Lets Soar With Eagles

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Formosa Restaurant in The Howard Plaza Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan - Superb Taiwanese style food!

Many of the blogs I am writing are about Taiwan because I am on an extended business trip in Taiwan. I have been coming to Taiwan for over 20 years. During this time, I have stayed at many of the 4 star and 5 star hotels in Taipei, and other major cities in the country. Of course, with my extensive travel around the USA and the world, I have stayed in hotels from the truly disgusting to some of the best in the world from my perspective. More on these hotel experiences in the USA and worldwide in later blogs.

I met a very nice couple, Alex Pan and his wife Apple, several months ago on one of my sightseeing trips. Alex is the Assistant Manager of the Public Relations Department at the Howard Plaza Hotel in Taipei. When Alex told me about his hotel, I was looking for a central location to take some friends from Taiwan and Singapore to dinner. I decided to give the Howard Plaza Hotel in Taipei a try.

I must digress and say that I have really enjoyed some of the better 5 star hotels in Taipei for their ambiance, service, quality, attention to detail, and the fine food offered in their restaurant(s). I really did not know what to expect at The Howard Plaza.

As I was approaching the hotel in the cab, I was pleasantly surprised how big this hotel is. As we approached the front door, I could feel the luxury and sophistication of this hotel property. The lobby was splendidly luxurious for my standards. I was really looking forward to trying their food at their Formosa Restaurant on the lower level from the lobby.

From the Lobby to the Formosa Restaurant

Main Entrance for the Formosa Restaurant

Reception at the Formosa

Beautiful works of art abound in the Howard Plaza

The Main dining Room at the Formosa

We were greeted at the front entrance of the restaurant, and escorted downstairs to level
B1 to our private room at the Formosa Restaurant. We invited several friends to join us including Alex pan and his wife Apple as well as Taiwan’s famous blogger, Nina Cheng. You can see Nina’s article on this restaurant at the following link:

http://blog.udn.com/101match/6952588

We immediately had several people telling us about the menu, and attending to our every need. Great Service! The food on the menu is more typical Taiwanese style food prepared by a fabulous head chef.

If you have a discriminating taste for superb Taiwanese style food, you must try this restaurant. Below are just some of the delicious dishes prepared for our group:

The food was absolutely wonderful, and I wanted to thank the chef for his excellent meal. In moments several people came to tell us that the head chef was on his way, and asked if we would like some photos with the Chef.

Our friends & guests with the Head Chef

After this very pleasant experience, I know I will go back to this restaurant for more Taiwanese style food, and I plan on staying at this hotel on my next short business trip to Taipei. For your information, The Howard has about 10 or so properties in Taiwan including Beach and Lake Resorts, The Suites, and others.

To contact this hotel below is the information you will need:

The Howard Plaza Hotel

160, Ren Ai Road, Section 3

Taipei, Taiwan 10657, R.O.C.

Hotel Phone: +886-2-27002323

Alex Pan: x2481

Website: www.howard-hotels.com.tw

Reservations: +886-800-011-068

Edward C.

Monday, February 4, 2013

Cha-Shan-Fang Soap Tourism Factory in Sanxia District, New Taipei City, Taiwan

This is the second to last of my blogs (seventh of eight tours) on the New Taipei City factory tours. We were escorted on a bus by K. G. L. AD. Media Agency International Company’s associate’s, Director Kelin Chen, and Account Executive, Ann Li.

What did I know about soap before this tour? Candidly speaking, I knew very little for sure. What I did know is that some soap’s are better for cleaning than others. Some are soft and others are abrasive. Many have strong perfume smells which I do not like. Most soaps leave residue in sinks, showers, etc. I also know that many types of soap, both solid and liquid, use a form of lye which is a strong alkali. Lye dissolves easily in water, but can be caustic and irritate or burn the skin in strong or pure solutions. Well that’s the extent of my knowledge before the tour.

But after this tour, I have a much better understanding of both the art and science of making fine quality soaps.

The Cha-Shan-Fang Soap Tourism Factory is located in a pleasant rural area south of Sanxia, and as we pulled up to the front, soap bubbles were floating in the air all around us.

We were met by several people including Olga, Alwa Hu and LuLu (One of the 10 children of the founder) who first talked to us about their history of soap making and their family business.


Main Lobby

The original founder (Lin Yi-cai)began selling soap in the late 1940’s and soon began developing his own product.


The Founder, Lin Yi-cai

His first successful natural brand of soap, “FLOAT SOAP”, was widely used in Taiwan for more than 20 years.

Today the company is run by the ten children of Lin Yi-cai. Their photos are displayed on the wall of their factory and can be seen below. By the way, we were told the founder is now 85 years old and still helps out at the factory on occasions.


The Family run business

The tour started in the lobby as our guide revealed the fascinating history of this business.


Starting the tour

In the lobby, they showed us how the founder had to transport the original materials for making the soap.

When full of soap, this was very heavy to carry

Also on display is a huge hand sculpted “pig” made from their soap weighing about 1000 kilograms!

Solid Soap Hand Carved Pig

We moved upstairs and saw sales marketing materials displayed on the walls since the early days of this company. We were also shown the many wonderful herbs and natural ingredients added to their various soap products.

Above the actual factory on a “catwalk” we learned of the 10 steps in making their soap.

As we walked, the 10 process steps were described on plaques including the ones shown below.

These 10 steps are as follows:

1. Cook the Soap consisting of various oils, water and alkali for at least 2 days

2. Extract excess alkali soda through evaporation for 1-2 days to create the soap base

3. Grind separately the herbs and natural ingredients in to powder; mix with soap,and combine

mixed soap with water 1:1 ratio.

4. Mix the combined soap, ingredients and water thoroughly

5. Pour the mixture into wooden molds

6. Immediately even out the top surface of the soap surface in the mold

7. Cool down for approximately 2 days to congeal the soap

8. Cut the soap using thin metal wire and place the soap on racks

9. Dry the soap (roasting) for 1-2 days to remove excess moisture

10. Pack the final product in their special designed packaging

After our interesting tour, we were taken to the DIY room for our own soap project. Today, we actually made our own herbal soap and selected our own mold, coloring, etc.

The Cooked soap solution for our DIY

Our Tour Group working diligently on our DIY project

While our soap was drying, we were thoroughly entertained by several “games” and quizzes for special prizes.

Different Molds and our soap drying in the molds. Embossed bars of soap.

Our final DIY soap to take home

At the end of our tour, we went to the Cha-Shan-Fang Soap gift store where we could see the final products, and to also purchase products to take home with us. I bought a variety of soaps and have been using them every day during my stay here in Taiwan.