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!

Moshi Moshi and Red Mango in Katipunan

Moshi Moshi and Red Mango in Katipunan
by Nicole

On a fine Tuesday afternoon, I went to Katipunan with one of my awesomest pals. We went to check some books for our reading list. (Hello Fully Booked!)

For those of you who have not been to Katipunan for ages, there's a new commercial building in the area and it houses Fully Booked, Coffee Bean, aaaand new eating houses!

Right before browsing books, I got hungry so my friend and I had our early lunch at one of the restaurants there. I actually wanted to try Saint's Alps Teahouse because of Bong's post about it but we decided to try Moshi Moshi instead.

What a homey, cozy place! I liked how spacious this restaurant was and I was so pleased that it was not crowded.

Moshi Moshi is a Japanese restaurant and their menu has the typical japanese dishes - they've got takuyaki, okonomiyaki, and donburi among others. Donburi is very much like the Filipino rice topping (rice plus ulam on top) and in Moshi Moshi, you can make your own Donburi by choosing what you want to have in your rice bowl. Top it with meat, egg, kimchi (I think I saw kimchi there), etc. - you decide.



Moshi Moshi's Menu

My friend and I chose two of their "special" donburis - the chicken teriyaki don, and the curry don. I had the curry don - all vegetables; no meat - hooray! I was very happy that I was able to choose weather I would like my curry don with or without meat.



All Vegetable Curry Don (Php 105)

This curry. . . it was just okay. It was a little bit spicy (I could taste they put quite a lot of black pepper in it.)



Chicken Teriyaki Don (Php 135)

 The serving was rather small and according to my friend, their chicken teriyaki was salty (she asked me to taste it but I wasn't able to because I was busy talking so I forgot ha ha!). Anyway, I really liked that the rice was perfectly cooked!

We didn't order any dessert in Moshi Moshi because I wanted my friend to try my favourite yougurt place, Red Mango! We tried their waffles.


Banana Almod Waffles (Php 85.00)
Extra Yogurt (Php 40.00)
Blueberry toppings (Php 5.00)



Green Tea Waffle (Php 85.00)
Extra Yogurt (Php 40.00)

WE LOVED RED MANGO'S WAFFLES! They were reaaaaallly yummy! I thought the green tea waffle wouldn't taste that good but it was soooo goood! Top it with Red Mango's original yogourt - hands down super d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s! My friend and I really enjoyed our dessert time here in Red Mango Katipunan. The place is perfect for students who want to munch something while studying. :) I'm absolutely going to get my sisters and my friends to try Red Mango waffles!



Address and Telephone Number

Moshi Moshi
2/F #327 Katipunan Ave.
Loyala Heights, Quezon City

Red Mango
2/F #327 Katipunan Ave.
Loyala Heights, Quezon City
+63922 820 8456


P.S.

I'd like to thank my friend Jad for all these photos and for an awesome day! Weeee!

Tiffy in Japan: Sanrio Puroland

Sanrio Puroland
December 25, 2010
Tiffy in Japan

When I was in Japan last year, I didn't really get to enjoy Christmas since I was waitressing at the sushi restaurant I part-timed for the whole holiday season. So it's no surprise that Christmas in Japan doesn't really bring a lot of fond memories.

This year, however, I was determined to change it. I headed to Tokyo with my boyfriend to initially visit Tokyo Disneyland. But since it's the holiday season, the number of people in Disneyland would be so overwhelming that we (actually, I) opted to go to Sanrio Puroland.

I've been a fan of Hello Kitty since I worked as a part-time content support staff for sanriotown.com. It's no surprise, really, that I would go there.

We reached Tokyo from Nagoya at around 11 am. And on that day, if you get in after 3 pm, you only have to pay ¥1000 if you show them the coupon you got on their website (print it out or just go to their website via your phone's browser).

I got in and saw this adorable Hello Kitty waffle and decided I wanna have one! So yes, I ate Hello Kitty in Sanrio Puroland, some meters away from Hello Kitty's house.

It was a toss between Cinnamoroll and Hello Kitty so of course...

I chose the kitty.

 
A lot of people keep telling me that they want to go to Japan but that it's too expensive. It is expensive. But if you plan your trip really well, it's not as unimaginable as you might think.

Yes, the subway is expensive. But you might want to try walking around Tokyo. It's not a big city and just walking around is a tourist-y thing to do in itself.

As for accommodations? There are internet/manga cafes where you can stay at for 8-12 hours. It will only cost you around ¥1500 for 8 hours, I believe. You have your own cubicle with a couch--and, depending on the internet cafe you end up in, they might even have shower rooms where you can take a shower (I think they even provide towels).

Planning that next trip? Enjoy!