We went back into Hong Kong City from the Island side this morning to go for “Hong Kong French toast” which Elsa had been excited about. First stop was Australia Dairy Company. It was quite busy, everything moved fast, and the English menu was a bit of a dud. We ordered the breakfast set, which came with a delicious macaroni soup with ham. It was a very clean flavor that was somehow both simple and complex. The toast was delicious, as was my fried egg and milk tea. Unfortunately, we did not have French toast. It was absent from the English menus and everything moved too fast.

But not to worry! We headed around the corner to another dairy company afterwards. This one was run by all women instead of men, and there we found French toast and toast with peanut butter. It was delicious, although we actually preferred the savory breakfast in the end.

I walked around this morning to get Elsa some allergy medication— she appears to be allergic to Hong Kong. After that, the rain started as we ate dim sum in a tiny local shop we found on a blog. The food was just ok. The two best dishes were shaomai and Singapore noodles, and overall our feeling was we’ve had equally good versions of everything we ate in the US.

The rain caused us to seek the insides and leave Hong Kong Island for indoor shopping and walking on the Kowloon side. We ate some pan-fried xiaolongbao that were delicious (not pictured) I think I can officially say I prefer the pork and truffle to the “plain” pork. Also, definitely a snob for these little soup moursels, and possibly already deciding that Taiwanese food is >> Cantonese.

Taipei’s MRT is the most impressive subway system I’ve used as a tourist. Super easy, fast, and clean, very accessible to tourists who don’t speak Mandarin, and there are stops exactly where you’d want to go. Oh, and it’s very cheap.

藍家割包: Guanaco! Gontran Cherrier.

Last noodles in Taipei

I don’t recommend The Fifth Season; I proselytize.

The final noodles in Taipei.

Xiangshan Hiking Trail (象山登山步道).

It was a tough 20 mins up the steps this afternoon. We had already walked about 5 miles before attempting the trek. The view was definitely worth it, but we were so knocked out when we got to the bottom we ate a delicious scallion pancakes, hopped on the MRT, and fell asleep at 7pm for the rest of the night.

I snapped a shot of the city from ZhongXiao Fuxing from the Brown line, an elevated MRT that we may just take through the city later just to watch Taipei go by.

Lee’s recommendation of shaved ice was spot on, as was Elsa’s insistence we eat bao.

Taipei 101 Food Court (台北101美食街).

Just love that there’s this beautiful public space in the MRT station abutting a park with families and friends hanging out. No cops, no complaints about loitering. Just people enjoying public space.

Favorite trees, you shall not pass edition.

National Taiwan University (國立臺灣大學).