Merry Christmas

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So, it’s that time of the year again, Christmas…

I can’t believe I’ve already spent over two years in Taiwan, time really does fly.

So last week I went to South Korea as my ARC has expired and I need to leave Taiwan every 30 days which is a real hassle when you live on an island. I meet up with a guy there that I got to know through work some five years ago and we’ve keep in touch over MSN, but until now, we haven’t managed to meet up.

Seoul looked just like any big city in the world, but cleaner and more organised on some strange way. There were some Japanese influence on the older buildings, but everything that was new looked like it could be slotted in in just about any big city. It was a great trip and I had a really good time, mostly thanks to my friend who was a great host.

I’ve been working with a French guy here on a project he’s doing and hopefully he’ll be able to help me out in the long run, we’ll see what happens, but he’s got some pretty cool ideas, he just doesn’t know a lot about computers which is a bit of a problem. It’s going to take longer than he thinks to do the stuff he wants and some of it is going to cost a lot more money than he wants it to. The other problem is that he wants certain things to be perfect while other things doesn’t seem to matter, but he somehow seems to mix up his priorities in terms of what is important to a consumer that would buy his products.

Anyhow, we’re off to Boracay for our first real holiday together for Chinese new year, although, we’re sneaking off a bit early as it’ll be cheaper that way. We got some super cheap plane tickets there which was less than a normal return ticket for one person would cost, so it’s kind of a budget holiday, but on a really nice beach.

To all my friends out there, have a great holiday and a happy 2009 if I don’t get around to posting something more on here before the end of the year.

Just quick update

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So, nothing much have been happening as of lately, so I haven’t really had much to put on here. I’ve finally gotten around to adding a new restaurant review and should hopefully add another one tomorrow. That’s really it for now, although I might have some more news next week. It’s also IDF Taipei next week, so that’ll be a couple of busy days.

And we're back…

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Sorry about the big gap in posts, but I’ve had a lot on and not really been in the writing mood. Anyhow, I’ve posted two new burger places to the list of eateries in Taipei and they’ve both got their own pros and cons, so make sure you check them out. The yearly Swedish crafish party (kräftskiva) was delayed from last weekend to Friday night thanks to typhoon Sinlaku that decided to stop by for quite a while and which produced a downpour of about 1.8m.

It was packed last night, but the scary thing is that since last year, I only knew about 5 or 6 people, which shows what a big turn-around of foreginers there is here. It doesn’t seem like most people come here for the long term, although considering the huge ammount of English teachers and what appears to be a big influx of University students, at least from Sweden, I guess it’s not so strange that there’s a bit turnover.

I’m going to try to get my finger out and update the site more regularly, as it seems like I have a fair few readers, despite the fact that it’s not updated on regular basis. If anyone has suggestions of places that we should go and eat at, please send me an email, you can find my email address in the contract me section at the top of the page.

Forkers

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Forkers is another fairly recent burger place in Taipei and although it’s a fair bit bigger than KGB, it seems to be just as busy and if you’re not going in a group, you better call ahead and book a table most nights of the week between 19.00 and 20.30. Forkers feels more like a restaurant than KGB and the selection of food is also bigger. Forkers has an interesting system, as you select the type of burger you want out of a list of 50 or so options, then select the type of patty you want, be it beef, chicken, veggie, kobe beef, fish or pork.

In other words, it doesn’t really matter what your dietary requirements are, you’re likely to find something that tingles your tastebuds. They also do a selection of sallads and a few other alternatives like fried fish, quesadillas and a few wraps. All burgers comes with two sides from a selection of eight and there are some other sides that costs extra as well. You also get a drink with you meal and for an extra NT$30 you get unlimited refills.

I bumped into a couple of friends as we were there so we all shared a table. I went for the Mexican burger with a beef patty and apart from the fact I didn’t read the menu properly and missed the fact that it had a ton of sauteed peppers on it, it was a tasty burger. Brenda went for the Three Cheesy with a kobe beef patty. She also ordered the classic Poutine, which was fries with gravy and melted cheese ontop. One of my friend ordered the same fries, but with an Aussie burger sans beetroot and his girlfriend went for the Hack burger with kobe beef. The Hack burger has bacon, cheese and chicken strips on it…

The burger buns at Forkers are odd, they’re not like any burger buns I’ve ever had. They’re dark brown and has loads of mixed seeds ontop and I can’t say I was super keen on them. The garlic fries I ordered were dry and the spice mix didn’t stick att all and was all in a corner on my plate. Apart from that it was quite tasty. Our meal came up to NT$610 which isn’t bad for two people overall.

Forkers is located at No. 8, Alley 10, Lane 223 Chung Xiao East Rd. Sec. 4 and you can call them on 02-2771-9285. There’s a full menu on their website which you can find here.

Update: This place closed back in 2015.

KGB

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KGB is short for Kiwi Gourmet Burger and they’re located on the left hand side of Shida Road if you’re coming from the Taipower MRT station. They have a pretty decent selection of burgers and everything is cooked fresh as you order it. I’ve only had the classic cheese burger there so far, but they offer a wide range of more exotic options. This is also a good place for vegetarians, as they have a big selection of veggie burgers and they also have a selection of chicken burgers.

They also have a good selection of side orders and desserts. Milkshakes are also on the menu and they have a special selection of imported beer and cider from South Africa, despite the New Zealand theme. Most stuff on the menu seems to be going for between NT$250-300, but as they don’t have a website as yet and I didn’t memorize the menu, I can’t say for sure. I would definitely recommend KGB if you’re in the mood for a tasty burger with a difference.

The address is No 5, Lane 114, Shida Road and their phone number is 02-2363-6015. The place isn’t huge, so if you’re planning on going on a Friday or Weekend night, I’d suggest you call ahead. You can find more details on their Facebook page.

2019 Update: Unlike so many other places I’ve written about here, KGB is still going strong and they still serve up very decent burgers and the prices haven’t gone up by much since the original review in 2008. If anything, they’ve expanded their menu and even managed to survive a Burger King opening almost next door (which closed a year or so ago).