After a day of studying, I headed to Barcode for BC’s birthday. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw that the place was absolutely packed, and no wonder — incidentally, 4 of my friends were celebrating their birthday last night!
The place was flowing with booze, cigars and crazy antics by wild Librans who felt this was the day to just go crazy!
There were lap dances, make-out sessions and champagne enough to go around. I was shocked to see some wild girl to girl action:
Yes, they really DID make out.
But then again, it was all in good fun. Sheesh, everyone should have the opportunity to let their hair down once in a while.
It IS their birthday after all! 😛
As for myself, either 1) am just really popular, or 2) I have too many Libran friends because I kept on bumping into all these acquaintances…
JD thought it was the former — the irony is, when you’re in Taiwan long enough, you get to bump into the same people all the time. Hence, the theory on why there’s so many Libra babies (those born in the month of late September to October):
1) Librans by nature are more sociable and like to paaaaaarty! You can’t really find a lot of Librans stuck at home and doing the laundry
2) January is cold… people are lonely, and 9 months later, KA-BLOOOOOOW!
Hahaha, well, that means October is a month of parties (mine included which is coming in a few weeks)!
Which brings back to my new rule, if it’s a friend’s birthday and it’s a slow night (e.g., home parties, etc.), then I’ll pack my books and am game. Otherwise, I’ll just pass.
Don’t think I can go to every single party out there. 🙁
In addition, quality vs. quantity!
As for my own birthday party that’s coming soon, am still thinking of what to do. It may sound a bit early, but I’ve already drum up my guest list — and am surprised how different the list is from last year (which were 85% men!).
Let’s the partyin’ — ahem, studyin’ — begin!
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Meanwhile, I finally got the chance to visit the original Shin Yeh restaurant in far-away Zhongshan Sec. 3 — the place had 3 floors and it was pretty packed.
I wish I took a picture of the restaurant instead of just the food, but it felt like a cheap-down Gloria Maris style type of place, not what you expect for Taiwan’s most popular restaurant!
My friend visited the restaurant earlier this week, but loved it so much that she invited me to go again with her tonight. Hahaha, if it was me, I wouldn’t visit the same restaurant twice, but such is Shin Yeh’s appeal.
We ordered 3 dishes to share between both of us:
The Taiwanese chicken’s meat was so soft, it was easy to pare it with your chopsticks. Served with somewhat strong thick hoisen-like sauce, it was pretty good.
I especially loved the thin layer of soft fat that was in between the meat and skin (I know it was so unhealthy, but it was soooo good).
Their o-wa-chien or oyster cake was pretty good with just the right amount of crunch and oysters and served with sweet and sour sauce.
Now, the oyster cake was my favorite dish among all!
The Taiwanese squid was so-so though, so better pass it if you guys ever do go. I think my mom makes better adobo squid back home:
Yeah, I know, it doesn’t look like squid… 🙂
My friend and I couldn’t help ourselves and stuffed ourselves silly with the Shin Yeh desserts. Our favorite was the almond tea served with you tiao (Taiwanese oily sticks).
When you tear the you tiao into small pieces and drop them onto the hot almond tea soup, it gave just the right amount of crunchiness and sweetness that was to die for. The best part is that it was only NT$60 a bowl!
This dessert which was similar to mua-qi with pudding filling was NT$30 EACH (freaking expensive!) but it was pretty delicious in a delicate, sticky type of way:
Better to choose the almond tea soup with you tiao instead. We also tried the xi mi lu (white coconut tapioca dessert) but it was definitely sub-par (NT$50).
Overall, it was a great meal with delicious food and company. The average price per head was around NT$700, surprising because most meals don’t cost that much, but then again, we went crazy ordering just for 2!
What’s funny is that EVERY Shinyeh restaurant I’ve been have been different.
I’ve been to 3: Shinyeh Original Branch, Shinyeh Table just right below Luxy and Shinyeh 101 (85F, Taipei 101).
My verdict?
Shinyeh Original Branch has pretty good food and is perfect for bringing foreigners who want the authentic Taiwanese experience. The food is decent, the price acceptable and though the ambience is lacking, hey, you wanted the authentic experience. Here’s the restaurant details if you want to go for a visit:
They even have a map for us (downloaded from the website):
The service was terrific though — they kept on changing our plates, we felt like queens! Really wanted to give them extra tips. 🙂
My favorite branch though is still Shin Yeh 101 (Tel: (02) 8101 0185)
There was something about the high-class ambience, the view, the delicacy of the meals that just make my mouth water. The service is terrific too! Just make sure you reserve a month in advance to get seats!
Anyway, gotta go and eat and study! To end, here’s a photo I took the other day. You can’t see it, but the moon was absolutely full, and beautiful:
Do behave everyone and have a good week ahead!
Enjoy what’s left of your Sundays!
