Snow white blossoms at Taipei

My latest trip to Taipei, which happens to be the season of Tung blossom. Click here for full post.

Remembering Tokyo Tower

I happened to read online that 22nd May 2012, i.e., today is the last day of operations of Tokyo Tower. The news came as a surprise to me. A few years ago in my visit to Japan, I made a trip to Tokyo Tower, perhaps because of its resemblance to the Eiffel Tower. I have always wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower, but have yet to make it to that part of the world.

Since its opening in 1958, the Tokyo Tower, standing at 333m, has been the world's tallest self-supporting steel tower. The Eiffel Tower in Paris is 320 m high.

I'm still not sure if Tokyo Tower is really closing, since I did a search online, and did not see other news of its closure.

At Suguo (舒果）, a vegetarian chain in Taiwan

On the last night in Taipei, I made my way to Suguo, a vegetarian chain restaurant. Dinner time was packed but fortunately, I could get a table after about 15 minutes wait.

A waitress came with a menu and left me alone for a few minutes to look through. The restuarant only provides an eight course meal and for most of the courses, you get a few dishes to select from. Although I made up my mind of what to have pretty fast, the waitress learning that it was my first time here, went through the menu and selection for different courses in rather great details. Click here for the menu. 

Food was served promptly despite it being a busy night for the restaurant.

 A very refreshing and creative appetiser

藍莓山藥+彩椒水蓮+蒟蒻蕃茄

It really looked as pretty as the photos in the menu!

 Rosemary bread with a dip

迷迭香火柴麵包

 fruit salad with yogurt dressing

優格水果沙拉

Burdock with cashew nut clear soup, with a natural, sweet taste

牛蒡腰果清湯 

 

By now, I'm actually starting to feel full, although the salad and soup I chose are supposed to be the lighter choices.

main course: mushroom with potato

花香杏鮑菇（佐洋芋盅）

Even the main course is displayed with such exquisity. Of special mention by the waitress is the little purple pear (on the right), infused with roselle.

These looked too cute to be eaten.

The waitress 'pre-warned' me that as the mushroom was cooked in an Italian floral sauce, it may be too flowery for some. Perhaps this being my favourite type of mushroom, I find the texture and flavour just right. 

Beneath the baked cheese is a mixture of mushroom, tomato and a special type of potato which I can't quite translate (佐洋芋盅). I found this to be very tasty, though I could barely squeeze in more food by now.

 

 Five-grained fried rice 

果香五穀炊飯

Sesame paste, walnuts and pudding

芝麻核桃奶酪

Finally, the last course, Camomile Citron tea
洋甘菊香柚花茶

Each course may looked like a small portion, but in totality, it was too much for me, or perhaps I had my lunch too late that day. The very attentive waitresses, who after every few courses, would ask how is the food, shared that generally Taiwanese find the portion, especially the items I chose, to be too small. I thought, Taiwanese must have great appetite. Nevertheless, from appetiser to drink and dessert, the food was generally good in terms of quality, taste, display and often, creativity, and I would say that this is an almost perfect meal. And inexpensively priced at TWD 398 (less than SGD 20), I don't think I can find something similar in Singapore.

 

Click here for the branches of Suguo.

2014 Update: As mentioned by one of the commenters, Suguo has opened in Singapore, at Raffles City. I've tried almost all the items that are vegan. Will update with another post.

Discoveries in the mess- A simple travel record

I am a terrible hoarder. Every time I pack, I surprise myself with what I find, eg., books that I never knew I own and have been thinking of buying from the book store, old photos, foreign currencies left over from a particular holiday and writings that I have long forgotten. Today, I found something I wrote probably about 15 years ago, long before I started seriously writing about travel.

Below is the "essay", with minimal editing to maintain my almost childish style of writing back in the past:

"What really strikes me is the city's simplicity. I must say that I did not see anything really spectacular. It is the natural beauty and simple lifestyle that charm visitors most.

Of the three places I visit in Vietnam, Ho Chi Min City (HCMC), Hue and Danang, I like Hue most. When I first set foot on Hue, I'm surprised to see such a simple airport. Our luggage are stacked on a trolley. After we collect our baggage, we take a bus ride to our hotel. Although the road is slightly bumpy, its a delightly ride. Along the way, we see cows roaming about and ducks swimming in the pond. We also see little huts and hay stacked outside houses. Even at that time, I'm quite certain that I will like this place.

Leisure is the norm
Having lived in the city for so long, Hue is an absolutely different experience. Over here, the pace of life is slower. In fact, I have the impression that people go about their activities at a leisurely pace, kids playing at the road side, people sitting around doing nothing except for chatting with each other, etc.

As befitting of their lifestyle, the people here are very friendly and likeable. We were given a lot of help and have no worries of communication. The people we met speak reasonably good English, and almost always, we have a translator with us.

Almost like Chinese
We visited a few places in Hue, the Royal Citadel, Thien Mu Pagoda, King Khai Ainh Tomb and King Tu Duc Tomb. It always strikes me for their similiarities to Chinese architecture. In all these places, we could see Chinese inscriptions on stones; the main difference is perhaps that Chinese buildings emphasize more on granduer whereas the Vietnamese style emphasizes on simplicity and harmony with the environment. Only in Hue did I realise that simplicity is a form of beauty, natural and unpretentious.

The food is also very similiar to Chinese cuisine. However, the soup is often thick, creamy or starchy, some what similiar to shark fin's soup (without sharkfins). We also tasted some specialities like "banh koai" and cakes wrapped in banana leaves. Before I came to Vietnam, I have a wrong impression that Vietnamese food is hot and spicy. I ended up missing chili during my stay in Vietnam.

Children, Cyclos and Cafes
The sad side of Hue is its poverty. There are many beggars, though not as many as in HCMC, we see people sleeping on bridges at night. I believe many children do not have a chance to go to school. When we visit places of interests, groups of children will dash to us, either asking for money or trying to sell sourvenirs. Very often, when we step out of the hotel, we are pestered by cyclos eager to give us a ride. I guess that is perhaps the only flawed image of Hue.

On our last night in Hue, Mr Hoa brought us to a cafe. It is entirely different from the type we see in Singapore. Though not as "class" as what we have over here, it has a romantic ambience, in its own simple way. Little tables and chairs are placed by the riverside. As we drank coffee, we could see the quiet river, the bridge still bustling with traffic and the star glittery sky.

To Danang
On the next morning, we setted off for Danang. A sense of sadness hit me as I leave this place, it would probably be a very long time I ever come to Hue again. I am certain by then, the place would have changed.

I'm glad to go Danang by road, partly because our flight to Hue was very uncomfortable. The flight was jerky and rumbling noise from the propellas gave me a splitting headache. Along our way to Danang, we see lovely beaches and mountains. The rain and slight mist painted a beautiful scene, blending the sky and sea into one.

originally scribbled on paper
the bangle I bought from a lady stall holder at Marble Mountain

However, I do not like Danang as much. Perhaps it is because of the never ending rain. Non Nouc Beach is stormy and the water is brown because of a recent flood. Hoi An is flooding and we could not visit the buildings at the riverside. Initially, we have wanted to visit My Son but due to a serious flood, the way has been blocked and would only be opened next year. The most enjoyable place in Danang is the Marble Mountain. We saw many statutes of Buddha carved out from the mountain.

A developing city
HCMC is very much like a developing city. You could see high rise buildings under construction and beautiful hotels peppered round the city. In HCMC, we visited the Cholon Cija Iam Pagoda, Museum and Reunification place. We also see an interesting water puppet show in the water.

Overall, we find Vietnam to be a very interesting place. It is a great pity that we did not visit the North."

I can't really remember but the trip to Vietnam is probably my first overseas trip that required flying. I don't think I own a camera back then, and of course, there were no camera phones. We travelled simply and my travel record was on paper rather than written on the computer.