My 30th birthday in Diamond Tony's 101 Observatory Restaurant in Taipei

Dining exquisite food on top of Taipei 101 with a gorgeous lady

How to put such amazing experience into words? It's impossible. And I don't want to talk too much, let the photos do the talking. But I need to mention how it all started. I just turned 30. And few days ago, before my birthday, my wonderful girlfriend Lily told me, that she plans a big surprise on my birthday. I only knew, that we'll be going somewhere, but I had no clue where. I try to ask many times, but she won't tell or she'd make up something else to confuse me. Today she came to me around midday and we spent the afternoon together, anticipating the evening. She looked stunning, when I saw her. All dolled up in a wonderful dress and high-heels. She was always beautiful to me in so many ways, but today she topped all that and looked more gorgeous than ever.

We took the subway to Taipei City hall station around 5pm and walked around a little. I started to guess all kinds of silly things, like: Are we going to a night club? Will there be naked girls dancing for me? I became nervous. She just wouldn't tell, although I had a strong suspicion, that we'll go somewhere near Taipei 101. And then the clock turned 6 and she told me: We're going on top of Taipei 101, on the 85th floor. I was like: Wow! Amazing! And I started to look up on top of the building. It was a humbling moment. The photo above was taken around 6pm.

We went to the 85th floor of Taipei 101, which is located somewhere in the middle of the last 8th segment of the building (see arrow) very close to the roof. The height is around 370m, the highest I've ever been. The restaurant's name is Diamond Tony's 101 Observatory Restaurant, which serves Italian food. There are two more restaurants on top of Taipei 101: Another one also on the 85th floor, offers Taiwanese food and it's named Shin Yeh 101 欣葉. And above these two, occupying the whole 86th floor, is a Japanese restaurant named XEX. I'm perfectly happy with the restaurant Lily chose, because the food was the best I've ever eaten. More about that later.

How to come here: Go to the MRT Taipei City Hall station and walk south. You'll see Taipei 101 from afar easily, because it's so tall. You have to enter from the Xin Yi road.

Off to the elevators, the fastest in the world!

In the fastest ascending elevator in the world. It was a great experience.

We were taken to 65th floor, which took us about 30 seconds. Then we were directed to another elevator, that took us to the 85th floor, which took another 10 seconds. And then we were there, at the Diamond Tony's 101 Observatory Restaurant or 隨意鳥地方 101 高空觀景餐廳 in Chinese. Because the restaurant has to be booked, Lily's name was checked and then we were let inside.

The entrance of Diamond Tony's on top of Taipei 101.

The bar on 370m.

We were brought to our table for two, the one on the left was ours.

This was our neighboring table. If you get this one, you have a magnificent view.

This one is set for a group of people. Do you see the table setting? Perfect, isn't it?

The first thing we did was taking a look down. I felt like I'm on a plane.

The view of Taipei below was amazing! Don't you agree?

A view to the other side: The restaurant. It was full around 7pm, because of dinner time.

The waiters and waitresses were extremely polite and did a great job. We were given the menu soon after being seated and a glass of water was poured for us. We didn't wait long for the first starter.

1 First starter: Bread and tuna dip is served to every guest as the first starter

2 Second starter: Left is my salad with raw salmon, right is Lily's salad with beef: Delicious!

3 Soup: Left is my creamy mushroom soup, right is Lily's tomato soup (I think). Yummy!

4 Third starter: I thought this was the duck, the main dish I ordered, but it was chicken (I guess). It was very soft and tasty. I loved it.

Lily ordered a prawn with dumplings, that had a prawn inside. It tasted great.

5 Main dish: Finally, my duck. It was really soooooooo yummy, one of the best meals I've ever eaten. The duck was so soft, the sauce was great. And there was a piece of pork and a beef steak in contrast of the soft duck. The steak was raw inside, but yummy. Really an amazing dish.

Lily ordered prawn again. She regretted ordering it twice, but it was yummy nevertheless.

~.~

Then came my surprise: The waitress brought a chocolate muffin for my birthday and of course that was organized by Lily, who had a naughty smirk on her face, when she saw my surprise. She said I had three wishes free, but I should not reveal them. I quickly came up with three things I really wish would happen to me and to give you a hint: One is related to a woman, one is related to a country and another is related to... Can't tell ya! ;-)

I quickly noticed that an "h" is missing. Oh oh, what is that? Engrish on my birthday? Haha. Another reason, why Taiwan needs more English teachers, hehe :-P That was the only 'flaw' of the evening.

~.~

6 Dessert: Both had the same dessert and it was small, simple, but yummy.

On top of that, we also ordered coffee for me and tea for Lily, plus two glasses of excellent Chardonnay to say cheers to my 30th birthday. Food and drink wise it was the best dinner of my life. And of course the I enjoyed the best view and had the best and most beautiful lady by my side. It just couldn't be less than perfect. Sorry for the gourmets among you, I'm not so good with the names of the dishes, I just eat them, hehe.

After the last bite and sip, we took tons of photos like most of the visitors did. There was even a live band playing all kinds of music, from jazzy stuff to some modern hits like Lady Gaga's "Just Dance". It was funny, when I heard Gaga's song, because we have birthday on the same day. I was wondering, how she's celebrating. Does she have more fun than me? Who knows...

A short video to give you an idea of the ambiance in Diamond Tony's 101

The video is not of good quality, but it will give you a little idea of the restaurant.

There's really nothing to criticize in this restaurant. The waiting staff is polite and works fast and they all speak English. The food is top notch. A small inconvenience are the long dining, which make it hard for two people to talk. But maybe it was because of the music, I don't know. We still had a great time, the food was so delicious, we had no time to chit chat.

Some more photos for you to enjoy:

The great view from the window behind Lily's chair.

Lily taking photos. She used a saucer to bring the camera in a better position. Smart.

One of the best photos of Taipei at night.

Taipei, city of lights.

The table next to us. People enjoying themselves.

The live band with the delightful female singer.

The way to the toilet, that comes with a marvelous view. But I have no pics.

When leaving 101, we were greeted by a full moon.

All in all, it was really a great day, a day I will never forget. I celebrated my 30th birthday on top of the famous Taipei 101, former highest building of the world and current second. Guess what, it was also a first time for Lily to be on top of the building, although she's from Taipei (actually Yingge), but she had to wait all these years for me to finally make it on top of Taipei 101. That's why it was a special occasion for both of us. It was really a day both of us won't ever forget.

Thank you so much, Lily, for giving me the best experience of my life. You made it so special for me, I was really touched. And thank you for the card, for organizing everything and for the big surprise. And thanks for treating me. You're simply amazing and I love you.

[All pics by MKL, 2010][Related: Taipei 101 and my girlfriend's post]

[Price of the dinner for 2: Around 100€]

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Happy birthday to me and Lady Gaga!

Yesterday was my last day as a twenty-something...

The Lovers' bridge, Danshui (情人橋, 淡水)

...and I had a great time with my girlfriend in Danshui, a wonderful small town north of Taipei City, famous for its colonial history, delicious food and a great view of the the Taiwan strait. One of the attractions is the Lovers' bridge. And that was the perfect place for me to spend my last day of my twenties with my dearest girlfriend. I really had a great time, but we walked a lot and my legs still hurt a little. So today, on my 30th birthday, it's time to rest. But in the evening, my girl is planning a surprise for me. We're going somewhere, but I have no idea where. :-)

So more about that surprise and Danshui in my next week's posts. Oh, and one more thing: Lady Gaga* has birthday on the same day as me, she'll be 24 today. Happy birthday to her, too. :-P Here's a video to her honor. Enjoy!


Do you "share" your birthday with a celebrity?

[Thanks to Carina, who told me][Pic by me, '10]

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Taiwanese tea ceremony: 工夫茶道

The way of making tea with great skill

I've had the pleasure to see and experience the Taiwanese tea ceremony two times, the first time in Taichung with Cherry and second time in Jiufen with Lily. The name of the the tea ceremony in Chinese is 工夫茶道 (pronounced as Gōngfu chádào). I will show you how the ceremony is held, teach you all the steps, so you can try and do it yourself, if you're interested in the tradition. But first let me explain the meaning of some words, because they may not be familiar to you:

1. 工夫: gōng fu or commonly kung fu means "skill" (composed of words 工: work and 夫: man)¹. You may know the word, because is commonly used for Chinese martial arts, usually written as 功夫². But in Chinese kung fu means skill of any kind, in this case a skill of making great tea. [1][2]
   
   
2. 茶: chá means "tea". Even the Slovenian word for tea - čaj (pronounced chai) derives from this word. Tea originated in China and with the it's popularity all over the world, the Chinese name spread all over the world as well. But in two versions, either as tê (from Hokkien dialect) or as chá (from Cantonese dialect)³.
   
   a) From tê: English tea, German Tee, Swedish te, French thé, Malay teh...
   b) From chá: Slovenian čaj, Russian chai, Greek tsái, Thai tsaa, Kor/Jap cha...
   The j at the end of čaj probably comes from 茶葉 (chá yè) meaning "tea leaves."[3]
   
   
3. 道: dào has many meanings like "direction; way; road; path; principle; truth; morality; reason; skill; method."⁴ It's also commonly known as the root word of Daoism (or Taoism), the well known East Asian philosophy and religion. [4]

Exuisite Taiwanese tea goes well together with some tea pastry.

So 工夫茶道 or kung fu cha dao would be literally translated as "skilled tea method", but to rephrase it, "the way of making tea with great skill" would be more apporpriate. The Taiwanese call this ceremony also 老人茶 lao ren cha and use some unique wooden tools and the way the tea is prepared is slightly different, but I won't go into that here. I will show you how the tea was made in a traditional tea house in Jiufen. The skilled person, who made the tea below was my lovely girlfriend (and I assisted her a little). Please take note, that we're not very experienced in making the tea the right traditional way. The waitress gave us a brief demonstration and later we tried to follow her steps. We may not did it exactly as she, but the tea was still very tasty.

Here's how it's done (or how we've done it):

Step 1: Warming the pot and heating the cups (溫壺燙杯)

Basically you just pour the water over the clay pot that contains the tea leaves inside, that's all. You have to pour from a higher position when cleaning (but later, when you brew the tea, you have to pour from a lower position). The water runs off into the big water catching tray below, which is called 茶盤 (chá pán) in Chinese. This is just for cleaning the clay pot.

1 A Taiwanese tea kettle for boiling water, placed on the floor under the table.
2 The tea digger, where the right amount of tea leaves is placed.
3 Putting the leaves in the clay tea pot named 茶壺 in Chinese.
4 Using the hot water to clean the clay pot by pouring the water over it.

Step 2: Appreciating the excellent tea (鑒賞佳茗)

The tea is now in the two snifter coups and you can take them and appreciate the tea's appearance and smell, but you don't drink the tea, you pour it away.

5 Pouring the water in the clay pot and then out
6 Poured the water in again and left it inside
7 How long you brew the tea depends on your preference, for me 30secs is enough
8 Pouring the tea in the snifter cups named 聞香杯 (wén xiāng bēi) in Chinese.

Step 3: Respectfully receive the fragrant tea (敬奉香茗)

Finally you can drink the tea. The proper way is to drink the tea in three sips. Later you don't need to repeat the initial 3 steps, you just pour water in the clay tea pot and then you pour the tea into the container with the fine sieve and then in your drinking cups. That's it. And you can repeat that for hours, if you want, because the tea is really excellent.

9 The tea is poured in the snifter cups again
10 Place the drinking cups over the snifter cups, this is named 龍鳳呈祥 in Chinese.
11 Holding both cups
12 and inverting them. This is called 鯉魚翻身 in Chinese.

From left to right: A snifter cup, a drinking cup and the Jin Shuang Oolong Tea.

The name Oolong tea (烏龍茶) in Chinese means Black dragon tea. The name is given, because the leaves are darker and the way of preparing is different.

Taiwan really has some of the best teas in the world. And the people are just crazy about drinking tea. You have all kinds of teas everywhere and people buy it and drink it on the way. But sometimes it's good to take a break and enjoy some high quality tea, because it's an unforgettable experience and a moment you won't forget so fast.

How do you like your tea?

[My TAIWAN page][Links: Gongfu Tea Ceremony][All pics by MKL, 2010]

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Ruifang 瑞芳鎮, the gateway to Jiufen

A small town before Jiufen

Ruifang township (瑞芳鎮 in Chinese, pronounced Ruìfāng zhèn) translates as "Lucky fragrant small town", but I can tell you, these days I would not call it fragrant, if you ask me. And the lucky part can also be debated, judging from the photos below. This town looked pretty gloomy and run down to me, but maybe the fact, that it was cold and foggy that day, added to the bad image. The town looks pretty small. It used to be a center of the mining industry in the 19th century (source), but these days it's just the gateway to the popular tourist destination Jiufen. And that's the reason, why I ended up here: Our train from Taipei City brought us here and we had to transfer to a bus, that brought us up to the beautiful mountain town Jiufen 九份, the place we wanted to visit. See some photos of Ruifang below:

Ruifang train station.

This part is like a public square and connected to the main road.

This road across the street from the train station is full of food stalls.

This is a type of sausage on a stick, it's very popular in Ruifang.

The photos above were taken in early morning and then we moved on to Jiufen. We didn't spend a lot of time in Ruifang. But we returned in the afternoon, while going back to Taipei. We were hungry, so we decided to eat something here. See some more photos:

This would be a kind of a day market in Ruifang, but it's more like few food stalls only.

We saw food along the street, but we decided to go to that covered area.

This is not really Zhong Xiao East Road, but it has a certain charm.

That famous sausage again. We tried one and it was pretty good.

Then we were headed to that covered area, we were hungry and wanted to eat.

You can read about the food we had there in this post>>

More photos of Ruifang near the river:

I wonder what is built there. A bridge? An overpass? No idea.

Doesn't look like some well thought-out architecture.

I wouldn't live here, it looks pretty gloomy. Wonder how it is, when it's sunny.

When heading back, the whole area was lively.

Ruifang is only worth a visit, if you happen to go to Jiufen or Keelung. You can stop for an hour, walk around a little, try some local food. I don't want to be rude to the people of Ruifang, but there's really not a lot to do here, if you come as a tourist. I hope my photos will help those, who are curious about Ruifang.

[My TAIWAN page][Related: Our trip to Jiufen, Ruifang food][All photos by MKL, 2010]

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