Philly "cheesesteaks"

I wanted to come up with some more creative ideas in using portabella mushrooms in my main meals. I came across using it in Philly cheesesteaks as a replacement for the ever so crucial "steak".

I hadn't had a Philly cheesesteak before, so how could I go wrong? It turned out to be delicious, indeed. I removed the stem and gills of the mushrooms so they would cook up to be nice and soft alongside some sliced onion.

Adam didn't grate the cheese like I requested, so the cheese wasn't so keen on melting. Also, a lack of any sort of white cheese in my kitchen resulted in the overusage of cheddar. Despite that, I'd say they were a home run in my dinner meal planning!

I ended the night with a new vegan chocolate cake I was testing out. I didn't overly like it because I didn't think chocolate flavour had any depth to it. It was one dimensional and also lacked the deep colour of chocolate in a cake. To me, it almost looked like it had a reddish tinge, but lacked the red velvet cake flavour. Adam liked it, and said that it tasted even better the next day, but I've noticed that he tends to like things that have sat for a day or two. Which is good for finishing up the leftovers, lol =)

Is it me, or does this just lack chocolate flavour? =(

Asia Day 10-12: Hong Kong

October 2
After arriving back in Hong Kong the night before, we checked in at the hotel (Holiday Inn Express in Causeway Bay) and just kind of.. relaxed (in reality, I don't really remember what we did, except the sushi I got...).

We were staying in a hotel directly behind Times Square (時代廣場), as in, it was very busy there. Also, conveniently close to SOGO (崇光百貨), a popular shopping "faux" department store that I wasn't particularly fond of.

Anyways, back on track, this was the day we went to Ocean Park (海洋公園)!! I was super stoked about this because I thought the roller coaster would be up and running. However, it was a rainy day, and I was informed by my cousins that it has been shut down because of an accident in the previous weeks (a cart ran into an empty one being loaded).

Back to the story, I saw enough of pandas to keep me satisfied for a few years (above), I suppose. There was also a dolphin show, a goldfish exhibit and obviously the underwater creatures (seahorses, fish, sharks, jellyfish, etc.).

That took most of the day and we went back to Causeway Bay where my uncle treated us to hotpot dinner. Oh man did it ever feel good to eat something I am used to. Also, the deliciousness.

Some more walking around Causeway Bay and we were beat.

October 3
The next day was pretty relaxing. We went to Wan Chai (灣仔) for some sight seeing and shopping in that area. We went into the HK Convention and Exhibition Centre (香港會議展覽中心) and walked all the way along to Sheung Wan (上環). I treated my parents to dimsum somewhere along the way and we generally had a pretty easy day.

I'm pretty sure this was the evening we used to move back to our original hotel in Mong Kok (Cosmo Hotel).

October 4
The Tuesday was spent committed to the shopping in the Mong Kok (旺角) area. The malls look small from the outside, but it is deceivingly large. Multiple floors up and small store fronts = lots of stores to enter!

I discovered Lamingtons at a Hong Kong bakery (#communitychannel!) and fantastic food shopping along Tai Kok Tsui (大角嘴). It was a pretty relaxing day before we went to the Peak Tram (山頂纜車) in the evening.

My uncle decided we should head up the Peak Tram to see the Hong Kong night view, so we waited a disgustingly long 1.5 hours to get on the tram to head up the mountain. After getting to the top, I was horribly hungry where we sat down for yummy dinner at a diner in the building. The red bean ice was soo delicious, as was my super hot soup.

Unfortunately for me, the bus ride down the mountain left me feeling more than just ill and it was a quick jog to the bathroom to spit up. That's what I get for following me uncle to the second deck of the bus that goes in circles down the mountainside... -sigh-

Hong Kong atop the Peak

Asia Day 8-9: Taipei, Taiwan

September 30
Day 2 in Taipei and we started at some fancy hotel called "The Grand Hotel" (圓山大飯店). We wandered around, took photos, used the bathroom, then headed to a place that has guards (萬古流芳). Sorry I don't know the name in English, but it is guarded by 4 guards (left) who take 1 hour rotations and have a 20 minute long elaborate protocol when they are switching guards. It was quite entertaining to watch.

This is when my camera battery dies, so the rest of this day is not quite so well documented. My dad's photos indicate we went to the jade market, I know neither the English or Chinese name at this point, but I remember the man who worked in there deciphered my chinese name and basically told me I was obnoxiously stubborn and need to learn to listen to people.

After that, we went to Jiufen (九份), a very mountainous area with a single street up at the top that is very busy. The street is lined with shops and food places just like at night markets.

We went to Ximending (西門町) for dinner on the last night. Technically speaking, it is a neighbourhood and shopping district, but it might as well have been called another night market because it was all street food (aka. getting very sick of eating the same thing).

Somewhere along the way in Taipei (either this day or the day before) we went to the hot springs (北投椰林溫泉). I don't know the name in English and a quick google search did not turn up any English. I don't remember which day this happened because I did not participate in this part. It was a mandatory no-clothing hot spring and despite the temptation of a private room, I heard from some of the girls on the tour that it wasn't that clean. No loss there, I don't like going in and out of hot spring tubs set at different temperatures to experience the "maximum effect".

October 1
We were given some free time in the morning before our flight, so we took our time getting up and walked the neighbouring streets.

Things to note:

• I do believe meat is hanging at the street side stalls from morning until night in scorching temperatures (below). How do YOU feel about leaving your meat out to defrost all day?
• Also note in the photo (below) how you can buy your clothes in the store and then walk out to get your meat for dinner. How convenient!
  
• I don't think grocery stores exist in Asia. Everyone buys things from the street stalls.
• Stores don't open until like noon. Argh.
  

Hanging meat - very VERY common...

Goodbye tour-guides!

Asia Day 7: Taipei, Taiwan

September 29
Upon reaching Taipei (I can't remember if anything happened during the Taichung-Taipei drive), we went to Taipei 101 (台北101). When it opened in 2004, it was the world's tallest building, and remained so until Dubai built on that was taller in 2010. The architecture is pretty amazing.

Side note: I basically had to lie on the concrete floor to get this photo (left). In Taipei on a bloody hot September afternoon (it was 36C that day), the concrete literally burned my skin.

Following Taipei 101, we went to Vigor Kobo (維格餅家) for their yummy pineapple mini cakes (鳳梨酥). I believe this wasn't on the itinerary, but we went because many tourists wanted to go get them.

After the detour, we went to the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (國立中正紀念堂) and then the Miramar Entertainment Park (美麗華百樂園) to see their enormous Sky Wheel (摩天輪 - 2nd tallest in Taiwan). Instead of going on the Sky Wheel, we decided to peruse the shopping in the complex and sit down for some Haagen-Dazs (they have actual sit down cafes there!) where I got this delicious creation (right).

After this, we went to the National Palace Museum (臺北故宮) where I nearly forgot about this due to the inability to photos at this location.

Dinner was at Shilin night market (士林夜市) where I was starting to get sick of eating street food... -sigh-

Also for some random (not really) reason, we changed hotels despite being in the same city. I learned after the fact, that we were in very opposite ends of Taipei, so it was best to change hotels. But seriously.. really?! =(

Asia Day 6: Taichung, Taiwan

September 28
We woke up in the morning to some events in Kaohsiung and all the way along the drive to Taichung (臺中).

First thing, we went to some store in Kaohsiung that sells pearls (珍珠養殖中心). Obviously a sponsor of our tour, they were very persistent to get you to buy pearls. My mom had just got some in Shanghai so we weren't going to spend more money on that. They had this other stuff though, that wasn't a turtle, but looked very similar to it. It was made into pill form and was supposed to be very good for you. I don't remember the details, but I bought a box of the pills for my dad to try. Expensive stuff!

After this, we went to Sun Moon Lake (日月潭). The lake is so named because the east side of the lake looks like a sun, the west side like a moon. I, however, fail to see the sun or the moon and just see some blobs in the earth that are filled in with water. Perhaps the map is a bit too literal? Anyways, it is the largest body of water in Taiwan and actually has a little island (Lalu) in it. We had lunch here, sight-saw, then left.

After lunch, we went to Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village (九族文化村). The village has the largest free-fall ride in Taiwan (which I did not venture up) and celebrates the culture of the nine aboriginal tribes in Taiwan.

They had some interesting things to see and their wax sculptures of people were very lifelike (aka. creepy). A lot full of bunnies and some aboriginal singing/dancing show later, we were off.

In Taichung, we went to the Feng Chia night market (逢甲夜市), supposedly the largest night market in the city, also adjacent to Feng Chia University (逢甲大學). Having overdosed on delicious goodness from the night market the night before, I took it easy and went with some noodle soups and no fried goodness. Oh but how I miss the delicious fried foods!

We went to the hotel after the night market where I quickly tried on my new clothes and subsequently passed out. Traveling is hard!