Today’s trip to Taipei was exactly an accident. Since the government opens up the platform for registering the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine, I signed up and decided to choose the earliest date in NTUH. I never thought there would be fully booked situation since AZ is not so popular in Taiwan. So I also booked the package of train ticket and hotel for 1 night. Yet it happened…… All hospitals in Taipei were fully booked on my planned schedule…..but I can’t cancel the package. So I have to go to Taipei for a 2-day vacation, come back to Kaohsiung, and go to Taipei again for 1 day…… Anyway, I can’t do anything about it, so just go!

The first thing is breakfast time! This is a new brunch place I found near Taipei main station. I ordered hummus and avocado wrap. The taste was good but it was very different from how this wrap and hummus supposed to taste like. I think it is because they adjust the taste to suit Taiwanese.

After the light breakfast, I checked into today’s hotel – Shangri-La’s Far Eastern, Taipei. This hotel, is really a 5-star hotel, and also the most high class hotel I have ever stayed in Taipei. The service also matches the star, when I called the reception, they know which room I am and my name right away. Needless to say, the room is spacious and the long sofa is cozy. Their room service menu looks so amazing but it is way too expensive. I have to mention about their gym, this is the best gym among all hotel gyms I have ever been to. The gym is also open for club members, it has a huge yoga room where I do GRIT SPRINT and cardio inside, so I can avoid other people. The gym also has sauna but due to Covid, I didn’t go. They maintain the gym really well, but the only problem is I need to pass by the buffet restaurant to reach the gym entrance. I feel embarrassed because I was wearing gym clothes and there were so many customers in the restaurant……

I got too excited about that wonderful gym so I forgot my appointment of the bistro. I found this French Taiwanese fusion bistro – Longtail, near the hotel. This is Michelin 1 star restaurant, but it is more like a bistro and bar style, giving customers a more relaxed environment. So, I think it is okay to dine in alone.

When I got there, indeed, it is exactly like a bar. Many counter seats with not so quiet environment. I also found there was a customers dinning in alone too. Dining in alone in French restaurant is not common, but I think it is because of the bar-like style, it doesn’t look weird in Taipei. There are only 2 kinds of courses on the menu, (they also offer a la carte, but only after 9pm), so I chose the more expensive one. Before talking about food, I have to say I don’t know if it was because I don’t drink or I was alone, I didn’t feel very welcome by the staff in the restaurant. They seemed a bit cold to me, or it was just normal way in Taipei? I am not sure.

But today I came here to enjoy the food, I don’t want to focus on the bad side. Every dish is small portion, but there are quite a lot of food in the whole set. I can tell they pay attention to every detail in every dish, from the main to the side to the sauce and even the decoration. Every dish is unique and can’t be found in other places. One dish I have to mention is the abalone congee. On my flight to Vietnam, I took Starlux airline, and they offer the restaurant dish from Longtail, and this one is the dish they offer! Of course it tastes better in the restaurant than in flight. But it is still amazing to be able to try the dish from the famous restaurant in flight.

The two dishes I like the most is the unagi and the duck breast. They cooked unagi in a different way, not like the taste we always have on the market. The pink duck breast tastes so good and tender, although it is pink, there is no scary blood smell. I really like how to cook their dish and the seasoning of every dish. Each flavor is unique, I never seen this way of cooking before I tried this restaurant.

I had a wonderful dinner yesterday. The next morning I woke up for the morning exercise. Since there was no one in the gym and I don’t need to catch up with the breakfast time limit, I spent a long time in the gym. I felt so good but hungry after the exercise. So I went to the brunch shop – Woolloomooloo, near the hotel. This was an Australian style brunch shop. I have been here one time with Bismark. Their food is tasty but not cheap. By the way, I found a good sourdough bakery near the hotel when I was biking to the brunch place. It is called Boulangerie Ours, a small shop. But they offer many kinds of sourdough and also my favorite chocolate sourdough. They also offer dine-in seat. It would be great to have breakfast here with the good smell of wheat at the back of their workshop.

So, back to Woolloomooloo, why did I order a 10-inch pizza by myself haha? I was craving pizza so much! But that is the only size they have. So I decided to have a few pieces and take everything away. Oh the food was so tasty, especially when I was craving that kind of food! There are many items on the menu but I didn’t order other thing except a salad, because I was worried other people might get scared when I already ordered a big pizza to myself! Anyway, the yummy pizza brought the unexpected trip to an end, and then went back home haha, without getting vaccine!