Vietnamese French Coffee

on a cold day a few weeks ago, Jench and I went to eat Pho at a Vietnamese restaurant. I had been for Pho many times before, but it was the first time I could finish the entire bowl AND have something afterwards. I prepared myself for the meal by not pre-eating (as is customary while waiting for one's dining partner), and was proud of myself for finishing the giant bowl of noodles and soup. After accomplishing my goal for the night, I ordered a cup of "vietnamese french coffee" to finish up the night. The little filter contraption used to make it is surprisingly cheap; you can get it for less than $5 here, and $6, $7, and $8 on Amazon. Because it typically takes a dark French roast, the coffee that is brewed is amazingly rich. Paired with just the right amount of condensed milk (a favorite of mine anyways), it is the perfect end to a big meal. You can also recreate the same flavor with turkish coffee, but the bonus of having a filter (no filter in turkish coffee) is that you don't drink any grounds at all.

Here is a primer on how to make Vietnamese French Style Coffee

E-coffee, Taiwan

E-Coffee is as ubiquitous (double click on the word for a dictionary definition) in Taiwan as Starbucks is in America. The difference is that E-coffee has had a relatively successful streak with incorporating other foods and drinks into their business than Starbucks. With a drink menu of 40+ different espresso drinks, blended drinks, icees, teas, shakes, you can expect to find something to your taste while you type away at your next blog post. Par contre, in a recent NYTimes article, Starbucks is reportedly scaling back their "big evil empire" by cutting back on the breakfast sandwiches and other stuff they have started selling in addition to coffee.

Many of the posts on this blog happened in an E-Coffee. What else can you ask for in Taiwan during the summer?
Free internet? Check.
Air Conditioning? Check.
Beverages? Check.

I think this is a mango blended ice. The coloring doesn't look like mango at all, but that's because it didn't taste like mango at all. It tasted mostly like ice. Not a good experience with the blended ice drinks. I recommend getting something related to coffee.

After breakfast coffee

After breakfast we drove down the highway a bit, to a roadside reststop/lookout point/outdoor cafe. It had perfect views of the coastline, including the small island-connected-to-the-mainland (the mainland...which is actually an island also...). I had one of the best mochas, if not THE best of the 3 continents I've visited (sorry Taylor, this one was really really good). We sat on picnic benches drinking our coffee, reading newspaper, and looking out on the magnificent view. What a perfect life!Need I say anything about this photo?
The island-connected-to-the-mainland; or, "tidal island" in normal geographic terms.
Reading newspapers...
...and drinking what appears to be frozen guava juice or something of the like.
Mmmmocha.
The foam was fantastic. It wasn't too runny or too sweet, but still had enough body to be able to scoop with the stirrer.
The non-caffeinated option was juice.
I'm very intrigued by these small green citrus fruits. They're not limes, nor lemons, nor oranges, nor tangerines. They're green on the outside and orange-yellow on the inside. Their seeds are white with a layer of light green around them. Such intriguing little fruits!