Taking that First Step aka launching this blog

“Start before you are ready.” I’ve been seeing this quote on my social media feeds and I’m taking it as a sign that I should just go ahead and launch this blog. Hello, my name is Therese and I am a late 20-something Chinese-Filipino living and working in Taipei, Taiwan. I’ve been blogging on and...

[Taipei Eats] Hotpot at Wulao Hotpot 無老鍋

Another hotpot restaurant that we were able to try back in January was Wulao Hotpot 無老鍋. I had friends from Singapore who were in Taiwan and we made time to meet up for lunch. We went to their Zhongshan branch:📍 No. 36-1, Section 2, Zhongshan N Rd, Zhongshan District, Taipei City Funny how we ordered...

[Taipei Eats] Hotpot at Old Sichuan 老四川

We celebrated T’s birthday by having lunch at Old Sichuan 老四川! 🥣 First, you choose your soup base (NTD150/person) We went with the Mala soup base 麻辣鍋, and the Healthy Bone Broth soup base 養生白味鍋 that contains chicken bone, pork bone, and Chinese herbs We got these 2 complimentary dishes, the first is a freebie...

[Taiwan Eats] Taoyuan weekend: Brunch at Butiaoshi, coffee and dessert at Gonna Cafe

We had a weekend brunch with T’s ex-colleagues the first week of January. First place we went to was 不挑食 Butiaoshi.📍 No. 99, Dazhi Rd, Dayuan District, Taoyuan City We ordered:🍛 Thai Green Chicken Curry & Rice 有點泰綠咖喱椰汁雞 NTD320🍲 Sautéed Chicken Breast With Rosemary 香煎迷迭香雞胸 NTD400🥣 Truffle Mushroom Soup 加購湯品 +NTD69 It had been such...

December Eats in Manila – Chingolo Deli, Charlie Wanton, Key Coffee Kissaten, Gianetto Pizzeria, Ohayo Japanese Comfort Food

We ate at a lot of restaurants back when we were in Manila last December, and I wanted to share some of the restaurants we tried. Chingolo Deli Food’s good but maybe my expectations were too high because of what I’ve heard about Bolzico beef? I mean it was okay but it wasn’t anything spectacular....

Poblacion, Makati bar crawl (Agimat, Buccaneers, Spirits Library)

Last month, my friend based in Singapore, Ed, was in the Philippines on vacation and since I was there too, we decided to meet up and do a Poblacion bar crawl. Back story, Ed and I were grade school friends but he moved schools in high school so we lost contact. Fast forward to I...

[Makati Eats] Spanish food at Txoko

Back in December, T and I had dinner at Txoko with my college friend Claudia and her husband Dale. I loved the back story about Txoko on the first page of their menu, which felt like a fitting description of our night – good food, good wine, and good friends! “In Spain, a Txoko is...

[Philippines Travel] Vivere Azure, Anilao, Batangas

We were fortunate to have a relaxing & chill weekend at Vivere Azure a few months ago. They were the World Travel Awards winner for Asia’s leading boutique resort in 2023 as well as Trip Advisor’s Travelers' Choice (I got this from their Instagram page). It was rainy and gloomy on the first day but...

[Travel] Bangkok 2023 Days 3 and 4 — Chu, Bangkok wedding, Wat Paknam, Erawan Museum, Sailom Bangpu, Ancient City, Siam Square

I wrote about our first 2 days in Bangkok here. And now let me share days 3 and 4. Day 3: Brunch at Chu, my friend Emily's wedding Tiffy and I had brunch with one of her friends from grad school. We went to Chu and I ordered the smoked salmon eggs benedict and iced...

[Travel] Bangkok 2023 Days 1 and 2 — Cholo’s, Cabbages and Condoms, Elefin Coffee, Wat Pho, Tha Arun, Wat Arun, Icon Siam

I finally made time to sit down and write about our trip to Bangkok last August. My ex-colleague turned friend invited me to her wedding reception and initially, I was unsure if I could make it. One day, I brought it up with a friend and she said that she had also been wanting to...

[Monthly Summaries] The last 3 months of 2023

We're already in 2024, so let me start by saying Happy New Year! Life and laziness got the best of me these past few months so I wasn't able to write as much as I wanted to. Today I'm going to finally write about some of the highs and lows from the last 3 months...