Taiwan Day 2

Actually planned to get up as early as 630am, but ended up 1 hr later as we were both exhausted. Haha..

From Ximen Station to XinBeiTou Station.

XinBeiTou 新北投

Arriving at XinBeiTou Station.

Beitou Library 北投圖書館

Beitou Hot Spring Museum 北投溫泉博物館. Wanted to enter, but were required to take off our shoes, so never mind, we shall just enjoy the view from outside.

Plenty of artists crafting the beautiful scenery.

♫ Musical performance ♫

Beitou Geothermal Valley地熱谷

It was warm here despite the cold weather. Strong sulphuric smell as well, but the view was stunning, isnt't it? Smokey fumes could be observed~

Thanks to GoPro, we could get wide angle selfie pics easily! :D

To experience hot springs culture, there are plenty of baths; outdoor or indoor, high-class hotel or tub, private or public available. Of cos, price differs as well. We went to a pleasant hotel which costed us about NTD799 per hour. Our package includes a private room for clothes exchanging with a bathroom attached. Soap and bathing foams were also provided. The spring water was freaking hot. Soaked for about 20mins only as it was not advisable to soak for too long. To get ready after bathing, the 1 hour time limit was almost up as well. 

Man Ke Wu Ramen 满客屋拉面

Climbing further up the hill, you would catch this Ramen shop, selling Hot Spring Ramen. Used to be known as Man Ke Lai Hot Spring Ramen 滿來溫泉拉麵. The shop was rather small, visitors were a lot, but luckily turnover was quite fast. 

正油叉燒拉麵 （NTD120). Seriously this was the best ramen I had!

Side dishes of Fish Eggs 鱼卵 (NTD150) and Hot Spring Eggs 温泉蛋 (NTD25). Superb.

Zhong Xiao Dong Lu 忠孝东路

Dropped off at Zhongshan Station and walked our way to search for 肥前屋

A long queue~ We joined in and manage to get our spot after an hour later.

Unagi Don! Everyone's here for this!

Tamago as a side.

Took a walk at the famous shopping street, 忠孝东路 and of cos our food hunting journey never stop.

Dropping by at 東區粉圓 for some sweet treats.

GongGuan 公馆

We headed to Gong Guan next to hunt for sneakers. There was the night market there with lots of street foods as well, but we took a very heavy dinner at Mala Spicy Hot Pot馬辣頂級麻辣鴛鴦火鍋. It was a good meal with lots of quality foods and also good ice creams. :D

Rising Ramen 雷神

Rising Ramen 雷神 suddenly gains its fame lately as being able to offer good authentic Japanese Ramen in Kuching, served and cooked by real Japanese. Located in the housing area behind Absolute Tribal Restaurant at Sarakraf Pavilion, Jalan Tabuan, near to Basaga, it was not easy to get our car parked especially with the big crowd heading for their ramens. 

Operating in a house where you make your orders and make payment outside. Seats were available indoor and outdoor. They actually provide Japanese Language tuition classes, which they later turned it into a dining spot. 

AKA Ramen Special (RM17). Spicy Japanese Pork Broth Noodle Soup (RM11) with extra ChaSiu (RM5) and Egg Topping (RM1). Very strong aroma of pork broth with the chewy ramen, The Ramen Egg was cooked in the perfect manner which tasted different from normal hard-boiled egg. The extra spice added made the dish slightly spicy from the normal ones.

Ramen (RM11). Japanese Pork Broth Noodle Soup (RM10) with Egg Topping (RM1). I preferred the original one rather than the one with added spicy chilli bomb actually. But both were good. 

Big slices of Japanese Char Siu 

Gyoza (RM8). Minced Pork Dumplings being pan-fried. This dish was disappointing as the skin was too soft. It should be crispy, shouldn't it?

Aburi Sushi (RM10). Broiled Salmon Nigiri Sushi topped with Rising Sauce and Japanese Mayo. Felt that it was kinda pricey, but it tasted delicious.

Lion King Roll (RM10). Served with a slice of Salmon on top, the sushi roll consisted crab stick and cucumber inside. We were surprised when it was served hot as the normal sushis we had were always served cold. With the delicious Japanese Mayo, the dish was surprisingly good. Something different from other Japanese restaurants.

They have actually moved their business location to Jalan Song, opposite SCR, behind Watson. As I mentioned earlier, the parking spaces were limited and the road was always very crowded, so I guessed this was the reason they relocate.

KL Food Hunt #15: Jogoya

This was the last day of our trip and the best was left to the last! Having a great lunch buffet at Jogoya!! Indulging in all my favs!

Desserts time!

Heavenly great!! Repeating my orders!!

Groupon Deal from Bento Ramen Japanese Restaurant

It was a great lunch enjoyed at Bento Ramen, Brighton Square with the Supermain Deal I purchased. In this deal, 2 persons get 1 main course which we could choose from Chicken Shioyai, Chicken Terriyaki, Okonomoyaki, Yakiniku Bulgogi, Salmon Butteryaki and Chicken Katsu; 1 platter of 8 pcs of Sushis; 2 rice and 2 Miso Soups for just RM29. For our main course, we chose the Yakiniku Bulgogi which was Stir-fried Beef Slices.

Yakiniku Bulgogi. Yummy!! So good to go along with plain rice.

Sushi Platter. All the sushis were freshly made on the spot. With Salmon, Tuna, Ebi, Crab meat, Tamago, Beancurd Skin, Octopus, White Tuna etc. Delicious!!

We ordered an extra set of Smoked Duck Salad. Nice! 

Makes me crave for Japanese Food now~~ Hungry!

Oishi! - New Japanese Restaurant in Town

So, here's this new Japanese Restaurant in Kuching, located at Rock Road, 2.5 mile area, named Oishi!. We just passed by that day and they were doing some renovations, then all of a sudden, members from Kuching Food Critic announced the opening of the shop where they serve good Japanese foods at a lower rate. Off we went to try out the food there. Upon entering, we picked a table and was served by the waitress with menu. The place was rather simple in decoration, a small place to cater a couple of tables.

Menu presented

After spending some time studying the menu, finally decided on what to have.

Chicken Teriyaki Don (RM9.80). Quite nice, but I don't like the over use of onions. 

Salmon Sashimi (RM8.90). I think this was kinda pricey as 3 slices were served only and it's quite thin. >.<

Salmon Avocado Salad (RM7.80). This dish was the best so far. With slices of salmon sashimis, the salas was tossed in thousand island dressing, sesame seeds and either tobiko or ebiko. Nice!

Potato Salad (RM5.80). For this price, the portion was definitely too small. The one in Sanga tasted much better and bigger in portion as well. 

Salmon Fiesta!!!

Tadadada~~ This was the outcome from filleting an approximately 4kg fresh salmon! We got our fresh salmon supply straight from the wholesale seafood warehouse at Pending. They sell a lot of imported fresh foods including cod fish, prawns, beef and so on. The salmon they supplied was Norwegian Salmon, priced differently according to weight and types (fresh, frozen or fillet).

After getting hold of our fresh Salmon fish, it was sent to JP Mart for the filleting and preparation process. We asked Sanga Japanese Restaurant abt the preparation, but they said it was too rush for them as they had 3 orders upon us. Nevertheless, JP Mart offers a cheaper rate.

After giving them the whole afternoon for preparation, we collected our finished products in the late evening and gathered at Sia Chia's place for the feast!

Closer views of all the salmons:

Sashimis!!

Sushis!

Pan Fried Salmon Head with Teriyaki Sauce

Pan Fried Salmon Fins and Bones Area with Teriyaki Sauce

Everything was so good and fresh!! Loving it!! They returned us the Salmon Skin and little chunks of meat which George and Lit Yen eventually deep-fried them. So tasty as well! Imagine all these to be shared among 8 persons and we were so damn full! I was extremely satisfied thou. Hehe~~