taipei 2 Aug - 27 Aug 2009

truly, i was very excited about the taipei trip with my colleague. i was buzzing with excitement & anticipation & i couldnt wait till i can reach the airport!

anyway, i took about 300 pics in this 6 day trip... !!!!

Taipei is 4.5hours away. we reach there in the evening time & below is my first glimpse of the city.

we had a coach journey to the hotel & it lasted about 1h. after settling our things in the small hotel room (but with decent beds :)- we were off to SHILIN night market.

i enjoyed the food & the shopping and were pleasantly surprised that the shops closed late. VERY late. our late night shopping hours is their normal closing time.

the aborginals happen to stage an act when we reach...

the chicken cutlet which was so very juicy!

the crushed ice which were soft & cottony... my FAVOURITE!

DAY TWO- sunday

we schedule today to go to their version of chartuchak @ Wufenpu. but we were too early. didnt realize that shops there only happen from 2 plus.

since we were too early, we found a nearby KTV & had buffect lunch there as well. food wasnt great which was to be expected. but it was pretty cold! my camera lens were frosted by the time we came out which was only 3 hours later. they definitely had better KTV technology too.

shopping shopping!

we were there from afternoon to night!!! & i think we still got a little bit not yet explored. legs aching, we gave up going to the nearby Raohe night market. too tired to eat! but the night is still young so... we went for a late night movie!

such a big theater & we were the only ones! just kidding. we were the first 2. out of 6?

big theater with only me... luckily not.

DAY THREE

we slept till we wake up naturally- such a good feeling. we took a bus to the nearest theme park called Leofu. or as my other colleague says- the pirated Disneyland of taiwan.

it was a super duper duper hot day!!!!!!!!!! i am glad its sunny & not raining... but it was dammmmmm hot! we all got darker by the end of the day.

by the time we left, it was 9pm and closing soon. took the bus & train and went to yet another night market. this time is SHIDA. the meesua was FABULOUS!!!!!!!!! & i crave for yet another bowl of ice.

DAY FOUR

we took MRT, TRAIN and finally bus to reach a scenic place call JIUFEN. its high up in the mountains & it overlooks the sea. gorgeous really.

there is also a museum of masks which is quite interesting. but i am skeptical when the owner said that those masks of of the ghosts which he can see...

it is really just a few interlocking streets and we finished that area in a few hours. went back to taipei on that 90min journey again. & we were off to DANSHUI. yet another scenic spot famed for the sunset but we were too late.

just managed to catch the amazing colors of the majestic sun and the sky in the train and its enought to elicit a WOW from me.

we made it to the fisherman wharf!

we chose a nice restaurant with a really good ambience. & there was life entertainment i.e. someone singing too.

good experience with the sea breeze blowing. a very romantic spot for the couples to hang out.

DAY FIVE
day 5 is the day we hit their town area! Jay Chou is my friend's idol, so we promptly went to Mr J for lunch. Good decor & good looking/stylish chefs(acccordingly to my friend at least)

i wonder why Din Tai Fung is a landmark as well. i wonder why tourist groups frequent the place so badly that we all have to queue for it. i duno.. the food was... good. but not exquisite. i guess i duno how to appreciate?? now then i realize they have a din tai fung mascot as well.

after food, after shopping we went to Taipei 101. yet again, we didnt made it in time for the sunset. becoz of the jam. becoz we spend too much time looking for breeze centre... ;X

the nightscape looks good and i guess my camera didnt do justice to it. so i shant bother posting them up here. the city is a night owl! so colorful and vibrant even the architecture reflects that characteristic.

at the end of the day, we just want a restaurant which we can rest of legs. went to back to ximending where restauarant are still open. there is a quaint little place where by patrons sit on swings!! i am hooked on swings!

the food is nO good! at least the swings are ok...

DAY SIX

its the last day & we just wanted to blow our money away. at least i did. we went to YongKang street to see whats the fuss about. the famed crushed ice didnt impress me coz the mango SOOOOooOOO sour!!!!! i prefer the one in SHILIN.

stock up on masks. why this brand isnt in Sg, its a mystery. i am sure it will sell v well with a pricing that match face shop.

i have bought enought to fill up 2 extra luggage!

here is my loot! some cosmetics, a few accessories and several packs of masks!!! which is simply a big love of mine!

i blew my last few NT dollars on shoes. i wonder why... why must i enter the shoe shops... while waiting for lemon green tea?

which reminds me, a pair of ALDO shoes on sale is cheaper than the average pair of shoes on sale in departmentals!

funny moment:

my friend joked (at least i hope its a joke) to a cab driver that bringing me along with her is like bringing a very blurr little sister. she wish she can throw her away... so that she dun need to worry for me on top of herself.

and guess what the cab driver said?

he said: "ok, u can throw her to me... i will bring her back and make her my wife!!"

me: Uber incredulous. i find it funny to a certain extent. hahhahaha.

i guess this trip didnt have much surprises and is pretty much like wat i anticipated. which is good in a way. made it back in one piece safely.

district 9

i am still blogging cause i love writing.

i just watched DISTRICT9 & i love its gritty style & i like the plot. i also like its portrayal of the Aliens stranded in Earth.

i especially love the last few scenes cause it provided a lot of food for thoughts...

how can a fellow human being be more than willing to kill its own species?

how can a different species be more than willing to protect a human being who is more unlike than like them?

how did it happen that humans have less compassion for their own species compared to aliens?


how...? why...?

OCBC mightsaver ad aug 09

whenever i see the current OCBC Mightsaver Ad, i just feel irked and pissed off.

i feel that the message it is sending just kinda degrades the female populations. and it degrades them right from they are just kids. as seem through my twenty-something-years-old mind. (not sure about what the kids think though, would be interesting to find out.)

i get that the core message is to encourage kids to save much as possible.

but isnt it for a rainy day, as my teachers advocated during my primary sch days???

now, the kid want to save up his money so that he is deemed qualified and eligible enough to ask his female classmate out!? Gosh! will the female classmate turned up her nose if she knows that the kid is not a mighty saver & doesnt have one hundred dollars(or should it be million?) in his bank?

why do they equate desirability with money? as though all girls make friends with boys based on how much they saved...?

i prefer saving for a rainy day over saving for a member of the opposite sex just so that he/she is impressed.

that is just dumb and materialistic. & implying that girls will choose bread over money any time any day!

signed,
the feminist in me.

Good FoooOOood

we had been enjoying really good food for past working week! we went to Earle's Swensens to take advantage of the one-for-one promo lunch main course & it was very worth it. less than $50 for 4 of us. i guess the best part is that each main course comes with free flow salad bar. hence you are gauranteed to be full.

if you know me, i am not a person who lives on salad, but the greens are fresh & i esp like the mango chicken salad :) in fact, my other colleagues like it so much we went back again in 3 days.

it was our 2nd anniversay. so i think we are entitled to splurge... on food at least. we went to the PS cafe at dempsey. nice ambience. main course so-so but i do love the chocolate cake.

it is the first time i see fish n chip served up in a bowl...

i ordererd a brasied chicken pie which i cant finish. i like the mash potatoe texture but too bad that isnt much gravy...

And ... the desert! double chocolate cak with vanila ice cream. we were very very full. but we managed to stuff the cake inside us. hahahah. if you like moist, warm cake with rich chocolatey taste, this is a must try!:) very rich!!

too many calories in a day. =X

i think my bf is a poor thing, he doesnt deserve to be fat! or round! hahah. because his appetite is actually considered small for his size. hurhururhurhuhr. regardless. i still *heart* you.

he mentioned he MIGHT be outstationed. if so, i think it will be great! i will be praying you get this big break. i can only hope he will be outstationed in countries which i actually can afford (and look forward) to visit.

SLS D&D 2009

we are lucky that we choosen the first flight to KL and not the second. we are lucky that we chose to take the train and not the cab even though it's slightly more expensive per head.

because our colleagues from the second flight bumped into a demonstration when they were in the cab going to the hotel. jam there for quite a few hours & very innocently too. time was of essence and the plans they made to go shopping before the D&D was thrown upside down. the demonstration pretty much took up 90% of the original free time.

i woke up at 5.30 am to catch the 8am flight. Many thanks to ALEX SHIEH who help me print out the silkair confirmation slip. Many thanks to ALEX SHIEH for waking up at 6pm to pass me that. you are truly a good friend for keeps! :)

D&D was enjoyable. nothing to complain about... despite i had drawn a mini fridge in the sure win lucky draw. i mean, how am i supposed to go shopping with that in tow? lucky i got a colleague who help me to handcarry to Sg together on his earlier flight.

other colleagues won a tissot watch and a WII as well. how cool is that? lucky peeps!:) SLS ppl are quite lucky as a whole. i mean, in that whole D&D that is 140 of Msians and only 10 of us. there is 15 special lucky draw prize winners and 2 of them are from SLS! whats the probability of that happening?

tiger beer happens to be a free flow drink which none of us are interested in. =X the HR director was desperate of ppl to finish the barrel of beer he ordered.

D&D pics are at my facebook if anyone is keen to see. =D

after a good night sleep at Le Meridian, we were off to explore shopping malls again. hurhuhur. i am never tired of shopping. truly a shoppaholic.

i did my hair at a really good price. if i live in KL, i would probably be a regular with that salon. i am pretty satisfied with the results. jeap yip (my last visited salon) really really pales in comparision and i am left to search for a cheap and good salon which i can be loyal to.

even though work is not very stressful i wonder how come i feel tired so easily. i feel like i cant keep my eyes open. my eyes are reduce to tiny slits because my eyelids feel too heavy to open them.

Sucks!!!!!

there are many friends whom i yearn to catch up with. i really cant wait to see them again. sigh. it really feels like we forsaken each other in our busy lives... how many friends will i be left with at the end of the day?