Taiwan Trip - Yonshin Tea & Cake Selection Bar

Located a one corner of the street in Gaoxiong, Yonshin Tea & Cake Selection Bar opted for a vintage concept for its interior. Another photoshoot place for those who likes to take vintage looking photos. Walking into the bar,  I felt that I was transported to another timeline, probably the 50s and I was mesmerized by this.

Some kind of old radio I guess. 

This radio was placed like it was meant to be there. I'm guessing its a radio, kinda forgot to ask. *haha* The place is warm and welcoming, just like a cafe, where I would love to chill and read a book to spend my afternoon or hang out with my friends. Instead of a cafe, this place serves tea, hot brewed and cold brewed tea. Cold brewed tea? Not literally hot tea with ice but prepared with 5 degrees water and placed in the fridge for 8-24 hours, depending on which kind of tea.

6 cold tea selections, available for take away too! 

Something different from what I usually drink in Singapore, I don't remember we have such cold brew tea, apart from getting my cold tea fix of Oolong from MUJI *haha*. 

Preparation counter, look at those tins of tea leaves.

Since cold brew tea is something different, I got a chance to try out their cold brew tea, served in wine glasses. As mentioned by the boss, to serve in wine glass is to bring out the taste of the tea, the fragrance and the colour.

The only decent photo I have with the tea wine glass. 

Had a chance to taste a few different teas and I think the one I like the most, and by far most, favorite of most ladies (according to the 店长) is the Hualian Honey Aroma Black Tea (花莲蜜香红茶). It has the light flowery smell yet not too strong on the taste.

Up close of the 6 Cold Brewed Tea that they have in store. 

Besides just tea and cakes and pineapple tarts, they also serve main courses! Their food isn't really westernised but retaining a little Taiwanese style and steering a little towards Japanese in taste and style. You can have a cold brewed tea first before meal and order hot brewed tea after meal, as suggested by the boss. Worth the try to spend a few hours there drinking and having meals, while catching up with life.

I even ate Rice Noodle Soup with Squid Taiwanese Style (小卷米粉汤), the taste of the soup overpowers the fact that I hate Rice Noodles. [Ok, besides the soup that was really nice, but because the boss was just standing there, it wasn't nice to say no to others who had already prepared a small bowl for me]

Rice Noodle Soup with Squid Taiwanese Style (小卷米粉汤)

Handmade Dumplings with Sesame Dressing

Pan Fried Sea Bass Filet with Rice. Credits:周杰克.

These were some of the dishes we had that day. I think my favorite of all the dishes I had there was the Stewed Pork Ball in Brown Sauce (I kinda forgot to take photos before I ate them) and the Onsen egg that appeared in nearly every dish (haha, who can resist eggs?!). 

Their bottles for takeaway cold brewed teas are pretty too~~~ And if you are planning to be there for a short stay, bringing the bottles back to them you are entitled to 10TWD off your next purchase.

Look how pretty the label is. I know, I know, I'm a sucker for such stuff. 

More photos to spam on the vintage place. 

One cozy corner to take photos. I think at least 5 people took their photos in that position. 

The busy staffs behind the counter. 

Some of the little souvenirs you can get. 

Before I end this post, after all the lovely little vintage details, tea and food......

Notice the word TEA in the middle?

I didn't notice the word TEA in the middle of the Chinese word 鳳 until the store manager pointed it out. What a clever design, combining the 鳳茶 in one word.

Address of 永心鳳茶 Yonshin Tea & Cake Selection Bar:
No. 404, Jhong Shan 2nd Rd., Lingya District, Kaohsiung City, Kaohsiung City 802, Taiwan
苓雅區中山二路404號, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 802

Tel: +886 7 536 2718
Official facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yonshintea/

Taiwan Trip - CHATEAU de CHINE, Muslim-Friendly.

Continuing from my last post Taiwan Trip - Smokey Joe's Apartment Hotel (冒煙的喬_就是公寓旅店), I had a chance to visit CHATEAU de CHINE Hotel, not to stay there, but to try out their muslim-friendly meal. In a Chinese populated country, it is hard to find muslim-friendly restaurant or eatery. Perhaps there are more in Taipei, but it is definitely harder to find in Gaoxiong. At CHATEAU de CHINE Hotel, they are certified as Muslim-Friendly restaurant.

Cert is shown in the private dining room itself. 

However, advanced reservation is required with a min. booking for 8 pax as they will only get the ingredients after they get a reservation to get the freshest halal ingredients for their customers. 

Two of their private dining rooms are available for booking for halal meals and they have a separate kitchen just to prepare muslim meals. When the kitchen is not in used for halal meals, they will only use it to prepare fruits. Their cutlery used for muslim-friendly meals are properly cleansed. I had the chance to try their 7 course meal, which was booked in advanced, as I traveled with a tour, thanks to Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, Department of Commerce.

Seasonal Vegetable with Red and Green Peppers in Mustard Sauce. Credits: 周杰克

A rather unique combination of vegetables, which I don't think I've ever ate it locally. Because of the light mustard sauce, the dish tasted a little sour-ish. I like the crunchy lotus slices and qq mushrooms. 

Pan Fried Sea Bass Filet. Credits: 周杰克

Roasted Vegetable Rice with Broth. Credits: 周杰克

At first I thought it was gonna taste like fried rice, the vegetarian version. But it didn't, this rice tasted a out of expectation. It had a little salty light taste, well blended with the vegetables. A good dish to have after so much meat.

Sautéed fresh prawns with mayonnaise & fruit. Credits: 周杰克

My favorite dish for the meal. The prawns are fresh and the mayonnaise did not over power the freshness of the prawns. The taste was well-balanced and it was so nice that I ate someone else's prawns while they were not looking. (Okay, I was kidding, they offered me)

Stir Fried Dice Beef with Sliced Garlic. Credits: 周杰克

Can't take beef, however, their beef are purchased from New Zealand. Verdict from the rest, well-cooked and tender.

Sweet Taro and Saga Soup. Credits: 周杰克

The soup is something different from what I usually have, this is rather thin in texture, quite refreshing as a ending dessert, before fruits were served. Not much of the Taro was tasted, probably because the saga is sweeter.

Overall the meal was fulfilling and full of surprise for me. Even though it was a halal meal, the presentation and taste overall was still Chinese in style :). Something worth the shot to try if you are in Gaoxiong.

Address of CHATEAU de CHINE:
No.43, Daren Rd., Yancheng Dist., Kaohsiung City 80341, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
80341高雄市鹽埕區大仁路43號

Tel: +886-7-521-7388
Fax: +886-7-521-7068
Call to make a reservation: (07)521-3899
Official website: http://kaohsiung.chateaudechine.com/

Taiwan Trip - Smokey Joe's Apartment Hotel (冒煙的喬_就是公寓旅店)

Got the chance to visit Smokey Joe's Apartment Hotel (冒煙的喬_就是公寓旅店) at Gaoxiong during this trip and I was glad that we had two nights there. This Hotel is gorgeous and I love their design concept. Rather quirky and having the Texas feel in the middle of Gaoxiong.

When i walked it, I was greet by a lovely vintage turquoise car and the day we checked it, it was pretty late. I had the opportunity to see the lovely balloons lighting up the lobby in their brightest colours. I was awed away by the scene that I didn't want to go up to my room yet. *haha* But little did I know, my room was another wonderful little cozy area for photos too.

I love how the lights shines during the night. 

#tbt video of the vintage car front desk at Smokey Joe's Apartment Hotel @ Gaoxiong. I love the fact that the front part can still be opened😍. 在高雄的冒烟的喬_就是公寓旅店的服务柜台的车。原来前面还是可以开的。#missmytrip #jellytelly #taiwan #gaoxiong #vintagecar #iphoneography #video #高雄 #台湾旅行 #台湾 #冒烟的乔 #就是公寓旅店 #冒煙的喬就是公寓

A video posted by Haley (@jellytelly) on Jun 25, 2016 at 5:31am PDT

After playing around at the lobby, I finally lug my luggage up to my room, the double room. I was welcomed with a lovely pinkish room with a little western taste. I loved every single details in the room. The side lamp is actually in a shape of the tap, the dressing table is lovely though the mirror was a little too far for my liking but it is spacious enough for me.

I can sleep without worries when I have three animal heads looking over me 

The other side of the room, please pardon my luggage and the bags. 

They have like super cute toilettes too! It's like they branded everything to match the style of the hotel, with a little tint of cozy and cuteness in the little details of the room. Even the bath mat has the hotel logo, though I didnt take any photos, because I only realised after getting out of the shower *haha*.

Look at how cute the labels of each package are! Credit: 周杰克.  

Whoever is the designer has pretty much done a decent job to design each product here. Credit: 周杰克.  

I had the chance to visit two other sizes room, that's the Quad Room and the Balcony Quad Room.

Quad Room, with two queen size bed. Credit: 周杰克. 

This room is a combination of English and British style, the posters in each room are randomly choose to be placed. BTW the toilet door is pretty cool too! It's a slide door which has metal poles as part of their design. Rather unique but heavy when i tried to close it.

Small cozy corner.

The sofa area, even the sofa is uniquely designed. And that's the staff from the Apartment Hotel. 

The Balcony Quad Room is a great room to book if you have kids and wants them to have some entertainment while you slip the tea/coffee complementary from the hotel. Or you want to have a home feel when you check into the hotel with your friends/ family, this is the room to book for. It is spacious enough to rest after a long day out on your trip.

The spacious living room

The living room is well equipped with a table hockey, lovely vintage sofa set and a vintage fridge. 

The table hockey that you can enjoy when you are back in the room. Credit: 周杰克.  

There's a mini balcony to look out to the lovely view to relax after a long day out when you don't feel like staying in your room. The bedroom is exactly like the Quad Room, well-equipped with two cozy queen beds and a lovely armchair. 

Each room is labeled with an alphabet and room number. Using 24 letters out of the 26 standard letters, each label is well-designed, hand crafted too. As mentioned by the boss, the unit numbers are made up with screws, slowly done by the staffs. Bravos to them to do such a great job. I stayed at Room Z and here's a N for you guys. 

Each letter will light up when there are occupants inside the room. 

Since there are only 24 rooms, give it a try and guess which two alphabets are omit from their list (hehe).

If you are planning to visit Gaoxiong, do consider their hotel, if you like something western and a little vintage touch. 

Address of Smokey Joe's Apartment Hotel: 

91 Wufu 4th Rd Yancheng Dist Kaohsiung City 803, Taiwan
80344 台灣高雄市鹽埕區五福四路91號

Tel: 07-5210987
Fax: 07-5215688
Email to make a reservation: sjh-yc@smokeyjoes-hotel.com.tw
Official website: http://www.smokeyjoes-hotel.com.tw

Price: 
Double Room - TWD5,000
Quad Room - TWD8,000
Balcony Quad Room - TWD10,000

Back from MIA: Hong Kong Trip

Probably no one noticed, but I was away for a while due to lack of internet connection at my new place and also I was on a so-called family trip to Hong Kong last week. (: This is my third trip to Hong Kong and some friends asked why Hong Kong again? [the last trip was just last June]
Reasons:
1) I like Dim Sum
2) My parents have yet to visit Hong Kong before.
3) I like to visit my Hong Kong good friend.
4) I prefer to get my SKII in Hong Kong (Good price!)

Okaii, I'm just typing crap stuffs here.
And this trip is my first scoot flight ~~ *hoots* I had some jitters before boarding ever since the missing flight case and I never really had good experience with budget flights. (Not rich enough to have spare cash to book at normal flight, rather I'm cheapo) However, scoot just changed my mindset to their budget flight. Taking a flight on an old SIA revamped plane doesn't seems so scary anymore, plus leg space, which is big enough for me to cross legs. (unglam girl) Time to stick to scoot for budget flights.

Anyways I had a great time enjoying my holiday @ Hong Kong even though it was quite windy throughout the whole trip. My parents and I managed to squeeze a day to tour half of Macau. That would be my next short trip destination.

Photos spamming time ~~. All photos here are taken with my Xiaomi Mi3. You can judge the photos' quality yourself here as all photos are not edited. (I didn't even watermark them~~)

Dun Nai from Yee Shun Milk Company. I simply love it

I've managed to try it the last trip as my friend introduced the place to me and also the Australian Milk Company. I just love the dun jai 炖奶from Yee Shun Milk Company, taste like milk ice cream yet not ice cream ♥♥.

Selfie time

Who doesn't selfie when you are overseas? A habit that cultivated since my first holiday trip in 2008 to Japan Summer time ~~ That time it was known as camwhore ~~ *whoreeeeeee*

Roast pork  

Honey Pork Ribs

Fried Yam pancake? 

Our lunch (or was it tea?) with my friend near her place. I forgot which place is that but its far left of Hong Kong, in the outskirt. This places sells Birthday roast pork though, but sadly they didn't had that when I was there. T_T I ♥ roasted pork skin *drools at the thought of it* I like their roast pork but not the honey pork ribs as it was a little too sweet for my liking.

Second day Breakfast: Buttered bun, two sunny side up and macaroni with shredded ham and fake abalone.

We had breakfast at a 茶餐厅opposite Langham Place and I ♥ how Hong Kong breakfast set always have two fried eggs.

So cute!! I wish I could take one home

Saw this along the streets at Mong Kok and I couldn't resist taking photos of the Mitu~~ ♥♥ I didn't get to go to their pop stores at central but at least I get a glimpse of Mitu. Even Hong Kong doesn't have any Xiaomi Flagstore. T_T

Selfie spam ~~ at a dim sum place known as Little Lamb 小绵羊. And I enjoy using my Mi3 font camera which has the beauty optimisation feature. *hooray* no need for third party camera, no need MTXX app ♥_♥

Cold chicken feet

Not a fan of chicken feet but Dad wanted to try out. Sadly it doesn't take like the ones back home. It's cold chicken feet, not his liking and the feet looks scary to me.

Porridge

 I like how watery their porridge is yet you can taste the wonderful rich taste of the food. ♥ And porridge is good for skin ~~~

Custard bun

Har Gaw

I ♥ how yummy the prawns are in this Har Gao. Tasty and satisfying.

Carrot Cake

Yummylious and my mum loves it. I think they added in chilli shrimp or something.

Siew Mai

A must to have whenever I go Hong Kong and Siew Mai in Hong Kong never fail my satisfaction of siew mai. *burps*

Went Macau on the same day as Dim Sum day, waoh, the ferry was sure packed even though for a weekday but at least we got our tickets. :D Okaii, we didn't know how to get our way around so we managed to get a tour guide at the ferry terminal, each person HKD$400. Not cheap but at least you know, we have a private driver and a car to ourselves. *hehe*

The first place we went, forgot the name of the place but it's pretty much a Rome copied design. Still I love how the place looks ~~ If only I had more time to spend there.

Erm a place that was built in 2007 along with the Sands casino. I forgot the name of the place. 

Making stupid face 

It's actually not dark, but this I've applied Mi3's HDR mode. 

I've taken a few photos with Mi3's HDR mode. I don't really like how dark the sky turned out but I like how the building colours are brighten up. Lovely colours, hate the sky HDR though.

One of my favourite photo *cuts off the man's leg*  

Wonderful candy colours building

 After this place, we headed to the Kun Lam statue, that is 19.99M high. Built in 1999 to commemorate the return of Macau to China.

From a distance 

Couldn't see very well due to my stupid contact lens that day. My right eye got quite a dry trip :( But nevertheless it was nice to visit that place. Even though the visiting area had nothing much about the statue. 

After the Kun Lam Statue, we headed to Ah Ma temple, where Macau actually gotten its name. Because it is a site attraction area, there was a lot of tourists at that area. And Ah Ma temple is for fishermen (back in the olden days) to pray for safety whenever they head out to fish. 

Seems like it's under reno or something. But that's the entrance. 

I love the green looking colours~~~ HDR mode

Cute post sign. Its green too!!

I didn't take any photos inside the temple, kinda rude. But we could climb up the area, but didn't cause I'm afraid of heights T_T.  After Ah Ma Temple, we headed to Macau Tower where the highest Bungy Jump is. The wind speed on that day was 20.3KM/Hr and I could barely hold my hair down when I was outside the Macau Tower. Didn't dare to go up either, but Mi3 couldn't capture a good view of the Macau Tower T_T Had to use my Olympus EPm2 instead to take the Macau Tower.

I was excited about the next place, Ruins of St Paul's. :D The famous Catholic Church that was burnt in 1835 and all that left was that wall, the front of the church.

Attempt to take a photo of it.

The place was crowded even for a weekday, hence all photos have humans in it. :p I've tried my best for I feared that I will roll down the stairs

HDR mode

Here, using the HDR mode, Mi3 managed to make it look like a horror building. But i think its just the sky that the mode decided to darken.

The stairs down to the market, Rua das Estalagens. 

The lovely side buildings nearby Ruins of St Paul's 

Went down to the market, off we went to try out Macau's Portuguese egg tart. My Dad was waiting to get his taste buds on those wonderful egg tarts ever since we stood on Macau port. *haha*

One egg tart cost HKD$8

One can never have enough of the egg tart. I savoured every single piece of it ♥_♥. Fattening yes definitely, but I can never say no to delicious egg tarts. Casino was our last stop and we headed to Stanley Ho's Casino Lisboa for a peak before heading back to Hong Kong. I definitely wanna go back to Macau for a holiday soon again.

The rest of the trip was food, the peak and food again. I can never have enough of Hong Kong food, but I won't wanna stay there. *haha* There's no nasi lemak, something that my Dad was complaining all the way. But nevertheless I still enjoy my Hong Kong trip and am looking forward to my next trip late this year.