Best Bars in Taipei 2026 — 640 Bars Personally Visited
Searching for the best bars in Taipei? Here are 640 bars, wine bars, sake bars, cocktail bars and dining spots I've personally visited in Taipei, with reviews, photos and an interactive map.
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Taipei Shilin Mio Vino Wine
Mio Vino Wine in Shilin, Taipei — ending the day with a glass of Argentine Malbec at Taipei Performing Arts Center. A perfect close to the evening.
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![Shilin Circus Market [Wine Shop]](/thumbs/your_facebook_activity/posts/media/shoujishangchuan_449284935110552/26701753762770311.webp)
Shilin Circus Market [Wine Shop]
Taipei Astronomical Science Education Museum in Shilin (2nd visit) — took my two little nephews there in the morning while my sister ran errands. After a simple Vietnamese lunch, I found a nearby wine shop to enjoy the quiet Sunday afternoon.
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Taipei Zhulun St. Wo Fu Wine
Woof Wine in Zhulun Street — T invited me for drinks in the evening. Small world — ran into Cathy, a mutual friend. Stayed until an hour past closing time. Cheers!
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Taipei Cats Down Dunbei Club
Cat Down Dunbei Club in Taipei — afternoon briefing for a 78-floor Malaysian project near the Petronas Towers. Evening dinner and drinks with friends, celebrating Steven's birthday. Finished with a Napa Valley wine. Thanks Yen for treating us!
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Longma He Wine (3rd Visit)
Huang Dalong Guangshi Chicken Pot (Jilin Branch) and Longma Hejiu (3rd visit) — dinner with Yen, Minnie, and Otto. Afterward, we headed to Xiaobao's for sake and fruit wine. Cheers!
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Da'an Pro Wine Pu Luo Wine Industry
After a midday meeting, I headed to Guanghua Market to pick up a Logitech mouse and grabbed a pretty good bowl of Wagyu ramen (Soup God). In the afternoon, I visited two nearby wine shops to taste some wines. First stop: Pro Wine, where all the owners and staff are women. They have a basement space that can seat 8–10 people for gatherings. I ordered two glasses of French white wine. Second stop: Adelaide. There, I ran into Eric, a guy who promotes wines for many foreign wineries and writes wine reviews for magazines. He happened to be there chatting with the store manager...
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Da'an Adelaide Wine Fuxing Store
After a noon meeting, I headed to Guanghua Market to pick up a Logitech mouse, then had a decent bowl of wagyu ramen at Tamsin. In the afternoon, I visited two nearby wine shops. First was Pro Wine, run entirely by women—the owner and staff were all female. Their basement space can host 8-10 people for gatherings. I ordered two glasses of French white wine. At the second shop, Yaderei, I ran into Eric, who promotes wines for many foreign wineries and writes wine reviews for magazines. He happened to be there chatting with the store manager...
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Nanjing E. Rd. Lao Song Tian Izakaya (2nd Visit)
In the evening, I had dinner with A-Le, his colleague Jenny, and Zhengliang. Thanks to Zhengliang for treating us! Cheers~ By Morgan @2026.4.20 evening
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Taipei Yucheng St. Wo Fu Wine Annual Clearance Sale
Threads' algorithm is seriously scary—I got pushed this post at least three times. So after finishing my Sunday afternoon errands, I headed over. I chatted with the owner John, who said the clearance post had over 60,000 views on Threads. In the end, I bought four bottles and went to a nearby female friend's place to keep drinking. Cheers~ By Morgan @2026.4.19 evening #WoofWine
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Taipei Qi Xi Di Yakitori Izakaya Xinyi Branch
In the evening, Zhengliang bro invited me out for a little drink. Cheers~ After dinner, we went back to his place and hung out for a bit. Hope the new job goes well! :) By Morgan @2026.4.16 evening
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Taipei Songshan District Ding Huang Club
Dinner at Baoming Ge's place, which I hadn't visited in a while. Met new friends from all walks of life—golf course operators, national security folks, frozen food, electrical engineering, Vietnam leasing, printing, you name it. Then we moved on to the East District to grab a drink with old friends. Thanks to Chairman Zeng for treating us! Cheers~ By Morgan @2026.4.13 evening
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Eastern District Focus (Nth Visit)
For dinner, I joined a gathering at Baoming Ge's place, which I hadn't visited in a while. I met new friends from all walks of life—golf course management, national security, frozen food,机电, Vietnam leasing, printing, and more. Then we moved on to the East District to have a drink with old friends. Thanks for the treat, President Zeng! Cheers~ By Morgan @2026.4.13 evening
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Taipei Zhongshan District Xiao Jiu Sake Bar
Tucked away in a Taipei Zhongshan District alley, Sake Bar is a reservation-only sake spot. I couldn't get in last time without a booking, so this time I planned ahead. Starting with a limited-edition Black Dragon Daiginjo from Hyogo (served in a Burgundy glass), then moving to an aged Hatsugane Ginjo Autumn Sake, and finishing with a Yamagata Masamune -5°C low-temperature aged ginjo. These aged sakes are richer and fuller than regular ones, with a deep, concentrated umami of rice hitting your palate. Three glasses were just right for tonight.
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Songshan Black Bottle (4th+5th Visit)
Black Bottle in Taipei's Songshan District (5th visit). I was in the middle of vibe coding when I got a last-minute invite for drinks. This time, I listened to Brother Yan share stories about celebrities like Joey Wong, Lan Hsin-mei, Li Ao, Yuan T. Lee, and Morris Chang dining at his restaurant. Tonight, besides Hungarian Bull's Blood red wine, we had Yuichi Japanese whisky and a rare Israeli wine, NANA. Across from me sat Eric, back in Taiwan from the US for a while, heading back in May. Taiwan's small—Eric's cousin was Xiao Hei Ge's middle school classmate...
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Taipei Songshan District Xing Che Jiu Pin Wine Shop L'Etoile Vin
In the morning, I first went to Ding's home to pay my respects and offer incense for Brother Jiaming's final journey. Life is all about fate; it's enough that we had the chance to meet and chat freely. At noon, I had a meal with Pat, Elton, and Kyle at Nong Lai nearby. Lately, my reflections on life have grown deeper—when there's a chance and time to gather, let's gather as much as possible. Thanks to my brother for picking up the tab. After the meal, Pat went back to the office for a meeting, while I found a very quiet little shop in the afternoon to sit down alone and order...
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Taipei Yanshou St. Black Bottle (3rd Visit)
Third visit to Black Bottle on Yanshou Street, Taipei. Met up with Ms. T for drinks at Brother Yan's place again. I brought a 1999 French fortified sweet wine to share, and Brother Yan opened a Burgundy red wine gifted to him by the winery owner in return. First time meeting Brother Yan, we wrapped up at 7 AM. Second time, 6 AM. After-party at the 'King of Songs' karaoke—thanks for the hospitality! This time, hoping to finish before 5 AM—the later, the better! XD Cheers~
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Taipei Torikizoku - Qingcheng Store
Torikizoku - Qingcheng Branch, Taipei. After a morning meeting, had lunch with Senior Lman and Samuel. We exchanged insights on using AI Agents to improve workflows and discussed future copyright issues with AI skill files. Thanks for the treat, Senior! Cheers~ Afterwards, we went to Sky Cofi café above Senior's office nearby. I ordered a glass of rosé, and we kept chatting until almost 5 PM—still not done. A fulfilling day!
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Taipei Leli Rd. Jiu Qiu Yakitori - Da'an Store
Old Hill Skewers - Daan Branch on Leli Road, Taipei. Jimmy suddenly asked me out for grilled skewers at night, so I headed over after work. We enjoyed quite tasty skewers while listening to Jimmy's funny stories about his tenants from Mexico, the US, and India. Time flew by—it was already 11 PM before we knew it. Thanks for the treat, Jimmy! Cheers~
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Black Bottle (2nd Visit) — Taipei
Second visit to Black Bottle, Taipei. Brother Yan brought out a decanter he had preserved from over thirty years ago when he ran an Italian restaurant. Later, Annie, the owner of the neighboring wine shop 'Ling Wine Selection,' joined us. Finally, we all went for an after-party to a place near Ximending's Xiangsi Garden (Asia). Cheers!
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Taipei Minsheng Community Huaguo Private Kitchen Liao Family Banquet | iCheers Wine Nest
On a Sunday morning, I went out for a walk to grab some brunch (and wine) and ended up at this place I hadn't visited before. Chatting with the staff, I found out it's run by the son of the owner of the Imperial Hotel. That conversation suddenly made me crave the aged steak from the hotel's Empire Steakhouse, so I ordered their 'Imperial Beef Noodles' from the menu to satisfy the craving. When I went to order a glass of red wine to go with it, the server brought over two bottles of Bordeaux. I asked which was better, and she said both were probably good. Well, in that case, I might as well have a glass of each...
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![Taipei SUSURU [Japanese/Taiwanese Distilled Spirits · Shochu Bar]](/thumbs/your_facebook_activity/posts/media/shoujishangchuan_449284935110552/26225803027032056.webp)
Taipei SUSURU [Japanese/Taiwanese Distilled Spirits · Shochu Bar]
Had drinks in the evening with Chairman Liang, whom I hadn't seen in a long time. We went to this bar that's been open for over a year and is quite rare in Taipei for focusing on shochu. As we drank, Chairman Liang shared stories from his early days—how, without any family background, he encountered many helpful mentors and, with self-reliance and a bit of luck, eventually became a global partner at Invesco, managing a public fund company with around $20 billion in assets. As we talked, I couldn't help but think of a recently departed friend, reported in the news, who passed away before even turning 50...
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Taipei Yitong St. Jiu Yin - New Style Chinese Bistro
Had lunch at noon with Samuel and senior Lman. We mostly talked about Claude code and coworking, and the senior also showed us the team of digital employees he's currently built. Thanks for the treat, Samuel! :) By Morgan @2026.3.5
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Black Bottle — Minsheng, Taipei
Finished up work in the evening and came to this place, where I met Brother Yan, who's 71. Brother Yan has been in the food and beverage industry for 45 years, having run French, Spanish, and Italian restaurants. We hadn't even chatted much after I sat down, and without ordering or paying for any drinks, Brother Yan first poured me 6 glasses of wine to try—4 whites and 2 reds. Later, a sales rep from a liquor distributor came over and offered Brother Yan some whiskey to sample. Brother Yan knows many distributors in Taipei. The shop was supposed to close at 22:30, but Brother Yan and I ended up drinking and having a great conversation until after 7 a.m. Cheers! By ...
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Taipei Shen Bei Zi Shipai Concept Store La Copa Oscura
Spent the day wandering around the Beitou and Shilin (Tianmu) area. La Copa Oscura, which focuses on Spanish wines, opens at 1 p.m., and I walked in right on time. After me, four different customers came in one after another—all women. They have a wine guessing game in February; guess correctly and get another glass. I took a sip, noticed a distinct plum flavor, guessed right, and got a free glass. Then I went to a shop where the owner has a WSET Level 3 wine certification and works as a contact for a Spanish wine importer...
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Wine Dot Wine Shop, Tianmu
Next, I went to Tianmu Wine Dot, a wine shop where the owner holds a WSET Level 3 certification. As a contact person for Spanish wine merchants, the selection here is quite professional.
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Qili'an Burgundy Wine Shop
The final stop was Qilian Burgundy Wine Shop. Wandering around Beitou and Shilin (Tianmu) today, I visited several wine-focused spots, each with its own unique charm.
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Taipei Xinyi District San Xun - Seafood Cuisine
Tonight we had a farewell dinner for my friend Zhengliang, who's heading to New Zealand soon. We enjoyed some Taiwanese izakaya-style seafood dishes at 三旬 in Xinyi District and shared stories from my recent travels. Thanks for the treat, Zhengliang! Cheers!
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Taipei East District Alley TOKU Izakaya
On the fourth day of Lunar New Year, Andrew, Ms. T and I came to TOKU in an East Taipei alley for late-night snacks. We finished a huge 1,800cc bottle of sake and ordered another pot. What a festive night!
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Taipei Sheraton Hotel - Polish-Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce Dinner
A busy day starting with an invitation-only art exhibition at The Great Yard, where I saw Mr. Wang Xun's powerfully moving works. Then off to a Poland-Taiwan Chamber of Commerce dinner at Sheraton Hotel.
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Taipei Ryoma and Kyu (2nd Visit)
A busy day starting with an art exhibition preview at The Great Yard on Heping East Road at 1 PM, featuring 18 galleries including Brother Hong's Dahe Art. I dropped by to say hello and view the works, and was introduced to artist Wang Xun by Brother Hong. I've seen Teacher Wang Xun's pieces many times before, but the works displayed this time were incredibly vibrant and moving! Then, off to a meeting at the World Trade Center at 2:30 PM...
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TT wine — Taipei
Visited TT Wine, a cozy spot open just over a year, run by owner ToneTone. Spent the evening with four ladies including an engineer, a Paris returnee, and the owner of a neighboring hotpot shop, enjoying Italian white wine and strawberry daifuku.
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Guangfu S. Rd. Alley Les Saisons Grape Bar — Taipei
After meetings and hotpot in Xinyi, I stopped by Les Saisons, a new wine bar open only two months. Owner Candy transitioned from coffee to wine, creating a perfect quiet spot to enjoy red wine while working in the afternoon.
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Taipei Civic Blvd. - Lasamiya Izakaya
First, I accompanied a foreign friend to the 12th-floor Ming Xiang in the evening to experience the dance show. Later in the night, my friend Zhengliang invited me to this izakaya for a drink. This week, I visited a total of 9 bars in 5 days: Monday was fruit wine and cocktails, Tuesday was wine and wine, Wednesday was sake and sake, Thursday was cocktails, and Friday was beer and sake. Time flies!
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Taipei Guangfu S. Rd. - ComingBistro
After having Chaoshan stone hot pot for dinner, I came to this place on Guangfu South Road near Civic Boulevard, which has been open for three years. I ordered a 'Rice Fragrance' cocktail made with rum as the base and popcorn syrup. Paired with rice crackers, the crispy texture and the sweet sip created a long, pleasant finish. Sitting at the bar, I chatted with the manager and bartender, Xiao Kai, who is under 30. He's also from central Taiwan, studied industrial engineering in Taichung, and has been in Taipei for over three years, saving up to open his own shop back in Taichung.
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Longma Sake — Taipei
Had lunch with Wic at one of the branches of You Sushi. He also wanted my opinion on a new product his team is about to finish. Thanks for the treat, Wic! He and Xiao Min even gifted me a bottle of red wine. After the meal, since it was near the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (my 3rd visit), I went to check out the new exhibition. Around 4 PM, I came to 'Long Ma He Jiu,' a place that's been popping up on my Facebook feed lately. They have a promotion from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM: 9 glasses for 999 NTD. At that price point, I initially thought...
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Yoshizushi - Zhongshan Store, Zhongshan District, Taipei
Wic treated me to lunch at one of the branches of You Sushi. He and Xiao Min also gifted me a bottle of red wine. Thanks for the hospitality!
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Taipei Minsheng Community Area - Gam ve Gam Ling Jiu Xuan Wu
Got off at the wrong bus stop and stumbled upon this little shop in the Minsheng Community area in the evening. The shop offers some Mediterranean products and spreads. Additionally, starting from 2:30 PM, they serve wine by the glass and some Israeli spirits, giving it its own unique character. I was handling some things on the phone while drinking. There are just so many places in Taipei; it feels like I'll never get to try them all!
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Taipei Da'an District - Shen Bei Zi Da'an Store
The main store is near Shipai Station, but you don't have to go that far—there's also a branch here in the Daan District. It focuses on Spanish wines and cuisine and opens as early as 2:00 PM. After lunch, I came here and ordered an afternoon wine set, which included one white, one red, and one rosé, each 50ml. The rosé from Romania was quite nice. There were also some tapas snacks. The winter afternoon sunlight streamed through the window into the room, feeling wonderfully warm and cozy.
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Taipei WinesWee - Nanjing Jianguo Store
尋秦記 電影版 近年來，已經很少會專程為了一部電影主動進影院， 但為了這部橫跨25年，堪稱穿越劇鼻祖的神作， 值得讓我在台上映沒幾天，就趕緊買票去看個情懷。 當眼見幾乎是25年前原班人馬，出現在大螢幕上， 真的會有種莫名的感動～～ 加上在大巨蛋的秀泰，還有4D影廳可順便體驗下。 天命最高! By Morgan…
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Taipei Tu Mao Shang Hao Hookah Lounge - Xinyi Store
Rarely go to the cinema just for a movie these days, but for 'A Step into the Past'—the 25-year-spanning pioneer of time-travel dramas—I made an exception. Seeing the original cast on the big screen after all these years was genuinely moving. Caught the 4DX version at Showtime Cinemas in Taipei Dome for the full experience.
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Taipei Dihua St. - Corner Sip (Wine Bar)
I attended a performance by the Taipei Assad Middle Eastern Dance Troupe, founded by Teacher Shao, at the NTU Foreign Language Resource Center. We enjoyed dances from Arab, Turkish, Iranian, and Azerbaijani cultures. Afterwards, I visited a couple of museums at NTU I hadn't been to before, and in the evening, I headed to Dihua Street to check out Corner Sip, a wine bar that's been open for less than half a year.
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Taipei Zhongshan District Cheng Xin Cheng Yi Natural Wine Bar
After finishing a meeting in the evening, I bought some computer peripherals at Guanghua Digital Plaza and had a sashimi set meal at Today's Fish Market nearby. Then, I took the Orange Line from Zhongxiao Xinsheng to the area near Minquan West Road Station. I heard about this new wine bar from Sa at 911 Wine Bar two weeks ago, so I took the chance to visit tonight.
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Taipei Wanhua World Afternoon Wine Bar
This is an interesting shop located inside a traditional market (Wanhua's Xin Fu Market). It mainly sells alcohol, and for food, you can grab a plate from the shop and walk over to the various stalls in the market to buy food and bring it back to eat. Inside the market, there's oden, braised dishes, roasted meats, fried foods... all sorts of things, and you can even find a place to slice fresh sashimi for you.
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Taipei Songshan Hakkou Cafe Sake
Hakkou Cafe Japanese Sake in Songshan is an interesting spot. Although I only had one drink here, the unique concept of being in a traditional market makes it worth a visit.
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Taipei Songshan District Hei Song Jiu Mi Professional Liquor Store
After cooking and eating hotpot at home in the evening, Ms. T suddenly asked me out for a drink. Since I didn't have much going on, I went out to have a drink with her. I remembered that Teacher Aaron at Orange Flower Shop mentioned that Hei Song recently opened a physical liquor store. I looked it up, and it really had been open for less than a month, so T and I came here to try it out.
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Taipei Songshan District Cheng Hua Shang Dian Multiverse Wine Store Bar
Starting the new year with a reset, I met up with my friend Cory, who has an extensive wine collection, for a small drink on the first day of 2026. We chose the physical store of the wine merchant (Ming Yang) located on the first floor of the Sunrise Hotel. The current store manager is the well-known figure in Taiwan's wine scene, Aaron Chuang (AA Laoshi), whom Cory has known for a long time.
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Taipei VINDEX Yacui - Fubei Store (Wine Shop)
After a morning meeting at the World Trade Center, I spent the afternoon wandering around. I've been to the VINDEX Xinyi branch before, but the Fubei branch just opened this July. It uses a card system for single glasses served by machine, and the wine list changes every couple of months—currently, it's a US wine theme. After visiting the rarely-seen National Center of Photography and Images Taipei (converted from the Osaka Shosen Kaisha Taipei Branch), my final stop for the day was Terruño No.1, a wine retail shop.
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Terruño No.1 Wine Retail Store
The last stop today was Terruño No.1, a wine retail shop. It's a cozy place focusing on wines that express their terroir, perfect for ending the day with a good glass.
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911 WINE CLUB — Datong, Taipei
Yesterday, during an online meeting, I met Lawrence, one of the earliest shareholders of Gamania. He's from Hong Kong and shared his ongoing project to tokenize IP and carbon credits as RWAs. This afternoon, I had a meeting with an energy equipment and EPC manufacturer, learning about related knowledge (BESS, PCS, EMS...). After finishing up, I had a simple dinner of local snacks and then headed to a newly opened spot.
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Taipei Datong District CANA BISTRO Wine Bistro (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
Yesterday, I met Lawrence, one of the earliest shareholders of Gamania, in an online meeting. He shared his ongoing project to tokenize IP and carbon credits as RWAs. This afternoon, I met with an energy equipment and EPC provider, learning about BESS, PCS, EMS, etc. Afterward, a quick bite for dinner, then to a newly opened...
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Taipei Far Eastern Shangri-La Hotel 6F - Li Bai Ju
Merry Christmas! At 3 PM, I arrived at Li Bai Lounge. Christine from Washington Securities returned to Taiwan from Hong Kong for Christmas and invited me for a small gathering. We came here for a glass of red wine to warm up while updating each other on recent developments and various business needs. Thanks for the treat, Christine! Then, at 5 PM, my friend Zhengliang invited me to their office near the Taipei Arena to catch up.
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Songshan District Yu Le European Creative Cuisine (2nd Visit)
In the evening, Brother Zhenliang invited me to their office near the Taipei Arena to chat. Afterwards, we went to Yu Le European Creative Cuisine for a second visit to enjoy their dishes.
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Taipei Fish & Vegetable Izakaya
The final stop of the day was Yu Cai Izakaya. It was a Christmas day filled with good drinks, food, and company across different venues.
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Ximending Tik & Sip Wine Bar — Taipei
After a morning meeting, running bank errands in the afternoon, and paying respects at Taipei Tianhou Temple, I arrived at Tik & Sip at 4 PM. It just started trial operations in October and is likely the first natural wine bar (or even dedicated wine bar) in Ximending. The entire old building has five floors, housing a community cafe, a small recording studio, and a multi-purpose classroom... it can be used or rented for various events.
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Taipei Dazhi Keelung River Yacht Party
Sam organized a Christmas party on a yacht on the Keelung River in Dazhi. There was a Japanese female DJ and several Japanese ladies attending. In these incredibly turbulent times, fostering friendly exchanges between Taiwan and Japan and living in the moment seems right. Cheers on a Sunday night!
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Taipei Yao He Sake Signature Bar
It's rare for me to visit the same place twice within a week. But this week, Yaohe Signature Bar happened to have a single-glass promotion for a certain 'Juyondai' sake, so after my meeting today, I came back here. I first ordered two glasses of sake and a six-grid assortment of fruit wines, and finally added a glass of Juyondai sake from Takagi Shuzo's 'Bessenshiro' edition. It took me 5 minutes...
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Taipei Zhongshan District Ze Jiro Izakaya
Everyone in the Mingxiong Club is busy, so we have to meet separately. Yesterday was with Zixuan, today is with Samuel. Samuel is returning to the US for Christmas next week, so we seized the time to meet up today. Cheers!
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Taipei Zhongpo S. Rd. Alley Yao He Sake Signature Bar
After a meeting at the World Trade Center in the afternoon, I realized it had been quite a while since I last had Japanese sake. So I found a place and arrived right as it opened at 6:30 PM. It's a relatively new shop, over two years old. Because it's located outside the city center and in an alley, it's very quiet. I was the only customer all night. Later, a Singapore Airlines flight attendant named Jason came in. Every time he flies to Taiwan and has a night off, he comes here.
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Moonwell Bar&Bistro — Zhongshan, Taipei
Jade invited me out for dinner to catch up and chat, along with her assistant Ray, making three of us. Jade and I talked about cryptocurrency, biomass energy, foreign exchange, gold... We chatted from 7 PM all the way until 10 PM. Thanks for the treat, Jade, and thanks to Ray for driving me back to my place in the company car. Cheers!
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Taipei T.G.I. Friday's Xinyi Branch
Another visit to Friday's American Restaurant in Xinyi District for dinner with William and his girlfriend Cami, who is from Hong Kong. She used to work at Vivo in Hangzhou and now does AI + CRM for a women's shoe brand in Taiwan. They also passed along skincare gifts from Steven in Korea for T. Friday night was packed, completely different from a weekday afternoon. Thanks for the treat, William! Cheers!
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Taipei Yanping N. Rd. Insieme
Met up with Samuel and senior Lman at Insieme, an Italian wine bar on Yanping North Road that Leticia recommended to me. The three of us chatted about various interesting projects we've each been involved with recently. We also listened to Samuel and our senior share updates on their own projects. Senior Lman is the AI PC Manager (IrisGo).
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Taipei Zhongxiao E. Rd. Gu Ji Ji Private Kitchen Izakaya
We had dinner at Guji Chicken Private Kitchen & Izakaya on Zhongxiao East Road in Taipei, followed by a second visit to Sing!Go KTV. Steven, who's returning to the US, wanted to treat me before leaving. We had dinner with William and Ms. T. After William left, the three of us continued to KTV. Dinner started with three large pots of sake (600cc), followed by three bottles of wine at KTV. Singing, drinking, and playing dice games really bring people closer. Thanks to William and Steven for the treat!
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Taipei Dream Plaza 4F Jiao Peng You Xin Chao Mala Hot Pot
Had dinner at Spicy Friends Mala Hot Pot on the 4th floor of Dream Plaza with Steven, Co-Founder of the globally 30th-ranked crypto exchange UZX, and Ms. T. Steven, who usually lives in LA, has been flying around this year—Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore... He happened to be in Taiwan and will soon head back to the US. Spicy Friends is a new brand under the Ma La group, featuring a nightclub vibe, a wall with over ten types of alcohol, and premium ice cream.
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Taipei Xinyi District Tiens le vin Wine Cellar
Yesterday, I went to Insieme, an Italian wine bar recommended by Leticia, only to find it was booked for a private event. So, I had to end my visit early and head home. To make up for yesterday's disappointment, after a meeting at the World Trade Center this afternoon, I visited two new spots in one go. The first was Tiens le vin, which just opened in June. The owner, Cristal, worked in the wine industry for 15 years before opening her own shop, as she wanted to build a custom temperature-controlled cellar.
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WINEVER Natural Wine Bar
To make up for yesterday's regret, I visited two new places after a meeting at the World Trade Center. The second was WINEVER Natural Wine Bar, which focuses on natural wines.
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Taipei Victoria Hotel (4th Visit) Taiwan-Poland Chamber of Commerce Dinner
My fourth visit to Taipei's Victoria Hotel for a Taiwan-Poland Chamber of Commerce dinner. The event was held on the 3rd floor of Richard's hotel, with three intimate tables. Polish officials from the Polish Investment and Trade Agency attended, along with Taiwanese officials from the Overseas Community Affairs Council. I even met former Tainan Mayor Hsu Tien-tsai. After dinner, I moved around with a glass, exchanging business cards with other Taiwanese entrepreneurs and discussing projects in Poland—satellite antennas, auto parts, automotive electronics, biotech, renewable energy...
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Taipei Taifeng Chatroom (2nd Visit)
My second visit to Taipei's Chatroom. In the morning, I attended some talks on the second day of the 2025 Taipei Blockchain Week at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and ran into some friends from the industry. One session was on RWA, where my good friend Samuel also took the stage (representing Kula). Afterward, I had lunch with Samuel to catch up. Then we went to Cama Cafe, where Samuel chatted with a friend from a Japanese incubator and ETHStorage. Later, I took him to the nearby Chatroom...
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Taipei Lane off Anhe Rd. PS Sake Bar Japanese Sake & Food
After an evening meeting, I switched to sake tonight and came to this hidden gem of a Japanese sake and food spot in an alley off Anhe Road. Unlike a typical izakaya, besides some dishes, they offer many interesting Japanese sakes, with drinks making up about half the menu. I chose three junmai sakes from Yamagata, Hiroshima, and Nara. While drinking, I finished the remaining episodes of the drama 'The Romance of Tiger and Rose.' The owner, Jack, is fun and chatty. We ended with a Japanese whisky shot. It's a place worth revisiting! Cheers!
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Taipei Jinan Rd. JYS French Wine
I ducked into this shop on Jinan Road to escape the rain at night. I asked the female manager if they had wine by the glass, or I could open a bottle. Unexpectedly, she said they had just held a tasting on Saturday and had a lot of leftover wine. She invited me to sit down and finish them without charging me. I was truly surprised, but since I was already there, I shamelessly and naturally took a seat. Faced with a dazzling array of 13 Bordeaux reds and 3 whites, I slowly worked my way from left to right, tasting 25-50ml of each, and managed to drink all 16 wines...
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Taipei Neihu Yi Lu Yakitori Izakaya
In the afternoon, I visited Maxim's former 333 Gallery venue in Neihu (second visit), now transformed into a space available for rent—suitable for art exhibitions, wine tastings, brand promotions, and more! There's also a lounge-like space on the second floor for singing, chatting, and drinking. Meishen's mom came up, and I greeted her. Afterward, nine of us went to Dazhi for dinner at Ichiagi Yakitori Izakaya. Thanks to Maxim for the treat. Cheers!
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Taipei Chengdu Rd. Thai Cat ไทยเมา
Visited my friend Sam's newly invested Thai restaurant and bar, 泰貓 ไทยเมา, on Chengdu Road in Ximending. Met up with several independent directors from listed companies and Freeza from a US-listed company (GPN). Afterward, Brother Sheng took me to his regular spot on Chang'an East Road for some karaoke and drinks. Thanks for the hospitality, Brother Sheng!
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Taipei Yixian Rd. Alley Justin's Wine & Bistro Xiao Jiu Guan
Stopped by Justin's Wine & Bistro 小玖館 in an alley off Yixian Road. After visiting Pat's company to pick up a Hong Kong Visa crypto card, I dropped by the nearby Fubon Art Museum. They had two new exhibitions—Impressionist paintings (including Monet's Water Lilies) and another light-themed installation.
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Taipei Da'an District Xiang Ding Fang Clay Pot Fish Head
Got a sudden dinner invite from Jimmy and Vincent to Xiang Ding Fang in Da'an District. The 78-year-old owner is from Hunan, and the restaurant has been open for 20 years. Vincent brought some expensive agarwood extract to mix with 58% sorghum liquor—it really brought out the aroma. Thanks for the meal, Jimmy!
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Taipei Da'an District Shiama Bistro
Met two of Pat's friends from Hong Kong's finance circle at Shiama餐酒館 in Da'an for shisha. We chatted about stablecoins, digital asset vaults (DAT), and crypto payments. Afterward, I accompanied the Hong Kong friends to the 101 Club on Jilong Road and met Sunny—the third staff member I've gotten to know there.
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Taipei Yan Ba
In the evening, I arranged for Jing-Fang and Yi-Fen, the CEO of Auroxat, to visit Pat and his brother at UBS to discuss Auroxat's advanced low-orbit satellite positioning chip technology. Later at night, I met up with a female friend nearby, and we hopped between two bars to chat about relationship topics. Cheers!
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Sheep Bar
In the evening, I arranged for Jing-Fang and Yi-Fen, the CEO of Auroxat, to visit Pat and his brother at UBS to discuss Auroxat's advanced low-orbit satellite positioning chip technology. Later at night, I met up with a female friend nearby, and we hopped between two bars to chat about relationship topics. Cheers!
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Anhe Rd. Green House — Taipei
Taipei, Anhe Road Green House (2nd visit). Met up with Tim, a senior I hadn't seen in half a year, along with Lman, Yujia, and CC, a Cheng Kung EE alumnus from a venture capital firm under China Steel, whom I met for the first time. As the one often tasked with finding spots, I chose this hidden bar that operates by invitation only and requires a password to enter, which Jimmy had taken me to before. We were seated in a private room inside. Besides me, the group included angel investors, venture capitalists, an AI entrepreneur, and a senior executive from a foreign company... plus Tim, who's a Harvard alum...
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Taipei Da'an District Igaose Japanese Whiskey & Cigar Lounge
Taipei, Da'an District, Igosu Japanese Whisky & Cigar Lounge (2nd visit). After a meeting in the afternoon and picking up my repaired laptop in the evening, I browsed nearby Pop Mart and checked out the Labubu blind boxes. After dinner, I came to Igosu and ordered a Chichibu whisky and a Fuji (Kirin Fujisan) single grain whisky, slowly sipping and taking a short break. I also met Shaolin-ge, one of the owners here whom I'd heard other customers talking about last time, who has 35 years of experience running bars. By Morgan @2025.8.5 evening
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Taipei Peiying Wine Cellar (2nd Visit)
Taipei, Peiying Wine Cellar (2nd visit). Eslite Cinema, 'The Mountain Makers' documentary, Railway Museum, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park 'Water Scenery', and Peiying Wine Cellar (2nd visit). At noon, I attended a private screening sponsored by BSOS of the documentary 'The Mountain Makers,' which chronicles Taiwan's semiconductor industry development. Seeing Liu Ying-da, a senior I'd briefly chatted with at the Taichung First High School Hsinchu Alumni Association, being interviewed made it feel more personal and impactful. Thanks to Daniel, founder of BSOS (supply chain finance + blockchain), for the invitation. Afterwards, I met up with lawyer Jingfang at Peiying, whom I hadn't seen in a while. Jingfen opened a bottle of Burgundy Côte de Nuits wine first, and I added another...
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City Hall Station JLK SAKE STUDIOQingJiuZhuanMaiDian (Specialty Store) — Taipei
Taipei, City Hall Station JLK SAKE STUDIO Sake Specialty Shop (4th visit). These past two fast-paced days involved five meetings, including online ones about crypto, VC, US-listed companies..., and an in-person meeting at the KGI Futures headquarters on Chongqing South Road. I met with Zhenghong, whom I hadn't seen in over a decade, and also stopped by the 6th floor to say hello to Shinong. Finally free this evening, I managed to squeeze in an hour of golf practice, then went to Ren'ai Road to buy a whole box of Cuban cigars for a friend. After dinner, I came to JLK and used my accumulated points to exchange for a glass of ginjo sake. Sat down to slowly enjoy...
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Taipei Bar Qvevri Natural Wine Danhai Headquarters (2nd Visit)
Taipei, Bar Qvevri Natural Wine Tamsui Headquarters (2nd visit). Cookie-ge's shop is celebrating its 10th anniversary – it's truly not easy to persistently follow one's dream! So tonight, I spent nearly two hours traveling from Songshan to Tamsui to join the celebration. I ran into Sihao here and asked if he'd closed his shop just to come. He laughed and said many of Taipei's wine/natural wine enthusiasts were here tonight, so there was no need to open his shop either~ XD. After the anniversary event ended around 10 PM, dozens of us moved in a grand procession toward the seaside, where there was an After Party with a bonfire...
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Taipei Baoqing St. Black Horse Little Kitchen (3rd Visit)
Third visit to Black Horse Kitchen on Baoqing Street in Taipei. After finishing the anime 'Solo Leveling' today, I attended an event hosted by David in the evening. Their wine importer, Taifeng, recently brought in several wines from the Southern Rhône region of France, so David organized a small, relaxed wine tasting dinner for six people at Black Horse to let everyone try them. Taiwan is a small place—I even ran into Brother Sheng at the restaurant downstairs when I was heading out. Tonight, besides meeting Leticia and Xiao Yu again, I also got to know Brother James, who works in computer (laptop, server...) cables and has a high market share.
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Bar Salud — Taipei
Nadaji Indian Cuisine, a residence in Dazhi, and Bar Salud. My younger cousin Iris is going to study in Germany, so at noon, I had a meal with other relatives to wish her a smooth journey. In the afternoon, I visited the home of Rosa and Howard for the second time, enjoying champagne/white wine with oysters while overlooking Jiantan Mountain—thanks for the hospitality! Finally, in the evening, I went to a Spanish-focused wine bar located below the Hotel Indigo Dazhi, which is officially opening tomorrow, to continue drinking. Cheers! By Morgan @ evening of July 13, 2025.
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Taipei Hejiang St. Alley Xiang Er Lian Restaurant
Cai Shihong Solo Exhibition at Nittei Art in a lane on Hejiang Street, Taipei. I rushed back from Busan last night. This afternoon, I attended the opening reception for Brother Shihong's solo painting exhibition. Then, I listened to him and Assistant Professor Liu Chenxiu from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University casually chatting over sparkling wine in a Q&A session, where Shihong also explained the concept behind his exhibition creations. Taiwan is a small place—while chatting with the owner couple of Nittei Art, Brother Li and Zoe, I found out that Zoe used to be a senior employee at Jingxun Gallery, so she knows Maxim's mother very well and watched Hans and Maxim grow up. I also newly met someone who...
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Taipei Da'an Subarashiiya
After two meetings today, I capped it off with drinks at two spots. First up was Subarashiiya in Da'an District for some fruit wine and shochu, then SAKEMARU BAR's Rui'an branch for sake. It was a productive day discussing AI + finance possibilities with executives at Hua Nan Futures and then Capital Futures.
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SAKEMARU BAR Japanese Sake Store Rui'an Branch
After meetings, I habitually seek out places for a drink in the afternoon. SAKEMARU BAR Japanese Sake Store Rui'an Branch was today's choice, offering a wide selection of sake.
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Minsheng E. Rd. Alley kaï bistro à vin — Taipei
Kai Bistro à Vin, tucked away in an alley off Minsheng East Road, was recommended by Sihao from 'Fermented by Zeng House'. The place focuses on European cuisine and natural wines. After leaving a Spanish tapas bar, I came here alone for a glass of wine—it was packed, with no seats available earlier in the evening. Luckily, by around 9 PM, I finally got a spot and had a brief chat with the owners, Kai and Ivy, over a glass of natural wine.
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Taipei Songshan District Spanish Bistro (2nd Visit)
This is my second visit to the Spanish tapas bar in Taipei's Songshan District. The other day, Pat introduced me to Snow, a partner at Cherubic Ventures. After our chat, I had a conference call with Andrew at noon today—Cherubic has invested in over 200 companies, including several unicorns. Snow mostly lives in Singapore now, and we discussed potential collaborations. In the evening, I practiced golf with Zixuan at the hotel downstairs and ran into our Japanese coach, Moto. After working up an appetite, we headed to a nearby restaurant...
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Taipei Linsen N. - Tiaotong Zhixin Liao
At Chishin Ryo in Taipei's Linsen North Road/Bar District, I met up with my younger sister who's on summer break. Maxim and his wife happened to be in Taipei too, so we all hung out together. We tried a special chili plum wine and some shochu-based cocktails—thanks to my junior for treating us. For the second round, my sister and I moved to a nearby spot. Surprisingly, there was still a happy hour for sake this late! Cheers!
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Taipei Yaoya Japanese Bar
I met up with a friend who just started summer break for drinks tonight. Luckily, Maxim and his wife were also in Taipei, so we all got together. We tried a special chili plum wine and some cocktails made with shochu. Thanks to my junior for picking up the tab.
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NOMOU SAKEBAR — Zhongshan, Taipei
After a meeting in the afternoon, I tried a golf lesson at Golf Monsters and met a Japanese coach named Moto. Post-workout and dinner, I visited two sake bars recommended by Ziling. First, at NOMOU SAKEBAR, I chatted with the staff member Venera over drinks. Then, at Shinpaku, the young owner recommended a few sakes to finish with—the final one, Koshimizu from Niigata, was stunning. Keeping up my recent habit of exploring Taipei's sake spots every Thursday...
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Taipei Zhongshan District Shinpaku Japanese Bar
After a meeting, I tried a golf lesson at Golf Monsters and met a Japanese coach, Moto. Post-workout and dinner, I visited two sake bars recommended by Ziling. First, at Nomou, I chatted with the staff Venera over drinks. Then at Shinpaku, the young owner recommended a few sakes to finish the night. The final one, Koshimizu from Niigata, was stunning. Keeping up my recent Thursday tradition of exploring Taipei's sake spots...
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Taipei Linsen N. Wutiao Tong 1496 Bar
Back in Taiwan, Brother Li spontaneously invited me to hang out at Little Black Brother's bar, 1496 Bar in Wutiao Tong, Linsen North Road (my 20th visit!). Brother Li is still recuperating lately, so we played dice and Big Two with Xiao Gao, substituting water for alcohol. I also met Jason, who spent 19 years in Beijing coaching tennis. Thanks to Brother Li for the treat—Cheers!
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Taipei Regent Hotel 1F azie Restaurant
Had lunch at azie restaurant on the 1st floor of Grand Hyatt Taipei. My elementary school alumna Brenda invited me since her boutique INLUXE CASA is in the B2 of the hotel, so meeting here was most convenient. We exchanged some business ideas over the meal, and after eating, I took the MRT Red Line directly to a meeting at the World Trade Center. Thanks for the treat, Brenda! Cheers!
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She'll Xu Oyster bar — Da'an, Taipei
After resting well over the weekend, I went out tonight. First, I had oysters and white wine at She'll Oyster Bar, plus an extravagant chicken broth ramen with oysters, scallops, and clams. Then, I randomly walked into a Japanese whisky bar nearby, HIKOUSHI Whisky Cigars, which turned out to be cigar-focused. I asked the owner Alvin to recommend a Cuban Montecristo with chocolate notes, enjoying it with whisky.
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Taipei Hikoushi Whisky & Cigars Lounge
After resting well over the weekend, I went out tonight. First, I stopped by She'll Oyster bar for some oysters and white wine, plus an extravagant chicken broth ramen topped with oysters, scallops, and clams. Then, I casually walked into a nearby Japanese whisky bar, which turned out to be more cigar-focused.
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Taipei Da'an District Xiao Ming Sake Bar (2nd Visit)
Tonight was my second visit to Sake Bar 小酩 because several drinking buddies mentioned the owner is a fun and beautiful lady, but I missed her last time. Finally met owner Doris and another staff member Vian. After a glass of junmai nama sake, we opened a whole bottle of summer sake. Doris is a certified Sake Expert International and very professional. Later, a female friend joined, and with another female customer, there were four women and only me in the rainy night.
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Taipei Mandarin Oriental Hotel 3F Ya Ge Cantonese Cuisine
Life is a series of countless connections. Every memory is born from such connections. Tonight's dinner with four friends also started because Andy introduced his CMU classmate Jeffery to me, and I then introduced Jeffery to senior Lman. Pat introduced his Cornell classmate Samuel to me, and I also introduced Samuel to senior Lman. The gathering at the one-Michelin-star Cantonese restaurant Ya Ge at Mandarin Oriental Taipei was a result of these intertwined connections.
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Taipei NIHONSHU Sake Bar
Lately, after regular Thursday meetings in Xinyi District, I've made it a habit to try different sake bars. Over the past three weeks, I've visited seven. Today, near Liuzhangli, the first spot was run by a young, charming owner Abby. Since I was the only customer in the early evening, we chatted over drinks. The second place had a handsome manager and was quite busy. Five cups total today—time to head back!
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Anhe Rd. Alley Green House — Taipei
Jimmy invited me for drinks tonight at Green House, a discreet and mysterious bar in an alley on Anhe Road where his friend Eden is a shareholder. It has no sign and is filled with regulars; you even need a password to enter. Taiwan is small—it turns out this place moved from JS Wine on Xinyi Road. So the manager Xiao Wen, whom I knew from drinking there before, is known to all the shareholders. Chatted with Jimmy about his fun three years moving from Taipei to Kenting and clinked glasses with some regulars like Brother Cai, Eric, and P...
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Taipei Jiu Dou Yakiniku Breeze Nanshan Store
My good friend Samuel flew from the US to Japan and then to Taiwan, and we met for lunch after not seeing each other for over half a year. I chose JODOU YAKINIKU at Taipei 101's Breeze Nan Shan because they have staff who grill the meat for you, so we could chat comfortably. With Japanese Wagyu and premium sake, we had great food, good company, and fine drinks all together. After the meal, I took Samuel and his wife Monica to a gallery at Taipei 101 to see Chen Wei's paintings. Cheers!
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Taipei Da Wan Pier - Songlong Store
In the evening, I first went to my friend Sam's place to hang out with his friend, Brother Lu. I met Jeff, who started his own modeling agency twenty years ago. He had just finished arranging show girls for a car exhibition at Syntrend and then joined us. After a bottle of white wine and a bottle of sake, we all got more familiar, and then we went for some Taiwanese stir-fry dishes. Thanks for the treat, Jeff! Cheers!
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Taipei Anhe Rd. Chun Wei Lai Sake Bar
On Monday in Taichung, I had an intense but enjoyable drinking session with good friends. So I took a three-day break from alcohol. After a meeting this evening, I continued my exploration by visiting two sake bars. Afterwards, I went to a female friend's place for a drink and a heart-to-heart talk. Cheers!
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Kiri Sake Collection, Taipei
Had an intense but satisfying drinking session with good friends in Taichung on Monday, so I took three days off from alcohol. After finishing meetings this evening, I continued exploring two sake bars. Afterwards, went to a female friend's place for a drink and heart-to-heart talk. Cheers!
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Taipei Royal Hotel - Ming Gong Cantonese Restaurant
Thanks to Zixuan's invitation, I attended a dinner gathering in the evening related to Japan, involving industry, government, and academia. Besides exchanging business cards, everyone also shared various potential resources and connections. Cheers!
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Taipei, Cang Jiu Lun Tan
In the afternoon, I visited Otto, a Taiwanese wine expert and founder of the '藏酒論壇', with artist Teacher Cai and his wealthy second-generation friend, Xiao Lai. Otto treated us to 12 different kinds of drinks: 1 wine, 1 sake, 3 sherries, and 7 whiskies. Afterwards, the three of them headed to Tamsui for a whisky museum opening, while I went alone to Neihu.
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Taipei, Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station, San Nong Clay Pot
In the evening, I went to a restaurant opened by Vic, the son of Chairman Wu, along with Brother Leon, Brother Paul, Fred, Sister Jennie, Brother Jeff, and Chairman Wu himself, plus Chairman Wu's wife—eight people in total. We talked about Chairman Wu's K-pop group IP and the concert they're holding in Taiwan in June. Thanks for the hospitality! Cheers!
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Taipei Da'an Yu Sake
On Monday night, I drank American red wine at a chamber of commerce dinner. On Tuesday night, I drank whisky with Brother Paul and played a nine-square grid drinking game. After finishing a Crypto industry meeting at TWTC this evening, I thought I'd switch to sake tonight. So first, I went to '羽Sake', which has been open for half a year, and chatted with the owner, Sam, over drinks. After a few cups, I taught Sam how to use Sora AI to make videos, and he treated me to a few more cups of sake and shochu. Afterwards, I went to a second nearby place with great business...
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Taipei Xiao Ming Sake Bar
After a Monday night商会 dinner with American red wine and a Tuesday night drinking whisky and playing games with Brother Paul, I finished a Crypto industry meeting at the World Trade Center this evening. I thought, why not switch to sake tonight? So, for the first stop, I went to '羽Sake', which has been open for half a year.
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Taipei Sake Momo
I chatted with the owner, Sam, while having a few drinks. After a light drink, I taught Sam how to use Sora AI to make videos, and he treated me to a few more cups of sake and shochu. After that, I went to a second spot nearby, which was doing great business...
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Taipei, Hai Zhen Home-Style Cuisine, Minsheng Branch
Tonight, I attended a dinner gathering at the Taiwan-Poland Chamber of Commerce. There were the chamber president, companies from various fields like green energy, agriculture, AI, ESG, the chairman of the Carbon Rights Digital Economy Development Association, family offices, the China Productivity Center, fund companies... a total of 16 people at a large table. Thanks for the hospitality! Cheers!
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Bar igloo — Songshan, Taipei
This week, quite a few friends from the art circle invited me out. Brother Hong from Dahe Art introduced me to his daughter Ella, several Korean collectors, and artists from Hong Kong and Canada. We all drank soju and sang karaoke together—thanks for the invitation, Brother Hong. Also tonight, Brother Shihong, an artist I met previously at a Pernod Ricard tasting, invited me to a newly opened bar he helped design...
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Waldhaus German Beer (Sausages), Raohe Street Night Market, Taipei
This week at Bar Igloo in Songshan District, I was invited by several friends from the art scene. Mr. Hong from Dahe Art introduced me to his daughter Ella, some Korean collectors, and artists from Hong Kong and Canada. We all drank soju, sang songs, and had a great time—thanks to Mr. Hong for the invitation. (Dahe Art is at booth C10 at this year's Taipei Dangdai Art Fair, feel free to visit this weekend if you're interested!) Also tonight, another friend, Shihong, whom I met at a Pernod Ricard tasting, invited me to a newly opened bar he helped design.
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Fermented byCengHouse (3rd Visit) — Taipei
I came to the opening reception for Maxim's 333 Gallery at Taipei 101, where artist Chen-Wei is exhibiting until the end of June. Later, I brought Zi-Xuan to Sihao to try the unique wines recommended by the champion French sommelier.
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Taipei Nanjing W. Rd. Drinkweaver Wine Shop
After a meeting at the World Trade Center, I used a voucher near Ningxia Night Market and stumbled upon this great-value spot. Their cheapest glass is only 150 NTD and quite generous. I enjoyed a few glasses, savoring this peaceful evening.
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Taipei Shao Jiu - Sashimi • Skewers • Late Night Eats
Joey arranged a dinner with General Gu from Hong Kong Pioneer Mining. Afterward, Joey and I continued to a drink-all-you-can spot, where we met two young ladies, one of whom coincidentally shares my birthday. We opened a bottle of champagne and spirits for Betty & Eva. Thanks for the treat, Joey! Cheers!
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Wineswee Breeze Store
Joey arranged a dinner with General Gu from Hong Kong Pioneer Mining. Afterward, Joey and I continued to a drink-all-you-can spot, where we met two young ladies, one of whom coincidentally shares my birthday. We opened a bottle of champagne and spirits for Betty & Eva. Thanks for the treat, Joey! Cheers!
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Taipei, Liuzhangli, Xiao Zhao Private Kitchen
After a busy day, I came to this hard-to-find private kitchen for a wine gathering. I met both old friends and new faces like Leticia and Andy, who even brought expensive Belgian beers to share. Chef Zhao, a 60-year-old Shanghainese, can cook any cuisine.
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Taipei Linsen N. Rd. Wutiao Tong 1496 Bar
Joey, back from Shanghai, invited me to Brother Xiao-Hei's place. We were joined by Jimmy from the south and Brother Li, who came despite needing rest. We finished Joey and Fred's VSOP and whisky reserves and practiced Big Two card game—I still rarely win after over a decade!
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Taipei Xinyi District ONCOR Xiang Yan (3rd Visit)
I introduced Zayn to Le Cercle Club and we sampled their premium whiskies, including Royal Salute 30, 38, and the 62 Gun Salute Red. Later, Zayn treated me to a belated birthday celebration that lasted almost 8 hours—so long I couldn't even finish my diary that day!
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Taipei Zhongshan District Unnatural Single Glass Bar
Went out for a walk and to explore some new spots for a casual drink.
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Wineswee (Zhongshan Elementary School Store)
Went out for a walk and to explore some new spots for a casual drink.
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Shimin Blvd. Fermented byCengHouse — Taipei
Ben, a major property management expert in Taipei, reached out for financial advice. We ended up meeting for drinks, exchanging knowledge about finance and the rental housing industry over great food and wine for four enjoyable hours.
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Taipei, Xinyi Rd., Bibber Dessert Bar · Drunkard's Dessert Shop
Jade surprised me with a late birthday celebration at her favorite spot. This bar stands out with its desserts and ice cream, like the '1910' mezcal-based cocktail or truffle ice cream. We chatted happily until closing time.
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Taipei Lishui St. Lao Guo Sichuan Cuisine
Had lunch at Taipei Lishui Street Lao Guo Sichuan Cuisine, thanks to Brother Wendong for the treat and the Chilean red wine. Also met Wright, the president of Taipei South France Rotary Club in the afternoon. Cheers!
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W Hotel 10F Seasons by olivier e. French Restaurant — Taipei
Had an impromptu lunch with elders at Seasons by olivier e. on the 10th floor of Taipei W Hotel. Thanks for the treat, cheers!
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Taipei, Bo Ji Private Residence Hot Pot
Went to Banqiao in the evening to pay respects to my old friend Tony from the finance industry. We've known each other for over ten years, sharing drinks in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Taipei... It's hard to believe he suddenly passed away at 51. Met Brother Xing and Vice President Jin from Cathay here to see Tony off.
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Bade Rd. Alley LANDED Grape Bar — Taipei
In the afternoon, an elder couple sponsored a private screening of this film—thanks for the invitation. It's a documentary about the 1920s, produced by Li Gang and directed by Xu Mingchun. I thought it might be a heavy topic, but I was completely engrossed for two hours. It mainly tells the story of Xie Wenda, Taiwan's first pilot.
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Taipei WinesWee Breeze Store
Met up with friends last minute in the evening. New acquaintances included Big Head from Dali Construction, Liwei from an American IC testing company, Leo from a family office investing in tech and biotech, and rich second-generation Ah Xiang, along with several ladies. Cheers!
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Taipei Heping E. Rd. Saku Natural Wine Wine Bar
Had meetings in Neihu in the morning and at the World Trade Center in the afternoon. In the evening, a junior from the finance industry back from Hong Kong met up with me, so we came to this natural wine bar recommended by Brother Cookie last week. Met the owner, Lori—a quite unique little space with tatami seating. Cheers!
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Taipei, Wineswee Wine & Food, Breeze Center Branch
Had a conference call with my good friend Samuel in the US at noon, and chatted with Brother Leon outside in the afternoon. In the evening, a female friend who just went through a breakup asked me out for drinks. 'How to dispel worries? Only with Du Kang (alcohol).'
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Taipei East District Costumice Café
Joey is back in Taiwan from Shanghai for a few days, so we met up to catch up and discuss a renewable energy power plant project in Poland. For the second round, we went to J's Place, a relaxed bar we meant to visit last month but didn't. This place focuses on Italian wines, and I got to know San-Jie, who manages the bar. Thanks for the second round, Joey! Cheers!
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J's Place Casual Bar
Met up with Joey who's back from Shanghai for a few days to catch up and discuss a Polish renewable energy plant project. For the second round, we hit J's Place, which I meant to visit last month. This spot focuses on Italian wines, and I got to know the manager, Sanjie. Thanks for the drinks, Joey! Cheers!
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Taipei Beian Rd. American Club American Chamber of Commerce Club (3rd Visit)
Came here in the evening for drinks with Ramen Senior and Elder Tim. Later, Tim's wife Fina, also from Tainan, joined, so we could chat about many Tainan things. Small world—an American AI fund that Elder Tim is an LP in is actually a VC that Ramen Senior's company is currently negotiating a term sheet with. Elder Tim is going to Singapore next week to meet with META (Facebook)...
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Taipei Da'an Central Park by Saru (2nd Visit)
Second visit to Central Park by Saru in Da'an District. After a busy day of meetings and lunch, I randomly walked into this wine bar for a couple of glasses. I just realized I've been here before when it was called 'pm wine to chill'—it's still a great spot with a nice atmosphere.
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Taipei Wineswee - Whiskey & Wine Food (Yongchun Branch)
Nth visit to Wineswee Yongchun. After hotpot, I remembered their new event: unlimited drinks for NT$290/hour. It's not just beer or basic cocktails—they have dozens of wines, spirits, whisky, sake, and beer. As an Aries who loves trying new things, I couldn't resist. In 1 hour 37 minutes, I tried 11 reds, 2 whites, 3 sakes, and even a peaty whisky recommended with oysters.
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Taipei Da'an Liu Xia Wine Bar
After a week of six different themed meetings, I ended with a discussion on traditional and blockchain finance with a senior industry veteran. Dinner was hosted, then I headed to Liushui Street for Kay's wine bar, open only Thu-Fri-Sat. Tried a Burgundy Premier Cru (top 2% on Vivino), Bordeaux, and South African reds—not cheap, but definitely worth it.
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Taipei Da'an District Tsukiji Sushi
This week was packed with six different conference sessions on topics like green energy, Edge AI, and blockchain finance. After the final session discussing the integration of traditional and blockchain finance with a senior industry veteran, I enjoyed a dinner treat. Later, near Lishui Street, I visited the wine bar run by the lovely owner Kay, which is only open Thursday through Saturday. We tasted a Burgundy Premier Cru (ranked in the top 2% globally on Vivino), Bordeaux, and South African reds—not cheap, but truly worth it.
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Taipei Passionate Traveler - Qingcheng Store
Richard arranged a dinner at Penghai Traveler Qingcheng branch to introduce me to his brother Ah B, Kyle from Hong Kong, Lobster, and Ian. Kyle even changed his flight to stay. We had a table full of seafood—truly lavish. Later, we moved to a private club on Nong'an Street and met Sonia (owner of a major Southeast Asian delivery platform), Michael from the auto industry, and agent Zhuanzhuan.
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Taipei Nong'an Street Private Club
Tonight, Richard arranged for his younger brother阿B, Kyle from Hong Kong's百川信託, as well as龍蝦 and Ian, to meet me. Kyle even changed his flight to tomorrow to free up tonight. I thought about it and decided to invite Sam to join the conversation. The table full of seafood was indeed quite lavish.
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Taipei Songshan HALF CUP Red & White Wine Bar
HALF CUP wine bar in Songshan District. It's been a busy week—every day was packed with different topics.
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Taipei American Club (ACC) near Yuanshan — 2nd Visit
Second visit to the American Club near Yuanshan. Met up with Tim, a Harvard+Yale grad I hadn't seen in almost two years, for Happy Hour. He's been discussing a Japan-based project similar to MicroStrategy with friends from US and Japanese financial institutions (including one managing hundreds of billions in AUM). We connected through Yujia to chat about it today.
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Taipei Longjiang Road TANJIROU Charcoal Grill - Skewers & Drinks
Met up with Tim, a Harvard and Yale grad I hadn't seen in almost two years, for happy hour. He's been discussing a project similar to MicroStrategy's expansion into Japan with friends from top US and Japanese financial firms, including one managing hundreds of billions in assets. We connected through Yujia to chat about it here.
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Taipei Fuxing S. Rd. Dalian Flavor Restaurant
Second visit to Dalian Flavor Restaurant on Fuxing South Road. Afternoon chat at TGI Fridays near City Hall with Leon, Jennie, and Jeff (thanks Jennie!). Evening meetup with Jimmy before he heads back to Kenting—joined him and his friends, including Junsheng. Met new friends from Beijing: Vincent, Xiaohui, Jinqiu, and Jiaqing (thanks everyone!). Later, Malaysian friends Alex and Tina dropped by their place for more drinks.
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Taipei World Trade Center International Trade Building 34F Han Lai Celebrity Square
Lunch at Han Lai Celebrity Dining on the 34th floor of the World Trade Center. First, introduced WhaleChip's CEO Kyle to Steven from California (who has IC design/manufacturing needs). Listened to them discuss products using TSMC's 4-6nm process. Steven also introduced Bill, who has 30+ years of experience in China and the US, helping companies list via SPAC on Nasdaq. Steven hosted lunch on the 34th floor...
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Taipei Da'an Yu Yun Japanese Restaurant
Yu Yun Japanese Cuisine in Da'an District. Afternoon visit to Authme (AI identity verification) to meet CEO Andy and hear about their upcoming AI products. Evening thanks to Jennie for treating me to Japanese cuisine—cheers with sake!
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Linsen N. 1496 Bar — Taipei
Nth visit to 1496 Bar on Linsen North. Afternoon chat with Leon and a retired professor friend about semiconductor materials. Dinner thanks to Jennie for the large pizza. After 9 PM, for Xiao Hei's shop anniversary, came with Ali to drink his stored VSOP. Also chatted with Pin, a college student who recently appeared on a TV show. Thanks Ali for hosting and Xiao Hei for the round of shots—cheers!
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Taipei Hengyang Rd. Da San Yuan Restaurant
My friend Samuel is heading back to the US tomorrow, so he invited me and Ramen Senior for dinner at Da San Yuan, a former Michelin-starred restaurant on Hengyang Road. Some dishes were quite unique, like the shrimp paste stuffed fried dough sticks. The per-person cost was around NT$1,500. Thanks for the treat, Samuel! Safe travels!
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Taipei Da'an Le Sentir Cigar Club (2nd Visit)
Met up with my genius high school classmate CLKao, who's back from Silicon Valley for an early New Year celebration. We had a simple lunch near Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, then went to a nearby cafe to discuss his new startup, Recce. It's about quickly checking and ensuring data-driven smart systems when new data or logic changes.
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Taipei Opposite Far Eastern Plaza Hotel Unwined Bar & Vintner (2nd Visit)
In the afternoon, Leon introduced me to Patrick, one of the partners at their fund. Taiwan is such a small world—Patrick not only knows my junior from 333 Gallery but also shares the same birthday as David from Blue Pool Asia and even used to celebrate together with former Polaris CEO Mr. Bai.
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Taipei Grand Hyatt Hotel 1F Cheers Lounge
Met NCKU alumnus Fuxin through Jojo. He invests in biotech, supply chain finance, and more. On New Year's afternoon, gathered at Jeff's place near Dongmen Station with Leon, Jennie, their 30-year friend Lai, and Roy's family. Taiwan is small—Roy is my senior from Weidao High School, 20 years older.
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Taipei Tianxiang Rd. Xiagangye Mutton Speciality Store (2nd Visit)
After afternoon appointments at Hooters on Qingcheng Street and meeting Leon, owner of Haosheng Tech (cooling fans, low-temp epoxy), we ended the day at a nearby mutton hot pot place I hadn't visited in over a decade. Cheers!
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WAVE CLUB Taipei — Taipei
In the afternoon, Leon invited me for coffee at the Starbucks near Zara. In the evening, Paul invited me for drinks, where I met Thompson, Cory, and Xiao Zhao, plus my junior Du whom I hadn't seen in a while. Thanks to Xiao Zhao for picking up the tab. For late-night drinks, we headed to the ATT 4Fun area and had a drink with various entrepreneurs, including my junior Marcus and Andy from AuthMe.
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Taipei Xindian Ba Wei Ginger Duck Hot Pot
A lucky day with three dinner invites, but I could only make it to one in Xindian. My 20-year friend Yujia hosted a gathering with his tech industry pals from Philips, HP, ASUS, HTC, Realtek, etc. HTC's seafood master Spirit took charge of the dishes, joined by Don, Tianhao, and another friend.
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City Hall Station JLK SAKE STUDIOQingJiuZhuanMaiDian (Specialty Store) — Taipei
A busy day with Zomma meetings in the morning, coffee with Leon discussing AI and digital assets in the afternoon. Dinner with Ramen Senior at Sogo's eel restaurant—I was so focused on our conversation that I didn't notice the beautiful lawyer Jingfang sitting at the next table until she messaged me! What a coincidence.
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Taipei Brother Hotel Rooftop Gui Hua Ting
Morning visit to Don's office (major shareholder in several listed companies). He introduced a VP and the VP's female friend who has 36 Bitcoins in a wallet needing handling. Explained cold wallets, TRON chain, crypto debit cards, and analyzed Taiwanese exchanges. Then lunch nearby with the senior and VP, accompanied by California red wine, listening to his past stories.
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Taipei San Nong Clay Pot Stew
Had lunch at FJ TREE Taiwanese Cuisine & Champagne 101 Flagship Store and 仨弄砂鍋煲 with Pat, Samuel, and Wego (co-founder of BlockTempo and TonX). We chatted about DeSci, Hyperliquid, Pump.fun, and TonX's incubated projects like BTCFi. Thanks to Pat for the treat. Afterward, Pat went to a meeting, and Wego headed to Eric's accounting office.
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Taipei Dadaocheng Tipsy Garden Bistro
After two meetings from morning to afternoon, I met up with my good friend Samuel from the US, who just returned to Taiwan. We found this unique bistro in Dadaocheng. Over dinner, we discussed his KulaDAO and the RWA Token they plan to launch in Q1 next year—a token backed by real-world assets.
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Baoqing Street Dark Horse Kitchen (2nd Visit)
Accompanied my mom and her friend Aunt Wu to see the chrysanthemum exhibition at Shilin Residence. Then we visited Aunt Wu's daughter's Chinese medicine clinic near Jiantan Station. After seeing mom off at Taipei Main Station, I joined David's investment club dinner, meeting new people from various industries.
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Taipei Qiao Tou Spicy Hot Pot
Was originally going to a crypto event at Flare but was invited by Leon for hot pot instead. Met Diana, Wendong, and Lulu—seniors in finance and tech about a decade older than me. Explained Bitcoin and cold wallets to them, and we had a great conversation from 6 PM until almost midnight. Thanks to Jennie for hosting!
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Taipei Sunrise Hotel 15F Opera Cocktail Bar
Sam invited me here on a weekend night to meet new friends. Thomas, Tony, and Charlie are regulars at KOR. Louis works in tech with TSMC as a client. Howard used to work for an international firm, traveled to over 40 countries, and now handles family land development. Also met Ken from Korea and Andy, who has mines in Yunnan and flew in from Hong Kong for Jay Chou's concert.
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Linsen N. 1496 Bar — Taipei
Had drinks with Cory and Weide. Taiwan is a small place—also met Ken in supply chain finance, Daniel and Ethan from BSOS, Vic in media (whose IP includes the crypto influencer 水丰刀), and Kai who runs a major global phone case factory in Shenzhen. They're all founders of the Jouer private board. Also met the multitalented Even in music and art, and the bar owner...
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Taipei Fa Rou Yakiniku Bistro Dunbei First Store
Joey, who just returned from Shanghai, invited me for dinner. We had yakiniku near Brother Hotel. Thanks to Joey for the treat! Afterward, we continued to Changchun Road for some red wine. Cheers!
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Taipei Honn Bar
Joey, who just returned from Shanghai, invited me for a meal today. We had yakiniku near Brother Hotel—thanks for the treat, Joey! Afterward, we continued with red wine on Changchun Road. Cheers!
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Taipei Chengdu Rd. Jiang Jin Jiu Dream Back to the Western Regions - Dining & Wine Gathering
Sunday wasn't any less busy—three appointments in one day. First, visited my former colleague Wenxiao in Banqiao to deliver a gift. Then met Daniel from BSOS at DeerFriend Cafe in Far Eastern Plaza to discuss RWA development in Taiwan. Thanks, Daniel! In the evening, attended a dinner gathering hosted by David from 泰豐酒商 in Ximending, featuring a Xinjiang-themed food and wine pairing.
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Taipei Jinzhou St. No. 21 Goose Meat
Back in Taipei, had dinner with Sam and several financially independent gentlemen: Big Bear, Guang, Xing, Yu, Victor, and Principal Chen. Thanks to Big Bear and Sam for hosting! Continued the night with another round. Cheers!
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Unwined Bar & Vintner — Da'an, Taipei
Had lunch with the Zomma team and friends from Taka Taipei Ark to celebrate Tom's birthday. We caught up with Tianren and chatted about FTX claims, BTC, ETH, SOL, and tragic NFT stories from the last bull market. Happy Birthday, Tom, and thanks for the treat! Afterward, I visited a wine shop near Technology Building Station I hadn't been to before, enjoying a glass of red wine while working.
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Taipei Toasteria - Dunan Store (2nd Visit)
In the afternoon, met with Leon and Fred to hear their entrepreneurial stories. For dinner, we were joined by Fred's Hong Kong friends Denny and Sue, plus Paul, at a hot pot restaurant opened by Leon's Hong Kong friend. The owner, Brother Liang, came by specially to greet Leon. Thanks for the treat, Leon!
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Qiaotou Spicy Hot Pot (2nd visit)
For dinner, we were joined by Fred's Hong Kong friends Denny and Sue, plus Paul, at a hot pot restaurant opened by Leon's Hong Kong friend. The owner, Brother Liang, came by specially to greet Leon. Thanks for the treat, Leon! Cheers!
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Episode Daan Taipei - JDV by Hyatt — Taipei
Had dinner in Taipei with a junior high school classmate, Boheng, whom I hadn't seen in a while. He occasionally comes to Taipei to work as a Formula 1 racing commentator for ELTA Sports, so we seized the chance to catch up. It's been almost 30 years since we graduated from Weidao—time really flies. After a tasty and affordable yakiniku meal near Breeze, my classmate, noticing my packed nightlife schedule, took me for a bone-setting session nearby. Thanks, old friend, for the treat and my first bone-setting experience!
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Taipei Xinyi Taifeng CHATROOM Wine Merchant
Stopped by for a drink after a meeting. I ordered a glass of Chablis, which somehow led to several more. I had a great chat with David, a staff member I met for the first time, talking about Taipei's natural wine spots like Dancing Elephant, Ken Nature, Xiao Quan, Jiemu Wine & Food, RVLT, Cafe Society, Vin Nature 45, A Glass or Two, Clos & Cru Wine Bar...
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Taipei Taipei City Hall Station A Point Steakhouse Bistro
Had dinner with senior Lman and chatted about the Tallgeese company he runs with Jeffrey. They recently launched a local AI workstation solution that emphasizes high privacy and addresses common corporate challenges like difficult knowledge management and insufficient in-house expertise. Cheers!
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Taipei Huashan Creative Park Black Vinyl Coffee
In the evening, I visited a company with Jeff, whose clients include Far Eastern Bank and Chung Tai Chan Monastery. Afterwards, we had soup dumplings at Jinan Fresh and then I headed to a spot opened by Cory's friend to spend some quiet time alone. It's a very special secret base filled with vinyl records. Listening to live band music while enjoying a few glasses of wine created a super relaxing vibe, especially on this drizzly night. Enjoy the moment!
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Taipei Xiao Xiao Mai Yongji Branch — Japanese Yakitori Izakaya
I stopped by Taipei's Jixiangdao for their specialty thick-cut pork cutlet, which I'd seen Ethan post about often. I ordered a small bowl of Kā-má-lán black pork katsu-don, and the pork was incredibly juicy and flavorful with a satisfying chew. With the refreshing shredded cabbage and dipping sauce, I immediately regretted not ordering the large size! Later in the evening, I met up with T at a nearby izakaya to share a bottle of sake.
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Taipei Da'an Le Sentir Cigar Club
After dinner, my good friend Pat invited me to join him and his former subordinate Heng, who was visiting from Singapore with his wife. Heng now works in the investment team at Chow Tai Fook in Hong Kong, evaluating various projects and funds. It was a great opportunity to connect and hear about their work in the family office and investment sectors.
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Taipei Sunrise Hotel 15F Chinatown Sky Bar
I first attended an Italian wine tasting in Neihu with Cory, where I met Scott from the US and Aman from Abu Dhabi. Afterwards, I headed to Chinatown Sky Bar for the opening party of this high-rise piano bar, where Duan Yu serves as a consultant. It's a small world in Taiwan – Sam's friend knows the owner Andy, and I even ran into the boss of Puyuan Construction and two Mr. Lis, one of whom is the ex-husband of Hu Gua's daughter.
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Taipei Chang'an E. Rd. Lao Sichuan Ba Shu Spicy Hot Pot
I was lucky enough to attend one of the many birthday celebrations for Weide, the incredibly well-connected owner of Changqing Pharmacy. Our table tonight was a star-studded affair with guests like General Manager Zhu of Business Weekly, President Zhu of Marbo Securities, Hai from Huawei's agency, Yushan from SET TV, Brother Yan from ERA TV, Boss Jiang from Jiutiaotong, the lovely Rei In from Changqing, and Xiaohui from Besins. It was a fantastic evening of interesting stories and good drinks – thanks for the invitation and hospitality, Brother Weide!
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Linsen N. 1496 Bar — Taipei
Taipei Linsen North 1496 Bar (15th visit). Brother Li came by Brother Xiaohei's bar the other day and opened a brand new bottle of whisky to store under my name. So tonight I invited Brother Li over to finish that bottle together. While playing Big Two with Brother Xiaohei, we listened to him share many valuable life insights and experiences. After the whisky, Brother Li opened another bottle of VSOP and stored it under my name again. Thanks for the treat, Brother Li. Cheers!
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Taipei Yongji Rd. Ji Rui Wine Collection | FortuneCellar
Taipei Yongji Road FortuneCellar. After dinner, I passed by this shop while taking a walk. It was drizzling lightly, so I went in and opened a bottle of Italian sparkling wine to relax with a drink. The shop owner treated me to a small glass of Macallan Classic Cut whisky that had been aged in a sherry cask. Suddenly remembering that T also lives nearby, I called her out to join me for a drink. The two of us then opened another bottle of South African Shiraz red wine. Cheers!
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Taipei Neihu Vin37 (5th Visit)
Taipei Neihu Vin37 (5th visit), Huashan Alleycat's Pizza (2nd visit). In the afternoon, I came to Neihu with Brother Cory to attend a tasting event hosted by a liquor distributor. Bordeaux, Burgundy, Spain, Italy, plus a white wine—everyone brought something different, covering quite a few regions. Today I met Ade, who works in investment consulting. After the event, Brother Cory and I went to a shop opened by his friend. I haven't been to this place in about twelve or thirteen years, but the memories are still vivid. Later, Brother Sheng finished work and rushed over from Zhonghe to meet Brother Cory.
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Taipei Dazhi Grand Victoria Hotel 4F N°168 Steakhouse
Taipei Dazhi Victoria Hotel 4F N°168 Steakhouse (2nd visit). My last visit was over twelve years ago—feels like a lifetime. Joey just returned from Shanghai today and asked me out for a meal, so I invited my junior Gene along to discuss potential collaborations. I thought, why not have steak at 168? There were no tables available initially, but thanks to my friend Richard, the young master of the Victoria Hotel, he managed to secure a table for us on a Saturday night. He also treated us to pizza and a bottle of Italian red wine. Thank you, Richard, for arranging everything.
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Taipei OMNI Nightclub (2nd Visit) (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
Second visit to Taipei OMNI Nightclub. Thanks to my junior for the invite. Met new friends including Shiliu, who's in construction, and Johny, owner of Beta Bistro in Taichung's 7th Redevelopment Zone (been there a few times). Taiwan is such a small world—turns out Johny also knows Boheng, a schoolmate. Cheers!
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Taipei Minsheng Community Fu Pairing INN. Chuang Chao Fujin Store
Fu Pairing INN. at MinSheng Community. Went to a brokerage on Ren'ai Road in the morning to handle some US stock transfer business. After a simple unagi don lunch nearby, visited the Tree Hole Paper Museum on Chang'an East Road, which I hadn't been to before. Then came to this little wine shop in the community to sit quietly alone and handle some things on my phone. Overheard two gentlemen at the next table chatting about travel, food, and motorcycles—quite interesting. Around 5 PM, as they were leaving, one of them made eye contact at the door and said I looked familiar...
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TGI Fridays — City Hall, Taipei
Nth visit to TGI Fridays near Taipei City Hall. Had a brainstorming session here with Brother Leon in the afternoon. Later, Teddy (back from the US for a while), Leo from the co-working space Kexi Space, and Tiannong (haven't seen him in a while) joined the gathering. Chatting with these outstanding young people was very insightful. Teddy is now working on a token exchange for verifying AIGC (ERC-7007), and Tiannong has integrated a trading service between Telegram and exchanges. Thanks to Brother Leon for treating us!
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Taipei Linsen N. Rd. Bar Qian Hua
Bar Senka on Linsen North Road. Five consecutive calls today, connecting with various friends. I fully realize that specializing deeply is hard for me—I guess I'm destined to go broad all the way. Joey & Gene, Brother Zeng & Ian, Brother Jun & Ringo... topics spanned from Web3, AR+alternative medicine, to international trade. Then Sam, just back from Shenzhen, urgently updated me on the mainland banking resources he reconnected with. After the fifth call discussing future plans with Brother Leon, I headed out. Evening with Marcus...
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Taipei Lun Lun 1976 Japanese Food Tea & Wine Station
A day of several gatherings: 1. Lunch with Junhong, an old university friend who came up from Hsinchu for his TSMC department team-building. Took him to Miramar for a simple bowl of beef noodles. 2. Dinner at Run Run 1976 Washoku Chashu Eki (a new venture by an old Ximending establishment), joined by another university friend, Afu. Also heard about Afu's current situation in Foxconn's AI department. Thanks to Junhong for treating us! 3. Later, Sam introduced his two friends from...
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Wine Cellar (Wine Cellar) — East District, Taipei
Met up with Sam and Jeff in the evening at 酒窖子, a spot I haven't visited in a while. It turns out Jeff, who's 17 years older than me, shares the exact same birthday—both of us are born on the first day of Aries. What a coincidence! We hopped to a few more places afterward and ran into Tina again. For the final stop, thanks to Sam's friend, the incredibly generous Jian, for treating us. Cheers!
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Taipei Sogo Fuxing 10F Amadeus Cafe
After a meeting at the trade center in the afternoon, I had dinner with Jojo, who's back from Shanghai for a few days, along with Leon and Jennie at this Austrian restaurant on the 10th floor of Sogo Fuxing. We chatted over Austrian red wine—a very rewarding evening. Thanks to Jennie for treating us. On the way back, I tuned into an AMA hosted by Shasha for Zomma Option Protocol at 10 PM. Another day flew by.
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Taipei Ren'ai Rd. WINE MORE TIME Jin Niang Jiu Shi
In the afternoon, an elder introduced me to Professor Lin from Fudan University's AI Research Institute. Afterward, I remembered seeing a wine bar downstairs when I visited Eric's accounting firm—it happened to be near where we met. So I came here, tried three glasses of NT$1,000 red wines, and quietly reflected while watching the endless stream of traffic outside the window.
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Taipei Technology Building Station Dalian Flavor Restaurant
Jimmy, who usually lives in Kenting and rarely comes up, invited me out. Met a few of his friends, including Jeff in land development, the top Taiwanese actor from the '90s, Chen Junsheng, and Sam from Future City Tech working on electrochromic glass. Listened to Junsheng talk about his five standalone B&Bs in Kenting, Sam's recent 8-day trip to Hong Kong and Macau with 4 days of Michelin-starred dining thanks to enthusiastic friends, and Jeff's years living in Vietnam for development projects.
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Taipei Yan Zi Ai Hong Jiu Yan's Wine (2nd Visit)
Drank with two beauties, Yishan and Luna. First stop was 燕子愛紅酒 for Austrian orange wine and red from France's Jura region. Second stop was the distinctive whisky bar, Highlander Inn, near Shida, where we tried many unique whiskies. Listening to Yishan's memories of Italy, France, and Cambodia was fascinating and captivating. Cheers!
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Taipei J.B. Fresh Brewing
In the evening, had a beer with three big shots: Leon, Jeff, and William. Later, senior Lman joined us. Afterward, I headed to Neihu to have a glass of Italian white wine with Lele. Cheers!
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Taipei Chang'an E. 33 District Stir-fry Fresh Seafood
Had dinner with Sam and YA, then moved to nearby小黑哥's bar for the next round. The part-timer Pin here is a senior in college and quite pretty~ After finishing the stored wine from last time, we opened a new bottle. Thanks to YA for treating us. Cheers!
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Taipei Qiao Tou Spicy Hot Pot
In the afternoon, hung out at小詹's wife's shop, 首爾商行, with Leon,小詹, and Suntan for a chat. Then had a beer at a branch of Toasteria Cafe. In the evening, went to橋頭麻辣鍋, a hot pot place opened by Leon's friend. Afterward, found a place for a massage. A busy Saturday!
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1496 Bar — Taipei
Taipei 1496 Bar (10th visit). My junior Marcus came up from Taichung, so I met him and Fash at Xiao Hei Ge's bar in the evening, along with Andrew. Four of us at a table, watching two outstanding young entrepreneurs and the head of a Nasdaq-listed US company, seeing if any sparks would fly. Thanks to my junior for the treat! Then we moved on to the bar at Yuanshan Huabo, where we met up with Fash and Marcus's friend, the founder of Twitch, the world's largest game streaming platform...
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Taipei Yuanshan Expo Triangle Bar
My junior Marcus came up to Taipei from Taichung. Tonight, I met him and Fash at our regular spot, Little Black哥's bar. Along with Andrew, the four of us sat at a table, seeing if sparks would fly between two outstanding young entrepreneurs and the person in charge of a Nasdaq-listed US company. Thanks to my junior for treating us.
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Taipei Yi Chen CELLAR LOUNGE BAR
Taipei Hua Niang Xiao Guan (original store), Cellar Lounge Bar. A friend came up from Taichung in the evening, so I introduced him to a Taipei friend. First stop was the Sichuan restaurant famous because of Jensen Huang, then for the second round we went to a basement bar with great atmosphere. Cheers!
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Linsen N. 1496 Bar — Taipei
Taipei Linsen North 1496 Bar (12th visit). On a whim in the evening, I asked Brother Li, who I hadn't seen in a while and works in land development/construction, to meet up. Thanks to Brother Li for agreeing to come out right away. So we came back to Xiao Hei Ge's place, where I met Brother Co who works in software at Ericsson. Brother Co studied Business Management at Chinese Culture University and got his EMBA at National Sun Yat-sen University, but like me, he loves gaming. We had a great chat, from Little Professor and Apple II all the way to PC games. Cheers! :)
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Linsen N. 1496 Bar — Taipei
Taipei Linsen North 1496 Bar (8th visit). Andrew just got back to Taiwan from Hangzhou today and hit me up, so I brought him to Xiao Hei Ge's place in the evening. The bar was supposed to be closed today, but I messaged Xiao Hei Ge on short notice. He's such a great guy, he actually came to open the shop on a Sunday night. So I also called over my junior Fred who works in the CVC department at Delta Electronics. Taiwan is a small place—Andrew and Xiao Hei Ge know a ton of the same people. Andrew attended the wedding banquet of the son of former Deputy Director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, also his senior from Taichung First Senior High School, Brother Zhuang, and it turns out Xiao Hei Ge knows Brother Zhuang too...
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Taipei Neihu WilsonPark Bistro
Taipei Neihu WilsonPark Bistro, Disaster Prevention Science Education Hall. Luna asked me out for lunch and chose this restaurant. Chef Wilson is Taiwanese but grew up in the US, and the food is pretty good. Afterwards, we visited the nearby Disaster Prevention Science Education Hall. Searching for an exit in a simulated smoke-filled space was quite an impactful experience!
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Taipei Linsen N. Rd. Mei Zi Taiwanese Cuisine Restaurant
Had dinner at Meizi Taiwanese Cuisine on Linsen North Road in Taipei with Leon, Jennie, and their friends. Mr. Liu, a major liquor distributor, brought a potent 86-proof Gaoliang from Tengda Winery. Afterward, Stone, who builds solar plants in Thailand, took us to his secret basement hideout in Linsen North for a second round.
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Taipei Neihu Vin37 Wine Cellar (3rd Visit)
Third visit to Vin37 Wine Cellar in Taipei's Neihu. Right after landing, I got messages about new spots and an invite from Lele for dinner. After resting at home, I braved the heavy rain and took an Uber to Neihu. Ordered a USDA Prime ribeye from Wilson Park across the street—it was decent. At the cellar, I returned the favor by opening three Italian orange and red wines.
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Taipei Dingzhou Rd. Yan Zi Ai Hong Jiu
Visited a friend in Xinzhuang, strolled around Fu Jen University, then headed to Swallow Loves Red Wine on Dingzhou Road in Taipei. After 10 gatherings in 8 days in China and another 10 in 7 days back in Taiwan, today I met Xiao Cheng, whom I once mentored at Taipei 101. We chatted about algorithmic trading over cocktails at his new place in Xinzhuang—my first time there—when Gong called...
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TUGA Grape Ya Restaurant — Taipei
Dinner at TUGA Portuguese Restaurant in Taipei, then our 7th visit to 1496 Bar on Linsen North Road. Joey just returned from Shanghai, so we met up. I chose the Portuguese spot and paired it with Portuguese wine. Afterward, I brought Joey to Xiao Hei-ge's bar and invited Lele over too—she even brought Italian red and white wines from her shop. Cheers!
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Zentopia Bistro (2nd visit)
The final stop was an event by Gaia Information, thanks to Alexandre's invitation. Chatted with Alex, who just returned from Brazil, about business opportunities there. Also met new people like Nelson, who's into Web3 gaming.
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Taipei Neihu Wine Visit Vin37 Wine Cellar (2nd Visit)
Back at Vin37 wine cellar in Taipei's Neihu for a second visit. Lele hit me up for a drink after work, so I headed over. We opened an Italian red with volcanic terroir notes. Later, Sam called me to head to Taoyuan, so I hopped in a cab for the next stop. Cheers!
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JLK SAKE STUDIO Sake Specialty Store Hui — Taipei
After an online meeting with two friends in Hong Kong and China, I headed out for the evening. Switched things up with sake tonight, plus a white wine from Hokkaido. Visited JLK SAKE STUDIO, a sake specialty shop.
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Taipei Evergreen Laurel Wine Shop (Yijiang Direct Store)
Another day of exploring and learning around Taipei. The former Qihai Residence (opened just over two years ago) is definitely worth a visit. For lunch at the Grand Hotel, I tried their famous beef noodles. Dining alone, I could only add some soup dumplings and a glass of red wine...
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Taipei Grand Hotel Yuanyuan Restaurant
After visiting the newly opened Ching-kuo Shih-hai Cultural Park, I headed to the Grand Hotel Taipei's Yuan Yuan Restaurant for lunch. I tried their famous beef noodles, and since I was dining alone, I just added some soup dumplings and a glass of red wine. It was a perfect, simple meal in a historic setting.
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Tuoやすらか Izakaya — Xinyi, Taipei
After a meeting at the World Trade Center, I wandered towards Xiangshan and Yongchun. I popped into a random Japanese izakaya for dinner with a pot of sake. Then, with a slight buzz, I headed to a nearby wine shop offering 10 varieties of red/white for NT$799 with 2-hour free flow—much better than by-the-glass for a proper tasting. The shop focuses on Australian wines.
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Taipei Xinyi District G20 Wine Base
After a meeting at the World Trade Center, I wandered into a Japanese izakaya near Xiangshan for dinner with some sake. Feeling pleasantly buzzed, I then went to G20 Wine Base nearby. For just NT$799, you can enjoy unlimited tastings of 10 different wines for two hours—a much better deal than by-the-glass to really explore.
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Taipei Wine Visit Vin37 Wine Cellar
A day of wandering, learning, and experiencing around Taipei. A quote from a tarot reading stuck with me: 'The future determines the present, the present liberates the past!' For dinner, I just tried the NT$500 beef noodles—gotta save some money for drinks! The owner kindly treated me to an almond jelly after the meal.
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Taipei Tayou Rd. Ji Yue Wine Cellar (3rd Visit)
A last-minute invite from Cory to try a 1994 Bordeaux he bought. At 4 PM, I met up with him and Yvonne, a home shopping host. I booked our spot at Ji Yue Cellar with KC. Yvonne brought her experimental starch-free toast. We went bottle after bottle—the final Alsace Pinot Noir in the shop was stunning. Cory also needed storage for a lot of wine recently...
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Taipei Shen Lai Yi Lu Barbecue Minsheng Branch
Today, Brother Cory invited me last minute to try a 1994 Bordeaux he bought. At 4 PM, I met him and TV shopping host Yiwen. I asked KC at Ji Yue Wine Cellar to book a spot for us. Yiwen brought her starch-free toast bread she's developing. We drank bottle after bottle; the final one in the shop was an Alsace Pinot Noir, which was stunning. Coincidentally, Brother Cory recently needed storage for a lot of wine, so...
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Taipei Qingcheng St. Hooters
Attended a gathering organized by Don, with a diverse group including Alan (GM at a tech MNC), Eric (company valued at 50M), GEO (German AI firm), retired zipper manufacturer Stanley from Dongguan, John (sold his company to a US firm in '96, now lectures), Rock from Garmin, and me—eight in total. Afterwards, headed to Xiao Hei's place on Linsen North.
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Taipei Civic Blvd. Chuang Yi · Donburi Sushi Sake Bar
After my third conference call of the day, I headed out. First, to UBS in Xinyi to chat with my buddy Pat. Then, near NTUST in the evening to introduce a friend to Tianhao, who teaches there, to discuss AI. Afterwards, craving Japanese food, I wandered to Civic Boulevard and randomly walked into a place. A simple dinner with a pot of yamazake (mountain sake). Back home, Cory's 100-case shipment of quality Bordeaux from a French chateau arrived...
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MDV Taipei — Da'an, Taipei
Started the weekend night with the first round, and it's easy to keep going for a second. Came to this new spot that's only been open a few months, opened a small bottle of French champagne, and took a rare moment to quietly think things through alone.
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Taipei Zhongxiao Fuxing Yuppie Bookstore
Back in Taipei from Taichung, came to this interesting spot with great vibes for a drink. Surrounded by melodious tango music, they have different performances or talks here every day.
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Taipei Bertha Irish Bar (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
A busy day with four meetings and two gatherings. Woke up at 8 am to a friend's call about the Cambodian Huione Pay platform. The day's schedule kicked off from there.
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Taipei East District Some Fun Bar
Second stop of the night, came to a bar in the East District. Taiwan is so small – while four of us including T were drinking, Brother Leon coincidentally ran into his old friend of decades, Brother Liang, owner of the famous spicy hot pot place 'Qiaotou' in Taipei. Brother Liang's wife is also one of the owners of this bar, so we were treated to many more shots. Thanks to Brother Terry, whose birthday it is today, for the treat.
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Taipei Howard Plaza Hotel Qi Xian Bar
Had brunch first with two girls, including Anne whom I met for the first time. In the afternoon, introduced Sam from the bank to a friend in need. Thanks for the treat! In the evening, came with Brother Paul, Brother Leon, and Fred to the new brand opened by Brother Sheng, owner of Ma Shen Spicy Hot Pot: Sheng Yan. Chaozhou-style raw marinate mainly features seafood like fish, shrimp, and crab, marinated with liquor, ginger, garlic, etc., then refrigerated or frozen. Since it's raw, they always use...
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Taipei Anhe Road Sheng Yan - Chaoshan Raw Marinated (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
The night ended with a gathering at Sheng Yan, a new venture by the owner of Ma Shen Hot Pot. This Chaozhou-style raw marinated seafood spot focuses on fish, shrimp, and crab, cured with wine, ginger, and garlic. Since it's raw, they use premium ingredients for safety and flavor.
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Taipei A Certain Hotel
Day 6, 8th stop—alcohol thrives in the wind and rain! Cheers!
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ATT 4 Fun 7F Ai Nightclub — Taipei
This afternoon, Sam and I visited a local big shot, Chairman Xie, in Yuanlin, Changhua, and introduced K from the north. Then we drove back to Taipei. After an hour-long video call with an overseas friend and some coding, my last stop was AI Club. Pat's former investment banking colleague Claire wanted to learn about art auctions and collecting paintings, so I introduced...
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KOR Taipei — East District, Taipei
First stop tonight: a good friend wanted to hang out, so we're back on the 11th floor of XX. Taiwan is small—turns out Duan Yu and my friend have known each other for years. Allan, an investment banker from Hong Kong, and LC who arrived late, had also met before in Shanghai. Thanks, Allan! Next, second stop: met Rex at Omni last week. He and some US-returned friends have a regular Wednesday cigar gathering in KOR's private room. So we continued with cigars, wine, and making new friends. Cheers!
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Taipei Minsheng E. Rd. Alley Tai Chao Yuan — Chaoshan Cuisine
Haven't seen Wic in a while, and Fong also asked me out, so we all got together. Had hotpot and caught up on each other's lives. Thanks to Wic for treating us—today's drink pairing was Korean soju. Cheers!
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Taipei Songshan A Private Club (4th Visit)
A friend from Taichung came up to Taipei. First, we drank with Lin Li Chang and his friends in Zhonghe—haven't seen him in a year. Then next stop, a private club with some good Taipei friends. The world is small—ran into Soda again, who's great at opening bottles! Cheers!
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Taipei East District OMNI Nightclub (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
Busy all day, but a junior invited me out, so I took a break. Met some new friends—one really loves cigars and even gave me one on the spot! XD Thanks and cheers! Thanks to my junior for treating me!
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Taipei Songshan District Lao Lao — Spicy Hot Pot
Jeffery, whom I hadn't seen in over a year, returned from the US. We had a lunch gathering today with good friends Sam, Lman senior, and junior Jserv. As I'm usually the one in charge of picking restaurants, I rode the wave of popularity and booked one of Jensen Huang's favorite spots: Lao Lao Hotpot. Jeffery, a CMU graduate, spent many years at Apple where he led the development of the Chinese version of Siri. This weekend, he's leaving Apple to embark on his second career path as an entrepreneur...
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Taipei Guangfu S. Rd. Jiu Sai Zi Wine Shop
After a business meeting at inFlux FinTech, I stopped by this little wine bar on Guangfu South Road for a post-dinner drink. The owner and staff were quite lovely, and I finished my first glass in just over ten minutes. Cheers!
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Taipei Xiao Zui Hao, Kara Kara (2nd Visit), ONCOR (2nd Visit)
Three stops tonight: first with Ms. T, then at Kara Kara (where my junior Marcus has invested) in a VIP room with friends, and finally at ONCOR where Andrew joined. A lively night with great company!
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Taipei WineS'wee Yongchun Store
As the weather heats up, I ordered six new white wines from five countries via WineS'wee for home delivery. I also tried their promo: two Japanese oysters with a glass of white wine for just NT$188 at their Yongchun branch, followed by dinner nearby.
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Taipei East District Vavin Wine Box — Wine Cellar & Shop
After drinks with my junior Maxim and Paul (who generously treated us), I visited Vavin Wine Cellar & Shop in the East District, which Denise had recommended. I enjoyed several French wines after starting with beer and lychee liquor—a perfect end to the night.
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Taipei Baoqing St. Hei Ma Xiao Chu
I ducked into this small, highly-rated restaurant on Baoqing Street to escape the rain. Intrigued by a dish called 'saltimbocca alla Romana' on the chalkboard—an Italian specialty of meat, sage, and ham—I had to try it. The aroma was enticing when it arrived!
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Taipei Yongchun Station Di Yi Xian Fresh Seafood Stir-fry
Andrew just got back from China in the evening and asked me out for a meal, so I invited Brother Mao, whom I met in the private room next to Cashbox last time, and Ms. T. We chatted about their past experiences drinking with friends and party secretaries from various provinces in China. Thanks for the treat, Brother Mao! Then we moved on to Cashbox Songjiang to continue singing with the beautiful Alice and her friends Patty and Linda. Thanks for treating, Andrew! Cheers!
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Taipei Xiao Ban Korean Grilled Intestines - Dunhua Branch
My cousin Yi-Ting invited one of her friends to introduce to me in the evening. This friend is quite impressive, having traveled to 34 countries around the world and just returned from a solo trip through 8 countries in Africa. We chatted about everyone's experiences in different places while drinking Korean sparkling soju and rice wine. Cheers!
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Casanova Italian Restaurant — East District, Taipei
I was busy until past 3 AM yesterday and didn't even have dinner. Today at noon, I ordered some takeout to pair with a Napa red wine at 14.5% ABV—alcohol percentages in red wines are getting higher these days due to climate warming. After a sweat steam session in the afternoon, Jimmy came up from the south to meet for dinner in the evening at his friend's restaurant. Also there was Brother Micky, a former Ogilvy executive I'd met once before who has lived in 7 countries, and his female friend. The owner, whose chef/husband is French, joined us later.
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Taipei Zhongshan District BeApe French Restaurant
Met up with my good friend Sam for lunch in Taipei's Zhongshan District. I remembered KC mentioning this French restaurant, BeApe, where the chef previously worked at a Michelin-starred restaurant. The renovated old house interior was a pleasant surprise upon entering. For the main course, I had the grilled beef bone marrow with amber sauce filet mignon, while Sam ordered the finger-licking fried quail.
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Bade Rd. Alley Zoey Wine & Spirit — Taipei
In the morning, I met Daniel, a young but seasoned crypto OG introduced by Eric from the accounting firm. Daniel previously managed a platform with over 100,000 users during the ICO era and now handles substantial digital assets. He's very low-key but well-connected in Taiwan's crypto circle. Later, Pat joined us as well.
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Taipei Jixiang Rd. Jue Hao Diao Japanese Seafood Izakaya
Since returning to Taiwan from China/Hong Kong during the pandemic, my life has swung between extreme busyness and unusual freedom. After a long day of mental work on a holiday, I finally had time for dinner at 9 PM. I came to this izakaya for a sea urchin crab rice bowl, some skewers, and a bottle of sake, enjoying a moment of peace alone. Life is fleeting, and time is becoming increasingly scarce.
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Garden Da Hotel PRIME ONE Steakhouse Guan — Zhongzheng, Taipei
When senior Lman suddenly suggested a steak dinner, I realized PRIME ONE at Garden Hotel was one of the few high-end steakhouses in Taipei (over NT$2,000 per person) I hadn't tried. So we came for lunch today. I ordered the US Prime 45-day wet-aged ribeye with a 2-glass wine pairing. Dining in the beautiful glasshouse setting made for a lovely meal.
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Taipei Yanshou St. You&me Beef Noodle Bar
After finishing work for the day, I went for a walk nearby and stumbled upon an interesting spot in Minsheng Community: You&me Beef Noodle Bar. As the name suggests, it serves both beef noodles and drinks. The place offers craft beers from various countries and stays open until 1 AM, making it perfect for a late-night meal. Enjoying a steaming bowl of beef noodles with an 8% Taihu craft beer on the side creates a unique Taiwanese 'marriage' of hot and cold—a delightful experience.
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Taipei unDer lab
After a meeting at Taipei Ark about Zomma Protocol's new options product, had a nice Japanese charcoal hamburg steak dinner. Then joined Fred's junior, who recently went through a breakup, and T for drinks, which turned into a bar crawl. First stop, Fred's junior proved to be a bar regular, running into a bartender he knew.
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Knock Knock Who's There? Bistro
The night turned into a bar crawl. At the second stop, Knock Knock Who's There? Bistro, we continued the evening. Fred's junior, a seasoned bar-goer, had already run into an acquaintance at the first bar, setting the tone for a night of unexpected encounters.
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Hackers Bar H4CK3R — East District, Taipei
Thanks to an invitation from Alex and Ellie of Gaia Information, a Taiwanese cloud service integrator, I attended a crypto networking dinner in Taiwan hosted by Akamai Technologies—a US-listed CDN/cloud service provider (Nasdaq: AKAM). I met familiar faces like Chad from Crypto.com, whom I'd seen at Gaia's previous cocktail event, along with Jason, founder of Re:Dreamer, who's about to launch a token soon...
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Taipei, Songshan District, Qinu Nan, Indigenous Bistro
April's Taiwan index settlement day was a busy one, and this was my first meal of the day. Enjoyed it with Senior Lman and Telder.
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Taipei Wenchang St. Luana Wine Cafe
After an evening sauna session, I looked for a place to recharge. Luana Wine Cafe is run by a Japanese owner who has been in Taiwan for six years—he came to learn Chinese and fell in love with the country, so he opened this cozy wine bar in the Xinyi District. I chatted with the owner about cultural differences between Taiwan and Japan, as well as the characteristics of various wines, while enjoying a glass of white from Southern France and two glasses of Napa red. After that, my university club junior, Jinting (ct), had asked to meet up a couple of weeks ago when I was just...
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Taipei Dazhi Xiao Hou Yuan (2nd Visit)
After a sauna session, I stopped by Luana Wine Cafe, a cozy wine bar opened by a Japanese owner who's been in Taiwan for six years. We chatted about cultural differences and wine, and I tried a white from Southern France and two reds from Napa. A perfect recharge.
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Taipei A Drink (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
This entry seems to be a duplicate of the previous one about Luana Wine Cafe and Xiao Hou Yuan. The writer visited the wine bar after a sauna, enjoying conversation and wine with the Japanese owner before meeting up with a university club junior later.
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Taipei, Lane off Songjiang Rd., Salon Flowers - Weightstone Taiwanese Wine
Salon Flowers on Songjiang Road is a hidden gem featuring Weightstone Taiwanese wines. I've been comparing Claude-3 and ChatGPT-4 recently, paying for both subscriptions to test their programming assistance. While Claude-3's built-in knowledge seems less extensive, it quickly learns from provided materials and delivers usable feedback.
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Taipei Xinyi District Afternoon Delight
Ms. T spontaneously asked me out for drinks near her place. After we each had five drinks, we moved to The Flow, a new bar by T's cousin and her husband (formerly a top Uber executive in Taiwan, now at Surprise Lab) in Zhongshan District. They're known for experiences like 'Dining in the Dark' and VR events.
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Taipei Zhongshan District THE FLOW
After five drinks elsewhere, we moved to THE FLOW, a new bar in Zhongshan run by T's cousin. The owner, Rosa, a former Uber Taiwan executive now at Surprise Lab, has created unique experiences like 'Dining in the Dark'. It's a cool spot with a creative concept.
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Taipei Hengyang Rd. Mei Cun Japanese Restaurant
At Meicun Japanese Restaurant on Hengyang Road, I attended a dinner hosted by the founder of Changqing Pharmacy. The ratio was quite unusual - 5 men and 9 women, with many female executives and high-level professionals. The guest list included owners of chain restaurants, a VP from Zeng Noodle, and managers from Wego Motel among others.
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Taipei Hotel MVSA 8F Lounge Vino
After visiting Liyuan Soup Dumplings for the first time in over a decade, we headed to Lounge Vino on the 8th floor of Muzha Hotel. I met up with William, an old colleague from my investment trust days and wine buddy from my time in Hong Kong. He's now the CIO at a Hong Kong fund after leaving J.P. Morgan.
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Taipei Zhongxiao Fuxing Restaurant A French Restaurant
Had lunch with my good friend Sam who returned from the US, and Olen, one of the ETH Taipei speakers. Chef Huang Yilun of Restaurant A previously worked at RAW. Sam got to know the owner's son in the US, so we booked here today. Throughout the fine dining experience, it's clear this restaurant is aiming for a Michelin star—several dishes were quite creative.
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Taipei Songshan A Private Club (3rd Visit)
Paul called me in the evening to celebrate my birthday, so less than 24 hours later, I was back here again. Pat and my junior Marcus also joined later. Thanks to all my good friends for the company! Cheers! :)
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Taipei, Nanchang Rd., General Sun Li-jen's Official Residence Dinner
Fred treated his old classmates and friends from Hong Kong, inviting a few good friends from Taiwan to join the reception. The group mainly consisted of friends from Hong Kong brokerages, investment banks, funds, and listed companies. Thanks for the treat, Fred—we needed a large private room for the after-party! Cheers!
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Taipei, Tayou Rd., Little Tokyo Cuisine, Mini Hot Pot Specialty Store
In the afternoon, I customized and ordered a new laptop from Lenovo's official website—i7 CPU, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD, hoping it lasts for years. In the evening, I had dinner with my ramen senior at this nearby shabu-shabu place costing about a thousand per person. The beef quality was good. We continued discussing our current business situations. The cool weather was perfect for 2-3 pots of warm sake. Cheers~
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Taipei Da'an MonBar Premium Wine Bar
After a meeting in the afternoon, since Xiao Gao is returning to Kenting soon with only a few gatherings left, we came to see him off. The location chosen was Mon at the intersection of Guangfu South Road and Xinyi Road—a prime spot. Their Australian and New Zealand red/white wines have a unique character. Met Micky, who previously worked at Ogilvy and has lived in 7 countries; he now runs an ad agency with friends. Also met Kuikui, who spent six years in Australia and then opened a B&B in Kenting. Plus Coco who stopped by briefly, Micky's cousin, and got to know the wine specialist at this shop...
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Taipei, Chang'an E. Rd., Zui Weng Fishing Port Seafood
After dropping off my eye massager for repair at OSIM on Chang'an East Road, I tried their latest AI massage chair. It adjusts the music and massage modes based on your stress levels, breathing, and heart rate—technology keeps advancing! Later, I visited the nearby Land Reform Memorial Hall to revisit the history of rent reduction and land-to-the-tiller policies. In the evening, I met up with Lman, Joey, Andrew, and Howard (retired from banking) for some lively stir-fry.
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Taipei, Datong District, USE Sake Garden
In the afternoon, I met Joey and Andrew at USE Sake Garden in Datong District to discuss some matters. Andrew just flew back from Thailand, where his Hangzhou media company's livestream hosts were helping sell products. Joey's friend runs a Shanghai media company with over 200,000 MCN bloggers, netting about 50 million RMB annually. We explored potential synergies between their networks while I listened in.
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Taipei Da'an District enowine food & wine (en wine)
Joey returned from Shanghai and asked me to pick a spot for dinner. It's been months since we last met at Louwailou by West Lake in Hangzhou. We ordered an Italian white wine with jasmine notes and a red from Saint-Emilion on Bordeaux's Right Bank. Not satisfied, we added a glass of Napa Valley red. We paired them with a luxurious seafood platter, Italian ravioli, and a charcuterie board—the bill came to exactly 10,000 TWD as we caught up on various topics.
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Taipei Da Zhong Jiu Chang TOKU
In the evening, Jessica, an interior designer I met at Chris's shop (Celebrity Champagne), invited me to her favorite izakaya in a Keelung Road alley. Taiwan is small—Neo, who was also there, visited 333 Gallery last Saturday and knows the artist绒月. At the shop, I met Chairman Wang of the listed company Jin Zhan (6432). Then, I had many rounds of sake with the owner, Toku-san. Later, we moved to Sing!Go KTV for more fun.
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Taipei Xinyi Anhe Leo Club LEO CLUB (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
In the evening, Shao invited me to check out a new bar opened by his Rotary Club friend, Carol. Jimmy joined later and brought Coco, who also retired at 27. Coco used to be a fashion designer in Dongguan and Guangzhou, then invested in real estate; now bored at home, she's thinking of opening a restaurant or bistro. Taiwan is small—the next table had a group in their 30s celebrating a birthday. Jimmy jumped in and soon everyone was mingling.
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Taipei Dadaocheng Salon et Tutu Bistro
In the morning, I visited my Weidao schoolmate Chengwei at He Ding Asset Management, who helps manage his family's funds, and we exchanged various insights. In the afternoon, I explored the nearby Taiwan New Cultural Movement Memorial Hall and Peace and Women's Human Rights Museum, learning more about the 1923治警事件 involving Jiang Weishui. Strolling around, I ended up in Dadaocheng and sat at Salon et Tutu, enjoying a glass of Italian orange wine from old vines for some quiet me-time.
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Taipei Qingcheng St. Hooters
A busy Monday with four back-to-back meetings starting at 9 AM—the last one with Peter from Goldman Investment was particularly engaging. In the evening, I headed to the nearby Hooters for Happy Hour drinks with Paul, Leon, and Dr. Yin—three like-minded older friends. Cheers! By Morgan @2024.2.26 evening
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Taipei Bade Rd. Tian Yuan Seafood Restaurant
In the afternoon, I visited the new exhibition at 333 Gallery's Breeze Nanshan branch, curated by my junior Maxim, and brought Teddy along. I realized Maxim and Teddy are both alumni of Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts, so I introduced them. It was interesting to connect these two key players in Taiwan's art auction and music record industries. Afterward, we headed to Tianyuan Seafood Restaurant on Bade Road for dinner.
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Taipei Chez Swann by Jumi Tavern
I visited the new exhibition at 333 GALLERY in Breeze Nanshan and introduced Teddy to Maxim, as they're both alumni of Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts. It was interesting to connect people from Taiwan's art auction and music industries.
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Mou Lounge — Songshan, Taipei
Started the day with a remote meeting with Eugene, founder of Blue Rabbit .AI. Eugene grew up in the US, is Taiwanese-American, and now lives in Hong Kong. He was very interested in my background and we had a great chat. After the meeting, Giga messaged me because I had made a small investment in their project (ARBOT), an AI-powered new coin rating system, which has since tripled in price. After the afternoon market close and settling the February Taiwan index futures, I finished some regular reports and headed out to a meeting at Dingheng.
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Taipei VINDEX Ya Cui Wine Shop
Had brunch at BRUN in Xinyi District, then visited the Petroleum Exploration Museum in the CPC building. Later, enjoyed a glass of red wine at Shin Kong A4. In the evening, Paul introduced me to the impressive Dr. Yin (formerly of AMD) and met Leon again, who has invested in everything from food and clothing to education and entertainment. Also caught up with senior Lman, and John joined later. Taiwan is a small place.
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Taipei Fuxing South Road Really Good Seafood Restaurant
Had lunch at Really Good Seafood Restaurant on Fuxing South Road for the Nocera (Nasdaq:NCRA) spring banquet. Taiwan is such a small place – I met a former deputy commissioner of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, Brother Zhuang, who turned out to be my senior from Taichung First Senior High School. The owner specially served us king crab knowing he was coming. Later in the afternoon, I went to a nearby wine cellar with Tiger and Steven from the Tsai family, a century-old aquaculture family from Yunlin.
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Technology Building Station Jdan's Wine Cellars (formerly Tiancang Dijiu)
In the afternoon, I visited Jdan's wine cellars (formerly known as Tian Cang Di Jiu) near Technology Building Station. I went with Tiger and Steven from the Tsai family, a century-old aquaculture family from Yunlin. Both studied in the US, and Steven even lived near Zhongshan Park Station in Shanghai's Changning District before.
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Taipei Fuxing S. Rd. Ombre Bistro
Ombre on Fuxing South Road hosted the spring banquet for 'Baodao Taiwan'. 'Huijin Taiwan' and 'TIC' are professional groups for Taiwanese finance professionals working in China and Hong Kong. Today, members mainly from these groups gathered for the newly established 'Baodao Taiwan' spring banquet, initiated by teacher Li Jigang. On this day when the Taiwan stock index hit a historic high, nearly 50 financial talents from across the strait gathered. Upon arrival, I first greeted former Yuanta Investment Trust's Zhaotang. Although we had crossed paths at the company before, we never had a proper chat.
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Taipei Xiangshan Hidden Abode Bistro (Suspended) ⚠️ 暫停營業
Today, I listened to Paul and Andrew discuss aquaculture-photovoltaic integration over dinner at Paradise Dynasty. Thanks to Paul for the treat. After parting ways, Andrew and I went to his friend's newly opened restaurant and bar, which even has a karaoke room in the basement. The group of seniors were all straightforward folks; we drank in a circle and played games. I chatted with Leo next to me about politics, children's education, and Taiwan's future development... It was a special night. Thanks to Brother Wu for the hospitality. For the third round after that, many places were fully booked before the New Year, but we finally found a spot.
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Taipei East District Bar Mood Taipei
A beauty suddenly invited me for drinks tonight, along with her best friend who returned to Taiwan from Australia for the New Year. We came to Bar Mood, which has previously won the Asia's 50 Best Bars award. The cocktails here are indeed quite unique, making for a fun and enjoyable chat over drinks～ Cheers! :)
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Taipei Liuzhangli A Glass or Two
Over the weekend, I continued reading some piled-up books and catching up on K-dramas. In the evening, I met Shao for the first time for some wine. Shao is a dance teacher who now combines Middle Eastern dances with Taiwanese songs for performances in Egypt and Iran. She also spends a few months each year living in those countries. As a Leo, Shao is a new friend with an interesting soul～ Later, Jimmy and Brother Zuo joined, and after closing at midnight, we moved on to another spot…
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Taipei B&N Lounge
After a quiet weekend of reading and K-dramas, I met Shao, a dance teacher who blends Middle Eastern dance with Taiwanese music for performances abroad. Later, Jimmy and Brother Zuo joined, and after closing time, we continued the night elsewhere.
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Taipei, Zhongshan District, Graft Wine & Dine
The night before, after leaving Celebrity's Champagne, I got a massage in Ximending and was suddenly invited by Jimmy and Brother Zuo to join them at East District 209 to entertain friends from Denmark. Everyone had a great time singing～ :) Tonight, Sister Julie asked me out for dinner, so I picked this wine bistro opened by a Hong Kong boss to try. Taiwan is small—the staff recognized me from visiting the Hong Kong owners of Cafe Society wine bar just a few days ago. Tonight, I ordered a French white wine, thanks…
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Taipei, Dadaocheng, CELEBRITY'S Champagne (Celebrity Taste Champagne International)
Over the weekend, I finished watching the 30-episode 'Blossoms' starring Hu Ge, which delves into the Shanghai Stock Exchange plot. On a whim, I booked a visit in the afternoon to one of Taipei's few museums I hadn't seen yet—the Stock Museum. After listening to the explanations and seeing the physical TSMC stock certificates, in the evening, I thought, why not drop by Christophe's shop in Dadaocheng? I came on a whim, and surprisingly, Christophe was there, so we opened a bottle…
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Cafe Society Grape Bar — Zhongshan, Taipei
In the evening, I met Julie for the first time, who came all the way from Taoyuan to have a drink with me. I chose this wine bar owned by a Hong Kong lady. Julie just returned from the US, where she was a GM for a buffet chain in Texas. After a great chat, she invited me to sing at Cashbox Linsen branch nearby.
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Taipei Dazhi Miramar Garden Hotel 3F Mi Xiang Taiwanese Cuisine Restaurant
At noon, my good friend Sam invited me for lunch, so I booked Mi Xiang, a Michelin one-star Taiwanese restaurant. Sam just returned from Davos, Switzerland, after a media interview and brought me Swiss souvenirs. We chatted about his experiences in Switzerland over the meal, discussing his latest investment insights.
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Taipei Sheraton Hotel 17F - Qing Ke Lou
In the afternoon, I had a meeting at TempoX in Xingwu Building. In the evening, I attended the year-end party for the Zomma Protocol team, my second this year. Zomma is an on-chain options trading platform, currently ranked 17th in the DeFi options space by TVL and 1st on the zkSync chain. The party was held at the Michelin-starred restaurant, The Guest House.
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Taipei Caramel Maple Yakitori (Yongji Store)
Today was the monthly settlement day for the Taiwan index futures. After finishing reports and replying to friends' inquiries in the afternoon, I walked to Ms. T's place nearby in the evening. We had Korean soju-beer cocktails and a heart-to-heart talk. The soju-beer mix really got us in the mood quickly, making it a pleasant drinking session.
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Taipei Qsquare Crystal Spoon Thai Restaurant
Over the weekend, I researched LayerZero V2, known as the blockchain TCP/IP protocol. After remote meetings this morning, I helped my junior Rebecca connect some potential clients for her lecture next week. In the evening, I had dinner at a Thai restaurant with friends from Palm Drive Capital, discussing the latest trends in the crypto market.
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Taipei INDULGE Taipei Drinking & Eatery
Over the weekend, I studied LayerZero V2, dubbed the TCP/IP of blockchain, as its whitepaper recently came out. After two remote meetings this morning, I got a message from junior Rebecca about a seminar she's hosting next week near the Far Eastern Plaza Hotel. Though I can't attend, I connected her with some potential clients. In the evening, thanks to Palm Drive Capital for...
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Taipei Pairing Wine Peiying Wine Cellar
In the evening, senior Lman invited me for dinner, so I called Gene, a junior from my department at NCKU who contacted me last week. Gene left his high-paying job at Cisco and led the famous Taiwanese NFT project, Demi-Human. He invested in many BAYC NFTs, which once reached a peak market value of 7-8 million USD. We had Cantonese hot pot and later went to Pairing Wine cellar.
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Tonghua Street Alley Deesse
In the evening, Senior Lman invited me to dinner at Deesse in an alley off Tonghua Street. I also invited Gene, a junior from my department at National Cheng Kung University who contacted me last week. Gene left his high-paying job at Cisco and once led the operations of the famous Taiwanese NFT project, Demi-Human. His investments in several Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs once reached a peak market value of seven to eight million US dollars.
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Anhe Rd. Vana Taipei — Taipei
In the afternoon, I had a meeting at the blockchain startup base, N24 Taipei Ark. There's a new indoor golf simulator (Venom Golf) on the 2nd floor, a collaboration with ITRI, combined with a bar and private rooms. In the evening, I introduced friends like Lman, Mars, Pat, Edison, and Paul to each other over drinks at Vana, recommended by Xia Xia. We chatted about AI computing power and investment trends.
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Taipei Hotel Eclat 6F La Farfalla
Had dinner at La Farfalla on the 6th floor of Humble House Taipei in Xinyi District with Marcus, Amy, and Andrew, accompanied by a Bordeaux red wine. Thanks for the treat, Andrew! For the second round, we went to a Korean restaurant near NTNU, drinking whiskey and soju with Professor Lee from the music department, Mr. Zeng from semiconductor equipment distribution, and Korean boss Mr. Zhao. Cheers!
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Taipei ATT 4Fun 10F KaraKara
Had dinner with Marcus, Amy, and Andrew at a restaurant in Xinyi District, paired with a Bordeaux red wine. Thanks for the treat, Andrew! The second stop was at this Korean restaurant near NTNU, where we had whiskey and soju with Professor Lee from the music department, Brother Zeng from semiconductor equipment distribution, and Korean owner Brother Zhao. Cheers!
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Taipei Shida District Bbang Gwan E Korean Restaurant
The second stop of the night was at this Korean restaurant near NTNU. We had whiskey and Korean soju with Professor Lee from the music department, Brother Zeng from semiconductor equipment distribution, and Korean owner Brother Zhao. It was a great gathering with good drinks and company. Cheers!
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Zhou Clos & Cru Wine Bar — Taipei
Met up with Wayne at Clos & Cru Wine Bar after a long Zomma meeting—our first time having a drink alone together. Taiwan is such a small place; we discovered he was in the same dance club at NTHU as my younger brother back in the day, so we even video-called my brother in the Netherlands to let them catch up. Thanks for the treat, Wayne! Later moved to AW Wine with Paul, Daniel who hosts art fairs, and audio equipment boss Lin. Cheers!
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Taipei AW Wine (5th Visit)
Met up with Wayne in the evening. After such a long Zomma meeting, it was our first time having a drink one-on-one. Taiwan is a small place – we chatted and found out he was in the same dance club cohort at Tsing Hua University as my younger brother, so we even video-called my brother in the Netherlands to let them catch up. Thanks for the treat, Wayne!
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Taipei Linsen N. Rd. Qin Zhuo Wine Collection
In the morning, went to Yangmingshan with Tiffany to consult Master Hong about next year's fortune. In the afternoon, had a Zomma Option meeting at Ark Taipei. In the evening, met up with senior Telder for red wine and to give him a book. Chose a hidden basement wine cellar on B1—very quiet and relaxing. Chatted with him about his recent research on Zi Wei Dou Shu, DALL-E AI generative art, and agri-tech... Drank the wine recommended by the owner.
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Taipei AW Wine (4th Visit)
In the morning, went up to Yangmingshan with Tiffany to consult Master Hong about next year's fortune. In the afternoon, had a Zomma Option meeting at Taipei Ark. In the evening, met up with senior Telder for a glass of red wine and to give him a book. We chose a hidden basement wine cellar on B1 – very quiet and relaxing.
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PIEMONTE CELLAR — Taipei
PIEMONTE CELLAR is a place I stumbled upon last time. In the afternoon, had a chance to have a small drink here with Andrew and Tiger from Nocera, and Teddy from Rock Records. Taiwan is so small—right when we entered, we saw the wine Clark had asked the shop to prepare for his dinner. Chose an Italian red wine and asked the staff to open it; the body was solid and robust. Chatted about live streaming platforms and newly opened nightclubs in Taipei while drinking. Thanks, Andrew...
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Anhe Rd. Wu Xiang Bar Without Anhe — Taipei
Bar Without Anhe on Taipei's Anhe Road. I stumbled upon PIEMONTE CELLAR and Meat Room Tetsuhana Itamae PIEMONTE CELLAR last time. This afternoon, I had the chance to meet up with Andrew and Tiger from Nocera, and Teddy from Rock Records for a casual drink here. Taiwan is a small place—right when I walked in, I saw a bottle of banquet wine at the counter that Clark had asked the shop to prepare. We picked an Italian red wine and asked the staff to open it; the body was solid and robust. We chatted about live streaming platforms and new nightclubs opening in Taipei while drinking. Thanks, Andrew...
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Taipei Zhongshan District Chu Cang Jiu Izakaya
In the evening, went to an izakaya near Zhongshan Elementary School Station with junior Fred and Ms. T, whom I hadn't seen in a while, for skewers and sake. Then went to a nearby wine bistro that Fred frequents, which offers over twenty types of red and white wines by the glass (10–100ml), including second wines from First Growths like Margaux and Mouton. This allows tasting NT$15,000–20,000 wines at minimal cost. Later, Freeza also joined. Cheers! The third round was probably at Yu Xi...
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Taipei Zhongshan District Bravo Wine Bistro
Tonight, I met up with junior Fred and Ms. T, whom I hadn't seen in a while, at an izakaya near Zhongshan Elementary School for skewers and sake. Then we went to a wine bistro nearby that Fred frequents. They offer over twenty wines by the glass (10–100ml), including second labels from First Growths like Margaux and Mouton. It's a great way to taste wines worth NT$15,000–20,000 at minimal cost. Later, Freeza joined us—Cheers!
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Taipei Da'an Rd. William's Wine Cellar (3rd Visit)
At noon, discussed matters over pizza with Paul, Eric, and Tiffany who returned from Hong Kong. Thanks for the treat, Paul! In the evening, went to William's Wine Cellar again and picked two red wines from the US and Burgundy. Cheers! By Morgan @2023.12.22 night
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Taipei Peter Green Wine Cellar
In the evening, had a gathering with Lao Zeng—a high-level executive at HTC who's also a seafood king from Kaohsiung delayed by the tech industry, with millions of views on Google Photos. The chosen spot was quite interesting: inside Songjiang Market. Don, a senior with an astonishing net worth managing several sizable US hedge and pension funds, actually enjoys such down-to-earth local settings. Along with Masaru-san, a Waseda graduate and friend of Lao Zeng, the four of us came here to eat seafood direct from Kaohsiung that Lao Zeng...
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Taipei Brother Hotel - Orchid Hall
After the morning Zomma Protocol meeting, Pat invited a few good friends to gather at noon, including IP, whom I hadn't seen in a while and who works under Taiwan's investment banking godfather, and newly met Bryan, who manages the global market trading department at Yuanta Securities (Hong Kong). Just chatted with Bryan about the possibility of listing funds with them. Thanks for the treat, Pat! Later moved to Hive... then to AW Wine (3rd visit).
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Taipei Songshan District Fangduo Spicy Hot Pot (changed to Mucheng Luosifen Yuan Yang Hot Pot)
On a cold day, I went out to visit several museums and galleries I hadn't been to before. In the evening, I had hot pot with Senior Telder at Fang Duo Malatang in Songshan District (now changed to Mu Cheng Luosifen Hot Pot). I listened to him share his insights from recently investing in a nursing home. Thanks for the treat, Senior!
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Da'an District Lawei Wine Shop (2nd visit)
After dinner, I went to La Vie Wine Bar in Da'an District for the second time. It had been over three months since my last visit. Cheers!
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Taipei Dunhua S. Rd. D'N Dun Nan Wine Cellar (2nd Visit)
Had to handle some urgent matters yesterday, so couldn't make it to three gatherings—sorry about that. @@ Today, first went to Madison Taipei to listen to a good singer perform, then to D’N Dun Nan Wine Cellar, which Wei De from Chang Qing Pharmacy visited yesterday. Realized it's been over three years since I last came here; his mention yesterday suddenly made me want to visit again. Thanks to Wei De's regular status, manager Cindy treated us to a plate of cheese. The Italian and American red wines we ordered were both good. Cheers! :) ...
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Taipei ENOTECA (2nd visit)
In the afternoon, I met with Kevin from Asia Pacific Investment Consulting at ENOTECA (second visit). He shared his recent insights from a visit to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Thanks for the treat, Kevin! In the evening, Brother Paul booked out AW Wine and invited some good friends over.
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AW Wine (2nd visit)
In the evening, Brother Paul booked out AW Wine (second visit) and invited some good friends. Taiwan is such a small place – among the guests was Xiao Du from Capital Investment Trust, who is familiar with two of my former colleagues, Leyu and Shuting. He's also a junior from Taichung First Senior High School, seven years below me.
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Kyuuka Sake Bar
Later, we went to Qiu Xiang Sake Bar. Brother Keigo, who comes from a chain hotel family and has also lived in China, was there too. We continued our conversations over drinks.
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Taipei Sheraton Hotel Digital Age Taiwan-Hong Kong Web3 Exchange Dinner
Thanks to Senior Lman for the invitation to the Digital Times Taiwan-Hong Kong Web3 Exchange Dinner at Sheraton Grand Taipei Hotel. Also, thanks to Emily for her hard work in organizing the entire event. Tonight's exquisite banquet was held on the B2 floor of the Sheraton, with four tables set. Coincidentally, Google was holding their year-end appreciation party right across from us. The event mainly brought together friends from Hong Kong's VC and project teams to exchange ideas with friends from Taiwan's Web3 world. It was still a mix of meeting old and new friends. Old friends and familiar faces included someone I see once a year, now in Hong Kong...
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Taipei Far Eastern Shangri-La - 6F Li Bai Lounge
Tonight, FUNWOO (Farsighted International Real Estate) held a Christmas banquet at Li Bai Ju on the 6th floor of Far Eastern Shangri-La, Taipei, pretty much taking over the entire place! Besides many familiar friends from Taipei, Taichung, and Yunlin, I also met new friends: Fang-Yan Jie from Global Views Monthly, Lawyer Ye Mao-Lin, Deputy Director Xu from National Taiwan University Hospital Yunlin Branch, General Manager Steve from MiTAC Digital, Vice President Bao-Hui Jie from Citibank, CFO Cathy from Taiwan Kang Biotechnology, and also someone Denise Jie knows from AW Wine/Bistro...
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Taipei Zhongxiao E. Rd. Alley Xiao Shan Xiang Chengdu Spicy Hot Pot (2nd Visit)
A busy Monday in Taipei. Four meetings and two dinners today. From morning to afternoon, discussions ranged from strategies with a US hedge fund and cryptocurrency exchanges... all the way to AI, electric vehicles, and semiconductor investments. Lunch was at TSUKUMI on the 4th floor of Breeze Xinyi, thanks for the treat, Paul! Dinner was spicy hot pot, thanks again~ Rarely went a day without any alcohol today, so no 'Cheers' to write about. @@ By Morgan @Evening of Dec 4, 2023.
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Taipei Eslite Xinyi B2 Fruimex German Wine Collection Counter (Moving)
November ended after a crazy schedule of 40 gatherings across 4 cities. These past few days have been for rest and recharging. The day before yesterday, I spent the whole day focused on coding until late at night. Yesterday, I finished reading the 12 military texts by Guiguzi, the originator of the School of Diplomacy, and also skimmed a few more chapters of Huang Shigong's 'Su Shu'. After also playing around with Google's AI Bot, Bard, I went out for an evening stroll to Songshan Cultural and Creative Park to check out the trendy art exhibition held alongside the NFT Taipei International Forum...
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Taipei Dunhua S. Rd. Alley Plan B European Street Market Bistro
Christine, who just returned from Hong Kong in the evening, invited me for a drink to chat about her involvement with Huasheng Securities, Pionex, the US-listed company JYD... The world is small; Christine also knows Brian, Sam. She was quite interested in paying with cryptocurrency, so I let her experience it by swiping with TPay. Afterwards, I met up with two other beauties at the usual spot. Cheers! By Morgan @Evening of Nov 21, 2023.
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Le Ble d'Or — Taipei
Had a lunch gathering for six at Taipei Le Blé d'Or and Jiajia Snack Shop. Met Larry for the first time, who has worked in proprietary trading at major securities firms, often appears on TV, and now helps mainland companies expand overseas at Boda. The first dinner was with Andrew, Sheng, and Nick at Jiajia, a nearly 50-year-old establishment with great food—thanks to Sheng for hosting. Nick, a dual CPA in Taiwan and the US, is a graduate of NTU Accounting and UIUC, truly outstanding. After parting ways, headed to the Zhongxiao Dunhua area for a second round, introduced by a friend to meet Sister Duan...
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Taipei Jia Jia Snack Shop
Had a dinner for four with Andrew, Brother Sheng, and Nick. Jia Jia is a nearly 50-year-old establishment, and the food is indeed excellent. Thanks for the treat, Brother Sheng! First time meeting Nick, who is a dual-certified accountant in Taiwan and the US – a graduate of NTU Accounting and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, very impressive.
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Taipei Yixian Rd. Alley Kohaku〈Kappo〉
Kohaku is a high-end Japanese restaurant hidden in a private residence in Taipei, with Chef Shinji Tohara, formerly of a Japanese two-Michelin-starred restaurant, as head chef. Since opening just over a month ago, counter seats have been hard to come by. Thanks to Paul's invitation, we dined here tonight—it's one of the restaurant series he invested in, so a private room was specially reserved for us. Before the meal, today's ingredients, 90% imported from Japan, were presented and introduced. Beyond the common A5...
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Le vin CAFE(6th Visit) — Taipei
In the afternoon, had an online meeting with Shrimp and Peter, Co-Founder of TPay, to discuss the 8th Taiwan Blockchain Enthusiasts Annual Conference from Dec 6-8. In the evening, dined with Senior Lman and Joseph, CEO of Oasis, whom I hadn't seen in a while—XD. Haven't been to京星 in over a decade! Oasis recently launched the Qubby AI product, which can learn a target's voice, expressions, knowledge, movements...
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Taipei Yi Pin Vegetable Lamb Speciality Restaurant (2nd Visit)
Yanchao returned to Taiwan from Beijing for a short while. As the weather turned cooler, thought it'd be nice to have mutton hot pot. So we had a dinner gathering of five. When heading out, brought two Georgian red wines to pair with the meal. Afterwards, moved to信義路 to continue the night with other good friends. Thanks to Andrew for hosting the later part! Cheers! By Morgan @2023.11.13 night
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Taipei DoubleTree by Hilton Taipei Zhongshan 1F Mori Bar
Spent the whole weekend taking a rather expensive course—a solid 17 hours of learning excluding meal breaks. After the course, remembered my mom texting me in the morning saying she hadn't seen me post about drinking lately and felt unaccustomed to it. So, to be filial, right after class, immediately went to find a place nearby for a drink. Hmm, one glass of white wine might not be enough; better add another glass of Bordeaux to be safe and satisfy mom. Still have to rush back for an 11 PM...
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Grand Hyatt Taipei - Yun Jin Chinese Restaurant
Had lunch with Eric Huiming and Nancy at Yun Jin Chinese Restaurant in Grand Hyatt Taipei. Taiwan is such a small place – I ran into Wayne Yaowen, founder of the XREX exchange, right at the entrance. During lunch, Eric shared about his recent visit to Vietnam, where they were received by the Vice Premier and the Deputy Mayor of Hanoi, and discussed new investment opportunities there. Thanks for the meal!
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Xiaoshan Canteen
In the evening, I met an old comrade from Shenzhen, who has held multiple senior positions across the strait, at Xiao Shan Shi Tang. We had a great time catching up over a simple and delicious meal.
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Taipei Ren'ai Road - Chun Shen Restaurant
Had a meeting for the QT crypto fund in the morning. Then, through Dr. Jiao from Dingbang Family Office, I had a remote meeting with Chairman Yang, who works in green energy, long-term care, carbon credits, and invests in many companies and restaurants. We discussed the possibility of integrating blockchain into his main business.
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Taipei East District Jiu Jiao Zi (6th Visit)
After having hot pot at Raohe Street Night Market for dinner, came here again to chat and enjoy a light drink in the evening breeze. Cheers! By Morgan @2023.11.1 night
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Taipei Wanhua Tiantianlai Seafood Stir-Fry
Came to萬華 in the evening to have dinner and drinks with Brother Zhu who lives nearby and a few other friends. Later, Brother Xiao He, a regular who used to spend 3 million a month at Landis, said he'd take everyone to sing karaoke. Cheers! By Morgan @2023.10.30 night
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Taipei Dadaocheng Vin Nature 45 Zi Ran Cheng
Taipei Dadaocheng Vin Nature 45 Natural Ting. 'Last night's stars, last night's breeze, west of the painted tower, east of the cassia hall.' But tonight is just beginning. After dinner, strolling through Taipei's old streets, moonlight spills onto the Dihua Street Ten-Unit Building. Walking to Liangzhou Street, this shop was also closed the other day when I came. Luckily, it wasn't supposed to be open today either, but the owner Christophe happened to be at the neighboring shop. Seeing me standing outside, he opened the door and let me in to sit down, first offering me a glass of Slovenian white wine. Then he even sat down and chatted with me for a bit... Christophe, who studied in the UK...
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Taipei Yuanshan Station Le Wine Bar by Burgundy Cave
Taipei Yuanshan Station Le Wine Bar by Burgundy Cave. After finishing a meeting in Xinyi District in the evening, I thought about a shop near Yuanshan Station I tried last time but found closed. So I went directly along the MRT Red Line and came here again. This Burgundy Cave is a wine merchant that expanded from Hong Kong. The interior space is quite spacious, and the young staff they hire are all very youthful. Here, I ordered a serving of Burgundy-style braised beef cheek to pair with a Burgundy red wine. Both taste good ~ By Morgan @2023.10.26 evening...
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JRDongRiBenDa Rice Dian3F The Bar — Taipei
Taipei Hotel JR East Japan 3F The Bar. In the evening, Mark, the founder of AINiffler. Last week when having dinner with him, we discussed some matters. So that day he suddenly said he wanted to meet General Manager Liang. Since I was previously treated by Mark and William, I helped arrange tonight's gathering. It's also been a long time since I've been here. Last time I came, this place was still the Churchill Bar of The Westin Taipei. Here, drinking Kavalan whisky while listening to General Manager Liang share about his previous experience at Invesco, managing nearly $20 billion (130 billion RM...
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Taipei Chongqing N. Rd. Ming Tian Wine Shop Tomorrow Wine Shop
Taipei Zhongshan Station Mu Tian No.2-1 Shabu Factory, Chongqing North Road Ming Tian Wine Shop TomorrowWineShop. 1. In the morning, first had a remote meeting with General Manager Jiang, founder of the Canadian GIA loose diamond asset brand LoveOnly, and learned some diamond industry knowledge. 2. Then came to the office of Bincentive upstairs in Taipei 101. Dr. Zhuo, the founder whom I haven't seen for a while, invited me for a small chat. 3. In the afternoon, performed some operations on several DeFi Option platforms. 4. In the evening, a former colleague...
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Domaine Wine Cellars (5th visit)
Had lunch with Pat, Sam (who's flying to the US today), and Andrew at Wei Fu Lou in Xinyi District. We had sour cabbage and pork hot pot plus two-way duck – not bad! Thanks, Pat, for treating us. Afterward, we talked about an art exhibition I visited yesterday, and Pat was interested, so I took him there.
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ABV Bar & Kitchen American Bistro — Taipei
After returning from Taichung in the afternoon, I visited Le vin CAFE again to see the French owner. Then in the evening, we had a gathering of 11 university classmates from the Industrial Management department because Funky came from Macau to Taiwan for a marathon event. We've known each other for over 25 years—time flies! From tech to finance, from listed companies to civil servants... After it ended, I returned to Le vin CAFE. Cheers!
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Taipei Da'an Rd. Le vin CAFE (5th Visit)
Saturday night, introducing good friends to each other. Cheers!
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Aging Room cigar & spirits Cigar Cafe Bar (2nd Visit) — Taipei
Today was the first day of the Taipei Textile Exhibition at Nangang Exhibition Center. After being busy in the morning, I took some time to chat with Brother Xuchu. Their company, TOP Towel, has been established for over 40 years, consistently providing high-quality towels and textile products to many hotels, well-known enterprises, and sports brands.
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Taipei Da'an Orange Shabu Shabu House
A crazy busy Monday. During the day: two online meetings, two phone calls, and survey data. In the evening, I finally made it to Mugen Shabu Shabu, a place I've wanted to book for ten years but could never get a reservation. James, the Chief Innovation Officer of Digitimes, introduced me to the lovely Emily from his team. After that, I headed to the wine shop on Da'an Road to have drinks with a friend who's involved in large-scale land development in New Taipei and recently wants to invest in a private club in Taichung, seeking my advice.
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Taipei Da'an District Le vin CAFE
A crazy busy Monday. In the evening, went to Orange Shabu Shabu, a place I've wanted to book for ten years but could never get a reservation. James, the Chief Innovation Officer of a digital media company, wanted me to meet Emily, so we got acquainted here. Afterwards, headed to a wine shop on Da'an Road.
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Taipei Madison Taipei Hotel (5th visit)
Bought some books online before the holiday but accidentally got duplicates. Flipped through them this morning before heading out. Just had drinks at Madison last night, and today friends invited me for lunch there again. Lman senior introduced Xiaolin, a good friend of the BingX exchange owner.
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Cosecha 22 Cigar Lounge (2nd visit)
After lunch, we continued our chat at Cosecha 22 Cigar Lounge. Talked a lot with Xiaolin about various physical and Web3 projects we're involved in, as well as potential fund collaborations. His assistant Ben was also at the table. It was a productive follow-up session in a relaxed atmosphere.
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Taipei Ren'ai Rd. Shan Hai Lou
Tonight, I had dinner with Sam, Andrew, and Lman at Shan Hai Lou on Ren'ai Road (Michelin one-star). We tried some nostalgic yet innovative Taiwanese dishes paired with a French Chardonnay. It's always great to learn from friends when we gather—thanks to Sam for treating us! Cheers!
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Hotel Metropolitan Premier Taipei
Had lunch with General Manager Liang at JR East Japan Hotel. The cream crab matcha noodles were pretty good. Spent the afternoon visiting historical sites, museums, and art galleries. In the evening, met up with Fred, a junior working in Delta Electronics' investment department, for drinks.
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Dazhi 50/45 WINEHAUS Wine Bar (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
Went to Dazhi for drinks with Fred. Thanks for the treat, junior! After that, headed to Xinyi District to continue hanging out with his friend Jessica. Jessica is a really beautiful and elegant lady. We had a great time chatting and enjoying the night.
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Taipei Zhongshan N. Rd. Ming Fu Taiwanese Seafood Restaurant
After listening to Sam's AMA on KulaDAO last night, we met for lunch today at Ming Fu Taiwanese Seafood on Zhongshan North Road (Michelin one-star). Joined by Andrew and Edison, we discussed potential collaborations across our fields—from US-listed companies to African RWA projects and family offices.
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Taipei Da'an Ken Zi Ran Wine
After an event at Muzik Hotel, I ducked into Ken Natural Wine in Da'an to avoid the rain. This wine shop came recommended by ICEBONE, and I finally got to try it. Starting the evening with a French rosé seemed like the perfect way to unwind.
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BaganHood Vegetarian Bistro
In the afternoon, T, whom I hadn't seen in a while, came to meet me. We went to a veggie bistro and then a natural wine + sake place. After she finished her evening tutoring, she came back to continue our chat. So we added a late-night bar session – cheers to a long day of catching up!
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Tipsy Dragon Bar
Started the day by visiting the Railway Museum branch near Civic Boulevard, then had a bite at the Eslite Songyan store. After the meal, had a glass of champagne at Eslite Wine Cellar. It was a leisurely day exploring and enjoying good drinks with good company.
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Songshan Eslite - Eslite Wine Cellar
I started my day by visiting the Railway Museum branch on Civic Boulevard, then headed to the nearby Eslite Songyan for a bite. After the meal, I enjoyed a glass of champagne at the Eslite Wine Cellar.
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Koizumi Natural Wine
In the afternoon, Ms. T, whom I hadn't seen in a while, came to meet me. The two of us went to a bistro first, then a natural wine and sake bar. After she finished her evening tutoring, she came back to continue our chat.
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Taipei 101 85F Addiction Aquatic Development Cantonese Cuisine
A packed day with 5+ meetings. Started with QuanTrend, then lunch with Sam at 85F Addiction in Taipei 101 (Michelin-starred Cantonese cuisine). Sam just returned from Africa where KulaDAO met Zambian officials and got media coverage. Wrapped up with coffee at Simple Kaffa on the 88th floor.
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Taipei Wine Butler (2nd Visit)
A day of 5+1 meetings/events. Had lunch with my good friend Sam, who just returned from Africa, at the 85th floor of Taipei 101 – '85th Floor Addition' (Cantonese cuisine by a Michelin chef, quite tasty). In the afternoon, went to the 88th floor for a cup of coffee at Simple Kaffa.
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Taipei Qingcheng St. Bottless Bistro
After a busy Monday with meetings and research, I headed to Bottless on Qingcheng Street. The place was packed, and they serve wine on tap—eco-friendly and cost-effective. The menu, designed by a Michelin Plate chef, is solid, and I enjoyed it with a couple of white wines.
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Baoqing St. The House Taipei — Taipei
Spent the evening reviewing Lman senior's deck on a US team managing $70M AUM from Token 2049. Then, I took my handmade Zeiss wine glass out—it's too good not to use. Originally planned to visit Andy's Wine Cellar, but ended up at The House Taipei on Baoqing Street instead.
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Taipei Sheraton Hotel Qing Ke Lou
Unexpectedly joined Zhang Xuchu senior's birthday dinner at Sheraton Hotel's Qing Ke Lou. After he returned to Yunlin, we continued at Oncor in Xinyi. I hadn't cried in over a decade, but tonight, singing brought tears to my eyes. Cheers!
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Xinyi Rd. Opium Champagne Bar — Taipei
It's been a while since I last saw Jack from Sophia Research, so he invited me to catch up at this champagne bar opposite Taipei 101. Along with a few other young friends—another Jack, Chris, and Lance, all aged 29–34—we gathered. Each of them is exceptionally talented in their respective niche fields. Their work involves handling global demands from various channels, extending beyond the usual markets like China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Australia...
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Taipei Da'an Madison Taipei Hotel Bar
Yesterday morning, Andrew introduced 'Brother Sheng,' the former chairman of an investment trust, to Nancy, the founder of FUNWOO. At noon, Jerry, VP of cacaFly, also came by to visit Nancy. Taiwan is a small place—Jerry also knows Ramen Senior and Blues from GCP... Later, Pat and his brother joined as well. In the afternoon, Pat and I went to the nearby DeFITs office to listen to Beichen introduce To...
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Taipei William Wine Cellar - Minsheng Store
Two gatherings in one day, drinking with several startup CEOs. Thanks to Jenny from FineDayClub for hosting the first part! And thanks to Andrew for the second part! Cheers! :) By Morgan @2023.9.4 evening #WilliamWineCellar #MadisonTaipei
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Dunhua S. Rd. Fan He Beef Yakiniku — Taipei
Bon, a high-end yakiniku restaurant in Taiwan, is a collaboration with Yoroniku, Tokyo's top-ranked yakiniku spot. My good friend Sam just returned from the US last night, so we all gathered here for dinner tonight. Besides being a Director at a UIUC university lab, Sam is also a co-founder of KulaDAO, which tokenizes real-world assets (RWA) in Africa. We ordered the double set menu (NT$6,500+10%) and some extra meats, plus...
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Taipei Tayou Rd. Ji Yue Wine Cellar (2nd Visit)
The other day while drinking at Lan Qing's place in Taichung, we talked about her family's long-established Ji Yue Wine Cellar in Taipei. Realizing it had been a while since my last visit, I dropped by after work today, greeted Sister KC, and sat down. Today, we drank a red wine from France's Jura region, made from the rare ancient grape variety Trousseau. I listened as the gourmet expert Sister KC shared about many high-end restaurants across Taiwan and in Tainan (like Tao Nong Bei, MO. Lab, Gan Zhi Tang...). Then, while touring the massive 500+坪 underground wine cellar...
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Taipei Xinyi Rd. Shenpu Shangyan - Shanghai Cuisine
Evening gathering with the Zomma Protocol team. (Zomma is an on-chain cryptocurrency options exchange: https://app.zomma.pro/en/main/trade) We all sat at one table in a private room. With Big Tom and Tianren Ge there, the night was never dull! We paired the meal with two French red wines. Cheers~ :) By Morgan @2023.8.16 evening
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Wine Cellar (Wine Cellar) — East District, Taipei
Evening crash into a gathering of alumni from Chiayi Concordia Middle School. Among them were Josepe from Oasis, Nancy from FUNWOO, Yawen, a senior executive at PCHome, and Seymour, a senior in the military parts business. Being sandwiched between four Leos was quite amusing. We had three Burgundy Premier Cru wines, one special French bottled wine, and a German Riesling white. Life is short, sing over wine. :) Cheers! By Morgan @2023.8.15 evening
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Taipei Neihu Lao Teng Wine Cellar
Through an OGG introduction in the afternoon, Ramen Senior and I came to the Gamania building in Neihu, Taipei, to visit Old Vine Cellar. They've expanded into a new Web3 venture called Gash, with a new chain game soon launching on the ZKSync chain. We met with Yoyo and Nelson from their blockchain application development division, along with a Discord community manager, to discuss potential resource integration and mutual benefits. Taiwan is small—while chatting at the café downstairs, someone suddenly called my name; if I'm not mistaken, it should be...
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Taipei Dazhi Marriott Hotel 20F INGE'S Bar & Grill
In the afternoon, Lei Si Ji's juniors introduced me to a major Taiwan stock market player, whose trading positions can swing around 40 million NT dollars within 30 minutes. Since it was a Sunday afternoon and few places are both quiet and serve alcohol, I thought of it and asked the familiar wine merchant WINESWEE in Neihu to reserve a VIP private room upstairs for us. After arriving, we opened two bottles of red wine from Georgia and Chile, and the four of us chatted freely while drinking in the private room. Afterward, we headed to dinner...
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Pan House Wine & Bistro — Yanji St., Taipei
I hadn't met with senior captain Brother Lin Yan for a long time—every time we tried to meet, he was either flying a plane in the air or not in Taipei. Tonight was perfect, as it was the birthday of Ian, the younger brother of Pan House's owner, so Brother Lin Yan organized a gathering here. Starting with 3 men and 6 women, it eventually grew to 11 men and 13 women. I initially planned to note down each woman's name (and I did remember the first few), but there were simply too many later, so I gave up and went with the flow. As expected with Brother Lin Yan's gatherings, the number of women always exceeds the men...
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Shin Kong MitsukoshiA9 WILDWOOD — Taipei
In the evening, Pat introduced me to his accountant friend, Eric, who founded his own accounting firm (Shang Yan Qun Jia) and now has over forty employees. Eric's professional agility left a deep impression. Later that night, a beautiful woman invited me to dinner at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A9. WILDWOOD is helmed by a Michelin-starred chef, and the steak we ordered was perfectly cooked in terms of heat control, which was reflected in...
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Anhe Rd. Alley Bar Way Home — Taipei
Today involved four meetings covering financial law, asset management, carbon credit trading, and a Crypto options exchange... ending with a visit to Coco at the international high-end laundry brand Jeeves. Afterward, I had a simple Shandong-style roasted chicken on Anhe Road, then while walking, I suddenly spotted Bar Way Home, which I had just looked up earlier today. Since it felt like fate, I walked in, sat down, ordered two glasses of white wine, and took a moment to rest and reflect. It's a place with great service. By M...
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Taipei Yanji St. Meal Room - Bistro & Hot Pot
Had dinner with Lman and Joey at Meal Room on Yanji Street. Joey, who's lived in Shanghai for 15 years, is back in Taiwan with his family. Over a yin-yang hot pot paired with Japanese chocolate wine, we discussed potential business collaborations in industrial real estate. Cheers!
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Taipei Da'an Rd. William Wine Collection
After a long day starting at 6 AM, I wrapped up with Nancy and Teddy at William Wine Cellar on Da'an Road. We enjoyed Italian Masi, Burgundy Premier Cru, and Bordeaux Grand Cru while chatting about real estate and music. We even ran into Jack's friend Tianyu, who Teddy also knows. Cheers!
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VG The Seafood Bar — Da'an, Taipei
Met up with the talented designer Coco at VG The Seafood Bar near her office. The seafood and steak were excellent, complemented nicely by an Argentine red wine after the initial white. Thanks to Coco for the treat and for arranging a Maserati ride home with a driver!
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PURE WINE Cave — Taipei
Met Mr. Lin, who's lived in Guangzhou for over 20 years in solar energy, for coffee at Ximending. He started explaining a trading system, and I immediately recognized it as Chan Theory. After that, communication became much smoother. We later visited the Railway Department Park and Huaxi Street Night Market.
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Taipei Yijiang St. Wine O'Clock Wine Shop
After another busy Monday, I stopped by Wine O'Clock on Yijiang Street for some Australian Pinot Noir and French white wine. I realized I had 38 gatherings in July, surpassing June's 33—maybe this is my true talent. A rare moment alone to think, though another invitation just came in, making it 39 for July.
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Taipei Nanjing E. Rd. Yule European Creative Cuisine
Had dinner with Sam and Lman at Yu Le European Creative Cuisine on Nanjing East Road. We discussed the future development of Sam's KulaDAO project, which combines RWA and Web3. Sam also shared his recent experience at the newly opened Xiang A Joy Buffet. Thanks again to Sam for the treat! Cheers!
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Taipei Minsheng Community Andy's Wine Cellar (2nd Visit)
Second visit to Andy's Wine Cellar in Minsheng Community. A packed day: visited DeFITs with junior Marcus in the morning, had burgers near City Hall Station with Edison at noon, remote meeting with Zomma Protocol team in the afternoon, and ended the evening at Solv Protocol...
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Taipei Drinking
Worked from 8 AM to 8 PM, so I met up with two lovely ladies for some red wine to recharge. If one glass isn't enough, then make it two! Cheers!
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Taipei Jiaxing St. Vin Jolie co. Ltd - Private Wine Cellar
After a meeting, I went to Vin Jolie Private Wine Cellar on Jiaxing Street for wine. Hidden in an alley, it offers a great selection of wines by the glass. Today I tried six different glasses, from mineral Burgundy whites to German Riesling and Gewürztraminer.
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Taipei Zhongxiao Fuxing JAPOLI Italian Bistro
Three stops in one day. Afternoon tea with senior Guojun and Joe from Biying near Taipei World Trade Center. Dinner at JAPOLI Italian Restaurant with lman senior and OGG, discussing AIGC projects. Then moved to Changchun Goose Meat on Liaoning Street with Yujia and Don senior.
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Libido Wine Gallery Wine Bar — Da'an, Taipei
Had lunch with Jerry, a senior from my NCKU CS grad days, and his family—haven't seen him in over five years since he was teaching at Harbin Institute of Technology's Shenzhen campus. He's now at a university in Norway. Later, ended the evening at Libido Wine Gallery in Da'an for some wine.
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Nanjing Fuxing Hooters — Taipei
Lunch at 93 Lane Cultural Space with senior Lamian and Arthur, founder of inFlux FinTech. Thanks Arthur for the treat! Evening met friends at Taipei Arena, then had late-night snacks with Steven from Le Siji and Telder senior - all alumni from the same schools.
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Ji Yue Wine Cellar (Wine Cellar) — Songshan, Taipei
After a whole day working with ChatGPT, I walked to nearby Ji Yue Wine Cellar to unwind. They used to serve French cuisine but now focus on wine. The high-ceiling space is very comfortable. I arrived at 7:15 PM and enjoyed three glasses of wine before closing at 8 PM.
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Taipei Xinyi Rd. La Vie Wine Lohas Wine Cellar
A hectic Monday! From trading setups and DeFi options analysis to meetings with Hong Kong funds and legal consultations. Ended the day at La Vie Wine Cellar on Xinyi Road for a well-deserved drink to unwind.
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Taipei Minsheng Community Andy Castle Wine Collection
After a Zomma meeting in Xinyi District, came to Minsheng Community for dinner and to check out ACE Exchange's physical store. Was about to head home but craved red wine, so searched for nearby wine cellars. Ended up at Andy Castle Wine Cellar on Fujin Street.
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Taipei Nanjing Fuxing JR East Hotel
Met up with Mr. Liang at JR East Hotel Taipei Nanjing Fuxing for lunch. While I miss the premium beef noodles from the former Regent, their Wagyu beef curry here is also excellent. Paired with a glass of red and white wine, it was a satisfying simple lunch. In the evening, I returned to the area for dinner with senior Lman at Shuo Chang Izakaya. The food was quite tasty, and I was impressed by both the sashimi and beef short ribs. The 399 NT deal with 1.5 hours of unlimited...
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Taipei Shuo Chang Izakaya
Had a simple and tasty lunch at JR East Japan Hotel after meeting with CEO Liang, whom I hadn't seen in a while. The Wagyu beef curry here is quite good, paired with a glass of red and white wine. In the evening, had dinner with senior Lman back in the Nanjing Fuxing area. The food at Shuo Chang was delicious – both the sashimi and beef short ribs left a great impression.
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Taipei Ren'ai Rd. Domaine Wine Cellar (4th Visit)
Fourth visit to Domaine Wine Cellar on Ren'ai Road. In the evening, a big group including Nancy, Stacy, Jeffery, and others gathered. We started by drinking seven bottles of Burgundy red wine and one white at Domaine. Then we moved to Cashbox KTV near Zhongxiao Fuxing for singing. Thanks to Carolyn for treating us to the red wine in the first half! Cheers!
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Taipei Yanji St. Tonight Bistro (Suspended) ⚠️ 暫停營業
Started the afternoon with a walk from Tayou Road to Guanshan Riverside Park and Yingfeng Riverside Park for some exercise. In the evening, my two cousins invited me to Bramay German Afternoon Tea on Guangfu South Road for some South African Rooibos tea. Later, I moved to the Tonight bar on Yanji Street. Nancy rushed back from Taichung, and we had drinks with high school senior Seymour and classmate Joseph. Joseph's company, OOSGA, recently helped FTV News...
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Taipei Neihu Ruiguang Rd. Samwon Garden Korean Restaurant
Yesterday, I visited the Evergreen Maritime Museum. This afternoon, I caught up with MFT senior Zongxian, whom I hadn't seen for over two years. He has returned to working at Advantech in industrial computers. His girlfriend works at the Taiwan Creative Content Agency and is also very busy, meeting daily with film industry people, investors, and various big shots. In the evening, I took a taxi to Neihu. Sam's family invited me to dinner and asked me to choose a restaurant. After asking about their preferences, I booked this high-end Korean BBQ place in Taipei to try. I thought...
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Taipei Guangfu S. Rd. Xiaolin Seafood
In the morning, Shrimp Shrimp and YJ from Hong Kong's Amber Group happened to visit CoinW, so I dropped by to chat as well. Coincidentally, Tony was also there. Thanks to Mark & William for hosting a simple lunch. After the Zomma meeting in the afternoon, we had a group dinner at nearby Xiao Lin Seafood in the evening. After that, I went home to drop off some things, then headed to Nangang HSR Station to travel south again to Yunlin - Huwei. FUNWOO De Zai International Real Estate held an event today at Huwei Chunqiu Hotel...
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Taipei Songren Rd. Flare - OKx Exchange VIP Wine Party
After a meeting at Biwin near the Taipei World Trade Center in the afternoon, where I met Iris – who turned out to be the same Iris Willon introduced me to in Hong Kong years ago – I headed to the OKx exchange VIP cocktail event at Flare on Songren Road. It's a small world; Iris runs her own fund in Hong Kong and was involved in Luckin Coffee's IPO. This was my third time at Flare in Xinyi District this month.
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Zhongxiao E. Rd. W Hotel 10F Woo Bar — Taipei
After a typically busy Monday with back-to-back meetings, I met my good friend Sam for a happy hour at Woo Bar on the 10th floor of W Hotel. Sam just returned from Dubai and Abu Dhabi discussing compliance licenses and brought me a souvenir. We chatted about At.mosphere, the world's highest restaurant on the 122nd floor of Burj Khalifa, which Sam visited and I've also been to with Mr. Liang.
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Taipei Sheraton Hotel 2F Momoyama Japanese Restaurant
I introduced Sam's family to Nancy and her daughter over dinner at Sheraton's Momoyama Japanese Restaurant. Sam not only manages the global web3 project KulaDAO but is also a Director at a UIUC lab. His daughter and Nancy's daughter are the same age, both attending American schools in Taiwan. Sam's daughter Alexandra is also a member of Mensa International, so I arranged for them to meet tonight.
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Taipei Zhongshan Station WOWffizi Bistro
Thinking back to my years right after grad school, serving my national defense service in Hsinchu Science Park, almost every weekend I'd play badminton with Zhiqian, Xiao Cai, Weng Liang, Yan Lü, Zongwei, Brother Liren... at the NCTU gym, often for the whole afternoon. After playing, I'd usually find a restaurant in Hsinchu for us to eat at. In a blink, almost twenty years have passed. I never thought I'd have the chance to play badminton on the same court with Zhiqian again today.
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Taipei Taipei Arena Station Tipsy Bistro (Seems to have changed ownership)
It's been almost twenty years since I played badminton every weekend with my friends during my post-graduation years in Hsinchu. Today, I unexpectedly had the chance to play on the same court with Zhiqian again. After the game, we headed to Tipsy near Taipei Arena for drinks and a meal, reminiscing about the old days.
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Taipei Songqin St. Private Club BTSE & Fireblocks Party
Another day moving around Taipei's Xinyi District. Started with a morning meeting at QuanTrend in the Cathay Landmark Building, then had Italian pasta for lunch nearby. In the afternoon, attended a meeting for Zomma Crypto Option Exchange near the World Trade Center. In the evening, thanks to Jude from Fireblocks for the BTSE & Fireblocks Party at the Songqin Street venue.
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Taipei Da'an Danjuku Honjin Night Izakaya
An extremely busy Monday. Had lunch with high school friends who came to Taipei for business. In the evening, met with Jude and Amy from Fireblocks - a company founded by Israelis that acts as the SWIFT of the crypto world through their leading MPC technology. We gathered at Danshuku Honjin Night Food & Bar in Da'an.
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Enoteca — Xinyi, Taipei
Spent most of the day within a one-kilometer radius in Xinyi District. After lunch at Breeze Songgao, Sam and I went to Enoteca in Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A9. We ordered champagne, red wine, and cheese while catching up. Sam shared about Kula DAO, an African gold mining project he's working on with American friends that recently secured major investors.
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Taipei TWTC Hall 1 - International Wine Exhibition
Wine remains one of the alcoholic beverages I drink most frequently. Recently brought a bottle of Chateau Palmer - one of the '12 Apostles' from Margaux in Bordeaux - to celebrate Teddy's housewarming. Today, I visited the International Wine Exhibition at TWTC Hall 1 after exploring the Taipei Discovery Center, hoping to learn something and maybe buy some wine.
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Taipei Xinyi District Qu You Bistro
The other day, Marx invited Tracy from OKx exchange and Aaron and Jackson from Singapore to visit Ark Taipei. Taka introduced them to Zomma. It's a small world—they had just met Vins and Peter from DeFITs and are discussing potential collaborations.
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Flare Taipei
The other day, Marx invited Tracy from OKx exchange and Aaron and Jackson from Singapore to visit Ark Taipei. Taka introduced them to Zomma. It's a small world—they had just met Vins and Peter from DeFITs and are discussing potential collaborations.
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Dingzhou Rd. Taipei Bar FEST Bar
In the afternoon, I caught up with two CCNS university club friends currently in Hsinchu via Facebook calls and texts. One is NONO, a scientist at a biotech company, and the other is Aby Zhihao at MediaTek. In the evening, I met up with my senior 'Meijiao,' whom I hadn't seen in almost ten years. We went to a bar in the Gongguan area. It's been years since I last heard about her life updates—she left the foreign tech industry a while ago and now works at a foundation under the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
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DOMANI Italian Restaurant — Da'an, Taipei
Another busy day. In the morning, I listened to Jack, Pan, and Vincent explain their strategies using A.I. in stocks, futures, and options, along with their impressive live trading performance over the past two years. Taiwan is small—they happened to visit He Ding Venture Capital and meet with Cheng Wei yesterday. For lunch, I had a meal with Brother Gong at this upscale Italian restaurant. The lobster pasta was pretty good, paired with Italian sparkling wine. In the afternoon, I visited the Jut Art Museum and the Changliu Art Museum in the basement of the Ren'ai Hongxi Building.
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Taipei Breeze Xinyi 45F Morton's Steakhouse (4th Visit)
A busy day. In the morning, Tony introduced me to William and Mark from Morgan Information. Taiwan is small—they had previously heard about Richwell Asset Management from Matrixport's Ethan and Ascent's Max, who both mentioned it to them. Coincidentally, Tony and I have known each other for over ten years and also know them, so Tony directly introduced me to them today. At noon, my junior Edison... (text cut off)
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Zhongxiao E. Rd. Taipei Xiao Zui Hao French Bistro
In the evening, senior Lman introduced me to a Hong Kong friend named Ferd. Fred is also quite a character. Although he is a British Hong Konger, because he loves Taiwan, he not only obtained one of the very few Taiwan Employment Gold Cards for foreigners but also invests in various companies in software, building materials, water purification, etc., in Taiwan. He is also a member of the Ketagalan School, where his classmates are all potential next-term presidential candidates for Taiwan. Listening to Fred share many secrets about Hong Kong's major families was quite enjoyable. Coincidentally, I just returned from Vietnam, and Fred also has... (text cut off)
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Taipei ABRAZO Bistro
Had a team dinner with Zomma at ABRAZO Bistro on Xinyi Road. We recently launched the Zomma Option Protocol on the zkSync mainnet and are conducting small-scale real-money testing. The recent Community Call on Discord was a huge success, with over 500 attendees online at its peak.
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Taipei Shanghai Village Restaurant
Our Zomma team had a dinner gathering at Shanghai Village Restaurant on Xinyi Road. It was a celebratory meal as our Zomma Option Protocol has just launched on the zkSync mainnet for real-money testing, following a successful community call with over 500 participants.
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Siwei Rd. Taipei Xiao Ye Japanese Izakaya
Attended a Solana Taipei Hacker House side event at the Japanese izakaya 'Xiaoye' on Siwei Road with senior Lman. Met Ben, whom I hadn't seen in over three years due to the pandemic. Ben was one of the speakers and brought some friends from Hong Kong. The event was hosted by the NCCU Blockchain Club as a warm-up.
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Breeze Nanshan 7F Taipei UMAMI Le Blé d'Or
Started the morning at Taipei 101's 35F Sky Park cafe with junior Edison after meeting Dr. Zhuo from Bincentive. The view there is quite nice, thanks for the treat, junior! Later met with Lman senior and Pat at Taipei Arena to catch up with Titan from Bito, then rushed back to the World Trade Center for another event.
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Taipei Maple Tree Korean BBQ
Had a remote meeting with AP Capital, introduced by senior Lman. They manage about $80M in digital assets and have long experience in the Korean crypto market. The evening was packed with three gatherings back-to-back with different groups of friends and colleagues.
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Taipei HANSUM Hookah Lounge (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
The night was packed with three different gatherings. The last stop was HANSUM Hookah Lounge, a popular spot for socializing and enjoying shisha after dinner and drinks with various groups of friends throughout the evening.
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Taipei Ombré Italian Bistro Anhe Branch (Permanently Closed)
Spent the day moving between high-rise offices in Taipei, including visits to QuanTrend and Bincentive. In the evening, met Cindy at Deutsche Bank's asset management office near Far Eastern Plaza Hotel, where Eva was recently appointed as CEO of the joint venture.
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Neihu Taipei Hei Mei Lin Taiwanese Restaurant
Morning remote meeting with a Shenzhen-based derivatives fund managing ¥5B. Afternoon Zomma DeFi Option Protocol meeting following their successful participation at ETH Taipei. Evening gathering with Alexandre from cloud service distributor Gaia Information.
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Weekend Night Bar, Taipei
After a day of remote meetings and blockchain conferences, I ended the evening at Weekend Night bar. It was a relaxing way to unwind after discussing Zomma's participation in ETH Taipei and catching up with Alexandre from our cloud service partner.
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Taipei East District Xiao Shan Xiang Chengdu Spicy Hot Pot
Dinner with university junior Wenqi, who recently moved to Taipei for work, and another friend at this authentic Sichuan hot pot place. We had frog, brain, and tripe -好久沒吃到的黃喉 - all delicious with the spicy oil dip. Wenqi now works at CloudMile, a top cloud service agent, and is preparing for Google Cloud certification.
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Taipei Han Chuan Guan Korean Restaurant
Morning meeting at DeFITs & Richwell with Dr. Zhuo from Bincentive, Eric, Ann, Vins, Cindy, and Tiffany. Later met with Pat, back from Hong Kong, to hear about new initiatives related to the Ton Foundation (Telegram).
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Taipei Bar Clique Bar
In the morning, Dr. Zhuo, founder of Bincentive Digital Asset Management, Eric whom I met earlier at OffChain, and Ann came to visit DeFITs & Richwell for a meeting with Vins, Cindy, Tiffany, and everyone. Afterwards, my brother Pat, who just got back from being busy in Hong Kong, came to meet up.
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Taipei City Hall Station Taipei Sinchon Station Standing Grill
Back-to-back afternoon meetings from Zomma Option Protocol to QuanTrend, covering DeFi to CeFi, moving between World Trade Center and Breeze Xinyi area. Evening standing BBQ with Cindy and senior Lman - the meat quality is great with staff grilling for you. The staff invited me to join a game after seeing me drink soju alone.
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Taipei WINESWEE Wine Merchant
After returning to Taipei in the afternoon, Ms. T, who has a great capacity for alcohol, came to drink with me. Worried we might not have enough, I contacted WINESWEE in Neihu. Compared to other wine merchants, this one is truly worth recommending. After contacting them, they directly arranged a Lalamove delivery, and the wine arrived at my place in about an hour. Along with Andrew, the CEO of Contibit Exchange, and my neighbor Tim, an assistant professor at NTUST, the four of us finished all six newly delivered bottles. Tonight, we drank mostly niche wine varieties, focusing on...
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Taipei Taihu Taproom (Taihu Xinyi)
Had dinner with Jack and Teddy, which led to a series of after-parties. We hung out with Jack from Sophia Quant Fund, Teddy from the second generation of Rock Records, and Alvin, founder of Space Crocodile NFT. We drank all night—Taiwan is so small that Jack also knows Aaron, whom Nancy introduced.
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Tickle my fantasy Bar
Had dinner with Jack and Teddy, which led to a series of after-parties. We hung out with Jack from Sophia Quant Fund, Teddy from the second generation of Rock Records, and Alvin, founder of Space Crocodile NFT. We drank all night—Taiwan is so small that Jack also knows Aaron, whom Nancy introduced.
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Wenchang Street No. 53 Bar
Had dinner with Jack and Teddy, which led to a series of after-parties. We hung out with Jack from Sophia Quant Fund, Teddy from the second generation of Rock Records, and Alvin, founder of Space Crocodile NFT. We drank all night—Taiwan is so small that Jack also knows Aaron, whom Nancy introduced.
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Breeze Nanshan Ce La Vi
Had dinner with Jack and Teddy, which led to a series of after-parties. We hung out with Jack from Sophia Quant Fund, Teddy from the second generation of Rock Records, and Alvin, founder of Space Crocodile NFT. We drank all night—Taiwan is so small that Jack also knows Aaron, whom Nancy introduced.
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Taipei Regent Hotel 2F Gallery Lounge
Taipei Regent Hotel 2F, Gallery Lounge. In the afternoon, I came here with Richard, the largest shareholder of ContiBit Exchange, and Cindy to discuss matters. A truffle omelet costs NT$880 +10%, including a vitality drink. Thanks for the treat, Richard! By Morgan @2023.4.4
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Taipei Arena Station Schumann's Bistro No. 6 Nanjing Branch
Taipei Taipei Arena Station, Schumann's Bistro No. 6 Nanjing Store. In the evening, Senior Lman and his German friend Robin invited me to join them for dinner. Robin previously studied at the NTU Industrial Engineering Research Institute and also worked at Mercedes-Benz. Now, he has founded two companies related to cloud computing and A.I. He returned to Taiwan from Germany for a visit and will stay for three weeks. I chatted with Robin about topics related to facility planning, operations research (OR)...
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Made Taipei Bar — Taipei
I grabbed a bottle of French Rock Angel rosé on my way out in the evening and headed to FUNWOO's office on Zhongxiao East Road to have a drink with Nancy. Later, my two cousins invited me for dinner. Taiwan is such a small place—Yiting and Steven from the financial blog '雷司紀' are actually junior high school classmates from Fengyuan. Since they hadn't kept in touch much after graduation, I invited Steven along so we could all catch up. Life is all about going with the flow...
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Abudu Middle Eastern Halal Restaurant, Taipei
I brought a bottle of French Rock Angel rosé to FUNWOO's office for a drink with Nancy. Later, I met my two cousins for dinner at Abdul Halal Restaurant, where we were joined by my junior Steven - it turns out he and my cousin were middle school classmates! It was a lovely, unexpected reunion.
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Cosecha 22 Cigar Wu — Taipei
Yesterday was another packed day with five meetings. In the morning, I had a meeting about the Zomma Crypto Option platform. In the afternoon, I visited Cosecha Cigar Lounge, where Clark (Jingteng), the general manager of crypto quantitative trading firm QuanTrend, and Ariel invited me for a chat. Thanks to Clark for treating us to a premium Trinidad cigar paired with a slightly peaty whisky—it was truly aromatic.
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Taipei Linsen North Wako Anri Okinawan Cuisine
Had dinner with Alex from Gaia Information, Andrew, and Mars, paired with sake. Alex grew up in Brazil and Paraguay, so we discussed business opportunities there. Then we moved to Kurumi and finished the bottle I had stored there a year ago. Thankfully, the Japanese owner still remembered my name!
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Kurumi Japanese Bar (2nd Visit)
Had dinner with Alex from Gaia Information, Andrew, and Mars, paired with sake. Alex grew up in Brazil and Paraguay, so we discussed business opportunities there. Then we moved to Kurumi and finished the bottle I had stored there a year ago. Thankfully, the Japanese owner still remembered my name!
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Taipei Dazhi Hotel Indigo Xiao Hou Yuan
A bunch of people were looking for Nancy in the evening, and what started as a simple dinner gathering ended up with almost ten people. Taiwan is such a small world—Brother Fan, whom I met in Taichung a few days ago, also knows Boheng's father and is classmates with Grace. Jenny, the former CFO of KKDay now at FineDay, was there too. Thanks to Aaron Chengbin, a Tsinghua graduate, for picking up the entire tab. His girlfriend Monica is also in the art circle, so she's familiar with the 333 Gallery. Later, we all headed to Coco's luxury apartment in Xinyi District for another round...
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Taipei Nangang A He Shi Ginger Duck Hot Pot
Yesterday, I was busy from 9 a.m. until 2 a.m. Today in the afternoon, I headed to N24 Taipei Ark in Nangang to discuss the crypto options exchange platform Zomma with Taka, Xiaocan, and Fanshuo. In the evening, I switched gears and had a simple, relaxed dinner with Senior Lman, Telder, and Andrew at a nearby ginger duck hot pot spot, accompanied by two bottles of sake. A nice and easy dinner to wrap up the day!
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Taipei Guangfu S. Rd. Lane Wine Butler
Had a morning conference call with Mike, a director of an IoT company planning an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in April. We discussed potential support from various angles with Cindy, Tiffany, Pat, and Sam from Richwell. After the call, I briefly caught up with my student Ramo before heading to Pat's office area for lunch.
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Taipei Minsheng E. Rd. Shou Bo Piano Bar
A unique spot with a pianist and an open karaoke vibe where guests can take turns singing. After a casual dinner near Xingtian Temple, I came here later with senior Lman, Mars, and Bruce. Bruce founded INSTO, a fintech company that turns smartphones into POS terminals. We enjoyed drinks and casual conversation.
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Taipei Zhongshan District The Okura Prestige Taipei 1F Pearl Bar
Jack, whom I met at an OffChain event, invited me for a proper chat. We slowly opened a bottle of red wine, enjoyed some cheese, and had a good conversation. Jack graduated from NCTU and studied under Professor Chen An-bin. He also spent many years at internet companies in Beijing. Though only 32, he has strong, independent opinions.
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Taipei Kanpai
Attended a forum on virtual asset regulation co-organized by Taka and the Taiwan Blockchain Enthusiast Association. Taiwan is so small—I ran into Michael, whom I met while drinking last night, right as I entered the venue. We had to take a photo to commemorate the coincidence. As a VC, Michael also knows Outliers Venture.
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Bar clique
Attended a forum on virtual asset regulation co-organized by Taka and the Taiwan Blockchain Enthusiast Association. Taiwan is so small—I ran into Michael, whom I met while drinking last night, right as I entered the venue. We had to take a photo to commemorate the coincidence. As a VC, Michael also knows Outliers Venture.
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Miacucina Xinyi Store, Taipei
After a morning meeting, I introduced Mars and Andrew over lunch at Miacucina Xinyi Branch. They both have potential collaboration opportunities in the Vietnamese market. In the evening, Jack from Sophia Research, whom I met earlier at Offchain, gathered some friends for dinner and invited me along. We started with Italian cuisine paired with white wine at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A11, then headed for shisha afterwards.
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Hansum Shisha Bar (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
After a morning meeting, I introduced Mars and Andrew over lunch. They both have potential collaboration opportunities in the Vietnamese market. In the evening, Jack from Sophia Research gathered some friends for dinner and invited me along. We started with Italian cuisine paired with white wine at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi A11, then headed to Hansum Shisha Bar afterwards.
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Taipei Hankou St. Last Order Bistro
Had a meeting with SunSun at the DeFITs office yesterday afternoon. Taiwan is indeed small—SunSun, who worked at Appier and TutorABC, also knows Ben and Arthur, whom I've met before. He's even familiar with Sam, the current chairman of TutorABC, and William, the boss of Li Pu Electronics, is his elementary school classmate. Though our chat was brief, it was quite insightful.
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Taipei Vorpal Bunny Bistro - OffChain Taipei
Another day transitioning from traditional finance to blockchain finance. In the morning, discussed a US stock IPO case with Cindy and Dennis from Richwell, hoping to ring the bell on Nasdaq. In the afternoon, visited KGI Futures to meet Shih-nong, who introduced several friends in the circle, including those with experience in proprietary trading, futures management, and sales across major futures firms.
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Taipei Jiankang Rd. Shi Er Shao Izakaya
Introduced senior Lman and Andrew in the evening—one is a digital era consultant, the other is the CEO of ContiBit cryptocurrency exchange. Let's see if any sparks fly! Cheers!
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Taipei East District Totsuzen Steak Dry-Aged Steak Bistro
Had dinner with senior Lman and Mars at this steakhouse offering great value wet-aged steak sets. For around a thousand NT dollars, you get not only steak but also oysters, scallops, and abalone. Both the Miyazaki A5 Wagyu with its melting marbling and the sweet US CAB Angus beef were incredibly satisfying. Afterward, we went to a nearby bar to have drinks and chat with Ke-wei, whom we met for the first time.
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Taipei East District Mozi Bar
Dinner at Totsuzen Steak with friends featured great value wet-aged steak sets, including Miyazaki A5 wagyu and US CAB Angus. Afterwards, we moved next door to Mozi Bar for drinks with a new acquaintance, a talented NTU graduate with an interesting career path.
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Taipei Nanjing E. Rd. King Car Kavalan Whisky Bar
After the Lunar New Year, things got unusually busy—working late for several days straight. Last night, I finally made time for dinner with senior Lman. Besides discussing Zomma's Liquidity Provider Pool, Lman—founder of Dreamland BBS—suddenly had an idea for Dreamland's upcoming 30th anniversary: issuing NFTs by engaging the vast BBS user community. Then this morning, I talked with Sam in the US and the designer who previously helped iPlanet...
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Taipei Nanjing E. Rd. Lao Songtian Izakaya
After a busy day, I had dinner nearby with senior Lman at Old Songtian Izakaya. Over plum wine + soju and skewers, we discussed his recent visit to Hong Kong Science Park and which speakers to invite for the seminar he's organizing at next year's Future Commerce Expo by Digital Times. We also touched on Binance's contract grid trading... A simple but satisfying dinner.
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Taipei Qunxi Business Center Kami no Shizuku Pilgrimage Tasting Event
Sunday afternoon, I attended a tasting event hosted by Plus9 Wine. 'Kami no Shizuku' (The Drops of God) is a Japanese manga I read a decade ago during a low point in my life. The author's elegant descriptions of wine tasting truly broadened my horizons and imagination, giving me a new perspective on life's brevity. Today, I had the chance to see the author siblings, Yuko and Shin Kibayashi, up close—it was incredibly exciting! Though trying all 52 red and white wines in just over three hours was quite a challenge...
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Taipei Zhongxiao E. Rd. Zhi Le — Nigiri Sushi Specialty Store
Shiraku Sushi Specialty Store on Zhongxiao East Road, and Neihu Cigar Shengshi Hall. In the morning, I took Tiffany—back from Hong Kong for the New Year—to visit Andrew at Contibit in Shilin. Then at noon, I had lunch with Tiffany, Pat, and Sam so they could get to know each other. After the meal, we all had afternoon tea and chatted at Chun Shui Tang in Tianmu's Shin Kong Mitsukoshi. Later, back in the city, I took a short break to visit Jut Art Museum, where the current exhibition 'Perceptual Field' combines architecture and art. Last time I came...
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Cigar Shengshi Hall, Neihu, Taipei
After showing Tiffany around Shilin and having lunch with friends, we enjoyed afternoon tea at Chun Shui Tang. Later, I visited the Jut Art Museum's 'Sensing Site' exhibition before ending the day at Cigar Shengshi Guan in Neihu for a relaxing cigar session.
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Taipei Songshan District Khao San Rd. - Life is Bitter Thai Izakaya
This afternoon, Lman introduced me to a friend named Jx, so I invited Pat and Sam to join us. Jx is Singaporean with a wife from Tainan, and he's an absolute genius—he studied at Ivy League schools like UPenn and Stanford for both undergrad and grad school. He's worked at major companies in China and the US, including Dropbox, Lyft, and ByteDance...
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Little Cranberry Stone Hot Pot, Songshan District, Taipei
I met Jx, a Singaporean genius who studied at Ivy League schools and worked at major companies like Dropbox and ByteDance. After our meeting, we went to Little Berry Stone Hot Pot in Songshan District for a warm, comforting meal while continuing our interesting conversation.
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Taipei Changan E. Rd. Hai Jiu — Penghu Seafood Restaurant
In the morning, I went to the office at the United Daily News building near Taipei City Hall Station to meet with Benson, who just returned from Shanghai. Benson previously managed a joint venture between Pou Chen and Vipshop and has extensive experience in operations and sales. We discussed promoting the Richwell-DeFITs compliance fund with Mingzhi, Dennis, and online participants Cindy, Joey, and Manager Meng.
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Taipei Songshan District No.1 Granary Bistro (One Tea One Tile)
This place was the first granary built in Taiwan during the Japanese colonial era. After being abandoned for some time, it has now been renovated into a restaurant and bar. The ingredients have even received Bib Gourmand recognition from Michelin. We ordered the signature roasted Guiding chicken (requires advance reservation) and Wagyu cheek beef noodles, along with a few other main dishes, paired with a bottle of red wine—per person cost was around NT$1,000.
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Taipei Shi Ling Shabu
Duke returned from Hong Kong, so we arranged this gathering. What started with three people eventually grew to ten. We asked Mars for a recommendation and ended up booking a private club run by a Hong Kong owner from 3 PM to 11 PM. The group included a Hong Kong fund manager, someone in forex trading in Australia, a foreign friend in financial services in Australia, someone who sold their company and now works at NVIDIA, plus friends in construction and building materials, and Accountant Wang... friends from all walks of life.
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Taipei Songshan Wild Soft-shelled Turtle
Celebrated the 2nd anniversary of N24 Taipei Ark, a day full of surprises. In the afternoon, I visited my good friend Taka's N24 Taipei Ark for their anniversary event and tried Ding Yuan's homemade cocktails. I finally got to meet Jerry from Term Structure, whom Ethan has been mentioning a lot, as well as J.J, the founder of AVA Angel Investment Club, and Tra, who used to work at Warwick Capital and is now at MiiCs under Foxconn.
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Songjiang Rd. Broccoli beerHanGuo Bistro Eatery — Taipei
My senior Lman invited me out for dinner. We usually go for Japanese, so this time we tried a Korean-style izakaya, Broccoli Beer. Surprisingly, there was already a line forming right at 5:30 when they opened. By a little past 6, the place was completely packed. What's more, about 80% of the customers were women, which was quite a sight. But the food was indeed affordable and pretty tasty!
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Da'an Rd. C'elet115 Bistro — Taipei
We were meeting at 4:30 PM, so I looked for one of the few restaurants that serve alcohol in the afternoon. This was to catch up with my friend Andy, whom I hadn't seen in over three years since he returned from Hong Kong. I also took the chance to introduce him to Sam, a veteran US broker in crypto custody (AUM $200M USD), and Ethan from MatrixPort. Andy previously worked at Tencent, handling M&A and investments...
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Taipei Civic Blvd. Oh My God — Japanese Seafood Yakitori Izakaya
Yesterday, I had a conference call with Pat and Enzo, the former CTO of ByBit who's now in Singapore. Enzo, who came from Baidu, has a strong technical background, and we chatted about GoLang, C++, Java... He recently assembled a new team of nearly 30 people for a new project. We'll see how we can help once his deck is ready. Tonight, instead of going to the TBW party, I met up with my senior Lman for dinner at this izakaya, which was founded by a former...
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Taipei Songshan Eslite 3F Ju Ju Lou
Another busy week begins with 7 meetings over two days: 1. Chainsight (Web3 Anti-Scam, AML), 2. Zomma (DeFi Option Exchange), 3. Richwell (Asset Management), 4. Ascent (Fund Administration Service), 5. Timeless (Family Office)...
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Taipei Guilin Rd. Xin Qi Omakase Sushi Restaurant
It's hard to find an Omakase dinner in Taipei for NT$1,280 that doesn't even charge a service fee. So tonight, I invited my senior Lman and Pat to try it out. Although the price is low, the portions aren't skimpy at all—16 to 17 courses left us quite full. Even after ordering extra sake and Dassai Daiginjo to pair with the meal, the total still came to under NT$2,000 per person, making it a place with excellent value for money.
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Taipei, Zhongxiao E. Rd. Alley, Shi Ba Izakaya
In the afternoon, I had a meeting about Zomma. In the evening, I had a conference call with my senior Lman and his friend Ben. Ben previously worked in the CVC (Corporate Venture Capital) at Appier and has recently been looking into some Web3 projects and investment opportunities. We briefly exchanged some ideas. Afterward, I went to the East District with Lman for dinner. The passion fruit shochu paired with raw beef with egg yolk was quite nice. We chatted about MarTech over the meal...
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Taipei Royal Hotel Ming Gong Cantonese Restaurant
At noon, I met up with my junior high school classmate Cheng-Wei from He Ding Venture Capital and my university junior Fisher from Palm Drive VC for a meal together. The place was doing great business, and Peng Fai-nan happened to be sitting at the next table. We all chatted about various projects we've seen recently. Thanks to Cheng-Wei for treating us! :)
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Taipei Chang'an E. Rd. Xian Ding Wei Seafood Cuisine
In the morning, Ethan from Matrixport and Samuel arranged to meet. Since I know both of them, we all went to a Starbucks near Shida to listen to Ethan share his recent trading strategy of buying SOL Puts, which almost drained the liquidity on Deribit. XD I also thanked Ethan for his suggestions on the Zomma Option Protocol. After a simple lunch with Samuel, in the afternoon, I met with a company that has...
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Taipei, Yixian Rd., Wang Guo Wu Kyoto Pickled Cabbage Hot Pot Speciality Store
In the morning, Pat and I first went to Liuzhangli to visit Richard from Zhuoyi Capital. It had been several months since we last had a meal together. Richard set up a small studio near his residence, a quiet spot in the bustling city. Thanks to Richard for specially mixing a Highball for me. At noon, we all had some simple snacks nearby. Thanks to Richard for treating us. In the afternoon, Pat and I went to Block 2 in Dongmen to meet Ethan (CIC) from EVG...
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He Japanese Izakaya — Minsheng, Taipei
Had a meeting in the morning, then went to the travel agency in the afternoon to reapply for my recently expired Taiwan Compatriot Permit. In the evening, I had dinner with my Weidao Junior High classmate Hao-Ting, whom I hadn't seen in a while. Time flies—we've known each other for thirty years. We should make the most of every chance to catch up.
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Taipei Zhongxiao Dunhua Da Zhen DZ Omakase Teppanyaki Bistro
Samuel invited me to dinner, so I organized another gathering tonight. I invited Fisher, a Cheng Kung University junior who works at Palm Drive Capital (a global VC fund based in New York), my good brother Pat from a foreign investment bank, plus Samuel & Pat's Cornell junior Olen, who is also a Co-Founder of DeFITs. The five of us got together for a meal and to get to know each other.
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Yamato Japanese Cuisine, Zhongshan District, Taipei
I met Michael, who works in cross-border logistics, at Yamato Japanese Cuisine. He had mostly been in Xiamen before returning to Taiwan due to the pandemic. The night took us to several spots along Keelung Road and Linsen North Road, including the impressive 101 Club and 63 Piano Bar with its public stage for singing. We chatted over drinks until past 2 a.m., exchanging insights with Shun-ge, who's financially free and enjoys daily drinks, and Yi-ge, who bought thousands of GPUs last year for mining rigs.
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Taipei, Zhongxiao E. Rd. Alley, Range Teppanyaki & Steak Bistro
Yesterday was a busy day. Started with a remote meeting for Zomma in the morning, had instant noodles for a quick lunch, then another remote meeting at noon with Cindy, Miya, and Claire in the US. During a break, I called Wic to discuss the features of the Portfolio Trader software. Then I headed out around 3 p.m. to Nu Cafe near City Hall Station for coffee with Dennis, the owner of a media company.
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Taipei, Zhongxiao Xinsheng, Tu Gou Beer House
Just got back to Taipei, and my evening plans got canceled last minute. Saw a post about the g0v (Taiwan Civic Hackers) 10th Anniversary Party at the Social Experiment Center on Ren'ai Road today, with an After Party in the evening, so I decided to drop by. Met up with my old Taichung First High School classmate Chia-Liang (CLKao)—we hadn't seen each other in eight years, since the 2014 barbecue at his place in Pinglin. CL later founded InfuseAI, a company providing enterprise A.I. solutions.
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Taipei Siwei Rd. pm wine to chill (Renamed to Central Park by Saru)
At noon, Pat introduced me to his Cornell classmate Samuel. Samuel is from Shanghai, his wife is Taiwanese, but they now live mostly between Chicago and Switzerland. Recently, they've been staying in Taiwan for a while due to their children's education. Samuel is also the Director of a Blockchain research lab at UIUC, managing over a hundred students.
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Taipei Linsen N. Rd. Alley Zhuo Shao Izakaya
In the morning, I had a remote meeting with Tianren's team at Zomma. In the evening, I arranged for Eric and Vins to visit the family office of Cheng Wei's family (He Ding). Besides Cheng Wei, Assistant Manager Xia and Mina also joined the meeting. We first listened to Eric share his views on the semiconductor and IC design industries. Vins, who just returned from Hong Kong to Taiwan, made it to the meeting later. On this trip to Singapore, he also thanked Ray from Matrixport.
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Taipei Songshan 1001 Nights Middle Eastern Restaurant & Shisha Lounge
Spin, whom I hadn't seen in a while, wanted to have dinner. Knowing she likes trying new things, I found this Middle Eastern restaurant run by an Iranian owner. Over the meal, we chatted about the recent situation at Hakka Finance, another well-known DeFi team in Taiwan she's involved with, and their previously launched IRS interest rate swap product. After dinner, we walked to the 1001 Nights shisha lounge on Nanjing East Road for Spin's first shisha experience. Later, T and...
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Taipei Minsheng W. Rd. Tai Chun Xiao Guan
Alex lured me out with a Junmai Ginjo and a Daiginjo sake at Taichun Xiaoguan on Minsheng West Road in Taipei. Joined by Jingyun, English teacher Winnie, Alex's real estate friend Zihao, and Zihao's elder brother, Chairman Cai, who runs several moving companies in Taipei, we drank and chatted together—thanks for the treat, Alex! Afterward, Chairman Cai invited us to continue the night with karaoke on Linsen North Road, wrapping up the long holiday nicely. By Morgan @2022.10.10
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Ce La Vi Bar, 48F, Taipei Nan Shan Breeze
In the afternoon, Pat and I visited the Chainsight office near Zhongxiao Dunhua. We then went to the nearby tea street with Junhan, the Co-Founder & CTO, to chat about the company being selected for the current Y-Combinator investment list in Silicon Valley. We also discussed how they secured investments from top international VCs after the program and how Trend Micro recently started using their Background Check API.
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Taipei, Niao Zhu · Izakaya (Ate at Longjiang Rd. branch, not sure if this is the same relocated store)
Four meetings in one day. In the morning, I first went to Zomma, where Tianren joined us to discuss the relationship between options pricing and arbitrage. In the afternoon, at Wood Tone Art Cafe on Hangzhou South Road, I finally met Jeffrey, introduced by Andy. He had pitched Linked3 at the AVA Angel Investment Club in the morning (thanks to old friend Taka for the referral) and afterward met with me and Ethan from Asia Blockchain Group EVG, based in Taiwan. Je...
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Taipei Mu's Café
A packed day with four meetings. Started at Zomma discussing options pricing and arbitrage, then met Jeffrey (introduced by Andy) at Mu's Café on Hangzhou South Road. He'd just pitched Linked3 at AVA Angel Investment Club and we chatted with Ethan from EVG about blockchain opportunities.
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Taipei Leli Rd. Red Queen Sichuan Cuisine
In the morning, I first visited the Whoscall (Gogolook) headquarters near Guting Station with senior Lman to meet CEO Jeff, also an NCKU alumnus. Gogolook now has over 150 employees, mostly working remotely, almost matching the model of many Silicon Valley companies. XD With Jeff, we discussed senior Lman's recent collaboration with the founder of Bahamut, Taiwan's largest gaming community site with over 2 million daily active users (DAU)...
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Taipei Songqin St. Paint Sip Drink Paint (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
First attended Matrixport's offline VIP event at this interesting venue on Songqin Street where you can paint while drinking. Since this event targeted intellectual women, I invited Chengwei's wife Mina, who brought her friend Jill. Familiar faces like Shasha and Vins also came. And Unab...
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Taipei Zhongxiao East Road Mirror Lounge (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
On the second day of the連假, it was coding / Thai massage / Bar Surfing, continuing my tour of Taipei's many bars. More生命之水 cocktails, and we called it a night at 5 AM. Thanks to the two lovely ladies for treating! Cheers!
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Taipei Ren'ai Rd. Alley Shi Yu Omakase Japanese Sushi Restaurant
Dinner with Ray from Matrixport, and I also invited Pat. Ray lived in Hong Kong for ten years and worked at HKEX. Like me, he's also in the 'Huijin Taiwan' group for Taiwanese finance professionals working in Hong Kong. Pat also lived in Hong Kong for twelve years and owns property there. So we started chatting about shared Hong Kong and Macau memories. This place doesn't charge corkage - Ray brought a bottle of Dassai, but different from regular Dassai, this one uses additional...
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Taipei Ren'ai Rd. Jun Tai Wine Collection
Three meetings in one day. First took Cindy and Vins to visit my Weidao junior Chengwei in the afternoon. His family office's Hedding Venture Capital, which mainly invests in biotech and IC design, has recently started investing in blockchain-related companies. They previously invested in Cybavo, which was recently acquired by Circle. After leaving Hedding, returned to the Richwell & Defits office with Cindy and Vins. Everyone met with FUNWOO's founding team from Silicon Valley...
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Taipei Dunhua N. Rd. GBA J.B. Fresh Brewing Restaurant
Met up with two fellow NCKU alumni at GBA in Taipei. Cindy, who founded the Richwell financial group, and Naiwen, a Goldman Sachs veteran. We chatted from traditional finance all the way to DeFi.
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Taipei Dunhua N. Rd. San Shi Sui Bistro (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
Caught up with two senior alumni from NCKU at a bistro. It had been years since I last saw Dehang, who now works at a startup accelerator. He looks even younger than before! We also talked about recent events at Taipei's Ark N24.
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Taipei Dunhua S. Rd. Alley Xin Dian Tang Hot Pot
Had dinner with Lman, Scott, and Changfeng, who I met for the first time. We enjoyed a flavorful laksa hotpot with plenty of beef and seafood while discussing digital marketing trends in the Web3 space.
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Taipei Keelung Rd. Nadarrach.Official Bar (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
This bar has a mysterious entrance disguised as a drink shop. Inside, the bar counter features a beautiful ecological pond with mist, fish, and plants. The creative cocktails, like 'Forest Path' and 'Red Fuji,' match the enchanting atmosphere perfectly.
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Xinyi Rd. The Public House Bar — Taipei
After teaching a coding class, I met up with a friend who loves to drink. We were joined by Ethan, who's opening a new bar, and Vins. The four of us enjoyed over twenty cocktails on a Sunday night. Cheers!
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Taipei Xinyi District Cigar Gallery Branch 2
Visited Owen's company, Flexiv, a US unicorn, with Howard and his son. Saw their latest AI-powered robotic arm performing delicate tasks like pouring wine and trimming plants. Truly impressive technology.
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Taipei East District Gou Yi Xia Japanese Izakaya
After visiting a cutting-edge robotics company in Xinyi District in the afternoon, we headed to Doggy House, an izakaya in the East District, for dinner. It was a great way to unwind after a day of being amazed by AI-powered robotic arms performing delicate tasks like pouring wine.
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Taipei Anhe Rd. Aplus Hanasakura Bistro
A full day. After coding until 2 AM, I visited a futures company in the morning. In the afternoon, Cindy introduced me to many outstanding NCKU alumni, including those from the alumni association, a Rotary club, and various businesses.
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Taipei Guangfu S. Rd. Alley What Do You Think Bistro
Met with Sam's friend Jade to discuss potential GameFi projects, so I invited Lman along. Jade, a CS and finance grad, now runs her own crypto investment and blockchain venture. We shared ideas over drinks, including the bartender's signature 'secret weapon' cocktail.
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Taipei Zhonghe Xian Hai Wei Stir-Fry
After teaching Gail a programming lesson in the afternoon and discussing candlestick patterns for a while, Alex invited me for dinner, so I asked Ethan to join us. Andy had mentioned before that Ethan loves to drink, so we found some time to have a few drinks together. Even though we're not StepN running buddies, we can still be drinking buddies. At first, everyone was a bit reserved, but when we started talking about Ethan's recent investment in a bar opening soon in the East District, the atmosphere quickly warmed up. We had two bottles of 'Kokushi Muso' Japanese sake and a bunch of 18-day Taiwan Beer...
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Aging Room Cigar Bar, Taipei
Steven came up from Taichung and we enjoyed four cocktails together before heading to Aging Room cigar bar. We were joined by Qiao-ge and Abbie (who was celebrating her birthday), opened two bottles of red wine, and had a great evening catching up. Cheers!
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Taipei Gongguan Jiao Fu Bar
In the afternoon, Austin & Sharon visited Zomma Protocol. The last time I saw Austin was at the iPlanet conference in April, and I met Sharon before she left for the Consensus conference in the US. Time flies, and Taiwan still feels so small. Sharon has been working at crypto.com's VC for a while now, and Austin also runs his own Crypto Fund...
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Taipei Dongxing Rd. Healer Bar (Renamed: Waaaa)
My university junior, Youming, spontaneously invited me for drinks. His company, Delta Electronics, is on a week-long annual break. So I took a taxi over here. This bar has a 4.9 Google rating, which is pretty good. Along with another girl who's also a drinking enthusiast, the three of us enjoyed some drinks together. I ordered a special cocktail made with Spirytus (96% ABV) as the base, and then another drink mixed with hazelnut and red wine, named 'Vineyard.' Combined with two other cocktails I had earlier, I was feeling pleasantly buzzed. Thanks for treating me, junior! The vibe and frequency when drinking are really important...
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Taipei Nangang Courtyard by Marriott Taipei Bar
In the afternoon, I met up with Kevin, a former colleague from Yuanta Investment Trust, to visit DeFITs and learn about this cryptocurrency fund company's arbitrage products. Kevin used to be the fixed income investment director at a mainland public fund and returned to Taiwan during the pandemic. Recently, he's been responsible for fund listing reviews at a bank. And Taiwan is still so small—it turns out my junior Cindy and Kevin were also former colleagues at Taishin Bank. I was thinking of introducing them, but later found out they actually knew each other 17 years ago...
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Taipei Bade Rd. Qing Lou Chinese Bistro
Met up with Cindy's junior and Eric, a well-known former semiconductor analyst from the foreign investment circle, at this Chinese-style bistro on Bade Road. The dishes here are delightfully spicy, perfectly paired with creative cocktails like those made with plum juice and vodka. It was a great casual chat and a chance to connect.
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Taipei Xinyi District Texas Roadhouse Songgao Branch
Had dinner with Cindy, who just returned from Hong Kong, along with Mars, Vins, and Beichen at Texas Roadhouse in Xinyi. Cindy's Richwell Financial Group finally got its Hong Kong licenses, and the Taiwan office is opening soon. We also discussed her role as FA for the Taiwanese metaverse company OSense, which is nearing a milestone.
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Taipei East District Alley Awkward Chat Couple Bistro
Lman senior invited me to dinner at this alleyway bistro in East District, so I brought my junior Youming along. The senior graduated 15 years before my junior, and I'm right in the middle. We started talking about games (my junior is a Bahamut user) and then moved on to topics like energy storage and carbon neutrality.
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Taipei Yixian Rd. 30 Thirty Old Tavern
After a morning remote meeting for Zomma Option Protocol and an afternoon visit to DeFITs with Don senior to learn about their blockchain arbitrage product, we ended up at this old-school bar near Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Don senior has founded six funds in the US, ranging from smaller to quite sizable ones.
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Linsen N. Rd. Alley Japanese Bar — Taipei
Went for drinks with a new friend from the traditional chemical industry at this Japanese-style bar on Linsen North Road. With few Japanese guests due to the pandemic, it felt almost like a private booking. We kept ordering whiskies to support the mama-san, who sang heartfelt Japanese songs, claiming she once visited singer Rimi Natsukawa's home in Ishigaki. Thanks to good friends for the treat—cheers!
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Taipei Neihu Zhouzi St. Lazy Point Bistro
Met up with Don, a senior from Weidao High School who just returned from the US, and Hongqi, a colleague from my alternative military service. Don currently manages a retirement & hedge fund in the US with over $1 billion AUM and has made good profits from oil investments recently. He's also getting interested in NFTs and blockchain, so I shared some trends like StepN and Move to Earn with him.
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Taipei Zhongxiao Dunhua A Bo Lang Thin Skin Dumplings Taiwanese Bistro
After returning to Taipei from Taoyuan in the evening, I first visited the office of Unblock, a blockchain AML monitoring company near Zhongxiao Dunhua Station. They recently received strategic investment from Whoscall (Gogolook) and launched some new features.
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Bridge Bar
We celebrated my cousin Yiting's birthday with an all-you-can-eat sukiyaki feast at Golden Shovel near Syntrend. The birthday festivities continued around Zhongxiao Xinsheng, hitting spots like Lisao, The Primrose, B Line, and Bridge Bar. Happy Birthday!
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Lisao Bar & Bistro
We celebrated my cousin Yiting's birthday with an all-you-can-eat sukiyaki feast at Golden Shovel near Syntrend. The birthday festivities continued around Zhongxiao Xinsheng, and we stopped by Lisao Bar & Bistro for drinks and good vibes. Happy Birthday!
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The Primrose (Bar Chun Hua)
We celebrated my cousin Yiting's birthday with an all-you-can-eat sukiyaki feast at Golden Shovel near Syntrend. The birthday festivities continued around Zhongxiao Xinsheng, and we made a stop at The Primrose (Bar春花) to enjoy some cocktails and celebrate. Happy Birthday!
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B Line by A Train
We celebrated my cousin Yiting's birthday with an all-you-can-eat sukiyaki feast at Golden Shovel near Syntrend. The birthday festivities continued around Zhongxiao Xinsheng, and we visited B Line by A Train for some drinks and to keep the celebration going. Happy Birthday!
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Taipei, Lane off Zhongshan N. Rd., Sushi Gun
Mars invited a few friends to support Chef Huang, the former head chef of Shun Cai, who just opened his own sushi restaurant this month. The ingredients were incredibly fresh, and we ended up enjoying over twenty courses without feeling overwhelmed. Even without ordering drinks, the per-person cost was nearly NT$6,000. Dishes like sea bream, salmon, botan shrimp, uni, and small white fish were all refreshingly sweet and left a lasting aroma—a truly unforgettable Japanese dining experience.
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Taipei, East District, Qiu Jin Japanese Izakaya
Lman学长临时约我吃饭，于是我叫了同社团的学弟瑞宏一起。毕业二十多年后还能聚在一起真是缘分。我们聊了区块链存储的问题，聚会又快三个小时才结束。整晚包场了。
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Taipei, Zhongxiao Fuxing, E Jiu Wu Izakaya
Lman学长临时问我晚上有没有空，正在吃肉圆的我让他晚点再约。没想到临时找朋友还能成局，于是我们五人聚在了一起，包括做游戏的OGG、交易加密货币的Sam，以及Lman最近认识的、在中国做过很多区块链项目的Galvin。Galvin深耕这个领域很早，甚至见过币安的CZ。
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Taipei Jilin Rd. Chuan Lang Live Crab — King Crab Specialty Store
Yujia treated us to dinner. Besides Stephen and me (friends from alternative military service), there were Richard and Lucas. Richard used to work in MediaTek's investment department and now manages a $200 million PE fund at Zhuoyi Capital. Lucas is a true connoisseur in the tech industry—always either on his way to drink or already drinking. Having worked in China, Vietnam, and Myanmar, he even carries a wine opener at all times, which is impressive. After this meal, Lucas...
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Ma Cave 21 Red Wine Wine Cellar — Taipei
Today was William's birthday celebration with two consecutive gatherings. Attendees included Sherry (formerly at Capital Securities HK, now at FT), Sunny (at an Australian asset management company), Eric (at Red Building Capital), Anthony (who used to be in Shanghai), Nick (Yale Alumni Association president), Ray (formerly at HKEX, now at Matrixport), Kaiying (met last time), and Fengyang (at the Agricultural Insurance Fund). Met many beautiful people, but the highlight was still...
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Taipei Yakiishi Matsu 53 Times
Today was William's birthday celebration, with two consecutive gatherings. The crowd included Sherry (formerly at Capital Securities HK, now at FTSE), Sunny at an Australian asset management firm, Eric at Red Capital, Anthony who used to be in Shanghai, Nick the Yale Alumni Association president, Ray (formerly at HKEX, now at Matrixport), Kaiying whom I met last time, and Fengyang at the Agricultural Insurance Fund. Met many lovely ladies, but the highlight was still...
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Taipei, Yanji St., KoKoni Skewer & Donburi Izakaya
Had an impromptu gathering with Lman and Telder学长 in the evening. We reminisced about our days in the CCNS (Cheng Kung Computer Network Society) club at university. At this age, besides work, we ended up talking more about health and wellness topics.
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Taipei, Breeze Xinyi 45F, Morton's The Steakhouse
Nth visit to Morton's Steakhouse. Thanks to Mars, a VVIP here, we often get to enjoy great steaks in reserved private rooms. Tonight we ordered a 24oz Porterhouse and a 32oz Tomahawk, plus sides like truffle butter, crab cakes, lobster bisque, and spinach salad, paired with two good California Pinot Noirs. Lman joked that a week's worth of calories were consumed in one meal.
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Taipei Far Eastern Xinyi A13 Hooters American Restaurant
Another day with three meetings. Started the morning visiting Whalechip, a mining IC design company, then had an afternoon meeting with Zomma, an Option DeFi protocol. In the evening, I came to Hooters with William from Matrixport, Vins from DeFITs, and Kaiying, who is William's Yale alum and a graduate of the world's top art school, Juilliard.
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Taipei 101 the Shanghai Restaurant (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
Another routine of nine meetings over three days. 1. Tuesday lunch with Brother Kang at Mr. Brown Coffee on Songjiang Road. Thanks for the treat! 2. Tuesday afternoon, introduced Naiwen and Vins. 3. Tuesday dinner at Muse Bistro in Shilin with Tim, Yuchia, Lman, and Tammy. Tim flew to Miami for a conference the next day—safe travels! 4. Wednesday morning meeting upstairs at 101. 5. Wednesday afternoon with Mars, Brother Tianren, and Lman, listening to Pat's arrangements...
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Modism Muses Bistro & Café, Taipei
Another packed schedule of nine meetings over three days. On Tuesday night, I had dinner at Modism Muses in Shilin with Tim, Yuchia, Lman, and Tammy. We enjoyed good food and company before Tim flew to Miami for a conference the next day.
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La Piola Cucina Italiana, Taipei
During my usual busy three-day period with multiple meetings, I managed to enjoy a wonderful Italian dinner at La Piola Cucina Italiana. It was a perfect break from back-to-back meetings, offering authentic Italian cuisine in a cozy atmosphere.
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Taipei Jiantan American Club Taipei
Evening meet-up here with Senior Tim, William, and Senior Lman. Senior Tim is a member, so we gathered at the bar here. Tim is an early investor in projects like GoJek in Indonesia and Animoca (Sand, OpenSea), so over red wine, we chatted about the two public chains he recently invested in (Mina & Agoric). Talking with Tim is almost entirely in English—I just try my best to keep up...
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Shimin Blvd. Haru Chun Izakaya — Taipei
Evening started by introducing William from Matrixport to DeFITs, then dinner with William and Lman at this spot from William's go-to list. The grilled and fried dishes were quite good. Thanks for the treat, William! Looking forward to the Yangmingshan mansion party you're planning~ XD
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Taipei Linsen N. Rd. Ki Dori Yakitori Bar
Spent the morning moving around upstairs at Taipei 101. In the evening, introduced William from Matrixport and Senior Lman—both are from Pingtung and alumni of Daoming. After a tasty izakaya on Linsen North Road, we went to a nearby shisha bar. Last time I smoked shisha was back in Romania. William also invited his senior Tim over; they're both Yale...
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Taipei WIDE AWAKE Hookah Lounge
In the evening, introduced Matrixport's William and senior Lman to each other – they're both from Pingtung and alumni of the same high school. After eating at a good izakaya on Linsen North Road, we went to a nearby shisha bar. The last time I smoked shisha was back in Romania. William also invited his senior Tim over.
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Taipei Kurumi Japanese Bar KTV
The final stop of the night was at Kurumi, a Japanese-style bar with KTV. After the izakaya and shisha bar, we ended up here. It was a fun night introducing old and new friends, sharing stories from Pingtung to Romania, and enjoying some drinks and singing.
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Taipei Breeze Xinyi Morton's The Steakhouse
Four meetings in one day. Morning visit with Mars, Ale, Ben, and Pat to a graphics card OEM in Zhonghe. For lunch, Mars suggested a quick bite, but then he just called Morton's on the 45th floor of Breeze Xinyi and reserved a private room using his face and name. Truly a high-end fast meal XD. Ale and Ben have five to six hundred rental suites in the Greater Taipei area, plus some commercial properties. Hoping to bridge some cross-industry collaborations. Thanks again to Mars...
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Zhong Mountain N. Rd. Alley Chi Izakaya — Taipei
Research classmate Kunda happened to be back in Taiwan from Guangzhou, so we arranged dinner. Yujia came up from Hsinchu for meetings and to pick up his custom suit, and Senior Lman also reached out in the afternoon to visit Yoxi under Hotai Motor to discuss NFTs. So I just gathered everyone for dinner to get acquainted. There was a senior blockchain entrepreneur, a venture capitalist from Foxconn Group looking into metaverse projects, and the Asia head of a Finnish software company. We chatted about everything from 6G and digital twins to...
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Taipei Jilin Rd. 1779 Japanese Izakaya
Evening gathering with Xiaofeng, a junior from the 94th class of NCKU's MBA program, and Senior Lman from NCKU. The junior previously worked at Citibank, Barclays Hong Kong, and a Shanghai private equity fund, so he's familiar with both primary and secondary markets and can now reach some sovereign funds or family offices. He recently joined Richwell Financial Group, founded by our NCKU junior Cindy. Richwell recently obtained Hong Kong's Type 4 and 9 licenses (asset management) and its Shanghai joint venture...
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Zhong Mountain N. Rd. ABV Japanese Ju Pub — Taipei
After lunch at amba Taipei Songshan, I took Alvin to visit the nearby ARK Taipei. In the evening, Taka, the founder of ARK, happened to drop by and introduced me to Feifei, the co-founder of NFT Board, one of the companies based there. Later that night, I headed to a cozy izakaya tucked away in a lane on Zhongshan North Road.
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Taipei amba Taipei Songshan Hotel 17F QUE Restaurant
After a morning DeFi meeting at Joyso, I joined Pat and Steven Ho (founder of 91 APP, a company recently listed in Taiwan with a market cap of around 20+ billion NTD) for lunch, along with Alvin. Steven first gave us a tour of the entire 91 APP office, which has about 500 employees, and introduced their current products and services, focusing on OMO (Online-Merge-Offline) development.
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Taipei Bade Rd. — Hong Cuo Hakka Restaurant
Zhewei invited me to dinner, along with Xiaomin and his wife, whom I hadn't seen in a long time. I also asked Senior Lman to join us for a casual chat. A friend of Zhewei's, who previously worked on structured products at Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong and now manages a fund with about $20 million AUM, had some crypto-related ideas and market-making capabilities. Before he returns to Taiwan in mid-March, he asked Zhewei to talk to me first to see if we could spark some ideas.
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Taipei Zhongshan N. Rd. SoShow Bar & Restaurant
The last gathering in Taipei before the New Year. Thanks to Manager Liang for the hospitality. Heading back to Taichung now!
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Taipei Mandarin Oriental Hotel 5F M.O. Bar
Met up with Manager Liang and Ruihong in the evening. They have a Happy Hour from 17:00-21:00: NT$1,200+10% for 2 hours of unlimited drinks on select beverages. I usually lose out on all-you-can-eat, but all-you-can-drink (alcohol) is another story. Within two hours, I ordered three cocktails, one white wine, and one red wine: Passion Martini, Beauty Spritz, and M.O. Sparkle. The atmosphere at Mandarin Oriental is still great.
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Taipei Zhongshan N. Rd. Ne (Now Mizu Ryotei Nabe Mono)
At noon, Pat invited me to meet Sam, the current owner of TutorABC in Taiwan, for lunch at Hangzhou Xiaolongbao on Minsheng East Road. The three of us chatted over the meal, learning about TutorABC's current and future development plans, the potential of the online education market, and how I might be able to help in the future. Thanks to Sam for the treat. In the evening, my friend Hongqi from the alternative military service invited me to dinner, along with Yujia, making three of us. We chose the place I had been to last time with Manager Liang...
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Taipei Changan E. Rd. Linyanggang Stir-fry Restaurant
In the evening, Alex and Shinong arranged a gathering. I chatted with Spencer, who had returned from Shanghai, in the afternoon. In the evening, with Brother Zhan, who established a fund in the Cayman Islands, and Brother Lin, who serves major clients at KGI Securities, six of us plus Manager Liang talked about experiences in mainland China and various options trading, with plenty of beer, sake, and wine. Cheers!
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Taipei Tai Chun Xiao Guan Japanese Restaurant
In the evening, Alex invited Manager Liang and me for drinks. After handling requests from eight different friends over the weekend, we came here for dinner. Thanks to Alex for the treat! After the meal, we moved to near Taipei City Hall Station to meet with Teacher Chen to hear about an investment in micro-hydroelectric power equipment. Didn't expect to be back at Cathay Landmark (Breeze Xinyi) upstairs just a few days later—last time it was to visit Liangqu on the 21st floor next to Tencent, and today it's to Teacher Chen's office on the 29th floor. Thanks to Teacher Chen for his time and explanation!
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Taipei Songjiang Rd. Venezia Italian Restaurant
Wednesday was for the crypto circle, and Friday switched to the tech industry. In the afternoon, Yujia came up to Taipei from Hsinchu and first met with Ken (Ah Guan), the former CTO of Inline online reservation company, and his friend Curtis, who previously served as CFO in the media industry, to get acquainted and chat. Ken recently also created a fork of Olympus DAO to play with, and the token's market cap reached $4 million in two months. He has some ideas for new topics lately. In the evening, Yujia then invited...
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Taipei Breeze Xinyi 47F Sea to Sky — High-Rise Seafood Restaurant
Another packed schedule of three days and ten meetings. Sea to Sky, a high-rise seafood restaurant on the 47th floor of Breeze Xinyi, offers stunning views. It's the perfect spot for a business lunch or a special occasion dinner.
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SuiYiNiaoDiFang101JingGuan Restaurant (2nd Visit) — Taipei
Two days, five gatherings—just another typical schedule. I met with Mr. Zhu's third son and his wife Mina at the Regent Taipei for a meal. We discussed their family office's venture capital interests, which are now expanding into blockchain.
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Taipei 101 & Tonghua St. Alley Ajex Bistro
Last week was four meetings a day; this week it's seven meetings over three days. Time is truly a scarce resource. I visited Grace at her office on the 24th floor of Taipei 101, then had dinner and drinks with friends in the evening at a bistro near Tonghua Street.
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Taipei Bade Rd. Eagle House Bistro (Temporarily Closed) ⚠️ 暫停營業
Had dinner with friends, all of whom are top graduates from MIT, CMU, Stanford, and City University of Hong Kong. The conversation ranged from inside stories of Chinese public funds to crypto and drone projects. My academic credentials were definitely the lowest at the table!
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Taipei Minsheng W. Rd. Tai Chun Japanese Restaurant
The 19th gathering in 7 days! Cheers with Alex and Mr. Liang over drinks and casual chat at Taichun Japanese Cuisine. A perfect way to unwind after a hectic week.
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Morton's The Steakhouse, Taipei (One of 18 weekly meetings)
Another week with an unbelievable schedule of 18 meetings/gatherings. On Monday night, I had a WeChat call with my mainland friend Wym to discuss his Order Flow System obtaining software copyright in China. Tuesday morning involved a meeting with Pat, his friend Duke from the Hong Kong fund Stonehorn managing $700 million, and Mars to discuss potential computing power and fund portfolio combinations.
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Smith & Wollensky, Taipei (One of 18 Meetings per Week)
Another week with 18 meetings/gatherings - an unbelievable schedule. Monday night: WeChat call with mainland friend Wym to discuss his Order Flow System's software copyright application in China. Tuesday morning: Meeting with Pat, his friend Duke from the Hong Kong fund Stonehorn (managing $700M), and Mars to discuss computing power + fund portfolio possibilities.
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Taipei Xinsheng N. Rd. Jiang Bistro & Thai Cuisine
When you've met enough people from around the world, it's easy to find common ground quickly with new friends. A dinner with the founders of Love Apartment turned into a lively gathering, where we suggested adding sake to complement the Thai dishes—making the night even better.
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Taipei Breeze Nanshan 47F Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse
This is Warren Buffett's favorite steakhouse in the US, famous for its charity lunches. Even the Taipei branch in Breeze Nanshan is hard to book. I went early on a Tuesday to finally try the 47th-floor restaurant after visiting the floors above and below. The window seat view was spectacular.
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Taipei Hejiang St. Alley Garage Mutton Hot Pot
A place many friends have written about, known for being hard to book. I took advantage of the slightly cooler weather and a Monday evening to try their bone-in, skin-on mutton hot pot. Paired with a few glasses of red wine, it warmed me up quickly—the perfect end to the seventh gathering in nine days.
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Taipei Jilin Rd. Hong Fan Tian Stir-Fry Restaurant
After teaching Gail's kid programming in the afternoon, Gail told me the child was more interested in my class than others. I think interest is the foundation of many things, and how to motivate students' interest is one of my interests too! Listening to the kid talk about the Zootopia animation she recently watched during class was also a learning experience for me, helping me understand what kids like. In the evening, I came here with Manager Liang, Alex, David, and Brother Zeng—who I've known for only a few days but have already had three meals with—to this place Brother Zeng recommended...
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Taipei Tao Ran Ting Roast Duck
Alex organized a 'one-bottle party' (where everyone brings a bottle of wine) at Tao Ran Ting, a place I haven't been to in exactly ten years. Six men, three women, plus two kids, with seven red wines and two white wines. After that, I went with one friend to his friend's restaurant for a second round—a Korean restaurant called Han Jin Guan on Linsen North Road. Then we had soju mixed with beer (so-maek). This was also the fifth gathering in the past seven days. Plum wine, whiskey, white wine, red wine, sake, beer, soju—I've had them all within a week...
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Taipei Xindian Ba Wei Ginger Duck Hot Pot
My good friend John from the alternative military service days asked me to dinner. He also invited Brother Zeng from HTC and a colleague, Winnie from Acer, Stanley who works on camera algorithms at the Japanese company Morpho, Vincent who works on Nokia phones at HMD, Owen who is responsible for Asian operations at Flexiv—an American robotics company that just secured $100 million in Series A funding—and senior Pat from Credit Suisse. Old and new friends from all walks of life gathered together...
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Taipei East District ABV Caribbean Bistro
After finishing work at noon, I was about to head back to Taichung when I suddenly saw that my junior Annie, whom I hadn't seen in a long time, was also free. So we arranged to meet up. The Brazilian unicorn company she works for specializes in providing cross-border payment solutions for Latin America and is currently applying for a U.S. listing. Their most recent pre-IPO funding round raised over $400 million. I listened to Annie talk about Brazil's national payment system Pix, Argentina's cash dollar exchange rate (CCL), and their strategies for Asian e-commerce, gaming...
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Taipei Michelin One Star Molino de Urdániz Spanish Restaurant
Counting this, it's my 13th Michelin-starred restaurant across Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore combined. Molino de Urdániz is located inside the Muzha Hotel. The hotel's biggest feature is its partnership with seven wineries worldwide—whether staying or dining in its restaurants, you're accompanied by fine wines from around the world. This Spanish restaurant has actually held Michelin stars for 14 consecutive years in its home country. As for its overseas expansion in Taipei...
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ULV Bistro — East District, Taipei
At ULV Restaurant & Bar in Taipei's East District, I had a WeChat voice call with Yujia, who currently works at Macquarie Securities (Hong Kong) and was introduced by Tony. I asked him about his experience with financial product issuance, hedging, and market making. We then chatted and discovered that Yujia also attended Weidao High School. He was in 10th grade when I was in 9th grade—Taiwan is really small; our paths overlapped back then. Immediately after, I continued the call with Haoting, another Weidao classmate, to learn about his experience handling cross-strait capital flows. In the evening, Manager Liang invited me to dinner in the East District...
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Taipei Siping St. Yi Fu Chuan Shao Jiu Chang — Yakitori & Sake Bar
At Ippuku Yakitori Bar on Siping Street in Taipei, Matsumura came to have dinner with me in the evening. Manager Liang also came to eat with me, so I simply called boss Loco and Matsumura's wife, Yiwen, and the five of us had dinner together at the izakaya. With two bottles of French red wine brought by Manager Liang, two beers, plus a bottle of Japanese Yomeishu (gin), we had quite a satisfying time. Yiwen, a top salesperson at Concord, mentioned today's big market swing in Taiwanese stocks and the painful process where 98% of her clients lost money. And boss Loco, who could have made 70 million but ended up with only 700,000—a regretful experience. About life, one can only say heaven...
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Taipei Jinshan N. Rd. Rich Daddy Restaurant (Suspended) ⚠️ 暫停營業
At Rich Daddy Restaurant on Jinshan North Road in Taipei (currently closed), I visited my ramen senior at his company in the afternoon. He introduced me to their shareholder Mars, who is also a major holder of 18 million Hakka coins. We chatted about BSC (Binance Smart Chain) and Chia coin hard drive mining. In the evening, I had dinner with Spin from their company. After finishing two bottles of Chilean red wine, Spin said she was only 30% drunk, so the three of us had to open a third bottle. Spin is indeed not easy to keep up with, but she managed :p Cheers~ By Mo...
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Minsheng E. Rd. Alley Spanish Bistro — Songshan, Taipei
At a Spanish tapas bar in an alley off Minsheng East Road, Songshan District, Taipei, Alex said he hadn't treated me since coming to Taipei, so we made a last-minute lunch reservation here today. Excluding the cost of the two bottles of Australian and Spanish red wine I brought, we ordered Spanish seafood paella, a US Prime 16oz steak set meal, fried soft-shell crab, squid, red shrimp, salad, scallops, truffle cream soup... Just for the food, for three adults and one child, plus the corkage fee, it came to around 10,000 NTD. Thanks for the treat, Alex. By Morgan @2021.5.9 noon
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Taipei Xinhai Rd. Xing Chen Wine Cellar (3rd Visit)
Haven't been here in years. The owner, Lin Fusheng, and Mr. Liang are old friends of mine who have been passionate about wine collecting for over 30 years. Their 100-ping cellar houses more than 60,000 bottles of premium wines, and Mr. Lin now writes a weekly wine column for Apple Daily. I've visited a few times before and was amazed by their Wagyu beef, but they've since switched to a private kitchen model—walk-ins can't order food anymore. So I just asked the owner to recommend a good-value French red (Vivino score 4.1) and enjoyed chatting and drinking here while listening to Brother Lin talk about his most expensive cellar treasures...
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Taipei Breeze Nanshan 48F Ce la vie Taipei
Ce la vie Taipei on the 48th floor of Breeze Nanshan is part of the LVMH group's restaurant division, with another branch at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. My cousin Mingxiu happened to introduce me to his friend Jack, who used to work at Fubon in Hong Kong, so we continued our night drinking in a private room here. Jack is also from a Tainan-based family and has been in Hong Kong for over six years working in wealth management, where he's met many high-net-worth clients. It was a fortunate gathering to drink together—Cheers! By Morgan @2021.4.29 evening
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Taipei Breeze Nanshan Star Tower 46F Saffron 46 Indian Restaurant
After two days of rain, I could finally go out tonight. I came to one of the famous high-rise restaurants in Breeze Nanshan, dining with a view of Taipei 101's nightscape. Coincidentally, I've been discussing some matters with a white-hat hacker from India these past few days, so visiting this Indian restaurant felt quite fitting and satisfying. Having been to India several times, I still quite enjoy its spices. Paired with an Australian red wine and gazing at the stunning night view outside the window—It is life ~ By Morgan @2021.4...
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Taipei Mandarin Oriental Hotel 5F Tajimaya Premium Shabu Shabu
Only upon visiting today did I learn that this place operates independently from Tajimaya. Tajimaya is a century-old Japanese meat supplier with many dedicated restaurants in Taiwan, while Tajimaya Jia is its importer in Taiwan, mainly represented by this restaurant at Mandarin Oriental and its second branch. Regardless, Tajimaya Jia remains one of Taipei's top-tier shabu-shabu spots—on a Monday night, only seats after 7:30 PM were available. With drinks, per-person spending starts around NT$3,000+. The American red wine Skyside paired with the meal tonight was okay. Each table is a private dining space...
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Taipei Wuchang St. Astoria Cafe
Astoria Cafe on Wuchang Street in Taipei is a nostalgic Russian restaurant with over 70 years of history since 1949. They even offer a commemorative Moldovan red wine—Moldova is a country I'd never heard of before, but it turns out it's a historic wine-producing nation near Odessa in southern Ukraine. Paired with beef short ribs and roasted pork knuckle, this Moldovan red wine really packs a punch.
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Taipei Zhongshan District The Riviera Hotel - Mediterranean Steakhouse
The Mediterranean Steak House at The Riviera Hotel in Taipei's Zhongshan District is another famous upscale steakhouse in the city. I've tried the now-closed Empire Steak House at nearby Hua Guo Hotel before, and tonight I'm visiting here for the first time. I ordered their most expensive set: a 45-day wet-aged American Kuroge Washu ribeye steak, paired with a good Israeli red wine rated 4.2/5 on Vivino.
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Taipei Zhongshan N. Rd. Alley Nei (Now Mizu Ryotei Nabemono)
On a Monday night, several restaurants I wanted to try were fully booked, so I came to Nei Jin Shokunin near The Regent Taipei. I chose a counter seat to try this well-reviewed Japanese kaiseki restaurant. Like most upscale restaurants in Taipei, dinner starts at around NT$2,000 per person—for that price, the ambiance and dishes here are decent but not particularly memorable.
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Taipei Linsen N. Rd. Qitiao Tong MURA Yi Izakaya
MURA Izakaya in Qitiao Tong on Linsen North Road—the livelier it gets as the night goes on in Linsenbei! An excellent izakaya with a varied and exciting menu that had me going from shochu to white peach fruit wine, then back to warm sake.
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Taipei Mandarin Oriental Hotel 6F Bencotto Italian Restaurant
I still remember when Bencotto first opened a few years ago—I couldn't get a reservation back then. Today, I managed to snag one of the last few tables for dinner. The four-course set menu costs around NT$2,000+ and offers decent value, featuring dishes like beef tartare, pappardelle, and wagyu. The ambiance and service were both great. The only letdown was the NT$4,000+ 2016 Italian red we ordered—it didn't quite feel worth the price, especially after checking Vivino and seeing it rated only 4.0...
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Taipei Zhongyuan St. Secret Bistro
Secret Bistro on Zhongyuan Street is perfect for a cozy dinner or late-night snack paired with red wine~
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Taipei Lane off Dunhua N. Rd. Shi Er Lan Crab Seafood Congee
Nearly seven years ago, Manager Liang, Naiwen, and I hung out at a bar in Beijing's Millennium Hotel. Back then, Naiwen was still working at Goldman Sachs' Beijing office. Time flies—now she's a mother of three! Tonight, the same crew reunited in Taipei to chat about the future of traditional and emerging finance. Thanks to Naiwen for rushing over after work. Hope we can do this again soon! After touring around Taiwan and stopping in Taipei, I seem to be stuck here instead of heading back to Taichung... silly Xiaomi probably thinks...
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Taipei Neihu Chen San Chen*3 Bistro
After visiting Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the Rose Exhibition, and Lin An Tai Historical House, plus enjoying delicious mutton hotpot on Chengde Road, we ended the night at Chen*3 Bistro in Neihu. Alex brought three bottles of red wine for a small gathering earlier, and we continued with drinks at this cozy alley bar. Cheers! By Morgan @2021.3.25 night
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Taipei, Lane off Linsen N. Rd., Hidden Izakaya
After visiting the Miniatures Museum near Songjiang Nanjing Station, I met up with my senior at Syntrend's Biilabs. We caught up at a cafe on the 11th floor, and later visited the legendary jserv. My senior's company, Biilabs, is a pioneer in Taiwan's blockchain startup scene. We ended the day at a hidden izakaya in a Linsen North Road alley.
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Taipei, Lane off Da'an Rd., Xiao Man Hot Pot
Had dinner with old friends and Ruihong, a club junior I hadn't seen in a while. We picked up two bottles of red wine from the nearby Sogo department store to pair with our meal. Ruihong recently bought a property near a Taoyuan Airport MRT station, so his next step is finding the right lady of the house! Cheers!
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Taipei, Lane off Ren'ai Rd., Le Xuan Wagyu
This top-tier wagyu restaurant, originally from Taichung, now has a location in Taipei. We ordered the most expensive set menu (NT$4,400+10% per person) plus two bottles of Italian and French red wine. From Australian 9+ wagyu to Japanese A5 and Matsusaka A5 beef, every dish was bursting with wagyu flavor. Highlights included a hand roll with wagyu tartare and premium sea urchin, and Inaniwa udon with beef shank and truffle-infused egg yolk sauce.
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Wine Cafe — Taipei
I came up to Taipei yesterday and bought over NT$2,000 worth of books at Tenlong Bookstore before meeting an old university club friend, Wenzheng. We went to a mysterious bar near Daan Station with no sign - it's all word-of-mouth. Wenzheng, still a full-time investor after nearly ten years, and I opened a bottle of Chilean red with some ham and cheese. We talked about relationships, old friends, and our travels to places like Seoul.
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Taipei, Breeze Xinyi, Thai Bazaar
Had lunch at Thai & Thai in Taipei's Breeze Xinyi with Boss Liang, Loco, and Alex. We started with a white wine and had red wine with the meal. In the afternoon, I went to Syntrend Creative Park to meet a senior from my NCKU club who founded the blockchain company Biilabs. The office had many NCKU juniors, including one from the class of 108 in Industrial Management—a 17-year gap means she was just born when I was in college! Later, my college classmate Naiwen, now a manager at Goldman Sachs who happened to be off today, joined us at Syntrend.
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Taipei Bade Rd. Dancing Elephant Wine Shop
Evening drinks at Dancing Elephant Wine Bar on Bade Road with NCKU Industrial Management junior ICEBONE, grad school classmate Mengsheng, and Boss Liang. ICEBONE recently moved from Qualcomm to Amazon—with a foreign company salary that's top-tier in Taiwan. The four of us shared four bottles of natural wine, and I'm definitely feeling a bit slow typing now. Thanks to Boss Liang for treating us! By Morgan @2021.2.1 night
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Taipei Lane off Dunhua S. Rd. Rou Da Ren Meat Shop Hot Pot
Introduced Professor Mingfeng to Boss Liang at Mr. Meat Butcher Hotpot in a lane off Dunhua South Road, along with Jessica whom we met last time—four of us in total. We chose Mr. Meat because it offers natural wine to pair with the meal and serves various beef from the US, Japan, and Kinmen, freshly sliced to order. This five-year-old restaurant is quite good. Since Professor Mingfeng's partner is a skilled magician, after a few glasses of wine, the professor also performed some magic tricks. A very enjoyable dinner—thanks to Boss Liang for treating everyone! :) By Morgan @202...
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Taipei Da'an District Tianxia Sanjue Beef Noodles
Tianxia Sanjue Beef Noodle in Da'an District is also on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list. Located in a lane in the East District, it's surrounded by upscale restaurants like Da'an No.9 and Orange Shabu Shabu. Beef noodles start at four to five hundred NTD, and there's also a set with a single glass of red wine ($600). Given the tender beef tendon and meat, this price isn't too expensive. Just memo it~ By Morgan @2020.12.19 noon
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Zhong Mountain Zhan Galerie Bistro — Taipei
Had lunch with General Manager Liang and Tony at Galerie Bistro near Zhongshan Station. Tony is still a manager at SinoPac in Hong Kong. The last time we met was over a year ago at my old place by the Hong Kong waterfront, drinking red wine and enjoying the night view. Time flies, and due to the pandemic, I haven't seen many Hong Kong friends for a long time. Tony is back in Taiwan for now to visit some overseas banking clients and will decide after the new year whether to return. We met at this bistro near Zhongshan Station for a meal and some red wine.
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D'N Dun Nan Wine Cellar
I went to D'N Dun Nan Wine Cellar in the evening and had two bottles of red wine. This place has been open for over two years, and the atmosphere is really nice. It offers great value for money and is a good spot for drinks in Taipei.
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Taipei Tian Cai Japanese Restaurant
Just back in Taipei and already three gatherings in a row. Last night, I first had the familiar stone hotpot with Songcun across from his place. Then at noon, I met up with my junior high school classmate Haoting from Weidao near Gangqian Station in Neihu for a meal and chat—thanks for the treat, Haoting! ^^ In the evening, I went to Tiancai Japanese Restaurant again with General Manager Liang, JJ, and Loco. Japanese cuisine plus a few glasses of whiskey later, and I was feeling tipsy again. Thanks to Brother Loco for picking up the tab for the nearly ten-thousand NTD meal and drinks. :) Being back in Taiwan seems to be an endless cycle of eating and drinking @@, but it's truly rare to catch up with so many friends.
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Bade Rd. Hua Mountain Xiao Wine House — Taipei
Still having a small drink before the new year... at Huashan Little Wine Bar on Bade Road.
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Taipei Musashi Japanese Restaurant
I met up with my elementary school classmate Yanjie from Fengyuan at 台北 武藏 日本料理 for lunch. It's quite amazing—we had lost touch for nearly 30 years. He recently found an old blog post of mine by searching for our elementary school and teacher's name, then looked me up on Facebook to reconnect. Since I often work overseas, we promised to meet whenever I'm back in Taiwan, and today was the day.
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Taipei Chenghuang Temple Tian Cai Japanese Restaurant
At 台北 城隍廟 添財日本料理, the three of us finished off a bottle of whiskey we had saved from last time. Thanks to JJ for covering the meal! Cheers!
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Bade Rd. Hua Mountain Xiao Bar — Taipei
After dinner, it was still too early, so I met up with old friends Wenzheng and Ruihong from the CCNS club at 台北 八德路 華山小酒吧.
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San Beef Japanese Restaurant — Taipei
台北 三牛日本料理 is one of Taipei's top 10 high-end Japanese restaurants, a decades-old establishment. I hadn't been here in years, but Chef Wenzheng is as impressive as ever. I sat at the counter again with a budget of two to three thousand for omakase, plus two bottles of Argentine red wine. They had just received a large wild red snapper today—we enjoyed red snapper, toro, scallops, mullet roe, grilled collar... all very fresh ingredients, ending with a nourishing soup. There's an elderly couple in their eighties who come every night, and I saw them again today. Time really flies, reminding me of memories from 2013 and 2014...
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Taipei Da'an Leputing
台北 大安區 樂埔町 Leputing is a French restaurant hidden in a Japanese-style old house. We paired the meal with a French red wine—dishes like squid crisps, charcoal-grilled beef tongue, sea bass and eel broth, quail with roselle sauce, seared beef short ribs, clay pot rice, and burdock tea. A nice supper on the weekend~ I have to wake up early at 3 AM tomorrow to catch a flight again @@
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Taipei Shuangcheng St. Tutto Bello Italian Restaurant
台北 雙城街 Tutto Bello 義大利餐廳 is a hidden gem in an alley, operating for over 20 years, right next to the Hua Guo Hotel steakhouse I visited before. Rumor has it it might be awarded two Michelin stars this year. Our bill for two exceeded ten thousand NTD. It's usually packed on weekdays, but today was quiet due to rain and the post-holiday period. The Prime-grade beef was excellent, so we ended up opening two more bottles of Argentine red wine~ Cheers! By Morgan on the evening of Feb 22, 2018.
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Tasty Tasty Steakhouse Steakhouse (台北重慶南店) — Taipei
At 台北 Tasty 西堤牛排, it feels like I haven't eaten here in almost ten years. I ordered a small bottle of South African red wine, thinking I'd drink less, but we ended up opening three bottles—that's more than a large bottle! @@
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Taipei East District Jiu Jiao Zi
At 台北 東區 酒窖子, a wine bar, I gathered with Ruihong and Kimi. The four of us opened three bottles of red wine, then added a fourth. It's a quite tranquil spot—one bottle from Italy, two from Spain, and the last one from Chile. Cheers!
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Taipei Wine Derful Wine Cellar Restaurant (2nd Visit)
At 台北 Wine Derful 葡萄酒窖餐廳, I didn't expect to be back just two days later. In the afternoon, I caught up with long-time-no-see Brother Wancai and Boss Loco in Ximending. Taiwan is small—Brother Wancai, being a big client, now directly works as a broker at Kang He due to his large orders. Talking with him, I found out he also knows Jack or Matsumura from the institutional department I used to know. In the evening, Peter, a senior from Cheng Kung University in aerospace, happened to be in Taipei, so we gathered together. We chatted about some AR projects, and the senior originally wanted to introduce a female friend from PwC, but she happened to be with A...
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Minsheng E. Rd. Wine Derful Wine Restaurant — Taipei
台北 民生東路 Wine Derful 葡萄酒餐廳 offers good value for wine, and its wine cellar is likely one of the best in Taipei. I ordered beef cheek, which was an okay dish, along with a Spanish red wine and an Italian red wine. Merry Christmas Eve~ :) P.S. Later, I invited Minyang, an intern I mentored at Yuanta, to chat, and we opened a third bottle of French red wine~ Cheers!
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Taipei The Westin Taipei Churchill Bar
After a busy day, I came to the bar upstairs at The Westin Taipei, Churchill Bar. We opened a new bottle of 12-year-old Scotch whisky and chatted with my Tsinghua University graduate school classmate, Ali, and Jia-Hong. Ali now works in the AI department at Foxconn, responsible for developing some IoT models. Another fulfilling day!
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Taipei Nanjing E. Rd. Alley Wan You Quan Mutton Hot Pot
Wan You Quan Lamb Hot Pot in a lane off Nanjing East Road, Taipei. I'm heading back to Shenzhen early tomorrow morning, so I was honored to have dinner with Manager Liang and two lovely ladies tonight. One is Jade, whom I've been trying to meet since my Shenzhen days, but my Taipei schedule has been too packed until tonight. The other is Dreambox Ying-an, a junior from Cheng Kung University in Taichung. She now runs Rock Wine Castle on Siwei Road in Taipei, representing many fine wines and providing a venue for gatherings. She even brought an Australian wine, Pirra, to share tonight. One I haven't seen in over a year, the other in over seven years—truly a delightful reunion.
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Taipei Ren'ai Rd. Lane 27 Da'an No. 9 Hot Pot & Japanese Restaurant
Da An No. 9 Hot Pot & Japanese Cuisine in Lane 27, Ren'ai Road, Taipei. This place aims to compete with the high-end shabu-shabu restaurant 'Orange' next door, and it's indeed not cheap either. After opening three bottles of French wine, the bill for three people came to NT$18,000—NT$6,000 per person. However, some ingredients or cooking methods are quite unique: imported Hokkaido conch aged over 10 years (NT$4,380), deep-fried sea urchin wrapped in nori, lucky gold sushi wrapped in gold leaf, US Prime black beef, and ice cream topped with fried sea urchin salt... Manager Liang, true to form, was humorous and charming, eventually attracting the owner Lisa and L...
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Taipei Bulgaria.Wang Restaurant (3rd Visit)
Bulgarian King Restaurant in Taipei (3rd visit). Had dinner tonight with Manager Liang and Xiao Min—our annual gathering for the three of us, and this is our third time at this restaurant. The Bulgarian owner recommended two imported Bulgarian red wines tonight; one indeed developed richer flavors after 20 minutes of breathing, tasting more robust compared to wines from other countries. We didn't look at the menu and let the chef-owner freely create the dishes. Several of the courses made even my picky self light up with delight. The owner said his secret to staying young is drinking red wine every day, so while cooking, he'd take breaks to come out, drink, and chat with us. Besides his exceptional culinary skills...
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Taipei Next to City God Temple Tian Cai Japanese Restaurant
Tian Cai Japanese Cuisine next to the City God Temple, Taipei. This morning, I'm grateful that AK specially brought four bottles of red wine from his company's portfolio to wish me a Happy New Year. After bidding farewell to AK, I came to Tian Cai for lunch at noon. It must have been over three years since I last visited this place. As a restaurant with over 60 years of history, its ability to stand strong lies in its unique flavors. A very large bowl of wild clam soup, tender oden daikon radish—a simple and refreshing lunch~
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Taipei Dunhua S. Rd. Alley You Hua Premium Wagyu Yakiniku
This is my 9th gathering with different groups of friends in three days at Taipei's Dunhua alleyway spot, Youhua, a premium Wagyu yakiniku restaurant. We had Australian 9+ Wagyu, Hokkaido scallops, and imported Australian prawns. Five of us polished off five bottles of red wine, ringing up another NT$16,000 bill. Cheers again! By Morgan, evening of Jan 23, 2017.
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Taipei Zhongshan Somenoi Japanese Teppanyaki Kaiseki Cuisine (Replaced by Tokyo Tamachi Torishin)
Uncle Jason took the high-speed rail up from Taichung to meet us for lunch, so we headed to this Japanese restaurant tucked away in an alley in Taipei's Zhongshan District. The midday kaiseki set was NT$1,500+10% and was decent, including fugu in the sashimi platter. The four of us also opened a Chilean and an Australian red. It was great catching up with my talkative uncle, hearing about his recent dinner with Acer's former GM, his managed company landing Amazon orders, and his Stanford professor friend merging liberal arts and CS departments.
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Taipei Huashan Creative Park Piccola Botega Bistro
Met up with university classmates Bo-Min, A-Fu, Xing-Jian, and junior ICEBONE for a casual lunch at this bistro in Huashan Creative Park. We opened a reasonably priced Italian red and chatted about Taiwan's tech and software industries, as well as everyone's recent updates. It was so good to see everyone after so long! :)
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Taipei Xi Ju Fine Hot Pot
A pretty upscale hot pot restaurant hidden in an alley off Guangfu South Road. The seafood presentation was stunning, with live shrimp served on dry ice. Paired with 9+ grade Wagyu, it made for an incredibly lavish dinner. Our server Qianhui, an indigenous Taiwanese from Taichung, was quite the drinker. The five of us ended up opening four bottles of red wine, with the bill coming to around NT$16,000. Cheers! By Morgan, evening of Jan 21, 2017.
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Taipei The Westin Taipei 3F Churchill Bar
Back to Taiwan, Cheers! (At The Westin Taipei's 3F Churchill Bar.)
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Taipei Ruth's Chris Steakhouse Dazhi Flagship Store
Originally wanted to book André Chiang's Raw, but it was only open the next evening. Called Bencotto, the Italian restaurant at Mandarin Oriental, but it was fully booked. After a moment's thought, I didn't even bother checking with Shoun Ryu Gin and just booked Ruth's Chris in the same Heshmeng building as Raw—since the chance of getting a table here was definitely the highest. Compared to the Minsheng East Road branch, the Dazhi flagship feels much quieter, but they've put more effort into the decor, with a darker, more沉稳 color scheme. Right past the entrance...
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Taipei Façön — Fa Xiong French Restaurant
Manager Liang just returned from his trip to the US yesterday, and today he asked Morgan out for a meal, so we came to this French restaurant, Façön, which was fully booked last time we tried to reserve. On this trip to the US, Manager Liang met a former Iranian finance minister, a self-made billionaire who now has over sixty investment companies. They hit it off immediately and had a great conversation. He and Manager Liang even planned to visit Manager Liang's company in China in the first quarter of next year to explore potential collaboration opportunities. Façön is also one of Taipei's well-known French restaurants. Although it hasn't been open for long, its cuisine...
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Taipei Patrick French Cuisine — L'Atelier de Patrick
L'Atelier de Patrick in Taipei is a French restaurant where I had dinner with Morgan tonight. We ordered a set menu including seafood soup with beef bone, lobster and foie gras terrine, black truffle with champagne mushroom and egg, grilled US prime ribeye, and desserts. Paired with a 2006 French red wine, the meal cost around ten thousand NTD for two. Honestly, the main course here is quite good, especially...
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Taipei Chuan He Izakaya
Tonight was the end-of-season gathering with my regular weekly basketball buddies—both old and new. There were Shangli, Boss, Brother Qiang, Brother Wang, Uncle Hao, Guoshu, Brother Qiang's companion (his cousin), Brother Hao, Menghong, Yaoyao, and me, 12 people in total. The food here is pretty good, just the seating is a bit cramped~ @@
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Taipei Da Cun Wu — Yakitori Izakaya
Omura Take Yakitori Izakaya is a nostalgic spot hidden in an alley off Hankou Street, always bustling with customers. Tonight, I met up with my high school friend Jialiang and Boss Loco. CL (aka Village Chief Gao), who founded g0v, is incredibly busy these days—he just rushed here from a meeting at the Executive Yuan. He's off to Kaohsiung tomorrow and then giving a speech in the US next week. It's rare to catch up like this, who knows when we'll all meet again!
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Taipei 2nd Visit Bulgaria King Restaurant (2nd Visit)
This was my second visit to Bulgarian King Restaurant. Besides the unforgettable swordfish belly, I also tried the Lamb shoulder from New Zealand that I missed last time due to being too full. Seasoned with spices, it was incredibly fragrant and simply excellent. Compared to their beef, the lamb here is outstanding and left a deep impression. Since it was our second visit, the Bulgarian owner Krastyu treated us to a high-proof brandy from Bulgaria after the meal...
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Taipei Sheraton Hotel Anton's Hall French Cuisine
Tonight at Anton's Grill, the French restaurant in Sheraton Grand Taipei Hotel, I was introduced by Brother Jason to his good friend Brother Guo, who met with President Liang. Brother Guo is not only the GM of an IoT company but also the Secretary-General of Taiwan's IoT Alliance, often traveling across the strait. As a NCTU alumnus, he's currently pursuing dual PhDs back at his alma mater. He's a very interesting and talkative person! As for Anton's Grill, it's a famous restaurant in Taipei. My set menu included an amuse-bouche, abalone and scallop salad, pan-seared foie gras, beef consommé, Boston lobster, and Provençal-style...
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Taipei Royal Hotel Zhongshan Japanese Restaurant
My older sister and brother-in-law came up from Linkou to have dinner with me and my younger brother. I thought about it for a moment—the Japanese-style afternoon tea at Hotel Royal is quite famous—so we decided to meet here. It was indeed nice, a great place for enjoying delicate bites rather than a full meal~~ :)
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Taipei Grand Formosa Regent Hotel Robin's Steakhouse
Robin's Steak House at Grand Hyatt Taipei was the venue for my seventh gathering in five days. Tonight, I ordered the Wood-fired Grilled Ribeye Steak (NT$2,500+10%) paired with a Californian red wine, Robert Mondavi. What sets Grand Hyatt's steak apart is the inclusion of a lavish salad bar and dessert bar with ingredients sourced from around the world, all you can eat. But the steak itself is no slouch either—perfectly cooked with a subtle wood-fired aroma that enhances the flavor of the US beef. Finally, a sprinkle of...
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Taipei Ikki Yi Qi New Japanese Restaurant
After helping Mr. Liang with his computer in the evening, we randomly picked a nearby spot for dinner. The Wowprime Group really wins on value for money. With a bottle of American red wine added, the bill for two came to under 3,000 TWD (~700 RMB). The food and service were both quite good!
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Taipei ChinaPa Bar & Restaurant
After dinner, President Liang invited me here for the next round, because today was also the 70th birthday of one of his good friends, and they chose to celebrate here. China Pa used to be on Anhe Road but later moved to its current location on the 11th floor of Core Pacific City. Inside, it has a nightclub vibe—besides food and drinks, there are live singers performing in the evening. Tonight they had a singer who usually performs at casinos in Macau. As soon as we sat down, I saw the table already filled with bottles of French wine (Dourthe). President Liang's friends are indeed all very interesting people, including the second generation of Tai Feng Tire, a former Ministry of Finance...
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Taipei San Hua Premium Japanese Restaurant
This is a high-end Japanese restaurant on Jianguo North Road, Section 2. The previous tenant was an Italian restaurant, but after the owner of San Hua Textile took over, it was converted. It hasn't been open long, only about eight months. The head chef, Chef Shi, was poached from Shin Tokyo. He's a bit shy but quite friendly. Dinner omakase starts at 2,500 TWD (~600 RMB).
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Taipei Bulgarian King Restaurant — First Visit (Bulgarian Red Wine)
J.W. Teres is named after the first Bulgarian king fascinated by wine, hence the name 'King' by the wine-loving Bulgarian owner, Krastyu. Located in an alley on Siwei Road, surrounded by many high-end restaurants, it offers a menu-less experience where servers verbally describe the day's dishes. It's also the only restaurant in Taiwan that imports Bulgarian wine.
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Chen Premium Japanese Restaurant — Taipei
Tonight, I introduced two seniors and chose Chen, a former private club, as the venue. Besides a few counter seats, it's all private rooms, perfect for chatting and business. Tucked away in a basement near Keelung and Zhongxiao East Roads, it's quiet, not widely known, and easier to book on weekends. The ingredients are top-notch, with set menus at 1,500, 2,000, and 2,500 TWD.
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Taipei L'ATELIER de Joël Robuchon French Restaurant (Three-Michelin-Star Chef)
Mr. Liang returned from China and asked me to dinner. I initially wanted to book a restaurant at the newly opened Mandarin Oriental, but both Bencotto and COCO were fully booked until late June. So, I booked L'ATELIER de Joël Robuchon instead, opened by the youngest chef ever to earn three Michelin stars, now in Taipei's Bellavita mall.
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Taipei SaSa Sasa Sushi Premium Sushi
SaSa Sushi was selected by Newsweek in 2012 as one of the 101 global restaurants worth eating at, and the only one in Taiwan on the list. Tonight, Mr. Liang, just back from China, asked me to dinner again, so we came to this restaurant in a Zhongshan North Road alley. Dinner offers only 2,500 and 3,000 TWD sets; omakase starts at 4,000. With two bottles of sake, our bill was over 9,700 TWD (~2,300 RMB).
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Taipei Takagyo High-End Japanese Restaurant (Former Jianguo Branch)
Thanks to the warm hospitality of various friends, I've enjoyed hot pot at Taipei's Gyunabe, premium steak at Beijing's Millennium Hotel, red wine at Xiowuding, Hunan cuisine at Shanghai's Wang Xiang Yuan, Shanghainese food at Feng Shou Ri, and Mongolian hot pot at Dong Lai Shun within a week. Tonight, a week later, I'm at Gao Yu, a Japanese restaurant invested by entrepreneurs like Cao Xingcheng and Huang Maoxiong, open for over a decade. It's in an alley next to Yitong Park, not easy to find. Dinner only offers $3,000 and $4,000+ sets.
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Taipei Toutouan Japanese Kaiseki Cuisine
Toutouan is a kaiseki restaurant from Tokyo, and this branch in a Dunhua South Road alley is its only overseas location. Beyond delicious food, Toutouan combines flower art, pottery, and tea ceremony—it's about culture and art. The entire meal feels like a visual and culinary feast, from raw dishes to grilled items, fish to seafood to beef to wagashi. The presentation and garnishes create a unique dining experience, starting with a light prelude, building intensity, and ending with a warm bowl of soup.
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He‧Shabu Premium Hot Pot Cuisine — Taipei
Came to He Shabu on Xinhai Road in the late morning to pay respects at the funeral of Loco's father, whom I had met a few times. Under a gloomy sky and drizzling rain at Taipei's Second Funeral Parlor, I felt an indescribable melancholy. The last time I was in such a place was three years ago when my good friend Sheng-Shun in Hsinchu passed away. Life is unpredictable; no one can foresee the future. All we can do is cherish every present moment and live without regrets.
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Taipei The Landis Taipei Paris 1930 — French Cuisine
Dined at the Paris 1930 French restaurant in The Landis Taipei. Mr. Liang, who just returned to Taiwan this afternoon, invited Morgan (me) for dinner, so we came here. The set menu includes two appetizers, a seafood course, a main, and a dessert. I had Gillardeau oysters, caramelized chocolate foie gras, wasabi seaweed tuna, and coconut chocolate yogurt snowball. Each dish showcases the chef's creativity and brings delightful surprises. No wonder people say cooking is an art.
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Taipei Lawry's — The Prime Rib Restaurant
Had dinner at Lawry's The Prime Rib in Taipei. Mr. Liang returned from China on short notice to meet with George, the CEO of a Canadian asset management firm overseeing about $30 billion. With a free evening before his early flight back to China tomorrow, he invited Morgan (me) for dinner. I thought about it and we came here. Lawry's is a classic American steakhouse (since 1938) that has relocated and is now on Songren Road in Xinyi District. We ordered a 10oz prime rib and a bottle of Chilean Cali...
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Taipei Strait Club
Dined at the Cross Straits Club in Taipei. Mr. Liang is returning to China tomorrow, so he invited Morgan (me) for dinner tonight. After some thought, we came here. It's a restaurant and private club founded by Tsai Chen-nan, located in the B1 of the Hung Kuo Building, spanning 1,500 ping. All 24 rooms are private dining rooms, offering a very tranquil atmosphere. It even has Japanese ganbanyoku (hot stone baths) for relaxation, which is quite unique. It's perfect for business discussions or gatherings with close friends. Tonight we had their shabu-shabu with two bottles of Chilean red wine, totaling...
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Danny & Company — Taipei
My elder made a small profit from closing some short positions before the market closed, so he treated Morgan to dinner tonight. We came to this restaurant opened by the 'Steak Godfather' Deng Youkui in an alley on Siwei Road. Morgan had only tried his work at A-Cut at The Ambassador Hotel and No. Prime 168 at Victoria before, but this time we visited his own establishment. We ordered the evening set menu (NT$4200+10%) and added a bottle of Merlot from California's famous Shafer winery, which cost over three thousand.
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Hana Hua Premium Teppanyaki — Taipei
After binge-reading 18 volumes of the Korean manhwa 'Hot Blooded River' in the afternoon, I came here for dinner. This nearly 36-year-old establishment is one of Taipei's famous teppanyaki spots. The evening set menu costs around NT$2,000-3,000+ (excluding drinks). The surf and turf course is quite diverse, including appetizer, bread, salad, bacon-wrapped scallop roll, prawn, cod, sirloin steak, dessert, and drinks... The full set left me quite full! However, it's a hard-to-book place; for a last-minute weekend reservation, you have to wait until after 8 PM. @@
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Taipei 2nd Visit Xing Chen Wine Cellar (Currently Unsure if Serving Food)
It's been a week, and I'm back here for another meal. Since Cristopher is returning to Costa Rica after a meeting with Yuan-Tseh Lee in Hsinchu next week, today was to introduce my genius Hacker classmate from Taichung First Senior High School, also the founding initiator of g0v (gov-zero) - ClKao, Brother Chia-liang Kao (Chia-liang Kao), to my elder and Cristopher. A very nice night and the food is so delicious.
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Taipei Ruth's Chris T-Bone Steak
Last night, Brother Mu specially came up from Taoyuan to see me. After thinking about a location, I took him for a SPA, alternating between an extremely hot sauna and a ten-degree ice pool, which was quite thrilling. Today, after coding all day, I suddenly received a call from General Manager Liang in the evening. He said he just returned from Shenzhen and invited Morgan for dinner. So we came to Ruth's Chris Steak House together. Chatting over dinner, we opened an Argentine red wine, which paired very smoothly with the steak. Ruth's Chris is still doing great business; even on a Sunday night, it's hard to get a reservation...
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Taipei Green Door Bar — New Year's Eve
On the last day of 2013, counting down to the new year with old college CCNS club friend Wenzheng at Green Door Bar. We listened to foreign musicians perform and drank cocktails to ring in the new year. Happy New Year everyone!
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Taipei Star Cellar Wagyu Restaurant (Currently unsure if serving food)
A private location with a wine collection worth over 200 million NT dollars. Besides being a wine cellar, you can also enjoy very delicious meals in the basement - truffle foie gras + beautifully colored Australian Wagyu beef. It's a very special place. My elder treated us to a meal here today and also introduced his niece's husband to Morgan. Cristopher is from Costa Rica, a Ph.D. in chemistry, currently teaching at a university in Costa Rica, and has published many papers in internationally renowned journals. Although our expertise differs, chatting and communicating with him in broken English was still quite enjoyable.
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Taipei Shilin Green Door Music Restaurant
NT$880 for all-you-can-drink cocktails, and you can even go on stage to sing. It's a pretty fun place! Within five days, I've gone through a round of whiskey, sake, beer, and cocktails.
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Taipei Hui Xiang Bistro
Tucked away on the second floor of a residential building in an alley on Changchun Road. You can find beers from various countries - Austria, Italy, Belgium... A rather unique corner of the city.
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Taipei Ximen Jing Japanese Izakaya
A small shop hidden in the alleys of Ximending. Every time I came before, there was no seat. This time, thanks to Brother Xiao Ci coming up north, I finally got to eat here! Besides meeting the long-unseen Ricky and his wife Qiqi, I also made a new friend, Brother Xiao Hei. A small shop, full of food, warm sake - a very pleasant evening :)
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Taipei Brother Hotel Chrysanthemum Hall Japanese Restaurant
Chrysanthemum Hall Japanese Cuisine at Brother Hotel, Taipei. Drank too much last night, so today I had to change the plan of going to Wanyouquan + red wine. Just had a light drink with friends, sticking to some sake. By Morgan @2013.11.23
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2nd Visit Hana bi Japanese Izakaya — Taipei
It's been a day, and I'm visiting again. Although the dishes are different from yesterday, each one is still quite distinctive - duck breast, crab meat croquette, salmon roe omelet... The only constant is still the two large bottles of Sake as the usual base~~
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Hana Bi Japanese Izakaya — Taipei
A small shop hidden in an alley on Zhongshan North Road. The food is exquisite and the atmosphere is nice, but the prices aren't exactly cheap. Two people ordered some dishes plus two bottles of sake, totaling around over six thousand NT dollars.
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Taipei Bawei Ginger Duck Hot Pot
Ba Wei Ginger Duck Hot Pot in Taipei. Drank red wine yesterday, today with different friends switched to dark beer~ @@ By Morgan @2013.9.21
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Taipei Ambassador Hotel A-Cut SteakHouse
A-Cut SteakHouse at The Ambassador Hotel Taipei serves a premium US Branda dry-aged ribeye steak (NT$6000+10%). Manager Liang happened to be back from China, so he treated Morgan to dinner while discussing some matters. They originally planned to go to Ruth's Chris Steak House but had to wait until 8:30 PM for a table, so they switched to A-Cut instead. The 40-day aged steak was truly delicious, but as usual, with two bottles of Australian red wine to warm up, it's hard to tell whether they got full or drunk first.
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Taipei Huaxi Street Tainan Danzai Noodles
Tainan Danzai Noodles on Huaxi Street in Taipei. Manager Liang, who rarely returns from China, took one look at me and said I was too thin, insisting on nourishing me. So last week, he first took me to Tian Cai Japanese Cuisine, and today he treated me to Tainan Danzai Noodles on Huaxi Street. With pumpkin foie gras soup, various seafood, and two bottles of Chilean red wine, I actually got a bit tipsy. Didn't gain weight but got drunk first @@
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Shimin Blvd. Shabu-Shabu — Taipei
My younger brother came to Taipei for a wedding and 'casually' dropped by to have me treat him to a meal. By Morgan @2011.9.24
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Taipei Laoganbei Charcoal Grill (Old Yanji Branch)
Bring in the wine, don't stop the cups. When life is good, enjoy it to the fullest, don't let the golden goblet sit empty under the moon. By Morgan @2011.8.29
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Taipei Beiping - Taoran Ting Restaurant Peking Duck
Tonight was a joint dinner for three departments with 23 people. The venue was Taoranting, another famous Peking duck restaurant in Taipei besides Song Chu and Long Du. The table was full of sumptuous dishes, but the main attraction was the live duck carving. Compared to Quanjude in Beijing, it was less oily, but the taste wasn't as memorable. After leaving a table full of beer (we nearly emptied the fridge, leaving only three bottles), we moved to Star Party for karaoke and drinks as usual, also celebrating a colleague's birthday with whiskey and cola...
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Taipei Zi Yan Chinese Restaurant
We ordered candied plum spare ribs, mixed grain pumpkin soup, crispy fried crab claws, shrimp dumplings with bamboo shoots, stir-fried turnip cake with sakura shrimp and cured meat, fried mushroom rolls, fermented glutinous rice balls with ground peanuts, plus a pot of chamomile tea. Some dishes were quite unique, and the service wasn't bad either. But I think the restaurant's biggest feature is its atmosphere and night view... By Morgan @2011.8.4
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Taipei Taiwan Beer 346 Music Warehouse (Seems to have moved)
My old classmate from the new Chi Mei company was going to their client Amtran's spring banquet and asked if I wanted to go. It happened to be near my place, and since I hadn't had dinner yet, I dragged Boss Loco along to join the fun. 346 is hidden within the Taiwan Beer factory grounds and is a pretty high-energy venue with performances and lots of foreigners. The food was also pretty good. Then we moved on to Star Party for karaoke. I casually chatted with a procurement guy sitting next to me. Taiwan is still so small—because he handles the AUO account, he knows our other classmate Bei Xiao Ka. It was really hi...
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Taipei Yipin Vegetable Lamb Hot Pot - Caixin Lamb
Thanks to Brother Jialiang for treating us to this meal last night. The cabbage at this restaurant is quite sweet and can be added unlimitedly. The lamb hot pot base comes in several flavors, 700 NTD for a pot serving two. With additional orders of stir-fried lamb heart, instant-boiled lamb, noodle threads, and beer, four of us ate for about 2000 NTD. After that, we continued to the nearby Tianzhong Garden for tea... By Morgan @2011.2.21
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Taipei Gorgeous Hotel - Japanese-style Hot Pot
At noon today, Brother Jason, who retired from the tech industry several years ago, took the HSR up from Zhubei to have a meal with me. The weather was a bit chilly, so of course, we had hot pot :P. So we just casually had a meal at the restaurant above the hotel where he was staying. Due to work and a love for travel, he has been to many countries (Europe, Japan, North America, Mainland China, Southeast Asia, Australia...) and has a very rich and exciting life. Listening to him talk about encountering a warlord in the mountains of Myanmar who said he could mine gold if he paid, riding a minivan in Yunnan on roads with boulders blocking the way ahead, cliffs on the side, and a big river below...
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Taipei Grass Mountain Sleepless Night Restaurant
The night view is incredibly vast and beautiful. After celebrating someone's birthday here, we moved on to Cashbox for drinks, making it the fourth karaoke session within a week of getting off the plane @@ By Morgan @2010.8.10
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Taipei Kanpai Japanese Yakiniku Izakaya (Main Store)
I was reminded of a time when I went to the original Kanpai on Dunhua South Road with some college friends. We'd heard a lot about the Kanpai chain, which has several branches in Taipei. It was a gathering organized by a friend before he went to propose to his girlfriend, a sort of 'last supper' with the guys.
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Taipei Blue Note Taipei
In chronological order, I should have posted about Masa Sushi first, which I went to with Latte and Foye. But that article, including two verses of doggerel, the main content, and all the photos, vanished into thin air half an hour before my hard drive crashed last week. However, life is like that—you never know what will happen in the future, and anything is possible. I just have to face it calmly. But rewriting something I've already done feels really draining, so I'll write about something different for now.
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Taipei Zang Wei Guan — International Cuisine
Taipei's diversity means you can find almost any cuisine, and this Tibetan restaurant near Shida might be the only authentic one run by Tibetans. Despite the rainy day, we were excited to try something unique. Our group of four ordered Tibetan-style beef stew with potatoes, stir-fried lamb with spices, and spicy chicken—all flavorful and distinctive.
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Taipei Wulai Atayal Grandma's Food Shop
After a relaxing hot spring session in Wulai, we were starving and remembered a TV-featured spot called Tayal Grandma's Restaurant. This open-air eatery uses lots of bamboo in its decor, creating a rustic vibe. We ordered bamboo rice, mushroom rice dumplings, fried river fish, and stir-fried fiddlehead ferns—all delicious indigenous specialties.
FAQ
Where are the best bars in Taipei?
This page lists 640 bars and restaurants in Taipei, all personally visited. Use the interactive map for filtering by area.
Taipei bar recommendations?
All 640 venues listed here are from personal visits, sorted by date. Check the interactive map for locations and reviews.
Are Taipei bars open late?
Most bars open until 1-2 AM, some until 4 AM. Last call is typically 30 minutes before closing.
Do I need reservations?
Popular wine bars and speakeasies often require reservations on weekends. Weekday visits are usually walk-in friendly.
Can I pay by card?
Most bars accept credit cards and mobile payments. Some smaller traditional bars may be cash only.
Is it safe to bar-hop at night?
Yes, Taipei is one of the safest cities in Asia. The MRT runs until midnight, and taxis/Uber are readily available after.
What's the average price for drinks?
Cocktails NT$300-500 ($10-16), wine by glass NT$250-600, beer NT$150-300. Most bars have no cover charge.