Therese in Taiwan: Coffee Alley 咖啡弄

It's in the second floor of this building beside Uniqlo

Coffee shops are abundant around Taipei, probably because of their culture of drinking "afternoon tea" (or in this case, afternoon coffee?)

My cousins and I went to Coffee Alley a couple of months back (yeah, I have a ton of backlog)
because we wanted to try their waffles. They didn't disappoint.

Coffee Alley 咖啡弄

冰草莓歐蕾 Iced Strawberry Au Lait

抹茶牛奶冰沙 Green Tea Smoothie

OREO冰沙 OREO Smoothie

鹽味焦糖鬆餅 Salty Caramel and Vanilla Ice Cream Waffle

紅豆抹茶冰淇淋鬆餅 Azuki Bean and Green Tea Ice Cream Waffle

草莓冰淇淋鬆餅 Waffle with Fresh Strawberry and Strawberry Ice Cream

香蕉巧克力冰淇淋鬆餅 Chocolate Ice Cream and Banana Waffle

These were the food and drinks that we ordered. They were all very delicious, and the servings were huge! We didn't expect them to be that big. Had we known, we would've just shared. Hihi, oops! I forgot how much these cost, but they're probably around 140-180NT (~203-261 PhP).

You can also check out their website for store locations and operating hours. They also have a Facebook account!

Fruitti Nutti: Your Healthy Food Choice

by Marielle

Living a healthy lifestyle is almost impossible nowadays, with processed foods abundant and easily available wherever you go. We may not have time to prepare full course meals everyday, but snacking on healthy food always helps. Protein and fiber-rich fruits and nuts are great snack options to keep your diet healthy even when on the go.

Fruitti Nutti is a newly-opened retail store specializing in the supply of U.S.-origin Nuts such as almonds, walnuts, macadamias, pistachios and pecans; Dried Fruits such as blueberries, cranberries, cherries, strawberries, dairy-free & cholesterol free cooking cream and coffee creamer; other food ingredients and specialty fruit and nut mixes. The woman behind this new healthy food stop is Elaine Gatchalian, giving Filipinos a taste of nutritious food options that won't break your budget.

Healthy Food Choices are available in a variety of pack sizes:

- Dried Fruits (Blueberries, Cherries, Cranberries, Dates, Prunes, Raisins, Golden Raisins, Strawberries, etc.)

- Nuts (Unsalted Almonds, Macadamia, Pistachios, Walnuts, Hazelnuts, etc.)

- Specialty Nut and Fruit Mixes

- Other healthy ingredients (Dairy-free, gluten-free coffee creamer, creamer & whipped cream made from Almonds & cashews)

Among a cornucopia of healthy snack foods offered in their store, I was able to try out several dried fruits and nuts that satisfied my taste buds without the unnecessary oils and artificial flavoring. Take a look at these healthy and utterly delicious treats:

Aren't they delightful to look at? All the more to snack on or to add to your meals! These fruits and nuts can be added to your dishes, used as ice cream or yogurt toppings, or eaten plainly. The possibilities are endless!

Fruitti Nutti goodies!

Time to give the junkfood a break. Visit their store located at Unit 7, 8 Jade Bldg., Santolan Rd., Greenhills, San Juan City.

For more information, you can contact Ms. Elaine Gatchalian through these numbers: 975 9689 / 0917 537 2361 or send an email to fruittinutti@gmail.com.

 Happy healthy munching!

Therese in Taiwan: 85°C Cafe

Not to generalize or anything, but I'm pretty sure that a lot of us are familiar with Starbucks Coffee, am I right? Well, have you heard of 85度C Cafe (85°C Cafe)? It's this Taiwanese coffee shop that's very popular in... where else? Taiwan!

They have over 300+ branches here, and according to their website, they also have branches in Australia, USA, and China.

My cousins like to drink their teas topped with sea salt whipped cream. I guess you could say that it's the Taiwanese version of the Philippines' rock salt with cheese drink. When I heard about it, I wanted to try it for myself.

I got the cold version (there's also the hot version) of the Sea Salt Green Tea (30NT ~ PhP 45)

Look at that yummy sea salt whipped cream! I'd prefer to have this with milk tea rather than plain tea, but it's yummy nonetheless. The drink had the right balance of sweetness, bitterness, and saltiness. Plus, it's fairly cheap.

Another thing we've tasted at this cafe is their 8-inch Classic Tiramisu cake. My aunt bought it for my birthday! Hee.

8-inch Classic Tiramisu cake | 480NT (~ PhP 720)

I don't really know how much a cake sells for in the Philippines (because it's been a while since I've had any) so I don't know if this counts as a bit on the expensive side or just right.

It was very delicious though! Tiramisu is one of the cakes I love (aside from cheesecake), and this one was just right! The cake wasn't soggy (cos I've had soggy Tiramisu before) and it wasn't so sweet. Buon appetito!

Therese in Taiwan: Taro and sweet potato balls at Ah Gan Yi Yu Yuan 阿柑姨芋圓

In keeping up with the "Jiufen" theme, this post is about another famous dessert that can be found there. The first time I ate it, I was with my sister Tiffy and our cousins.

The place is a bit hard to find because it's sort of hidden, but once you find it (and taste it), you won't be disappointed! It really is yummy - if  you're into chewy taro and sweet potato balls. Think of the Philippines' bilo-bilo and that's sort of the consistency that these ones have.

You could choose between the cold order, and the hot order. We decided to go with both. I don't know how much it costs because our cousins footed the bill, but I'm guessing that's it's probably more than 60NT (Php 90)? It's good for sharing though. There are also red beans, mung beans, etc.

As you can see from the picture, the cold order (bowl on the left) doesn't come with "soup", but instead it is on top of a bed of ice. Brr! The hot order (bowl on the right) comes with a lot of "soup".

Name: 阿柑姨芋圓 (Ah Gan Yi Yu Yuan)
Address: 台北縣瑞芳鎮褔住里豎崎路5號 (It's located somewhere in Jiufen Old Street. Ask around!)
Phone number: (02) 24976505, (02) 24966964

Therese in Taiwan: Peanut and ice cream wrap 花生捲加冰淇淋

Obviously, I'm not good with "technical terms." I don't actually know how this is called in English, but I'm calling it the peanut and ice cream wrap, because it literally is that.

I was able to try this at Jiufen Old Street, located in Keelung city (north of Taiwan) but I think they're also available in some night markets here in Taipei.

There's a bed of crushed peanut topped with 2 scoops of ice cream, and wrapped with what I believe is rice paper. They're yummy! It sounds crazy but even if it's cold outside, ice cream is still ice cream, and I believe that ice cream is a must-eat!

I think this costs around 30 NT (~PhP 45) but I'm not sure. It's worth a try though!

How to get to Jiufen from Taipei:

Take the train from Taipei Main Station to Ruifang Station, and then look for the Keelung bus (across the street) bound for Jiufen

Get off at MRT Zhongxiao Fuxing station and take the bus bound to Keelung. I think you can take buses 1815 and 1810.

Therese in Taiwan: 8 Way Dumplings 八方雲集

If you know me, you'd know how much I love to eat dumplings! Back in 2000, my family and I went to China for the first time. One day, we (myself, my sister, and my mom) were able to eat this HUGE plate of dumplings for lunch. It only cost us 7 RMB (~PhP 49 - conversion rate that time). By the time we were all full, there were still some left over! My love for dumplings started right then and there.

I would always look for dumplings in the Philippines but it wasn't the same - either there wasn't enough filling, or the dumpling would be too dry. Maybe I just didn't know where the "just right" dumplings were to be found.

When I got here in Taiwan, my relatives knew how much I loved dumplings so guess what they did? They cooked this huge batch of dumplings for us to share! Yuuuum!

Dumplings for me!

Recently, I discovered this store across our school that sells dumplings. There are different types to choose from - kuchai, curry, vegetarian, etc. You can have them fried or steamed. The dumplings are sold by piece, with the fried ones typically costing 4 NT/piece (~PhP 6/piece) and the steamed at 5 NT/piece (~PhP 7.5/piece). They also sell soy milk for 15 NT (~PhP 22.5), if I'm not mistaken.

The white ones are kuchai, and the green ones are vegetarian

I like them because they're generous with the filling, and they're freshly cooked. They're juicy and they're definitely not dry. Cheap and delicious!

The name of the place

The store is located across National ChengChi University (國立政治大學), by Xinguang Rd. Entrance (新光路口).

For other branches, you can visit their website.

Therese in Taiwan: Poffertjes 荷蘭小鬆餅

Two months ago, the Taipei World Design Expo 2011 happened, and my friends and I looked at the exhibitions. After walking around the halls, we decided to grab a bite. We weren't familiar with the area so we approached this group of locals and asked them whether they could point us in the right direction. They ended up accompanying us to this cafe (where the food costs more than we would have wanted to spend, so we decided not to eat there anymore) and we found out that they owned this food stall that's located at Gongguan night market (公館夜市 gong1 guan3 ye4 shi4).

The name of their stall is 荷蘭小鬆餅 (he2 lan2 xiao3 song1 bing3 - which translated is Holland's small pancakes). Below their sign is the word Poffertjes.

Since I wasn't familiar with Poffertjes, I had to rely on Wikipedia (yeah, oops) to know what they were. Apparently, they're a "traditional Dutch batter treat" that "resembles small, fluffy pancakes".

You could choose from either sweet or salty poffertjes. My friend and I (obviously) went for the sweet kind. They currently have 4 flavors - original (經典荷蘭 － 原味口味), banana (蹺蹺扳 － 香蕉口味), pumpkin (南瓜馬車 － 南瓜口味), and ice cream (總動員 － 冰淇淋口味). I went for the original and my friend tried the banana. The first 2 flavors cost 50 NTD (~ PhP 75), and the last 2 cost 55 NTD (~ PhP 83).

Banana (蹺蹺扳 － 香蕉口味) | 50 NTD (~ PhP 75)

Original (經典荷蘭 － 原味口味) | 50 NTD (~ PhP 75)

From the salty kind, you could choose from chicken (60 NTD ~ PhP 90, tomato (65 NTD ~ PhP 98), or beef (65 NTD ~ PhP 98). I got this picture from their Facebook page.

Chicken roll (雞肉卷卷)

In case you don't know how to read Chinese characters, I've written down their Chinese names so that you could just do character recognition! LOL. If you wanna know how to say/pronounce them, I could write down the PinYin for you guys! :)

Don't forget to join our ongoing giveaways:
1. Gandiva Cafe and Archery Range + Giveaway
2. The Bellevue Pastry Corner + Buffet Giveaway

Tiffy in Japan: Tokyo DisneySea

Tokyo DisneySea
October 27, 2011
Tiffy in Japan

Now I've always wanted to go to Disneyland since I was a little girl watching the Disney channel. I don't know why: is it fun?

Last year, I was supposed to go to Disneyland but ended up in Sanrio Puroland instead. This year, I still didn't end up in Tokyo Disneyland but I ended up in Tokyo DisneySea. When we were trying to decide where to go, my boyfriend asked his friends which one's a better place to go to and they said that DisneySea is more romantic while Disneyland is more family-oriented.

That, and one of my friends playfully warned me about the Disneyland curse. She said that couples who go to Disneyland break up because of the long lines--they run out of things to talk about. She wasn't sure if that was only during summer or if it happens all throughout the year. The existence of this curse was echoed by my boyfriend's friend when I asked him if it were true.

So off we went to Tokyo DisneySea.

Thank you, boyfriend's dad, for the tickets! 

We were there a few minutes before it opened and already, there was a long line. I was told that the line would be much much much longer had it been a weekend and had it been Disneyland. 

Trying to figure out where to go to first.

In DisneySea, as with Disneyland, there are two lines: the normal one and the fast pass one. So usually what is done is, you go to a ride you want to go to (that probably has a long line), go to the fast pass ticket booth beside it, put your ticket beneath the scanner and let it read the bar code and then get a fast pass ticket for the ride a couple of hours after you get the fast pass ticket. 

For example, we got a fast pass for Journey to the Center of the Earth at 10 AM and we can go through the fast pass lane at 11:15 AM--going ahead of everyone else lined up in the normal lane. I didn't know all this until I was already there to which my boyfriend asked, "Why didn't you check it out online before we got here?!"

We did have breakfast before we got here but already I wanted something to eat. There are various stalls all around and it's easy to find in the map. 

We got the Black Pepper Pork Rib (¥420, Php 231) and Mickey Churro (Maple) (¥300, Php 165) and coffee (¥270, Php 149). They have different-flavored churros at different areas. We also had the pumpkin-flavored one. There are also different-flavored popcorn (we had chocolate and strawberry, although he wanted to have the milktea one--I tried milktea ice cream in Korea and I wasn't impressed).

Black Pepper Pork Rib

Mickey Churro

Pocahontas--her face was pretty scary since it seemed frozen that way.