4 months back, I was "having the time of my life" in Taiwan. As much as I was excited for my first visit to the country full of delicious street food, I never expect to fall seriously ill and spend my days getting jabs and vomiting. But that is another story. The weather in Taiwan was a whole new experience, convinced that I was able to withstand the "breeze" there, I bravely wore a dress and suffered serious shivers the moment I alight at the airport and had to escape to the wash room to throw on more clothings.

Taipei York is a home-stay place (民宿) located within 7 minutes walk from XMD station and the rooms come in different themes, which makes the stay more enjoyable. Our minimalistic room was unexpectedly clean and looks like a totally new room. The modern and chic design of the room had me forgetting that this is a home-stay place, it could easier be tag as a boutique hotel room.

After unpacking, our very first activity of the trip was non other than EAT! That's practically the main activity to do in this gourmet filled country. S brought us to this famous Mala hotpot restaurant (马辣顶级麻辣鸳鸯火锅) which usually requires advance booking, but we managed to score ourselves a table through walk-in! #lucky

We ordered collagen and mala soup base for our hotpot, those lychee jelly cubes lookalikes are actually collagen cubes that were dissolved inside the soup.

From appetizers to desserts, their range of food is beyond explanation. Tired of the usual soda drinks? Here, they offer you a wide range of flower tea that helps to improve your health. Ready to pick some food for your pot? they have 2 whole shelves of ingredients for you to pick, from vegetables to seafood, get ready to be wowed. Oh yes, free flow crabs, something you can't expect from local hotpot restaurants. Even their beef are of such superior quality, my stomach growls just looking at the picture. Love desserts? No sweat, they have an entire row of Mövenpick ice cream flavours to choose from.

This meal definitely started my Taiwan trip right.