Merry Christmas from NYC!

It's been a while since my last blog post but I thought I would do a live update from NYC!!!  It's not my first visit to the Big Apple but this is the first time I actually have plenty of time to sight-see in this beautiful city.  All my previous trips were kind of rushed...

I brought my mom with me this time so my itinerary is super relax... (We are covering 2 POIs a day on average, which is actually what most tourists do but I am usually a "walk-a-holic" when I am traveling...)  She is also forever reminding me to be frugal... Thus, I didn't splurge (as much) this trip... I am just glad that there is delicious food in NYC for every budget!


The Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center
We had to fight crowds to get to it!

Addiction Aquatic Development (上引水產)

Came here with high expectations since my friends raved about it in their last trip to Taipei.  I think this is the problem with me.  I am always disappointed when I go to a place with high expectations and this is unfortunately no exception...

I want this - grilled to perfection!
But I wouldn't be able to finish the whole thing - so it got to live another day...

Coffee Alley (Zhongxiao) (咖啡弄) (忠孝店)

Since the Causeway Bay shop in Hong Kong is always busy, I made it a point to visit the original shop when I was in Taipei.  Of course, there is no line here!  Yay!

There are many branches of Coffee Alley in Taipei.
Of course, I came to the original shop.

Mánzhe Diē #1 (瞞著爹1店)

As mentioned in my previous post, I was very impressed by Mánzhe Diē shop #3 and concluded I have to splurge at shop #1.  Shop #1 specializes in omakase.  Looking back, the price (NTD1880) wasn't too bad based on the quality and quantity of the food offered!  I would definitely do it again!

[Taipei] Mánzhe Diē #3 (瞞著爹3店)

The name of the restaurant itself has a back story.  The son wanted to open up restaurant but because us Asians don't view "chef" as a glamorous job for the most part, he had to "not tell" his dad about it.  His restaurants became very successful now (the owner has opened up 4 shops to date) so I guess there is not a need to "not tell" the dad anymore?  Like I always say, if you have a passion in something, go do it.  If you love what you do, it will not feel like work even a day in your life!