My Aunt is an Iron Chef

Wednesday night had an amazing dinner masterfully cooked up by my aunt. Diana describes it as "Restaurant status...or maybe even better." Here are some highlights of the meal. Take a look. Close your eyes. Use your imagination. Taste it baby...


The first and best dish of the night in my opinion. I've never seen or tasted anything like it EVER. Perfectly roasted chicken covered with fire blasted garlic, onions, peppers and secret herbs I believe. Plate of this, bowl of rice, I'm set for life.


I'm a lazy bum when it comes to shells, bones or seeds so I did not experience this shrimp dish like I should have. I just squished the shrimp in my mouth, squeezing what meat out I could. Nevertheless, thumbs up.


This pork is not shy about its chub.


Chinese buns. Excellent with peanut butter too.


With our powers combined...


The stuffed and slowly scattering table of family and friends quickly reassembled when this dish(Snow Fish) was presented, fresh from the ocean, then fresh from the fryer.


Sad to say I was immobile by the time this black pepper steak with onion dish was served. It's a shame I could not experience it with an able palette but perhaps another time.


Dad's friend brought the dessert. There were many other kinds but you get the idea with this pic. I had the tiramisu (I googled the spelling) and it was YUMYUM. Sweet but not toooo sweet and nice combo of textures. You can call me a girl but I'll have 5 tea parties a day to eat this stuff.


THIS IS A HISTORIC MOMENT FOR TAIWANYUMYUM: THE VERY FIRST PRESENTATION OF REAL FRUIT.
Savor this moment. Enjoy the healthiness. I don't expect this to happen too often. Maybe I will though. The fruit here is awesome...and my body can't survive on the lemons in my green tea for much longer.

Random Snaps #2

A sexy shot of the busy streets of late-night Taipei.


More stinky tofu!!! This stuff is better than Mcdonald's french fries...yes, I said it.

Office Gecko

Saw this guy dash across my desk at work this morning. Tried to snap a pic but dude was TOO quick. But when I was packing my bag to go home at night, he calmly strolled out right in front of me, almost as if to say "I been watching you all day. You're cool man. Go ahead, get your pic. I'll catch you tomorrow." I'm pretty sure that's what he was sayin'. I gave him a high five before I left.

A Delicious Dinner I had Recently

Some photos from an awesome dinner last week. Sorry I have no idea what the restaurant is called. Every where I go, I am so focused on eating I really pay no attention to the name of the place. I'll try to remember from now on.


I forget what this is. *UPDATE: It is EEL.


Frog legs! Tastes like chicken but more rubbery with a slight fishy taste. Really doesn't matter when it's fried though. I had frog in Florida too, as well as fried alligator and they all taste about the same (the same, but delicious regardless).


This is (mediocre) Chinese pancake. Meh...nothing special. My Mom makes it 20 X's better.


Sweet and sour pork..or some form of it. Either way it was fantastic. I feel like this is one of the best pics I've taken. By just looking at it I can taste and feel the aroma and sweetness bathing my taste buds, then my mouth, face, softly tingling my eyes, followed by my entire body...


Some kind of stew with pig blood and other insignificant ingredients in comparison to the pig blood. By the time this dish was served, everyone at the table was already full. Except me. So I think I ate about a pound of pig blood. That can't be good right?


Red bean sesame pancake. Its minimal appearance hides a searing flavor and texture. Just a thought though: I feel like dessert should be served halfway through a meal. I can never enjoy it because my stomach is usually already so full at the end of a meal that the partly digested food is squeezing out from my belly button.

Brunch @ Carnegie's

Met up with my dad, aunts, uncles and cousins for a nice brunch at Carnegie's, which at night is known as a nightclub for cheeky foreigners and promiscuous Taiwanese females and during the day a friendly family diner.


This picture happened after the meal, but I feel like it has to be the header photo. I mean, look how lovable it is!? Oh and my aunt's dog is kinda cute too.


Chicken strips! Nothing interesting to say but sure was tasty.


Potato skins! Look at the continuous ivory white of the sour cream and sauce container. They look like one...I don't know why but it sure looks cool.


The plate I ordered. I was thoroughly impressed with the variety and amount of food. Though the mushrooms were kind of random and not good. My cousin failed to inform me that I could switch them out for fries (-_-). Still, very complete meal. That sausage looks like whatever, but exploded with oily goodness.


I hope Carnegie's is insured for earthquakes...

FRIED STINKY TOFU!!!

This bowl of heavenly sin deserves its own post, it's own throne of pure beauty.


Anyone who says fermented bean curd with Chinese pickled cabbage smells bad, you're kinda right. But it's a perfectly bad smell that thus transform into an orgasmic aroma. Anyone who doesn't enjoy eating it...you can't be my friend, or at least not a friend who I will want to consume a meal with.

Typhoon Aftermath

If you are not aware, a typhoon is in the process of rolling straight through Taiwan right now. Like the typhoon literally will sit completely on top of the island of Taiwan as it passes on to the mainland. Taipei wasn't hit too hard but nevertheless all class and work were canceled today. Awesome. Here's a couple shots of the emptiness when the rain and wind died down:


Loved the day off, but rain makes me sad. I need sunlight to be happy.


Looks like Resident Evil in Taiwan...

Lunch Shots Take 4

10 potstickers. So good I got 15 the next day. Notice the milktea in the back right. My coworker introduced it to me and I think it's a worthy competitor to 50lan.


Where did I get this delicious looking lunch box of edible delight you ask?? I'll give you one guess. WRONG! It's from 711. I know. Amazing...


This is from a lunch buffet where you grab however much food you want from a giant table of assorted dishes, weaving in and out among a crowd of customers just like yourself while new trays of dishes are switched in constantly. The lady at the end then looks at what you have in your box and gives you a price all from her head. The selection you see before you is less than $2 though there is a whole art to selecting dishes that involves hiding expensive meats under a lot of vegetables without getting caught. Hopefully with some intense practice I can become a lunch buffet master...

YumYum Mixtape 1.0

I just realized I've been in Taiwan for a month now and after thinking about it, this is definitely one of my best trips yet. Taiwanyumyum has let me organize the mayhem and enjoy everything much more thoroughly. Sometimes if you don't take a break from the ongoing events and analyze all that's happening, you can easily forget or fail to truly appreciate the memorable moments that pass by.

On that note, I've been pretty busy lately with the internship, personal work, and eating. So sorry for the lack of updates. However, I've still been taking pictures constantly. To catch up the audience a little bit and catalog my own thoughts, I'm gonna bundle up a couple days worth of material for some expedited pleasure. It's gonna be hectic, so try to keep up...


Diana rips apart a rice patty MOS burger like a velociraptor on a baby seal.


I've tried to document every meal my grandma cooks, but with 5 meals a week and 5 dishes a meal, its purely impossible. Here's one of my favorites, chunks of chicken blood with pickled lettuce.


As usual, Lulu waits patiently until someone gives in.


Stumbled into a random food stand at Shilin night market with Diana. Here's some stinky tofu with hot oil. I meant to order the fried kind but this was enjoyable too.


Some classic cold noodles with peanut oil and soy sauce.


Half an order of crab cakes drenched in sweet n sour sauce.


The line for these meat buns was massive. They're only 10 NT each, so only bout 30 cents US. Imagine how much I could sell MY meat buns for..


Diana was adamant on getting this fried pastry covered with an egg and hot sauce. It looks deadly in this picture but was thoroughly pleasing. Is it just me, or is 80% of the food posted on yumyum fried?


A shot of PRIMO nightclub. Pretty nice. Sorry, all the good pictures are too scandalous for our younger yumyum audience members.


A refreshing self chosen mix of soy bean jello, red beans and grass jelly on ice. This definitely helped ease some of the bodily pain induced from all the fried treats prior.


Can anyone guess what edible Oriental delicacy lies within this Taiwanese chamber of mystery?


What the..!! A hamburger?! What is going on!?
-Very impressive though, comparable to a solid restaurant burger from the states. A welcomed change of palette.


Alright party's over people. Now get outta here before Nappa here has to regulate. Seriously, look at him. Look at those fingers! Do you really want to mess with this guy???!!

Vietnamese Dining

I'm slowly hitting up all the international cuisines here in Taiwan. This weekend, my Uncle and Grandma took me too a nice Vietnamese place close to home:


These fried shrimp balls don't look very exciting but actually pack quite a punch of flavor and texture within the fried exterior.


I used to never eat these because they look like the occasional big blisters on my feet -- when I play basketball too long in new sneakers -- stuffed with egg, lettuce and white noodles. YUMYUM!


And these look like....very good eggrolls!!


Look at that brilliant composition.


And the headliner. Very hot and fresh except they used thick noodles instead of the thin clear ones I'm used to. What the he..


And desert? Looks like yellow bell peppers. Tastes like yellow bell peppers soaked in some intense sugar and syrup. But it's not yellow bell pepper.
In the end, VERY fulfilling meal, just like every other meal I consumed on TAIWANYUMYUM.

The King of All-You-Can-Eat Cuisine

This is the restaurant I look forward to the most every time I come back to Taiwan. I wouldn't say it's the best and I enjoy a bowl of noodles from the cart down the street just as much, but man, this place is really awesome. It's on the 3rd floor of the Hyatt hotel, which itself is visually amazing.


View over the balcony. Just to set the mood.


We got some prime seats, just a couple feet away from the food. You can see the oyster/clam bar behind my cousin.


Diana's head is blocking the part of the buffet with the cooked dishes and grilled meats.


With no regrets, I head straight for the sashimi. Very wide variety. I mostly stuck with the salmon (and by that I mean like 25 pieces.


The seafood all tasted extremely fresh and the fried foods were always seemingly fresh from the fryer. It was magical.


Customized handroll, kobe beef nigiri, and MORE SALMON.


I did not actually try the udon buffet because I figured fresh seafood was worth more in my stomach but word on the table was a thumbs up.


More handrolls, some kinda fish, and a bamboo sticking out the side there.


Only downer of the night because these were cold, but no worries we just got new ones.


Finish it off with some simplicity. I left out a lot of food because it's simply not worth my time to take pictures during this rare luxury meal. I will be more thorough next time.


Making the painful departure back to reality, stomachs filled to capacity, almost inmobile, but hearts still greedy for more.


I couldn't decide if this picture was really cool and artistic or really dumb and pointless. I pondered this for a couple minutes. I decided it's ridiculously legit. No questions. Just enjoy.


Stopped by NIKE to check out some limited edition TAIPEI shirts (refer to 2nd picture) exclusive to that store. Decided I'd come back for it later. Ran into my friend Kobe though. Crazy guy always haphazardly dunking on people at random times and places. What a silly guy.