I’m back from Taiwan!

Ok, it’s old news because I’ve been back for a week. With all the unpacking and laundry that needed to be done, I didn’t have the time to sort out the pictures I took in Taiwan and hence the delay.

I’m still not quite done with the pictures but I’ll start my first bit on Taiwan.

I went on a 8-day trip to Taiwan with my parents on the 17th of July 2010. We didn’t join a tour because we wanted it to be free and easy. And we really don’t like our freedom to linger in a place we like or leave a place which we’re not interested in being confiscated. Moreover it’s a place where we speak the language and it’s known to be safe!

We landed in Tao Yuan Airport, Taipei in mid-afternoon and took a bus to the main station.

Oh ya, for those of you who are aged between 15-30 years old you should apply for a Youth Card before you leave the airport. It gives you various discounts in a wide variety of stores, attractions, transportation, hotels etc and all of it is stated in the booklet which comes with the card.

The card is the round key chain. Looks good as a backpack accessory.

I think if you plan you journey in accordance to the places which gives you discounts or privileges you could save a lot but I’m not really sure how good it is because I’ve only used it once or twice. (I didn’t read the booklet properly.   )

Anyway, Taiwan didn’t greet us with a happy face. Maybe it’s not happy that we polluting its air by travelling on planes and buses…

It’s senget because it’s taken on a moving bus.

This is my first glimpse of Taiwan – lots and lots of fields and plantations. It was a long bus ride and when we reached the main station we still have to take the MRT to the place where our hotel is hauling our luggage all the way!

Overall I would say that travelling in Taiwan by public transport is easy and very convenient. I am especially impressed by their MRT. No long waits and I’ve have not yet encounter a break down in my 8 days stay!

The only thing I could pin point is the long long walk from the entrance of the main station to the MRT platform. If I remember correctly, it’s 3 floor down, walk walk walk then 1 floor up… Something like that. And imagine hauling our luggage along with us.

After all the pulling, tugging and puffing we finally arrive in the area where our hotel is – Ximen.

Our hotel is located in a small alleyway near the Ximen MRT station.

This is the view of the alleyway when you enter from the main road and you can easily spot the hotel’s sky blue sign. It’s English name is totally different from it’s Chinese name. In Chinese it’s called Guo Guang Da Fan Dian; in English it’s Good Ground Hotel. What a name!

If you walk straight down the alleyway it opens up into Ximen Pedestrian Area!

This place is the hot spot. I think you can get anything there. From small cafe to restaurants, boutique to stalls by the road, eat, drink, see, watch… All your senses can be satisfied there!

At least I think so… :roll:  Come to think of it, I don’t think I saw a massage center there. But there could be one in one of those alleyways. I didn’t get to cover the place proper because there’s just too much to see and too many things to try!

To sum it up in one sentence – It’s busy, it’s crowd, it’s interesting!

And so, our hotel’s location is some what perfect because it’s in the middle of all the buzz and fuzz yet still a little secluded, laying peacefully in one of the least busy alleyways.

I think the location certainly makes up for the shabby looking rooms.

Interior wise it’s kind of below expectations for the price we were paying but I guess the land itself is expensive. Anyway we did sleep well the few nights we stayed there so there’s no complains. =)

As half the day had passed there’s really not much time to do anything so we just wandered around the Pedestrian Area, trying out some of the food and snacks and taking in as much as possible.

We got tired quite early then because we didn’t really sleep the night before as we had to take the Yoyo Bus at midnight to get to LCCT in time. And so we retired early that night.

I am super tired now and so I’ll retire to bed now and continue my Taiwan journey in another post. Good Night~

• Posted in: Travels and Trips
• Discussion: No Comments »

Last month my high school gang was reunited in KL.  It was really something because I haven’t seen some of them since Form 5!! That would be nearly 4 years!!

This trip of unification was initiated by the return of 2 of our friends from Japan. Some of our friends couldn’t make it back to Ipoh for the union of friendship and therefore we went to them!

On the 22nd of August 2009, all of us gathered in Sunway Pyramid for the very first time since our high school days ended. We met at the Dragon-I restaurant and it was such trill to check out each other to see who have changed. Surprisingly, I think none of us have! Except for becoming more and more beautiful it was just the same old us!

From left, Pui Yan, Kit Yen, Felicia, Me, Chooi Yee, Mei Kem and Mei Ling. Our gang, Complete…

Initially there were a lot of difference ideas and plans on what we are going to do on this special day. Some say we go to Sunway Lagoon, some say go ice skating, some say shopping… In the end, we ended up doing something that was never on our list before— Sing K!

We had loads of fun even though it was not pre-planned. We headed to Red Box which is just outside of Sunway Pyramid and sang like crazy for 7 hours!!! It was like we were holding our very own mini concert. We could still keep on singing but we decided to call for the bill for sake of our grumbling stomach.

As girls, we could not miss the opportunity of a cam whoring session especially on such an rare occasion. The session took so long it was like we didn’t want to leave.

These are the two people who left us for Japan and it took eternity for them to come back, Mei Kem and Mei Ling. Despite the similarities in their names they are not sisters.

Here with me is the one who sat beside me for two whole years (Form 4-5) and took on the job as my personal math and add math tutor, Kit Yen.

I always had problems with numbers since young but I was blessed by having friends who are really good in both math and add math sitting beside me. It could also be that I sucks so much that anyone who sits besides me are mathematic geniuses…

We took this photo without anyone’s help. *beaming proudly*

The trick was we put our cameras on a shelf and put a mirror behind it to adjust!

This may be common sense or something really normal to other people but I find it brilliant! One of my friends thought about it but I do not know which one. Anyway, I still proud to have such clever friends.

Here’s a scene of our cam whoring session. See, some of us just won’t let loose an opportunity to grab the mic while others are busy taking pictures. Haha…

I took a picture of the photographers! Not sure what they were doing then. I think they were either checking to see how the pictures they took turn out or taking a picture of something/someone.

Finally we’re ready to leave.

For dinner, we went to Kim Gary HK Restaurant.

Hungry Hungry… Faster dig in…

Happy…

Satisfied…

And our tummies stopped growling…

After that, we retreated to Pui Yan’s house in Cheras. She rented a master bedroom and told us that it could fit all 7 of us. Kit Yen backed her up added that her room was HUGE~

It was obvious that we did not get the picture until we saw her room. It was really really huge, like a super master bedroom. Even the bathroom is bigger than the normal spacious ones. If I am not mistaken, it was for about RM400+! Great deal, isn’t it? Too bad I did not take a picture of her bedroom…

That night we played card games. It was so fierce and competitive that blood was shed. OK, I exaggerated. It was only a minor scratch due to long fingernails. Nevertheless, I haven’t had this much fun with card games for a long long time. The piece missing to make it perfect was that Chooi Yee wasn’t there with us. She went back to her own house in Damansara.

We turn in at around 3am+ if I recall correctly. This was where the 6 of us slept that night. A bunch of girls could really make a mess, huh?

We woke up one by one to shower and dress up. Little sleep+not much time to prepare+a lot of girls hence neglecting making the beds. We did, eventually.

Packed up…

Dress up, made up and ready to go…

We went to Midvalley for some shopping while Mei Ling met up with her friends. Someone has been whining for not having time to shop while in the Pyramid so we had to make time.

Haha… Just kidding. There wasn’t much to do anyway and as I’ve said in my last entry, shopping always makes a girl happy.

Shop away~

For those of us going back to Ipoh, that includes me, we had to leave at 5pm to make it for the 6.30pm bus. My dear so kind and helpful came all the way to Midvalley and chauffeured us to Pudu. Thank you dear…

One last reunion picture before we part and this marks the end of our trip. Who know when we can gather together again. For those who are in Malaysia, we should come together more often.

• Posted in: Travels and Trips
• Discussion: No Comments »