Rice terraces in Tegalalang

Lunch at Three Monkeys in Ubud

Overlooking rice paddies in the middle of Ubud, a must stop for lunch on all my three trips to Bali. Just a nice way to partake in a leisurely lunch with fresh delicious food and shakes.

Chicken Satay with Lontong (circular rice cakes)

Balinese nasi campur with curry chicken

Refreshing coconut, pineapple, yogurt shake

Arrival in Bali

Jimbaran Bay, hotel right on the beach.

Taipei Rooftop View

From my grandparents' rooftop garden. (Brief posts, all sending from iPhone)

Beef Noodle Soup: Zhang Mama

Finally, on my last day in Taipei, my eagerly anticipated niu rou mian (beef noodle soup) from Zhang Mama Niu Rou Mian near Shida University on Heping East Road. Broth is flavorful without being overly oily or rich, with generous amounts of tendon and tender meat and springy noodles. I've never had niu rou mian in the states that comes even close. It's a nice clean shop and a little expensive at around $7 per bowl, but worth it in my opinion.

Chirle Brown

For Will and Richard...

More Taroko Shots

All Iphone shots. I could spend days in this place.

Tainan Small Eats: Part II

In honor of Thanksgiving (it's Thursday here), more of Tainan's famous street food (Part I here):

Fried shrimp rolls, really tasty

Hollow pastry with red bean

Hai Dou Hwa: Black soft tofu soup (sweet)

Mi go: Rice with pork and all sorts of stuff

Simu yu tang (milkfish) soup

Tainan Small Eats - Part I

Tainan is known for its xiao chi, so we spent an entire day eating our way around town, with some sightseeing in between. I can eat, but Taiwanese people really pack it away; us "Americans kids" were dying by the end of the day while the adults were still wanting more.

The original Tainan Du Xiao Yue

Making the danzi mian ("peddler noodles") right at the entrance of the restaurant

Danzi mian: noodles, minced pork, pork ball, shrimp, garlic paste, one of my favorite comfort foods

Incredibly creamy braised eggs

Taiwanese sausage (slightly sweet) with garlic paste

Next stop: Tainan's famous eel noodles

Just an open air stand / restaurant like lots of places in Taiwan

All sorts of internal organs

Bag o' eel, bloody delicious

Chopping the eel

Like 1 billion BTU stove

Eel noodles. The eel is actually quite crunchy, not like unagi. The noodles are slightly sweet and spicy

Salty popsicles

Egg yolk and almond salty popsicle

J's favorite: papaya milk smoothies. I had Tainan's famous winter melon tea.

Taroko Gorge

Eternal Spring Shrine dedicated to the 450+ workers that died during the building of the Central Cross County Highway

Sheer marble walls and narrow gorges

Tian long bridge in taitung

Taichung

View from breakfast at Hotel One. I highly recommend staying at Hotel
One in Taichung, my favorite Taiwan hotel!