So we visited the top Taipei night markets to check out the best food finds there:

1. Raohe night market – jam-packed, famous for its huge red gate at the entrance

–Stinky tofu (this one reeks deliciously)

—Okonomiyaki — weirdly located at this street, was a bit starchy for my taste though

—Hu Jiao Bing– crusted bun with peppered pork and spring onion, this one is remarkably filling

—Two Peck Fried Chicken (surprisingly addicting, their flavored fried chicken instantly uplifts cravings)

–Snow desserts (on a hot day, this is a MUST!)

2. Shilin market made it here on a rainy day, amazingly, I survived with some eeeky wet shoes to go here at the main Shilin enclosed food market

Seriously, I can wondered why so many (I mean a big chunk of people, tourist and locals alike flock in this very cramped place) Beware!

Chinese sausage — huge aromatic..please share this to save space for the next treats

Deceiving Frog eggs! It’s actually Aiyu Jelly with lime juice

Oyster Misua — although it lacks flavor for me, I think it is a good try

Hot star large friend chicken — obviously famous because of its queue, it was flavorful and crispy but I wanted more! I don’t want to queue again…=(

Short visits:

Danshui Market

Tried their cheesy potatoes as well as huge drinks

This is a rather delayed track back of my trip in Seoul. I recall, in a span of 4 hours, mindlessly drafting a sheepish itinerary which consists mostly of restaurants I want to try (thanks to Daniel’s blog Seouleats) and basic places to see.

We stayed at comfortable Provista Hotel, conveniently near to the subway and restaurants. The room is spacious and clean.

It was supposed to be a business trip, but I couldn’t help but explore. Too bad the trip was short. I could have visited the famous Jeju island.

Here is the places I have visited so far:

Gyeongbokgung Palace

This palace has a striking resemblance to China’s Summer Palace. I am not surprise since due to geography, influence on architectures must have been strong.

It was wonderful to see spring time blooming around the palace when we visited. The colors were bursting alive.

You can follow this direction I got online:

Directions
1. From Exit No. 5 of Gyeongbokgung Subway Station (Seoul Subway Line No.3), walk 5 minutes.
2. From Exit No. 2 of Ganghwamun Subway Station (Seoul Subway Line No.5), walk 5 minutes.

Seoul Towers

I was suppose to follow some free guided tour for this but end up getting ditched. Good thing my friend Youri saved our time and day by being the tour guide.

Seoul tower is on Mt. Namsan. If you are up to some leisure hiking, you can opt to walk up to the tower. We opted to take the bus though. My boots are not made for walking (shoot!)

The tower also has this mini Bear Museum which Korea is so famous for. They dress up the bears as cute representation of different people, culture, history. This certainly attracts young people which in turn can make them learn something at the same time. Very smart idea.

We happened to stroll to another place called Hanok Village which featured ancient houses of Koreans. The basics were very well preserved even though there were a lot of tourists and locals around.

We even saw wedding prenup happening. Renting the unique korean outfits were the highlight of this trip. Those colorful robes reminded me of Jewel in the Palace series.

Yeouido Park

We were suppose to visit this park to see cherry blossoms well bloomed but we were a week late. Fallen flowers around made me sad but we have a beautiful time biking around. This made me feel like a kid again.

Directions:
From Exit # 1 of Yeouinaru Subway Station (Seoul Subway Line 5)
walk 10 minutes towards SBS TV Station.
- From Exit # 3 of Yeouido Subway Station (Seoul Subway Line 5), walk 5 minutes
towards the National Assembly building.

DETOUR:
Cheonggyecheon Stream
This is not the usual tourist spot around but my friend introduced us to a cool place where young people date or where you can find solace walking by the stream.

Beneath, you get to feel so drawn to the sound of water and cool breeze flowing nearby. I love how this place can calm minds among the chaos above it. You can join a walking tour for this, just register online.

Food essentials:

We had tried the famous Korean BBQ, kimchis, galbi. Another on our list was this Chicken shop that serves the best Chicken stew with Ginseng and Roasted Chicken in the city…Tosokchon (???).

I love how the menu was simplified and straight to the point.

Directions: Stop at Gyeongbokgung station on subway Line 3 and go out exit #2. Walk straight for about 5 minutes.

Double fry spicy chicken
I never heard of this before. However, while roaming around the bars nearby our hotel, we discovered a local favorite paired with cool beer. This spicy wings can rock your tongue/lips. Nowadays, there’s commercialized Bonchon around the corner.

Smoothie King
This one is a US franchised, famous for their smoothies. Surprisingly, this juice bar was as big as Burger King. Maybe locals are a bit health conscious?

Our goal was to find a good brunch place in the ever creative place called Seoul. While browsing around the internet, I came across a cute place called Flying Pan. It caught my attention since the place looks heavenly. Located at a mix cultural area which attracts foreigners (Itaewon), you can notice other cuisines like Persian, Indian, Mexican around. Print a map so that you can locate it easily.

The ambiance is quaint and simple. The small place can be packed easily during the mornings. I remember checking out the menu and browsing only favorites:

Waffles ?
Pancakes ?
Eggs ?

We ordered and shared to taste test the different flavorful treats. Brunch seems so fun to share! Pancakes are exquisitely delicious. Egg benedict is perfect.

If you visit Seoul and have more time to go around, visit this place for an all day brunch affair!

It is also featured at CNNGO.

Flying Pan
123-7 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu

Located at the heart of Raffles business district (China Square Central), it is now easily seen due to its big signage. You can’t miss a long queue even on a hot day.

The flavorful aroma of prawn mee is definitely distinct when you enter. Simple choices here, either you get to choose 3- 4 types of noodles (glass, flat, egg noodle etc) and spicy or not and dry or with soup. Normal range for 4-6 sgd depending on the size.

They also offer my favorite Chinese rojak which is a mix of pineapple, nuts, you tiao, cucumber. Due to the humid weather, I got to order 2 drinks (lime and ice lemon tea). Funny that the cashier asked us again if we are ordering 3 drinks for 2 people. Oh yes, I’m that thirsty!

I miss Singapore food! I miss trying out new types of Chinese food.

This vibrant district has made me happy, mainly because there was ample supply of everything I need. Food, drinks, clothes, beauty products and some people watching on the side..great!

Youri patiently guided us to this new type of food which I was curious about. I stepped into this restaurant and in an instant, I felt this tingling smell that made me sneeze..oh yes…that a whole lot of chili pepper in the air.

As I further researched about this restaurant on the net, Yoogane is more famous for their dak galbi.

Wikipedia says that “Dak galbi, also romanized dalk galbi, is a popular South Korean dish generally made by stir-frying marinated diced chicken in a gochujang (chili pepper paste) based sauce, and sliced cabbage, sweet potato, scallions, onions and tteok (rice cake) together on a hot plate”

This hot, spicy and favorful meal can work out an appetite. Youri did all the ordering, and we were served with a hot plate ready for take off!

The server was mixing it all up and we were all staring hungrily. It strangely became addicting at first bite even though I thought I couldn’t bare the spiciness. I wish someone could bring this to the Philippines! I love to try more of their specialty. Right now I am wishing I was back in Seoul.