Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Update for Taiwan trip, as requested. :)
I wanted to just copy and paste the itinery here but later remembered that the tour guide actually rearranged everything for convenience sake, so I might forget to add in sth here and there. Sorry bout it. Hehe.
Day1 at Singapore-Tainan (19Dec)
Departed from Singapore at around 4pm due to flight delay so by the time we reach TW, cleared customs etc, it was already 8.30PM. Went to this particular place at Tainan for steamboat. And damnit, the Mala steamboat is really very spicy. LOL. That will be the first and last time Im eating it. Lols. After dinner, checked in to a 5* hotel. I tink it's called Taoyuan Yaward , at somewhere quite ulu but it's indeed 5*. :) Oh wells, I had difficulty falling aslp that night. I stayed awake doing nth all the way up till 4am, and to tink that we hafta wake up at 5am. Zzz. Lols.
The steamboat place
Happy family. Hehe.
Day2 at Tainan-Hualien (20Dec)
Had breakfast in the hotel at 6am before heading to Yangmingshan's TienLai Hotspring. Soaking yourself in the open air hotspring under such cold weather is so nice. :) Headed to Yehliu aftermath. Erm, to look at natural rock formations. Next was lunch at dunno where then went to Taroko where they have waterfalls and patches of mist clinging to the mountains, surrounded by subtropical forests, it's really a very nice sight. :) Finished with the waterfalls and we went to a temple, after that went to watch a performance at Ami Aboriginal Cultural Village aka A-Mei-Zu. They sang and dance, dance and sang and guess what? I was pulled to the center stage. I was like omg? Funny la. LOL. Proceeded to eat dinner and back to hotel.
A house made up of biscuits and candies at the hotspring place. (I wonder why people in TW love doing such stuffs. Lols.)
Telephone booth outside the hotspring place.
See the slippers? Natural rock formation. Weird.. Lols.
Erm, just a random pic around that area.
Waterfall at Taroko.
A sight taken from the temple. Cool huh. =D
The performance lah. Spot me. =X
ME OBVIOUSLY! I know I look dumb. -.-
Day3 at Hualien-Kaohsiung (21Dec)
Had breakfast then was in the bus for dunno how long until we reached somewhere to have our lunch. Proceeded to take the tallest building in Kaohsiung-85 Building. Went up to level 75 in 43seconds! COOL! Lols. We had a bird's eye view of the whole place. Not bad not bad. :D Love River Cruise aftermath. Erm, 1 word-boring. Lols. After the cruise, we went to take yet another boat ride. But this is so much more interesting can. A double storey boat which consists of only motorists and theirs bikes at the 1st level and the 2nd level is for people like us. A 10mins ride to Cijin Island. Wow, their BBQ Squid is so huge, so cheap and so yummylicious! *YUMYUM* Hehe. Dinner was next, the special dinner-Lobster Abalone Seafood. Sounds so tempting right? Actually okok nia lah. =X Back to hotel then left for 1 night market on our own. I don't rmb the name of it alr. But there's where I bought the random stuffs which include Cookie's shirt. Haha. That's also the place where I first tried Taiwan's Deep-fried Smelly Tofu and it really stink I tell you. Yucks, I can still rmb the smell up till now. Lols. Then, hotel sweet hotel. :)
Different views from Kaohsiung. (Actually I don't see much difference. =X)
On board Love River Cruise.
THE DOUBLE STOREY BOAT! :)
SQUIDSSS~
SO YUMMY! & I KNOW I LOOK UGLY LAH. -.-
Night market.
Day 4 at Kaohsiung-TaiChung (22Dec)
Before moving on to TaiChung in the morning, we went to Mei Non Hakka Village. That's where we tried lei-cha. Don't ask me what's that, it's just some kinda tea. Lols. Then lunch at "Five Cent Driftwood House", it's a very very cool place built using driftwood, recycled wooden train tracks etc. After lunch was Sun Moon Lake, it's the largest lake in TW. Somehow part of it look like a Sun and the other part look like a Moon, that's why it was named Sun Moon Lake. :) There's a temple just opposite where we were so went in to pray etc. Finally, shopping time at Feng Jia Night Market. The things there quite cheap la, Mom bought a pair of shoes and 4 hp keychains, Dad bought 1 shirt and 2 watches, I bought 1 necklace and nth else. Lols. Oh and we had this ice cream cone, wow, the ice cream is like so tall la. Haha.
Mei Non Hakka Village.
"Five Cent Driftwood House".
I wanted to just copy and paste the itinery here but later remembered that the tour guide actually rearranged everything for convenience sake, so I might forget to add in sth here and there. Sorry bout it. Hehe.
Day1 at Singapore-Tainan (19Dec)
Departed from Singapore at around 4pm due to flight delay so by the time we reach TW, cleared customs etc, it was already 8.30PM. Went to this particular place at Tainan for steamboat. And damnit, the Mala steamboat is really very spicy. LOL. That will be the first and last time Im eating it. Lols. After dinner, checked in to a 5* hotel. I tink it's called Taoyuan Yaward , at somewhere quite ulu but it's indeed 5*. :) Oh wells, I had difficulty falling aslp that night. I stayed awake doing nth all the way up till 4am, and to tink that we hafta wake up at 5am. Zzz. Lols.
The steamboat place
Happy family. Hehe.
Day2 at Tainan-Hualien (20Dec)
Had breakfast in the hotel at 6am before heading to Yangmingshan's TienLai Hotspring. Soaking yourself in the open air hotspring under such cold weather is so nice. :) Headed to Yehliu aftermath. Erm, to look at natural rock formations. Next was lunch at dunno where then went to Taroko where they have waterfalls and patches of mist clinging to the mountains, surrounded by subtropical forests, it's really a very nice sight. :) Finished with the waterfalls and we went to a temple, after that went to watch a performance at Ami Aboriginal Cultural Village aka A-Mei-Zu. They sang and dance, dance and sang and guess what? I was pulled to the center stage. I was like omg? Funny la. LOL. Proceeded to eat dinner and back to hotel.
A house made up of biscuits and candies at the hotspring place. (I wonder why people in TW love doing such stuffs. Lols.)
Telephone booth outside the hotspring place.
See the slippers? Natural rock formation. Weird.. Lols.
Erm, just a random pic around that area.
Waterfall at Taroko.
A sight taken from the temple. Cool huh. =D
The performance lah. Spot me. =X
ME OBVIOUSLY! I know I look dumb. -.-
Day3 at Hualien-Kaohsiung (21Dec)
Had breakfast then was in the bus for dunno how long until we reached somewhere to have our lunch. Proceeded to take the tallest building in Kaohsiung-85 Building. Went up to level 75 in 43seconds! COOL! Lols. We had a bird's eye view of the whole place. Not bad not bad. :D Love River Cruise aftermath. Erm, 1 word-boring. Lols. After the cruise, we went to take yet another boat ride. But this is so much more interesting can. A double storey boat which consists of only motorists and theirs bikes at the 1st level and the 2nd level is for people like us. A 10mins ride to Cijin Island. Wow, their BBQ Squid is so huge, so cheap and so yummylicious! *YUMYUM* Hehe. Dinner was next, the special dinner-Lobster Abalone Seafood. Sounds so tempting right? Actually okok nia lah. =X Back to hotel then left for 1 night market on our own. I don't rmb the name of it alr. But there's where I bought the random stuffs which include Cookie's shirt. Haha. That's also the place where I first tried Taiwan's Deep-fried Smelly Tofu and it really stink I tell you. Yucks, I can still rmb the smell up till now. Lols. Then, hotel sweet hotel. :)
Different views from Kaohsiung. (Actually I don't see much difference. =X)
On board Love River Cruise.
THE DOUBLE STOREY BOAT! :)
SQUIDSSS~
SO YUMMY! & I KNOW I LOOK UGLY LAH. -.-
Night market.
Day 4 at Kaohsiung-TaiChung (22Dec)
Before moving on to TaiChung in the morning, we went to Mei Non Hakka Village. That's where we tried lei-cha. Don't ask me what's that, it's just some kinda tea. Lols. Then lunch at "Five Cent Driftwood House", it's a very very cool place built using driftwood, recycled wooden train tracks etc. After lunch was Sun Moon Lake, it's the largest lake in TW. Somehow part of it look like a Sun and the other part look like a Moon, that's why it was named Sun Moon Lake. :) There's a temple just opposite where we were so went in to pray etc. Finally, shopping time at Feng Jia Night Market. The things there quite cheap la, Mom bought a pair of shoes and 4 hp keychains, Dad bought 1 shirt and 2 watches, I bought 1 necklace and nth else. Lols. Oh and we had this ice cream cone, wow, the ice cream is like so tall la. Haha.
Mei Non Hakka Village.
"Five Cent Driftwood House".
Interiors.
Our table. :)
Other.
TOILET! XD (No difference but fact is Female on the left, Male on the right.)
Going 2nd level.
Sun Moon Lake. This is suppose to look like a Moon.
And this a Sun. But somehow it's hard to tell. =X
Temple.
Day 5 at TaiChung (23Dec)
Early in the morning, we went to Yingko Ceramics Street where they produce ceramics of cos. Nth much to see and buy la, but ended up I bought quite a few small items which I dunno wad I want them for. LOL. Stayed there for quite awhile before proceeding to San Keng Tofu Street, ya the whole street sells Tofu. Whatever you want, be it Smelly Tofu or Mala Smelly Tofu, they have it there. Oh, and I tried the BBQ Smelly Tofu which the tour guide treated us to, it's very yummy, much more better than the one I tried previously. Haha. Walked through the streets for abt 1hour or so and soon it's time for lunch. Then, we went to the 自由广场, took some pictures and left for the hotel. First time we so early go back to hotel. Know why? Cos we staying in Grand Hyatt which is directly opposite Taipei 101! So must make full use of our stay there. Haha. Anyway, rest for awhile and we left for 101 to eat and shop around. Honestly, it's like Vivo/Paragon/Taka lor, everything's branded and it doesn't suit us so went back to the hotel around 8pm to watch TV and relax in the bathtub instead. Haha.
All the ceramics.
San Keng Tofu Street.
Smelly Tofu! :D
=P
自由广场
View of Taipei 101 area from my hotel room. :)
Day 6 TaiChung-Taipei (24Dec)
In the morning, we went to Martyr's Shrine. It's just to watch an elaborate ceremony of changing guards at hourly intervals lah. Was raining so didn't get to see what the guards do, all I saw were umbrellas, umbrellas and more umbrellas. LOL. After watching the "umbrellas show", we went to Tamshui old street. Nth much to buy also lor. Then, went to Fisherman's wharf where we bought some random stuffs again. And we ended up at Shihlin Night Market. NEVER BUY FRUITS FROM THERE PLEASE. We got conned lah, or rather they conned other people as well. Kaos. 1 bag of fruits which consists of only 3 kinds of fruits costs us NT400=SGD20. Wth? So ex la... Grr.. Forget it, then I wanted to get a pair of high boots but then their size too small. :( But anyway, I don't tink I'll wear it in Singapore lah. Haha! Then ermm.. back to hotel in Taipei, Xi Men Ting aftermath.
Yeah, it's the Xmas eve and guess how we celebrated? We went up and down the hotel looking for people and 6 of us ended up in a park chit-chatting. That's how pathetic we were as there were totally no countdown events at all. Wth right? -.-" So, slept at 2+ 3 I think.
Shihlin Night Market.
Day 7 Free & Easy at Taipei Xi Men Ting (25 Dec)
MERRY CHRISTMAS! LOL!
Went out in the morning and realised the shops haven't open yet so had breakfast and went back to sleep until around 3pm where we went out again. This time, bought alot of things. Clothes, bags, jeans, accessories, wallet, food etc etc. Ate the famous Ah Zong Oyster Mee Sua. I HATE oyster mee sua but theirs is really nice. I seriously think TW is a food paradise lah. Haha! Wanted to go back to Shihlin Night Market by MRT in the night to buy Cookie's booties but my parents don't want to cos they scared later we get lost in nowhere. Zzz... So I searched high and low in Xi Men Ting for a pet shop to appear but sad la, not even one shop in sight. Lols. And I think we went in and out the hotel like a million times la. Shop and rest, shop and rest. Haha. In the end I gave up, stayed in the hotel and watch TV better. Lols!
Taipei Xi Men Ting. Best of the best. :)
Famous Ah Zong Oyster Mee Sua.
Lao Tian Lu. Nice nice.
Day 8 Taipei-Singapore (26 Dec)
Home sweet home. :)
Our table. :)
Other.
TOILET! XD (No difference but fact is Female on the left, Male on the right.)
Going 2nd level.
Sun Moon Lake. This is suppose to look like a Moon.
And this a Sun. But somehow it's hard to tell. =X
Temple.
The tall tall ice-cream. ;)
Day 5 at TaiChung (23Dec)
Early in the morning, we went to Yingko Ceramics Street where they produce ceramics of cos. Nth much to see and buy la, but ended up I bought quite a few small items which I dunno wad I want them for. LOL. Stayed there for quite awhile before proceeding to San Keng Tofu Street, ya the whole street sells Tofu. Whatever you want, be it Smelly Tofu or Mala Smelly Tofu, they have it there. Oh, and I tried the BBQ Smelly Tofu which the tour guide treated us to, it's very yummy, much more better than the one I tried previously. Haha. Walked through the streets for abt 1hour or so and soon it's time for lunch. Then, we went to the 自由广场, took some pictures and left for the hotel. First time we so early go back to hotel. Know why? Cos we staying in Grand Hyatt which is directly opposite Taipei 101! So must make full use of our stay there. Haha. Anyway, rest for awhile and we left for 101 to eat and shop around. Honestly, it's like Vivo/Paragon/Taka lor, everything's branded and it doesn't suit us so went back to the hotel around 8pm to watch TV and relax in the bathtub instead. Haha.
All the ceramics.
San Keng Tofu Street.
Smelly Tofu! :D
=P
自由广场
View of Taipei 101 area from my hotel room. :)
Day 6 TaiChung-Taipei (24Dec)
In the morning, we went to Martyr's Shrine. It's just to watch an elaborate ceremony of changing guards at hourly intervals lah. Was raining so didn't get to see what the guards do, all I saw were umbrellas, umbrellas and more umbrellas. LOL. After watching the "umbrellas show", we went to Tamshui old street. Nth much to buy also lor. Then, went to Fisherman's wharf where we bought some random stuffs again. And we ended up at Shihlin Night Market. NEVER BUY FRUITS FROM THERE PLEASE. We got conned lah, or rather they conned other people as well. Kaos. 1 bag of fruits which consists of only 3 kinds of fruits costs us NT400=SGD20. Wth? So ex la... Grr.. Forget it, then I wanted to get a pair of high boots but then their size too small. :( But anyway, I don't tink I'll wear it in Singapore lah. Haha! Then ermm.. back to hotel in Taipei, Xi Men Ting aftermath.
Yeah, it's the Xmas eve and guess how we celebrated? We went up and down the hotel looking for people and 6 of us ended up in a park chit-chatting. That's how pathetic we were as there were totally no countdown events at all. Wth right? -.-" So, slept at 2+ 3 I think.
Shihlin Night Market.
Day 7 Free & Easy at Taipei Xi Men Ting (25 Dec)
MERRY CHRISTMAS! LOL!
Went out in the morning and realised the shops haven't open yet so had breakfast and went back to sleep until around 3pm where we went out again. This time, bought alot of things. Clothes, bags, jeans, accessories, wallet, food etc etc. Ate the famous Ah Zong Oyster Mee Sua. I HATE oyster mee sua but theirs is really nice. I seriously think TW is a food paradise lah. Haha! Wanted to go back to Shihlin Night Market by MRT in the night to buy Cookie's booties but my parents don't want to cos they scared later we get lost in nowhere. Zzz... So I searched high and low in Xi Men Ting for a pet shop to appear but sad la, not even one shop in sight. Lols. And I think we went in and out the hotel like a million times la. Shop and rest, shop and rest. Haha. In the end I gave up, stayed in the hotel and watch TV better. Lols!
Taipei Xi Men Ting. Best of the best. :)
Famous Ah Zong Oyster Mee Sua.
Lao Tian Lu. Nice nice.
Day 8 Taipei-Singapore (26 Dec)
Home sweet home. :)
time: 2:38 PM: