Taiwan : Nan Tou, TaiChung - YiFuTang, The Oldest Bakery 【台湾游】 台中之南投 ： 一福堂老店

Part 1 of Road Trip to Nan Tou (南投), Taiwan.

While we were on our way to Sun Moon Lake （日月潭）, Brother Zhang (our driver) brought us to Taiwan well known bakery at Nan Tou area. While I was surfing the internet searching for some information about this bakery, I have found out that there were few other branches which located at Taichung City too! :) However, I think it is not as large as the bakery that we had visited that day.

- The Logo -

The Logo of 一福堂老店 (Yi Fu Tang Lao Dian) which attached outside the building and I bet every tourists/ visitors will sees it while they are on their way to Sun Moon Lake and 九族文化村 (Jiu Ju Cultural Village).

- The Direction signboard -

Next destination was Sun Moon Lake!

Within two hours, I met so many tourists in groups from other Asian countries such as China and Hong Kong, I'm sure their itinerary includes the bakery as one of their visiting place.

- 天下第一酥 -

I assumed that the bakery is the first and oldest on at Taiwan. :) We entered the building and managed to took some photos of what I found it interesting and best seller of cakes. The above is the favourite spot where most/ all of the tourists might want to have their photo shooting with.

- The moulds  -

Various moulding board attached on the wall and all of them are quite interesting of all kinds of patterns, big or small. No, those attached are used 'for decoration purpose and people doesn't walk to the wall and pick whichever they want to use for their next products. :P

-  It's time to choose cakes and cookies! -

One corner of the products being presented and person in charge will introduced all kinds of cakes and cookies to their customers and varieties of tester for us to try! :D

- Their history represented by the frames hanged -

And the next...... Scroll to see more of their famous cakes, cookies, milky sweets and other local snacks to buy!

- Various choices of snacks and cakes as souvenirs to friends and family -

- 鲜奶太阳饼 (Xian Nai Tai Yang Bing) -

Direct translation would be Milky Sun Cookie. It taste soft and filling. It is a good selection as souvenirs to others, which most friends who came back will bring us this. I like this one and I did bought some for the office too, especially for my Boss with nice packaging designed box.

- 招牌柠檬饼 (Zao Pai Ning Mong Bing) -

The "Signature Lemon Cake", the texture of the cake is soft and taste.. still okay with sweet and lemon-ed flavour, combination of cake's texture, the person in charge recommended us to chill it before consuming and keep them inside the refrigerator. The cake would be nice if consume it together with a cup of coffee or tea during the afternoon.  :)

10 of us bought various cakes/ souvenirs and the benefits purchased from 一福堂老店(the bakery), they even have the transportation service of packing and sending the purchased items to our staying place a.k.a. the service apartment that we were living and we don't need to bring our goods through out the day trip.

Time consuming in the end and off we go to the next destination - Sun Moon Lake!

- Our Transportation and one of the building at Sun Moon Lake -

A very short introduction about Sun Moon Lake... I like the scenery and the native people there! However, that place was way to crowded with tourists and I felt miserable when those people were not that friendly and the whole place was NOISY!!! :(

- Cruising at Sun Moon Lake -

码头游艇， 我来咯！！！ Lake Cruising, HERE I COME!! :D

And it will be written in the coming Taiwan's entry! Stay updated!

Official Website : 一福堂老店

Location : Sun Moon Lake Branch, Taiwan - 日月潭店:南投縣埔里鎮桃米路23-2號

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It's Beautiful Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ The King, Liverpool, UK

Metropolitan Catheral of Christ the King is located behind the University I was pursuing my studies back in Year 2008. It is also known as the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Liverpool, Merseyside, England.

A large one and from what I have understood, their interior design is beautiful too. :)

- Metropolitan Catheral of Christ the King -

Took the photo from the opposite University.

- Another Lambanana (symbol of Liverpool City) in Liverpool -

- The Cathedral -

Together with few other friends, we did not enter the cathedral but we did took some photos of the surrounding cathedral. 

And here are some of the surrounding photos!

- Store and Cafe -

- It's okay to experience such weather at England -

Saw that dark cloud?

- The View from Cathedral -

The building at the right is the University that I had pursued my studies with in year 2008. Quite a memory.

- Liverpool John Moores University -

That's the University! :)

- Liverpool John Moores University -

 View Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King in larger view

That's all for this post with fewe words. Happy Weekend! :) And I'm thinking about tomorrow's plan.

Location : Cathedral House, Mt Pleasant, Liverpool, Merseyside L3 5TQ, United Kingdom.

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One, Two and Three - My Days with CNY Dragon Year!

It means that this post is dedicated for my three days of amazing CNY "honeymoon" enjoying in town.

Seven days in a row, including clearing my leaves, public holidays and forced leave on the third day of CNY are finally over, I just love the holiday where we could just stay at home doing nothing, meeting up friends and others. What a life that most of the working people would like to have and IT IS UNREALISTIC!!

I'm gonna roughly point out a few important issues that I was involved/ managed to experience. :) Here goes...

Day 1 - 23rd Jan, 2012

- Fireworks at 12.00am -

When the clock strike 12.00am, the neighbourhood and other housing areas blew the fireworks and played the firecrackers even exceeded the usual amount which we normally had. It was like fireworks war out there. (O_o)

Besides, my neighbour was playing it for the past four days with unlimited supplies I guess. Somehow, I still heard the fireworks sound even after 1.00am.

- Fireworks -

Amazing view doesn't it? I took those shots infront of my house.

Fireworks beautified the sky, but polluted the air and the environment, recall "the sound pollution"?. :S (FYI, I'M NOT AGAINST FIREWORKS) It was all over Kota Kinabalu and the same applied to other places too. And you know what? The scariest matter is, there was one man aged 26 got his head blew off because of fireworks that he thought was not functioning, and it happended during midnight when his family were happily welcoming the new year. My gosh. :(

- Temple at 9.00am -

We went to the temple at 9.00am and less crowd compared with the later crowd.

- Lion Dance at Temple -

- Lion Dance at Temple -

Not my hand. It's meatballonline's hand!

Day 2

- Long Table -

Mom bought two new tables to extend the existing one from this year CNY and other occasions. Therefore, guests could enjoy my dad/ mom's Hainanese Teh C at the long table comfortably from now on. :)

- Cooperative mom added on her baskets collection to spice up my photo shoots at home -

- First Guests : My cousins family members in the morning -

They even had wine at 10.00am. -__-

Day 3

- Friends Gathering (the second in a day) -

The third day of CNY, it's a norms that gathering will be held during the third day of CNY. Anyway, luckily I was having forced leave from my boss (positive way of thinking :D) It's been a day with friends which most of us might only seeing each other once in a year. Good practice or maybe no?  I have been to two Upperstar branches today, first at Suria Sabah and the second (above) at Lintas.

The end for this CNY of mine, that completes my kind of CNY this year, nothing much to shout out about, it was just a normal one I'm having. :) How about yours? :)

Next, back to work on the fourth day and..... food and travel entries back to normal! :) 

Cheers~

p/s : Do vote for me as "the best travel blog" nominated in Bloggers and Social Media Awards!! - Click HERE to vote withinmeitzeu.blogspot.com! :) Thank you for readers who support me and encourage me to blog further. :)

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Happy Year of the Dragon (2012) from Meitzeu.com :)

Happy Chinese New Year to friends, family and non the less, my readers! :) 

Finally I have bought my Domain name and from now on, this blog will be identified as http://www.meitzeu.com and no more http://withinmeitzeu.blogspot.com. Say bye bye to blogspot.com, you had served me well for the past few years and you may need to serve me in that name for one or two pending posts later. Thank you.

So the day before first day of CNY, it's CHINESE NEW YEAR EVE!! Yeah! :D

How's your CNY eve? I had my Reunion Dinner around 6.00pm and the whole day was occupied with house chores (as usual Sunday) and dyed my hair with liese, this time is Sweet Almond, online and waited till 12.00 am, which indirectly informing you that this post is a scheduled one! :) Those firecrackers and fireworks at my housing area are like having war, blasting here and day since afternoon, I bet 12.00am, the sky will be so much beautified! :D

So now, sharing the photos I managed to took at house in the evening, the preparation et cetera..

- CNY decoration by my mom at the kitchen -

- Mandarin Oranges -

- Reunion Dinner -

A night when all the family members from near and far gathered together for reunion once in a year. A night for laughter and cherish with them. DO REMEMBER to keep away thattt.... smartphone you are holding, we are too busy with them. haha :D

- The 压岁钱 (Direct translate: New Year's Money)!! -

Me and my sisters received our red packets from our parents on the eve of CNY . :) If you want to know more about the myth of the New Year's money, do google it. ;)

 - My bling-ed nails -

Went for manicure and pedicure the day before CNY eve and the beauty centre was busy since morning which me and meatball need to wait for a while before our turn (even we have pre-booked it). This is my second time went to the saloon for mani and pedi. :P

- Night Market at Lido, Kota Kinabalu -

I only went to Lido and Foh Sang, the town area will be so packed with people. (0_0) It's a norms since earlier days when it is CNY. On the day before CNY eve, the public here will automatically visit to any of/ all the night markets which held around town (Sinsuran, Foh Sang, Lido) to enjoy the crowds and doing that last minute shopping, even the mall will be operating until 12.00am. :) How about Semenanjung? Do they have such?

That's my post for today, may all of you have a great year of abundance, wealth and prosper! Once again, happy CNY to all! :)

p/s : Do vote for my blog as "the best travel blog"! - Click HERE.

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Easy Recipe 123 : My Kind of Mashed Potatoes with Cheese

Hey, it's Chinese New Year Eve people, wish you have a great one! :)

If you have read about my New Year entry previously, you will noticed that I have prepared mashed potatoes for my family and friends and this entry is my first recipe post after so long since Year 2008 (o_o"). Each time when I'm eating mashed potatoes or preparing mashed potatoes, it reminds me of my sweet time while I was pursuing studies in UK, I will prepare the dinner with mashed potatoes and pasta together with my friends assistance to speed up the preparation. :)

Ingredients for 10 person :

Potatoes are essential (8 pieces), two pinches of Salt, 1 tablespoon of oil, Salted Butter, Milk (whichever preferred), a slice of cheese (optional), pepper and a folk to mash the cooked potatoes.

- Potatoes @ 8 pieces -

Personally, I prefer using imported potatoes and Australian Potatoes were the only imported one which I could find when I visited the grocery during the day before. Such a large potatoes I have bought.

I cut it into 4 slices each potatoes to speed up the time of potatoes to became cooked.

- Boiling Potatoes -

Water level that covered the sliced potatoes were perfect to monitor its progress while cooking!

Reminder! Don't forget to add in 2 pinches of SALT and the 1 tablespoon of OIL into the boiling water. Interestingly, the potatoes or the spaghetti being boiled/ cooked that way will make them taste better.

When the boiling water became yellowish, I used a knife to cut the potatoes to make sure it was fully cooked. Once it was cooked, switch off the gas stove and pour away the used water.

- The Cheese, The Butter and the Milk -

Mash the potatoes by using FOLK, added in 1/6 of the SALTED BUTTER and a few pinch of SALT (or added in later/ in the end if the mashed potatoes doesn't suit your taste buds) while the potatoes were still warm/ hot.

Switch on the GAS STOVE and turn it in to slow cooking/ low fire mode, add in MILK (I used half pack of it and added in a little portion for few times) while the pot of mashed potatoes being cooked once again, DO make sure the mashed potatoes won't burned while making it hot again, MILK is important to make the mashed potatoes texture taste better. :) The more you add, the smoother it will be, HOWEVER, too much milk will be overdone.

And... WALLA!!

- My version of MASHED POTATOES -

Freshly cooked mashed potatoes. :) Turn off the gas and sprinkle the pepper (I used Black Pepper here) in to it to give it a less "bored" taste while consume it later, even stirring it before serving the guests will taste good!

Optional : A slice of cheese can be added too to spice up the mashed potatoes, even if we doesn't add in, it won't be a problem which the mashed potatoes still taste perfectly good.

For a healthier cooking method, eliminate the cheese and reduce the amount of butter.

- Serving the Guests -

In facts, the potatoes were huge and I have prepared 2 large of mashed potatoes which in the end, all of us can't managed to finish them at one time while we have various tempting food to eat! No matter what, they agreed that the mashed potatoes taste scrumptious and we finished them after a few days.

- My New Year Eve Dinner I'm Having -

Perfect combination. :)

Last phrase of this entry :

"WHO SAY I CAN'T COOK??"

LOL! My colleagues doesn't believe that I can cook though, which I'm lazy to explain that much too. :P Now you know I can cook besides preparing the instant noodles with egg.

Before I ended this entry, have a great Sunday people! It's CNY EVE!! The Chinese who are having Reunion Dinner, do cherish every moment and talk to each other, we are too busy with all these smartphones, working life and et cetera. :)  

Cheer~

p/s: Domain name bought! http://www.meitzeu.com ;)

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Taiwan : Feng Jia, TaiChung - Full Stop Breakfast!【台湾游】 台中之逢甲 - 满点速食早餐！

Part 4 (Last) of Feng Jia-Chia, Taichung. :)

The day which we were going to start our day trip far from Feng Jia to Sun Moon Lake, the well known cake house/ souvenir shops while we were on our way and at the same time, some sight seeing too.

But before we started our day, BREAKFAST will be the first thing we had in mind and we must leave Feng Jia at 10.30am to start our fun trips with the transportation service we had hired! And you know what? There was only one place we could have our breakfast and especially it is located near to the guest room we lived. FYI, restaurants there normally opens later in the afternoon (11.00am as a norms) or in the evening, in fact it's depends on the location too.

- Feng Jia Shoplots -

We met our guest room's owner, Mr. Chiou at the breakfast place and he told us that the breakfast served was okay and okay it may seen. Found some seats and ordered our local breakfast just like others.

- 满点速食早餐 (Direct translation : Full Dots Express Breakfast) -

Where we were having our breakfast at the walk way of operating shops in the evening.

- The Menu of 满点速食早餐 -

The various Sandwiches, Fried Noodles, Beverages, theomelet, Bacon and others for your to fill our hunger before we started our day.

In fact, Taiwanese breakfast consist of high calories, and of course we need to depends on which restaurants/ cafes we visited.

And now, all of these were the breakfast we had!

-Vegetables Theomelet （蔬菜蛋饼）-

I never come across the word "theomelet" before, until I went google-ing in its Chinese words (lol). *geleng kepala*

Their theomelet was okay as I have tried a few pieces and sharing the whole plate with friends too.

- 鲜奶茶 (Fresh Milky Tea) -

Taiwanese Bubble Teas are awesome and as well as theirs! Is a must try when we visit Taiwan. :)

- 炒面蛋 (Fried Noodle with Eggs) -

I finished the whole plate of noodle and it was just nice for an individual portion and most of all - REASONABLE!! Conversion approximately NTD 10 = RM1.00, it's only RM3.80! :)

- Breakfast on the second day -

Since we had breakfast there before, might as well we had another breakfast again at the same place and it was the nearest and easiest spot we could have our breakfast before we leave Feng Jia to Taipei.

And now.... Teaser for the next post. :)

 - Mountains that we saw -

We were on our way to Nantou (南 投), our nice diver - Mr. Zhang told us a short introduction about that mountain whereby the mountain named 100 mountains or 99 mountains which formed after the earthquake years ago, I can't recall it and even I googled ups and downs, I just can't find the name of that mountains and there's a whole long lists of mountains at Taiwan. (OMG).

That's breakfast for us before we start our journey, stay tuned for the next Taiwan entries of mine! :)

Location : Feng Jia, Taichung （逢甲， 台中）

p/s : If you like my Blog, do vote for withinmeitzeu as "the best travel blog" in World Bloggers and Social Media Awards 2012 HERE by 28 January, 2012 as a support and encouragement! :) Thank you.

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