[GPGT] Overseas Travel Discussion and Chit Chat Thread

[tinykukubird]

Next, we went to a random Indian eatery under a block of government apartments in Punggol for dinner.



First up, Mutton Murtabak (SGD6). It was pretty moist, and the mutton was weaved between the layers of prata in abundance. It was perfectly married with the rather aromatic curry that came complimentary with it.





Next, we had a plate of Chicken Briyani (SGD6), which was superb! The rice was super fragrant, and the meat was super flavourful (though hidden in this picture)! I washed it down with a cup of my favourite local beverage, Iced Bandung, which was coincidentally in a similar shade of pink as my dress!




All in all, it was a super enjoyable way to celebrate one’s birthday and I am honestly keen to visit similar places for mine next year. However, I personally do not know how he came up with these places given that these are pretty random and not as renowned as places like Maxwell Food Centre or Old Airport Road Hawker Centre, but I had to give credit when credit is due, and was very thankful for the effort that he had put in.

HDB say HDB lah, Simi government flats. Ts is not foreigner right

 

[DrAwkward]

he checking in to hotel now and with some twmm
he say one

Anyhow anyhow

 

[Whirling_Dervish]

Once I arrived at the Taipei Main Station, I was able to walk to my accommodation for the night, the 3 star CityInn Hotel Branch III, which was located just 5 minutes away on foot.

I chose it because of how close it was to the Taipei Bus Station (I was planning to take a bus at 6.50am to Sun Moon Lake the next day), its affordability (AUD109 per night), and overall glowing reviews.

The staff at the concierge were super polite and professional, and were helpful in directing me to the nearby Ningxia Night Market. The check-in process was super smooth. The hotel had kindly upgraded me from a normal double bedroom, to a bigger one that could accommodate 3 people.

As I was travelling alone, I didnt have much use for the upgrade, but was nonetheless grateful to the hotel for their hospitality.





Pretty narrow corridors here!










My home for the night!





The bathroom was really clean and the toilet bowl had a bidet, which I found interesting.




All in all, I was very impressed with this hotel, given its superb location, excellent service, cleanliness, and well-appointed amenities. Apparently there was a snack bar downstairs with free tea and biscuits until 1030pm, and then it converts to a free noodle bar with free flow instant noodles and hot water. I personally didnt go there as I wanted to save my appetite for the local street food, but I definitely come back to this hotel again in a heartbeat if I were ever in the area again.

 

[EXIDBeast]

Welcome back!

 

[Whirling_Dervish]

Anyhow anyhow

I actually thought you managed to get lucky!

Welcome back!

Hello!

Thanks pal!

How have you been?

 

[Whirling_Dervish]

Ningxia Night Market is one of the smaller night markets in Taipei, compared to others like the world-renowned Shilin Night Market. However, it was only a 10 minute walk from my hotel, and was apparently a good place to try some of the local street food.







The first part of the Night Market was one that was lined with game vendors, who were hosting carnival-like street games, like balloon popping et cetera.




I tried this Oyster Omelette (NTD85, AUD4.25) in a hole in the wall store upon the personal recommendation of the hotel duty manager. It was okay I guess, nothing memorable. The chili sauce was more sour than spicy, and personally I prefer the Singaporean version of the dish, which uses less cornstarch and more eggs.

 

[alfonsoyy]

The staff at the concierge were super polite and professional, and were helpful in directing me to the nearby Ningxia Night Market.

Must try their beef cubes with pink himalayan salt!

 

[canteen0101]

I tried this Oyster Omelette (NTD85, AUD4.25) in a hole in the wall store upon the personal recommendation of the hotel duty manager. It was okay I guess, nothing memorable. The chili sauce was more sour than spicy, and personally I prefer the Singaporean version of the dish, which uses less cornstarch and more eggs.

eww gross. nv see such gross o ah jian b4

 

[Whirling_Dervish]

I then tried this fried milk stick (NTD30, AUD1.50), which is essentially deep-fried battered milk pudding. I found this snack quite tasteless, as I honestly expected the milk pudding to be sweeter.







Papaya Milk! This is my all-time favourite drink in Taiwan! This stall would blend fresh papaya with fresh milk (NTD80, AUD4), which was super refreshing in light of the humid Taiwanese heat.






I then chanced upon this Pork Rice store, which had a super long queue. The signature dish of this store is the 扣肉饭 (NTD75, AUD3.85), which is essentially braised pork rice. While the pork is flavourful and the rice was super delish (sushi rice), the pork was not as tender as I wished it would be. If given a choice, I would rather order a bowl of 卤肉饭 over this.

 

[Whirling_Dervish]

Must try their beef cubes with pink himalayan salt!

That one is super expensive for street food. I think it was like NTD 200 (AUD10) for that! I didn't think it was worth it.

But maybe I will try it next time!

eww gross. nv see such gross o ah jian b4

Oh well! You win some and you lose some, I guess.

It wasn't really great and I would probably avoid Oyster Omelette in Taiwan if this was the standard version throughout the country.

 

[Laguna123]

Next, we went to a random Indian eatery under a block of government apartments in Punggol for dinner.



First up, Mutton Murtabak (SGD6). It was pretty moist, and the mutton was weaved between the layers of prata in abundance. It was perfectly married with the rather aromatic curry that came complimentary with it.





Next, we had a plate of Chicken Briyani (SGD6), which was superb! The rice was super fragrant, and the meat was super flavourful (though hidden in this picture)! I washed it down with a cup of my favourite local beverage, Iced Bandung, which was coincidentally in a similar shade of pink as my dress!




All in all, it was a super enjoyable way to celebrate one’s birthday and I am honestly keen to visit similar places for mine next year. However, I personally do not know how he came up with these places given that these are pretty random and not as renowned as places like Maxwell Food Centre or Old Airport Road Hawker Centre, but I had to give credit when credit is due, and was very thankful for the effort that he had put in.

You got put airbag inside?

 

[canteen0101]

humid Taiwanese heat

yea now is not a good time to be in Taiwan. When I go i always choose winter season. like Dec or Jan. used to be cold but nowadays winters in tw are just cooling like 18-24C. sup sup water

 

[canteen0101]

That one is super expensive for street food. I think it was like NTD 200 (AUD10) for that! I didn't think it was worth it.

But maybe I will try it next time!



Oh well! You win some and you lose some, I guess.

It wasn't really great and I would probably avoid Oyster Omelette in Taiwan if this was the standard version throughout the country.

oh no no, this is definitely NOT the "standard version throughout the country", lol. u should try the one at raohe night market, forgot which exact stall tho.

edit: think i found it. shd be this one

https://www.eater.com/2019/3/6/18240098/raohe-night-market-taipei-best-dishes

Oyster Omelets​

at Lee Chi Oyster Omelets (李記蚵仔煎)

Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, filled with plump, briny oysters, and slathered in a gooey sweet-and-sour sauce, the iconic oyster omelet is a night market staple countrywide. Lee Chi, located at the west end of Raohe, is the most popular omelet-slinger here. Cooking everything to order, Lee Chi also offers shrimp or plain omelets, all of which come topped with their special tomato-plum sauce. This stall has been a mainstay of the constantly evolving Raohe scene since 1980.

 

[Whirling_Dervish]

Finally, this street store selling barbequed squid caught my eye as the owner was using a blowtorch to cook the squid. Enticed by the culinary theatricalism, I got a serving of the barbequed squid in soy sauce (NTD150, AUD7.50). It was very tender, and flavourful, and wrapped up my time in the night market well. And the store assistant was super friendly and helpful and offered to help me take a picture of the squid when he saw me struggling to juggle the squid in one hand and my phone in the other.

I had to go back early, as I had had a long day, and was scheduled to take an early morning bus the next day.

 

[alfonsoyy]

That one is super expensive for street food. I think it was like NTD 200 (AUD10) for that! I didn't think it was worth it.

But maybe I will try it next time!

It taste very good trust me, if really sux nowadays , I'll pay u back the $.

 

[Whirling_Dervish]

yea now is not a good time to be in Taiwan. When I go i always choose winter season. like Dec or Jan. used to be cold but nowadays winters in tw are just cooling like 18-24C. sup sup water

I absolutely concur!

When I was there, it was as hot as 34 degrees in the day (but real feel 42 degrees) and super humid!

But I had no choice as my hospital could only give me these dates for leave.

Otherwise, I would totally go in Winter, when the air is crisp and the climate refreshing.

oh no no, this is definitely NOT the "standard version throughout the country", lol. u should try the one at raohe night market, forgot which exact stall tho.

Ah I see. Thanks for that piece of information!

The funny thing was that the eatery was packed with locals dining and eating that Oyster Omelette! Which was why I thought it was the national standard!

I actually wanted to visit Rao He Night Market. But I checked it was like 30 minutes from my hotel one way. And it was about 6.30pm by the time I checked in so I was really tired and too lazy to travel too far just for food.

But I would definitely visit Rao He Night Market the next time I am back in the area, and would follow your recommendation to try the Oyster Omelette there!

 

[DrAwkward]

I actually thought you managed to get lucky!

Yes moi eating the xmm's 豆腐 now

 

[Whirling_Dervish]

On retrospect, I felt that the variety of food stalls at Ningxia Night Market was not as wide as that at Shilin Night Market, possibly due to the massive scale of the latter. However, I was happy to settle for it due to it being located nearby (I wasn’t up to travel 30 minutes each way just to visit a Night Market as I was pretty tired then).









What are your favourite Night Markets to visit in Taiwan, and what are your favourite dishes there?

 

[canteen0101]

I absolutely concur!

When I was there, it was as hot as 34 degrees in the day (but real feel 42 degrees) and super humid!

But I had no choice as my hospital could only give me these dates for leave.

Otherwise, I would totally go in Winter, when the air is crisp and the climate refreshing.



Ah I see. Thanks for that piece of information!

The funny thing was that the eatery was packed with locals dining and eating that Oyster Omelette! Which was why I thought it was the national standard!

I actually wanted to visit Rao He Night Market. But I checked it was like 30 minutes from my hotel one way. And it was about 6.30pm by the time I checked in so I was really tired and too lazy to travel too far just for food.

But I would definitely visit Rao He Night Market the next time I am back in the area, and would follow your recommendation to try the Oyster Omelette there!

yea u can try the one i recommended in my edited post here

 

[Gixxerfied]

Once I arrived at the Taipei Main Station, I was able to walk to my accommodation for the night, the 3 star CityInn Hotel Branch III, which was located just 5 minutes away on foot.

I chose it because of how close it was to the Taipei Bus Station (I was planning to take a bus at 6.50am to Sun Moon Lake the next day), its affordability (AUD109 per night), and overall glowing reviews.

The staff at the concierge were super polite and professional, and were helpful in directing me to the nearby Ningxia Night Market. The check-in process was super smooth. The hotel had kindly upgraded me from a normal double bedroom, to a bigger one that could accommodate 3 people.

As I was travelling alone, I didnt have much use for the upgrade, but was nonetheless grateful to the hotel for their hospitality.





Pretty narrow corridors here!










My home for the night!





The bathroom was really clean and the toilet bowl had a bidet, which I found interesting.




All in all, I was very impressed with this hotel, given its superb location, excellent service, cleanliness, and well-appointed amenities. Apparently there was a snack bar downstairs with free tea and biscuits until 1030pm, and then it converts to a free noodle bar with free flow instant noodles and hot water. I personally didnt go there as I wanted to save my appetite for the local street food, but I definitely come back to this hotel again in a heartbeat if I were ever in the area again.

Cityinn III ar?? Yea, nice clean place and not expensive..Wonder if they still have hourly rates..

Last time go there, wife, me and my friend taking lift up then friend press wrong level, door open can hear moaning sound damn loud..

They have adult channel one(Not sure bout now)..