Countryside of Hualien, Taipei

The driver tricked us!

Initially for our countryside trip, he told us he would charge us NT$6,000 = SGD$400est. I kept asking him if its the "zhong su" aka full price, for 2D1N including the accomodation. He said yes, 4 times! But in the end, he wanted us to pay him NT$12,000! Knn. I was sibe tulan, but becos i heard taiwanese drivers alot of them are ex-convicts, i decided it was best that i just bargained with him for a lower price.. tamade.


It wasnt a bad deal afterall if you think about it.. we had a black S320 benz driving us around Hualien while other people had to follow the schedule of a coach(they paid the same price as us). I was pissed cos its the principle of the issue lah. How can anyhow say one?

Everything went really well though at Hualien, some pictures to show:

On our way to Taroko Gorge

The water is milky grey.. so funny one

After having lunch over here at this small cafe facing the mountains and waterfall, we head off to the Swallow Caves... which pretty much looks the same to the above.. =/

Bird nest here i come!! =DDD

The holes are actually the nests of the birds and because we dont have a tour guide with us and just a fucking driver.. we have to imagine these holes have been here for godzillion years and the bird nest hunters will come here during some spitting season to acquire these goodies. Quite a number of these holes spits out waters.. i am totally fascinated! But not sure about what! =D

My cute cute one!

Cant remember where this place is.. some 9 turns road lah, after a while all these gorges look the same. ^_^ Hualien is about 4 hours drive from Taipei City itself, very sleepy sia during the drive. So after almost half a day of drive and scenic views.. the weather was getting really bad, so we call it a day and return to our "Min Su" - run by local families.

We had the whole place to ourselves, with a kitchen and bathroom. Like a big studio ! The downside is, we're around mountains areas.. so there's lots of insects.. black ants, baby roaches and also CENTIPEDES! Sebby caught one and didnt dare to tell me! Luckily the night went well and nothing bit us.

The next morning, we set off for whale-watching! Waaaaaa!

Hualien Port

The waves were very calm, lucky us!

We went searching for whales for about 45mins, no whales came... but soon we saw something just as cool.....

A whole colonial of dolphins!

By the hundreds! Waaaaaaah!!!

The dolphins were really cool, they seems to like boats and human activities alot.. i was clapping and whistling like crazy at them. In return, they swam really near the boat, flying out of the ocean with a twist, almost showing off. So cute one!

I later found out that the best time for whale watching at Hualien is between June-August, we were too late for it, but well, this is really nice too. Dolphins by the hundreds leh! So there goes our morning, we decided to head back to Taipei after.

Some of the views we passed by while driving back...

The weather was freaking hot, even for early november.

Thats my round up for Taipei, both city and country.

5D4N.. more then enough. ^_^

We love Gold!

Having went on gold during the Quantum of Solace (which isnt very nice), i was wondering out loud how could anyone ever watch a movie the medieval way again. Duuuh?! So, after dinner last night at this german restaurant Brotzeit, Seb aka The Cute Cute One surprised me on going gold class to watch the very much anticipated - Madagascar! *happy*

You! Sweeeeet! ^_^

The movie was entertaining fo'shizzle~ but i think the penguins didnt make enough appearances and they were funnier in Part 1.. other then that, still nice!

Side track..

Have anyone have any opinions on Sauerkraut?

For the uninitiated, its a traditional german-style cabbages, cut fine, salted and allowed to ferment with brine until sour. I really like it alot, its tasty and it really opens up your appetite for the entree. But the after effect... whooooo...

GIGANTIC AMOUNT OF FARTS I TELL YOU!

For janice and michelle, now i know why i was farting like crazy everyday 20 times FOR A WHOLE MONTH when i was in Europe last year. Seb swore he told me about it before, but i really cant recall and was just happily eating it all the time unaware it was this little sucker!

So paiseh leh.. at that time Sebastian and i just got together.. and i was already farting loud ones so uncontrollably infront of him while he was driving along the romantic alps. I thought i was so disgusting. =(

Luckily, he is nice and isnt judgemental, i am so lucky!

.. puuut.... putput!! ^_^

Schedule Ahead - wah lau eh!

So many things to do, so little time.

Just got done with seb's birthday, and now i have to think about some Glamourlicious party that my company is going to hold at Velvet next week! Aaaargh. Like what janice said, she's running out of ideas. Its so tough thinking about what you want/can wear.

The Chairman is going to be there.

The Managing Director is going to be there.

And worse, hundreds of gossipy colleagues are going to be there!

Most wont even be dressing up i bet, and i refused not to have fun because of them scandalous mouths. I aimed to provoke, even when i know they cant wait to JUDGE US GIRLS FROM THE RPM! Whatever. We're almost celebrities-like in status... *laughs hysterically!*, we're constantly preyed upon on our fb accounts by all these 'paparazzi', and then those rumour-mongers start creating gossips of their own eventually spreading all the way up to the masses/bosses. So many cant be trusted. Knn to those chao fuckers, delete and block ya'll!

And then there's the SURRISE night by the cute cute one. ^_^

AND, Stephy's hen night, THEN wedding night.

And my unconfirmed December trip.

And.. and then... the cute cute one leaves.... =(

Aiii... so many things to do, so little time.

New phone - yay!

After much drama in going down to the customer service outlet at Wisma Atria, banging table together with Connie with no valid solution, i ended up calling the help desk.. which is even worse! No reply or followup with their actions for a week.. call the head office helpdesk this time and requested for the CEO's email, i was raging in anger by this time, i just wanted to.. COMPLAIN all the way up to THE CEO who is probably busy with the future of SONY ERICSSON AND TELL HIM THIS : urmm.. my phone is spoil.. gimme a new one leh.. hehe

I was of course denied access but im reasonable, so i settle for the Customer Service Director's email, after some long shitass boo-boo email, finally, someone gave me some attention! ^_^

My new Sony finally arrived at my workplace today, via courier no less.

This just goes to prove, the pen is indeed mightier then the mouth.

My side of Taipei

Over the past many years, it have never crossed my mind in visiting Taiwan. I mean, i go to Hong Kong too much.. and since Taiwan is just next door, why not there?! I have got no idea.. and if it wasnt for the bf, i think that place would still remain a mystery for me.

Taiwanese are generally friendly, very gracious and warm. I realised all that when i first stepped into Ximending. They are always in a upbeat mood - people at restaurants or shopping places are always greeting and smiling at you. At the MRT, they quene up to go INTO the train, give seats IMMEDIATELY to people who needs it. The staff at the MRT station were equally helpful with the old and needy. When i was at KFC figuring out all those chinese words on the menu, a lady actually gave me a coupon so that i could get a cheaper fucking popcorn chicken.. isnt that awesome? Well, it could also because Sebastian is as white as a tourist thus the attention, but.. its still a nice gesture.

But people aside, Taipei city itself is ONE BIG BORE. I mean, XMD, Shilin night market and Taipei 101 area was ok, but do i look like i give a shit about some Chiang Kai-Shek or Sun Yat San Memorial or Presidential Tower shit?

Ok, we also tried to look for some hot-springs, and was told of the Xin Beitou area - was full of hot springs! So we went, happily in search. But when we finally found it, it turns out to be so shitty, that me, a singaporean-amatuer-hot-springer even DARES to scoff in disgust! Diameter of the badly man-made-cave-like pond : 5 x 4 metres is filled wth murky waters and overflowing with screaming kids with their floats and old people. Wah lau! Hot spring is like that one meh??

I wished i could have a picture to show, but i was too appalled that i scurried away pulling Seb with me. Definitely a no-go recommendation to anyone. Unless you're desperate.

Here's a look at Ximending, one of the more interesting shopping places around:

Also a must-go in Taipei city is the Shilin Night Market:

I cant say much about the food though as you can see im with a angmoh, as local as it goes i only had a chicken fillet (chee-bar) which tasted so good! ^_^ And the shopping stuff here is cheap too, very Bangkok-style.

The amazing mrt QUEUE and the station was packed ok. We should all learn from it! Sibe gracious lor!

Also, Taipei 101:

On our way there, we pass by this diagonal traffic junction...

Suddenly, i hear chanting....

"LUO ZHI XIANG! LUO ZHI XIANG! LUO ZHI XIANG!!!"

I made a mad dash and i found this!

Seb face abit black black.. so i decided not to be distracted and move on... =P

@ entrance of Vomit 101...

@ mall of 101... just like our Orchard Paragon

Sooo excited to be going up the Taipei 101 until....... we saw the freaking queue for it!

It was snaking around for like 400metres or so, but luckily the queue moved pretty fast and we were up there in 20mins. Tip: If you dont like to queue at all, avoid the morning and afternoons as there's alot of tour groups, go during the evenings.

The view from 101: very cloudy.. i especially like these meanders.

After loitering around the viewing area for almost an hour, we decided to head down to one of the restaurants at the shopping mall of 101. We decided to go to his italian restuarant call "dot". A meal with salad, soup, main course & desert only cost SGD$35 - cheap and good!

After dinner, we decided to head back to our lousy hotel : Flower Hotel

This hotel just fucking sucks. The walking distance to XMD is less then 10mins so that was ok. But the hotel room... how come got lizard one?!?! And it was circling the ceiling for the entire night! Seb was so worried that it is gona shit on his face. Haha.

The bed was the most horrible ever. As a traveller u would at least want a ok-bed, but this.. it gives you a full bodyache the next morning, how to shop like that??

I think Taipei is good for a 4D3N but any longer, you better be heading out to the rurals! My next entry would be about the countryside of Taiwan. Eyeball here!

Till then!