My Valentine's Swag

Hubby was on a business trip in Kuala Lumpur but he  flew back home just in time for Valentine's night.

He came home bearing gifts. Thank you, Hubby! I love you :-)

I didn't have a gift for him... only a kiss. He he he :-)

My Loves

I love these two. Sometimes I feel my heart will burst whenever I see them.

My niece Ashley and my Hubby. The loves of my life. They make me happy.

Grilled Quail Eggs

I've seen blogs about the grilled quail eggs in Taipei. Most of the blogs that I've read said that it's a must-try.

So, try I did. The quail eggs are cracked in a griddle, turned over until they become round, much like a takoyaki. Several sauces are available for you to choose from.

Honestly though, Manila's Kwek-kwek or Tokneneng (boiled chicken or quail eggs, rolled in batter and then deep fried) are much more interesting and tasty.

Potato Balls

They're round, they're fried and they're crispy. They're potato balls! Sold freshly made at the Ximending area by ladies pushing a cart.

The potatoes are mashed, and then extruded through a machine, cut into small pieces and carefully fried until they get golden and puffy.

The lady offered a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar. I prefer it without. This is so delicious, I bought two small bags and ate them.

Funny thing about the street vendors in Ximending, most of them are on wheels. You know when you watch Taiwanese telenovelas and movies? Where the vendors run for the hills when they hear a cop siren? We witnessed it firsthand in Ximending. It was chaotic and very nerve wracking because the pots are filled with very hot oil and they start splashing around as the vendors run! Quite an adventure.

Fortunately, no one usually gets hurt. Part of the fun, I guess.

Corn Dog in Taipei

I'm not sure why Hubby was compelled to buy a corn dog in Taipei since there were so many much more "Chinese" street food on offer.

He seemed to like it though.

Reading through my blog, can you imagine how much food we've ingested in just a single afternoon? Ha ha ha.

Sweet Grilled Tikoy?

Sweet grilled tikoy? 

Seemes like it when we passed this store in Ximending. I'm not really sure what it was made up of, but it looked like tikoy to us. We cant read Mandarin so we cant really tell what is is. Anybody out there who can help? :-) We were intrigued about this dessert. People were lining up to get one.

It seemed that the tikoy, after being sliced in rectangles, are placed on sticks and  grilled until they puff up and turn a bit golden. I noticed that the server puts a bit of pressure to the tikoy as they grill, probably to help get that golden brown color and to help puff it up a little bit.

Several sauces are available for you to choose from. There is peanut sauce, cheese sauce, green tea, chocolate and a few others that I did not catch very well. Language barrier.

I was the first one to try, I got peanut and cheese sauce. I know it sounds funky together but the flavors really compliment each other, sweet, salty and sticky :-) I love it.

Hubby on the other hand, took a bite from what I ordered, loved it too and bought one for himself. He got the one drenched in chocolate. He loved it so much, he ordered another one. I think he would probably order another one if I didn't remind him that there were more treats to be discovered.

I love discovering places like these. We would definitely go back to that stall upon our return to Ximending, Taipei.

Bitter Melon Shake

We've seen so many bitter melon juice stores all over Taipei. You can tell by the white bitter melons that are displayed in the storefronts. Hubby doesn't eat bitter melon and absolutely loathes the stuff and was physically cringing at the idea of drinking bitter melon (amplaya). Yes, in front of the store, he was cringing.

I, on the other hand is braver than my knight in shining armour. The bitter melon in Taipei is white, as opposed to a vivid green here in Manila. That alone got me curious enough to try a cup.

When the lady handed me the drink, and as I brace myself for the onslaught of extreme bitterness, I was surprised to taste just a tini tiny bit of bitterness and a whole lot of sweetness.

It turns out that they add a jigger of honey to sweeten the concoction. I suspect also that the Taiwan bitter melon is much milder than ours. Hence, the white color.

After my urging and my assurance that it's not as bitter as he thought, Hubby took one sip and declared it unpalatable.

 Chicken.