Taipei, I'm in Love

Yes, I visited Taiwan yet again! I think I visit there almost every year cause I'm already in love with Taipei :D. It's a really a great place, esp for shopping and eating!

Speaking of food, I stumbled on this really awesome blog that introduces places to eat in Taipei a couple years ago and it's been a really great help for me to find places to eat whenever I'm visiting Taipei, here's the blog: HungryinTaipei, be prepared for massive droolage!

In this post, I'm going to share places (most of them are found from HungryinTaipei) that I went and will go over and over again!

*Pic Heavy*

Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle 阿宗麵線
Ximending Headquarter: No.8-1, Emei St., Wanhua District, Taipei City
Shihlin Night Market: 1F., No.24, Lane 101, Wenlin Rd., Shilin District, Taipei City
Xinyi Branch: No.2, Lane 17, Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E. Rd., Xinyi District, Taipei City

This is a place that I'll visit more than once whenever I visit Taipei, esp when I'm staying in Ximending area. I just can't get enough of it :D! You might not like it if you dislike intestine though. Nonetheless, it's highly recommended!

Adding some garlic sauce, chili sauce and vinegar.

Yummmm~~

It was raining the second day we went there but it's still fully crowded!

Yo Froyo

 Shida Night Market: No.9, Lane 59, Shida Rd., Jhongjeng District, Taipei City

DunNan Branch: No. 39, Lane 187, Dunhua S. Rd. Sec. 1, DaAn District, Taipei City

Ximending Branch: Eslite 116 - No. 116 Level 1, HanChung St., Wanhua District, Taipei City

We happened to pass by this stall in Ximending and remembered that HungryinTaipei posted about it before. So we decided to try it and I'm really glad we did because it's by far the best frozen yogurt I've ever tried! Super delish and lots of flavors to choose from!

Acai Berry Froyo!

With extra topping on it :D

ZhangJi Guo Tie (Fried Dumpling) Niu Rou Mian (Beef Noodles)
Lane 101, Yang Ping S Road
Open everyday EXCEPT Saturday
11am-2pm & 4pm-7.30pm

Another great place that I knew from HungryinTaipei, see her post here. Since we were staying in Ximending area, we decided to find this place and it's pretty hard to find. But when we finally managed to find this place using a map, it was closed! We're still not discouraged though and went there again on the second day and we're happy to see that it's open BUT they're already sold out! OMG, we're so devastated at that point. When we told them we visited the other day and it was closed, they told us that they're closed on Saturday. So DO NOT go there on Saturday, lesson learned. They also told us what time they're open and the next day we went there as early as we could and we're actually one of the first in there LOL. Yes, we actually had to go there three times to be finally able to try their food and it's really worth it! The foods are really good, we esp love the 'guo tie' (fried dumpling). It's best to go there early cause by the time we're almost finished, the place is already packed and they're almost sold out.

The menu in Mandarin

Guo tie 锅贴 (Fried dumpling)

Super yummy! I'm still drooling when I look at this XD

Shui jiao 水饺 (Boiled dumpling)

Not as good as the fried ones but still yummy :)

Suan la tang 酸辣汤 (Hot and sour soup)

We heard many people ordered this so we ordered one too and it's pretty good!

Ding Wang Ma La Guo (Tripod King Spicy Hotpot)
No. 89, Guangfu North Rd (MRT: SYS Memorial Hall)
Tel: (02) 2742-2116
11am-3am

Yet another one that I saw from HungryinTaipei, read her post here. It's the second time I visited this spicy hotpot restaurant. I had my first experience with spicy hotpot two years ago in this very restaurant and it was a really pleasant one! I'd never tried duck's blood before and always tried to avoid one but after I tried it from this restaurant, I'm hooked! It was actually really good :D. And just like the first time we went there, we had to wait a couple of hours to be seated as it's always packed esp on the weekend. We're not complaining though cause it's worth the wait :). Price wise, it was around TWD700 (about USD25) for the two of us and we're really full and couldn't even finish the hotpot so it's pretty affordable.

We're served with this refreshing rose tea while we're waiting to be seated, how nice!

The yummy spicy hotpot with tofus and duck's bloods

Youtiao (Fried bread stick)
Learned from HungryinTaipei to soak these in the spicy hotpot, uber delish!

Handmade meatballs

Not recommended, they're just okay.




Hello Kitty Sweets
No. 90, Da An Road, Sec. 1 (MRT: Zhongxiao Fuxing)
Tel: 02-2711-1132
11.30am-10pm

I've finally visited the Hello Kitty cafe! I've been wanting to visit here ever since I first knew about it. I'm sure you've seen tons of Hello Kitty Sweets' pictures online so I don't need to post them here anymore, I'll only do the highlights :). It's a really cute place to visit esp for the Hello Kitty fans out there. I couldn't stop taking pictures because there'll always have Hello Kitty on every single corner! *squeal*

But to be honest, I probably will only visit here once as IMO the foods are just okay and I've already taken more than enough pictures there XD.

Hello Kitty breads and soup

All the carrots inside the baked rice are in Hello Kitty shape! How cute~

Hello Kitty pudding, it's quite delicious!

On another Hello Kitty note, we spotted this Hello Kitty nursery room in Terminal 2 of Taoyuan International Airport. Everything is Hello Kitty in there, really cute!

Not forgetting about the drinks that I love from Taiwan, here are the two drinks that I have to have whenever I'm visiting there:

Watermelon Milkshake

Super good and very refreshing!

Pearl Milk Tea
A really must-have! I think I had more than 3 pearl milk teas on my 5 days visit :D

Yes, I did haul on this visit, esp masks! I think they're always having promotion on masks so it's really a steal to get masks from Taiwan.

Here are the masks that I got before I un-boxed them, they will last me for quite a while :D


That's it for this post. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy:)
Till next time!

LUSH Haul from Melbourne

These are the only things that I got from my Melbourne trip. When I first knew that I was going to visit Melbourne, I knew that I had to get something from LUSH. I even visited all 3 LUSH stores in Melbourne, yeah I'm crazy like that. The first time I stepped into the LUSH store, I felt like a little girl in a candy shop. I finally know why everyone loves LUSH, it's really addicting! I wanted to sniff all the stuffs and try them one by one, but of course I didn't :p. I only got a few stuffs to try and even my parents got a couple of soaps too, I'd enabled them :D.

LUSH haul!

Honey I Washed the Kids soap

It's the best scent ever! The sweet honey and toffee scent is really addicting and I couldn't stop smelling it. Even though I haven't tried the soap yet but I know that I'm going to love it!

Sexy Peel soap

It has a very refreshing citrus-y scent which I really love. The scent is so strong that it's overpowering other soaps' scents. Like HIWTK soap, I haven't had a chance to try this but it's going to be a love!

Porridge soap

I've read some reviews for this soap that it's great for exfoliating and for dry skin, and I got it as I have really dry skin on my arms and legs area. It has a really sweet scent and I really like it. Will have to try it soon to see if it really works.

Jumping Juniper Solid Shampoo

After reading some reviews about how good LUSH solid shampoos are, I decided to get one. The SA recommended this solid shampoo to me when I told her I have oily hair. I've been using this shampoo ever since I got it and I really like it! It cleans my hair really well, keeps my scalp oil-free and it also gives my hair shine! It lathers up super well with just a few swipes which really impressed me. Jumping Juniper smells really good, it has a citrus-y scent but the scent doesn't last long on me. Bottom line,  I'll definitely try more of LUSH solid shampoos!

Angels on Bare Skin

It's the best selling cleanser from LUSH and I knew I had to get one to try. At first I thought the lavender scent was a bit too strong (I never really like lavender scent) but after a few uses, I got over the scent. After using this cleanser, my skin feels really clean and soft and I love that it also works as a gentle exfoliator. The only downside is probably that it doesn't help to control the excessive sebum secretion.

Coalface

I have very oily and acne prone skin, I told the SA about my skin type and she recommended Coalface to me. As I've heard good reviews for this cleanser, I decided to try it. I've tried it and I'm sold. It cleans my skin really well and this cleanser is the only cleanser that keep my skin staying matte and oil-free for a longer time. The only thing that I don't like from this cleanser is the scent, I can't really describe it but it's definitely not a pleasant scent for me. I've tried using this soap by lathering it between my hands but it didn't work. Then I tried to use a face net which I learned from Kay of Cosmeddicted on this post, and it works really great! By using this method, it's not messy at all like what people's complained about.

Just rubbed a little bit of the soap on the face net.

And it lathers really well! Definitely love this product!

That's it for this post. Till next time!

Haul in September

I know September hasn't ended yet but I think I won't get anything yet until next month, so here are some stuffs that I purchased from my trip to Penang and Singapore.

Drugstore and Daiso stuffs.

Maybelline Long Lasting Gel Liner in Black

This is the only thing that I got from my Penang trip. I wasn't going to get this but when i saw it was 30% off, I just grabbed one as the review for this gel liner is pretty good. Haven't tried it yet.

My Beauty Diary Masks: Bird's Nest & Southern France Apricot

Got these masks 2 for SGD3.35, think it's not a really bad deal since I've ever paid for a higher price in the past. Haven't tried them yet.

Biore UV Perfect Face Milk SPF 50+ PA+++

I need a high SPF sunscreen and saw this sunscreen claims to have shine control properties so I decided to get one. I've tried it and I'm really impressed that it really does control excessive sebum and keep my face shine-free. Definitely a product that worth to try.

Biore Cleansing Oil Cotton Facial Sheets

I love this facial cleansing wipes, it's perfect for my lazy day and also great for travelling. Got this as a backups.

Daiso Nose Pack

I've read some reviews that this nose pack is better than The Face Shop White Mud Nose Pack and so much cheaper. Haven't tried it yet but you can read Evie's review and Macnunu's review.

Daiso Detergent for Puff and Sponge

I just knew I had to get one after reading Sizbelle's review about this sponge cleanser. I've tried it and it really cleans my sponge well. Here's the before and after pictures:

Before & After

It looks so much better, doesn't it? I'll definitely wash my sponges more often from now on!

Till next time! :)

P.S.: Don't forget to enter Apothica $25 Gift Card Giveaway here