* my retarded way of life *;

Monday, January 25, 2010

TAIWAN 30/12/2009-5/1/2010

planes' meal :)

taipei, taoyuan airport, xmas tree is still seen

DAY 1 (台北) 30/12/2009

渔人码头
this is our first station
weather is rather cold, around 13deg C
it is actually around 5pm only, but the sky is already dark
sunset is early, around 4-5pm

Tamshui old street
a typical night market street in taiwan
food stall is seen everywhere
it is famous for 淡水鱼丸
and rubbish bin is hard to find
you got to hold on to your rubbish, like forever

士林夜市
famous local nightspot
i bet everyone is familiar with this night market
cos this is the place with all the 台湾小吃
taste the oyster mee, oyster egg, 超大鸡排, mango pudding milktea,大肠包小肠 etc..
queue can be seen everywhere, especially for those famous snacks

Rest hours
this is first hotel we moved in, in taipei
forgotten the name
anyway, a comfortable ones, with big big bed, LCD tv, bathtub

DAY 2(台北）31/12/2009

got to wake up rather early, 6.30am
have had breakfast in the hotel restaurant at 7am
breakfast is of satifactory
my typical breakfast in taiwan: orange juice with bread/eggs/ham

moved on around 8am

中正纪念堂（自由广场）
weather, windy, temperature: ~13deg C
took photos here and there
professional group photos which cost SGD$12 is taken here

you can see how windy it is from my hair. haha

my mummy :)

my bro and me :)

i actually love this picture

the group photo that i scanned. the red woman at bottom left is the tour guide

忠烈祠, martyr shine
another photography session
watched the elaborated ceremony of changing guards at hourly intervals
the guards really didnt move or smile at all
gosh, they are truely trained

how stupid it is to stay stationery

the changing guards' route, they got to march all the way to the building behind me

深坑豆腐街
besides tofu, u can actually see those famous taiwan snacks too
bought some 土产 from here

台北探索馆
discover the city's past and present
watched the boring till can sleep film
but there is a few floor where games are implemented into the discovery of taipei
make understanding taipei a more interesting task

台北101
one of the tallest building in the world
taipei lastest shopping arcade
but i cant really afford to shop here due to the high cost
didnt went to the top, to view the beautiful scenery due to foggy weather
a real waste

everywhere is still having the xmas decoration

the outside of taipei 101, hell cold, shivering ~~~

didnt went up, wasted :(

西门町, hsienmenting
popular place for the youth
from clothes to accessories, cuisine to snacks
everything you need could be found here
not much photos is taken, cos im busying shopping :)
due to new year eve, most shops closed rather early
around 11plus to 12am, cos they are joining the countdown
fireworks can be seen everywhere, on the street of hsienmenting
first time that i see a firework so close-up

how crowded it can be

my 战利品, got the toys from UFO catcher :)

Hotel
accommodation for 2nd day is small, but is very near to hsienmenting
so i dun really mind :)

DAY 3 (台北-花莲）1/1/2010

woke up early again
took 2hrs or so to reach the hotspring :)

阳明山天籁温泉
my favorite activity in taiwan
it consists of hot and cold outdoor hotspring and SPA health centre
beautiful scenery
the hotspring is really 神奇
initially, you might feel cold when wearing only swimwear
but, after being in the hotspring for sometime
you wont even feel abit of coldness, and you can walk ard with swimwear, feeling warm

the cold-spring is rather weird
it stated 20deg C, but i feel like it is 2deg C
i feel needles poking into my skin, feeling numb once i jump into it
that feeling is the same as u put your finger into a cup of ice
gosh gosh gosh

i miss the hot spring

there's no need to wear jacket at all :)

野柳
natural rocks formations
an amazing array of artistic shapes created by erosion and other natural forces
a place for photgraphing :)

the famous queen head stone

taiwan is really full of this kind of river mountain scenery

九份
a terrible nightmare to me
it is even more crowded den hsienmenting
mainly due to public holiday, new year
queued 1hr plus for the public transport
took 1hr to find a place to have lunch
and got less den 15min for shopping
ok, this place is definitely a NO during public holiday

Hotel
the super big accommodation at 花莲
first time i experience such obvious earthquake
before we get to sleep
the bed suddenly shakes
super obvious shake
me and bro ran out of the room. lol
mum and her colleague tot got ghost. zzz
anyways, nice experience

DAY 4 (花莲-高雄）2/1/2010

a terrible day on bus
shaky hill/mountain road
make some of the ppl vomit, motion sickness
anyway, i think i got good slp on the bus :)

the sell lingzhi place, i think

太鲁阁峡谷, Taroko gorge
weather is getting hot, cos we are approaching 台中
the gorge here is formed by rushing river waters, which have cut straight through the marble and granite to create beautiful, narrow ravine with waterfalls and patches of mist clinging to the mountains, surrounded by tropical forests
stayed at this location for 30mins only, tried the 山泉茶 or wadever it is called

阿美文化村
dancing, singing by the 原著民
rather boring, so dark environment, cant even take proper photo

旗津岛
took a 15min ferry ride to this quiet island
went to the temple on the island and walked ard the beach
sand on this beach is actually BLACK

85大楼
a significant building in kaohsiung
went to 75th floor and view the night scenery of kaohsiung
the lift only took 43sec to reach 75th floor
on the top panel of the lift, you can see glowing stars :)

Hotel
dun really rmb much...

DAY 5 (高雄-台中）3/1/2010

another day which i had most of my time on the bus
went to places like 美浓客家村,五角船板,日月潭and逢甲夜市
日月潭is incredibly dark when i reached, ard 5pm. zzz
so basically there is nth i can see
got to say that, 逢甲夜市is much much better place for shopping
but the time allowed to stay there is rather short, ard 1-2hr
and it is far from the hotel :(

美浓客家村

the uber dark 日月潭, with boss's kid beside

五角船板, a cavernous eatery built without blueprint

Day 6 (台中-台北）4/1/2010

莺歌陶瓷街, Yingko ceramics street
a famous place for producing ceramics in taiwan
we reached there too early and most of the shops are closed
nth much to see

me and the clay spongebob :)

故宫博物院, national palace museum
hold the world's largest collection of priceless Chinese art and treasures outside mainland China
the place is real huge, and every treasures had it history and story

went to some other place like Tea house, Tienlu Handicraft centre, Aboriginal local product etc
and was back to hsienmenting at nite :)
shop shop shop again -.-

the toilet theme restaurant in hsienmenting

DAY 7 (台北-Singapore）5/1/2010

went hsienmenting again in the morning for breakfast
tried the famous 阿忠面线 (dun really rmb wad it's called)
walked ard
den head out to the airport
reached Singapore around 8-9pm
too much luggage
lucky dad was back from genting and able to come fetch us :)

home sweet home

' memories are the greatest gift
back to the past; *
9:55 PM

- x x x -