Happy 5.5 Years

I haven't remembered a monthly anniversary in years. I counted our monthly anniversaries to about one year and then graduated to semiannual reminders until 2 years and now, it's an annually ordeal (probably more reasonable anyway). However, I made it a point to remind myself of the our 5.5 year anniversary this Friday 3/30. We have ups and downs like most couples, though I must admit, there are definitely a lot more ups than downs and I am so blessed for that (the downs are usually due to PMS and/or me being bored and picking fights out of nothing :P). Since I've started this blog for the purpose of documenting all the happy things in life, I figured I can at least dedicate one post on our history so I can re-read this when I am old with poor memory (already suffering from this!). He is definitely one of, if not the biggest, contributors to my happiness and I'm so thankful for him!

My first gift - message is uber sweet though a tad corny

Honeymoon phase - circa 2006

Happy 1 Month cupcakes

Happy 2 Month cookies - I wasn't kidding!

Our first trip - Paris and Luxembourg 2007

Happy 1 Year cake

Spring Fling - circa 2008

Binghamton days - so carefree

Spring Break! Costa Rica 2008

Graduation

 Life post grad - Philly circa 2010

Climbing mountains at Mohonk

 Love singing...

Caribbean Cruise 2011

Taiwan 2012

I don't think the pictures do us justice on everything we've done together, but it still gives a good timeline overall. We are about to buy an apartment together and although I know we are ready for it, it still feels like a big step. I'm excited to see how everything will work out!

Happy 5.5 Years Baby! 

Taiwan: Tea Time & Meeting the Cousins (Day 7)

February 17, 2012

Andrew's dad took the day off (Friday) to hang out with us. We took the bus into Taipei and took us to Dian Shui Lou (點水樓) for some dim sum lunch. My god, it was so delicious! Dian Shui Lou was inside a huge mall called SOGO, so we looked around while waiting for our lunch time table. This restaurant had the option of dim sum tasting menu/buffet in that you get a set menu, but can order more of any particular items that you like in unlimited quantity. I liked this a lot better because you get both quality (each item is made upon order) and quantity! It seems that Andrew's family loves buffets.

Inside mall where Dian Shui Lou was located

Interior mall landscaping

The most delicious and flaky dim sum treats I've ever had 

Soup dumplings

Flower sticky rice cake

Shrimp soup dumplings

Sponge cake

I didn't take pictures of everything we had because there was just so much. After a huge lunch, we spent the afternoon walking around town, rather aimlessly. We stopped by Taiwan's huge bookstore, Eslite Bookstore (almost like a Barnes and Noble, on steroids) and browsed around. Andrew picked up a Chinese-English dictionary because he wanted to improve his Chinese - ambitious!

There are some really fancy malls in Taipei

Interior of the mall - all high end luxury stores

Taipei 101

Taipei 101

Strolling around town

Taipei 101 night view

We had plans to stop by Grandma's and arranged for Andrew's cousins to meet us there to catch up. It was nice to meet everyone and hear Andrew whip out his Mandarin to communicate with his cousins. Ah-jea-ah-yee was kind enough to serve us all kinds of Taiwanese treats over tea. Andrew's cousins also brought this interesting jello type dessert. It was sweet and really cool (temperature wise) - jello texture with temperature of ice - it was interesting. I tried to eat as much wax apple and guava as I could since I knew I couldn't get this stuff back in NY. 

Andrew's family

Taiwan: Din Tai Fung & Shilin Night Market (Day 5)

February 15, 2012

We started off the day at Grandma's - we stayed quite a while to chat. Andrew's aunt and her assistant from school became our tour guides for the day. We went to the famous xiao long bao (soup dumpling) restaurant, Din Tai Fund for lunch. This place is apparently infamous for their long lines due to popularity but since we went late in the afternoon (2-3pm), we lucked out and didn't even have to wait for a table. Apparently, in 1993 it was named Top 10 restaurants of the World from the NY Times and was awarded 1 Michelin star in 2010, 2011, and 2012.

Din Tai Fung - famous soup dumpling restaurant in Taiwan

Pickled cucumbers

Shrimp and squash soup dumplings - light and tasty

Crab meat soup dumplings - rich and flavorful

Spicy wontons - really good

Beef noodle soup - best I've had

bean sprouts and tofu skin

Dessert: red bean dumplings - superb (and I don't even like beans!)

We were stuffed by the time we finished all that food between the 4 of us. Thanks to "ah-jea-ah-yee" for treating us! After lunch, we took a short local bus ride over to Guanghua Digital Plaza; it was literally a mall of solely electronics. Afterwards, we took the MRT to the famous Shilin Night Market. We were still really full from lunch but since we were strongly advised not to consume street food, it was a good thing that we weren't hungry; we weren't allowed to eat anything anyway!

Shilin Night Market

Guava - local fruit

Crazy looking fruit - looks like an artichoke. Believe it's a breed of pineapple and something else...

Aiyu jelly drink - wanted to try this but didn't get it

All the food in Shilin Market was in the basement...

Stinky tofu! Did not try it here

My love....I want you so bad :(

Oyster omelet

Shiao Bing - we DID get to eat this :)

It was so GOOD...piping hot meat in a crispy bready shell

After a look only food tour at Shilin Night Market, we were ready for dinner. Ah-jea-ah-yee took us to a local restaurant to try some traditional chicken herb soup. The soup was very traditional with medicinal flavors and was really refreshing. We each had to order our own pot so we were barely able to finish. We also ordered noodles and marinated tofu blocks as sides; the tofu was very "QQ" (chewy) - delicious.

Plain noodles to accompany soup

Traditional chicken herbal soup

After dinner, we went over to try stinky tofu at this stand (Andrew's family's favorite stinky tofu stand)

Stinky tofu to-go! Delicious - a Taiwan must-eat

For dessert, we went to Alex's favorite shaved ice shop

Look at the size of that!

Needless to say, we were stuffed beyond imagination. We spent the whole day eating. Definitely gained about 10lbs today. Everything was delicious. Thanks to Xinyu and Ah-jea-ah-yee for spending the day with us and showing us around. We had so much fun!