[Taipei 台北] Officine Universelle Buly 1803

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Officine Universelle Buly 1803 Taipei

Add: No. 263, Section 1, Dunhua South Road, Taipei
Tel: 02 2703 1898
Hours: 11am – 9pm
Website: www.buly1803.com/en
Visited: Jun 2016

Not too far from where I lived in Paris is a beautiful shop called Officine Universelle Buly 1803. Upon entering by chance one day, I was immediately charmed by the soothing fragrance, vintage decorations, and gorgeous packaging of this French skincare brand. This time in Taiwan, I was delighted to find that the first Buly shop outside of Paris opened in Taipei. Needless to say, I went for a visit and came out with a few items…

我在巴黎6區租的公寓附近有家很美的店,叫做 Officine Universelle Buly 1803。推門而入時溫柔環繞上來的除了優雅香氛,還有店裏濃厚的古老靈魂:19世紀藥局的樣貌、古老木質櫥櫃、沈靜大理石,各種精凋細琢的細節令人著迷 - 好吧,先承認一下我在了解什麽 Buly 歷史、天然成份之前早已臣服于這家店複古美麗的裝潢和包裝,而這些品牌故事精神雲雲都是之後才查的。這次在台北驚喜的發現 Buly 全世界首家分店開在這裏,忍不住進去逛了一圈(當然也忍不住買了一些東西)。

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The details start at the door, with the elegant logo being hand-painted on stroke by stroke, instead of using stickers typically seen on most shop windows.

除了産品本身的堅持之外,Buly 在裝潢上的細節也非常細膩 - 比如落地窗上古典優雅的金色 logo 不是常見的卡典西德轉貼,而是專業師傅一筆一畫手工繪制完成。

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Stepping inside the shop is like entering another time period. To reconstruct the ambience from the Paris, materials and artisans were flown in from France to make sure that everything’s done properly à la française, though there are also a few intentional differences between the two boutiques – for example, the colors of the floor tiles have been changed to reflect the climate in Taiwan, and the Taipei boutique also boasts a beautiful painted ceiling, something that cannot be done in Paris due to the building structure itself.

踏入店裏,空氣中有沈靜的古典樂、天然蠟燭的芬芳、搭配著複古精致的裝潢,讓人有種時空錯置的感覺。爲了重現巴黎本店的氛圍,台北店所有板材都從法國空運,也專程請了原班法國工匠來施工,從組裝、上色、保養到打蠟都細心完成。不過我也發現台北店的一些不同,比如地磚的顔色,以及天花板上有著巴黎本店沒有的拱形彩繪(據說巴黎店礙於是老建築,所以天花板僅能維持原本的結構)。

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[Tainan] Old House Inn 謝宅

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Old House Inn 謝宅

Add: Tainan city center
Tel: +886 0922-852-280
Price: 7000-8000 TWD/night
Visited: Jun 2016

Luxury hotels are nice, but especially for an old city like Tainan, staying in a historical house seems like a much more attractive option. For our two-day trip, we checked in at Old House Inn 謝宅 (literally Hsieh’s House), a charming space renovated from owner Kyle’s old family house. He currently has 6 properties dispersed across the city, the one we stayed at is “Inn #4”, a small house of two stories, tugged away inside a hidden alley located in the center of Tainan. For privacy concerns, the address isn’t publicized, and there’s no sign at the door – the staff will personally lead you here when you arrive in Tainan.

這次台南兩天一夜的小旅行,選擇住在由老房子改造而成的民宿 - 謝宅。同行的朋友是這裏的常客,托她的福,有老板小五親自來接我們吃飯喝果汁,也因此有機會和他聊了聊。小五是台南人,從 2008 年開始將自家老房子修建成民宿,到現在已有六間。我們住的 “謝宅四” 是一棟兩層樓的小屋,隱藏在台南市中心一個不起眼的小巷子裏。

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Since 2008, Kyle has been refurbishing his family properties while preserving their nostalgic charm.The door, for example, is pieced together using old woods recycled from temples, a material which we will see over and over again inside the house. Side note: the house we stayed in originally belonged to Kyle’s grandma, and became the dowry of his mother when she got married.

這裏原是小五外婆的房子,後來成了小五媽媽出嫁時的嫁妝。爲了給客人隱私,沒有門牌,也不公開地址。大門由收集來的廟門木料拼裝而成,很有意思。門上還挂著一串串葡萄,太可愛了。

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Upon entering, we were greeted by a small patio with a pond. It’s a such a lovely set up with the chairs and trees and fish and turtle, and if Tainan weren’t so hot and humid in June, I could really sit here all afternoon.

一入門首先見到的是有池塘的小庭院。露台上放著兩把椅子,可以看見池塘裏的小魚和烏龜先生,還有一旁這顆五十多歲的非洲紅。要不是台南六月天氣太熱,真的可以在這裏坐一下午。

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[Tainan] In Two Days

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During my week-long trip to Taipei last week, I decided to take a two-day trip down to Tainan (Southern Taiwan). Two friends and I headed down without much planning, so it was very much a go-with-the-flow type of trip – we even followed a local friend to visit a chiropractor…how very random to have my first ever chiropractic session in Tainan. Anyway, I’ve selected 25 photos from my Instagram to show you some lovely bits of this city, all addresses are at the end of this post for your information.

這次在台北一周時間,雖然有點趕,但還硬是去了台南兩天一夜。和朋友訂了住宿車票說走就走,完全是無計劃的閒逛行程,還莫名奇妙跟當地朋友去整了骨。人生第一次整骨就這樣在台南發生了,也是挺妙的。總之,從我的 Instagram 裡挑選了25張照片分享在這裏,希望給以後要去台灣玩的你一些美好的期待。

1. From Taipei to Tainan via high speed train is just under 2 hours for a price of around 1380TWD, very convenient. It does take another 20-30 minutes to get to the city center via a free transport shuttle, but it’s pretty easy breezy.

從台北搭高鐵到台南不到兩個小時的時間,車票大約1380台幣(280人民幣左右),非常方便。一下高鐵就是這個畫面,你看天氣好(熱)成這樣。趕緊跳上冷氣充足的免費接駁巴士,2~30分鍾後抵達市區。

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2. We had booked 謝宅 Old House Inn as our lodging, and as one of my travel mates is a regular customer, the owner personally came to pick us up and took us to lunch. His vintage Mercedes is super stylish despite the half broken door and air-conditioning…

在台南訂的住宿是 “謝宅”。因爲同行的朋友是常客,所以老板親自開車來接我們去吃飯。這台古董 mercedes 雖然冷氣和門好像都有點快不行了,卻還是很帥啊。(老板聲明:所有客人都會得到很棒的服務,不過接送吃飯這件事情不是大家都有的…)

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3. We went to a noodle shop called “吃麵吧” (Jai Mi Ba), owned by a young chef who previously worked at Robuchon Taipei. His dishes are an interesting fusion of Chinese noodles with western cooking techniques – we tried “檳榔花烤雞醋拌麵” (dry noodle with betel palm flowers, roasted chicken, and vinegar), “海藻透抽乾拌麵” (dry noodle with seaweed and squid),“蛤蜊豆漿湯麵” (soup noodle with clams and soy milk), all excellent. We were also treated to a serving of “黑橄欖甜餡餅”, a black olive dessert which delicious as well…must order.

老板怕我們被台南中午的高溫熱死,所以選擇帶我們去有冷氣,環境舒適的 “吃面吧” 用午餐。吃面吧的年輕老板/主廚曾在台北Robuchon工作過,他做的看似是中式面食,不過融合了西式料理的手法,非常有趣。我們嚐了 “槟榔花與烤雞醋拌面”、“海藻透抽乾拌面”、和 “蛤蜊豆漿湯面”,每一碗都美味。面被我拍醜了,所以放一張最後老板招待的黑橄榄甜餡餅(好吃,要點)。

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4. After lunch, we dropped by “清吉” for some fresh fruit juices. The lady in charge was very friendly and gave me some tips as I was hesitating between different choices…eventually I went for coconut juice + pear, perfecting refreshing on this hot hot Tainan summer day.

飯後,謝宅老板帶我們到附近的 “清吉” 水果店喝果汁。老板娘很親切,看我猶豫不決很久,還給了一些水果搭配的建議。最後我點了杯清爽的椰子+水梨+一點點甘草粉提味。

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[Porto] 1872 River House

1872 River House

Add: Rua do Infante D. Henrique 133, Portugal
Tel: +351 961 172 705
Website: 1872riverhouse.com
Price:  from €150/night
Visited: Jul 2015

In Porto, I found a stylish little hotel called 1872 River House, located right in front of the Douro River. This historical building contains eight comfortable and elegantly-appointed rooms, perfect for a short stay in the city.

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[Porto] PortoSense

PortoSense Add: R. dos Mercadores 3 Ribeira, 4050-375 Porto, Portugal Tel: +351 939 809 828 Website: www.portosense.com Price: [studio] from €75/night, [apartment] from €120/night Visited: Jul 2015 When traveling, I prefer renting short-stay apartments for more room, more flexibility, more autonomy, and sometimes at an even lower price than hotels. In Porto, I found PortoSense apartments, conveniently located on…Continue Reading “[Porto] PortoSense”

[Porto] To See

Two days in Porto and I was charmed by its shabby chic streets.

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One of my favorite spots in Porto was Praça Lisboa, a green rooftop with music, drinks, colorful lights, and people lounging at leisure. What a summery scene.

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Clothes hanging outside the window is very much a part of Porto’s city look.

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[Lisbon] The Lisbonaire

The Lisbonaire

Add: Rua da Glória 16, 1250-116 Lisbon, Portugal
Tel: +351 912 769 797
Website: www.lisbonaire.com
Price: [studio] €109/night, [apartment] €150/night
Visited: Jul 2015

Our base for exploring Lisbon was The Lisbonaire, a stylish studio/apartment complex in the heart of the city. The street itself is quiet, but located just 100m to metro Restauradores, 250m to Rossio Train Station (especially relevant for those going to Sintra), and a short stroll from Bairro Alto and Baixa / Chiado neighborhoods – it doesn’t get much more convenient than this.

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The 1960s building was rebuilt in 2011, now containing 19 studios and one-bedroom apartments, each featuring Lisbon-inspired artwork by Portuguese designers. Here are some snapshots of Studio A, about 30 sqm in size and equipped with fridge, microwave, oven, cooker, dish washer, washing machine, toaster, iron and ironing board, hairdryer, safe, free wifi, 32” LCD TV, iPod dock…just about everything you’d need. The one thing I didn’t quite like about this studio was that it doesn’t get much natural light, but we didn’t spend much time here during the day anyway.

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