Three Little Things: September 2017

It's been a year since I visited Seoul, South Korea. I really miss the country especially now that I'm hooked with Kdramas again. I feel sorry for myself that I wasn't aware of the existence of Song Joong Ki, Park Bo Gum, and Ji Chang Wook when I was in Seoul. I didn't know about Descendants of the Sun and Moonlight Drawn by Clouds. I was clueless why my best friend was taking a photo with Song Joong Ki's standee and I didn't bother to buy novelty items with the "oppa's face" on it.

Anyway, I was too busy with a lot of things I wasn't able blog about my Nami Island adventure. This place is very famous because it was the shooting location of the drama Winter Sonata which was also aired in the Philippines. I didn't get to watch the drama though.

A statue of the main characters of Winter Sonata

Moving on, there are a lot of things to see and activities to do in Nami Island. I think we didn't get to maximize the place because it is too big! But it is a good excuse to go back, right? Looking forward to experience fall in this place. But for now, let's reminisce the things that made me fall in love with Nami Island.

1. You are one with nature

It's so good to have a quick escape from the busy streets of the city and enjoy the beauty of nature. The ambiance was very calm and peaceful. You can hear birds and see squirrels playing around. It's basically green everywhere!

This has to be my favorite spot! I took a lot of pictures in this area! :)

The sound of the water splashing and flowing is just what you needed to relax.

You will never get tired of the place especially with the perfectly lined trees. You can't resist posing for a photo and capture a beautiful moment. This place is just so instagrammable!

2. Cute statues and artsy stuff

Upon entering, you will see different statues and art pieces around. They are all so cute! You'll love to take photo with it.

This statue looks like my best friend. HAHA! Just kidding!

Look at this father & son like biking moment! Isn't it precious? And that huge statue that seems to be breastfeeding her kid. There are a lot more to see. I just didn't take a photo of them all.

And lastly..

3. Hot "Appa"

Yup! You got it. I'm talking about hot daddies strolling around with their babies. How awesome it is to watch these fashionable men with strollers? It adds 101% pogi points to them!

What a beautiful sight to see!

Look at that guy! And let's not forget the strollers! Whenever I recall this moment, I always wish to have a husband who is proud to bring a stroller and tell the world that he is a father now! :)

Hoping to go back to Seoul next year and enjoy more little things worth sharing. Have you visited Korea? Did you enjoy your visit in Nami Island? Share with me the things you enjoyed most in this island.

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As a self proclaimed foodie, I wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to enjoy good food during my trip so I spent days in doing research of the must-try food in Taiwan. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to cross out everything on my list but still happy with what I discovered. I really had a hard time picking my top 3 favorite because almost all of them made my tummy happy. But to be consistent with the theme of my blog, here’s a list of the food I will definitely try again when I go back to Taiwan.

1. Hangzhou Xiaolong Tang Bao Restaurant

Most tourists would go to Din Tai Fung to satisfy their cravings for xiao long bao but I don’t want to spend so much time waiting in line when I know I can find some local resto that offers legit dumplings. I made a research and found this restaurant that the locals gave their seal of approval too.

You can find this restaurant at the back of Chiang Kai Shek Memorial. You can easily spot their yellow signage even from afar.

We also had to wait in line but in less than 10 minutes, we were able to get a table.

This is our first legit Taiwanese meal so we were really excited! Be prepared for some brain exercise in placing your orders. :) The menu has English translation but the order slip has none. We had to match the Chinese characters in the menu and the slip. So happy that we didn’t make any mistake!

We ordered some noodles, mixed pot stickers (if I remember it right, it’s a mix of pork and seafood), a red bean sesame ball-like dessert and of course, the famous XLB. I actually enjoyed the pot stickers more than the xlb. One thing I like most about this place is that they have unlimited ginger for the dipping sauce! Yeah, I have a thing for ginger. :D

What we ordered is actually more than enough for two people. We had a hard time finishing it all.

TIP: Bring a bottle of water of buy your milk tea before going in. They don't serve drinks except for the complimentary hot tea.

2. Seafood Takoyaki

Taiwan is known for its night markets where you can find lots of street food! Out of hundred night markets in Taiwan, we only visited Ximending and Shilin Night Market. We enjoyed some street food like the cheesy potato with generous amount of toppings, the famous beef cubes, garlic sausage which is very tasty and of course we can't afford to miss the Hot star fried chicken that is bigger that my face and a whole lot more!

It's really hard to choose but I must say that the seafood takoyaki from Shilin made a mark! You have the option of scallops, octopus and shrimp. We chose a mixed plate with all three flavors. For 100 TWD, you get to enjoy the sweet and savory flavor of this takoyaki. I'll have to give my thumbs to the shrimp flavor! So so good!

3. Chachago

Taiwan is also known for milk teas! I tell you, there's a milk tea shop in almost every corner of the city. You'll never get thirsty! Anyway, we love spending some time in the common are of our hostel and we read tourist guide books even if they're in different languages. We chance upon this book that says Chachago is one of the most famous milk tea shop in the country.

On our last day, we killed time in Ximending and was lucky enough to find it.

We noticed a queue that's why we saw Chachago. We did not think twice and grabbed a drink. Since I've had enough milk tea, I decided to try a different drink.

I ordered a cocoa drink with vanilla ice cream. Oh boy!! It's so creamy and chocolateyyyy!! It's like you're drinking a melted chocolate. I also have to give the spotlight to the generous scoop of vanilla ice cream at the bottom. Don't worry, even if it looks really sweet, it isn't! Just the right amount of sweetness will hit your taste buds! I think I fell in love with the drink because I find the taste close to dark chocolate. It's so so so good that I really miss it and I'm hoping there's a Chachago here in the Philippines.

That's it for me! Did I make you crave for some XLB? I'm actually imagining myself drinking a cocoa drink while eating xlb. Not a good combination? Yay!

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I am still a newbie when it comes to travelling. I love that I get to discover and learn about how to enjoy my vacation every time. For my recent trip in Taiwan, I learned three little things which might also be helpful to you.

1. Shared bathroom is not bad at all

For my previous trips, we had our own toilet and bath inside the room just because we think that sharing it with other people is a bit eeeekkkyyy! But for my trip to Taiwan, I had to consider shared bathroom because I want to maximize my limited budget. To my surprise, it wasn't that bad! Luckliy, the toilet and bath in Muiu Inn is really clean. In our floor, we have two cubicles for shower, one for toilet and a separate restroom outside where you can poop in peace! Hahahah!

I think I'll consider booking a room with shared bathroom again in my next travel. You just have to read blogs and check a lot of pictures of the hotel you are eyeing to be sure that you can do all your bathroom rituals comfortably.

2. Don't be afraid to swipe that credit card

I did not plan to use my credit card for this trip because I'm afraid of the possible charges I might incur. But when we entered a grocery store (which is my happy place), I just had to take that courage and swipe my credit card. I spent 414 TWD for my pasalubongs and when I checked my bill, the reflected amount in Peso is 699.14. If you will compute the conversion rate, it is at 1.69 PHP to 1 TWD. It's much cheaper because I bought my TWD at 1.85 PHP rate.

For my next travel, I'll make sure to maximize my credit card especially when you have the option not to pay in cash.

3. Visit two places per day

I really planned a "chill" trip. When I say chill, I want to enjoy but relax and rest as well. I just want to emphasize on the word rest. Our day in Taiwan goes like this: wake-up/prepare > go around/eat > go back to the hotel to sleep > go around/eat > sleep. Yeah, we go back to the hotel after lunch to sleep. Hahahah! We want to make sure we have enough energy for the next day. But of course, this depends on how you want to go about your vacation. In my previous trips, we try go to as many places as we can but then I realized that I didn't get to enjoy it because we're always on the rush. For this trip, I really wanted to immerse myself in the place and enjoy every corner thus we spent two to three hours per place.

I can't wait to travel again soon! Share with me the little things you learned from your trips so I can make use of it! :)

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