10 days, perfect length but wasn't on my list. At times wanted it to be shorter and at times longer but it was enough for 2 countries, modest shopping trips and time to eat up, sleep in and recharge.
Starting off with a rainy morning on HK Island and brunch with this gorgeous girl. Can't comment positively on the food or coffee but I could have been eating chalk and cheese and still be grinning! Miss her so much but rumor has it... that she may be back in October...
Night markets! Loads of yummy street food and exotic fruit, fried chicken, strawberries dipped in toffee, oyster omelettes, big sausage in little sausage, stinky tofu, noodles, mochi, pancakes, etc etc. They even have little theme park / arcade games for those who don't want to eat?
Starting off with a rainy morning on HK Island and brunch with this gorgeous girl. Can't comment positively on the food or coffee but I could have been eating chalk and cheese and still be grinning! Miss her so much but rumor has it... that she may be back in October...
Was also the weekend of shopping up and getting those things I really wanted. Wasn't much but at least I wasn't going to go home empty handed!
Monday, we got on a plane to Taipei for some sightseeing and eating. It was so hot and humid and I am grateful that a lot of the places were close to the Metro station and not too far of a walk in the sun and heat. Din Tai Fung was good but I don't think it was exceptional. There's definitely something special about visiting the very first restaurant but I think the quality of food in Sydney is so good in general that it takes a lot to impress (cue degustations at Tetsuyas, Sepia, Quay, etc). I can have xiao long bao, pearl milk tea and hot star fried chicken here. Costs a lot more but its not so bad.
I did really appreciate the white milk pineapple, the super ginormous mangoes and especially the white bittermelon juice. The stinky tofu and oyster omelettes were nice to try... but not an everyday food.
We visited Longshan Temple at sunset and the nuns (?) were in the middle of evening recitals (prayers?). Bought some beautiful flowers from a lady on the corner as a small offering.
Night markets! Loads of yummy street food and exotic fruit, fried chicken, strawberries dipped in toffee, oyster omelettes, big sausage in little sausage, stinky tofu, noodles, mochi, pancakes, etc etc. They even have little theme park / arcade games for those who don't want to eat?
Fisherman's Wharf and Lover's Bridge. This was pretty boring. I think also because it was a weekday and it was so warm. We walked across the bridge and visited the few shops that were open. Not very exciting.
Taipei 101. The most famous landmark in Taipei and can be seen from almost every place in Taipei. I have to say that the food, supermarket and shops inside the building were a lot more interesting that the building itself! It houses residences, offices, high-end retailers, parking, a food court, an awesome supermarket and of course the observatory deck for those wanting to be overcharged and going up a lift to see the city from the top floor (actually, I don't think its the top top floor).
National Palace Musuem. Same name as the one in China but with the extra "National" in the front. Have to say, a lot of these "treasures" were smuggled / shipped / stolen from the Mainland? The most famous pieces being a jadeite Chinese Cabbage and a piece of rock in the shape of Pork Belly. Confused? Yeah, so am I. We had a lovely afternoon here even though it was quite crowded. Felt like I was learning a little bit of Taiwan's history (I wasn't really) and we missed the bus so we had to wait 40 minutes for the next one.
Shenkeng Old Street aka, Tofu Street. Everything sold sans a couple of tourist traps was tofu. Ice cream, mochi, fried, frozen, steamed, boiled, etc etc. We tried the ice cream and tofu fa with shaved ice, brown sugar, red beans and barley. It was a good lunch!
I'm glad we got back the time we did - both back to HK and then subsequently back home. We missed the explosion in Taiwan by a day. Missed ebola (not that we were at risk) as it became known that it was more severe and managed to dodge the two typhoons that were circulating rather close to HK.
Luckier so that we were able to get on a direct flight to Sydney on Saturday evening. I am so thankful to be home. HK is one of those places I love in small doses. Once the shopping is complete and the food is eaten then I kind of get over the pollution and the people and the humidity.
Until October...
