Hey Doc

Now that I am not working, I have a little more free time to explore the city. Taipei has a decent public transportation system, once you are familiar with the hundreds of available routes. I have been to most of the point-of-interest within Taipei city. I started venture out to the surrounding countrysides where buses can take me there.



I came across this building in the back alley of the town of Lu Chou. A complete American flag painted on the side of this building. I did not bother to find out why it was there thou.

Ever since I had this Silkstocking Milk Tea in Hong Kong, I have been wanting to make my own. I did a little search on the Internet and found a recipe for this delicious drink. The trick is to find a good mix of black tea leaves and a perfectly matched evaporated milk. For a simplified version, any English Breakfast tea and Black&White brand evaporated milk will get you a nice cup of milk tea. To find a good mix of tea leaves requires some experimenting. I will report that later but for now, I have English Breakfast and Assam in the mix.

BTW, Merry Christmas to everyone

I did not realize there are 101 versions of the famous song "Stairways to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin. Someone actually had compiled a list of them. If the list is too long for you to listen to everyone of them, at least listen to the Rolf Harris version. It cracks me up, very funny. Follow the Link.

The city started building this pedestrian foot bridge over a year ago. Its on my way to work so I have been watching its progress through the year. They have just finished it while I was visiting US. I went to check it out few days ago. One of the unique way about this bridge is the path actually curves around the suspension arch.
More pictures after the jump

I remember when the first Korean Tofu House opened on El Camino in Santa Clara many many years ago. That boiling hot and spicy tofu was such a special treat on a cold day. Korean BBQ was the typical food known as the Sweat & Sour Pork of Chinese food. Clay pot tofu was something new to many. It has grown in popularity since. It is also happening here in Taipei. Many restaurants serve exclusively for clay pot tofu. I have not tried any of this restaurants because I think I can make them myself. So here it goes.
The must-have ingredients are tofu and Kimchi, the rest leaves to your personal like.



Single serving ingredients :
half box of silken tofu sliced
1/2 cup Kimchi
assorted mushroom sliced
two cloves of garlic sliced
one stalk of green onion sliced
two slices of ginger roots
one can of soup stock, chicken, beef or vegetable if you are vegetarians.
Optional :
one egg
thin sliced beef. Beef used for hotpot. You can get this already sliced in most Asian supermarket frozen section.

Get to work :
1. Put the sliced tofu in the clay pot, set aside.
2. Cook the rest ingredients EXCEPT the egg in a pot. Let it boil for 2 minutes.
3. Pour the soup mix into the clay pot around the tofu, not to disturb the tofu too much.
4. Place the clay pot on the stove to continue cook. Let it boil for another 3-5 minutes.
5. Crack the raw egg in the center then serve.

The pot will continue to boil after you have removed it from the stove. The clay pot will retain the heat for awhile. Mix the egg in the soup before boiling stops.

Lets eat !!