Day 2: Damper Baby Taipei 101

The day started at around 8:00am. The shuttle dropped us off near the Citihall. Most shops were still closed. My sister and I decided to take a quick breakfast at Starbucks. Focaccia with olives and rosemary to share then I had my double shot vanilla latte - short while ma and pa went to Mcdonald's for their first meal.

We went to see the Damper baby at Taipei 101 its like a giant pendulum to counteract the building's movement due to strong winds, earthquakes and other such seismic and atmospheric assaults. 101 stories above ground and 5 stories below. It was indeed a sight to see, just like an emerald and silver jewel in the city of Taipei.
At the 88th floor 349 miles above ground, we had a commanding view of the city and Taipei Basin at all directions. The baby weighs 730 metric tons and is the largest in the world so far. The Observatory is equipped with high-power binoculars, drinks bar, image services, pre-recorded audio tour guides in seven languages, & souvenir shops. The outdoor observatory was unfortunately closed this morning so we went back down to shop for a while. As the clock started to tick. We felt our tummies rumbling a bit. Lunch time. :)

We simply went down to the Grand Market. Rows of food stalls were in the area. Me and my sister decided to share lunch as usual. Before we were even able to decide on the main, we came across a japanese pastry bar where rows of mochi, rice desserts, green tea and black sesame coated sweets arranged all in a row. Thoughts of warm soup and braised pork flew off my mind. But we had to have lunch before we had desserts so we got noodles none the less, it had braised onions and pork in it. and a dish of Taiwanese appetizer made of chile, tofu and salty fish. Looking at the bill, we spent twice the amount for our dessert as compared to our main course! Well, I think its well worth it and I wanted to grab some of those sweets at the instant I saw them. It was quite a struggle to do the shopping though.I wanted to know more about what it is made of or what the fillings were inside so I could choose, but all I got were just smiles, nods and shakes of the head. No English of course. It all looked delicious, we went to pick the ones that well... looked the yummiest! I picked a green tea flavored mochi We also had a japanese style sticky rice ball coated with black sesame seeds, sugar and I'm just guessing... rice flour, ground into a very fine powder. The texture, unlike the local suman is much lighter and not as heavy and gummy. It was wonderful! Other varieties were the mandarin orange flavored rice ball which my sister liked so much. There was also a surprising flavor, the light green colored mochi was flavored with mint and preserved sour plum or much commonly called red kiam-moy. It takes a bit of getting used too. I also liked the chocolate flavored mochi. The texture was indeed very fine, smooth and light. it was dusted with bitter cocoa powder. It tasted like it had a little bit of tea powder as well, quite interesting. After all of the sweets were were finished, I was still having those cocoa -tea powder off my fingers. After lunch was over, we were full, feeling a little sleepy and of course tummy happy. We decided to go back to the hotel to take a short nap. That is to get ready for the next food Trip. Shi-Lin Night Market. Authentic Taiwanese Street food! ;)

Day 1: Taipei Here We Come!

Flight was scheduled at 10am so early on Ma,pa and I went to the Airport to catch the plane bound for Taipei. Atch was on her way too, from Singapore that is. Plane will be landing the same time. Right about 1pm. Flight was smooth, everything was on time. We had a little trouble looking for each other at the airport though, but we finally met! That was past lunch time already. Have not eaten anything yet since breakfast. I was starving to death! Quietly I was just sitting on the bus waiting for the final destination. My sister never fails to bring a surprise. A craving of hers a few days back lead her to get Teuscher chocolates from Switzerland. It is said that these chocolates were shipped to Singapore via air. Not surprising... these were delicate chocolates filled with smooth and creamy ganache centers as well as griotines soaked in kirsh and Grand Marnier filled chocolate truffles . Hungry I was indeed, but the chocolates made me happy. It took quite a while for travel. 4pm already and we did not have proper lunch yet. After Check in we went to the mom and pop food stalls surrounding the hotel. We had pork dumplings with seeweed. It was a bit spicy. We also had noodles with local vegetables and chicken. We were trying the appetizer that was served with my dad's pork chop and we could not really figure out what it was. Gingery, sour and salty with other oriental flavors in it. It has a taste that needs to be acquired I guess. My mom's verdict? Not the food we came all the way here for. Not just yet! Well, satisfied tummies nonetheless, real food trip starts tomorrow.

Inspiration

One rainy thursday night, I was working on some cake drawings for my wedding clients in the months to come. Just sketching on a pattern for a particular cake then sent them off. Was scanning through some floral photos and wedding magazines, usually my source of my design inspiration. Out of sheer nothingness to do, got some colors and a brush. Here's what came out of it :)



pretty nice hobby to start off with. :)

Choices

Life is all about choices. We do it every single day, hour, minute, second. What food to eat, what dress to wear.... some of these choices come but natural, almost like instinct. There are choices however that are life changing.... and for some it may be easy, for others it is not. What if for instance there are two gifts, one as a reward for something you have worked hard for, and the other, a gift of a dream come true. Would it be better to take the practical choice, the logical decision? Or will it bring more happiness to go for life's adventure and self fulfilling experiences? Do we follow the mind, or do we follow the heart?

For Hobby Or For Work

It was 7pm Sunday night. It was a long drive coming home from Tagaytay. Perhaps that's always the case... driving back to the city sends the message that vacation is over. In a few hours its going to be Monday. Start of a work week. The rest of the group went home already. My close friend Marj and I decided to extend the day and have dinner at UCC. We talked about a lot of things. The usual stuff girls talk about over dinner. There's just one question she asked me that kinda got me to start thinking. "What have you done for yourself that does not involve work lately?" Well the previous months admittedly, has been quite heavy. I thought about her question for a while and could not really answer straight up. Ummm... gym?... bake?...cookbooks?. The answers I suggested were shook off followed by a "See what I mean? - Get a massage!"

I guess that happens to having a hobby turn out as a career. The line dividing between the two becomes gray. It works for me most of the time. Most of what i spend on are for my profession, wether it be books, gadgets, ingredients, travels.... Its like hitting two birds with one stone. Yesterday was a bit of an example. I had recipes to be tested and also felt like I just wanted to be comfortable in the kitchen.. just bake for fun. So I did. I started early. Ended a bit late at night. Made 2 types of the rustic artisan breads, the ones I bake when I just want to relax, feel better after a hard week or simply just want to feel happy and accomplished - had them for breakfast this morning... I'm pleased with it. Bake two types of cakes also and tested a millefeuille recipe - these are for work.

I guess she has a point though... sometimes, we need to see and experience the other things that the world has to offer. To appreciate life to the fullest i guess. I'm sure that there's so much more out there that could be experienced and learned alongside this love of mine. :) Hmmmm... capoeira? dance classes? drawing clasess? photography... I'll get to one of those soon! ;)

Bread Class

This entry was supposed to be posted last friday night. Typed it up in the gym while waiting for the jam class. When I got home, really got excited with the weekend Tagaytay trip and totally forgot about it. eeeeek....

BREAD CLASS

My students made really beautiful breads today. Just their second day in bread baking class and I may say. The pizzas were great and the focaccia… Yummy! Crusty and airy. Just the way I like it. The loaves were good as well Both oatmeal and raisin bread had soft crumbs. We went a bit overtime but it was well worth it. I can see the excitement and fulfillment in their eyes despite the physical exhaustion. I asked them to knead their breads by hand this time. No mixers today. Its best that they experience bread baking to the fullest. Feeling it, touching and simply experiencing the magic of doing it the old fashioned way.

One student of mine even said that he never thought he would love bread baking. He thought he would just hate it. But after class today, just got hooked. Planning to get himself an oven and just bake away. Others would also tell me how their first try of focaccias and pizzas went. Hard as stone! Well… everybody goes through that stage in bread baking. Then comes learning and everything just works out like magic.

The Way to a Woman's Heart...

Finally I'm back.... It has been quite a while since I have written something here. Indeed four months flew by so quickly. It has been a hectic past few months. Work comes in one after the other, the usual stuff of course. I want a vacation.... Hmmmm... No, I think I NEED a vacation!!!! Hahahahahaha During these times in the kitchen, every cook (or perhaps cooking or baking professionals) will agree that the person inside the kitchen hardly thinks about what she will have for lunch or dinner, usually, too focused with the work at hand. Well for most of the time when I am in the kitchen, I am in that situation. I guess I am just lucky that during these moments, someone would actually whip up something in his kitchen and bring me warm baked pasta for dinner. :) Lasagna, baked mac and carbonara on the menu. Those are his specialty.... pasta, pasta, pasta. At times, it is paired with Buko pandan salad for dessert. :) As much as there's a sense of fulfillment and pride in cooking for someone special. There is also much gratitude and appreciation in receiving simple home cooked meals. A good way indeed of showing how much one is cared for. Home Cooking warms the heart, soothes the soul, tickles the tongue and of course, fills the tummy. ;) So they say... "The best way to a mans heart is through his stomach," I say same goes to a woman's.