Tamsui and Xiao Long Bao

Hey there,

today we decided on taking the MRT to Tamsui, a sea-side district of New Taipei. On our way to the MRT we grabbed some spring-roll like wraps for breakfast and bought some coffee and soy milk at the nearest convenience store along with two small pasties from the bakery next door (since they looked to good not to buy any) and went to 228 peace park to eat them.

Then we hopped onto the train to Tamsui. The weather today was a bit gloomy and upon arriving in Tamsui it was raining a bit, but nothing too bad and it cleared a little bit up later.
I really like Tamsui district, since the views of Tamsui river and the sea have a very calming effect (at least on me).
We just walked around for a bit before visiting Fort San Dominigo, which costs 80 NTD.

Fort San Domingo was first build by the Spanish and during its history it changed owner (and name) quite a bit. First the Spanish, then the Dutch, the Japanese, the British... The museum that's been set up inside is quite interesting since it explains Taiwan's history.

Afterwards we took the bus to Fisherman's Wharf.
Unfortunately they were renovating the boardwalk, but still the wharf is very beautiful and I really enjoyed strolling along the harbor and walking over Lover's bridge again.

Tomorrow will be our last day here, so for dinner we went to eat Xiao Long Bao and other food at Din Tai Fung again one last time before going back.
After a long MRT ride (1 hour and 20 min) we went straight to the restaurant expecting a long waiting time. We were surprised about how fast we got a table.
The dinner was, as expected, superb! We had Xiao Long Bao with shrimp and green squash, Xiao Long Bao with pork and truffles, Xiao Long Bao with crab roe and pork, steamed fish dumplings, shrimp and pork won tons, Din Tai Fung's house special (algae and tofu salad), spicy pickled cucumber and, for dessert, taro buns.
For the truffle Xiao Long Bao they gave us extra instructions to clean our palate by drinking tea before eating them and they gave us a new, clean spoon to eat them, since you are supposed to eat them as they are (not dipping them in the soy sauce/vinegar/ginger dip). They cost roughly four times as much as the regular pork Xiao Long Bao. But they are worth it! So delicious!

Din Tai Fung house special and spicy pickled cucumber

shrimp and squash xiao long bao

pork and truffles xiao long bao

crab roe and pork xiao long bao

fish dumplings

shrimp and pork won tons

taro buns

We were full, but as I said, tomorrow is our last day here, so we also decided to eat some shaved ice for dessert at the Taipei 101 food court.

We are pretty sad to leave Taiwan tomorrow, since we liked our trip very much. But on the other hand it will also be good to be home.

I hope you enjoyed reading. See you tomorrow for my last post about this beautiful country.

Pia