Goodies from France

Haven't visited Southern France and Paris this year. I feel I missed something. So thoughtful of my friends who filled up this emptiness with all these goodies from France lately. The chocolate with a drop pinch of ear grey tea leaves is awesome. Even after an hour, the fond aroma of earl grey is still there in my tongue. On the photo 3, it's some very nice cookies from Normandie. My French friend told me, apart from the history thing, Normandie is famous for its butter products. See that picture on the tin can. It tells it all.

Marvelous Cream (Japanese sweets parfait), Siam Paragon BKK

This shop is just next in between The Grill Tokyo and Crystal Jade in Siam Paragon. The hand-toss ice cream is a bit Italian gelatin. The top sellers are Strawberry shortcake (photo 4) and Mont Blanc (photo 3) which are firmer in texture. I somehow prefer firmer ice cream. I took the shop's recommendation of a choco. chip hand-toss ice cream, but don't like it much. I would prefer the 2nd top seller Mont Blanc after all. In general, the flavour is very Japanese.

Duc de Praslin Belgium Chocolaterie, soi 31 Sukhumvit BKK

Visited here 4 years ago. Tried their THB99 breakfast of an iced choco drink, orange juice and a pastry and 1 praline. The chocolate is pretty nice though it's not the best. Considering the price level, we shouldn't expect too much. I'd rather enjoy the environment of this place. Came here again and the breakfast set is now at THB119 net. I chose an iced mocha and apple strudel. A refreshing day to go....

Yung He soy bean drink shop Fu Xing South Rd 復興南路永和豆漿

Though I posted this shop before, I need to say it's still the best soy bean drink shop in town to me. My friends (local & Angel) and I spent much time on searching the best soy bean drink shop in Taipei in the mid. 90's ane early 00's, and found this shop the most consistent one. This time I was glad to have seen the chef who made the best sticky rice roll still in the shop. Check photo 3 - the one in the middle front. It's him who made the best sticky rice roll and all the nice baked pastry like photo 2 (燒餅夾肉鬆). This time I am also pleased to see this shop crowded with longer line of customers, but they still keep the good quality.

Cookies on the growth

1. Not a stranger to the HK people. Cookies Quartet made this one very nice with strong aroma of butter, sugar but amazinly not too sweet. 2. The cookies are in quite many varieties. The sesame and coffee ones are very nice.

3. Jenny's cookies offer some HK style cookies. Taste-wise, they are all above average. 4. My most favourite cookies are from this shop in Bangkok.

Hakka Wrigley?

Are you interested?

snack - Japanese curry rice, Japan

Why I call it snack. I normally take a ramen at 10:30 to 11am. Then at around 3-4pm, I would take a light meal. So a smaller size curry rice would be nice.

1. This shop is called 松屋 and it's a chain fast food shop in Japan. Price range is from JPY350 to 700 depending on the size and combination...etc. 2. I took a small order of curry beef rice. The curry is pretty good considering it's a fast food.
3. Together with a salad and soup, it's just JPY430 (US$5). So good to re-boost my body energy to keep on shoping and browsing.

Snack in Tokyo

On my first visit in Tokyo in early 90's, I was fascinated with various snacks and the local milk and ice cream products. So on the first night of my every trip, I would stock up some local snacks for my late night supper.

1. This kind of rice crackers are so good to refill your carbo. after your all days walking and getting stressed. JPY280 (US$2.5). 2. I like the dried squid or any dried seafood here. This one is very nice and so much flavour of octopus. JPY200 (US$2.2)

3/4. Even the local chocolate products are very nice - refined and melty. BTW, the soda here is also very different. The flavour is quite "thick" and hard to describe. I don't like coke or pepsi. Either of them is very nice here!
5. Even the Oreo is different. It's not my prejudice but this flour and the sugar are pretty refined to make it different. I can taste the sugar is quite distinctive. Very impressed. 6. Wow.. the local tangerine is also very different. My grand mom sometimes would, at her old time, comment "honey" tangerine but it almost disappeared for many years, until I found this in here. I paid JPY220 (US$2.4) for 10 tangerine. Really sweet like honey. Can't imagine.
7. Milk is also my must try every time when I am here. So goodorf!

Yung He soybean shop, 永和豆漿大王, Taipei, Taiwan

In 1995 to 1997, Madam Fa, our Japanese friend and another friend from Hang Zhou had various trips to Taipei in search of the best soybean drink and rice dumpling. Though the locals often said the Xi Hai soybean shop in Yung He city is the best, we don't agree to it as that shop is in a massive production and made the rice dumplings in advance. So shops after shops, wasting after wasting food and time and money, I believe we have tried more than 100 shops in the whole Taipei city from all those trips. We still think this one on Fu Hsing S. Rd. section 2 between Shin Yi Rd. and He Ping E. Rd. is the best. So today I got to try it again and it's still the best to me.

1. the shop didn't deep fried the Chinese doughnuts a lot and just to the right amount for people to get the freshest deep fried crispy doughnuts. 2. iced chill soybean drink (TWD20, USD0.7) - so nice and so cool though this time they didn't have enough burnt bean aroma.

3. another view to the open kitchen. 4. my most favourite rice dumpling (TWD35, USD1.1). See how nice the rice was spread as a thin roll and easy to eat. Besides, the Chinese doughnut inside is very crispy, plus the Chinese pickled and the dried shred pork are perfect! No matter how full I am, this is always the one I can't leave even a rice. Must try!

5. Siu Lon Bao (TWD70, USD2.2). Though the wrap is not thin enough, the filling is very nice. At least it has the pork flavour, mind me to say it to compete with Din Tai Feng that the filling of Din Tai Feng is not that nicely aromatic with pork flavour. So if we replace the filling of Din Tai Feng's Siu Lon Bao with this one, it's perfect! However, I prefer thicker wrap of Siu Lon Bao as I like flour aroma; so this one is better for me. 6. the shop.

Book street, snack street, teenagers' street, Shin Guang Mitsukoshi, Taipei Station, Taiwan

This area behind Shin Guang Mitsukoshi has been a place for the teenagers where a lot of book shops, snack/dessert/drink shops as well as the auxiliary study courses institutes.

1. not only local snacks/noodle/dumplings, but also many busy shops like stationery, CD...etc.
2. Still the same scene as it has been in the 90's.

3. Egg on Chinese pan cake 蛋煎餅 TWD30 (US$0.8)

4. Pan fried buns 生煎包 TWD10 (US$0.3). I tried one and definitely bought it for my breakfast. Honestly speaking, this shop is even better than Din Tai Feng to me as the shop put the filling as 50/50 for veggie and pork, and I really like the raw taste and the hot and steamy of the buns. My local friends also agreed that this shop opposite to Taiwan Hospital is very good!

5. More more local snacks.
6. this dumpling shop has many branches in HK now.
7. Shin Guang Mitsukoshi used to be the landmark of Taipei before 101.

The frogs laying eggs 青蛙下蛋, Taipei, Taiwan

青蛙下蛋 the frogs laying eggs is an interesting term for one of the local snack drink. The so-called eggs are just mini chewy

dumplings and they looked like the frog's eggs. Actually most Taiwanese local snacks tend to be quite chewy.

1. This shop served this drink and the famous Ai Yu drink (kind of jello with lemon). 2. So this is it. It's quite refreshing after a greasy meal.
3. OK, now a further generation to the former part - the frogs falling in love with milk. Simply it's the drinks with milk.

Yah Chung noodle soup 阿宗麵線, Si Men Ting, Taipei, Taiwan

The first time I was brought to this shop, it was a very small shop many many years ago. At that time, my prejudice drove me not to try it as the noodle soup looks very thick and the noodle a bit too mashy. Later on every time I passed by it, I just had a look but still didn't feel like trying it due to my prejudice. So tonight I just told myself to try it regardless of what it is.

1. The shop is all the time on a long queue but tonight it was a bit shorter (maybe people tended to go for something western on Christmas's Eve). So I took my Christmas eve dinner on something alternate.

2. OK. I paid TWD40 (US$1.3) for a bowl and add some vinegar, raw garlic and their house made chilli. I had my first bite for all these regretful years. Yes, regretful for I got on my prejudice, regretful for I was not patient enough and regretful for being too late... It was awesome! Very impressive! The chef first pan fried the Sa Cha paste 沙茶醬 and mix a nice soup with Taiwan's local unique soy paste 醬油膏. A superb aroma and balance of these 2 major ingredients. The only thing I can complain is that the pig's intestine is a bit too chewy. Should have been shimmered a bit. Anyway, the intestine has been cleaned very well. That made up for my complaint. A must try!