news/taipei: one more month to see Pixar: 20 Years of Animation in Taipei

We all have our memories of the various Pixar movies over the years- I laughed out loud at Buzz and Woody and the aliens in TOY STORY. I teared up at the "When She Loved Me" Sarah McLachlan montage in TOY STORY 2 and of course, at UP. I loved feeling silly for ever being scared of my closet after MONSTERS INC. I was giddy like a fan after shaking Brad Bird's hand and getting an autograph after an advance screening of THE INCREDIBLES. Being fascinated by the behind the scenes drama of Pixar's rocky start when at first no one wanted to distribute Toy Story or make its toys in The Pixar Touch. I also remember the first time I pored over "The Art of Monsters Inc" and was fascinated by the hand drawn art, the changes in design and story, and the four to six years process that it takes to make an animated feature, that I ended up collecting each one that came out, like the newest Art of UP.

So getting to see all the storyboards, character models, hand drawn art and animatics in real life is like taking a walk down memory lane- can you believe it's been almost 20 years since Toy Story first came out?!

Pixar: 20 Years of Animation is at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, which is a 5 minute walk from the Yuanshan MRT stop.



Inside, you'll have life sized sketches of Mike and Scully greeting at every turn.



Headsets are available to listen (in Chinese) for more details at certain points. I also picked up a NT$150 program that makes a nice keepsake.



Once upstairs, the entrance is the last place you are allowed to bust out your camera, until you exit the exhibit. (But if you want a peek, one person was able to get some snapshots.) I felt like I was entering into another world, with the appropriate images of the assembly line of closet doors to whisk us away.



Isn't it cool to see how Pixar takes a black and white sketch and creates full blown 3D characters that we've grown to love? It's always more than just the images, it's also the stories that have created a worldwide fanbase.





It was fairly crowded on a Wednesday afternoon when I went yesterday, so I can only imagine that the weekend could be nuts. It makes it hard to get up close to see the detail of some of the drawings, but there's hundreds to look at, as well as some multimedia stuff towards the end.

Watch some of Pixar's early short films, an installation called Artscape, or my favorite, a zoetrope that brings a spinning disk of still models from Toy Story 2 to animated life in front of your eyes.

Walking through the exhibition, you marvel at how everything is archived and then shipped around the world. I can only imagine all the packing, unpacking, hanging, taking down, and repeat! Props to Elyse Klaidman, who is Pixar's in-house curator and who first came up with the idea for having an in-house gallery in 2000.



And of course a chance to buy some Pixar goodies at the end before you leave the museum. The exhibition is around for another month until November 1st, so catch it before the last week gets crazy crowded!

Pixar: 20 Years of Animation
Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM),
No. 181, Zhongshan N Rd, Sec 3
(02) 2595-7656

When: Until Nov. 1. Open Tuesdays to Sundays
hours: 9:30am to 5:30pm and until 8:30pm on Saturdays
online.tfam.museum/pixar

Some fun Pixar sites
http://www.pixar.com
http://www.pixartalk.com/
Pixar stuff at Amazon.com

my kitchen/news: oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Thank goodness for ovens and Betty Crocker. I love freshly baked cookies out of the oven. I think I must have eaten at least three yesterday... and two more this morning.



I also have been drooling over the tastespotting.com and the archives of justjenn whose rants and raves cracks me up.


from justjennrants.blogspot.com

I love the Hello Kitty cupcakes, firetruck and dinosaur cookies, and crazy creativity she has in her baking and decorating and sense of humor in her writing. I definitely want to try a lot of stuff she's made someday- if only I could get over my fear of fondant.

Also, this is what I call service... do you think the Far Eastern hotel will keep the burgers and steaks supersized after the visiting NBA players leave? And while the players get taken to all the required touristy spots this week- do you think they'll get taken to a night market? That's where I'd want to go!

night market/taiwanese: i strongly recommend LEHUA NIGHT MARKET

LEHUA NIGHT MARKET
Yonghe Road and Zhongshan Road

MRT: DingXi Station

website: Public Health Bureau gov.tw
hours: 4 PM- 1 AM

$

Kid friendliness: lots to eat and play, though can be crowded

Visit reviewed: 5/20/2009



Stinky tofu- check!



Shaved ice- check!



Cute animals to gawk at -check!



Cheap goods to bargain for- check! And rows and rows to shop and eat- check.

Now you know you are at a Taipei night market.



When I first came back to Taipei after 17 years for the infamous Love Boat, the only night market I knew about was Shilin. After all, that was the closest one to campus and easy to get to. It was the biggest and the best, so there was no need to discover any others. But since living and eating in Taipei with it being my home, there's an abundance of awesome night markets here.

Lehua Night Market has all those things, plus a few variations of the familiar, located in Yong He, a suburb which is a bit southwest of downtown Taipei city. I have an aunt that lives in Yonghe, so she is always wanting to take us there to eat, but I've only been there twice. It's definitely worth visiting.



It's the first time I had Snowflake Ice or "Shue Hua Bing" which is shaved ice with milk in it already, which my aunt delighted in being the first person to introduce it to me and my sister. "What?! You NEVER had shue hua bing before? Never?" she exclaimed in shock to both of us, in Mandarin.



Nope, never. But it was pretty fantastic. The ice itself is superfine, like how you would imagine sticking out your tongue and eating freshly fallen snow. It's also a bit sweet, since the ice has milk in it instead of water. Then of course, you dump more condensed milk ontop and your choice of toppings- pudding is pretty good- to eat before it melts on a hot summer night.

Or you can opt for Aiyu bing or a lemon jelly with chunky ice that we got with boba. But I'd pick the snowflake ice!



After the sweet, we had some salty, or should I say stinky. Apparently, this vendor is pretty famous and has the newsclips to prove it.



The stinky tofu had some of the crispiest skin I'd ever tasted, like a crunchy shell to the spongy pungent inside. Complete with a heap of pickled cabbage and sauce, the guy deserved his newsclips- it was some of the best stinky tofu I've had.



So wander over the Lehua night market if you've never been. It's oh so sweet and stinky.


View hungry in taipei restaurants in a larger map

indian: i strongly recommend SAFFRON

SAFFRON
38-6, TianMu E Rd
(02) 2871-4842

Hours: Lunch: 11:30AM - 2PM (closed Mon lunch)
Dinner: 5:30PM - 9:30PM

$$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs available

Visit reviewed: 1/18/2009



The past week, two of my friends happened to bring up how Saffron is the best Indian food in Taipei. And I agree. Though it's a bit far for me in Tienmu, I've been daydreaming about going back and ordering the Chicken Murgh Mahkmali Tikka (NT$360) and the Lamb Safed Rajasthani Ghost (NT$380).



I'm a chicken tikka masala and tandoori chicken kind of girl. Most of the time when I eat at an Indian restaurant, that's what I gravitate towards. That's what I know and like. I don't want it too spicy and I like it a little sweet.

So when the server handed us a menu with a lot of unfamiliar dishes and names and no pictures and recommended some new dishes, I was nervous.



But I'm glad I ordered out of my comfort zone because otherwise I would have never gotten to try some of my new favorites. And although the names don't roll off the tip of my tongue yet, it's okay because I'm more confident that the others dishes on Saffron's menu will be equally satisfying.

Next time, I will probably pick the vegetarian samosas (NT$170) over the methi pakora (NT$170) which is chopped fenugreek, onion and potato and green chili deep fried in chick pea batter.




The naan (NT$75) is made to order by the chef in the corner working at the tandoor- it's huge, hot and puffy and good. You can wander over and watch while you wait for your food to come.




At first glance, the portions for the curries seem small, but the dishes are deep and there's a lot hiding inside. I also like that Saffron's curries are rich without being greasy, and all the flavors were distinct from each other, rather than each curry being indistinguishable from the next as I've experienced at some places.

I enjoyed the sweet eggplant Baigan Bharta (NT$270) which were charcoal flamed aubergines flavored with garlic, coriander and onion...



and the spicy bhindi masala, (NT$240) okra cooked in kadai spices sprinkled with coriander.



The Murgh Makhmali Tikka (NT$360) had a creamy, nutty taste and the boneless chicken was tender and juicy.



Being one of the newer Indian restaurants in town, it's elegantly decorated with some fun seating in the corners with colorful pillows and areas to lounge. It's right next door to the Spice Shop which I've also heard is good, but it's funny that they are seriously right next door to each other.

Writing up this post, the pictures have my tastebuds salivating over all again. Has anyone been? Where is your favorite Indian restaurant in Taipei?


View hungry in taipei restaurants in a larger map

my kitchen/japanese: cute seaweed smiley faces from HANDS TAILUNG

Have you ever seen those pictures of those really creative bentos? Just google "cute Japanese bento" and you'll see what I mean. So when I happened upon the plethora of kawaii! plastic goodies from Japan at Hands Tailung, I oohed and aahed and giggled.

You could make Winnie the Pooh or Hello Kitty shaped toast...



Bear, bunny, fish or car shaped hard boiled eggs...



Or as you could see up top, smiley faces for your rice balls, inari sushi or whatever the heck you want.



You can see which one I picked. I would have bought more, but the Sogo price was a bit steeper than I would have liked to have paid.

Not that creative? You could just put the food in a kawaii bento box and be done with it.



For all my panda friends...



When I was a kid growing up in Indiana and Southern California, my lunch was leftovers from dinner before, usually rice and veggies and some meat. Other kids would say, what's that? Sometimes in curiosity and sometimes in faux disgust. I remember trading nori seaweed strips for Doritos.

But then I worked in my elementary school's cafeteria as a student helper in exchange for free lunch everyday and giving extra crinkle cut french fries to my friends. I ended up growing up on sloppy joes, country fried steak, pepperoni pizza lunches and 15 cent ice cream sandwiches, in addition to the fried dumplings and braised pork and mushrooms over rice my parents would make for dinner.

So making these smiley faces brings out the kid in me...



Sure you could spend hours cutting them out by hand, but a sharp punch is much faster... Just punch, punch, punch and assemble. You could also mix and match the eyes and smiles. You could use a regular craft punch too, but I've never seen smiley face ones before.

When I make the boiled eggs, I'll give it a post as well. I ended up buying these at a much cheaper price at a little discount store on ZhongXiao near Pizza Hut that I like to shop at.

You can find a lot of other cute and random stuff here that you never knew you needed- browse at your own risk.

HANDS TAILUNG

Breeze Center
No. 39 FuXing S Rd, Sec. 1, 6F
(02)8772-1105

Xinyi Mistsukoshi A4, 5F
No. 19, Song Gao Rd
(02)2723-8050

Nan-Xi Mitsucoshi
No. 12 NangJing W Rd, 9F
(02)2563-0080

ZhongXiao Sogo
No. 45, ZhongXiao E Rd, Sec 4,10F
(02)2771-8007

TienMu Sogo department store
No77, Zhong-Shan N Rd, Sec 6,7F
(02)2838-27289

hotpot/taiwanese: i strongly recommend MALA YUANYANG HOTPOT

MALA YUANYANG HOTPOT
No. 62, SiNing S. Road, 2 FL
(02) 2314-6528

MRT: XiMen

website: mala-1.com.tw

hours: 11:30 AM- 4 PM (NT$399); 4 PM - 5 AM (NT$459)

$$

Visit reviewed: 9/7/2009



Walking into Mala, I knew I was going to like it.

First off, it's all you can eat and mostly self serve, so you can mull over if you want seafood, veggies, ramen or fried you tiou from the abundant wall of choices without having to wait for a server to come to your table (which sometimes takes too long at other places when they are busy pushing the vegetable cart around) or feeling guilty about piling up your plate up high repeatedly.



Second, there's also all you can eat dessert- which includes not only a freezer of Movenpick, but also Haagen Daaz ice cream, which is proudly displayed at the entrance as well. Smart move, considering that a scoop or two of name brand ice cream is half the price of all-you-can-eat entry fee. If you don't want ice cream, there's also fruits, flans and cakes to choose from.



Third, it was packed on a Monday night. The setting is modern and bustling- groups of friends talking over music and spicy hotpot. Don't even try to add in friends who come late like we did, as tables are allotted for only 2 hours or so and then booked through the night to other reservations.



Did I mention the wall of food?



It had everything and it was fresh and tasty- more types of soy and tofu than I could name, packaged ramen, shrimp, mussels, scallops, fish, fishballs, at least four types of mushrooms and lots of cabbage, chinese cabbage and vegetables. The servers were efficient about constantly refilling pans that had run out.



I put half of my goodies into the non-spicy side and half into the mala side, especially the you tiao which soaks up the spicy broth and is crispy and soggy at the same time, sort of like a crouton bathed in french onion soup. I find the broths here a bit saltier than the others I've tried, as I was pretty thirsty the next morning.



And there's the meat. Lamb, Black Angus beef, chicken- just ask the server and they will bring the trays of thinly sliced meat to dunk and swish and devour.



To combat the spiciness, there's quite a few self serve drinks as well as Coke in glass bottles and Taiwan beer. There's also an array of soy, sesame, vinegar and chili sauces to mix and match to your own liking (though all labeled in Chinese).

I recently passed the famous (and some say overrated) Tripod King in a taxi and saw the lines outside. Save yourself some waiting and a few bucks and try out some of the other Mala places in town. Advance reservations strongly recommended though!


View hungry in taipei restaurants in a larger map

OTHER LOCATION:
No. 86, DingZhou Rd, Sec. 3
(02) 2365-7625

chinese/steak: CHIA CHIA STEAK

CHIA CHIA STEAK
No. 169, Zhong Xiao E Road, Sec 5
(02) 2768-9541

MRT: Taipei City Hall

$-$$

Kid friendliness: high chairs available and lots of finger foods. steak might be too chewy for some.

Visit reviewed: 12/7/2008



When I was a kid, Sizzler and Todai were the two special event places to go for dinner in my family. When I was in middle school, Sizzler might have been one of my favorite places to eat. I could get your own soup and pick and choose what to put on my salad. My sister and I got to have garlic bread. Best of all, my parents were in a good mood because we had a coupon and we could eat steak and all you could eat salad/soup. It would be at least 15 years until I'd even hear about or eat at Morton's or Ruth's Chris or Lawry's or BOA. To us, Sizzler = steak = good times.

So to me, when I eat at a place like Chia Chia Steak, even though my tastebuds are a lot pickier and older, I can understand the popularity. An affordable night out for the family, with a sizzling steak for each person, plus a salad and ice cream buffet. Shrimp chips. Curly fusilli pasta. Corn.



Even though the steak is bit chewy for me and I wonder why it's drenched in overpowering sauce that I end up scraping off, I see tons of happy kids and families chowing down and waiting in line for their seats.

In this case, my grandma's friends wanted to take us to dinner. The menu is in English and Chinese and has different cuts of steak available, as well as lamb, pork and chicken- you can also order just the salad bar. Most of the sizzling plates are under NT$300 with the most expensive cut being the US Choice Sirloin at NT$450 (or about US$14).



I hoped for the best after seeing the menu, plunged into the pasta and lettuce at the salad bar.



I was strangely addicted to these UFOs (Unidentified Fried Objects)- I think they were squid?



I had asked for mushroom sauce on my steak, but instead it came with a spicy pepper sauce sauce. I just scraped it off and tried it with the Chinese A1 steak sauce and ate the fried egg. I know that sizzling steaks on the cast-iron pans are popular in Taipei- I've had them before at the night market and food courts.



And try the day glo ice cream at your own risk. It was artificial tasting and sugar sweet, but you know that's the kind of things that a kid loves, right? So Chia Chia Steak might be the Chinese Sizzler that some will remember fondly when they grow up.



But if you're feeling nostalgic, there actually is a Sizzler in Taipei. I've been a looong time ago, when my uncle would treat us when we'd visit from the states, but I haven't been in at least 10 years. Where are the best sizzling steaks in Taipei?


View Larger Map