北平西來順。Beiping Xi Lai Shun

北平西來順。Beiping Xi Lai Shun
金山南路二段5號；﹙02﹚2391-9904
5, JinShan S. Rd, Sec.2
營業時間/Hours：午餐/lunch11 am-2 pm；晚餐/dinner 4:30-9 pm
無刷卡，收一成服務費
Credit Cards Not Accepted. 10% service charge.
中/英文菜單 / Chinese/English menu

北平西來順創立於民國59年，全盛時期有六家分店，位於金山南路上的創始店至今客人絡繹不絕，連平日午餐時段，周邊的上班族都是成群結隊的走進來用餐。蔡英雄師傅有超過四十年的烤鴨經驗，他說：「現代人講究健康，喜歡少鹽少油，南鴨因為事先醃過，所以會偏鹹一點，北鴨以熱先水燙過再烤，吃起來是很清爽的。」對於烤鴨，蔡師傅堅持以傳統的作法，至於如何吃烤鴨，他尊重客人的喜好，譬如時常客人要求片鴨時要連皮帶肉，他覺得也不錯，不見得非得把皮肉分開。

烤鴨一吃或二吃﹙鴨湯﹚皆是800元，三吃炒銀芽是900元，最熱門的吃法是烤鴨加小份的東北招牌酸菜白肉鍋﹙980元﹚，先片半隻鴨，留另一半煮酸菜鍋，經濟實惠又好吃。來一道開胃菜燻雞拉皮﹙258元﹚，再點小米稀飯﹙25元﹚配著一起吃，好吃、健康又營養。燒餅夾牛肉﹙35元﹚、花素蒸餃﹙80元﹚和小籠湯包﹙80元﹚是老顧客必吃的點心，適合堆人用餐時一起分享。

Beiping Xi Lai Shun was founded in 1970. During its most flourishing years there were six branch locations. Located on JinShan south road, the very first original BeiPing XiLaiShun is still a popular restaurant. During lunchtime the 9-to-5 office workers in the neighborhood flock into Beiping Xi Lai Shun for a quick bite. Chef Tsai Ying-xiong has over 40 years of experience in making roast ducks. He says, “People nowadays are concerned about health and they prefer less salt and less oil in their diet. Southern style duck is marinated first and therefore it tends to be salty. As for Northern style duck it is broiled first before roasting and the taste is rather light.” Chef Tsai roasts ducks the traditional way as the way he was taught by his teacher. However, he respects the customers’ wishes in terms of how to slice the roast duck. Some ask to slice duck skin along with some meat attached. Chef Tsai is happy as long as the customers are happy.

Roast duck served in one or two ways is NT$800 and adding the third way will be NT$900. The most requested combination is “Roast Duck with a small serving of Signature Northeast China Style Sour Cabbage Pot”﹙NT$980﹚. That means 1/2 roast duck will be carved into pieces, saving the other half to be cooked in the sour cabbage pot. It is economical and delicious! “BBQ Chicken and Bean Thread Sheets”﹙NT$258﹚is an appetizing cold salad and pair it with “Sticky Rice & Corn Congee”﹙NT$35﹚is tasty, healthy and nutritional. “Baked Sesame Sauce Cake with Beef”﹙NT$35﹚, “Steamed Vegetable Dumplings”﹙NT$80﹚and “Steamed Pork Dumplings”﹙NT$80﹚are voted as the must-order specialties on the menu and they’re perfect to share for group dining.

Victoria's 20+20 Birthday Party

Friday Night at Barcode (for Rachel's Birthday)

Gary's Surprise Birthday - Happy 35!

Dining Options for You Smokers - You're Welcome at The Following Places in Taipei:

1. Whisky Gallery:Provides dinner; Featuring an indoor smoking lounge (fits 20-25 people)
仁愛路四段112巷21號1F; (02) 2707-1986
營業時間：7 pm-2 am
可刷卡，收一成服務費
www.smws.com.tw

2. Hotel 8 Zone:8Fun Cigar lounge & Outdoor Patio lounge allows smoking
八方美學
台北市金山南路一段八號; (02) 2358-3500
www.hotel8zone.com

3. Galerie Bistro: Provides lunch & dinner; Garden patio seating
南京西路25巷2號; (02) 2558-0096
營業時間：週二至日 11:30 am-10 pm
(每週一公休；點餐至9 pm)
MRT: 捷運中山站2號出口

4. 我的家炭烤陶鍋: Provides BBQ & Hotpot dinner; Outdoor seating is limited to one table (6 people max). You can bring your own liquor and there's no corkage.
台北市復興北路477號
02-2545-2332
營業時間 6pm~2am

5. 小路的陽台。El Patio de mi casa
吉林路407巷3號8樓；0987-423-451
營業時間：晚餐 6-10:30 pm﹙週一週二公休﹚
無刷卡，不收服務費
http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/snowchidodo

我的朋友怎麼形容我/What My Friends Say About Me:

Tom says, “You are of course pretty, nice smile, general sex appeal, nice cleavage and you know how to accentuate that with your choices of garments.”

Frances says, “You’re one hot sexy mama –為國增光型 & make us proud!!”

Gary says, "Sincere, honest and straight-foward."

Vicki says, "You're one of a kind, stand out in a crowd and you know it!"

嘟嘟說：「妳有種氣質，讓人想稱讚妳!」

貧窮男說: 「妳是正義的化身。」

大B哥說：「妳真是個活菩薩，法號聖娃是也。」

小東說：「妳喜歡作和別人不一樣的事。」

那你/妳怎麼說? What would you say about me?

第三十一屆優良影像創作金穗獎入圍影展/The 31st Golden Harvest Awards Film Festival

第三十一屆優良影像創作金穗獎入圍影展/The 31st Golden Harvest Awards Film Festival
日期/Date: 5月8-17日/May 8-17
地點/Venue：誠品信義店/Eslite Bookstore
金穗獎官方網站/Golden Harvest Awards Official Website：http://tiaf.ctfa.org.tw/31GH
金穗獎官方部落格/Golden Harvest Awards Official Blog：http://gh31.pixnet.net/blog

Star-Studded Golden Harvest Awards Film Festival: Director TeSheng Wei + Actress LunMei Gui + Actor Edison Wang + Actress Sandrine Pinna

In recent years Taiwan film industry has revived and evolved new developments. Local audience has regained their confidence in Taiwanese films. In fact many talented filmmakers in Taiwan owe their accomplishments to the Golden Harvest Awards for it is known as the cradle of successful Taiwanese directors. From world renounced MingLiang Tsai, Ang Lee and ChinYen Yee to the new generation of Taiwan filmmakers Tom ShuYu Lin, Zero Chou and TeSheng Wei, all of them received their very first recognition from the Golden Harvest Awards. The annual ceremony will go into its 31st in 2009. The jury has taken four month time to review all the 177 entries received and has decided on 35 nominations. NT$3 millions total in cash prizes will be awarded on May 15th at Taipei ChungShan Hall.

For those film fanatics you can click on the official blog for Golden Harvest Awards to preview trailers and highlights of nominated films. Unlike recent years a lot of nominations feature well-known actors and actresses in the films. Sandrine Pinna, nominated for best leading actress in “Miao Miao” last November was cast in “Intoxicant” and “Nirvana”; Suming Jiang who won the best new talent award at Golden Horse last year appeared in “Hopscotch”; thanks to “Winds of September” Edison Wang became an instant sensation ad now he’s scheduled to take a part in the all star cast of Hong Kong film “Dark October” can be seen in “My Grandma”. He went nude in the shower scene. Last but not least actress LunMei Gui hasn’t appeared in any Taiwanese film since “Parking” teamed up with veteran actress YiChing Lu and actor TienChu Lee and shared scenes in “Family Viewing”.

Director TeSheng Wei took the box office by storm with his debut feature film “Cape No. 7” last year and kicked off a craze for Taiwanese films is no stranger to Golden Harvest Awards. He has received three recognitions with his previous film projects. Therefore the organizer has put together a special tribute by showcasing his earlier work - four short films 「Face in the Evening」,「Three Dialogues」,「Before Dawn」, 「Seediq Bale」and one feature length film「About July」. Don’t miss this year’s Golden Harvest Film Festival if you wish to watch director Wei’s film work at once. As the economy sinks to a new low the Golden Harvest Film Festival continues to grow and has been running for 31 consecutive years now. This is the only event that will allow you to enjoy films free of charge in an air-conditioned theater and discover the new Taiwan filmmaking talents!

星光閃閃的金穗獎入圍影展：魏德聖+桂綸鎂+王柏傑+張榕容

近年來台灣電影工業復甦，台灣的觀眾對國片重拾信心。其實，許多傑出的台灣電影導演在尚未成名發跡前，都曾經受到素有台灣電影搖籃之稱的金穗獎的肯定。從國際知名的蔡明亮、李安、易智言，到新生代的林書宇、周美玲、魏德聖，他們得到的第一個電影獎項就是金穗獎。而一年一度的金穗獎今年邁入第31屆，評審委員在經過四個月的看片、討論之後，從177部參加影片中選出35部入圍作品，共同角逐獎金總額高達三百萬的獎項，頒獎典禮將於5月15日在台北中山堂舉行。

想要先睹為快的影迷，可以先登入金穗獎官方部落格，欣賞預告以及精彩片段。與往年不同的是，今年有許多入圍作品都有明星演員的加持。去年以國片「渺渺」問鼎金馬獎影后寶座的張榕容，參與「匿名遊戲」和「百獄」的演出；去年得到金馬獎最佳新人的姜聖民出現在「跳格子」；因「九降風」受到矚目而受邀加入華語大片「十月圍城」的王柏傑，為藝術而犧牲，在「曬棉被的好天氣」有場全裸出浴戲。繼「停車」之後，好一陣子沒有參加國片演出的桂綸鎂，與資深演員陸奕靜、李天柱共同演出「闔家觀賞」，互飆演技。

去年以「海角七號」掀起國片狂熱的魏德聖導演曾經得到三屆金穗獎的肯定，因此今年主辦單位以他過去拍攝的四部短片「夕顏」、「對話三部」、「黎明之前」、「賽德克巴萊」和一部長片作品「七月天」為第31屆的專題，想要一次看完魏德聖在「海角七號」之前的創作，千萬別錯過今年的金穗獎入圍影展！在經濟不景氣的情形之下，能夠讓你邊吹冷氣邊欣賞免費電影，同時發掘你心目中的台灣導演新秀，也只有連續舉辦31年、從未間斷過的金穗獎做得到！

660元的意義

一晚N小姐約吃飯，她帶一位異性朋友先抵達餐廳，兩人於是先點菜用餐。我和另一位男性朋友因晚餐時間看場兩小時的電影，因此將近九點半才到。雖然同坐一桌，我們兩組人馬各自點菜，準備買單時，店家將我們的帳單分開來，「820」是我這桌的總額，我的男性朋友掏出台幣一千元給我，我再拿出20塊零錢一併給老闆找錢，我將兩百元交到男性朋友的手上。

老闆說：「1,320」

「兩個人吃這麼便宜！」N小姐的異性朋友發出讚歎的聲音，並當大家的面把帳單結清。

走出餐廳，N小姐搭這位異性朋友的便車回家，途中她還再次謝謝對方請她吃飯，並承諾下次改由她請客。

隔天，她覺得還是意猶未盡，寄了一封簡訊再次謝謝他。

他迅速回傳一封簡訊：「一人660元」

這個有意思，是要提醒N小姐下次回請時，至少招待同等價值的餐點，還是別有用意？

N小姐很幽默的回傳簡訊：「哈哈哈！」

對方並不覺得好笑，他又傳來簡訊：「妳沒有看妳的MSN訊息嗎？我有傳訊息給妳，昨天晚餐我們一人660元。」

這時N小姐有點不高興，既然要分擔帳單，在車上為什麼不說清楚？甚至更早之前，在餐廳結帳時就可以要求平分帳單，面子都做給你了才來要錢？！

他的理由是：「你那個有錢朋友也是和她的男性朋友go dutch啊！」

你這個豬頭，我只不過掏了二十塊出來，我的男性朋友才沒像你這麼不上道，連這種小錢也在斤斤計較，想必你為了這660元，應該一整晚都沒睡吧！

雖然你和N小姐認識這麼多年，我猜你們應該真的不是很熟；你這麼愛計較，實在不適合作我們的朋友，這段友誼也就此打住吧，請別再聯絡、謝謝。至於那660元，我們歡迎你親自來領，或是可以轉帳給你，不過要先扣掉17元手續費喔！

Farewell to Frances

Congrats to Frances! She landed on a very promising job and is going to relocate to Beijing. We had a proper send-off party in her honor and wish her all the best in her greener pastures!

Good Things Happen When You Least Expect It

After work I was debating if I wanted to drop by May's birthday party. Since I was in the neighborhood I figured I would just come in for one drink and head home. NOT A CHANCE!

within minutes after I walked in I bumped into Rita whom I used to work with at the TV shopping network. In fact we did our first show together, selling scooters!!! Years later we haven't aged a bit - forever 25! LOL.

The night contiuned after May's birthday celebration at Maybe. I ran into more friends. Standing Room was the second stop followed by clubbing at Primo. It was great fun but I have to admit that I don't remember when or how I got home that night. Everything was in tact. Thank god!

雞家莊。JiJiaZhuang

雞家莊。JiJiaZhuang
長春路55號；﹙02﹚2581-5954
55, ZhangChun Rd
營業時間/Hours：11 am–10 pm
可刷卡，收一成服務費
Credit Cards Accepted. 10% service charge.
中/英/日文菜單 / Chinese/Englih/Japanese menu

JiJiaZhuang：The Most Authentic Taiwanese Cuisine That Makes You Homesick When Abroad

Recently director JiaChang Liu returned to Taiwan for the first time in 10 years. He specifically requested to dine in JiJiaZhuang as his first meal back home. For 35 years JiJiaZhuang has been a top notch restaurant in Taiwanese cuisine. Many overseas Taiwanese people don’t bother going home first to drop off luggage and go straight from TaoYuan International Airport to JiJiaZhuang for a feast! It is what they’ve been dreaming of day and night because the food is so good that you drool even just dreaming about it.

Ms. XueYu Lee, the founder of JiJiaZhuang, was a poulterer at JianCheng Traditional Market. With the encouragement of her longtime good friend and Taiwanese opera legend LiHua Yang, Lee started JiJiaZhuang and created Taiwanese dishes made of chicken. The menu is quite extensive, including cold dishes, soup, meat stew, casseroles, seafood, traditional stir-fry and vegetables. And there’s a whole section of vegetarian dishes for non-meat eaters. However, you will not find beef in the menu.

JiJiaZhuang is well known for chicken dishes and you may wonder what makes the chicken so special. According to manager Ms. Huang who has been working here since the day after she graduated from school, “we only use pure breeds and not the egg-laying breeds because pure breeds have the best meat quality! They are also free range chicken.” When dining in JiJiaZhuang you must order “Three Savory Chicken”﹙NT$420/small﹚. You dip black-bone chicken in ginger sauce and roast chicken in sweet & hot red sauce. Steamed chicken goes well with both sauces. The chicken here is extra tender and sweet. “JiJia Tofu”﹙NT$256﹚is made of shredded chicken, tofu and oyster sauce. It will make you ask for a second serving of rice!

Speaking of rice JiJiaZhuang’s signature “Chicken Broth Broiled Rice”﹙NT$30/person﹚is unlike any steamed rice you’ve ever had. Instead of plain tap water white rice is cooked with chicken broth which is the essence of chicken meat. “Salt Shrimp”﹙NT$360﹚and “Small Fish with Green Vegetables”﹙NT$256﹚seem like simple dishes but they are the kind of dishes that make overseas Taiwanese people nostalgic. Many customers started coming here with their parents at a young age. Now they bring their offspring to JiJiaZhuang to eat the same dishes they grew up with. Neither children nor adults can resist the “Egg Pudding”﹙NT$120/takeout﹚;Even Japanese customers who have high standard for desserts rave about it. Plum tea and egg pudding are complimentary on the house. All the staff and chefs dedicated their youth working here and they are the reason why the quality and the service have been consistent for 35 years. Many customers are most touched by this traditional Taiwanese flavor!

雞家莊：最具家鄉味的台灣美食

日前知名導演劉家昌回到台灣，離鄉背井多年，他的第一餐特別選在雞家莊。其實三十五年來，雞家莊向來是台菜料理的佼佼者，很多旅居國外的台灣人在抵達桃園機場之後，提著行李，直接趕到日夜思念的雞家莊大吃一頓，因為這裡的家鄉菜可是連作夢都會流口水的！

雞家莊的老闆李雪玉原是建成市場的雞販，在好友著名歌仔戲小生楊麗花的鼓勵之下，創立雞家莊，一家以雞肉為主題的台菜餐廳，菜單內容豐富，從冷盤、燉湯、滷味、鍋類、海鮮、小炒、青菜等等，也貼心為日廣大的素食主義者準備素菜，唯獨不賣牛肉。

既然是以雞肉料理聞名的餐廳，想必大家會好奇這裡的雞肉為何與眾不同。一畢業要進雞家莊工作的黃經理說：「我們採用小姐雞，就是沒生過蛋的放山雞，因為肉質最好。」到此用餐必點的三味雞﹙420元/小份﹚由烏骨雞、燻雞和油雞組成，燻雞沾紅醬，烏骨雞配薑汁，油雞兩種醬料皆可。這裡的雞肉果真比較嫩，肉質也甜。雞家豆腐﹙256元﹚是以蠔油炒雞丁和豆腐，非常下飯！

說到飯，一定要提到雞飯﹙30元/人﹚，煮飯時以雞湯取代水，這是別家吃不到的！鹽酥蝦﹙360元﹚和紋魚杏菜﹙256元﹚看似簡單，卻是思鄉人難以忘懷的道地台菜。很多客人從小跟著父母到雞家莊吃飯，如今都帶著自己的下一代前來用餐！無論是大人小孩都無法抗拒雞家莊的雞蛋布丁﹙120元/外帶﹚的魅力！牛奶、雞蛋和糖烤出來的雞蛋布丁連對甜點高標準的日本客人都說讚！只要在雞家莊用餐，飯後都會送上酸梅茶和雞蛋布丁！雞家莊的員工和師傅也都是從年輕做到中年，正因如此，雞家莊的服務和味道維持不變，而這傳統口味也是讓客人最感動的地方！

北平聚園餐廳。BeiPing JuYuan Restaurant

北平聚園餐廳。BeiPing JuYuan Restaurant
民生東路三段113巷25弄39號；﹙02﹚2718-5477
39, Lane 113, Alley 25, MinSheng. E. Rd, Sec 3
營業時間/Hours：午餐/Lunch 11 am–2 pm；晚餐/Dinner 5-9 pm
可刷卡，不收服務費
Credit Cards Accepted. No service charge.
中文菜單 / Chinese menu

BeiPing JuYuan Restaurant is located in the back alley of Sherwood Hotel. For more than 20 years it has provided top notch and inexpensive Northern Chinese cuisine. The décor may be simple but the food is so good that brings customers back again and again. Mr. & Mrs. Zhong are a perfect duo – the husband is the chef while the wife takes charge of the service aspect. They are such hard working people that they are off 5 days a year – during lunar Chinese New Year. In fact they have to prepare more than 100 “Chinese New Year Roast Duck Set Menu”﹙NT$3,000/for 10 people﹚for takeout before taking their annual leaves. Mrs. Zhong says proudly, “Our roast duck is still tasty even when it cools down. The aroma of the meat is just as good as when it’s fresh out of oven. You can steam the takeout roast duck and it’s delicious!”

JuYuan is well known for Chinese Northern noodle and steamed breads. “Handmade flakey pancake”﹙NT$50﹚, “Pancake with scallions” and “Beef & Scallion Pancake Roll”﹙NT$88﹚are voted as customers’ all-time favorite! You should take an advantage of the ongoing lunch promotion-all noodle dishes and steamed breads are 20% off. “Beef Noodle”﹙NT$98﹚is now only NT$78 after discount. “HeCaiDaiMao”﹙NT$158﹚can be served as it is or wrap into a roll with pancake. “General ZuoZongTang Chicken”﹙NT$168﹚is spicy and goes well with handmade flakey pancake.

“Roast Duck”﹙NT$800﹚can serve 4 to 5 people. Every additional way of cooking it will be NT$100 extra. If you order the roast duck served in three ways the special price is NT$980. In addition to wrapping the roast duck skin and meat with ILan scallion or cucumber in a piece of pancake, the second suggested way is to stir-fry duck meat with cabbage or Chinese broccoli. The third way is to make a soup with choices of ginger, white cabbage, Taiwanese picked vegetables, sour cabbage or preserved mustard greens. If you’re not very good at ordering for group dinner, you can always consider the roast duck set menu﹙10-12 courses﹚, ranging from NT$2,000 to NT$4,000. It can serve 8 to 10 people and the average will be NT$400 each person. It’s more than what you bargain for!

藏身於西華飯店後方的巷子裡，北平聚園餐廳二十多年以來秉持樸實，提供物美價廉的北方美食。鍾氏夫婦，先生負責廚房，賢內助管理外場，一年365天，除了農曆年休假五天之外，每天必在聚園。每年除夕前，光是年菜烤鴨套餐﹙3,000元/十人份﹚就賣出一百多套，鍾太太驕傲的說：「我們的烤鴨即使放涼了，鴨肉一樣香味四溢！外帶的烤鴨只要蒸過，美味不打折！」

聚園的北方麵食—烙餅﹙50元﹚、蔥油餅和牛肉大餅﹙88元﹚特別好吃！平日午餐時段所有麵食一律打八折，原本98元的牛肉麵，只要78元即可享用，物超所值！合菜代帽﹙158元﹚有人喜歡單吃，也有人愛包荷葉餅﹙10元/片﹚。左宗棠雞﹙168元﹚配著烙餅吃，辣的過癮。

烤鴨一隻﹙800元﹚是四到五人份，多一吃加一百元，三吃只要980元。第一吃荷葉餅夾帶鴨皮帶肉包小黃瓜或是宜蘭三星蔥，第二吃炒高麗菜或是芥藍菜，第三吃做湯的選擇更多，有薑絲、大白菜、台灣酸菜、酸白菜或是梅干菜。不擅長點菜的可以考慮烤鴨套餐，價位自2,000元到4,000元不等，有10至12道菜，適合八到十人，每人平均消費四百元真是太划算了！

Yummy Noodle 鴻彩麵食專賣

Yummy Noodle 鴻彩麵食專賣
Hours / 營業時間
Daily 11:30 am – 9:00 pm 每天 11:30 am – 9:00 pm
No. 284 Rui-Guang Road Neihu district Taipei﹙close to Gang-Gan Road﹚
台北市內湖區瑞光路284號﹙近港乾路口﹚
02-8797-3930
No Credit Cards Accepted / No Service Charge 不提供刷卡 / 不收服務費

袁老闆來自擁有四十多年經營餐廳歷史的大家族，對於南北方的知名麵食瞭如指掌。開幕近兩個月來，鴻彩麵食專賣在內湖成了最新的美食地標，午餐和晚餐之間的時間原本要休息三小時，但是為了因應內湖科學園區的需求，整天供應麵食總匯。特別加以挑高的空間設計，打破一般麵食店面的印象，寬敞、乾淨的用餐空間一共有五十個座位。附近電視台和科技公司因業務繁忙，無法暫時離開工作，鴻彩麵食專賣貼心提供外送服務，只要在早上11點之前預訂至少三百元以上的餐點，不需在中午出去人擠人，熱騰騰的麵食直接送到辦公室。

燜雞菜飯﹙100元﹚搭配麻醬小黃瓜﹙50元﹚是個營養完整的組合。脂肪最少的雞肉加上大量的綠色蔬菜，燜過的雞肉少油多汁，菜飯由干貝、火腿、香菇和蝦米和白米用電鍋蒸，清爽不油膩。

紅燒牛肉麵﹙120元﹚和滷菜拼盤﹙50元﹚適合食量大的朋友。鴻彩麵食專賣只用成本較高、小麥做的官廟麵，口感佳且不易爛，多加十元即可將麵團份量升級。袁老闆絕不用滷包，而是以家傳的配方做出健康好吃的滷菜！

Mr. Yuan, the owner of Yummy Noodle, comes from a distinguished family that has been in the restaurant business for the last 40 years. He knows all about Chinese noodles whether it’s northern or southern style. Yummy Noodle opened for business nearly two months ago and it has become the newest landmark for gourmet noodles. Originally there’s supposed to be a three hour break between lunch and dinner. Due to popular demand and the hectic work schedule in Neihu Science Park Yummy Noodle is open all day long. Furthermore Yummy Noodle is unlike most noodle shops you’ve ever visited. The high ceiling and spacious seating area provide a pleasant dining experience. 50 seats are available, including the counter seats. Many high-tech companies and TV stations are within the neighborhood but most are unable to leave their job posts during lunchtime. Yummy Noodle now offers delivery as long as your order is placed before 11 am with a minimum of NT300. Hot noodle dishes can be served when you are ready to eat without the hassle of fighting through a frantic lunch crowd.

Chicken stewed with steamed vegetable rice﹙NT100﹚and cucumber salad﹙NT50﹚ make up a very balanced diet. Chicken has the least fat and after stewing it is juicy without the extra fat. A lot of green vegetables are used in this dish. Steamed vegetable rice is made of shredded dried scallops, ham, mushrooms and dried shrimps and steamed in a rice cooker. It is light and never oily.

Braised beef noodle﹙NT120﹚and assorted stewed side dishes﹙NT50﹚are ideal for those with big appetite. Yummy Noodle only uses guan-miao noodle that is made of wheat. Even though the cost is higher but it tastes better than most noodles available in the market. With additional NT10 you can upgrade the noodle portion from standard to deluxe. Mr. Yuan makes excellent stewed side dishes using a secret recipe passed on in the family and therefore it complements any of the noodle dishes on the menu perfectly.

Sexiest Men / Women Over 40

As I browsed through news this morning, something on MSN Lifestyle caught my attention.

The Sexiest Men Over 40
1. George Clooney, 47
2. Denzel Washington, 54
3. Brad Pitt, 45
4. Barack Obama, 47
5. Hugh Jackman, 40
6. Anderson Cooper, 41
7. Van Jones, 41
8. Hugh Laurie, 49
9. Gavin Newson, 41
10. Javier Bardem, 40

There is a certain charm about men over 40 that young men will never achieve until older. Take George Clooney and Brad Pitt for examples. They didn’t carry the class or sophistication when they’re in their 20s. In fact when Brad Pitt first appeared on the silver screen, he was considered a good-looking “man boy.” He wasn’t really a man but more of a boy.

It’s worth noting that there are three black men in this top 10 list and Denzel Washington is my all-time favorite for nearly 2 decades!

After the age of 30 most women prefer not to talk about their age. I believe that sexiness evolves as we get older. And I thank god for making me Asian ‘cuz Asians age gracefully. At the age of 35 I feel most comfortable with myself and the way I am. In fact I feel younger now than ever before. After all you’re as young as you feel. At this age I no longer need to dress to impress. I wear the clothes, not the other way around. I chopped off my long silky hair of 14 years and keep my hair short now because it suits my personality at best. Just remember: True sexiness comes from confidence and maturity, not makeup and clothing.

The Sexiest Women Over 40
1. Jennifer Aniston, 40
2. Salma Hayek, 42
3. Carla Bruni, 42
4. Helen Mirren, 63
5. Halle Berry, 42
6. Sheryl Crow, 46
7. Suzy Kolber, 44
8. Sarah Palin, 44
9. Vanessa Williams, 45
10. Monica Bellucci, 44

天廚菜館。Celestial Restaurant

天廚菜館。Celestial Restaurant
南京西路一號三樓；﹙02﹚2563-2171
1, NanJing W. Rd, 3F
營業時間/Hours：午餐/Lunch 11 am–2 pm；晚餐/Dinner 5-9 pm
可刷卡，一成服務費
Credit Cards Accepted. 10% service charge.
中/英文菜單 / Chinese/English menu

Established in 1971 Celestial Restaurant has been a favorite for gourmet food lovers and it’s also a designated dining spot for Japanese tourists. Each duck weighs at least 3.6 kilograms and only ducks raised in YiLan will be used to make the famous roast duck﹙whole roast duck NT$900; plus duck soup NT$1,050﹚. Each duck requires 50 minutes of roasting in the oven and the last order for duck is 8:40 pm. Roasted duck is only sold as a whole and never a one half because it tastes the best when it’s fresh out of the oven, juicy, tender and crispy on the outside. Celestial Restaurant can sell up to 100 ducks a day! Roast duck will be presented at the table first before the chef carves it into thin slices in the kitchen. The proper way of eating it for the first time around is to wrap crispy skin and scallion along with sweet noodle sauce into one roll. Take a bite and you’ll be wanting for more!

For the last 40 years Celestial Restaurant has maintained its high quality in food and moderate taste. There are too many signature dishes on the menu that keep the customers come back again and again. Vice President Mr. CunXiong Wen has a few personal recommendations. “Green Beans with Shredded Chicken”﹙NT$330/small﹚ is a simple dish but it requires all the staff to peel snow pea pods every morning. VP Wen says, ”It is time consuming and labor intensive and everyone raves about it!” “Baked Bean Curd”﹙NT$160/small﹚is incredibly light - crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. An unusual dish called “NiHanNingMoHaKuTa”, originated from the famous Manchu Han Imperical Feast. It is braised fish maw and beef tripe. Last but not least you definitely should taste pan-fried leeks dumplings and scallion pancakes. They are truly authentic flavor from Northern China!

成立於民國60年的天廚，不但是老饕最愛，日本觀光客也特別指定用餐。以六斤以上重的宜蘭鴨烤五十分鐘的北平烤鴨﹙一吃900元/二吃1,050元﹚最多一天可賣出上百隻，強調每天現烤、只賣整隻鴨、不賣半隻，每晚鴨爐準時於八點四十分熄火。烤鴨出爐之後會先給客人看過，再由師傅拿進廚房片鴨，第一次先將脆皮和蔥沾上獨家配方的甜麵醬一起包在手工餅皮裡，甜而不辣的三星蔥和香脆的鴨皮搭配是夢幻組合！

過去四十年，天廚秉持一貫的水準和清淡口味，擁有太多令人難忘的菜色，溫村雄副總經理特別推薦的鮮豆雞絲﹙小份330元﹚是個簡單卻費人力的菜餚，每天一早員工上班第一件事就要剝豌豆；鍋塔豆腐﹙小份160元﹚雖是先炸過，卻令人出乎意料之外的爽口；尼罕寧默哈庫它﹙中份700元﹚是滿州菜，就是紅燒魚肚牛肚，這道菜在北方餐廳中可是少之又少。喜歡麵食的千萬別錯過天廚的韭菜盒子和蔥油餅，不油不膩的正宗家鄉口味！

怡亨酒店明園中餐廳。MingYuen Chinese Restaurant in Hotel Eclat

怡亨酒店明園中餐廳。MingYuen Chinese Restaurant in Hotel Eclat
敦化南路一段370號；﹙02﹚2784-8888
370, DunHua S. Rd Sec.1
營業時間/Hours：午餐/Lunch 12–2:30 pm；晚餐/Dinner 6-10 pm
可刷卡，一成服務費
Credit Cards Accepted. 10% service charge.
中/英文菜單 / Chinese/English menu

Followed by Hong Kong and Singapore Hotel Eclat corporation opened MingYuen Chinese Restaurant in Taipei. In order to provide the most authentic Cantonese cuisine four senior chefs are brought in from Hong Kong, making exquisite and fresh dim sum treats. A special promotion will be effective now until the end of May and that is during lunchtime dim sum will be 25% off. MingYuen offers 19 dim sum treats. Daily soup changes everyday but it is the most labor intensive and time consuming dish. Broth is not only rich and nutritional but all the essences are in the broth. Communication manager Jennifer Lin recommends her personal favorite dim sum “Steamed Rice Roll Filled With Barbecued Pork”﹙NT$160﹚ is served with a secret recipe dipping sauce that is not available anywhere else. “Steamed Barbecued Pork Bun”﹙NT$140﹚is made with a special gravy and this bun is unbelievably juicy! “Minced Beef and Egg Congee”﹙NT$140﹚is cooked for long hours on the stove that you can barely see any grain of rice. It is served hot and you stir the raw beef and egg clockwise into the bowl until fully cooked. “Steamed Pumpkin Bun Filled With Egg”﹙NT$140﹚is made of pumpkin with egg yolk filling inside. Take a bite and the liquefied egg yolk might burn your tongue but it is the most delicious part of this bun!

MingYuen has six private rooms for those who prefer secluded dining space. Set menu lunch is available and you may choose from two price ranges: NT$680 and NT$1,180. Each includes dim sum, appetizer, main course, dessert and more. Many rare ingredients are imported from Hong Kong. Only the freshest seafood is used at MingYuen. “Sauteed Prawn with Scallion in Spicy Sauce”﹙NT$880﹚is a quick stir-fried with large whole prawns, Taiwanese scallions and red hot chili. It is delicate, tender and juicy!

繼香港和新加坡之後，怡亨酒店集團的明園中餐廳也在台北開幕，為了讓客人吃到最道地的廣式料理，特地從香港請來四位資深師傅，推出正統、現點現做的精緻點心。五月底前，港式點心於午餐時段一律75折，有19個品項供挑選，每日湯品天天不同，都是費工費時但營養十足、只喝湯不吃料的港式煲湯。市場宣傳經理林牧潔最為推薦的叉燒蒸腸粉﹙160元﹚的醬汁是師傅的秘方調配而成，別家吃不到的。蜜汁叉燒包﹙140元﹚中的叉燒肉可是帶有獨家秘方的肉汁，香甜好吃！窩蛋牛肉粥﹙140元﹚經過長時間熬煮，幾乎看不到顆粒，慢慢將生雞蛋和生牛肉攪拌至熟，一口接一口直到見碗底。黃金流沙包﹙140元﹚以南瓜做皮，咬一口金黃色的鹹蛋黃流出，最讓人驚豔!

明園有六個包廂讓喜歡隱密的客人在獨立空間用餐，中午套餐分680元和1,180元兩種價位，包括點心、開胃菜、主菜、甜點等等。許多名貴食材必須從香港進口，海鮮料理講究新鮮、高檔，川汁爆蝦球﹙880元﹚只用一隻隻完整的大明蝦加入蔥和辣椒以大火快炒，鮮嫩的滋味吃過難忘！

A Great Facebook Story

I’m a relatively newbie on Facebook. For a couple of years now I’ve been invited to join Facebook by friends. I kept all the invitations in the inbox but never did anything about it. There are several reasons that I rejected this social networking tool but the main reason is that I’m already on MSN, Yahoo Messenger, Skype, Gmail chat and of course the regular Emails. Do I need one more networking tool so that I can stay in touch with friends?

As Facebook becomes increasingly popular man friends upload pictures taken during gatherings onto Facebook. I felt left out because I couldn’t browse through the photos. There’s nothing more upsetting than getting your pictures taken and never saw the finished products. Eventually I gave in and signed up for an account. That was Thanksgiving 2008. As of now I have 432 friends on my Facebook.

I have a habit to take my camera wherever I go, especially when there are people, food and drinks involved. Thanks to the holiday season and lots of year-end parties. I took tons of pictures and uploaded them onto my Facebook. At that point Facebook was mainly for sending out event invitations and storing photos.

One day I woke up, turned on my laptop and signed in to Facebook. There was a friend request. 99.999% of time I would have at least one mutual friend with whoever is trying to add me as a friend. This guy and I have zero mutual friends and from what I could see in his profile picture I ain’t got a clue who he is.

So I thought he must be someone who’s bored out of his mind and decided to add me as a random person. Just before I deleted this friend request he sent a message over. It said, “Boo! Guess who? I bet you don’t remember me. That’s okay. I won’t be offended.”

“Wow, this guy is so certain that I don’t know who he is and yet speaks like he does know me.” I thought to myself. So I accepted his friend request and he popped over to say “Hello” as he was online.

“Have you figured out who I am?” he asked.

“Nope, ain’t got a clue. Help me out here!”

“August of 1992. University of San Francisco.”

I was a freshman in 1992 at USF. So, what is it to you? I still couldn’t link all that to this person.

“Hayes Healy. Phelan Hall. I used to tell you how nice you look when you’re going out.”

First year in college I lived on campus in a girl’s dorm Hayes Healy and I would go hang out in the co-ed dorm called Phelan Hall where a lot of my friends lived. As for compliments, it was a daily ritual. I remember even the school janitors would tell me that I looked lovely. During college days I was always in a dress. I kept some of them and gosh, they are skimpy and even scandalous! Now I wonder how I used to walk on the street like that!

“What I’m about to tell you will definitely help you remember who I am.”

Yeah. Try me. I’ve been there, done that and seen it all.

“You and me - making out in my room – and my girlfriend walked in on us!”

“OH MY GOD! Mr. Baseball…how are you?”

Oh boy. It’s all coming back to me now. I think it was then I began this habit of mine – sitting on a man’s lap. And if I can’t sit on his lap then he’s not man enough for me.

“How did you find me? If I were you, I wouldn’t know where or how to search for old friends.”

“I was there for one year before moving to Texas but I would be class of ’96 if I finished in 4 years. So I searched for USF and class of ’96 on Facebook. I browsed through every picture and then there you were! The silky long hair is gone but I just know it’s you. I’m a federal agent. I don’t forget a face!”

You’re a what?! Boy, that’s HOT! A federal agent hunted me down!!! When I signed up for Facebook I would never think that something like this would happen. Hooray to FB! Thank you for finding the missing laps from 17 years ago!