It's a Dongmen kind of day!

Saturday was (thankfully) just cloudy so we took Leighton to Dongmen for the day. Well, for most of it. Anyways...

Just between lines as we left. First time I saw the place without a long queue!

This was the beef noodle place that Lily took us to back in 2014. There is almost always a line to get in, and their Beef Noodles are pretty darn amazing.

Beef noodle soups

I got just the plan beef noodle soup, and Leighton and Kitsune ate the spicy beef and tendon noodle soup. As before, the noodles were great, the broth rich, and the beef soooo tender. Love this place.

Of course we had to go to Monster Ice (Ice Monster?) that is now known as Smoothie House, or Super Mango Snowflake Ice...possibly. Not sure. We just call it Monster Ice.

Shaved ice with mango, kiwi, strawberry fruit, and panacotta on top. Noms 

Lily was the first to bring us here, and it was love at first shaved ice bite. Then, Liming and Shaudi brought us here, and eventually we stopped by on our own as well. If you are ever in Dongmen, you really need to try this place. Expect to wait, and cram around a tiny piece of counter to eat. They are always packed.

Love the trees here so much.

Little Bear chilling on Kitsune's shoulder

We knew we wanted to go to James Kitchen for dinner (Kitsune fell in love with their food last time) but they are kind of hard to notice. We went quite late at night the first time and struggled trying to find the entrance. It looks very residential and tends to have a few people lounging outside, so we were a bit nervous to enter. This time, we wanted to make sure where to go so we would not get lost come dinner time.

Wandered down the familiar paths toward James Kitchen, and felt rather nostalgic. The last time we were here was with Liming and Shaudi.

We <3 you Liming! Little Bear too!

Liming passed later that year, and we were so thankful that we had the time we did with her.

The sky was threatening rain once again, so we stopped by a really cute shop that sold all handmade items. Mainly, umbrellas.

Handmade umbrella and accessory shop

This designers things are so cute. The umbrellas seem to be of really good quality too. There are lots of different styles and designs, if you need umbrellas, come here! I bought one, so that Kitsune and I could both have umbrellas since Taiwan is adamant about being wet. The design I settled on was a purple umbrella, that has a bear in a hot air balloon, and the words 'Send a good message to the world' all along the border. I <3 it.

Little Bear hitched a ride in front of James Kitchen after dinner.

We continued to mosey along, looking for James Kitchen and enjoying the many little shops along the way. Once we found the restaurant, we ended up just wandering around the city before heading back to the hotel to rest a bit. Then off to dinner, and more moseying on home. I really love the sparkly pavement...like I have mentioned several times before.

<3