Country - Taiwan > Hua Lian

We went to the fishing wharf at Hua Lian and had the chance to try the food there. We were brought there by the local cab driver who took us around.


Fried thin noodles with minced pork topping
Sashimi
Fishballs soup

Rating: 8/10
Noodles were lightly oiled with a nice fragrance.
Sashimi was GOOD. Very fresh.
Fishballs were what they called "Q" and fish soup was refreshingly tasty.

Went around the town centre and tried other food.


Fresh mochi
Rating: 8/10
A must-try when you are in Hua Lian as it is not that commonly found in Taipei itself. Freshly made mochi that has to be consumed within the day. Beats pre-packed souvenir types any day. Fillings are fully packed in and skin is soft.


Orh-ah Jian
Rating: 7.5/10
The famous Oyster Omelette in Taiwan. The sauce looks heavy but it's actually very light. Oysters are succulent and fresh. I love the vegetables underneath. Adds a fresh crunch to it and erm gives the dish a little excuse that it's healthy. =P


Taco balls - Seaweed flavour
Rating: 5.5/10
The taco balls from this stall isn't very nice. =\
The size is rather huge, about 2" in diameter. Generous on the toppings but the taste of flour is way too obvious. Not as good as it looks.



Rice Dumpling and Pig intestines soup
Rating: 7.5/10
At 1st look the dumplings look dull, plus I'm not a big fan of dumplings. Gave it a try and it was surprisingly good. Tasty and moist with tender meat. The serving is rather unique as there's some soupy-like gravy beneath. The intestines soup is rather light but for who do not like the taste of intestines, you might want to skip this. Definitely worth a try.


Xiao Long Bao
Rating: 7.5/10
In this case this is not the soup type of xiao long bao. The buns are freshly steamed and served piping hot. The skin is soft and fillings are rich in taste. My man loved it.


Mango pudding on ice and pearls
Rating: 7/10
Pudding was soft and wobbly with a nice mango taste. Wish it had mango bits though. Shaved ice was fine and pearls were not too sweet.

Bian Shi
Rating: 7/10
Their version of wanton soup. Meat lightly marinated and the clear soup was light. Skin is very thin and easy to gulp! Great for cold days.

Fried Chicken Cutlet
Rating: 6/10
Not sure if this is the original one, however this is in Hualien so erm.. Anyway, it is a little dry but HUGE and comes with bones so for folks who don't want the hassle of picking out the bones, you might want to give this a miss.






Guo Tie, Shui Jiao (Pot Stickers/ Pan-fried dumplings)
Rating: 8.5/10
This is so good it's a must-try! The pan-fried dumplings are really tasty, dip them into the vinegar and chilli. Delicious! Boiled ones are good too with special flavours like korean kimchi flavoured. Didn't really like that but the rest is definitely good enough to keep me going for more. This is just one of the many outlets from their franchise. Saw quite a few in Taipei too. Had that for breakfast for quite a couple of days. =)

Country - Taiwan > Qing Jing

Qing Jing is the place where we went when we knew that it was one of the famous places to visit. We stayed in Florance resort (note the intentional typo -_-" ) and these were the dinner items. http://www.florance.com.tw


Bamboo shoots in clear soup (each set had a bowl of soup)
Rating: 6.5/10
The soup was rich in taste and bamboo shoots were fresh with a crunch to it.


Lamb chops with mixed veges and sausages
Rating: 6/10
The lamb was quite tender, better when warm.


Pork Ribs with mixed veges and sausages
Rating: 6/10
The pork was a tad too oily.

Overall for the room package we paid it was quite pricey. The package came with tea at around 3pm, breakfast and dinner.

Country - Taiwan > Shui Li

We were on our way to Shui Li and the bus that we had to take was from Pu Li to Shui Li.


KFC
Rating: 7.5/10
I had to try KFC at least once. No regrets! There was pork burger, crispy fried drumlets. The chicken was fresh and tasty. No frozen chicken for once. It was good.


Assorted cakes
Rating: 6/10
Breakfast was simple, we went to a nearby confectionery to get some light breakfast before the bus ride.

We then took the bus and reached Shui Li. By then it was early evening so we decided to take an early dinner.



Western food
Rating: 7/10
Traffic was sparse along the streets as this is a small town. We saw this stall selling western food on hotplate so we decided to try. Fresh chicken chop, runny eggs and yummy noodles.

There's this stall beside where they were selling dumplings. So why not?


Boiled dumplings (Jiao Zi)
Rating: 7.5/10
Served fresh and piping hot, drizzled with vinegar. Very nice indeed.

Country - Taiwan > Taipei

Stayed at Onestar in Taiwan, Taipei. Breakfast was normal, nothing special. Can get much better food outside for sure.


Breakfast
Rating: 5/10

There was the usual ham, stir fried vegetables, bread and butter, and so on. Drinks included coffee/tea, fruit juices or should i say syrup? If this didn't come with the stay, I wouldn't have ate it. Ouch?

There's this chinese restaurant beside Ah Zhong Mian Xian at xi men ding. We ordered quite alot of food there. Eager to try local food I guess.


Pork Strips La Mian
Rating: 5.5/10
A little on the oily side, freshness of ingredients are ok though. Soup is not as rich as it looks.


Pork Gyoza (Guo Tie)
Rating: 6/10
A tad better than the noodles, the portion for this is huge. 8 pieces in a plate. Still on the oily side.



Vegetable dumplings
Rating: 5.5/10
Once again a huge portion. The skin is a little too thick and filling lacks umph factor. A little too bland.

The next day, we went to walk around. Saw this nice little modern bakery so decided to buy a Doraemon snack. Freshly made.


Red Bean Paste Bun (Tong Luo Shao)
Rating: 6.5/10
Filling was aptly sweet and skin has a slight firm bite to it.


Smelly Toufu (Chou Dou Fu)
Rating: 6/10
Not for the faint-hearted. The smell is really pungent and my man couldn't take it so I bravely ate the whole thing =O The taste is actually not that bad. It was dipped in this sauce which I felt accounted for most of the smell. Toufu is nicely fried.



Bacon Pasta
Rating: 2/10


Chicken Nuggets & Pastry Soup
Rating: 2/10, 3/10
I don't even know if this place deserves a rating. I don't see any reason why you should eat here. Tasteless starchy sauce, over-fried bacon, frozen nuggets. Only the pastry soup is edible. The pastry is rather nice. I normally try not to waste food, but I didn't finish my food. Well, I guess smelly toufu is better.


KFC BBQ Chicken Wings
Rating: 8.5/10
Another one of my favourite snack and this time it is from KFC. We do not have bbq wings back here so this came as quite a surprise. The wings are juicy and nicely marinated plus slightly spicy. The staff cooks them only when you order so they come piping hot. Definitely worth waiting 10mins for them. I had to have them at least twice during my trip.



Orh Ah Jian (Oyster Omelette)
Rating: 7/10
Oyster omelette from the famous Shih Lin night market. This is just one of the many stalls in this large hawker area selling this dish. Not as tasty as the one in hualien. Mango ice blended is really good though.


Fried Pork Rib Bits
Rating: 6.5/10
Crispy fried rib bits. Meat wasn't too dry and the batter was just right, lightly coated to give a nice crisp. Meat was also tasty. If you're the type who doesn't like to chew meat off bones, then you might feel frustrated eating this. Haa.

Airline - Jetstar

Two of the meals provided on board Jetstar were:


Vegetarian wanton noodles
Rating: 5.5/10


Nasi goreng
Rating: 6.5/10

Overall i think the food is bearable, compared to some other airlines, so think of the rating that I would have given them. All meals cost $8(as of April 2006) and no outside food is allowed. Well, we saw some passengers eating their own food and ended up getting nagged by the crew.