Taiwan: Grand Hotel & Meeting Grandma (Day 1)

February 11, 2012 (Taiwan Time)

We arrived at TPE a bit earlier than 7:30am. Andrew's dad was already at the airport to pick us up. He had arranged car service to drive us back to his apartment in Hsinchu which is a good 45min drive from TPE and Taipei. We got back to his apartment and quickly showered and freshened up. By the time we were ready, it was still pretty early in the afternoon. We took the shuttle to the High Speed Rail (HSR) to go to Taipei. I'm not sure why but I was a bit excited to go on the HSR - maybe because I was just excited to be in Taiwan or that I heard a lot about this cool/convenient train system. 

Waiting for the Shuttle to High Speed Rail

Hsinchu Station - Hsinchu is considered a college town

After taking the HSR to Taipei, we needed to transfer to the MRT (subway) and then another shuttle bus to take us to the Grand Hotel where we had a lunch buffet. The food was really good overall but being that it was a buffet, I always feel like there's the factor of quantity over quality. Though, it was very high quality food. I think it cost about $30ish USD per person which is pretty pricey for a meal in Taiwan. After lunch, we walked around the Grand Hotel - there were lots of lanterns in the lobby area (given that it was only a few days after Chinese New Year was over) and a small shopping area in one of the levels. We also got free vouchers from lunch for free pictures on the upper level, so we went to check that out. We lastly went to the outdoor deck to check out the view of Taipei. 

The Grand Hotel

Really love the local fruits!! Wax apple was my favorite - it's a cross between an apple and watermelon. The green fruit was also really good - cross between apple and asian pear

Lunch Buffet at Grand Hotel

We went to visit Andrew's grandma in Taipei and as you can tell from the picture below, she was SUPER happy and excited to see Andrew. As per Andrew, he is her favorite grandchild. We stayed for a little while and then headed to the lantern festival in Taipei City Hall.

Grandma's so happy to see Andrew and vice versa

The weather was misty and foggy but we still managed to get by without an umbrella. Jetlag really started to kick in and I was exhausted by early evening. We took a quick stroll inside Taipei 101 and then took the subway and bus back to Hsinchu for some well needed rest. 

Lantern Festival in Taipei City Hall (near Taipei 101)

Pretty lanterns

Cute lanterns

Wishing trees with good fortunes and wishes hanging from them

Taipei 101 in the misty fog

Brooklyn Gem

March 23, 2011

Andrew and I went back to Brooklyn on Friday night to have dinner with my parents. We went to our favorite local joint, HK Tea and Sushi. Every time we come here, we always get the baked dishes because it's what they are best for. Everything else on the menu is quite average. I ordered the Baked Minced Beef over rice, Andrew ordered the Baked Chicken Steak over Spaghetti, and my parents shared the Salmon Steak Combo. After we ordered, we broke the news to my parents that we finally have an accepted offer for our dream apartment. We still have a lot to do before we can say we are buying a place so hopefully everything pans out. I already know it's going to be a stressful process.

Baked Chicken Steak over Spaghetti

Strolling Around and Good Eats in NYC

March 18, 2011

Diana came apartment hunting with Andrew and I on Sunday afternoon but we didn't see anything we liked. Our heart was still with an apartment that we saw earlier in our search. The weather was sunny and cool, the perfect day to casually stroll around. We went to Stuytown to meet Ilya and Andrew and Ilya threw a football around Stuytown campus while Diana and I went to get some froyo. We walked to 16 Handles and each got a huge tub with one too many toppings - so much for "healthy" alternative to ice cream. I was so full after.

16 Handles froyo

Andrew went back to his apartment to "study" while Diana and I went to meet Josie at Barnes and Noble Union Square. We had the intention to do some career research but had no luck; I don't think any of us were really in the mood. After taking a few personality tests, we gave up. Diana and I headed to Totto Ramen in Hell's Kitchen and Andrew met us there. We waited over an hour for this.

Totto Miso Ramen

It was Andrew's and my first time having Totto Ramen and we enjoyed it. Diana and I got the Totto Miso Ramen and Andrew got the Totto Spicy Ramen. I still am not buying into the whole Japanese Ramen craze but it was still pretty good. IMO, the broth and texture of noodles was better than Ippudo's but the pork belly, egg, and variety of accompanying ingredients are probably inferior to Ippudo. 

Wishlist: TOMS

I just realized that I got a blister walking in my office heels today. Whenever I wear stockings, I tend to get blisters when wearing heels because my shoes are more loose than if I were to wear them barefoot. See, clamy feet are good for one thing at least! So, I think I'm going to jump on the TOMS bandwagon and shop for a pair. I think they are way overpriced for what they are made out of but I guess it makes me feel better since the company donates a pair to a child in need for each purchase. I was thinking of getting something different than what everyone and their mom has. It seems that Urban Outfitters carries them in more variations so I might have to check them out.

*Update* So I had plans to have dinner with Christine and her parents with Andrew on Friday night and Christine had wanted to go shop around before dinner. She wanted to hit up Urban Outfitters and I thought, what a coincidence! I know she never shops there so it came to me as quite a surprise. We did not leave empty handed ;) I picked up these as I had wanted a patterned pair:

New favorite product

I've been totally in love with the Clinique City Block Sheer in SPF 25!  I went to the Company Store initially looking for a no fuss, straight-forward sunscreen for daily application. This sunscreen actually turned out to be a tinted lotion. I was hesitant at first because I don't normally use foundations or tinted lotions; I may use some concealer if I was really trying hard on special occasions. The City Block Sheer is actually really nice - it's very matte and feels super light on my skin. I think I've found a product I will be using for a long time :) It's so important to wear sunscreen, even though we spend about 20 mins total in the sun on a typical workday. Better safe than sorry - stay away sun spots and wrinkles!

Spiderman on Broadway

February 25, 2012


The weekend after Andrew and I came back from Taiwan, we had tickets to go see Spiderman on Broadway. I bought these tickets for him ahead of his birthday. I had no desire to see Spiderman particularly but I know Andrew would really like it since he loves his superheroes and cartoons. And most of all, he's been asking to go! He rarely has these requests so I immediately put it on our "must-do" list. NYC Go happened to have a Broadway sale (BOGO) so I jumped on it!

We enjoyed the show very much overall. It is definitely differentiated since this is the only broadway show with high-flying action. The visuals were definitely over the top - it's amazing how creative it was and impressive with how much they can do with so little space. The music on the other hand was mehhh but hey, you don't go watch spiderman for the music right?

My only other complaint was that the theater had the tiniest seats ever. We've seen a decent amount of Broadways and this theater (Foxwoods) is the most cramped - even for me, mind you I have shorter legs than most humans :P. Not going to lie, Andrew and I were still a bit jetlagged and felt pretty tired half way through. 

Big Birthday Weekend

I organized a surprise birthday gathering for Andrew's 25th. I'm not a good liar so the gathering came at slightly less than a surprise but Andrew enjoyed it nonetheless :) We had dinner at Zero Otto Nove in Flatiron. It was a nice casual classy Italian restaurant and had really great pizza and food overall.

We went back to the apartment for cake. I got him the blackout cake from Two Little Red Hens from the UES. Linda got me the same cake for my 24th birthday and I loved it. It's unbelievablely moist and rich. It is hands down the best cake I've ever had. I added some finishing touches with these adorable basketball candles. I know Andrew loved basketball since forever but I can't help but think of Jeremy Lin when I see these candles.

We headed downtown to Coopers for drinks and to hang out. It was a nice casual spot for a crowd our age. We saw a few friends from DSP as well so that was unexpectedly interesting.

Ended the night with some Artichoke pizza. Oh, it is so good. Best pizza ever.

Andrew and I spent a good chunk of the rest of the weekend apartment hunting. We mainly were looking in the UES. Josie stopped by the apartment to pick up some stuff for her trip to Mexico and we chatted for a while.

On Sunday, we had brunch at Jane's for Christine's 26th birthday. It was a fun, lively restaurant with a great brunch selection. It was fun to catch up and see everyone in a small group setting. I ordered the Benedict Johnny -

Our lovely party. Happy Birthday Christine! <3

What an awesome weekend!