Welcome to Indiana - Purdue Farmer's Market in West Lafayette, IN

Some scones from the market

My experience with food thus far in West Lafayette has been pretty interesting. Most of my meals are spent in the various dining halls around Purdue, but when the farmer’s market rolled around on Thursday, I knew I had to check it out. As a first year freshman, I find myself running around campus or desperately trying to navigate the swarms of people on my knock off penny board during my cross campus trips to various classes or to study at a library with friends. So in all the hubbub and frenzy of syllabus week, I decided to seek the comfort of the more familiar notion of the Purdue Farmer’s Market.

The Origin? - Chun Shui Tang in Taichung, Taiwan

Allegedly. But most likely!

Enjoying a cold one!

Boba really is the craze these days, isn’t it? Trust me, I know – I did my prom ask with five cups (it went great). Boba, the great drink that goes by so many names and refers to one thing: a drink with tea, condensed milk, sugar and those sweet little pearls made out of God knows what (PCB actually). Pearl milk tea is another name for it, a direct translation from its original Chinese name 珍珠奶茶(zhen zhu nai cha). Its origins are in Taiwan – there’s no doubting that. But there is a controversy about the exact store that started boba. The one I went to claims to be the first – it opened in 1983 after being converted from another tea shop. And according to Chun Shui Tang in 1987, pearl milk tea was brought into the world. The other shop in this race for the first is Hanlin Teahouse in Tainan, Taiwan – I’ll tell you about it if I ever head down there. Chun Shui Tang came into existence when my dad just entered into high school at the number one ranked boys high school in the city of Taichung. It’s located behind the old city hall, where my grandmother used to work at a market that took place there. Surrounding the city hall is a bunch of historical food spots – including their famous sun cakes and meatballs. The meatball stand is one I remember from my childhood in Taichung – their service while not exactly friendly s quick and smooth, allowing a plethora of customers from the busy street rush in and out getting their meal in. And to contrast this all, Chun Shui Tang.

R-Eel-ly Good - Fei Qian Wu in Taipei, Taiwan

So good it might be eel-egal but it’s not. Illegal, that is.

Rain drops are dropping faster than mixtapes in the summer. There’s even a little thunder and lightning going on. So why am I braving the elements with my family and a few umbrellas on this dark night through a supposedly haunted park? Well, I’m trying to get to some delicious Japanese food! Wait - Japanese food in Taiwan? Yeah! Taiwan, over the recent years, has become more and more like something resembling America—a mixing pot of people from around the world doing business. And as the international influence and populace grow, international cuisine naturally starts to take prominence in the region (see: San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles). The same has happened here in Taipei, where there is one whole road dedicated to Japanese cuisine. Nearby is a whole set of stores that cater more to the Japanese tourist populace.

Not Your Grandma's Cooking – Shanghai Grandma in Shanghai, China

Just kidding, probably close to it

Their 

So if you've been following this blog, you know that I was trying to find a certain restaurant, walked in and was met with a barrage of bugs. Well, the restaurant I was trying to find was Shanghai Grandma, and it turns out it was right next to the one I went into. Winnie and I were out walking after eating at Da Hu Chun that day when we spotted the real Shanghai Grandma, on the way to the Bund. So the next day, right after getting out of the Oriental Pearl Tower, we ran straight for Shanghai Grandma on the opposite side of the Yellow River.Shanghai Grandma, at first glance, is a classic nice restaurant with velvet chairs and glass topped tables. When we went at about 2pm, it was understandably pretty empty, as it was after the lunch rush. We were quickly seated at a corner table and presented with a menu filled to the top with some Shanghai classics. The first thing I saw on the menu was the chaoniangao (炒年糕), which is essentially sticky rice cakes mixed with veggies and meat, then stir-fried. The flavors were delightfully balanced, as the salty flavor complemented the sticky texture of the rice cakes. That was probably the best dish there, as everything else was very…salty.

Three Times Will Do It – Da Hu Chun in Shanghai, China

Worth the three attempts!

Shengjianbao

As the rain came down, Winnie and I quickly rushed through with our umbrellas, trying to find the restaurant marked on our map. As we hurriedly splashed through the puddles, we passed a familiar wooden sign. Not today, we thought, we're going to try something new. But as soon as we opened the door of the new place, a fly flew out. Then another. There was a swarm of bugs in the restaurant, crawling on the floor, the ceiling, everywhere. And that's when I turned to Winnie and said," hey, maybe we should go to Da Hu Chun."

A+, what about Tofu+??? - Tofu Plus in Cupertino, CA

Hey, June!

Side dishes!!!

With the final grade in the books, in comes dead week: the week for Saint Francis seniors who don't have any finals to relax until they have to report for graduation practice on Friday. And being the foodie I am, I decided to go find places to eat with friends! June is a good friend of mine from  a few classes at school, and (I'm writing this after graduation so I know now) was the salutatorian for our Class of 2017! Needless to say, she's a pretty smart cookie who also happens to know a lot about the best Korean food in the area. Needless to say, I found a time that worked for both of us in order to get a sample of the best Korean spots that I've never been to or heard of.

The Breakfast Club Part 1 – Fu Hang Soy Milk in Taipei, Taiwan

Line up!

OUT THE DOOR

So Taiwanese people really love their lines – you line up to get into the subway, line up at the beginning of school, and pretty much line up to go anywhere. But one thing Taiwanese especially love to line up for is trendy and hyped-up restaurants. This past year, I think there’s been a Krispy Kreme, In-N-Out, and even Alexander’s Steakhouse pop-up in Taipei and that really gets the Taiwanese populace going. The lines were out the door, but it doesn’t take a new restaurant to get the blood flowing around here. In fact, one of the most consistently long queues day by day is for the best Chinese breakfast in Taipei – Fu Hang Dou Jiang. So what is a Chinese breakfast? Well, allow me to explain.

The Los Altos Food Adventure - Part 1

Another day, another food adventure

Athena!

So one of my latest food adventures is actually a make up for one that was supposed to happen on
Senior Ditch Day – I had tentatively planned to hang around Los Altos with Athena for the day, but when another group of friends decided to go to San Francisco to eat and drink boba, I had to jump on that train. But today I redeemed myself by making it up to Athena; we spent the entire goddamn day eating food – that’s right, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Athena and I could’ve gone around the entire Silicon Valley eating food and spending money, but we were limited by one very interesting thing: her car. According to Athena (I have yet to bear witness to this) the car is fairly unreliable, and even her dad was scared it would break down if we went too far. Lucky for us, there is an abundance of high-quality food in the Los Altos-Mountain View area, so let’s just jump right to it!

Ditch Day! Let's go get some boba, guys! - San Francisco, CA

Classic

BOBA!!!

Every year, around 400 Saint Francis seniors are blessed with an official "Ditch Day" where they go off to the beach to have fun or fish at a nearby lake. But because I run a food blog, I went to eat food in San Francisco. Our plan was for the South Bay people to meet up at the Mountain View station and head up to San Francisco by Caltrain (with Jennifer, the lone East Bay person, heading up by BART), but things kind of went wrong as soon as we started. Our great friend William woke up an hour after we got on the train, so we decided to check the the Museum of Modern Art without him. One of the main purposes of this trip was to get Jennifer some more photos for her Instagram, but the other big one was to check out some great bubble tea. The boba shop we decided to go to was Boba Guys - regarded as one of the best in the city. I just knew I had to check it out.

Big Burger - Gordan Ramsay Burger in Las Vega, NV // Vegas III

Erika ready to chow down!

Heavenly burger

So after finding our next dinner spot, Erika led the way and got us lost. Luckily, she regained her bearings before we lost too much time. Long story short, we made our way through the sea of people between the MGM Grand and Planet Hollywood where we saw everything from strippers to people biking for charity on the sidewalk. Yeah, it was quite a classic “Vegas” night. The wonderful thing about Vegas is that after you get through the smell of weed and look around you, all the different people really contrast against each other. The city really becomes quite a diverse selection of people, with suited businessmen sauntering in the summer heat alongside scantily clad ladies with nothing covering their upper body except for two strategically placed stickers. There are the men on the bridges playing music and the tourist groups filling the bridge, with reflections of major brand signs on the glass walls around you. Luckily, there wasn’t this many people in line for Gordon Ramsay Burger, where we queued for about a half hour before making our way into the eating space.

Iron Sushi - Morimoto in Las Vegas // Vegas II

Erika!

So after a while, I finally got to hang out with my friend Erika again! You may remember Erika from Get Baked Episode 2, where we went to Mr. Holmes Bakery, Tropiseuno SF, and Lemonade. Well now we're in Erika's home turf - Las Vegas, Nevada. Erika knows the area pretty well, and we decided to take some photos before hitting our main destination: Morimoto Las Vegas.

Vegas Baby!!! - Bellagio Buffet in Las Vegas, NV

Piles of shrimp!

At first I was pretty confused - why should I be going to Las Vegas for my spring break? Shouldn't I be hanging out with friends, or maybe relaxing by an ocean in Hawaii? Why Las Vegas of all places - I'm not even 18 which means I can't drink, gamble, or do anything in Las Vegas!

Well, I can eat.

Sorry, Vegan Cheese Doesn't Taste Like Cheese - Veggie Grill in Saratoga, CA

Vegan Cheese is bad

Winnie!!!

Once upon a time, this young man was a vegetarian. That's right. From fifth through 8th grade, I thought that vegetarianism was really cool! But starting in freshman year, I decided that I wanted some more protein in the form of meat so I reverted to the good old omnivore lifestyle. I've never considered going vegan though - in fact, being vegetarian was a pretty big hassle in and of itself! But the point is, I've eaten quite a bit of vegetarian foods in the past. And a lot of substitutes, including the all famous Tofurkey which can taste a bit like actual turkey! In my past experiences with substitutes, if it's good and I forget that I'm eating a substitute, then I won't notice a difference. Well Veggie Grill has earned my respect for creating a few Vegan dishes that I ate without noticing the fact that they were Vegan. So a gold star to the salad with bacon substitute and the Koreatown tacos, but a frowny face (like the one your physics teacher puts by a question when you make a mistake) to the nachos.

Stacks on Stacks - The Original Pancake House in Los Altos, CA

Nostalgic comfort food at 6:30 am

Carter looking dramatic

The Original Pancake House has been around in my hometown, Los Altos, for a long time - like Tom's Depot, it's a staple of Los Altos life and history. I remember my dad dragging me there at some early hour when I was like five in order to get a good spot in line! It used to be packed with people every morning - especially Saturday mornings - trying to get a taste of some of the best pancakes in town. It's kind of like when baby boomers look back on "good old days" - things are different these days. More specifically, there was no wait to get in to the famed Original Pancake House in Los Altos this morning when I came in for breakfast with my friend Carter Fox.

I Got Baked in San Francisco - The Sequel

So is it habit forming?

Erika!!!

So Erika lets the Carleton GroupSnap (is that a thing) know that she's going to be in San Francisco on January 28th, so guess what happened: Miles and I roll out through BART and CalTrain and meet up with her at Montgomery. So Erika, Miles and I were pretty close friends during the SCSI, and the main thing that brought us together was our shared love of music. Miles likes more underground and new artists, so when he played music off his phone it was always an adventure for me (and probably Erika, I don't really know). But anyway, we're all good friends, and of course Miles and I agree to go to Erika's top choice location: Mr. Holmes Bakehouse. That's right folks, we're back. Let's get baked in San Francisco

Going Psycho - Psycho Donuts and Pho with @winnie.fried

Thought I was going psycho for a second there

Once again, we are back with Winnie (follow her here) and are more determined than ever to experience the food wonders of Downtown San Jose. I usually don't head down to San Jose, but Winnie's robotics lab is in the middle of it, so I arranged for a lunch at Pho 69. Downtown San Jose is a pretty funky place, mostly because of its location and the very, very, very popular convention center. Lots of things go on in there, ranging from volleyball tournaments to even a minor Blizzcon if I remember correctly. Anyway, this weekend was no different, with a bunch of costumed people waiting around.

Only 20th Century Kids Will Remember - SF Day Trip Pt. 3 with @winnie.fried

Proving that I can finish something besides Netflix shows

So here we are - the finale of this series I was supposed to finish two or three weeks ago. Due to it being the day after Christmas, some of the places we hoped to tour were closed, namely the Supreme Court of California and the city hall. So the only thing we were able to do was find another place to eat and figure out where to go from there. During our walk there from Japan town, we walked by this restaurant called Little Gem. At first glance at the menu hanging in the window (big windows by the way), it seemed to be a mostly Asian restaurant, but when we sat down and took a better look, it turns out to be some sort of American-Asian fusion restaurant. So I sat down and ordered the veggie bibimbap, while my friends got some smaller options. Although I recognized the fact that the bibimbap was vegetarian, I was still a little shocked to see it when it was placed in front of me. How did I forget in the span of ten minutes?

Where's my meat??? 7/10 tho

I Got Baked in San Francisco - SF Day Trip Part 1 with @winnie.fried

Future employers please disregard title

Winnie and I got baked in San Francisco

This past Monday, I went on a trip to San Francisco with my friends Winnie and Jenny - Winnie also has a food-focused Instagram page, you can follow her at @winnie.fried. So beforehand, we made a plan to visit two bakeries/cafes - Mr. Holmes and Belly Good - and left the lunch option open. Like Miles and Lia, Winnie and Jenny are friends from my time at the Carleton Summer Computer Science Institute, and this is the first time we've met since the trip despite living in the same area. So anyway, our first stop was at Mr. Holmes, which had a deceptively long line. The actual area for customers is small, possibly to force them out into the cold (just kidding), and even though we got there bright and early at 10am, it seemed that their stock of cruffins had either been depleted or not even made yet (you can check this on their website).

Isalia's - Authentic Tex Mex in Austin, TX

Bill and Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex
at UT Austin

So I was supposed to go to Houston yesterday. Keyword supposed to. Airbnb glitched out on me and cancelled my reservation so I decided to stay in Austin last night and miss my connecting flight. Buuuuut that turned into a whole other thing where Southwest just decided to cancel my flight entirely so now I have no idea how to get back to California (which is okay cuz Texas is AWESOME). But I did get the chance to walk around UT Austin and here are a few of my observations:

1. The shorts are short - for guys and girls. Most of the college age people I saw walking around were wearing shorts - whether it be boy or girl short shorts were the dress code. So short I decided to roll up my comparatively long khaki shorts.

2. Are you wearing Burnt Orange? No? Okay you're weird. Literally SO MUCH Burnt Orange clothing! (For those of you unfamiliar with college color schemes Burnt Orange is the official color of UT Austin) It's one of those things that slowly creeps into your vision, and when you start looking at people walking on the street you start to slowly see Burn Orange creep into your vision. Okay maybe it's not that bad but you couldn't walk down Speedway without seeing at least three longhorn logo or pieces of Burnt Orange.

3. Please eat Tex Mex food when you're in Texas. It's called Tex Mex for a reason - and hopefully Donald Trump doesn't take away the second part. Speaking of awesome Tex-Mex, check out Isalia's Tex-Mex when you're walking down Guadalupe!