1) So this evening, on the recommendation of our good friend Nina, we went for a hotpot at the famous Haidilao Hotpot (海底捞火锅). Apparently, they are famous for their hospitality, and it was immediately apparent as we entered the restaurant. We were given aprons to wear, and even our bags received some pampering, being covered by a nice warm cloth!
2) Nina and her friend, Lyn Lee, made most of the orders for us. In the end, we had a whole assortment of meats and vegetables, including loads of seafood and even some really exotic dishes! Pig brain, anyone? We ordered three different types of soup - beef stock, tomato soup broth, and "mala" soup (which literally translates to "numbing spicy soup"). I personally enjoyed the tomato soup the most, as did the rest of us.
3) We first had to create our own dipping sauces, and we were encouraged to experiment and combine different kinds of sauces. I tried mixing the sesame sauce with peanut sauce, with a drizzle of fish sauce and chives as garnish. The taste was really good in my opinion. Over the course of the meal, we tried some really interesting dishes, including pork belly skin and pig brains :) Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the brains - it was first boiled in the soup, before being served with some curry powder. If it was finely chopped, I'd suspect people would not find anything strange about it!
4) We finished off with a nice serving of noodles. A chef came out, all decked out in his uniform, to stretch the noodles and perform for us. He then left the noodles to cook in the soup. I enjoyed drinking the tomato soup after all of the food was cooked in it, as its own flavour was enhanced. After all this, we had time to enjoy some really sweet fruits as dessert. It was a rather heavy meal, but an awfully satisfying one at that.
5) Next on our agenda was a trip to Eslite Bookstore (誠品書店) - one of the largest retail bookstores in Taiwan, with a branch in Suzhou. We went there specifically because it was the 75th Anniversary of the famous novella "The Little Prince", and so there was a little expo in the bookstore. After all these years, I have not heard of this book before, so I had to Google it to find out its story. After spending some time perusing the books and expo itself, we stopped at "Kiwi Kraze" to have frozen yogurt. It wasn't as cheap as I would have liked, but neither was the hotpot haha. It tasted awesome though :)
6) Finally, it was time to leave, and we made our way back home. That is the end of my blog update for today, and thanks as always for visiting. Have a nice day, cheers! :D
The one and only - Haidilao Hotpot :)
As though we made the dishes ourselves ^^
Haidilao Hotpot
Choosing our soups as well as main dishes
That's an insane amount of food if you ask me XD
Luckily we brought our appetites with us :)
Pig brains ^^
Everything looks good after cooking :))
Peanut sauce, on top of sesame sauce, with a little fish sauce and chives as garnish
(absolutely wonderful as a dipping sauce for the hotpot)
Yes, it is a table-side performance of noodle making
The bill came to that... :')
After a nice meal :)
At Eslite Bookstore
Awesome paper art sculptures
Sydney Opera House
75th Anniversary of "Le Petit Prince" Expo
The rose, which the Prince took care of
(sorry, I can't write out the whole synopsis here XD)
If my Mandarin is any good, this should roughly translate to the following,
" Is this... a hat? The obverse side may not be as simple as that!"
More group photos ^^
Mirror mirror in the wall, who is the fairest of them all? ^^
Four flavours - watermelon, milk, kiwi, and chocolate ^^
Look at the pretty colours <3 <3 <3
Missing Nina in this pic
(she went go get milk tea)
Kiwi Kraze!!
It's POWERFULLY flavoured :)
