Highlights of Xi Men Ding (西门町), Taipei

Highlights of Xi Men Ding (西门町), Taipei

We attempted to take a photo of the bustling streets of Xi Men Ding... ... But... ...

We were surprised that we managed to capture a candid shot of a lady munching her Taiwan Street Snacks.. It was really funny and this attests that Taiwan Street Snacks are indeed yummy :)

We managed to capture a photo of the cast filming an action movie in the street at night...

Sorry my little Rabbits~ Have not been updating my blog regularly as I have been away to Taiwan for my pre-wedding photo-shoot.

Our hotel was in Xi Men Ding (西门町), Taipei and hence we would be hanging around the Xi Men Ding area pretty frequently :)

Hotel Name: iTrip Taipei Inn (日安西门城市旅店)
Website: http://itrip-taipeinn.com.tw
Address: 9F.-2, No.36, Xining S. Rd., 西门町, 台北, 台湾 108

We love the spacious bathroom with the huge bathtub and shower area (although we have never used the bathtub). Conducive bathrooms have always been our top priority in booking a hotel as it affects our morning mood when we wash up and clear our bowels. Also, returning back to a clean bathroom after a long day's travel is vital as it is something that is very welcoming - at least to me... I will suffer from severe constipation if the bathroom is dirty as I will not have any urge to use it at all.

Pointing towards the Emergency Exit Route on the Hotel Room's Door...

However the down-side to this hotel is that their sewage pipes lack maintenance - you can smell poo whenever you return to your hotel room despite that your rooms are being cleaned daily. This is a small issue to us as the smell will go off after some time (when you get accustomed to it).

The receptionist is very friendly, they would provide us with very useful travel tips and information and they also helped us to reserve the Feigou bus to send us back to the airport at the end of our trip.

Having Breakfast @ the Pantry area in the morning with Tracy

Also, the hotel serves local Taiwanese delights for breakfast - our favourite is the warm Taiwanese Porridge and hot soya bean milk provided. They also provide toasted bread with jam as an alternative if you would like to keep your breakfast simple (I enjoyed toasting my own bread and applying peanut butter every morning). The breakfast is not fantastic but the spread is rather decent judging from the price we paid.

Overall: ★★★☆☆
Pricing: ★★☆☆☆
Comfort: ★★★☆☆
Service: ★★★◐☆

Oyster Vermicelli from 阿宗面线 (Ah Zhōng Miàn Xiàn)

The very first thing we tried after we checked-in to our hotel is the Oyster Vermicelli from the infamous 阿宗面线.

阿宗面线(西门町店)
Address：万华区万华区峨嵋街8之1号(近西门町)

阿宗面线(西门町店)

This is Sweetie Muffin's favourite dish in Taiwan but both Tracy and I felt that it tasted a tad too saltish and starchy to our liking. However it is indeed comforting to eat something piping hot in such a cold and rainy climate like that.

Pricing: ★★☆☆☆
Food: ★★◐☆☆

Braised Pork Rice (乳肉饭) from 金鋒西门 (Jīn Fēng Xī Mén)

Besides the Oyster Vermicelli from 阿宗面线, another must-try dish when you are in Taiwan is their 乳肉饭 (braised pork rice).

金鋒西门
Address: 台北市萬華區昆明街89號
Tel: 02-2381-2561
Operating Hours：11:00 to 21:00 (Closed on Tuesdays)

For just TWD25 (approx SGD1+, using the exchange rate of 1SGD=23.6TWD), you can enjoy a tiny bowl of Braised Pork Rice with Mushrooms. We also ordered the Fried Pork Ribs Soup (TWD50) and Clams Chicken Soup (TWD50).

Hearty Lunch @ 金鋒西门

The braised pork rice tasted rather normal as there was more rice than meat served. Would appreciate if they can serve more meat gravy with their rice.. Also, the Fried Pork Ribs Soup is more flavourful that the Clams Chicken Soup although the Clams Chicken Soup has ginger in it.

The total expenditure is TWD150 (approx. SGD6++) and is totally worth it for a restaurant setting.

Pricing: ★☆☆☆☆
Food: ★★★◐☆
Ambience: ★★◐☆☆

Snacks from 365台湾小吃 (365 Taiwan Xiâo Chī)

This eatery comprises of 2 levels and we were intrigued that food was served via an elevator system to the 2nd level within their premises.

365台灣小吃
Location: 台北市萬華區漢中街34號
Tel: 02-2314-9889 

Oyster Omelette from 365台湾小吃 (365 Taiwan Xiâo Chī)

We liked the Oyster Omelette there and it was tasty (not to mention cheap too!). We tried other snacks from the other eateries nearby 365 but we felt that 365 offers the most variety of snacks :)

Pricing: ★☆☆☆☆
Food: ★★★☆☆
Ambience: ★★☆☆☆

Spring Onion Pancakes from Roadside Stalls

炸弹葱油饼

炸弹葱油饼

The Zhà Dàn Cōng Yóu Bîng (炸弹葱油饼) has a more eggy taste than the other version named below. The Spring Onion Pancake's texture is more or less similar to Egg Roti Prata but it has the fragrance of spring onion in it and we loved this lots.

葱抓饼 

The Cōng Zhuā Bîng (葱抓饼) on the other hand has more spring onion taste to it. I personally would prefer this version to the eggy one as I loved the spring onion fragrance which the Indians could not replicate for their Roti Prata :D This dish is highly recommend by me if you should visit any Night Markets in Taiwan :)

葱抓饼

Snowy Ice Dessert from 三兄妹雪花冰 (Sān Xiōng Mèi Xuê Huā Bīng)

I have to agree that you can never get Ice Kachang as fine as this in Singapore and hence this makes it a must-try dish when you are in Taiwan.

西門町三兄妹雪花冰專門店
Website: http://www.ximen.com.tw/store_139
Address:  萬華區漢中街23號Taipei, Taiwan 108
Operating Hours: Daily, 11:00 to 23:00

The graffiti on the walls of the eatery is also another attraction for this place...

Snowy Ice Dessert from 三兄妹雪花冰 (Sān Xiōng Mèi Xuê Huā Bīng)

The Menu offers a huge variety of ways to consume your Snowy Ice dessert - with different fruits / with taro cubes / puddings etc. 

Menu Page 1

Menu Page 2

Pricing: ★☆☆☆☆
Food: ★★★◐☆
Ambience: ★★◐☆☆

Fried Chicken from 富士宫

This stall offers fried noodles and fried chicken. The fried chicken tasted somewhat like KFC's Popcorn Chicken LOL. 

Fried Chicken from 富士宫

Bubble Tea from 茶茶果 (Chachago)

As a lover of Pearly Milk Tea, Tracy has tried the milk teas from most of the stalls in the Xi Men Ding area and has concluded that Chachago serves one of the best Pearl Milk Tea.

Other milk teas which we have tried were too milky to our liking. The milk tea served by Chachago has a faint tea fragrance and a milky taste which is more suitable to our local tastebuds.

Bubble Tea from 茶茶果 (Chachago)

满汉大餐 (Mân Hàn Dà Cān) Instant Noodles from 7-Eleven

I know this sounds crazy. But only Taiwan sells this brand of Instant Noodles which is really yummy and tasty accordingly to Sweetie Muffin and Tracy.

Moreover, there are TWO 7-Eleven outlets in the Xi Men Ding area so it is VERY convenient for you to buy the instant noodles there :)

满汉大餐 (Mân Hàn Dà Cān) Cup Noodles from 7-Eleven

I tried the Braised Beef Noodles and indeed the soup base is very flavourful although I still prefer my favourite Nissin Cup Noodles.

Perhaps you can try savouring this brand of cup noodles in your hotel room when you are bored of checking out the Night Markets at night or you can try eating them for supper if you are still feeling hungry (which is rare when you are in Taiwan).

I do hope you will like my first sharing on the highlights of Taipei and I will be posting more about our Taiwan trip shortly after I have consolidated all my photos :)


What's Next: Highlights of Taipei: Shilin Night Market (士林夜市).

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Nailart for Pre-Wedding Photoshoot (Tutorial n Sharing)

Bunny n Vintage Floral Nailart Tutorial

Bunny and Vintage Floral Nails that is super cute and vibrant for any occasion :)

Preparing for a function but have no time and budget to visit nail parlours to do your nails? Afraid that the nailart provided by nail parlours are not creative and cute enough to satisfy your needs? Wanted to DIY but do not have much manicure tools and adequate skills to do so?

Don't worry, I will show you how to paint your nails using minimal tools and it is very simple and fun too!

Read on for more insights :)

Items Required:

#1: Base Coat + Top Coat

Poshé Nail Strengthening Basecoat + Bourjois 1Seconde Gloss Topcoat 

It is important to protect ur nails by applying a layer of quality base coat prior to application of nail colours. Also, a topcoat is vital to seal your nail colour as well as prevent your nail lacquer from chipping off. To read about my Nail Lacquer collection and my past nailart designs, please refer to my previous post @ http://musings-of-a-rabbit.blogspot.sg/2014/02/hit-nails-nail-lacquer-review.html

#2: Nail Dotting Tool and Toothpicks

Nail Dotting Tool and Toothpicks

The principle of this tutorial is very simple. You can use the tops of the round-headed needles from your sewing kit or bobby pins if you do not have the nail dotting tool. The nail dotting tool is easily available online on Qoo10. I use toothpicks to design the petals of my flowers...

 #3: Nail Lacquers!

Sorry, I do have an extensive collection of Nail Lacquers. The rule of thumb in purchasing nail lacquers is that it is advisable to invest in a good nail lacquer like O.P.I because you can store them for years and yet the application is still smooth and non-clumpy.

I invest on colours that I will use more frequently as a base colour for my nail as the brush is very important in order to have a smooth finishing on your nails. As for other colours that you use for nailart (not as base colours), you can just buy random cheapo brands like The Face Shop, Etude House etc.

Base Colours - from O.P.I and Lioele

As O.P.I do not have the pastel turquoise shade that I so love, I had to settle for Lioele instead :( 

The base colours used are O.P.I's Pink of Hearts 2009 SR AL2 and Liole's 120 LA. 

Misc. Nail Colours used to paint my Vintage Roses and Leaves

I used O.P.I's Elephantastic Pink NL142 together with China Glaze's 545 White Out for the petals. In order to create a more lively look for my leaves, I used a mixture of 3 shades of green - Bourjois 1Seconde in 6402 (it looks kind of blue), An unknown cheap Korean brand for the light green shade and Etude House's Dark Green. 

Colours to Create my Bunny's Eyes

 Do not fret having to buy a Black coloured Nail Polish if you seldom use it. You can always mix colours in your palette to get your desired colour. For the dark-brown (near black) bunny's eyes, I mixed O.P.I's Colour So Hot it Berns NL Z13 and Etude House's Dark Green.

Back in primary school, our art teacher did tell us that the primary colours we should have are Red, Blue and Yellow. You can Mix around with these 3 colours to create different colours!

For instance:

1. Mixing Yellow + Blue ----- You'll get GREEN
2. Mixing Red + Yellow ----- You'll get ORANGE
3. Mixing Red + Blue ----You'll get PURPLE
4. Mixing Red + Green ---- You'll get BROWN

Also, I think you should keep a bottle of White Nail Lacquer in your collection as they come in very handy - for french tips, for mixing with your other nail colours to create a more pastel / milky shade and for nailart!

Moreover, you can always mix Red and White to get PINK, Black and White to get GRAY and many more...

STEPS

1. First Paint a layer of base coat on your nails and wait for them to dry
2. Then paint your desired base colours on your nails. I painted my thumb, index and pinky fingers with pastel pink and my middle and ring finger with pastel turquoise. I think pastel colours look really sweet and romantic for my nailart design :)

Vintage Floral Nailart

First, place a big blob of pink and white nail colours on a piece of unwanted paper. Ensure that there is no ink on your paper as the ink might melt and contaminate your nail colour! I'll always place it on a piece of white paper / unwanted plastic wrappers. 

Using the finer end of the dotting tool, immerse it in the blob of pink nail varnish and start dotting on your fingernails. You might want to try drawing on your paper first before applying it on your nail to prevent applying excessive amounts of varnish on your nails. The rose petals do not need to be perfect anyways... Next, use your toothpick and dip into the white blob of nail polish and draw out the details of the rose petals using gentle dotting motion. DO NOT PRESS TO HARD as you might create holes in your nail varnish :( The key is keep your strokes as light as possible and only on the surface of your nails.

Then, place blobs of green on your paper and use your toothpick to draw out the leaves of the roses. There is no need to be too precise in this. Just enjoy the process!!!!

Here's some youtube videos to guide you if you are still lost:

Bunny Nailart

Place a big blob of white nail polish on the paper. Using the bigger tip of the nail dotting tool, immerse it into the white nail colour and draw out the bunny's head and ears by pushing the blob of white polish on the surface of your nails and using light dotting motions. 

For the Bunny's eyes, place a blob of red and dark green nail polish on the paper and mix these 2 colours to create a dark brown colour using the larger tip of the dotting tool. Then I dotted the eyes of the bunny using the dotting tool too. To bring your bunny to life, you might want to use the smaller end of the dotting tool to dot white polish in the middle of the 2 black circles which you have created for the eyes. Your bunny will now have sparkling eyes that speak :)

Then, using the finer end of the dotting tool, draw the ears and nose of your bunny using light strokes and dotting motion. Viola! Your bunny is born!!

Videos you can refer to:

Remember to seal your nailart with a layer of Top Coat for added protection and shine!!!

Le' Final Product

Ultra Love my adorable Nails ~

I'll be the cutest (most childish) bride on earth!! Whahahaha!!

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Journey of Love: 2nd Anniversary

Memorable Second Anniversary with Sweetie Muffin

14 February 2014, also known as Valentine's Day - is also our 2nd year knowing each other after 732 days. To read about our love story, you might want to refer to my previous post @ http://musings-of-a-rabbit.blogspot.sg/2013/12/our-journey-of-love-looking-back.html.

Time really flies.. From 2 complete strangers to soul-mates and then to couples who are planning to tie the knot in another year's time. We thank our Heavenly Father for creating this miracle for us and sustained our relationship for the past years.

Muffin ♥ Rabbit Forever!!

For our Anniversary cum Valentine's celebration, Sweetie Muffin said he had loads of surprises in store for Da Rabbit and he was unwilling to reveal too much information - including our dinner venue... 

Sweetie Muffin has loads of Surprises in store for Da Rabbit ♥

At 12:00am sharp, the first buzz I received on my LINE Messenger are these sweet and adorable LINE Stickers from Sweetie Muffin wishing me a Happy Rabbit Day :) Awww ♥~~~

Sweetie Muffin's Salutations on LINE Messenger

Sweetie Muffin then picked me up from my office after work and we head off to our dinner place ~

Dinner @ Hosted on the Patio (Al Fresco Restaurant Bar), Alexandra Road

Hosted on the Patio (Al Fresco Restaurant Bar)
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Hostedsg
991B Alexandra Road, #01-10
Singapore 119970
Operating Hours:
Mondays - Saturdays, 11:30 to 14:30
Mondays - Thursdays, 18:00 to 23:00
Fridays - Saturdays, 17:30 to 00:00
Closed on Sundays

Sweetie Muffin chose to have our celebratory dinner @ Hosted on the Patio after reading some positive reviews and feedback of the place. As Sweetie Muffin is a lover of tranquility, the places he prefer are those that are rather secluded. 

We had some difficulties locating the place, including some wrong turns here and there but thank God we reached the place on time (Sweetie Muffin made a reservation at 18:30). 

The place is sub-divided into the al fresco area and the indoor dining area.

Al Fresco Area (When we entered in)

Bar Counter...

Cozy Indoors...

The Restaurant was pretty empty when we first arrived but once our first few dishes were served, we saw the influx of other couples.

More Couples Joined in the Fun :)

The ambience is generally OK but I find the indoor area a little too dull. Moreover, the plastic chairs are not very comfortable and the staff did not provide me with an extra chair to put my handbag :(

Also, I realised that we were served with very plain plain water for drinks - they could have freshened it with lemon / mixed vegetables etc since this is supposed to be a fine-dining place...

A bottle of Plain Water Served...

Sipping my ultra plain iced water...

We decided to opt out from having the champagne since Sweetie Muffin is never a drinker and he has to remain sober to drive.

Hence the cost of the set meal was SGD68++ per pax. 

Le' Menu

We had the Five Course Menu and Sweetie Muffin picked this because he knew that I loved desserts and the menu has 2 desserts! Muacks Muffin for being so understanding ♥~ 

Valentine's Day 5-Course Menu

Valentine's Day Sparkling Wine Selection

Starters

Half Dozen Oysters to Share

Passion Fruit Gel, Horseradish Cream, Fresh Thyme

Half Dozen Oysters to Share

Sweetie Muffin loved how the Passion Fruit Gel create a zesty taste and helped to mask the raw fishy taste of the Oysters. However, I personally feel that the Oysters' raw taste is very strong and the Passion Fruit Gel only helped to mask the taste a little... 

Posing with my Oysters...

Close-Up

Candid Shot of Sweetie Muffin... He wore my favourite Pinky Shirt :)

Dressed Crab and Lobster on Crispy Rye Bread

Curried Mushroom, Charred Cucumber

Dressed Crab and Lobster on Crispy Rye Bread. Curried Mushroom, Charred Cucumber

The Crispy Rye Bread was nowhere crispy. It was VERY HARD. In fact, so hard that we gave up using the knives provided and used our hands to chew the bread instead. Be grateful that our teeth was still intact after all that...

Also, I do not taste crab and lobster, in fact the texture tasted pretty much like Tuna... 

Sweetie Muffin tried very hard to cut the bread...

Oh yes, I tried to use my hands to hold the bread and chew it with my teeth but an embarrassing accident happened - the crab and lobster topping thingy fell off whilst I was trying to tear the bread off with my Rabbit Teeth..

Le' Embarassing Moment

Le' Fatal Accident

After our horrible experience with eating the first slice of bread, I used my knife and spread the topping onto the second bread.. And... The moisture from the topping helped to soften the stoney hard bread making it a lot more easier to chew!! OMG! They should have provided us with some of the eating instructions so that we would not have embarrassed ourselves.. Meh~ Or we would appreciate it if they slice the bread for us and poke toothpicks for us to eat as ladies would want to look "glam" whilst eating with their significant other too :D

But I think Sweetie Muffin was too used to my "unglam" moments so we just laughed it off and he even captured that moment on his iPhone. LOL.

Main

Pan Seared Beef Flank,

Beer Pickled Pearl Onions, Celeriac Puree, Pepper Leaf

Pan Seared Beef Flank, Beer Pickled Pearl Onions, Celeriac Puree, Pepper Leaf

This is overall a delectable dish. The meat is not too hard to chew and it goes well with the semi-sweet Celeriac Puree :)

Desserts

Salted Caramel and Popcorn Panna Cotta

Salted Caramel and Popcorn Panna Cotta

Was really puzzled why they added a crushed popcorn as topping. Looks cheapo aniwaes...

This generally tasted fine but there would be better ones for sure...

Manjari Mousse, Vanilla Oil, Raspberries, Cocoa Profiteroles

Manjari Mousse, Vanilla Oil, Raspberries, Cocoa Profiteroles

When this dish was served, I was wondering why was the layout of this dessert resembling lumps of poop? If not for the colourful elements from the berries and flower buds, it would have lost its appeal completely.

It tasted like cream puff with the vanilla cream oozing out and it actually tasted great together with the mousse and berries surprising! In fact, out of all dishes served, I feel that this dessert tasted the best. 

Being a dessert lover by nature, the taste of the dessert served can either make or break my day. So I was thankful that the last dish - Manjari Mousse, Vanilla Oil, Raspberries, Cocoa Profiteroles ended off pretty well :)

Pricing: ★★★☆☆
Food: ★★★☆☆
Ambience: ★★★☆☆
Service: ★★★☆☆

Taking pictures of the al fresco area after dinner...

Where's the Live Band??

Sweetie Muffin was so happy that he hugged a tree nearby.. LOL

Gifts Exchange

Sweetie Muffin, the delivery man :)

Muffin got me some pretty childish Rabbit-themed items... I will display them prominently in the display cabinet of our new house ok? :p

A Rabbit Wallet + Rabbit Necklace (in the pink paper bag)

Posing with my Prezzies :)

Round 2: Chilling out @ Timbre

Timbre was a memorable place for us as we went to Timbre for Round 2 during our first meeting too. Hence we decided to drop-by Timbre to refresh that piece of memory for the first time as couples :)

Timbre @ The Gillman
Lifestyle | Restaurant | Bar | Music | Academy
Website: www.timbregroup.asia
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/timbrevenue
9A Lock Road, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108926
Tel: 6694 4202
Operating Hours:
Mondays - Thursdays, 16:00 to 23:30
Fridays and Saturdays, 17:00 to 00:30

Timbre @ The Gillman: Lifestyle | Restaurant | Bar | Music | Academy

Open-Air Dining Area

Neat Grass Cutting!!

Le' Menu

The font size on the menu was too tiny for me to read easily under dim lightings...

Guess I'm getting older :(

No illustration on the menu too :(((( Very Wordy indeed!

I like it when Sweetie Muffin makes that mischevious face...

What We Ordered

We ordered a Cranberry Juice (Sweetie Muffin's version of Bloody Mary) and Mudslide Cocktail.

The Mudslide consists of Absolut Vodka, Baileys Irish Cream, Kahlua and Milk. I am a fan of Baileys and hence this mixture is the perfect concoction for me :) It tasted really nice and yummy!

"Bloody Mary" and Mudslide Cocktail :D

Taking some selfies to commemorate the special day

XOXO

Pricing: ★★★★☆
Food: ★★★☆☆
Ambience: ★★★◐☆
Service: ★★★☆☆

Ending off with my Outfit of The Day Photo

Thanks, Muffin. For always loving me with all your heart ♥~

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