National Palace Museum

 

National Palace Museum in Taiwan is a well known museum in the world.  It hosts a large collection of cultural national treasure from China.  When the civil war in China ended, the Chinese government fled to Taiwan with thousands of cultural treasures shipped to Taiwan.  Rumour has indicated that the mountain behind National Palace Museum is actually hollow inside and hides huge amount of treasures beneath the mountain.  The collections shown on the display in the museum is only a small portion of the entire treasure.

National Palace Museum was a must visit place in Taiwan.  We took the metro subway to Shilin station and then took the bus to National Palace Museum.  There was security check point and the entry of the museum and people were not allowed to carry large backpacks.

There were three floors at the museum.  We first went around the first floor and saw various sculptures and bronze buddha statues.  There were also several famous paintings that were 2 stories tall.  The carving on the multi-layer ivory ball was magnificent.  Each layer had its own unique pattern and could be moved around freely.  It was difficult for us to imagine how much effort the original owner put in to carve this whole thing.

The second floor had more pottery related items on the display.  This included vase, miniature horses and other interesting figures.  The pair of blue lion caught our eyes as the colour of the blue paint was very vibrant on the bronze body.  We were not sure if it was repainted or it was the original paint.  It was quite interesting however.  There was a lot of collection on the potteries from the Tang dynasty.  The miniature horses with three different colouring was a big representation of Tang dynasty.  Then there was also a large collection of vases from Ming and Qing dynasties.  These vases often had painting on it and painted dragons, flowers, and other images.  Many of these were broke down during multiple war in China and only a handful survived.

The third floor was the most interesting one as it was displaying the most ancient items from China.  It included ancient swords and cauldron from China's bronze age.  The swords did not look sharp and looked quite fragile from today's standard, but it represented an advancement in craftmanship in ancient China.  The cauldron was quite interesting.  There were writings inside some of the cauldrons.  Then there were sculptures of various creatures on the outside of the cauldrons.  These creatures usually represent various mythical creatures in China.

The final display on the third floor was the world famous jade that shaped like a cabbage.  It was one of the most valuable items in the entire National Palace Museum.  It was not always on display and usually rotated with other items.  We were lucky enough to be able to see it!

The entire visit to National Palace Museum took about 2 hours for us.  We had a great time here.  The first floor was not as interesting, but the second and third floor really showed us the progression of Chinese culture in the ancient times.  It is definitely worth the visit for visiting Taiwan.

Munchen Haus

 

Munchen Haus is an extremely popular restaurant located in Leavenworth, Washington State.  The restaurant is well known for its Bavarian Grill and the various types of beer that it offers.  During the summer weekends, this place would be packed with locals and tourists from other places.  The line at the front can stretch out all the way to the front street.  Munchen Haus has a wide variety of choices of different types of sausages.  People tend to come here for its large sausage collections, beers, and pretzels.

We got to Munchen Haus around 11:30AM.  The restaurant had just opened for about 30 minutes.  Since it was a weekday, there was not a lot of people.  It was our first time here and we were having a difficult time on which sausages to get.  Thus we got the three most popular sausages recommended by the server.  We got The Big Bob Bratwurst, Helga's Giant Kelbassi, and Dirtyface Beer Wurst.  In addition, we got a Warm Bavarian Pretzel and a German Potato Salad.

When we got our sausages, we went to get the condiments.  There was so many different types of condiments on the table, we were amazed and it was difficult to choose!  We had a mix various condiment across all three sausages.

The Big Bob Bratwurst was more red and had a harder texture when we bite it.  It also had some smoky flavour to it.  The Helga's Giant Kelbassi was thicker and softer.  We actually liked this one a lot more.  The meat was a lot easier to chew on.  Then the Dirtyface Beer Wurst was the longest sausage we ordered.  This one was quite juicy but tasted a lot like Helga's Giant Kelbassi.  The pretzel was hot and soft.  It came with a cheese dipping sauce which was warm as well.  The German Potato Salad was different than the typical potato salad we see at the supermarket.  This was more like mashed potato with vinegar mixed in it.  It was a bit to sour for our liking.

Overall, we really enjoyed the sausages at Munchen Haus.  There were still a lot more selection that we could try next time!

Backwoods Cafe

 

Backwoods Cafe is located in Yakima, Washinton State.  It specializes in breakfast and brunch dishes.  The cafe itself isn't a well known restaurant throughout the state, but it is known to the locals for people to have breakfast at.  Since Yakima is not a large city, Backwoods Cafe is considered as a decent size restaurant in the region.

We got to Yakima around 1:30PM.  Since we havn't had breakfast yet, we were looking for a brunch place nearby.  We happened to see Backwoods Cafe showing up on the map and it appeared to be quite close to where we were.  We drove directly to Backwoods Cafe and it was in a small plaza with plenty of parking spaces.  When we got to Backwoods Cafe, it appeared to be closing soon since it closes at 2PM.  The staffs in the restaurant were already cleaning up and the kitchen was shutting down.  They were still welcoming us and insisted us to dine in.  We knew that they were about to close so we chose to order take outs.

We ordered a Three Egg Omelet and a Two Egg Omelet for kid.  While we were waiting, we were also checking out the restaurant.  It seemed to be family owned and had a really nice cozy feeling.  All the furnishing were made out of wood.  There was a nice wooden staircase the led to the upper floor with more dining area.  It has a really good vibe in there.

After about 10 minutes, our orders were ready.  The omelet was big.  The Three Egg Omelet came with all wheat toast and hash brown.  The omelet had onion and ham in it, which we did like.  The Two Egg Omelet for kid came with potato chunks.  We actually liked the potato chunks a lot more than the tots.  It had some special seasoning to it which made the potato a bit more savory and sweet.

Overall, it was a decent choice for brunch at Yakima.  We did see a few more other brunch places at downtown Yakima but we were a bit further away from there.  We would probably try a different place next time.

Topaz Farm

 

Topaz Farm is a famous family owned farm located in Oregon.  It is located at Sauvie Island, right across from the city of Portland.  Every year, Topaz Farm hosts sunflower festival during the summer to invite everyone to come and harvest your favourite sunflowers.  There is no entrance fee and everyone is welcome.  Topaz Farm also offers you pick blackberries and grape tomatoes.  There are also other farm animals on the farm for kids to watch.  On the other side on the farm, there are also several old farm tractors that kids can enjoy.

We got to Topaz Farm around 9:30AM in the morning and the parking lot was about 30% full.  We could already see the sunflowers field as we entered the farm.  We were so excited to see the bright yellow flower field just across from the parking lot.  We strolled into the sunflower field and followed the trails and saw many bumble bees collecting honeys from the sunflowers.  There were also many photo spots that the farm owner had set up.  Most of the time we had to line up and take turns to take photos.  There were several people holding scissors to cut their favourite sunflowers, but we didn't want to do so.  We spent about an hour going through the whole sunflower field and took a lot of photos.

We then headed to the farm animals area where we saw chickens, turkeys, and sheep.  We were not allowed to touch them but we could watch them from the outside.  As we walked further down, there was a you pick flower area where people could cut down their favourite flowers not limited to sunflowers.  The next few rows were blackberries.  We took a pint and collected a pint full of blackberries.  Most of the blackberries at this time were still red and not ripe, but we still managed to find black ones on the far end of the bushes.  The grape tomatoes appeared to be bright orange colour.  Although it might have seen to be not ripe yet, it actually tasted really fresh and sweet.

Afterwards, we went to the playground where the kids enjoyed the tractors.  There were 4 small tractors where kids can hop on and pretend to ride on it.  There was also a giant tractor on the side.  It was huge and at least 2 stories tall.  Many people were waiting in line to have a ride in it.  We waited for 30 minutes just to get to hop onto the big tractor.

We really had a lot of fun at Topaz Farm.  It offered an amazing experience going from flowers, to farm animals, to you pick berries, and then the tractors.  It is a perfect place for family with small kids to spend the weekend at.  We highly recommend to visit Topaz Farm and have fun here!

Ximen Mango Shaved Ice

 

Ximen Mango Shaved Ice is a shaved ice restaurant located in the crowded tourist location of Ximen, Taiwan.  The restaurant offers various beautiful shaved ice mixed with various sweet fruits.  It is most notably known for its mango shaved ice.  This restaurant has 2 levels for dine in and the second floor of the restaurant has stronger AC and cooler for customers during the hot summer day.

We were shopping at Ximen but it was really too hot in Taiwan during the summer.  It felt like 40 degrees with humidity.  Thus we were looking for a place with AC to rest.  We happened to pass by Ximen Mango Shaved Ice and felt the strong AC blowing cold winds out of its door.  So we decided to enter to get cooled down and get some dessert.

We got the Mango Snow Ice and the Mixed Bean Taro Shaved Ice.  When we ordered the Mango Snow Ice, the server told us the mango today might be a bit sour.  We were ok with that since there was still sweetness from the snow ice.  After about 5 minutes, both shaved ice were served in a huge bowl.  The Mango Snow Ice had a scoop of mange ice cream on top of the snow ice.  Then drizzled with mango syrup from the top.  Chunks of mangoes were placed along the perimeters of the bowl.  We mixed the snow ice with the ice cream, it had a really soft and sweet taste.  The mango syrup was sweet but the flavour of the mango was strong.  The mango chunks were not as sour as the server warned us about.  We still enjoyed it.

The Mixed Bean Taro Shaved Ice came with red bean on the side of the bowl.  The taro balls were also placed along the side and there was a really good amount of it.  Then the brown sugar was drizzled from the top.  We loved the chewiness of the taro balls.  The softness of the red bean also added a fine touch on top of the shaved ice.  When mixing all of it together really created a new texture of shaved ice.  We actually enjoyed this more than the Mango Snow Ice.

We really loved the shaved ice at Ximen Mango Shaved Ice.  There were several more other dishes that the restaurant offers and we would try it next time.

The Duck House

 

The Duck House is a restaurant located in Ximen, Taiwan and it was established since 1950.  Although the name of the restaurant is called The Duck House, it actually serves goose meat instead.  We were not sure why that is the case.  The goose meat is actually served by telling the restaurant how much money you want to spend on it.  For example, the customers can tell the restaurant that they want $100 NT worth of goose meat, then the restaurant will cut the exact amount of goose meat that is worth $100 NT.

When we got to The Duck House, it was 1:30PM already.  The restaurant was about half full.  We sat down and ordered soup noodle bowl.  1 bowl with regular noodle and 1 bowl with vermicelli.  We also ordered the cabbage and $300 NT worse of goose meat.  The soup noodle bowl came with 1 slice of goose meat.  Comparing the noodle bowl and the vermicelli bowl, the regular noodle bowl had better flavour.  We were guessing that the vermicelli sucked too much soup away.  The cabbage was drizzled with goose oil on top of it.  It was so aromatic and we really loved the taste.  The $300NT worth of goose meat filled about half of the plate.  It also had soy sauce and sweet and hot sauce on the side.  The goose meat was decent.  It was really juicy and tender.  We did not see any pink spot on the meat either.  We had never had goose meat in Taiwan either, so it was our first time to try it out.  We could not really tell the difference between goose meat and duck meat to be honest, except maybe goose meat came with larger slice.

Overall, it was a decent experience to try the goose meat at The Duck House.  The amount of items on the menu was quite limited and people are just here for the goose meat.  It is a decent place to try goose meat if that is what people are looking for.

Niu Mowang Steak House

 

Niu Mowang Steak House is a unique type of streak house that serves Taiwan style steak on a hot grilled iron pan.  It is established in 1988 in Shilin night market.  Its steak is unlike the ones seen in United States.  Its steaks are thinner and paired with sweeter sauces, egg and pasta at the bottom.  This type of steak is not as expensive as the other thick cut steak and usually can be served quickly.

We were visiting Shilin night market and saw Niu Mowang Steak House at the corner of the street and decided to try it out.  The drinks at Niu Mowang Steak House is self-serve and customers could get as much as they want.  We ordered the typical beef steak since it was their signature dish and also the cheapest.

The steak meal came with a bowl of soup.  The soup bowl came with pastry on top, which was a surprise to us.  Pushing the pastry down into the corn chowder soup made it taste even better.  We really loved the corn chowder soup!  When the steak was served, it was sizzling hot.  Like the locals, we took the paper towels and formed a shield in front of our body to prevent any steak juice from bouncing onto our clothes.  After a minute or 2, the sizzling started to go off and it was time to east.  We really loved the idea of pairing the steak with the egg.  The mixture of egg yolk and beef steak was amazing.  We really loved it.  The sweet sauce also added its touch to the taste, but the best was to mix the sauce with the pasta at the bottom.

It was a great meal at Niu Mowang Steak House.  We could east more if we wanted to since the steak with thin and didn't fill much of the stomach.  Nevertheless, this was an unique type of steak that could only be seen in Taiwan and we would try this type of steak again in the future.

Jioulong Tapioca Balls Tofu Pudding

 

Jioulong Tapioca Balls Tofu Pudding is a restaurant that specializes in tofu pudding.  It is located right by the Shilin metro station and its red banner at the top of the restaurant makes it very easy to be spotted.  Jioulong Tapioca Balls Tofu Pudding is established in 1999.  Not only it serves tofu pudding dessert, it actually also makes onion pancakes with basils in it.  It is kind of a weird combination but it has gotten famous with this meal combo.

We got off Shilin station and saw Jioulong Tapioca Balls Tofu Pudding giant red banner, thus we decided to take a break and have some dessert.  We ordered the signature onion pancakes with basil and egg, and also a bowl of the famous tofu pudding shaved ice dessert.  We ordered it via mobile phone after scanning the QR code on the table, then paid at the front of the store.

The food was served very quickly since these things can be prepared quite fast.  The onion pancakes were folded into triangular shape like crepe.  The onion pancake with basil tasted really good.  It was quite hot as well but the flavour was decent when pairing with basil and egg.  The tofu pudding shave ice was the best.  It had soft tofu pudding at the bottom and lots of shaved ice on top, then poured with brown sugar all over it.  It had really cooled us down and we really loved it.  The best part was that we could ask to fill more shaved ice if we like.

We really loved Jioulong Tapioca Balls Tofu Pudding's tofu pudding shaved ice.  We wished that it was closer to where we stayed for vacation, but it was really one of the best shaved ice we have tried so far in Taiwan.  We would definitely come back here again in the future when we visit Taiwan next time.