A Trip to the Ecopark

One of the nice places to go to in Antipolo is the Pacem Ecopark. There are a lot of sights to see here in the ecopark. It is as if nature has been preserved in this small haven. Inside, you will see butterfly and shell collections (picture taking is not allowed here hence I will not post any pictures), a green house, an aviary, a wildlife sanctuary, an orchidarium, and a lot more. It's definitely worth it to visit a place like this, and even more worth it to preserve something as nice as this. How about you, any interesting trips lately? :)

At the entrance of the Ecopark

Ooh.. a wishing well (I wonder if my wish will come true)

Just outside the orchidarium

Outside the butterfly collection

The peacocks and the peahen

The Endangered Cassowary
World's Most Dangerous Bird

Cross the bridge to get to the treehouse

Thank goodness for nice comfy shoes during the walk

This caterpillar looks like Caterpie from Pokemon haha

Inside the Green House

P.S. Hope you guys can visit this great place too! :)

Ciao!

Kat <3

The Katsudon Experience @ Yabu

I have never really loved katsudon in particular before. Must be because of the way the tastes differ mostly from one restaurant to the other. Sometimes, there is too much breading, and other times the meat is just too hard to chew. I always thought that I would never be able to love eating katsudon, let alone order it. However, lo and behold, I have found the perfect katsudon, and it is just at the Megamall Atrium. I am very pleased to say that "Yabu: The House of Katsu" simply took my breath (or my taste buds) away with their super soft and delicious "katsurestsu" or cutlets in short.

There are a wide array of katsudons to choose from in Yabu, with mostly chicken or pork as the main type of meat. I was able to sample three delicious tonkatsu meals on my first visit to Yabu. My friend ordered the Premium Tonkatsu Set (Kurobuta Pork Set), and this is the most expensive of all the katsudons in the menu being priced at P515. The softness of the pork was really a surprise, and the taste was just divine. Even with this price, the taste of the tonkatsu really did it justice.

Of course, let us not forget the Katsu sauce. It should be mixed with sesame seeds (I forgot to take a picture of the sesame seeds wahh) to be able to achieve the full effect of the sauce. Then, dip this sauce along with the sesame seeds into your tonkatsu, and the taste will become even more flavorful.

I ordered the Rosu Katsu Curry, which is made up of pork cutlets. This set is priced at P295. I am a big fan of Japanese curry, and the taste of their sauce was really that of authentic Japanese curry. The spiciness of the curry can also be chosen from mild, regular, to hot. The curry sauce really blended well with the tonkatsu, and it can be said that this dish is also superb in taste.

Another one of my friend ordered the Chicken Katsudon, priced at P260. This is the dish normally seen in other restaurants. This dish tasted a bit different from the first two dishes because there is a special sweet sauce put on top of the tonkatsu, making the flavor of the tonkatsu sweet as well. The tonkatsu is also topped with two eggs. To be quite honest, I love this dish. Maybe I am a little biased because I really love sweets, but this dish really changed my opinion on katsudons. The second time I ate again at Yabu, I couldn't help but order this dish again(yummy!!!).

 All the set dishes comes with miso soup, a bowl of fruits, and a bowl of cabbages. The cabbages are unlimited by the way, and when mixed with the sesame dressing it is to die for! Even if you are not a veggie lover, I am sure that you would appreciate the very flavor of the cabbages mixed with the sauce, and the fact that something healthy is unlimited.

With all the food that comes with the set dish, you would surely get your money's worth (affordability combined with happy tummy)! This is one restaurant that is surely worth trying out. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into those soft tonkatsus. The comics poster is not kidding when it says that: "So soft it melts in my mouth!"

Ciao!

Kat <3

Street Food Galore

The street food in Taipei is just the best! No need to eat lunch or dinner in an expensive restaurant if you are on a food trip on one of their street markets, whether during the day or night.

First stop is in Gongguan where you can find the stall of the Best Bubble Milk drink in Taiwan which is named Chensanding. Take note that this is not a milk tea drink, as the drink consists only of milk. The line is really really long, but the crew are very efficient so you would need to wait in line for only a few minutes. After drinking a sip, I realize that the taste of the pearls are different. They are made from brown sugar, which is why it has a different sweetness to it. The pearls are still hot when mixed with the cold milk, and the combination is simply to die for. Also, the price is really affordable, costing only NT30. Definitely a must-try!

Next stop is the Jiufen Old Street, where there are a lot of different kinds of food being sold from left to right. There are also cute souvenir shops where you can buy gifts to take home for friends. To be able to go around touring this place, we can only set out on foot. Cars will not be able to fit into this tiny street.

The busy Jiufen Old Street with quaint teahouses at the sides

The stinky tofu, one of the local cuisines in Taiwan. It was my first time to try it, and not only was the smell stinky, but also the taste! However, you will realize that the more you eat, the more you would want to keep on eating. Weird huh?! I guess that's why it's one of the delicacies in Taiwan haha.

The Stinky Tofu!!!

Continuing on, you would get to see black sugar flavored and fruit-flavored candies. The black sugar flavored candies are so cute as they are shaped into popular cartoon characters. Do you see Patrick Starfish and Sergeant Kero? Then, you can also buy takoyaki from the takoyaki stand.

For drinks, there are also different selections to buy like Iced Coffee and Almond Tea.

There is this one snack that our tour guide treated us that was really something that we have never tried before. It was covered in lumpia wrapper, and there was peanut powder inside, but it was mixed in ice cream. It tasted really nice, and we would have ate some more, but there were still a lot of food to try out.

At the end of line, there were gross-looking snails that were almost twice as big as the ones we see in Seaside. Our tour guide prompted us to try some, and la-dee-da since we were very obedient tourists, we quickly bought a bowl. I couldn't believe it, but it was the best tasting thing snail I had ever tasted. No kidding! Add to it the best tasting chili sauce, and it was a great combination. Yummy!!!

Beside the snails were some squids being cooked, and it tasted great as well, and the chili sauce would also give it great justice, so don't hesitate in giving it a try as well!

For food to take home to friends and relatives, there are also lots to choose from, like seaweed crackers, tea, and grape concentrate used to make grape juice and grape yoghurts. 

So, this was the end of our Jiufen street tour. However, before we left, our tour guide treated us to one last dessert that Jiufen is famous for. I'm not sure about the name, but they are composed of different colored glutinous balls that really had no taste, but are quite fun to chew. You might want to buy a bowl to try it. :)

Next stop is the Raohe Street Night Market. There are a lot of stuffs here that can be bought at an affordable price. Almost everything you want to buy can be found here. You name it, they have it. There are clothes, shoes, cellphone cases, dog clothes, pillows and bedsheets, and of course street food!!! The street food consists of sausages, squid chops, chicken chops, noodles, and fruits! Just thinking about it again makes me hungry(drool). 

Big sugar-apple (atis)

Strawberries with condensed milk and squid chops

Last stop is the Shilin Night Market. The most recommended street food here would be the Hot Star Fried Chicken. One must simply not miss this experience. Something to look forward to during every visit to Taiwan. 

Well, that's it for the street foods of Taiwan. They're all definitely very delicious, and it would be a shame not to be able to try most of it. So, that's it for now!

Ciao!

Kat <3

Taiwan Fun!

My third time in Taiwan is probably the shortest of all my Taiwan trips. Okay, three times may seem to be a lot of times, but actually I myself was surprised that there were still parts of Taiwan that I have not been to yet. My first two trips to Taiwan were actually with a tour, more precisely with the Dynamic Youth (DY for short) group which lets you meet people from different age groups. 

So, when my friends invited me to go to Taiwan again this year, I was like uh-oh not again, will I be going to the same places again?? Well, as you can see, I went again (blame it on my weak self-control and my friends' prodding). Guess what, even though it was just a 3 days stay, it was a really great trip. The weather was totally different because it was cold and the temperature even went to as low as 12 degrees brrrr. My first two trips to Taiwan was during summer time and super hot. This time around, I got to wear my winter clothes again so cool! I love wearing trench coats, boots, and scarves!!!

Just outside the Chang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

Cherry blossoms can be seen in Taiwan during the months of February to March when the weather is cold. We hired a tour guide just to get all the way to Yangmingshan, and it was all worth it because it was my first time to see cherry blossoms. The time we went was during the last week of March, and we could have seen more if we had went earlier during the month, but hey who cares, I'm just glad that we were still able to see it.

Cherry blossoms in Yangmingshan

We arrived at Yangmingshan during the late afternoon, and the night caught upon us. It was really dark around the park, but the scenery was still breathtaking nevertheless. I got this great shot of the night sky, with the moon and two bright twinkling stars above it. Below is the flower clock, and you can see the mountains just behind it. I really love this shot, and I believe this is my best shot from all my Taiwan pictures so I just want to share it with you guys!!! :)

Night scenery at Yangmingshan

There were also these places that I have never been to. It's called the Gold Waterfall. There are goldmines nearby, which is why when rainfall hits the mine shafts, the water flows out having an almost gold-like color resulting in the natural wonder of the "Gold Waterfall." The water also flows to the Yin-Yang Sea which is why you can see that the sea has two colors: the natural color of the sea and the gold color resulting from pollution from the mining companies years ago. 

The Gold Waterfall

The Yin-Yang Sea

Of course, there are also shopping in night markets and food trips, but it will all be in a separate post. So stay tuned!!!

Ciao!

Kat <3