taiwan series: alleynaps

I've clearly been a total failure at this blog since z was born, but thanks to those of you who are still here. :) To reward you, I have this series that I'm calling #alleynaps, because this urban plant life was the only interesting thing about pushing your baby in a stroller for hours each morning while he slept. Taiwan...what a trip! It was HARD traveling to the other side of the world with a 15-month old, but it was lovely seeing family. Z and his cousin were so cute together! (And eating. We ate multiple times each at Ding Tai Fung and Chun Shui Tang, so that along made the trip worth it, obviously.)

I've opined in the past about the beauty of Taiwan's greenery, so I'll just leave you to enjoy the photos without comment. 

taiwan series: maji maji

It's been a few weeks since I returned from Taiwan, and I'm already again craving all the delicious food that we ate there. One of the new-to-me spots for tasty treats was Maji Square, an outdoor food court/flea market that occupies the former site of the international flower expo a few years back. There are clothing and tchotchkes, wine and Taiwanese tea-flavored ice creams, and a long line of savory food stands with all different types of food (Taiwanese, of course, but also Middle Eastern, Indian, Thai, American, etc.). The Maji Food and Deli is also pretty cool! There are lots of locally made and produced dry goods, but also a deli where you can get bento lunches, and more ice cream. There are also some nice kitchen wares. 

The entrance. 

A line of non-food shops and vendors.  

Some more of the shops.  

Inside the food market.

Some kitchen goods.  

Soups, teas, and all manner of pantry goods.  

A view of the deli.  

Some additional restaurants around a courtyard. 

Our visit was pretty short, but I'm definitely looking forward to going back next time around!  

taiwan series: another look at eslite spectrum

on this, the first day of the great blizzard of 2015*, i'm going to go back to sunny taiwan. want to come?

when i was in taipei a few months ago, i had to go back to eslite spectrum for a second look, since it was such a good time when i went in 2013. (it's since been featured on afar's taiwan travel guide.) again, i failed to stay at the eslite hotel, but it is looking amazing. there is so much to see and do and eat in that complex! there is, of course, a big bookstore (eslite's original source of fame), locally- and regionally-made clothing, and enough kitchen goods to stock ten downton abbey kitchens. (although i guess the style of the kitchen goods would be slightly out of place in edwardian england. there is a lot of enamelware though..but i think that is more downstairs than upstairs. anyway, i digress.) this time, i also noticed a custom leather shop called hsu & daughters. it looks like they make wallets, bags, and belts on the spot. and if you get thirsty or hungry, there are a whole row of fancy tea shops to choose from, as well as a decent food court in the basement. there is also a large section featuring taiwanese specialty snacks, like 100 kinds of dried fruit - my favorite are the wild mangos (these are different from regular old domesticated mangos, i suppose) - and jerky and pork floss and edamame.  yum.

anyway, check it out: 

the entrance to the home goods section.

one of the independent clothing and textile vendors on the first level.

a glimpse of some hasami porcelain from above. definitely on my wish list.

some of those kitchen goods i was talking about. very japanese-brooklyn, if you know what i mean.

i love these two-toned pieces!

the leather-maker's shop.

a selection of the dried taiwanese goods.

more yummy things. 

all of those photos have successfully distracted me from the fact that everything is gusty and swirling outside, and that we're in for some thundersnow tonight. now i'm going to have some lemon-ginger tea with the last of those dried wild mangos i brought home, while rejoicing at the fact that the first day of the semester has just been canceled. (does that make me a bad teacher?)  

anyway. stay cozy, folks. xoxo

*mayor di blasio says that "this will mostly likely be one of the largest blizzards in the history of new york city." all the reporters on msnbc are positively gleeful about all the terrible weather that is to come. i bet dante is glad he isn't responsible for shoveling the snow this year.

taiwan series: eslite spectrum

a trip to taiwan isn't complete without a visit to eslite. i usually manage to leave the building with all kinds of stationery and japanese magazines that i didn't know i needed. hhh can't walk away without dozens of tiny notebooks. (this is my go-to store, in taichung.) eslite was founded in 1989, and has since become one of taiwan's most recognizable brands. in the last several years, it's expanded from a bookstore to much more, including department stores, art movie houses, performance venues and even a hotel. (and a friend just told me that they also have a thriving business in high-end commercial kitchens). last year, it launched eslite spectrum at the songshan cultural park in taipei. songshan cultural park is another one of these former SOE conversions, like huashan 1914 creative park. when we visited one weekend in december, the space was packed. 

as we walked up from the street, the hotel was the first thing to catch my eye. i totally want to stay here next time we go to taipei. 

eslite spectrum is a design-focused department store. there is also the requisite food court in the basement, as well as whole floors devoted to local taiwanese-made goods ranging from textiles to housewares to teas and tasty local edibles.

a coffee shop on the ground floor. 

designed home goods - mostly imported on the ground level. 

love these vases - look like muuto? 

matte black coffee pots.

matching cappucino mugs.

there is a lot to take in, including this random collection of taiwanese hipsters strumming away on one of the upper floors. i am not totally sure if this is a shop, performance art, or what. 

it's an ethnographic glimpse into the life of taiwanese twenty-somethings! one of the hipsters glared at me as i took the photo. 

there were a lot of japanese and european goods, including furniture, clothing, and more designed household objects. 

a living room in the middle of the shop floor.

japanese wrapping cloths. 

takezasado textiles.

fog linen work, one of my favorite brands.

a simple japanese enamel and wood lunch box. 

a section called the "expo" featured loads of taiwan-made and -designed goods. there were some really nice teas and cakes here for sale too. 

so cute! it says "full." 

indigo-dyed cloth fashioned into coasters, pencil cases, laptop bags, placemats.

we wrapped up the visit with a coffee stop in the basement food court. good times.

a precarious mug. nice looking but not terribly practical.

hhh couldn't figure out how to set his mug back into the saucer afterwards. 

taiwan series: shiyang culture restaurant

lucky for me, hhh's parents love to eat as much as we do. they are also weirdly knowledgeable about all the best restaurants, so when they suggested that we go to shi-yang culture restaurant during our last trip to taiwan, we didn't say no. the tea house and restaurant are deep in the mountains (or maybe it just felt like that because the car had to scrape alongside jungle-y brambles to reach our destination). as we approached, we saw a man at the road's fork, who gestured for us to wait while another car edged up the tiny path. 

we made it to the pebbled lot, and then ventured the rest of the way on foot. in taiwan, nature is overwhelming and unkempt - anything will grow, anywhere, all the time. (and it doesn't just go for flora but fauna too, especially the tiny pest varieties...i will forever be scarred by the flying cockroaches of my childhood.) it's hard to imagine the amount of effort that must go into landscaping maintenance in taiwanese cities to keep the greenery from conquering every unpaved surface. at shi-yang, though, the wildness is allowed, and the buildings co-exist peacefully with plant life. although the restaurant has only been at this location a couple of years, it looks as if it's been here for decades. (a consequence of taiwan's aggressive humidity: anything manmade starts to show age the minute it goes up.)

the wooden walkway along the event space.

the food was delicious and creative, and the space was gorgeously simple. it made me think that maybe mountain life wouldn't be so bad. there are several wooden structures on both sides of a bubbling mountain brook (so idyllic!), and a bridge that spanned the water. all the rooms are lined with tatami mats and set with low tables. there is one large building that looked as if it could host parties, which also housed a plum blossom arrangement that i desperately wished was in my apartment.

i mean, look at that. i bet you wish you owned it too. 

another angle of the same lovely arrangement.

it's definitely worth going at least half an hour before your reservation (which you will need in order to eat) so you can walk the grounds. i obsessively took photos of all the plants i dreamed about putting in my yard, even though i had no way of then figuring out what they were at the time. good thing i just discovered this amazing app called garden compass, which will identify plants for you via email. from the description in itunes, it actually sounds like a real live plant expert looks at the photo and writes you back. you get 20 IDs a month - not just of plants but also plant diseases (so if your houseplant seems to be floundering, you can ask the app what ails it!). i already tried it out with two plant IDs, and so far so good. 

i would die to get a fern that big to grow in my yard. but somehow i don't think this guy would enjoy northeastern winters very much...

anyway, it was super exciting to discover this spot. i get the feeling it's pretty special. now you should go, and then tell me how you like it. xoxo