taiwan series: alleynaps

I've clearly been a total failure at this blog since z was born, but thanks to those of you who are still here. :) To reward you, I have this series that I'm calling #alleynaps, because this urban plant life was the only interesting thing about pushing your baby in a stroller for hours each morning while he slept. Taiwan...what a trip! It was HARD traveling to the other side of the world with a 15-month old, but it was lovely seeing family. Z and his cousin were so cute together! (And eating. We ate multiple times each at Ding Tai Fung and Chun Shui Tang, so that along made the trip worth it, obviously.)

I've opined in the past about the beauty of Taiwan's greenery, so I'll just leave you to enjoy the photos without comment. 

taiwan series: coffee shops

we just booked our tickets to go home to taiwan for the holidays. wish us luck...that's 45 minutes from brooklyn to JFK, a 16-hour flight, and a 2-hour car ride to taichung with a 16-month old toddler. [insert panic!] anyone want to fly with us and take a few shifts? :D if we survive, it'll be awesome. maybe we'll just stay there and never come back (a real possibility, depending on the outcome of the election). 

i was thinking of all the places we could take Z, and all the places we won't be able to visit because of Z. generally speaking, i think that east asian countries are way more baby-friendly for travel than the U.S., so hopefully we'll still be able to hit up our favorites. plus we'll have family who will be obsessed with Z, meaning maybe we'll be able to escape for a few hours here and there on our own! 

looking back through the photos of the trip we took when i was 5 months pregnant, i realized that we went to a lot of gorgeous coffee shops! one of the best ones was in one of those quiet alleys behind the taichung SOGO, where i used to hang out a lot as a high schooler. my friends and i would take the public bus (which took forever), or hop on a scooter (even though no one had a license). this cafe is a new addition though, and a pretty cute one. if you want to take a look: 

i'll report back once we go...and in the meantime, i'll try to be around more often now that the dissertation is (almost, hopefully, i think?) done. xo

taiwan series: bookstore for beginners

i was facetiming with my mom the other day, and she asked (again) when i was going to go home for a visit. i love my annual visits, but have had an overwhelming sense of dread on the topic since Z was born. not that i don't want to take him home to meet his great-grandmother and introduce him to ding tai fung, but the thought of having to deal with baby jet lag makes me want to stay on EST for the next 10 years. from all accounts, it will ruin your trip. (i'm still recovering from our trip to L.A. last week, and that was only 3 hours' difference!) so while i ponder whether or not i have the courage to do such a thing, here are some photos of an adorable bookstore 「新手書店」 in taichung that we visited last may.   

i love the wood and black metal exterior. when i build our dream house, this is the look i'll be going for. 

the interior is a similar aesthetic, with stripped wood and lots of vintage taiwanese tchotchkes. 

hhh picked up a few photography books while we were there - he couldn't read the others. :) 

if you're in the neighborhood and want to visit, it's at: Táizhōng shì xīqū xiàngshàng běi lù 129 hào [台中市西區向上北路129號]. 

taiwan series: miyahara

miyahara! i'd already stopped in for some ice cream but had to go back again before leaving taiwan. on the saturday before i left, claire and aileen met me there for some taiwanese snacks and iced milk teas in the cafe on the second floor. it's been a few weeks since i left, and looking at these photos made me want to go right back! i've said it before but miyahara should be one of your must-see spots on your visit to taichung. and there are actually two of them now, just minutes from each other on the same street, so there shouldn't be a problem getting in. (it does get very crowded on weekends!) try the taiwanese snack platter and one of their house tea concoctions...you'll be happy you did. 

the exterior of the original miyahara store, which serves both savory and sweet snacks in its cafe. 

a close-up of the front door of miyahara I. 

right inside, there are beautiful displays of interesting chocolates. 

the emporium, all decked out for christmas. 

one of the many tea displays. the boxes are really creative and would make gorgeous gifts.

some of the more traditional but still lovely packaging. i got a rose tea and a long-yan tea in this style. 

a view of the shop floor, from the second-story cafe. 

the cookie counter!

a side area with more tea, cookies, and biscuits arranged on bookshelf displays. 

a trio of taiwanese honey. 

some close-ups of the biscuit gift boxes. 

more bookstore-like displays. 

on the second floor, there is plenty of seating for you to enjoy a meal, afternoon tea, or a light snack. the space is cavernous - i love the exposed beams.

a taiwanese snack platter with tasty sauces handily labeled for your eating pleasure.

a "poutine" - looks more like chili fries, actually.

the logo, which incorporates the building's past as an eye clinic during the japanese colonial era. the building was abandoned for years, and its current iteration as a sweets emporium recalls this history in small details like this. love it! 

inside the second-story cafe, near the bar area. 

the second miyahara, another converted building that retains its original signage as a taiwanese cooperative bank. this location is just up the street from the first, and also serves ice cream, tea and other sweets. 

taiwan series: revisiting fantasy story

it's a whole lot colder in brooklyn than it is in taichung. i've been back for about a week now, and am wishing for those sunny 70-degree days, especially now that it's getting dark at 4:30 here. ugh. to comfort myself, i'm revisiting photos from my trip! here are some that i took at fantasy story, which i first checked out last year (although i didn't get around to posting about it until september). 

i spent a bit longer there this time around - it was a weekday and things were slow, but there seemed to be more shops associated with the fantasy story brand. in fact, they were all strangely marked by strings of halloween pumpkin lanterns, which you can see in some of the photos. since my visit was in late november, i'm not sure if it was leftover from some halloween event, or a year-round thing the way christmas decorations tend to be. (i can still remember how my favorite restaurant in middle school had a "merry xmas" banner on its door in the middle of summer. tangentially, it's strange how so many american holidays have migrated to taiwan. my mom mentioned thanksgiving to me and i was like: "why do taiwanese celebrate the survival of pilgrims and squanto's good will?" these holidays were definitely not on any local's radar when i lived there in the 1990s....) but i digress. back to fantasy story: it's definitely very cute. but hey, i like this kind of thing. 

the spaces are available for events and exhibits, and it looked like a crew was scoping out the space for a future event while i was there. there were also more restaurants than last time - a tea shop and a japanese restaurant on the second floor, as well as a large western restaurant called isabella. 

it was so peaceful just wandering around and exploring alone. on the weekends though, it's probably packed with friends and family having tea and brunch and running around the courtyards. 

this is the "bookshop for beginners" - an introductory point to fantasy story. 

a list of the shops and restaurants on zhongxing first lane 「中興一巷」.

the second floor of one of the buildings. love the way they've restored the rooflines and shingles.

the current photo exhibit. 

one of the dining options.

the adorable outdoor seating at one of the second floor restaurants.

a window to the teashop.

this place serves noodles, i think. 

a view down to one of the interior courtyards. 

fantasy story featured blooming bougainvillea too, like everywhere else in taichung. how have i never noticed these flowers before?!

the second story of the complex. i hear it used to be dormitories. 

an enchantingly green corner. 

a shop with curios and plants. 

this shop bears signage for an architect's office, but seems to also sell other goods.

the second complex on zhongxing road. 

isabella's lush courtyard. 

these plants are amazing! i would live here.

a gift shop on the second floor of the second building. 

looking down into isabella's courtyard.

a glimpse into the eating area at isabella.

the entry area to isabella.

each building had two to three small courtyards. this was taken from the street into the last.

more plants! i wished that i could bring them all home. 

a map of the different locations associated with fantasy story. 

ps. check out my last visit here.