[Taiwan] Sun Moon Lake 日月潭 Sights and Eats Part 1

First maiden visit to Sun Moon Lake and it was a great decision to get the hotel with lakeview.  The area of our stay was at Ita Thao (伊達邵). Stayed for one night at Hu Yue Lakeview B&B and the per night cost was about $172 per room. The size of the room was huge and pretty comfortable.

view from room

living room

bed

bathroom

The room came with complimentary boat ride (2 tickets) as well as breakfast for the next morning. As our time at Sun Moon Lake was rather limited, we decided on the last boat ride (no-disembarkation round trip) from Ita Tao pier to Shuishe and back.

boat tickets

We went down to Ita Thao pier (伊達邵碼頭) soon after check-in, in order to catch the boat. But since the ticket did not indicate the boat company nor number, we were unsure of which boat was ours. Am guessing that it is any boat as long as the captain is around. Just ask around. The captain asked if we would like to get any of those famed grandma's tea eggs and he could order it ahead of time so that we could get some of those without having to leave the boat. Didn't take up his offer as we were too stuffed and wanted to save stomach space for dinner.

boats awaiting

captain's view

reaching the end of half the trip (this was the place for grandma's tea leaves egg)

The boat puttered along the lake gently and the captain would introduce some nuggets of information in Mandarin. He would also point out some of the spots along the way but most of the time, I couldn't catch where he was indicating to.

The boat stops for about 5 minutes while the rest of the passengers who would like to roam the other side, were free to disembark. For us who would like to return to Ita Thao pier, need to take the same boat back as this was the last ride for the day.

captain having his smoke break

sun is setting, time to head back

lighthouse with 3 lights

The round trip boat ride was done within 45 minutes. We were in time for some snacks before dinner!

to measure the lake water level

panoramic view of Ita Thao Pier

have you heard about the legend of the white deer?

We scouted around the area near our B&B to see what we could find. Most eateries were not open and the area has few visitors during our time of visit.

alley near our hotel

snack time!

We spotted a shop selling xiao long bao (小笼包) and decided to give it a try. Friends ordered a lu rou fan (卤肉贩) and chilled bamboo shoots too. It was the season for bamboo shoots during the May period.

boiled and chilled bamboo shoots

It was novel, eating the boiled chilled bamboo shoots. The shopkeeper showed us how to peel off the outer layers and just eat the inner shoots with mayonaise. Who would've thought simple chilled bamboo shoots matched so well with mayo? Yums!

braised pork rice 卤肉贩

pork dumplings 小笼包

sour spicy soup with dumplings 酸辣汤

The xiao long bao was nice and served piping hot. The sour spicy soup wasn't really spicy but it has the right tanginess. The shopkeeper advised us to add a tiny bit of the chili oil on the table to lift up the flavours. We did and it was like super hot! Just one tiny bit will have your tongue burning but it was a good burn. Goes off after a short while.

Was really amazed by how we could do dinner after this snack. There were 5 of us and we ordered enough for at least 3 pax full meal. That meant, our stomach was supposed to be half-full.

Dinner venue was at Lu Si An 鹿司岸餐坊 which one had to make reservation first. We didn't pre-reserve but we did drop by to inform the restaurant staff. She suggested we come early for dinner as the other slots are all reserved.

[Media Preview] Super Japan Fest @ Millenia Walk

Super Japan Fest happening on 7 July to 8 July at Millenia Walk. Come join in the fun with the family, as entrance is free!

Highlights include the kids' favourite Pikachu Parade where one gets to see not one, not two but six cute Pikachu live and, what is more fun than Pikachu Parade? Pikachu Meet & Greet, of course! So hug'able these yellow bouncing pika-pikachuuus! Ever watch magic show live before? Japanese Comedic Magician Akira Kimura will keep you entertained, as too with Tambourine Master Gonzo. You'll also get to see fluid Ninja Parkour performance by Superfly Monkey Dragons on both days.

events line-up

Look out for the booths around Level 1 and Level 2 where there are interesting activities to try. For example, the Human Claw Machine. The what? Yes, say that again. You know the claw machine game that's trending in Taiwan? This is the supersized me version. A human gets into the suspended harness and his/her friend will control the joystick to send the person to the spot where prizes are before the person is dropped towards the prize to catch it.

Human Claw Machine

At Level 2, there are Carnival and Arcade games to try. We tried the Carnival games and it was fun! Won a seal soft-toy (I wanted the unicorn though!) and Pokka bottled green-tea too.

let's win a unicorn

Here's a video of the soooo cute dancing Pikachus:

meet & greet

Pikachu

Parkour performance by Superfly Monkey Dragons:

from here to there

mid-air action

phew, safe!

And, there's $10 Food Deals at participating restaurants. The restaurants are YAYOI, Rakuzen, Teppei Syokudo, Tachihara Coffee Pullman Bakery, The Dark Gallery, Kurama Robatayaki & Yoi Sake Bar, Gyu Jin Shabu Shabu & Sukiyaki, Tomi Sushi, Saboten and Tengawa Hokkaido White Curry.

Here are those that we tried for the $10 Food Deals:

The Dark Gallery

Strawberry Matcha Shortcake + Hot Coffee @$10 nett

Saboten

Chicken Tonkatsu Set @$10++

Kurama Robatayaki & Yoi Sake Bar

Salmon Teriyaki Don, served with daily vegetables @$10++

Thank you Yi Tong and Millenia Walk for the invite. It was fun!

Cottontail Creamery @ 326 Serangoon Ave 3

Was there on a weekend with Ivan, Alvin, Tiara, Shermaine and Kris. Had some snacks prior to visiting but we still ordered up a storm. Coffee? Of course. The place was busy by the time we dropped by at about 1pm.

view from our table

Love the flowers on the table. It felt warm and homely. Besides coffee and tea, we ordered the smashed avocado, crackling Spanish pork, ham & cheese crepe and waffles with two scoops of ice-cream for dessert.

Make payment at the counter and await for the buzzer to vibrate when the food is ready.

wait

Meanwhile, we sipped coffee, relax and chit-chat. Flat white tasted fine without sugar. The shortbread cookie was lovely too.

flat white @$5

After a short wait, our food arrived. The spanish pork was impressive with the super crispy crackling. It did make a 'kruk-kruk' sound when sliced. Served with creamy mash potato (but it was a tad dry), savoy cabbage & bacon and blackcurrant jam. Super loved the jam! The pork itself was tender at the parts where it had a layer of fats. Yums.

Crackling Spanish Pork @$16.50

Next up, was the ham & cheese savoury crepe. The presentation of this savoury crepe was rather dull and first thought was, "Wow, raw egg!" The crepe was rather Asianish and feels like homemade. Comforting.

savoury crepe with ham & cheese with organic sunny-side up @$8.80

For the healthy, the smashed avocado would be to your liking. In fact, I liked it too! Housemade toasted organic bread, rocket salad, sprouts, organic buttersquash hummus, and preserved lemon. The colour combination made it all so much more appealing! I pinched a chunk off the bread, spread a little blackcurrant jam (from crackling pork), piled high with hummus and avo before topping it with rocket/sprouts. Lovely!

Smashed Avocado @$14.50

For dessert, we had the waffles with two scoops of ice-cream. Actually, the mini-celebration was brought forward way way earlier, as the staff served the dessert first before any of the mains. Ooops!

Happy Birthday Ivan!

Nevertheless, we enjoyed our stay at Cottontail Creamery, with their friendly staff. One could try as many ice-cream flavours including its award winning vanilla before deciding on eventual scoop. There are unique flavours such as IPA beer. The chocolate was good.

waffles with olive oil and chocolate ice-cream @$12.30

taan 炭 @ 30 Liang Seah Street

炭 means charcoal. Not sure if they really are using charcoal to grill the skewers but this place is quite happening! The shop itself is smallish but come weekends, when evening falls, taan's staff will setup more tables and chairs along the road. Streetside dining, in essence. The shop gets busy as early as 6pm and if you're any later, the wait time for a table will be depending on luck. Reservations are encouraged.

shopfront

Staff are young and the place has a lively vibe. Plates after plates of skewer mountain could be seen emerging from the kitchen and landing on tables after tables. Never ending. Expect a table to be seated for at least 2 hours.

There is an on-going promo where skewers goes for $1 before 8pm. Price ranges from $1.50 to $3 per skewer and mininum of 2 skewers per flavour. The flavours or rather the seasoning on the skewers are original, chinese spice, spiced salt, teriyaki and spicy miso kimchi. Chinese spice tasted like the xinjiang grill seasoning with cumin. 

menu with pictures

order skewers via this sheet

flavoured Kirin beer

If you're new to the place, the staff will take about less than 2 minutes to explain the ordering system. Which is just to indicate on the order sheet the skewers that you wish to have. There is buffet option as well. One would have to eat about 20 skewers in order for the buffet to be worthwhile. Hence, we decided on ala-carte.

buffet option and reservation number

There's non-alcoholic drinks as well as alcoholic beverages. My friends ordered fruit juice and green tea while some of us had beer. The drinks are served prettily.

non-alcoholic drinks; green tea and watermelon juice

Nothing beats ice-cold beer on a hot and humid evening. The Kirin here is the frozen foam top version and surprisingly, it has about 5 flavours to choose from: cranberry, yuzu, original, lychee and apple. I had the lychee version which is sweet (just as I liked it) while Ivan had the apple beer which is veering towards the tangy saltish.

Kirin beer

Let's start with satay! We had beef and chicken satays. Even for promo of $1 per stick, these would come across as pricey. Normal satay that one could get anywhere else. The chicken ones are better. The ends of the satay stick would be coloured differently to differentiate the meats.

chicken and beef satay (5 sticks each) @$10

Next up was selections under the Meat category. We got beef, chicken gizzard, chicken wings in special sauce, house special chicken ball, fresh prawns and shishamo and quail eggs. Some of the items such as shishamo, prawns and chicken wings in special sauce, it is better to order at least one stick per pax as these are single items and not quite shareable unless it is you one bite, I one bite that type. Hahaa!

pork, beef, gizzard, prawns and shishamo

I'd recommend the gizzard in spicy miso sauce. Nice chewy crunchy texture that's not overcooked. The spice level here was pretty mild so no worries even if you can't take spice. The beef and pork were generally rather tough.

chicken wing in special sauce

oyster mushrooms

broccoli

Enjoyed the broccoli and oyster mushrooms. Very likeable! The chicken balls were peppery and has a crunchy cartilage in it.

quails egg

chicken balls

There are non-skewer items as well and we ordered the eel rice and also non-buffet items such as the Yunan grilled pork neck and teriyaki cuttlefish. I'd say skip the teriyaki cuttlefish unless you wanted a jaw workout.

Yunan Grilled Pork Neck @$10.80

The pork neck was rather lean and sliced thinly. The sauce was a mixture of tangy, salty with a slight spicy kick towards the end. Lovely. Oh, not forgetting the salad that was served along with this dish. That was yummy as well.

teriyaki cuttlefish @$6.80

Best dish of the night were the eel fried rice and the fresh grilled oyster with minced garlic. The fried rice was of a single-pax main portion or sharing portion for two-pax. The oyster was served piping hot and the combo was similar to the chinese restaurant type of seafood.

Eel fried rice @$8.80

fresh grilled oyster with minced garlic (1 piece) @$5.80

If you would like to know how much would feed a 5-pax party, here's what we ordered:

food to feed 5 pax (2 guys and 3 gals)

Overall, we spent about $32 per pax for this meal. Thank you Ivan for the recommendation. Dinner with Kris, Shermaine, Alvin and Ivan. TGIF!

Koffee Art (Coffee Nowhere) @ West Coast Plaza

First time to this cafe. This is a self-service joint, so simply walk-in to the cafe, grab a menu and be seated. Once you've made up your mind, one has to order at the cashier, make payment and collect the drinks. Ice-water, cutlery and plates are self-service. There are some small steps from the cashier to the table, hence need to balance as not to topple any food or drinks.

If the shop is not busy, the staff will bring the hot food / waffles to your table.

smoked duck pasta with poached egg @$8.90

Ordered a savoury main of smoked duck pasta. The cream based sauce was a tad watery and overall, the pasta dish was a tad bland. Otherwise, there's a hint of truffle oil in this concoction.

close-up view of runny yolk

Ordered a lungo and an ondeh-ondeh cake to go along with it. A lungo coffee is basically hot water with espresso. Served with sugar gem biscuits.

lungo @$4.90

The cake was likeable and not too sweet. Goes well with the black coffee.

ondeh-ondeh cake @$4.50

The biggest disappointment was the waffles. The waffles itself was alright, just a tad sweeter than expected. But the berries that came with the waffles, especially the raspberry was actually bad. Soggy and not fresh. The pistachio ice-cream had a rather artificial taste. Our mistake as we did not try the ice-cream prior to ordering.

berries waffles with pistachio (premium) and strawberry @$17.50

Spent about $43 for 3 pax. The promo for students looked quite good. The savoury food seemed better than its dessert.