Taiwan 2014/15 (Part I)

It has been two months since I've last touched this space. Actually I did ponder whether to shut this down during this period partly due to numerous ups and downs, however I decided to keep it and probably blog as and when I feel like it again? So yes, I'm back alive and kicking again hopefully staying on and updating this space regularly (even if there are no readers).

Alright moving on and as you can see from my post title, I'll be sharing about my first trip of 2015. This was my third time there however slightly special this time as I decided to step out of taipei and new taipei to explore more. Will be touching on that at a later post as I went to taipei first instead of the usual norm which most others will do.

It was very easy for me to navigate around taipei since I've been there before. You can take kuo-kuang bus from taoyuan airport straight to taipei main station at a ticket price of $125 twd. Duration ranges between 45 minutes to an hour, depend on traffic flow.

Headed to ximending after I've alighted at taipei main station to check into our minsu. I was told to give the owner a call when I reached exit 6 and she will reach in a jiffy to pick me up and walk us over to her minsu.

Chose the Greek Romance theme room because that's my favourite among the rooms available + this is the only room that has bathtub which I didn't get to use due to cold weather. For booking and reservation, you can simply check out www.joggingbear.blogspot.sg and email the owners.

Settled our first meal at dazzling cafe kiwi, located at breeze center. For honey toast lovers, you'll be really glad that dazzling's gonna be opening in singapore very soon! Likewise me too, being another excited being because I no longer have to fly to taiwan to have this.

Wanna make a guess what did we do after which?

Tada, a view of taipei city from elephant mountain!

We definitely made a right choice to climb the mountain after a hearty meal, forgoing the amount of steps we climbed up just to get this magnificent view. It was not just 500 steps I'm saying alright, it was way more than that. Not simple easy stair steps either, they were stone-like steps and I thought I'd have fallen a few times.

Nevertheless, the beautiful sunset made it up to all the energy which I've drained.

Oh I think I forgot to mention that we flew there on the last day of 2014 and the intended plan was to head to the countdown concert party but......

We ended up in another cafe chilling, trying to connect to their wifi for umpteen times (because I think the connectivity somehow didn't work at certain point), and when it failed, we had to kill boredom by playing lame iphone games. Didn't want to head to the concert party as I've been there, done that two years back and surrendered after standing in the cold for an hour that we missed the fireworks.

While waiting with the crowd...... Don't belittle the crowd okay, this was just a teeny weeny bit of the major crazy huge crowd.

Despite long cold night waiting to catch the spectacular fireworks, I can now proudly say it's another tick off my bucket list and it's time to set my aim towards countdown at NYC! Who's up with me?!

Till then to the second part of taiwan~

Chock Full Of Beans | Feedlot Steakhouse | Choupinette

Been on hiatus for quite sometime but I'm officially back as of today as I've gotten myself a tablet pc. Not exactly a fabulous one but good enough for me to surf the net, update this space, catch some drama series and etc.

Won't be touching about my recent work/personal/social life in this post yet so let's move on to the cafes and restaurants which I've recently visited.

Travelled all the way to the extreme east on deevapali because I wanted to try the latte art coffee. Food wasn't too bad and I love what I ordered, rosti with scrambled eggs and cheese sausages - all my fav! Sadly, I didn't know rose latte doesn't come with foam art as you can see above...... so I'm definitely visiting there again, not anytime soon though.

Tip: Refrain yourself from visiting this cafe during public holiday, honestly a lot of people and you gotta join in the queue!

Chock Full Of Beans

4 Changi Village Road

Singapore 500004

+65 6214 8839

You're right if you're wondering whether this was the $12 lobster mac & cheese! I really wanted to share this before this deal ended on 15 November but I really didn't have the time to ): 

Ample lobster meat was whipped together with the cheesy macaroni and lobster bisque sauce. Such a pity that truffle fries' a miss. I'm not too sure if feedlot is gonna add this dish into their main menu as it isn't part of it now. So let's hope they are gonna add this because it's so worth it!

Feedlot Steakhouse Bar & Grill

56 Tanglin Road #B1-01

Singapore 247964

+65 6463 8080

Last but not least, I recently headed to choupinette again, my all time fav spot for eggs benedict! Standard didn't drop at all since the first time I visited in 2011. Be there early if you want to get a seat during weekends especially.

Choupinette

607 Bukit Timah Road

Singapore 269708

+65 6466 0613

Change

"I admit, I really miss how things used to be.

But I can also admit, that I've accepted the fact that things have changed."

Artistry Cafe

Down to the last quarter of the year, and hello october (ya I'm late for six days).

I know I've been neglecting this space a lot and I've no idea if I still have readers but whatever that is, I'm still gonna update as much as I can though there are so much limitations - insufficient time and no laptop. Alright let's move on ~

Try to spot me if you can, no prize if you do hehe

Now, it's pretty obvious where was my brunch spot last week!

Truffle fries ($12), a very huge bowl for pax of two. Crispy fries however not much of the truffle taste, still prefer those at sprmrkt!

Eggs on toast ($15) which was very mediocre.

Home made granola and fruits ($10)

I supposed the brunch items which I ordered ain't out of the world but I'm definitely visiting there soon again to try some other special items like crab cake burger, kaya butter french toast with coconut ice-cream and etc.

Artistry Cafe

17 Jalan Pinang

Singapore 199149

+65 6298 2420

Monday Musing

Yes hi guys, it has been a long while again. I've been quite busy (and lazy) lately if you're curious and that I haven't really gone out to cafe-hop and snap some visuals thus I didn't feel like I have anything to blog about. Oh and the fact, my five years old laptop died on me recently and I can only use my sis or bro's laptop now.

Since it's a monday today, as usual, I'm always the one who reach home first as I kinda dislike heading out after work during weekdays. Surprisingly, I just feel like typing some rants / whines / feelings / thoughts / whatsoever which you deem it as today. However before that, I will share this paragraph from this article from thought catalog which I have similar sentiments.

"Here’s the thing we don’t realize about the parts of ourselves we hide away from the world: those secrets, those little half-truths end up owning us. We define ourselves by the things we are not saying, by the things we keep on our heart we don’t let out. And, we become consumed almost entirely not by what we are doing, but what we are not doing; not by what we are saying, but what we are not saying. Our secrets, our little betrayals we commit onto ourselves, our I’m fine’s when we’re not fine, these end up becoming much more than small, momentary infractions. They multiply. And, each of these betrayals lead us further and further from being true to ourselves."

So how exactly do you define yourself? Do you want to be molded into someone you're not just because you want others to see you as they think you're? Probably someone who's strong enough to handle everything? Or being someone whom you think your friends will accept you for? Or maybe getting all the achievements your parents want you to get? Well, I really have no idea because I believe nobody is being 100% true or you can put it as truthful to anyone, not in a entirely bad way. I supposed, only you know yourself best and no one else does and maybe it's a matter of how you face it too.

I stare into space quite a lot lately too, pondering about any nitty gritty things that I don't have an answer for. But no, I'm not being emotional. Neither I am being negative about life. I'm just, maybe, confused and lost at this very moment.

Cafe Fest | Saveur

Cafe fest was a total disappointment. I was expecting so much more since it's named as a fest and participating cafes come together at one venue to sell their own merchandises and specialities. However, the venue spot itself was small and squeezy to accommodate the amount of people who bought the tickets for this event. That aside, goodie bag wasn't something extraordinary either. It was also stated that there will be special discount for people who purchased the tickets but sadly, it was only $1 off. I didn't even bother queuing up to get anything because the weather was out to kill and the waiting time was so long. The organizers should really work something on this if they would want to organize this again.

Explored some tourist attractions in singapore since we had time to spare, MBS to art science museum to helix bridge to shopping malls etc etc, snapping visuals as I brought my dslr out too which I haven't used ever since I purchased the samsung ex2f.

Settled dinner at saveur (FEP outlet), ordered the usual - pasta ($4.90), sauteed potatoes ($3.00) and duck confits ($12.90 each). This is probably still my fav and most affordable french restaurant!

When in doubt, eat french and you can't go wrong.

Saveur
Far East Plaza #01-07B
14 Scotts Road
Singapore 228213
+65 6736 1121

Nassim Hill Bakery

Full portion of chilli crab pasta ($25), it also comes in half portion ($16). I had a mouth of it to get a bite of the crab meat and it was so good but damn it's super spicy! Even GJ has to drink cups of water and was perspiring after finishing the entire bowl.

My share of scrambled eggs with bacon which comes with salad and bread bowl ($19) was very mediocre. There wasn't anything special about the eggs, very bland I would say.

Nassim Hill Bakery
56 Tanglin Road
Singapore 247964
+65 6835 1128

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It's also the last day of august today and I'm quite anticipating for september as I'm gonna welcome the first weekend with a cafe fest, hope it doesn't disappoint. See you if you're going! :>