My Bangkok Trip: Colorful ice cream

iberry has been one of my frequent visiting place whenever I hv chance to go to Bangkok. The owner has been working so hard on the biz and it has been expanding well since 2005. IBerry always have tones of different favor for both ice cream and sobert. One of my all time favorite is their "plum sobert", unfortunately they dun hv it this time. There have been so many changes and I could only find an outlet at the foodhall at Paragon this time during my last minute shopping before heading to airport (phewwww)!!!

So amazing they have this new favor: "Roselle sobert"!!! Which is my latest favorite taste! Apparently Thailand is one of the place which have roselle being grown. What I like about iBerry is they are innovative enough to have many new favor invented from time to time. Sakura...Roselle...Gooseberry...etc, they are all the latest taste which sounds "exotic" to me!

Too bad I was in a rush and I really wanna have a scoop of durian ice-cream before leaving this lovely country. See you again next time my dear iBerry!!!

My Bangkok Trip: encounter with Dean & Deluca again

I love Dean & Deluca. This is too lovely that this New York Chic has opened up a Dean & Deluca cafe at Bangkok. It is located in the new Mahanakhon building right outside of Chong Nonsi BTS. The design of this cafe is modern and minimal, a bit like art exhibition place at France (probably due to their light installation from the ceiling?!). The high ceiling setting also gives a spacious feeling.

My favorite pancakes! Only available on weekend. Quite a big portion so better go with a bunch of good friends or family members who share similar vibes; chit chat and relax.

The deli like counter full of different choice of food!!! Range from bread/sandwich, danish, salad and even Thai curry. I dunno what i should have coz there are just too many choices!!! I wish I go there everyday during the trip and try them all out!

There is this little grocery available at the side of the cafe. Choice from coffee beans to red vinegar and olive oil. Love this presentation with neat rack and nice packing. Love their spirit!!! At the moment, there are total 3 branches in Bangkok. Check out their page on Facebook for more information http://www.facebook.com/ddbkk

My Taipei trip: 5

Walking down Yongkang Street (famous for yummy food), deep inside the last bit which is quite quiet, I saw this interesting eating place which looks like a Japanese isakaya. I went inside and it's actually serving Taiwanese cuisine with a nostalgic yet cozy setting. This place called James Kitchen (大隱酒食).

Owner James is a very friendly person. He said he has built this place as according to the house he used to live when he was a kids, and he been cooking what his mum used to cook for him. Guess his mum was an excellent housewife and mother! No wonder this place has such nostalgic feel. The utensils being used in the restaurant are raw pottery, which he had been collecting from the old days. You can tell they been handmade one by one, with some "human touch" existing somewhere on each piece.

This fried clams was super good (this is full portion)!!! Never seen such big juicy clams before.

Whereas this 虱目魚 is a special kind of fish only available in Taiwan. The stomach part is quite smooth, it goes really well with the lime sauce. There are so many dishes I wanna order such as 蔥香豬油飯, 涼拌魚皮,結醬白切肉, 炸蚵酥...etc! It'll be nice to come here with a bunch of good friends, eating, drinking, chatting and laughing all night long! 大隱酒食 Address: 65 Yongkang St, Taipei City (台北市永康街65號) Telephone: (02) 2343-2275 Open: Daily from evening until around midnight, Close on Monday

My Taipei Trip: 4

Those who love coffee should know Taiwan has a very solid knowledge on specialty coffee. As a coffee lover, how can I miss out visiting good coffee shop and try out their skills on "Hand Drip" coffee. There are so many choices and I have short listed a few since time is a bit limited. First one I went was "Akuma Caca", where the owner is a very tasteful interior designer. You can tell he been putting a lot of effort to the cafe. His staffs said he's a very generous boss as he'll let them to use the beans to practice "Hand Drip". =P

The collection of beans seems very wide range. One of the very good one I have got home this time is from . The level of roasting is just right and you can tell the layers of taste when the coffee temperature dropping after being served. Not so many coffee beans can give me such layerings taste so far. Very impressive indeed. I wish I can get some more.

Barista is now concentrating on making my cup of coffee.

Ready!!! This cup set is actually designed by owner himself. Very special design and it can't stand alone by itself...must be placed onto the saucer...which means they are born to be a couple (or very good partner), can't be separated forever!! AKUMA CACA: B1F., No.6, Lane 14, Siwei Rd., Da´an Dist., Taipei City 106. (02) 2701-9227. Open 10:00-23:00

My Taipei Trip: 3

It was a real cold and rainy day at Taipei and I have made my way to visit this new arty area at Shun Yi area (very close to 101) called Good Cho's《好,丘》. The meaning of this name is "good choice". Quoted from their offical blog: "我們希望在《好,丘》複合餐飲生活空間，你可以獨自享受，可以呼朋引伴，更可以將各種美好打包，與更多人分享。然後你會發現，好，原來不是發生在某一個剎那，而是來自於日子裡的慢慢累積。不論天氣陰晴，歡迎你來《好,丘》，品嚐好日子。" The whole structure has this loft-like setting, inside it there is this lifestyle cafe with bar setting with antique food furnitures, also a few table setting with tatami! Here they promote a lot of local design and handmade items, also organic food. You can get a wide range of Taiwan made souvenirs from food to home accessories at the little shop.

The lifestyle cafe is famous for bagel! So many different surprising favor of bagels, you can see hardworking kids making them on site and every staff there is so energetic and helpful & friendly. I took a sit at the bar table and have ordered my latest favourite: hot roselle (洛神花) tea and scones! I just totally fallen in love with scones lately and I always craving for one without reason!

Many different favor bagels available. I'll go there with empty stomach next time, heard that their breakfast is good too!!!

This is the roselle(洛神花) tea I have been talking about! It taste super good compare!!! the foam on top is so smooth, I wish i can make this at home coz I cant go to Taipei too often :P

The scone at Taipei is a bit different to the conventional British kind. This one more like a cookie but taste good too!!! I can see Taiwanese they love "tea time" very much! 地址:台北市松勤街54號 (信義公民會館C館~~原四四南村) 電話:02-27582609 http://tw.streetvoice.com/users/goodchos/ 時間:AM11:00-PM10:00

My Taipei Trip: 2

Quite an interesting cross-over!!! I came all the way to Da-An area for a bowl of noodle this time!!! Am not gonna talk about fashion this time despite am talking about UnderCover! The famous Japanese fashion brand UnderCover has created a cafe in within the store called TAIPEIUC NOODLE BAR! It has this crossover with the famous Taiwanese foodie "DinTaiFung". Yes only noodles available, the dear siu-lung-bao doesn't exist in this cafe.

I have ordered this chilli noodle, the amount is just right before you getting a marginal utility return. The feeling of having a traditional kinda noodle inside a cool bar decor is really amazing! I'll definitely come again next time coz i still havent tried their cocktail!!! TAIPEIUC NOODLE BAR: 106台灣台北市大安區忠孝東路四段181巷40號 +886 2-2775-3669

My Taipei Trip: 1

A friend suggested me to go visit an area called ZhongShan. So I did a little bit research and went to this area once arrived. It's more like a residential area but there are some tasty shop around. I went to this shop called Beher Kitchen, it's a lifestyle shop, you can get to buy many nice home accessories and handmade food. They also offer cooking class on and off. Owner is a very nice woman.

I felt interested with the "smoked dragon eye", this is one of the famous snacks from Taiwan. She showed me how this being made, seems that Taiwanese have very strong talent in making life interesting. I like their way of living somehow. Very simple. And you can tell they actually know how to live a life more than busy people in metropolitan. Maybe this is what I'm looking for too.

So I got a pack home and she offered me this packing. Very nice packing isnt it?! That's what I like!!! Life is just so simple, a little thing can make me feeling highly satisfied : > If you happen to be around Taipei and you are a person who love to enjoy life, I'll suggest you to pay a visit at Beher Kitchen!!! 台北市松山區富錦街354號1樓 02-27652646 營業時間： 週一店休 週二~週日--11：30am~7：30pm

TEAKHA!!!

I love to muck around cafe this kinda places and lately there is a surprise on Tai Ping Shan Street...a very Taiwanese style tea house has been opened...TEAKHA!!! Though this place doesn't really serve coffee (only from Thurs to Sat). Teakha mainly serves tea such as Masala Tea and Roselle Tea. I like this place very much as it's very homely (i want a home like this, with such kitchen and dining area), other than this I like people hand-making things. To me, handmaking things is real life, one can only really enjoy life by making something for herself, which also can share the joy with other people when sharing the handmade food/things. Owner handmade the scones and cakes everyday herself. You can sit outside and chill out when it's a sunny day! The feeling is so good coz there isn't too much traffic around the area, so you won't get to inhale too much carbon monoxide!!! Secondly, the building around there are just 3 to 4 stories, so the distance between you and the blue sky is much closer. So many reasons to go their and enjoy some outdoor moment.

This is the "roselle scone" which owner has invented. Roselle is a kinda of flower which is very popular in Taiwan. Only harvest once a year (around Nov/Dec) and so this is kinda rare.

Wah my favourite Masala Chai, i still think the one made by Teakha taste the best!!!

And then this sandwich is also my favorite food there!!! The fusion of salsa and pork fross is perfect!!!

TEAKHA also sells some Taiwanese handmade home accessories such as teapots, cups, and also some of their traditional food like "smoked dragon eye". If you like Taiwanese culture, maybe you should pay a visit there too. TEAKHA: 18A Tai Ping Shan St, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong (opens Wed to Sun, 12noon to 6pm)