Halloween Fun @ Ocean Park (2013)

Completing draft blog posts from last year is becoming like a "bring-down" event for me... LOL!!!  Hopefully I will have most travel related (i.e. time sensitive) posts uploaded before Chinese New Year...

Hizen-ya (肥前屋) vs Hamamatsu-ya (濱松屋)

If you try to look up "best una-don in Taipei", these two restaurants will probably show up on the top search.  Of course, I didn't miss a beat when I was in Taipei earlier and went to both places so I can compare.

Hizen-ya (肥前屋) 

Hamamatsu-ya (濱松屋)

Candied Roselle (洛神花蜜餞)

Before the roselle season ended, I bought some more roselle so I can tried this candied roselle recipe.  It was extremely easy to make and mine turned out to be a success in my first attempt!  I can't wait to make them again next year when they are in season again.

[Hong Kong] Lab Made Ice Cream

If you like gimmicks and ice cream, Lab Made is the perfect place for you.  How many other ice cream places out there can say they make ice cream with liquid nitrogen?  (They claimed to be Asia's first.) Their flavors are forever changing and they serve some of the wackiest flavors I can ever dream of - Tofu Pudding or Hong Kong Custard Bun anyone?

My friends and I went there a while back after dinner at a Vietnamese place (the place was just ok so I am not even going to blog about it - I only blog about places I've been that's popular but overrated, unusual in some way, or places that I really enjoyed...  I don't have time for "average"... hahaha~)

The menu, the flavor rotates every month

The "lab scientist" whipping out ice cream made with liquid nitrogen

Why so serious?

Mint Chocolate Chip
(薄荷朱古力脆脆)

Everything except the Mango Gelato
It's too normal of a flavor to be enjoyed here!

The HK Crispy Toast is a very unique ice cream flavor
and probably can only be found in Hong Kong!

Update (April 2014):

Went back for the Anna Sui promotion~

Looks lovely, taste is alright.
The Purple Sweet Potato wasn't very sweet afterall
but I appreciate they did not add a lot of sugar
and retained the natural taste instead :)

The purple rice is another very unique flavor
I doubt you can find it anywhere outside of Hong Kong
Even within Hong Kong, this is the only place that I know that serves it!

The most "normal" flavor and actually a repeat from my last visit
(I didn't even realize it until I saw the pictures now)
I am still loving it :)

Update (May 2014):

Ever since they opened their TST location I have been going to that store more (it's more convenient for me).  Their endless flavor is one of the reason why we keep going back!

Chinese Beancurd Desserts
Another signature and I never knew you can turn it into an ice cream
Loved the gingko!  They must have did something to it
Roasted?  Fried?  Either way, it was very crispy and again unique!

Another repeat but somehow this one was insanely good
The HK Crispy Toast was good but less memorable last time.

At HK$40 a pop, it's pretty steep even for liquid nitrogen ice cream.  I think it's worth to try at least once for the concept but I doubt I would be a regular here.

Lab Made Ice Cream  

Tai Hang Main Store: 6,Brown Street, Tai Hang
大坑總店地址：香港，大坑，布朗街，6號。
Hours：(Tues - Thurs) 3:00 pm to 12:00 am, (Fri) 3:00 pm to 1:00 am, (Sat) 1:00 pm to 1:00 am, (Sun) 1:00 pm to 11:00 pm (Closed on Mondays)

TST Shop: G/F, Junction of Kimberley Road and Carnarvon Road, TST)
尖沙嘴分店地址：九龍，尖沙嘴，金巴利道和加拿分道交界地下

Hours: (Mon - Thurs) 12:00 pm - 12:00 am, (Fri & Sat) 12:00 pm - 1:00 am, (Sun) 12:00 pm - 12:00 pm

Power Shell (蜆勁村 盧爸爸的私房菜)

I have wanted to try this restaurant ever since I read about it.  The location was the only thing that's kept me from going any sooner.  I finally went on my way to check out the Tai Po Farmers Market (大埔農墟), which turned out to be a huge disappointment.  I miss the real farmers markets!!!  I love the food but it's really far from the city.  (It's all the way in Tai Wo... -.-|||)

Dage Ji Bao (大哥雞煲)

Update: 7/7/2014  This place is closed already.  What a pity... I quite like it.

I passed by this restaurant the other night and noticed there was a crowd gathered in front of the restaurant waiting for seats.  I immediately made a mental note of this place and noted it was a new restaurant in the area.  The menu offerings were enticing from Open Rice so I promptly added this place to my bucket list.

Never frozen local beef
Very fresh and you can taste a hint of sweetness from the beef
So yummy!

Gyu-kaku (牛角)

Resolutions always come with a new year.  My popular and common ones are as usual, exercise more, consume calories worthy food only, and travel to new places.  The new one I am adding to my mix this year is to eat more veggies.  Eventually I want to become a vegetarian (for religious reasons) but I love meat too much to give it all up at once.  In fact, I am having a "Gai Lan" (芥蘭) diet tonight for dinner.  (Random note: do you prefer the stems or the leaves?  If you are fond of the leaves, then we can be Gai Lan buddies.  I do not like to eat the leaves on Gai Lan / Choi Sum or any of these types of veggies!)

Judging by the title of this post, I am probably as far away from my vegetarian goal as I can be and you are probably screaming "what a fake hypocrite!" in your head.  Again, I said it 2 sentences ago... I love meat but I am taking baby steps to eat less meat.

Fish 180 (Minsheng) (百八魚場) (民生店)

Happy 2014!  I am back in Hong Kong now.  Jet lagged and a little sick... (I've been trying to shake off the cough since Christmas!  Hopefully, with the warmer weather, I will recover faster.)  Have a lot of restaurants and travels to share from my recent trips... hopefully I will get around them faster this year :)

If I had to pick a favorite restaurant from the Taipei trip, this is it.  My co-worker took me there one Friday night and I am hooked!  (I went here twice in a span of 2 weeks, eating pretty much the same thing... for a person that doesn't like to eat anything on repeat, that's a record for me!)

The menu is simple, but it hits all the right spots.