My first xiao long bao experience was rather meh. Xiao long bao in Taiwan of course means Din Tai Fung, the chain shop specializing in world-famous 18-fold soup dumplings. It's a stop I was told I couldn't miss out on while I was there. Well, I went, but it was really just okay and way overpriced. I know I'm not alone on this. 

I was pretty disappointed. They're one of the things Taiwan's known for, aren't they? Maybe it was all the hype surrounding them (remember what I said about the hype...?). But I have good news! On my last day, Mingni and M took me to a place with even better soup dumplings with a fraction of the wait time!

It's called Ming Yue Tang Bao 明月湯包 in the Neihu District. 

As always, we ordered a ton of food. Four sets of dimsum, the watercress veggies I really like (but they cook them in some kind of milk here), I think we got some noodles too. I didn't get photograph all of it, but I did  manage to film it. I'll upload Part II of my vlog tomorrow, so stay tuned for that.

These are the traditional pork soup dumplings. Absolutely scorching but totally changed how I felt about xiao long bao. I think it's really all about the broth encased in the paper-thin wrapping. Unlike the ones I had at Din Tai Fung, Ming Yue's aren't greasy and are a lot more flavorful. 

I've read that the chef of Ming Yue is actually a graduate of Din Tai Fung! It looks like he took the best of DTF and made it even better. Props.

These are crab soup dumplings. Equally yummy, but I preferred the pork. The very first photo is not xiao long bao -- I think they're called xiā jiǎo or hakao, steamed shrimp dimsum. We also ordered a set of fried dumplings. I can't remember what they were called and it's killing me because they were by far my favorite!!!

The rest of the day was spent shopping for souvenirs to bring home. I bought a few boxes of Taiwan's famous pineapple cake for my family and a bag of niu zha tang, which M keeps telling me is one of the Top 5 best candies in the world but I think he's totally lying cause I can't find that article anywhere online. We had our last dinner together at a little place in Tianmu and spent the night just walking around and soaking in our last night in the city.

I can't believe it's been almost three weeks since I left. I feels like ages ago I was surrounded in Chinese, or taking the MRT or waiting in line for a bowl of douha. I miss it and hopefully I'll get to go back. There's still so much I've yet to see! 

The cronut. Deep fried, doused in butter, sickeningly sweet in the best way possible. Would you believe that I've yet to have one? Well, that is until Taiwan. It seems like for a while everyone was talking about them, especially while I was in New York. Ansel in Soho is after all where it was born. I didn't get one then... I don't know what it is about me, but I don't like to give into food hype -- more often than not, expectations just fall into disappointment.  

But then eventually FOMO (or "fear of missing out") rolls around and I start to feel kinda bummed knowing that I've never had one. While I was in Taipei, I stumbled onto Stephanie's post over at her blog The Thousandth Girl about a restaurant in the Xinyi district serving chocolate cronuts that sell out like crazy. Call it fate? 

It's called Drip Cafe

We took a cab to Drip at around noon. I was a little hesitant going at such a rush hour, cause Stephanie wrote that the wait for this place can go on forever. I guess the cronut craze is just as big in Taiwan as anywhere else. Luckily, we managed to beat the line and only had to wait about 15 minutes. 

The menu extends past just coffee and desserts to sandwiches and brunch and pastas and smoothies. But I wasn't about to get blindsided. I was there for only one thing. 

Because the restaurant was so packed, the service was a little slow. Not a problem. I'll just take this time to show you some of those model poses I promised.. -_-

**Wow, I have a huuuge forehead. And don't even get me started on my lopsided smile**

That's all you get for today!

The interior was simple but just my style. Concrete floors, wooden furniture, and an open kitchen. It was a little cramped, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do to keep up with an ever-growing waiting list.

So what's the verdict? It was good! A+ for presentation! But I thought it'd be softer, like a freshly baked doughnut, and flakier, like how croissants are meant to be. Maybe that's what happens when you deep fry pastry dough?

I forgot to mention that Drip has two kinds of cronut: the chocolate banana cronut (pictured here) and the strawberry cream. If you know me in real life, you'd know that I'm not chocolate's biggest fan, so maybe the strawberry would have been a better pick. But the former is their most popular item so I just went with what the reviews told me. 

I love discovering new bloggers who write about their city. If it weren't for Stephanie, then I would never have found Drip and made my cronut dreams come true. I only hope mine does what hers did for me for you!

Taipei is a wonderful city, but there's more to Taiwan than its tiny capital.

On Day 9, we rented a car and headed eastwards for a day trip. 

Our first stop: Yehliu Geopark

It's a natural landscape composed of mostly sedimentary rock. I took a geography class back in the 10th grade so I can tell you that that just means layers of different rock that's been compressed into one giant rock over years and years.  Because they're composed of sediments, the rocks are more susceptible to weathering and erosion. This is slowly turning into a science class. Anyway, the point is that over time these rocks have transformed into odd looking shapes and made for nice little park.

The most famous of these odd shapes is the Queen's Head! 

It's supposed look like a lady with a skinny neck and a tall crown. Can ya see it? 

There are lots of other rock formations. For instance, these are called Honeycomb Rock

And those over yonder are Mushroom Rocks

Really, just a ton of rocks. 

Side story: Mr. Green, my 10th grade teacher, told us that he was once held at customs in China for trying to bring rocks out of the country using his carry-on luggage. He said he just wanted to examine them and stuff...? You can imagine why the officials thought he was a complete nut job. The guy just likes his rocks! Hahaha, he'd have a field day here!

When we got back into the car, our driver asked if we wanted to visit a mountain full of cats. Uh, is that even a question? 

He totally lied to me -- it wasn't a mountain. Houtong is actually a small mining village. In its more prosperous years, this village produced the largest yield of coal in a single area, but as the coal-mining industry fell in 1990, so did the town's development. Many moved away, leaving their pets behind, and over the last few decades, many more chose this spot to abandon their cats. Thus it became known as Houtong Cat Village. I think about a hundred cats roam the area now. 

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Next stop: Jiufen!

Next to Shifen, this was my second-most anticipated stop.

Why? Because this is where Miyazaki got his inspiration for "Spirited Away"

Okay, I haven't actually seen the movie before coming to Taiwan, but I've heard great things! Especially about the cinematic images and whatnot. 

The layout of Jiufen is quite confusing. Lots of little alleyways and dead ends if you're not careful. But the view from no matter where you are is absolutely beautiful, and if you follow the crowd I bet they'll lead you to the exact spot that inspired the scenes in "Spirited Away" 

Right here. This little set of stairs with it's bright red lanterns and narrow walkway. I bet it's even more magical at night when the lanterns are lit up.

There are loads of little tea shops on the edge of the mountain where you can enjoy a cuppa or two while admiring the view. If you really want to commit, there are a few hotels that opened up in the recent years so you can spend how many days you need to explore all of Jiufen. 

But as for us, we were on the road again after a couple more one-bite street food.

After Jiufen, it was one quick stop after another. Here's a snap of Jin Gua Shi, an old gold and copper mining district. You can visit the mining museum as well as a few shrines and the preserved Japanese-style home of the former mining director, but note that they are closed on the first Monday of every month. Which is exactly when we went. Figures. 

NEXT! (It was a very busy day) KEELUNG NIGHT MARKET!

Famous for its large selection of choices, especially its seafood, it was time for dinner.

And why not start with dessert? I've seen these syrup coated fruits all over Taipei and I was intrigued. I got the strawberry ones and it was just alriiiight. Strawberries are little overrated. I don't think I need to try it again. 

I read on a number of blogs that I needed to sample the crab thick soup and glutinous oil rice. I bet those names sound a lot cooler in Chinese. The rice was good, but I loved the crab soup! Lovely chunks of fresh crab meat in thick and seasoned soup. What's great about the night market here is that each stall is numbered for easy direction. I got mine at Booth #5. If you're in the area, I recommend it.

Another dish everyone seemed to love is Butter Crab. We didn't go to a booth for this one, and instead opted for a side cart. Crab baked in butter, sounds promising.

I wasn't expecting it to be served like this though! It was quite small and really, really sweet. If you're into that sorta thing, then I say go for it, but I think I'll have my crab with no butter next time. It was a pain to crack the shell to get to the meat, so M did most (all) of that. 

Because the crab was tinier than expected, we improvised. Not that we're complaining...

You pick the color of your lantern first. Each color represents a different message. Off the top of my head I remember that yellow means money, green means success, and red means health.

You then go to the side of the train tracks and using ink and a brush, write out your wishes.

We picked white for a bright future.

After a few more pictures and a silent prayer, we lifted up our lantern and watched it float away. 

Brb, having a Tangled moment. 

I know it doesn't really mean anything, but it was a nice symbolic thing I did together with M. We wrote out our hopes for the future, both for our self and for our relationship. Like I mentioned before, 2015 is going to be a big year. Lots of things are going to change and we're both venturing out into new territory. Honestly, it's probably the most frightening time of my life. Lighting a lantern was our moment of calm. Geez, I'm getting all dramatic again.

Shifen was the perfect ending to a very, very long day. M and I fell asleep on the car ride back to Taipei, and just knocked out as soon as we got home. Looking back on it, it's kind of amazing how we were able to see all that in a day. Even if you're only here for a short amount of time, I recommend setting aside some time and rent a private car or even a taxi for a day (which I saw lots of people do) and see what lies outside the city borders.