Akuma Caca

Back to more Taipei photos! :D I still have a ton of photos that I'm going through (slowly...but surely!) and many of them are of the cafes we went to in Taipei. Actually we didn't really make it to that many this time - only 3! - but out of the 3 that we went to, this one was definitely my favorite. Interestingly labeled Akuma Caca, the significance of which is still unknown (I'm still not really able to find out what it stands for), it's a quaint cafe tucked away amidst an otherwise unassuming alley in the Da-An neighbourhood of Taipei.
Siang and Sandra outside the entrance. Unique asymmetrical beams frame the exterior of Akuma Caca, sure to attract the curious eye of passersby walking along an otherwise nondescript and quiet alley.
Founded in 2009, Akuma Caca occupies an extended space from the design firm, Akuma Design, which is directly above it on the ground floor. I looooved peeking into the Akuma Design office; it looked like such a cozy yet creative space from the outside. True to its design roots, Akuma’s interior pays homage to geometry – from clean lines to asymmetrically shaped table tops to custom made geometric glasses that balance precariously on one side (and always seemingly on the verge of toppling!).
Akuma-designed glasses that balance oh-so-precariously on one side. These were easy enough to drink with but gave us mini heart attacks each time they whirled around on their unexpected axes. But they never did fall over! What I love about this place is how it's created spaces to support the promotion of local artists. There's a long tabletop that stretches across one side of the room along which numerous artworks (think illustrated books, framed pieces, calenders and notebooks) by local artists are on display for the month.

Isn't this adorable? An illustrated Calendar by a local artist featuring a much loved Taiwanese dessert – red bean soup with yam balls.  

An even deeper venture into Akuma brings another more private and intimate space. Soft recessed lighting, brick laid walls and wooden tables bring to mind a cosy log cabin, perfectly for huddling in deep in winter with a mug of hot chocolate (coffee in this case!). :DDD Isn't that hand-crafted wooden table just insane?  

While we ordered your very basic cappuccinos and lattes, a wide selection of coffees is available for those with more adventurous palates. Apparently Akuma also holds coffee classes for aspiring connoisseurs and aficionados. Couldn't resist ordering this matcha latte. But it was definitely too sweet for my liking! >< (I've come to realize that even at places like Starbucks they tend to put in quite a few pumps of syrup into matcha lattes. So best to request for 'less sugar' if you prefer less of that in-your-face sweetness.) Teeheehee. :D Ahh what an enjoyable afternoon we spent there, basking in the peaceful ambience that's perfect for cosy chatter...and writing of cards! The service at Akuma (like many places in Taiwan) was impeccable – the staff were friendly and more than willing to give recommendations for drinks. This is one aspect of Taipei that really impressed me. They're very much like the Japanese in terms of their service standards. 
One memorable thing that happened was that I had left a ring of mine by accident in the restroom and when I called back a few hours later, I was so thankful that they had found it and had managed to keep it safely for me! Upon returning to collect it later on in the evening, a smiling waitress came up to me saying in her sweet saccharine voice (as most Taiwanese ladies do) that she'd kept it for me, and proceeded to hand me a tiny well-wrapped package that held my ring in it. Seriously?? Who does that! X) This sort of attention to service and detail only served to emphasize how little things like these can make customers keep coming back for more. I would definitely want to visit this cafe again if I go back to Taipei. 

Akuma Caca B1F., 

No.6, Lane 14, Siwei Rd., 

Da´an Dist., Taipei City 106 

 Open 10:00 – 23:00

Taipei - Supper in the Streets

I love places that have a bustling night scene. Taipei's just like Hong Kong, with plenty of restaurants and small eateries open till late at night. I think we had this one night after traipsing/eating our way through a night market but needed a bit more food for sustenance. Taipei's terrible for the tummy. Just non-stop work for it from morning till night.

 
I remember the noodles + bean sprouts + minced meat dish to be pretty tasty. The noodles in gravy one however... somehow I've found that I'm not a huge fan of stuff soaked in dubious starchy gravy sauce that seems to feature quite a bit in Taiwanese street food. 

(Taipei, Dec 2011)

As you can see, Sandra, my fellow photographer on the trip, was also busy at work documenting our food. :D I love how Cheryl and Siang were completely understanding about us constantly whipping out our cameras at every single meal. I know it must be a pain for most people but but but in my defense, I'm really helping to capture moments worth remembering. Try using that line the next time somehow's about to blow a fuse when you take out your camera before the start of a scrumptious meal. 

Short post this time because it's late and there's school tmr (YUCKK). Attended a really great CNY gathering earlier tonight which was really a massive steamboat session (2 huge trays of veggies and mushrooms and a couple of trays of pork/lamb/beef and the smallest yummiest pork+chive dumplings) topped off with homemade cookies and cream ice cream (made by a guy!). I'm a little bummed that the height of the CNY festivities is almost over. Feels a little quieter this year. But at least there's still a whole bunch of goodies left to finish. 

zzz. 

巢: Nido Cafe :)

One of the best parts about our Taiwan trip was the cafe-hopping. Honestly, I LOVE cafes. :) I could spend all day in a small, cozy, quaint cafe, attempting to make my cup of tea/cappuccino last as long as possible while reading, daydreaming...or simply enjoying being in a perfect little space for a few hours. Siang, our main researcher for the trip, came up with a list of awesome cafes (most of which were also featured in the Monocle Taiwan Travel Guide :D) and first on our list was 巢 or Nido Cafe in Taipei. We went after the morning of Jiu Fen so by the time it reached the evening, we were all ready to relax and veg out in a cafe. Problem was, we didn't exactly know how to get to the cafe from the nearest mrt station. We knew that it was off the main road of Zhong Xiao East, but turns out that it's a friggin long stretch of road. We ended up passing by TWO WHOLE SUBWAY STATIONS as we walked all the way down that loooong main road, counting down the alley numbers until we reached the one we were looking for. That was not the best experience ever. -__-;; But it was worth it in the end, because it was such a lovely quiet cafe (that is, until we barged in and wreaked havoc with our riotous laughter) with many many gorgeous nooks and crannies that we oohed and ahhed over and took many photographs of. :)
According to the owner, Nido stands for Nest in Spanish (if I remember correctly...or was it Greek?) and it was then that we realized much of the interior decor was meant to resemble the twigs/texture of birds' nests. Notice the texture of the table?
We ended up staying there for agesssss. We were given a "private room" (well more like a private section of the cafe) probably because there were so many of us. It was nice and warm at the start but after awhile we realized the heating in that particular room was really POWERFUL. At the start it was just us in the cafe and we were having such a great time chatting and laughing (possibly in our boisterous Singaporean manner) that the owner of the place actually came into the room to tell us to quieten down as there were other customers in the cafe that we weren't aware of. WHOOPSIE. ;p
Cappuccino! Pretty average cup but it's really the ambience that you'd pay for I suppose. We all took one look at the dollop of cappuccino art and wondered if it was because the owner (oh yeah, did I not mention that there's only ONE guy running the entire place and doing everything?? from making coffee to serving desserts etc etc) was a beginner and hadn't yet learnt any other patterns for his cappuccino art. :p Next time we're going to go back and see if his cappuccino art making skills have improved. 
Cheesecake on the left and tiramisu on the right. Both REALLY REALLY good. :) The cheesecake was excellent and it had a cool name like ... Cheesecake on Cheesecake. Or something to that extent. 

Our *ahem* Lovely Ladies pose.Our attempts at looking PENSIVE. ;) ROFLMAO. 

I just looooove how there are so many whimsical spaces in the cafe that are so beautifully decorated. I'm hoping my house will be like this next time. All wooden-y and cosy with soft lighting and beautiful spaces. That's another plus point of cafe hopping really. You get to see all these examples of gorgeous interior design and get inspiration for the future. 

So if you're in Taipei, I'd highly recommend: 

Nido Cafe (巢)

10, Alley 22, Lane 553, Zhongxiao East Road Section 4, Taipei

Hours: 2:00pm ~ 12:00am (closed on 6th, 16th and 26th of the month)

Tel: 02-2753-4402

台北市忠孝東路四段553巷22弄10號1樓

九份 (Jiu Fen) in pictures and words

Ohh this is sooooo belated. :D But I've got so many Taiwan photos left to edit and share and I'm so happy with a lot of the photos that I MUST POST THEM!! Going through photos and editing them till I'm happy can get pretty tedious/tiring since I'm no professional at it (I'm sure there's some sort of method professional photographers use to speed up the editing process no?) but at the end of the day, it's so worth it. :) I feel all happy thinking about the moments behind those photos and I must say that the trip to Taiwan with my pals from soooo long ago was really good. We were all such lazy bums who could never get out of the hotel room at the stipulated timing that we had planned the night before. 
So here are photos when we went to 九份 (Jiu Fen) for a little day trip. It's one of those small towns just outside of Taipei that's known for its rustic charm and olden day streets and shops. The only downside to the trip was that it was RAINING that day :(( which made for some inconveniences. Picture us making our way through the crowded narrow streets dodging the rain while trying to take photographs. My circle scarf was a big saver. :) It kept my camera nice and dry. Oh and it was funny how at the start of the day we had planned on taking a direct bus to Jiu Fen but in the end we were taken in by an extremely enthusiastic taxi driver who ended up taking us on a mini tour of other scenic spots around the Jiu Fen area ("I'm taking you all there for free!! No extra charge!"). Taiwanese taxi drivers are sososo nice. :) I guess that's their way of fishing for tips. 

 
Oh yes, so my mum would like to let the world know that for all the photos of the 4 of us, she's the one who took them! :)
  Urghgh, word of advice, best not to get the stick of corn on the extreme left if you happen to go there next time.
I'm sure the ordinary corn without special flavoring would've tasted pretty sweet and nice but for some reason we were adventurous that day and decided to try out the corn with the special dark sugary-salty flavoring. It tasted like something you'd get in a corn chip snack.

Isn't this adorable?? :D I was so surprised at how smart this little pun was. Who would've thought the Taiwanese knew how to pun English words like this eh?? (JUS KIDDINGZZ. My Taiwanese friend, Yueh, is probably reading this and getting pissed right this minute.)
Little cats to decorate cups/glasses with! Aren't they so cute? :) I love the one hanging upside down chillaxing away.

So this young chap's in the middle of making a type of dessert-snack which is basically a wrap filled with sugary peanut shavings. I was pretty impressed by how diligent and quick he was. 
Man look at those huge slabs of peanut coated in syrup. 
 

One thing that Jiu Fen is famous for apparently, is this dessert called 芋圓湯 (Yu Yan Tang) (Yam Ball Soup) (haha yeah that's roughly how I'd translate it), which is basically red bean soup with lots of small yam balls in it.What made this dessert so good at that time was the fact that it was warm and comforting and we were so cold from the rainy weather. MMM.  

Cutest little girl playing with the rain. :)

I like how our umbrellas came in useful in the end. :D 
Ahh how I would like to go back there again in the Spring or Fall... when it's not raining!! 
xx