last week after we took our son for his doctor's checkup in the morning, we went to see the newly opened luxury mall in Xinyi district area (near Taipei 101 and Shin Kong Mitsukoshi) called BELLAVITA. This beautiful Euro-style architecture mall has a total floor space of 6,316 ping (20,879 square-meter) and houses nearly 20 international luxury brands including Bulgari, Hermes, Tod's and others.

Here's my son posting in front of Bellavita's grandiose facade.


Bellavita also features a restaurant and pastry bakery salon by world-renowned French chef and restaurateur Joël Robuchon who has won a total of 25 stars from the Michelin Guide, more than any chef in the world. The restaurant is called "L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon" found at the 5F of the mall and is the first restaurant in Taiwan operated by a Michelin star chef.

The pastry shop found at the 3F is called "SALON DE THE de Joël Robuchon". We were feeling so relaxed that weekday afternoon away from work and school so my wife convinced me to have coffee and some pastry inside. "My treat," she said. : )


Inside Bellavita is a very spacious lobby with palm trees and water fountain. If there was a clerk desk and sofa, you would thought you were in a hotel lobby. And I love going to malls on workdays as there's not much people so my kid can run around freely. : )


I was also amazed with the magnificent huge oval glass roof inside... a stark contrast with the rectangular facade of the building.


The view from the upper floor looking down the lobby... you will noticed the elegant floor art design. Their Christmas deco and Christmas tree is still not even half-finished and it is already December. : )


Beautiful wall architecture and lamps along the hallway... also loved the revolving door entrance.


I was really hesitant to try "SALON DE THE de Joël Robuchon" because I've read a Chinese blog about this very nice pastry salon and how much they've spent. Women really knows how to spend on places that men will only go to if it is free. : )

The theme deco of Joel Robuchon's restaurants are basically laid in striking red and black colors. I was just about to start taking photos inside the deco and pastries when the "bakery lady" (not FlavorField bakery) told me it is not allowed to take photos. What is it with all these fancy pastry bakeries not allowing photos to be taken as if we are spies. Next time, I'll wear a black and red T-shirt that says, "I'm a Michelin Guide Star Blogger!" (maybe in Mandarin words) and bring a DSLR camera.


This was the only photo I managed to take of their take-out pastries display inside. I wasn't able to take a photo of the tall glasses display full of colorful macaroons located at the entrance door. I will provide two Chinese blog links at the end of this blog featuring this pastry salon with lots of great photos. Lucky for them, they were not confronted by the bakery lady. : )


Leather menu in black and red... L'Atelier is the restaurant name found on the fifth floor where I probably can't afford to dine.


Their prices are not that dreadful as I thought but still expensive. For one order of fancy pastry and drink, you would need to spend around NT$400 at least.


Boulangerie Patisserie... French word for bakery, pastry, and cake shop. You go to this counter where they display the pastries shown on the menu. Beware approaching this counter because the temptation is hard to resist and you might end up ordering more than one kind of pastry.


Like I said, it was really hard to resist ordering just one pastry... the three of us ended up ordering all these varieties. But it was a delightful experience indeed.


Cherry Danish pastry with liquor... so irresistible! Golden crisp pastry crust, black cherries soaked in liquor and the custard filling are all so heavenly.


Danois Poire Marron... Danish pastry with peach, liquor, and custard filling.


I always love peach or mango topped danish pastry... magnifique! : )


French Macaron (chocolate flavor)... NT$80 each! I thought for two at least. Just one! It is hard not to try their colorful macarons because you see it everywhere in display inside. Click the Chinese blog links below to see the other colorful flavors.


Macarons (not macaroons) are sandwich-like French pastries made with two thin cookies and a cream or ganache between the cookies. Very soft and moist, it seems to melt together as one. : )


Mille-feuille a la Vanille... three layers of puff pastry alternating with vanilla cream fillings in between.


You will need the JR knife to slice the mille-feuille gently. : )


One of my favorite is the "Rouge"... red berries mousse cake. Recommended by the other bakery lady if you are feasting on many sweet pastries. To give your taste buds a bit of a sourly-sweet sensation. : )


Perfect mixed of sourly red berry mousse on top and sweet chocolate cake below. Love it!


Me and my wife both ordered a cup of "le café au lait" (coffee latte) while my son had "le chocolat chaud" (hot chocolate). We were quite disappointed the coffee cup was small like the coffee cups used in hotel restaurant buffets. They also don't provide complimentary water. A bottle of mineral water (Perrier or Vittel) costs NT$100. I recommend to order their tea in red pot with all the sweets you will eat.


"SALON DE THE de Joel Robuchon" definitely is a place girls and women will surely love meeting (or be taken on a date) and have an afternoon tea time together... but only once in a while probably. : )

Check out these Chinese blogs for more photos...
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/WretchFood/12635514
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/WretchFood/12625689

Coming soon to BELLAVITA is the Deluxe Food Hall at B2 floor. We'll look forward to it! : )

SALON DE THE de Joel Robuchon
Tea Salon, Pastry & Bakery
台北市信義區松仁路28號3樓 (BELLA VITA 三樓）
3F No. 28 Song Ren Road, Taipei (or take MRT to Taipei City Hall Station)
Tel: (02)8729-2626
Weekdays: 10:00-22:00　Weekend/Holiday: 10:00-22:30

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Li-Zhang-Gui Dry Noodles (李掌櫃乾拌麵館)

One weekday morning we took our kid to Chang Gung Taipei hospital (長庚紀念醫院) for his doctor's appointment. My son is suffering from so-called acute nasosinositis (鼻竇炎) and sometimes will have fever and headache. At the back of the hospital, we saw this recently opened noodle restaurant called Li-Zhang-Gui (李掌櫃) and their specialty is "gan-ban-mian" or dry mixed noodles (乾拌麵).

My son does not look like he is suffering at all because he is happy he was excused from school that day. Me and my wife also took the whole day off from work.


Their house specialty is this sesame sauce dry mixed noodles or ma-jian-mian (招牌麻醬乾拌麵) for just NT$55. Remember if you see the Chinese word "招牌" (zhao pai), it means the specialty of the restaurant. : )


It was just past 11am when we left the hospital so it was like brunch time and we were the first customer of the day. It was delightful to see all the side dishes they put out on display. One plate is NT$30.


One of my favorite noodle store side dish is this picked cabbage or "pao-tsai" (泡菜).


Their menu consists of dry mixed noodles, soup noodles, soup, rice (beef/pork/chicken), dumplings, and also cold noodles. Nearby office workers eating out will surely enjoy coming here with so many meals to choose from.


Ma-jiang-mian (麻醬麵) is one type of Chinese dry noodle where the sauce is mainly made from sesame paste with shredded pickles and thinly sliced scrambled egg on top. This is one of my favorite type of dry noodles. The sesame sauce is very fragrant and flavorful. And most of all, their noodles are really very 'Q'. One of the best made noodles. : )


Mixed them up with your chopstick until the sesame sauce covers the whole plate of noodles.


When eating ma-jiang-mian, one should always pair it with a light clear soup to balance the strong flavor of the sesame sauce. So I ordered this recommended chicken broth wonton soup (雞汁餛飩湯) for NT$50.


The soup and wonton is really delicious!


My wife ordered this spicy shrimp XO sauce dry mixed noodles (鮮蝦XO醬乾拌麵) for NT$85.


Looks delicious as well.


My son went with his usual favorite beef soup noodles (牛肉湯麵) for NT$75. He's a beef soup noodle lover. : )


Recommended! We'll be back for sure. Another addition to my fine restaurant name card collection. : )


Li-Zhang-Gui Dry Noodles (李掌櫃乾拌麵館)
台北市敦化北路199巷2弄11號
No.11, Alley 2, Lane 199, Dun Hua North Rd, Songshan District
Tel: (02) 27172113

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VAIO L Series All-in-One Touchscreen PC

Dear Santa,

All we want for Christmas is this SONY VAIO L series All-in-One Touchscreen PC. The Touchscreen PC that's also an HDTV. My kids will surely love it! : )

Innovation you can put your finger on. Access the internet, watch movies, listen to music and more with the VAIO® L Series all-in-on touchscreen PC/HDTV. A multimedia powerhouse, the L116FX is a high-definition PC with a stunning 24" multi-touch screen display. Watch and record live television programming including local and over-the-air HD channels with the built-in TV tuner, or enjoy your favorite high-definition movies on the Blu-ray Disc™ optical drive. You'll also experience robust computing and gaming thanks to the Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q8400S processor, 6GB of RAM and NVIDIA graphics. Plus, a 500GB hard disk drive (HDD) offers ample storage for storing your photos, movies, games and more.

or this HP TouchSmart 600 PC is also nice. : )


I might put it on our bedroom instead. : )

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Taiwan Street Mochi (古早味麻糬)

Two weeks ago, we attended the 15th year birthday and sportsfest event of my son's elementary school. There's my son in blue and yellow uniform with his first grade classmates and teacher marching into the track field.


Inside the school premises, they also arrange a few food and drink stalls for visitors and students. One particular Taiwan local snack I noticed is this street mochi (麻糬) vendor cart (pronounced 'mua-ji' in Taiwanese dialect).


Cute flat shiny mochies without the peanut coating... they're like naked M&M's. : )


There are two flavors to choose in stuffing your mochi - peanut and sesame seed powder. Or you can buy mixed flavors in 5pcs (NT$30) or 10pcs (NT$50). The three Chinese words printed on top (古早味) means early or authentic local flavor. : )


The lady owner gets a piece of the flat mochi and stretches it.


Then she stuffs it inside with either the black sesame powder or the peanut powder with sugar and covers it.


Then she rolls the entire mochi over with peanut coating. Quick, simple, and very cheap.


So deliciously-Q (soft and chewy)! I love Taiwan local mochi over Japanese-style mochi! : )


Look at my son trying to impress (showing off) his girl classmate. >_<

My son is one of the tallest in their class and looks like he's off to a good start... Well, too bad the shorter and quicker guys from other section class won the race. I told my son to just switch to basketball next year and play center. : )


The school also were selling this Taiwan marble soda (彈珠汽水) or Ramune soda. I haven't had this drink for a very long time now. You won't get them at 7-11. : )


Here's a clip on how to open a marble soda in case you get one in Taiwan and don't know how to open it. : )


I ordered another box of mochi to take home after the sportsfest. : )

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Korean Cuisine & BBQ (韓風館)

I've been wanting to blog about Korean food but always come out empty because of the bad photos I took or because of the bad food or bad impression of the restaurants we tried. But at last, one cold Saturday night, my wife and I (minus our kids who went to their aunt's house) went roaming around ZhongXiao area for a new restaurant to try and found this Korean Cuisine & BBQ (韓風館) just along the same alley of Tu-Hsiao-Yeh and Yogurt Art.



I love kimchi as much as I love sushi... and their kimchi soup is a must! : )


We ordered the set course meal for 2 people which includes this beef barbecue and side semi-hotpot...


I love these 3-in-1 Korean barbecue sauce...


My wife and I also enjoyed very much all of these six Korean side dishes.


I prefer this semi-hotpot BBQ because it is easy to cook... and also cheaper. : )


Additional seafood and mushroom barbecue platter...


The set course meal also includes this hot bibimbap (stone bowl mixed rice)...


Just mixed it up while the stone pot is still hot... so good!


I was really slurping this kimchi soup during that cold night. Delicious!


The magazine Health named kimchi in its list of top five "World's Healthiest Foods" for being rich in vitamins, aiding digestion, and even possibly reducing cancer growth. But remember, too much of anything is also not good. : )

We ordered separately this seafood pancake (Pajeon)... always my favorite Korean dish.


One of the best Korean pancake I've tasted... a must-try! : )


And just right in front of our table looking at me is this poster of Kim Ah Joong. How can anyone forget this 200 Pounds Beauty movie star? : )


One of the funniest enjoyable Korean comedy film...


I am quite surprised I don't see any blogs even in Chinese about this restaurant because it is surely a good one. You could even see photos of celebrities including President Ma. The price is affordable and the lady owner is very friendly too. But don't expect the Korean part-timers to be that friendly and polite in serving you, as long as they don't ignore you. Highly recommended! The lady owner even asked me if my wife is Korean. : )


By MRT:
台北捷運忠孝敦化站3號出口
ZhongXiao DunHua Exit 3 (at the back of Ming Yao Department Store)

I'll end this blog with some YouTube of this funny movie... enjoy! : )
200 Pounds Beauty Trailer...




Beautiful Girl MV... : )

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Bigtom Ice Cream

One of the nicest big open square park in Taipei that I take my kids to for micro (kick) scooting is at National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial (國立國父紀念館) where outside the park you get to enjoy a very nice magnificent view of nearby Taipei 101.


And just right at one side of the park along Guangfu Road is our favorite place to go for an afternoon ice cream and coffee break... Bigtom Eis Cafe (比湯姆美國冰淇淋文化館).



They serve one of the best ice cream waffles in town and an ice cream flavor named after the first African American President of the United States. : )


Sun Yat-sen Memorial is always a perfect place to go on a cloudy day where my two kids can enjoy kick-scooting or just running around.


The park also has lots of vendors (elderly women) selling kites and toys like this cute battery-operated bubble guns. : )


Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is also one of the popular tour guide destinations aside from the bigger and more popular CKS Memorial Hall. If you want to know more about the person printed on the NT100 dollar bill and also the NT50 dollar coin, this is the place to visit. Other cultural shows and concerts are also performed here.


Also found secluded inside the square park with lots of green trees is a big garden fish pond where you will also see a lot of turtles which I believed were owned before by many Taipei residents. : )


And as you walk straight to the end of the garden pond you will see the beautiful outside porch seating of Bigtom overlooking the pond and trees. Bigtom also has lots of chairs and tables inside the dairy cow-themed store.


Bigtom is a perfect place to rest and unwind after playing or running around the park. Very kid friendly place. : )


One of the must try is their large waffle with 3 scoops of your picked ice cream flavor. I picked three of the top 5 flavors at Bigtom - Obama Chocolate Brownie, Exotic Vanilla Bean, and Oregon Strawberry. : )


Bigtom says their ice cream are "Healthy and All Natural, Less Fat, Less Sugar, Less Air Overrun."


Their waffles are one of the best tasting waffles I really like. They're freshly made and they're thick, soft, moist, and not so sweet. And their large waffle is really large.


I always order a cup of Cafe Latte which I think tastes richer and better than Starbucks. Their latte also goes perfect with their waffles and delicious cakes.


Their gourmet cakes, cookies and muffins are also very tempting...


I love Lindt Swiss chocolates very much. : )


My favorite is this chocolate mud cake... so rich and moist.


This Cherry Brandy Cheesecake is also good.


Our kids go crazy on this Chocolate Ice Cream Float...


OK kids, let's sing the Sharing song... "Sharing... sharing... one for me and one for you." : )


They're so sweet...


My daughter go moooo over Bigtom. : )


Thanks to Bigtom, I will always enjoy taking my kids to Sun Yat-sen Memorial anytime. A nice way to spend the weekend outside with your family and friends. : )


Bigtom Eis Cafe (http://www.bigtom.us)
National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
Address：No.306, Guangfu S. Rd., (opposite side) Taipei City
(or take the MRT blue line to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and walk 5 minutes along Guangfu road across McDonald's)
Tel：(02)2345-4213
Other stores - click here.

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Happy 7 Birthday, John!

A very busy and tiring November for me with lots of things at work, church, and family so I couldn't find time and energy to update my blog journal lately. Tuesday was the birthday of my 7-year son and he was very contented to just eat at home and have a small birthday cake celebration. He doesn't like buying toys anymore. Good boy! : )



Birthday cake bought from newly open bakery chain store near our house in Donghu... How Sweet Bakery. : )

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You Are Special (Max Lucado)

My son borrowed this nice book from their school library... You Are Special (你很特別) by Max Lucado. Highly recommended book for children and parents, too! : )



God Loves You Just the Way You Are!

The world tells kids, "You're special if... if you have the brains, the looks, the talent." God tells them, "You're special just because. No qualifications necessary." Only one of those messages will find its place in their hearts. That's why every child you know needs to hear this one, reassuring truth: "You are precious in His sight." Max Lucado's delightful, fully illustrated children's tale from the pages of Tell Me the Secrets will help you say it again and again... with love.

Every day the small wooden people called Wemmicks do the same thing: stick either gold stars or gray dots on one another. The pretty ones—those with smooth wood and fine paint—always get stars. The talented ones do, too. Others, though, who can do little or who have chipped paint, get ugly gray dots. Like Punchinello.

In this heartwarming children's tale from the best-selling pen of author Max Lucado, Eli the woodcarver helps Punchinello understand how special he is—no matter what other Wemmicks may think. It's a vital message for children everywhere: that regardless of how the world evaluates them, God cherishes each of them, just as they are.

In Cantonese, : )

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