My travel journal - Final installment

Day 9 (Sunday, 24th Sep):
- Tian Mu: Went there around mid-afternoon via MRT. Had to walk quite a distance before i reach the true shopping district. It's very peaceful over there. As you cross over the bridge, you can see a real stream flowing underneath you - with real mini rapids and water that flows down from the nearby mountains. Wow!!!!

- Went into one of the shopping malls and bought my Astro Boy watch (around S$150). I'd been eyeing for it when I was in SG. But that costs abt S$200 in SG. Hahahha. The mascots from "The Opening Season" were there to promote the movie as well. The bear mascot was soooooo huge that it occupied the entire escalator width. Watching it clammer the escalator from teh ground floor to the sixth was a really a funny sight. Well, you might be asking why it didnt take the lift instead. They (the mascots) couldn't! They had to lure the crowd up to the sixth floor right?

- Had eel soup for lunch. Quite nice, except that there was quite a fair bit of bones too. Went around shopping and head back to the MRT station. Decided to just cut and dye our hair there and then at a nearby salon. Damn cool. They had a TV screen embedded below each dressing table and they're all connected to the cable stations. So I was happilly dying my hair as I watch CSI. My hair cut + dye + treatment costs S$150 in total. A lot cheaper than if I had done it SG.

- Headed down to XimenDing. Things were expensive over there than Wu fen pu. Ended up having dinner at McDonald's instead as it was late and the stalls had closed.

- Next stop: 24Hr book shop - Chen Ping @ DunHua street. Spent about 2 hours there before heading back to the hotel.


Day 10 (Monday, 25th Sep):
- Oh! Did I mention that I discovered a fresh milk brand and fell in love with it? I had it for breakfast everyday ever since (until I came back to SG that is). :)

- Went to the post office with PC so that he could arranged for the Slum Dunk comics to be sent back to SG. They weigh a hefty 16KG!!!! Heavier than your normal pack of rice btw. Spent abt S$35 to have it sent via sea and he'll have to wait for about 25 days. Air parcel would cost more than S$100 but would reach prob abt a week.

- Headed for SOGO & Breeze ccentre before I finally had my Mr. Donut there. Too tired from all those shopping the night before and headed back to the hotel (btw, we'd changed to another business hotel due to budget constraint) for a short afternoon nap.

- Went to Shilin night market again for food and bought 3 pretty hairbands. It was too hot for us to eat outside. So we decided to bring the food back to the hotel and eat them in the hotel room.

- Past midnight. Decided to venture out to find a cyber cafe. Came out of the lift and bumped into 3 businessman and 2 girls. It was definite. They were there to do 'something'. We stepped out onto the streets and realised that it was very lively. Apparently, our business hotel was situated in the midst of some hidden night clubs and etc. So the shops around were opened from late afternoon to early dawn to cater to the alternative crowd. No wonder most of the hotels there displayed two rates: Daily room rate vs. Hourly Rest rate (literal translation).

- Saw a sign board that read something like comic cafe. Halfway walking up the stairs, a well-groomed man (rather big size though) came out and ask "May I help you? What are you looking for?" We asked if it was a cyber cafe and he said no. Then he stood firm in his path and we knew - it was just another shop, one that is decent in the day and different by the night.

- Finally found a cyber cafe and spent 1 hour there clearing my emails before trotting back to the hotel.


Day 11 (Tuesday, 26th Sep):
- No time to go anywhere. We had to check out in about 3 hours' time. So we decided to check out early and leave our stuff at the hotel reception area. Went in search of another cyber cafe and surfed for about an hour before we head to nearby MOS burger for lunch.

- We's asked the hotel to arrange transport for us as we were carrying too many things. Spent NT900 (abt S$45) on that. It was a good choice even though it was a bit costly. We could have chosen to take the public transport to the airport at only NT150 per person (abt S$7) but we had to walk a distance before we can reach the bus stop.

- Spent another NT2140 on snacks to bring back to office and family.

- Lousy jetstar. Ran out of meals (on an evening flight!!!) and we had to survive on 2 small vegetarian cup noodles. And heck! We were sitted at row 15. How about those poor passengers behind us???

- Touched down at 11pm. So damn tired yet so awake. But what to do? Got to work the next day!

My travel journal - Part 3

Day 6 (Thursday, 21st Sep):
- Woke up damn late due to late night arrival the day before. Spent some time to explore our tiny hotel room. Hmmmm.... there's the toilet bowl.. not just any toilet bowl... itz THE toilet bowl that can help you wash either a tiny part or the whole of your buttocks. You can even choose between the 3 different levels of water pressure and also the duration. Didn't try that though... I find it too funny to stomach.

- Travelled down to Danshui via the MRT. Tried out their famous soya bean dessert (black soya beancurd + other ingredients), Jay Chou's favourite wanton stall (the wanton's damn good, big and cheap!) and bought 5 pairs of shoes from one single shop.

- One of shops along Danshui Lao Jie (DanShui old street) even sold tarantulas and etc... EEEEEEEEE!!! Go figure.

- Went down to Shilin night market for dinner cum supper. wahahhaha!!! A lot of cute puppies (in the pet shops) and a lot of jap-influenced cutie stuff. But I didn't buy much 'coz I'm getting too old for that.


Day 7 (Friday, 22nd Sep):
- Went shopping around Taipei the whole day. Can't even remeber which are the places. hahaha. But I did met up with my Taiwan counterparts (colleagues) for dinner near their office. The Thai food's not bad and the it was drizzling outside.

- Went back to hotel room after that and went to another night market for a quick stroll. There! We found one of the food stall owner's daughter keeping a little piglet as pet. Damn cute. But i wonder where it will go once it grows too big for their comfort. :(


Day 8 (Saturday, 23rd Sep):
- Went down to Book Street and bought a lot of cutesy stuff, including a lot of Jimmy's collectibles (i.e.: cups, namecard holder, musical ball, card holder, bookmarks & etc). I must be mad. Just one shop alone where I bought all these Jimmy stuff, I spent more than S$200.

- Bought a lot of jap fashion magazines as well. A lot cheaper to buy there than in SG. I could get one at S$7 there while it costs abt S$13 over here. And PC bought the entire set of Slam Dunk comics for abt S$200. Well... he mentioned that he would spend a lot more over here. Prob around S$400???

- Damn hungry. Didn't have breakfast. Went to one of the lanes and had black pepper beef for lunch. Verdict? Dun ever try black pepper stuff (be it chicken, pork or watever) in TWN. Most of those that I'd tried was well... really not to my taste.

- Had the beef noodle (recommneded by one of our ex-colleagues) in Book Street too. Not too bad. But I still prefer the one I'd tried along the roadside in Kaoshiung. And that was a lot cheaper too.

My travel journal - part 2

Day 4 (Tuesday, 19th Sep):
- Walked down to one of the bus stops along Kending street and waited for the Kending feeder bus.

- Alighted along the main road and waited for a cute penguin van to pick us up and send us to the Aquarium - it’s so big and nice! The shipwrecks (the fish’s homes) look so real and they really have baby whales… We’d spent about 3 or 4 hours there before heading off.

- Took a cab to a kending harbor. Damn… the driver took the long route and we ended paying NT450 for cab fare. So expensive!!! Lucky thing the shoreline was beautiful – unlike anything you’d seen before in Singapore. Add to the fact that it was a protected area (meaning to say that picking a stone is also considered a crime), it’s definitely a sight to behold!

- Keeping in mind that the rest of the journey will be really hectic, we decided to take our own sweet time, doing one thing at a time… really relaxed!!!! Ahhhhh~ wish im back in Kending now (even though the food variety is limited and if you want something filling… you got to pay a lot more).

- Also, as we’d overspent in Kaoshiung, we decided to eat cup noodles on our last day in kending. The hotel staff (wearing t-shirt and bermudas – beach boy style) was like… “Aiyoh!!! What happened?” Hahaha…


Day 5 (Wednesday, 20th Sep):
- Woke up damn early to take a long-distance bus from kending to fangliao. Itz approx. 1 hr journey and costs only abt NT150. From there, we’d to take a train to Taitung (approx 3 hours) at only NT174! And from there, we took another train (NT42, approx 20 mins) to get to our destination – Lu Ye.

- With our haversack and barang barang in place, we had to walk up a steep and winding road. Mind you, it’s a really really really small town and there’s only one cab in sight. But the driver was not around. So we walked about 1 or 2km up the slope before we see farms (flora or tea farms) right in front of us. You could hear birds chirping. Cool breezes from the mountains and a distant chime (it’s actually the siren of garbage truck somewhere). Lucky for us, we bumped into a middle-aged couple by the roadside and they volunteered to drive us up to the mountain top. We hopped onto the back of the lorry and the scenery was brilliant and the air was so fresh as they drove on! Wow!! It was a good 8km or more up the mountain. Lucky thing we weren’t so gung-ho to insist on walking up. Hahaha…

- Waited for 2 hours before I could take on the para-gliding. The wind pressure and speed was too low previously and the coach would not have been able to fly us both up then. Paid NT1200 (inclusive of insurance) and wore the gear. Hehehe… first attempt was a failure because I almost tripped and had to restart. 2nd attempt was a success and it’s not as scary as I thought. Glided in the air for about 15mins and I certainly felt like Peter Pan. It was like a dream and I felt very relaxed. “It’s such a pity”, the coach said. The wind wasn’t at its best that day. Otherwise I would have flown higher and reach the base clouds. Damn!

- When I landed at the pasture down the foot of the mountain, we realized that someone was hanging at the cliff, but was later pulled up by the rest of the people. Apparently, the guy weighed 90kg and the wind wasn’t strong enough to carry both the coach and him. In the end, instead of gliding, they had a free fall landing… hahhha

- Guess what? I was so hyper for the rest of the evening that I was beaming from ear to ear. Hehehe.. do give it a try if you can and you’ll see what I mean.

- Last minute change of plans. Decided to head for Taipei straight instead of Taoyuan. Thus, we bought train tickets to Hua Lian (NT249, approx 3-4hrs) and transfer train to Taipei from there (NT445, approx. 3hrs). It was really close shave. We ran on board the train once we reached the station. The moment we’d settled down, the train was on its way  Lucky us!

- Forgot to buy dinner and we had to starve our way to Taipei. We didn’t book any hotels and we didn’t know where to turn to. So the starving souls dragged their feet across streets after streets to find hotel for the night. It was close to an hr later before we decided on this Japanese hotel. So tired that we both fell asleep after bathing…

My travel Journal - part 1

I know.. I know… I haven’t been updating my blog for the longest time. Am really stressed up and tired these days, having started on my new posting. Haiz… what to do … am hanging the best that I can over here. It’s almost like I wake up to do the same thing all over and over again…

Missed those days in TWN (S$1 = NT20). If only I have a sugar daddy then I can go on an all-expenses paid trip. Hahaha…

Day 1 (Saturday, 16th Sep):
- Touched down at Taiwan’s CKS airport. Took Jetstar and my verdict? Jetstar = cramped seatings + lousy food stock-up and management + pure discomfort (except for smooth touch down) = extreme budget airline.

- Got my backpack only to found that my shampoo had leaked and soiled my backpack. Damn suay. Best part is I don’t even know why it leaked. The bottle was intact and etc.

- Spent 20mins in the ladies’ at the airport to empty my bag, wash the affected areas and rush out to catch the long-distance bus to Kaoshiung (NT450). Watched the TWN stations live telecast on anti-bian situation. Raining….

- Good Samaritan guided us on where to change the bus. Had a 10min dinner break at one of the make-shift bus terminals before changing to another bus. On route, we only have about 5 mins toilet break every few hours. Took us 5hrs to get to kaoshiung.

- By the time we reach the city, it was way past 2am. Checked into a budget hotel (NT980 for 3 days 2 nights) and went downstairs to buy some snacks.


Day 2 (Sunday, 17th Sep):- No MRT in kaoshiung. So either you have to go by foot (which we did), bus or taxi. Walked a long way away from my hotel and went to a lot of shopping malls and streets.

- Huge crowd gathered at one of the shopping malls. Kay-poh me went to see what happened. Jay Chou was coming. Waited for 1 hr before he appeared on stage. Took lots of photo. Learnt something new: my stamina not as good as last time…. can no longer fight with those meimei for a better location. Jay Chou can sing live. Understand how people can get heat stroke. If you feel giddy and hot but you’re not sweating? Congratulations! You’ve just got yourself a heat stroke.

- Managed to take a few photos and squeezed my way out to another shopping mall. Finally found my Le-Sportsac toki-doki bag!

- Went to those street markets and chanced upon a popular pastry shop. Desserts look damn good. Maybe I had my expectations set too high upon looking at them. They tasted ok only.

- Quite disappointed with the variety of food at the night markets 

- Ai-he (Love River – one of the tourist spots) was a complete waste of time for me. Nothing to see except boats, people and a variety of dogs (people took them out for a night stroll). Think Clarke Quay but take away all those outdoor tables and minus half the crowd.


Day 3 (Monday, 18th Sep):- Perhaps I was out all night… too tired. Woke up only when it’s close to lunch time. Pack our stuff (one big haversack and a bag of shopping ‘trophies’ each) and took a cab to the Kaoshiung Tourist information center and asked for directions to Kending.

- Took a long distance bus from kaoshiung bus terminal to Kending (Approx. 2-3 hrs at NT300). Along the way, we went by shabby towns, fields and districts. Very 80’s. But when we were nearing Kending, you could see the very beautiful coastline and the sun that shines through the clouds. It just takes away all the pressure from you and you just feel so relaxed and romantic. Think Full House – house by the sea.

- Stopped at the wrong bus stops. In front of us were two very comfortable and grand hotels. And yeah! They don’t come cheap. Minimum NT3780 (approx S$200) per night!!!!

- Walked a long way back to the town area with our barang barang. Almost every shop owners beckon us to stay with them (shop-house type of rooms available for rental). Although they can’t be classified anywhere close to beach-resort types, they seem more comfortable and classier than your usual cheapskate one-night stand motels. And the best part? You get the room for as low as NT400 a night.

- Chanced upon a hotel in one of the secluded road corners. Damn nice deco and extremely comfortable bed. What’s more? You get a big LCD screen + DVD player and radio!!! Well.. like I mentioned earlier. The place just makes you feel so relaxed. So we decided to spend a bit more for hotel this time round. It’s those kind of hotels that have only about 8 room max. But it’s so homely and comfortable!!!! Spent about NT4000 (price after 45% discount as it was off-peak season) for 3 days 2 nights. Cash payment only.

- Went down in the evening to get some food. Had wild boar meat and sausages, weird dessert drinks and most of all, I’d discovered Fried fresh milk. Basically it’s milk-made cubes that got deep-fried. Damn nice and cheap. But nothing to shop coz it’s a small street and the things there are what you can find in SG and Thailand. Very beach-related kind of stuff.

- Sat at out hotel room balcony to enjoy the breeze. But there was a lot of cheering and loud music. Sounded like that was a concert near by. By the way, kending is a hot spot for summer concerts. Hurried down with our cameras to see who was it. We searched high and low for the source. Finally! Basket. It was a huge group of youngsters having their own medley of songs in front of their fellow classmates. Because the speakers are muffled and the cheering was damn loud and fun, we had expected something huge.

- Took a turn. Damn!!!! There’s a row of very nice hotels right in front of us. Cheaper some more!!!! Each hotel has like about 5 rooms max? They have different themes like designer suite hotel, zen hotel and etc.Haiz.

- Things I’ve learnt? Asked to view the hotel room first before you move in. They usually allow you to do so or even invite you to do so. During off-peak seasons when the occupancy rate is low, you can take your time to check out the hotel rates. They will actually hang something like “today’s rate” outside their sign board. How it works? They lower their price with each growing hour to entice you to stay with them.The rates vary with season as well. But here’s the catch. If you keep on waiting and waiting, the rooms might be taken up by others instead.

- One more thing. Can hardly find any rubbish bins in Kending.

That's all for now. Need to go rest so that I can have some energy for work tomorrow.. at Tuas :'(