taiwan series: coffee shops

we just booked our tickets to go home to taiwan for the holidays. wish us luck...that's 45 minutes from brooklyn to JFK, a 16-hour flight, and a 2-hour car ride to taichung with a 16-month old toddler. [insert panic!] anyone want to fly with us and take a few shifts? :D if we survive, it'll be awesome. maybe we'll just stay there and never come back (a real possibility, depending on the outcome of the election). 

i was thinking of all the places we could take Z, and all the places we won't be able to visit because of Z. generally speaking, i think that east asian countries are way more baby-friendly for travel than the U.S., so hopefully we'll still be able to hit up our favorites. plus we'll have family who will be obsessed with Z, meaning maybe we'll be able to escape for a few hours here and there on our own! 

looking back through the photos of the trip we took when i was 5 months pregnant, i realized that we went to a lot of gorgeous coffee shops! one of the best ones was in one of those quiet alleys behind the taichung SOGO, where i used to hang out a lot as a high schooler. my friends and i would take the public bus (which took forever), or hop on a scooter (even though no one had a license). this cafe is a new addition though, and a pretty cute one. if you want to take a look: 

i'll report back once we go...and in the meantime, i'll try to be around more often now that the dissertation is (almost, hopefully, i think?) done. xo

taiwan series: bookstore for beginners

i was facetiming with my mom the other day, and she asked (again) when i was going to go home for a visit. i love my annual visits, but have had an overwhelming sense of dread on the topic since Z was born. not that i don't want to take him home to meet his great-grandmother and introduce him to ding tai fung, but the thought of having to deal with baby jet lag makes me want to stay on EST for the next 10 years. from all accounts, it will ruin your trip. (i'm still recovering from our trip to L.A. last week, and that was only 3 hours' difference!) so while i ponder whether or not i have the courage to do such a thing, here are some photos of an adorable bookstore 「新手書店」 in taichung that we visited last may.   

i love the wood and black metal exterior. when i build our dream house, this is the look i'll be going for. 

the interior is a similar aesthetic, with stripped wood and lots of vintage taiwanese tchotchkes. 

hhh picked up a few photography books while we were there - he couldn't read the others. :) 

if you're in the neighborhood and want to visit, it's at: Táizhōng shì xīqū xiàngshàng běi lù 129 hào [台中市西區向上北路129號]. 

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.

red and green

a very merry christmas to all!