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Food for Thought

A Journey through an Iconic Spanish Menu at Bar Isabel

Food for Thought

How the Pandemic Taught Me to Eat with Vigorous Intention

Best Things I Ate

A Curated Guide to Toronto’s Best Ice Cream and Gelato

Food for Thought

Backcountry Canoe Camping: A Meal Planning Guide

Food for Thought

How to Eat Better: Inspiring Creativity in Your Weekly Meal Planning

Europe

A Curated Travel Experience with UP Norway

Recipes

Turkey Dan Dan Noodles

Recipes

Chorizo Breakfast Tacos

Canada

Creative Sustainable Farming: Gabriola Island’s Deep Roots Farms

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Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 15: How to Eat Soup Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 15: How to Eat Soup Dumplings (小籠包or Xiao Long Bao)!

Like I said in the video, there’s no wrong way but this is the BEST way, IMHO. Xiao Long Bao (XLB) is one of my favourite foods of all time and even with its insane crowds, 鼎泰豐 (Din Tai Fung) is a class act for consistent quality (18 folds exactly on every XLB!) and service and definitely worth a visit when you visit Taiwan (even if you’ve been to another location elsewhere). 

P.S. A few months ago, I posted about a very mediocre soup dumpling experience I had in Montréal, and several of you asked me to explain why it was so frustrating, but I really couldn’t do it properly without some visuals. So, I decided to go all the way to #DinTaiFung in Taipei and make this video as a response! @gingerrosefood @eric.b.r and @hanasmusicwastaken this one is for you in particular! 😊 

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@dintaifung.tw @dintaifungtw @dintaifungusa #xlb #soupdumplings #soupdumpling #taiwanroadtrip #taiwan #taiwanculture #台灣 #台灣美食 #小籠包 #鼎泰豐#xiaolongbao #worthit @buzzfeedworthit @stevenkwlim #chuonthis #foodie #foodblogger #culinaryculture #foodculture #authenticfood #eattheworld #exploretaiwan
Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 14: The Taiwan Railw Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 14: The Taiwan Railway Bento (鐵路便當 or 台鐵便當) 🚂 🍱 

I cannot stress how big of a deal these humble train lunchboxes are in Taiwan. They come in paper, wood, and stainless steel! There’s a national festival devoted to showcasing the new options! There are heated porkchop debates! There’s so much more history than I have space to share here. 

I recommend getting to your station early so you can peruse the food options and train merch, or just show up to the station for lunch without taking a ride like we did in Taipei AND Taichung! If you can’t decide on what to get, the pork chop will always be the most iconic choice. These boxes are sold directly by the Taiwan Railway Administration and retail for around 60-110 NT ($2-5 USD/CAD). You can find other train bentos sold by other vendors too but you can’t guarantee the price and quality. Man, I wish we had these on @viarailcanada! 

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#鐵路便當 #台鐵便當 #trbento #trainbento #train_nerds #traintravel #taiwanroadtrip #taiwantravel #taiwanfoodietravel #taiwanfood #taiwanhighspeedrail #臺灣 #台灣美食 #台北車站
Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 13: An Epic Day at @ Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 13: An Epic Day at @lovetaipeizoo with only $5?!

I’m telling you, with or without kids, you need to visit the Taipei Zoo! It’s not only an excellent zoo (they have so many pandas and red pandas) but the gov subsidies make it beyond affordable to visit. 

Here’s a breakdown of the costs converted to CAD and USD (current to date of video):

- MRT (metro ride there from within the city): 15 NT
- Adult Admission (half price if you’re a student): 60 NT
- EDIT: Corndogs were 50 NT but let’s leave out the food for the sake of the video
- Shuttle ride to Taipei Zoo South Station: 5 NT
- EDIT: Maokong Gondola ride and further metro stops back into city: 65 NT (but can be a little more or less depending on your status and how many rides you take) 

Total: 145 NT ($4.78 USD or $6.38 CAD, taxes included)

Plus, you can pay for the entire journey (including the meals) with your EasyCard! 

Can you believe it?!

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#Taipeizoo #exploretaiwan #taiwanroadtrip #taiwantravel #taiwan #taiwanfoodietravel #zoolife #zooanimals #chuonthis #budgettravel #budgetfriendly #budgettraveller #exploretheworld #台灣 #台北動物園 #台北 #動物園
Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 12: Top 10 Things to Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 12: Top 10 Things to Try at a Taiwanese Night Market! 

These are just some of my favourites and specifically, ones we ate on this trip, but like I said in the video, just trust your gut and follow the locals. I would also like to add papaya milk to this list as an honorary mention! 

What’s your favourite night market food? 

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#TaiwanRoadTrip #taiwantravel #taiwan #taiwannightmarket #chuonthis #eattheworld #foodblogger #travelblogger #台灣#台灣美食 #台灣夜市 #夜市 #keelungfood #keelungnightmarket
Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 11: POV: Trying to c Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 11: POV: Trying to capture the majestic beauty of 太魯閣國家公園 (Taroko National Park) from the backseat of our rental car. 

The Taroko (Gorge) National Park (Taroko is the original Japanese transliteration of the Truku Indigenous Tribe of Taiwan) has the most beautiful scenery in Taiwan, hands down. In the span of a 60 km drive, we drove from sea level along a rugged coast towards subtropical canyons, to finally reaching some of the highest peaks of coniferous forests in Taiwan. It’s full of unique rock and river formations, and there’s something a little different around every corner. 

The park is open anytime, all year round, and is the easiest to get to from Hualien. Rent a car to get around, or sign up for many of the comprehensive tours they have on offer. Add this spot to your bucket list! 

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#Taroko #tarokogorge #tarokonationalpark #太魯閣國家公園 #Taiwan #taiwantravel #taiwanroadtrip #Chuonthis #traveltheworld
Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 10: Popsicle Paradis Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 10: Popsicle Paradise 

Most of the Visitor Centers in Taiwan are pretty great, but the Lu Ye one in Taitung County is attached to one of the most beautiful and relaxing spaces (curated by @icespring_official) that also happens to have fresh popsicles payable on a honour system! What an awesome surprise this was to stumble across. 

Save for later:
📍 春一枝冰棒: 鹿野76誠信商店 (shows up as “Spring Trading Company” on Google too)
📍 鹿野遊客中心 (Luye Visitor Center (we also had a surprisingly great time here)) 

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#IceSpring #春一枝冰棒 #春一枝 #popsicles #ChuonThis #TaiwanRoadTrip #TaiwanTour #taiwanfood #taiwanfoodietravel #taiwantravel #taitung #台東 #臺灣 #台灣 #台灣美食 #鹿野遊客中心 #鹿野 #traveltheworld #eatlocal #eattheworld
Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 9: Roadside Custard Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 9: Roadside Custard Apples! 

Also called 释迦 (Shijia or Shakya), Buddha’s Head, Cherimoya and other names, this is one of the best fruits you can try in Taiwan and nowhere in the world (allegedly!) produces better custard apples than Taitung. 

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#ChuonThis #TaiwanRoadTrip #Taiwan #Taiwanfruit #taiwanfoodietravel #cherimoya #释迦 #fruitoftaiwan #eattheworld
Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 8: Staying at our fa Taiwan Road Trip Diaries Part 8: Staying at our favourite youth hostel (!) in Kenting National Park (墾丁國家公園)

Kenting’s beaches and year-round amazing weather have made this area a great surfing destination but the (China Youth Corps) Kenting Youth Activity Center is what we love the most about staying here! I usually have to give a bit of an explanation that yes, it’s technically a @hihostels youth hostel but trust me! It’s worth checking out even if you’re not a student. It’s one of the only places in the world that you can still stay in a traditional Minnan architectural-style family home. 

Disclaimer: we didn’t come for the surf, but we didn’t come for the food either lol. You’ll find some fun things to eat for sure, but I cannot recommend Kenting as a food destination per se.

Tag someone you’d like to stay here with!

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#Taiwanroadtrip #kenting #kentingbeach #chinayouthcorps #taiwan #taiwantrip #taiwantravel #taiwanfoodietravel #taiwanese #minnanarchitecture #台灣 #墾丁國家公園 #墾丁 #救國團 ##chuonthis #taiwanarchitecture
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