In a Nutshell
Started the day off with 4Mano Caffe, followed by 'Pixar 30 Years of Animation' Exhibition at National Museum of History (国立历史博物馆). I then headed down to Yongkang Street (永康街)– one of the dining streets of Taipei. Tried Slack Season (度小月) – well known for its noodles (担仔面), followed by Tian Jin Scallion Pancake (天津葱抓饼) – a must-eat when you are at Yongkang Street, and 8% Ice (8%冰淇淋专门店) for some low-calorie ice cream. It was still early so I decided to drop by Zhongshan Station to queue for BAKE Cheese Tart again!
Taipei's oyster omelette is so addictive, I need to have one this morning before I start my journey!
#1: Oyster Omelette, NTD60 = SGD2.70.
First up, I went to 4Mano Caffe to try their award-winning coffee and their mochi waffle which was really good and unique! I had the honey and cream waffle and the waffle was really nice - crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside with the chewy mochi. Coffee was indeed good!
4Mano Caffe
No. 3, Lane 134, Section 2, Zhongxiao East Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City
台北市中正区忠孝东路2段134巷3号
Opening hrs: 11am-10pm
Subway: Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station Exit 2 (line 4 yellow, line 5 blue)
#2: 4Mano Caffe.
#3: Honey and Cream Waffle, NTD180 = SGD8.15.
#4: Chewy mochi on the inside!
Next I went to the National Museum of History (国立历史博物馆) where 'Pixar 30 Years of Animation' exhibition (皮克斯30周年特展) is on. It is avaliable from 11th Nov 2016 to the 12th Feb 2017. On my way to the museum, I passed by Taipei South Gate - Lizheng Gate (台北南门 - 丽正门). Taipei South Gate served as the front gate, the main gate of Taipei City during the Qing dynasty in 1875. It is the one of the last few gates left while the rest have been demolished. This gate is a perfect example of the traditional architecture used back then.
Taipei South Gate 台北南门
Roundabout Intersection of Gongyuan Road, Nanchang Road and Aiguo West Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City
台北市中正区公园路、南昌路与爱国西路交会路口圆环上
Subway: CKS Memorial Hall Station Exit 7 (line 2 red, line 3 green)
#5: Taipei South Gate.
The museum features many of Pixar's popular movies and it was really interesting to learn how a good animation movie was produced. From the drawings to the storyboard, from colour scripting to piecing the pieces together. Movies featured include:
Toy Story (1995, 1999, 2010)
In 1995, Pixar released Toy Story, the world's first computer animated film. The tale of Woody - a pull-string cowboy figure, and Buzz Lightyear - a flashy action figure; whose adventures continued into the next two films, have become the two perhaps most closely identified to Pixar.
#6: Buzz Lightyear.
#7: Toy Story storyboard.
Monsters Inc, Monsters University (2001, 2013)
Monsters Inc connects to another accepted truth of childhood - the belief that there are monsters in the closet. The wide range of styles in the film's visual development work reflects one of its biggest design challenges, the fact that a monster could be almost anything. Monsters Inc reflects the peak of the city during the American 'baby boom', while Monsters University reflects the world of the American college campus.
#8: Remember her? Boo!
#9: Boo and Sullivan.
#10: Really cute simplified drawing of Sullivan and Mike.
#11: Monsters University.
#12: Post-its version of Sullivan and Mike.
#13: A nice sculpture of Sullivan and Mike!
Finding Nemo (2003)
The idea of doing a film set underwater came around the time of Toy Story, but it wasn't until years later that a right story to tell was found. The director of Finding Nemo, Andrew Stanton got the idea when he took a walk with his son where he spent more time cautioning the boy about the dangers of their environment, more than spending their time together. Stanton came up with the story of Marlin, a worried and overprotective father clownfish, who seek all out to look for his only child, Nemo, who got kidnapped by a scuba diver.
The Incredibles (2004)
The Incredibles talk about a family of superheroes forced to keep their powers secret. It is the first Pixar project to feature humans as their main characters and it was the biggest, most technically ambitious project that Pixar had yet undertaken.
#14: The Incredibles storyboard.
Cars, Cars 2 (2006, 2011)
Director John Lasseter often says cars are in his blood - the son of a Chevrolet dealership parts manager. The Cars films reflect a deep love and understanding of automobile. The two films have very different settings. Cars is a loving portrait of a small town on Route 66, while Cars 2 is a whirlwind world tour.
#15: Kabuki Theatre Posters.
#16: Lightning McQueen!
#17: Cars storyboard.
Ratatouille (2007)
Ratatouille tells the story of Remy, a rat with an extraordinary sense of smell and taste who dreams of becoming a chef. The film was Pixar's first set in a specific place on Earth, Paris. As with every Pixar film, research plays an important role in the film's design. Countless hours were poured over the details that would make the restaurant kitchen authentic and the cinematic haute cuisine luscious and appealing.
#18: Remy, the rat that can cook!
#19: Many versions of Remy.
#20: Ego.
#21: Linguini.
Wall-E (2008)
Though Wall-E was Pixar's 9th film, the idea of a lonely robot cubing garbage on an abandoned planet full of trash was actually conceived many years earlier. The film has very little spoken dialogue, from the start, and the goal was to communicated as much as possible through visual elements.
#22: Wall-E!
UP (2009)
UP talks about a lonely widower, Carl, who was about to be forced out of his house, and uses thousands of balloons to float his house to South America, to a place called 'Paradise Falls'. Little does he know that he ended up sharing the adventure with a young Wilderness Explorer, a talking dog and a rare bird.
#23: UP!
#24: Carl.
#25: UP storyboard.
#26: Russell.
#27: Many forms of Kevin.
Brave (2012)
Brave was Pixar's first film to be set in a time period other than the present. The film tells the story of Merida, the daughter of a medival Scottish King who chafes at the restrictions placed on her as a princess. A far cry from the plastic-centric world of Toy Story, every frame of Brave testifies to the huge strides made in representing organic objects in computer graphics. From lush forests of the Scottish highlands, to Merida's halo of fiery hair.
The Good Dinosaur (2015)
In the film making of The Good Dinosaur, the team took multiple trips to Wyoming, Montana and Oregon to study the details of environment to help convey the power and beauty of the region's terrain and weather. The more stylized, cartoony look of the characters help emphasize their emotion, humanity and appeal.
#28: The Good Dinosaur. Apparently I didn't hear about this film!
Inside Out (2015)
The filmmakers of Inside Out faced the unusual challenge of giving the form of a place that everyone knows but no one has ever been to - the human mind. The story takes place in the mind of a 12 year old girl, Riley. The emotions of Riley were portrayed through characters Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger. The design elements were inspired by DNA and the structure of neurons.
#29: The Mind World.
#30: Bing Bong.
#31: Many forms of Bing Bong.
#33: Many forms of Joy.
#34: Emotions - Fear, Joy, Sadness, Anger, and Disgust? Isn't Disgust supposed to be green?
National Museum of History
No. 49, Nanhai Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City
台北市中正区南海路49号
Opening hrs: 10am-6pm (Tue-Sun), Closed on Mondays
Admission: NTD30
Pixar 30 Years of Animation Exhibition: 11th Nov 2016-12th Feb 2017
Pixar Exhibition: NTD280
Subway: CKS Memorial Hall Station Exit 1 (line 2 red, line 3 green)
#35: National Museum of History.
#36: Very pretty Chinese pavilion.
#37: Pixar 30 Years of Animation Exhibition.
#38: Admission NTD280 = SGD12.70.
Next, I went to Yongkang Street (永康街). Yongkang Street is one of the popular dining destination and it is a food paradise in Taipei! You can find many renowned food 'brands' and little cafes here. I tried Din Tai Fung (鼎泰丰) the other day, and today I am checking out Slack Season (度小月), Tian Jin Scallion Pancake (天津葱抓饼), and 8% Ice (8%冰淇淋专门店). I am going to return tomorrow to try Smoothie House (思慕昔). And, if you have the time and stomach space, you might want to try Yongkang Beef Noodles (永康牛肉面) as well, heard a lot about it.
Yongkang Street 永康街
Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei City
台北市大安区永康街
Opening hrs: 10am-9pm
Subway: Guting Station Exit 4 (line 3 green, line 4 yellow)
#39: Yongkang Street.
Slack Season began with a fisherman by the surname of Hong, whose family migrated to Fuchen from Guangzhou, China. Obviously, he make a living by fishing. The sea is usually very rough between the Qingming Festival and Mid-autumn Festival, and so this period was known as the 'slack season' because the fishermen couldn't go out to sea. To make a living during the slack season, Hong began selling noodles. His noodles had an unique taste and it became so popular that eventually he began selling them full-time. And that is why Slack Season is famous for its Dan Zhai Noodles (蛋仔面). The minimum spending was NTD100 per pax, so I ordered some shrimp rolls as well, which is No. 1 on the menu (apart from the noodles) and the next cheapest item on the menu
Slack Season 度小月
No. 9-1, Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei City
台北市大安区永康街9-1号
Opening hrs: 11:30am-10:30pm (Sun-Thu), 11:30am-11pm (Fri-Sat)
Subway: Dongmen Station Exit 5 (line 2 red, line 4 yellow)
#40: Slack Season.
#41: Dan Zhai Mian making station.
#42: Dan Zhai Mian, NTD50 = SGD2.25.
#43: Shrimp Rolls, NTD200 = SGD9.10.
Diagonally across Slack Season is Tian Jin Scallion Pancake (天津葱抓饼). The queue and cooking never stops here! So I definitely have to queue and try! But while... Actually there is nothing special about it. It kind of tasted like Singapore's scallion prata sold frozen, that you can buy home to cook from the supermarket. After which, I went across the street to 8% Ice (8%冰淇淋专门店). They specializes in low calorie gelato/sorbet made from milk that contents 8% fat content. I tried the Lychee Rose Water Sorbet and it was really good! They also sell drinks, bread and pastries. I ordered a hot latte which taste really bad because it's from the machine, worst than 7-11's canned coffee.
Tian Jin Scallion Pancake 天津葱抓饼
No. 1, Lane 6, Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei City
台北市大安区永康街6巷1号
Opening hrs: 11am-11pm
Subway: Dongmen Station Exit 5 (line 2 red, line 4 yellow)
#44: Tian Jin Scallion Pancake.
#45: Scallion Pancake with Egg, NTD30 = SGD1.35.
8% Ice 8%冰淇淋专门店
No. 6, Lane 13, Yongkang Street, Da’an District, Taipei City
台北市大安区永康街13巷6号
Opening hrs: 12pm-10pm
Subway: Dongmen Station Exit 5 (line 2 red, line 4 yellow)
#46: 8% Ice.
#47: 8% Ice.
#48: Lychee Rose Water Sorbet, NTD100 = SGD4.55. Latte, NTD80 = SGD3.63.
#49: You may want to make a wish before you leave!
Since it was still early, I decided to go queue for BAKE Cheese Tart again before heading home as it is along the way. This time the queue was longer since it's the peak hour at 7pm, but still a lot shorter than Singapore's queue. It took about 15-20mins waiting time this time round. Can't get enough of these awesome lava cheese tarts!
BAKE Cheese Tart
No. 15, Nanjing West Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City
台北市中山区南京西路15号
Opening hrs: 11am-9:30pm (Sun-Thu), 11am-10pm (Fri, Sat)
Subway: Zhongshan Station Exit 3 (line 2 red)
www.bakecheesetart.com
I have been in Taipei for a week now and the transport system here is really convenient. Or probably the places that I visited just happen to be around metro stations. Depends on how frequent you travel via public transport, it cost me about NTD70 per day.
The people here are really friendly and helpful as well, so much that I feel a little uncomfortable as I am not that talkative and tends to be more reserve with people that I am not familiar with. Plus, they speak Mandarin really fast and the words that they use are deeper? Like more difficult words... So half the time I am just trying to catch and figure out what they are saying.
A lot of their signboards and menus are in Chinese, traditional Chinese characters (we study simplified Chinese characters in Singapore), so it took me a loooong time trying to read and guess the items. Sometimes I could feel the shop owners getting impatient, thinking why do I need such a long time to decide what to get because I am Chinese and I can speak Chinese, but they don't know I am actually struggling to read and understand what is being sold. Like I wouldn't know what is 覆盆子, 葡萄柚 and 百香果 until I googled it; and it's actually raspberry, grapefruit and passionfruit respectively. And like their Matcha Latte here is different. The word 'latte' means 'with milk', so Matcha Latte would mean matcha with milk. But to the Taiwanese, the word 'latte' means 'milk coffee'. So their Matcha Latte is actually matcha with milk and espresso. While matcha with milk is referred as 'Matcha Milk'.
Expenses for the Day
Oyster Omelette: NTD60
EasyCard Top-up: NTD150
4Mano, Cappuccino: NTD150
Honey and Cream Waffle: NTD180
Pixar Exhibition Admission: NTD280
Pixar Exhibition Souvenir: NTD860
> Toy Story Magnet NTD80
> Monsters University Bookmark NTD40
> Lightning McQueen Postcard NTD45
> Woody Postcard NTD45
> Toy Story Name Labels NTD50
> Pixar Photobook NTD650
Slack Season, Dan Zhai Mian: NTD50
Shrimp Roll: NTD200
Scallion Pancake with Egg: NTD30
8% Ice, Lychee Rose Water Sorbet: NTD100
Latte: NTD80
BAKE Cheese Tart: NTD70 x2 = NTD140
7-11 Canned Coffee x2: NTD48
Total Expenses for Day 7: NTD2,328 = SGD105.82
Previous Total Expenses: SGD1,415.28
Current Total Expense: SGD1,521.10