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Meaningful Rice Dumplings Served for Breakfast at Grand Hotel Taipei

Where: 1 Chung Shan N Road Sec 4, Taipei, Taiwan, 104

Thanks to an obsessive labeler on Flickr, we can give you a rundown on the breakfast at the Grand Hotel Taipei in some detail.

This version vaguely resembles a Western breakfast--in so far as there's tea, juice and some food--but then the similarities end, and the interesting cultural influences we go on holidays for begin. Some of the less-easily-identified components include the cucumber gelatin concoction (bottom left of the plate) and in the second cup from the left, the Thousand-Year-Old Egg (which we hope is not too accurately named).

Then there's a few versions of rice, starting with the congee in the far left cup (a kind of porridge), the fairly standard riceball and the Zong-zi (rice dumpling), which comes complete with a nice story:

Qu Yuan, a well-loved poet, drowned himself in the river and to prevent the fish from eating his body, people made rice dumplings (zong-zi) and threw them into the river.

All this learning, and you haven't even left the hotel yet, or even finished breakfast. Just for the record, recent visitors to Taipei's Grand Hotel have left incredibly mixed reviews, from those who loved it and considered it fantastic value, through those who appreciate the architecture but not the service, right down to some who think it's faded and past it (perhaps like the thousand-year-old-egg). All we know for certain is the breakfast looks pretty cool.

[Photo: seamusiv]

Related Stories:
· Grand Hotel Taipei reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Taiwan Airport's New Name (And Nickname) [Jaunted]
· Taiwan's Lantern Festival Goes Porcine [Jaunted]

Tags: Flickr / Hotel Signs / → All Tags

Bad English Translations

We just can't get enough of hotel signs with poor English translations. This is from a hotel in Taiwan posted before the fitness center.

The only one we really understand is that the place is for adults only.

Related Stories:
· Absentminded Prof's photostream [Flickr]

Tags: Hotel Heaven / → All Tags

Oasis of Calm found at the Wellspring Spa, Grand Formosa Regent Taipei

Where: 41 Chung Shan N. Road, Section 2, Taipei, Taiwan

[Publisher’s note: Every once in a while we get a hotel review from someone in the “industry”. These travel writers are amongst our members here at HotelChatter, and from time to time they submit their stories. Though these stories seem a bit more, umm, PR oriented, we try to weed out the obvious puff pieces, and publish these tales from time to time. The thinking? It is good to get all perspectives, as long as they come equipped with full disclosure. And remember, if you disagree with stories, agree with them, or fall somewhere in between, you know where the comments section is at, so go ahead and use it. In this case, this HotelChatter member was traveling on a culinary trip and found a hotel spa to her liking.]

Take it away, Susan.

When I am traveling for business or for pleasure, I try to indulge myself with some sort of spa treatment, even if it is just a 20-minute foot reflexology session. While on a recent culinary press trip to Taiwan consisting of back-to-back-to-back meals for seven days straight (not that I am complaining mind you), I felt the need to escape from the hectic pace and treat myself and my engorged abdomen to some down time. At the Grand Formosa Regent in Taipei, I found the perfect retreat in the Wellspring Spa. On the top floor of the hotel, you exit the elevator into a dimly lit hallway, a la the Park Hyatt Tokyo that starred in the movie "Lost in Translation," and enter a whole other world reminiscent of Bali.

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