Taiwan Trip 4 (June-July 2010)

On the fourth day, we decided to go further away from the central Taipei city, off to Jiufen.. We woke up early to catch the earliest train possible..


This is the auto-ticket-purchase machine.. we took a while to understand how this thing works.. we even peek at the person beside us how is he using the machine..




there's still almost one hour till we could board the train so we walked around the underground mall at the station but apparently we were too early, there were hardly any shops open.. so we sat down and chillax while waiting~~

Time to board the train.. 

 








 Off the Ruifang, the stop to Jiufen..

 

 I forgot how long the journey took.. but here we are~~

 Then we need to take the bus to Jiufen

 
 

 We have reached Jiufen!!!

There's a lot of local delicacies found in Jiufen so if you are not that into shopping, you could always turn it into an eating spree~~

Yam balls




wild boar sausage~ I strongly recommend this!! It is really good!!



The view from Jiufen.. My hair is really messy, blame the wind and me for not combing it~~ well, it is short so i guess there's no need to comb~

This cute golden retriever here is the assistant shop manager!! But it seems kinda tired, maybe it's its break time..



This funny guy here claims that he could see ghosts in his dream and he makes the faces of those ghosts he have seen out of clay and displays them~

I wonder if he did saw the Monkey god and friends

Panda~





Next stop, Jinguashi...

Listening carefully to the introduction and explanation from the people from the tourist information center..




This place was the residence of the Japanese who was ruling Taiwan during the old times (pardon my history, if it's not right, leave me a comment, i'll change)




The next visiting time is half an hour away~~ So we waited..

In the residence, we watched a video introducing the interior of the residence... Then we could walk through residence to see the exhibits..

Now, we are off to the next Japanese residence... If i did remember correctly, it once housed the Japanese prince or crowned prince..

It was mid summer when I was in Taiwan so the weather is somewhat like what we are going through here.. Nothing beats a hot weather other than ice-cream!! and it's yakult flavour.. something you can't find in every ice-cream van/motobike here..

and, of course, sharing is caring~~ I don't understand the facial expression either..

After ice-cream, we took the bus back down to Ruifang and plan to take the train back to Taipei City... we bought a round trip ticket and the time has already been certain-ed and printed on the return ticket... but we actually reached the station 1 hour earlier than the time on the ticket.. so we had to downgrade it to another train which will reach earlier than our actual train..

because we changed our ticket last minute, our ticket does not secure seats for us on the train.. so we had to stand all the way from Ruifang to Taipei Station.. I forgot how long was the journey but i'm sure it was a good few hours... oh my legs!!! which are not toned at all after all those standing~~

When we reach Taipei, it was raining.. we bought lunch from the convenience store at the station and head back to the hostel..

Sashimi with fish eggs and rice.. Well, this was not what I bought for dinner.. mine was unagi and rice but i was too hungry i finished them before i remembered to take photos.. hehehehehe



okay, i'll prepare day 5 when i feel like it =P..

signing off!!
Toodles!

Taiwan Trip 3 (June-July 2010)

Our third day in taiwan started of with the typical breakfast... We took the subway till Taipei station and wandered around till we find a shop that we were interested in.. along the way, we found this..

PappaRichie.. It certainly reminds me of home.. i think the menu is is 95% the same as the PappaRich we have here.. I'm guessing maybe some Malaysian who have seen the uprising popularity of PappaRich in Malaysia and decided to bring it overseas but does not own the copyright to the name so he/she added an "ie" since I guess it's easier for the Taiwanese to pronounce too... The stuff I just said are strictly fictional so please don't sue me if i got it wrong.. xiexie!

Ok, breakfast time!!! The drinks were refillable.. right what we love the most.. unlimited refill for drinks.. Sigh.. aunty-ness...

Share Tea~~ One of the popular pearl milk tea brand in Taiwan.. That time, Chatim wasn't that popular, yet... or was there Chatime??

Our next stop is Wufenpu~~ A place where you can find clothes at a cheaper price comparing to the night markets around Taipei... Maybe because we were too busy shopping around, no photos~~ but i think I just bought 1 or 2 pieces of clothing there..

Then we move off to the next stop... Uncle Sam!! It was situated in quite a quiet place.. We took the subway to the DaZhi and planned to follow the directions I copies from the website.. however, the place is not like Ximending or Shihlin.. it's kinda quiet and empty.. so to avoid making any mistakes with directions, we decide to take the taxi.. So we ask an OL who just got off the subway with us where we could hire taxis.. she was really friendly.. she ask us where were we planning to go, we told her the road we were heading to and she advise us to not take the taxi because it's not very far from where we are standing as it is not worth it so followed her advise and walked to Uncle Sam~~ It turns out it was not as near as how she describe it should be~~ or maybe our perception of not very far are different.. we walked a good 20 minutes until we reach the road.. but we still don't see the shop. so i ask a security guard of a service apartment along the way and he pointed across the road and it is just there!! How could I missed it??!!

Wang Shaowei~~ I was so glad that i went there that time... as it is closed down now.. =.="

The remote order notifying thing~~ just like the one Snowflake has~~

 Burgers~~ Uncle Sam was famous for it's burgers~

 

 We sat at Uncle Sam for almost 3 hours.. Because there was WiFi there and we are not used to all the walking for the past few days.. so this is a great time to rest our feet for a while..


When evening strikes, we decided to leave the place as it is getting dark and not forgetting the distance we have walked to get here from the station, we are going to have to walk the same distance back.. so we moved to our next stop~~ to the high-end shopping place in Taipei... Around Taipei 101~~

 

 

 

 

 

Yesh, it was the World Cup season!! Go Go Go Ale Ale Ale

 

 Taipei 101~~ The tallest building, is it still?? coz i heard there will be a taller building somewhere.. but then, it was the tallest building in the world..

 

 High end shopping is not really our thing.. so after walking around we moved off to another place for dinner~~ Guess where??

Jay's Kitchen.. as you should know.. Jojo Chai here is a die-heart Jay Chow fan...

 

The Salad~~

 


The Risotto (main course)

 


 Oh ya, there was soup and milk tea!!


 



The milk pudding (dessert ) This was delicious!!! Too bad the serving is too small..

 

 We aren't going back without a little shopping.. So we went mask-shopping!! See how many boxes we bought!! As you can see, My Beauty Diary masks in Taiwan are really cheap.. at least cheaper than the ones that are found here..

 

That's all for day 3~~


Signing off..
Toodles

...

I have seen some bloggers post updates this way...
short and straight forward....
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What do I have to say for this week???
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I hate this part right here...
It has been a terrible week...
Nothing good happened...
Loads of misfortune...

Alright... Taiwan Trip 2 (June-July 2010)

It's day 2 in Taipei, early in the morning we took off to LongShanSi （龍山寺）




Our breakfast of the day, cabbage rice and fish.. A really local-like breakfast...



I guess everybody is at work this time in the morning, the park beside the temple is filled with senior citizens looking at us as though we are some kind of aliens wandering on earth




this is 龍山寺~ LongShanSi... It really crowded... and there's a lot of japanese students too.. I guess they're on a field trip... lawatan sambil belajar kinda thingy... to another country, that's so cool!!




Back into the station to our next stop... this is what you can find in their convenient store... How convenient!!




Inside the station...



Next stop, XiMenDing... what am I looking at??



This... The world cup fever is ON, man!!!



the famous ah zong misua 阿宗麵綫... their business is so good, you'll have to stand around and eat... but it's nice, even if you have to stand...




Next stop, JiangKaiShek Memorial 國父紀念館... Just to let you know... it began raining after this photo was taken...



Luckily, the rain stopped not long after...



climbing up the stairs to the see the statue... Trust me, after a day of non-stop walking, climbing up the stairs is a form of torture...



This is what you can find after the loooong staircase...



Here's Bitan (小碧潭）



Snack of the day~~ Crepe


YUmmy!!

That's all for day 2... stay tune for day 3!! whenever i have the mood, that is...


Signing off
Toodles~~

1 week of excitement

An exciting week has just past.... Bear in mind, it's the Air Asia promotion week... It's chaos on the internet especially the website for the airline... I must be really lucky to manage to secure return tickets to Macau next year... As i have planned... I would like to celebrate my birthday in a different country next year... and I actually am on my way to make it work (quote from Tim Gunn)!!

Although it's not the 10 cent air ticket... but i think it's affordable enough... No regrets there... i never knew it was so tiring to book tickets online, especially when there are like thousands of other people out there who are also booking.... i was kicked into the waiting for like a gazillion times before i could actually reach the booking process... but was kicked out again because i was too slow... talk about a panic attack... good thing only 2 of us are going... not much details needed... and everything could be done quick...

after the tickets have been book, the excitement started to sink in... i couldnt help seeking for budget hotels and tourist spots, promotions and stuff for the trip... even though i have more than 10 months to go...

let's move on with something else with my life... I've finished 10 lessons of korean language.. that marks another milestone to one of my goals.. another 10 to go before i take the topik test, which is the korean language proficiency test... i can't believe i'm actually on the way of achieving my goals... it's usually just a frame-up, where i'll just frame the goal up and look at it when i'm free without really taking any action to make it work(i really like this quote)...

today marks the 10th lesson and i guess i'll take a week or 2 off from classes... to revise and get ready before i start again...
한국어를 배워요~~~

I can type without refering to the character's list now... an achievement after 10 lessons of looking up the online korean dictionary...

that's all for now... after 2 months of silence...

signing off~~
toodles

Colour up!

My blog used to be colourful with emphasis of words, sudden change of font face and sizes.. because this is not really a picture oriented blog.. I don't bring a camera everywhere to capture candid shots and stuff... neither do i have a nice camera phone that could also carry a similar function (note: if you were following my blog for year.. you should've known that i've lost my phone's pc cable and the photos i've taken could not be transfer into my computer.. and for some reason, my computer does not have bluetooth), so to conclude everything, THIS IS NOT A PICTURE ORIENTED BLOG...

so to avoid boring some reader who likes some visual attraction to death, i played along with colours, font faces and sizes.. until one day I suddenly find all these seems kinda childish and decides to grow up.. that's when the boring mono-coloured, filled-fully-with-words post starts to appear in my blog...

Come to think of it... that's not really that fun to read, ain't it??

So i decided to return to my childish ways~~~ some people thinks it's glaring... some people thinks it's confusing... I once thought it was childish but now I think it's kinda interesting... mono-coloured posts takes only half the time now i guess i'll need twice the amount of time i used to use for writing blogs... oh well...
Maybe I won't do it for every posts...


Signing off
Toodles

as time goes by

How ironic... when put together some of the things and you realised that it's some kind of sign?? My last post was actually just a sudden thought after watching a TV programme.. and i just happen to have that thought during the CNY period... which is not something that should be going on during a traditional festive season... Maybe I should not have take the superstition so lightly... It does have its consequences... I decided to ignore it... and I'll never ever do that again... If I were to choose, I'll not be posting that blog... I'll stay positive the whole entire festive season.. and I'll keep my mind off these unlucky stuff... if it really does make a difference... i'm willing to reverse it..

The emptiness is felt everyday I walk into or out of the office... everytime i sign in or sign out... everytime I walk to the washroom... the gush of emptiness will just shove itself on me... leaving me feeling really heavy... it's not about weight now.. it's about a feeling... pushes your heart down making you hard to breathe but not enough to suffocate... I wonder... is this all planned?? in the hands of god?? He actually intend to make this happen?? or were there other reasons?? how could something so good have to meet something so bad?? it doesn't really make sense.. if it's all planned by Him... Why?? There are so many other candidates out there... why??

Every other thing seems so petty... relationship problems... money... stress... pure dissatisfaction... nothing seems to matter... to worry about such things really seems kinda pathetic to me now...
you loss a boy/girl?? so what?? you still get to see him/her... you have a concrete physically visible person for you to hate and blame for all the depression you are going through... at least, the person is there...
you dont have enough money to buy the thing you always wanted?? what's that to be depressed about?? you're alive and kicking.. go get your own funds... what's there to whine about the unfair-ness in the world that some people can carry stuff that costs more than the total of your earnings of your entire life... so?? is that really important?? you do have the chance to move and get it.. eventhough it's costs time and effort.. at least you could pay that..
stress and pure dissatisfaction?? ok, so it's your finals tomorrow and you have not studied anything yet.. or you're required to get some job done within seconds... well, at least you could feel the stress and the satisfaction if you overcome them... pure dissatisfaction is just sad, go get a life.. the world does not stop for you if you hated your job, your body, your face, your gf/bf, your rival, the person who have a nicer figure than you, a singer that sings like crap and depends solely on looks... there are plenty of things that are more important than to stop and feel negative towards something that maybe doesnt even care...

I do wonder is there a sign?? what makes me write my previous blog post?? is it a wake-up call telling me that if i want to pursue something i should not be sitting down write a list, and leave it there thinking that it's impossible to get them fulfilled.. instead, i should be planning on how to get it done and dealt with.. I'm a natural procrastinator.. i have a whole lot of things that i wanna do but i always keep it till tomorrow... until the time comes... something tells me this kind of attitude is not getting me going anywhere..

almost everybody takes things for granted... anything, anybody will still be there tomorrow... there are times that you might not be that lucky... and things can be too late, you'll regret but nothing's gonna change anything except for what's done is done... and you cant do anything about it... you may say it's not fair and you dont deserve it... but, does all the earthquake victims deserve to die because of the disaster?? does the victims of suicide bombs deserve to die exploded?? what did they do to the bomber?? besides being at the wrong place at the wrong time?? somethings are just meant to be and eventhough you question them, you'll never get the answer you wanted or expected or want to hear..

i miss the smile that greets me every now and then in the office.. i miss the company.. the constant company when I stay back late to get my work done... the voice that wishes me happy holidays before the celebration... all these seems minor but you'll realise that it really means a lot after it's gone...

I hope you're in a better place now, enjoying every bit...


Signing off...
may you rest in peace... Ernest Ong... you're a good friend and a fantastic colleague to work with.. you're the only person who colour italics so that it's more obvious... I'll miss you always... Goodbye..

What do you want to do before you die??

Okay, I know it's still within the Chinese New Year celebration season and Valentine's has just past, It's not a time to be talking about such an "unlucky" topic.. Well, superstitions say if you mention the "d" word during Chinese New Year, you'll "suay whole year a!!!" means you'll not have good luck for the rest of the year... But then, that's a topic that came into my mind.. If I don't write it down I forget about it after a while and it'll go to waste.. No use tampering with the date of post because I did think of this during Chinese New Year and I'm typing this during the celebration, so no use changing it because... It's there lah.. ish...

I have been watching this TV show called "The Buried Life" talking about a few guys who didn't want to follow the typical stuff in life made a list of what they want to do and achieve before they die and went on performing them one by one, crossing them off the very long list... Those are mostly kinda impossible things, such as "a date with Megan Fox" (Obviously that failed, as she is fully armed with guards and well-protected by her manager), "attend a party at the Playboy Mansion" (This was successful.. and I didn't the Mansion had such tight security, even Christiano Ronaldo couldn't get in), "Play ball with President Obama" (Apparently Obama is a VERY BUSY person... so this wasn't successful either but i think they manage to have a game with him after that episode), "Help deliver a baby" (this one went great..).. Ok, I can't remember every single episode.. just go and google to find out more... But the best thing about this show is that when they are getting something off their list, they'll help a stranger to fulfill what they wanna do before they die and as far as i remember it, they manage to get all of them fulfilled...

After watching this I have been thinking.. What do I want to do before I die?? Currently, my only goals are traveling to a whole lot of places.. I never thought that actually like to travel but going places is what that came into my mind while i was thinking about my list... besides that, is to go study overseas (travelling again... somehow it counts as travelling.. since i'm going somewhere), and then is to get a writing job or get recognise as a writer...

That's about it.. That's not a lot.. maybe it's a good thing meaning i have achieve most of what i want in life... or I actually don't know what do I wanna achieve in life.. the latter sounds kinda sad... that better not be me...

i'll still be thinking about my list.. and why not you think about it too... take a time off your work or studies to do something crazy that you've always wanted to do.. the feeling of satisfaction after it's done is indescribable... well, i'm imagining it.. as i haven't cross out anything on my list yet..

In a quest to cross out stuff on my list..

Signing off~~
Toodles

CNY (change of resolutions)

Happy Chinese New Year!!! It's the Eighth Day of the festival, everybody is still well and running...
My CNY celebrations are similar to the previous years... relative visiting here and there... off the Johor... more visiting... watch TV... eat.. and that's almost it... Well, what do you expect?? CNY is a celebration when relatives, friends and family get together ain't it??

Speaking about TV... The thing i love most about CNY, besides the reunion-get-together part is the TV programs.. When my VCR was still working, I'll usually be recording a whole lot of them so that i can watch them over and over again during the year... But now, it's not working.. and I couldn't stand the faces of the Sony people when I send it for repair.. Honestly, what is wrong with wanting a VCR to get fixed?? It's old fashion, yes.. I know, so what?? People in the advance countries like US and Japan still uses those you know... It's very useful if you ask me...

Back to my title.. I have been thinking and I guess I'm having too much in my mind and I'm going nowhere with any of that.. yet... (I have not started my korean classes just yet)
I've always wanted to go overseas and stay there for a while not really for travelling purposes but to live a in a different place and lead a different life from the one back at home... I'm not too confident that I will be able to get a job overseas... So my next best thing is to study.. although I don't really fancy studying but I dont mind if I had the chance to..

So, one of my New year resolution is to go to Singapore this year.. but I guess i'll have to cancel that and start saving for something bigger tomorrow.. maybe celebrate my birthday at a different place.. other than home.. a different state or maybe a different country... It's the year of the dragon next year.. I have gone through 2 full cycles of the chinese zodiac years in my life.. and that's something special that's worth a celebration.. besides, I need some excitement to stop me from feeling old as I'm aging all the way and i'm getting really pessimistic about that.. something like that may be able to cheer me up... my dull life is leaving me realising that i have not done much in my life.. somehow wasting my years with nothing much to remember..

should I go travel, backpack alone?? that is really exciting... but i'm kinda scared about that... i have been trying to do things alone nowadays.. like going shopping alone.. going to a concert alone (soon.. i'll blog about that if i have the mood).. eat out alone.. and some other things that i may be trying out soon.. alone... so i'm still considering...

if i manage to save enough funds... i'll be going off overseas, to stay for a year or so and living alone.. i should be getting use to that... i was kinda desperate for a company but it seems not many(actually, there's none) of my friends are interested, but now to me, it's kinda pathetic.. so i'll be living up by myself from now on.. i dont really need company everytime i want to do something...

oh well... hope it goes off well..
and still... Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!


Signing off!!
toodles..