What can I say? I really really enjoyed myself sooo much ths trip... Many thanks to Aibek and Jane to host me...
Many thanks to Aibek, Triin and Jing Wen too... I remember we were sitting at the Coffee Bean at Lot 1 in Choa Chu Kang after visiting the Singapore zoo... I was complaining about how I wanted to go outside and travel around, see and explore new places but that I couldn't find the time to do it... Then Aibek and Triin were telling me that if I wanted to go that much, I should make my own time out, and not use work as an excuse cos there will always be work still undone... and it was there that we decided we shall go to Taiwan and visit Aibek after the NTU exams... =)
This was actually the 1st trip outside Singapore which I made on my own.. in the past, I either went with family, or with friends on expedition kinds of trips.. so it was really a cool experience for me.. it felt different la.. feels more independent, and you can really do things which YOU yourself like (unlike in a huge group there may be conflicts on where to go.. hehe) only slight problem is that you may not have someone to explain the places to you, you may have to resort to posing for your own photos to show you were there, and when you see something funny you can't just laugh out loud without people around you giving you weird stares.. but that aside, before this, travelling always seemed so difficult, cos must wait for others, must plan stuff etc. But hey I just realised how easy it is!! Just book a ticket, get some maps, take a plane and you're there!!
I think after this trip, I want to do more of such travelling... I dunno why but I've always been fascinated by all the amazing stuff outside tiny Singapore... and now, I've realised that it's not that difficult to go out there and see more.. Just need a bit more gung-ho attitude, a bit less kiasu and kiasee mentality, a bit more time to save money and off I go again...
maybe to China next... I wanna see Shaolin Temple and Great Wall... =)
P.S. for those who wanna see photos, here is a repeat announcement that they are on http://sharontan.mtphotoalbum.com
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Day 5 in Taipei
My last day in Taiwan!! Flight is at 6pm so I had the morning and a bit of the afternoon to walk around somemore before going home.. Aibek and Jane went off to work so I was on my own again.. I went to Xi Men to meet Jing Wen, Sherina, Shin and Yi Cui for breakfast!! Yup, another AIESEC Singapore gang were in Taipei and they were with Sharol from Soo Chow LC.. we visited their campus and AIESEC office before heading off to the canteen for breakfast.. I had what I ate on the 1st day (it's called Dan4 Bing3 in chinese but I dunno its english name) again and the gang tried it too, it being their 1st morning in Taiwan.. Sherina was trying to take photos of everything and Sharol was quite embarrassed sometimes.. hahah.. quite entertaining..
Anyway, they were heading off to Taichung for a day and since I was on a more rushed schedule, I went off 1st and walked around Xi Men.. most shops were still closed so nothing much to see.. then I dropped off at Zhong Xiao Dun Hua which Jane said was something like Orchard Road.. well of course the buildings weren't as high (cos of earthquake danger) and not as fanciful as those here.. it wasn't really what I expected until I found the underground mall.. it's like our City Link Shopping Mall, just a lot longer.. =) it even links to another MRT station.. I got bored walking there after a while since I'm not much of a shopper and went aboveground.. found a street and alley with lots of eating places and tried the pork chop rice.. this dish is really common and everywhere I go I see stalls selling it.. so figured I might as well try it before I go.. quite tasty la.. hahah.. I think generally Taiwanese eat quite a lot of meat, since most of the roadside stalls I had seen sell meat dishes..
After that, I headed home to pack and get my luggage.. Jane had kindly passed me her keys so I wouldn't have to go around in the morning with all my luggage.. then it was off to Taipei Main Station, taking the express train back to CKS International Airport.. and it was as cold as the day I arrived.. -_-" I was early so I had to hang around.. then I noticed that the queue in front of the closed check-in counter was getting longer.. I wonder if it's a Singaporean thing or a Chinese thing.. so Kiasu.. hahahaha.. even when at the boarding gate people were so eager to board the plane.. The seats are already assigned so I was wondering why until I overhead this guy saying they should board quickly so that there will be enough space in the baggage compartment for their stuff.. kiasu-ism at work.. but looking at the amount of stuff people bought, I won't be surprised if they don't have space.. I think I was the only person carrying 1 backpack… everyone else has a few more bags of stuff bought in Taiwan.. shopping la.. so Singaporean =)
Anyway, this time back I was lucky enough to get a window seat and since it was evening the sun was still bright enough for photos.. the view was great, with clouds below and above us.. further below us, I could see the lights of Taiwan and the sprawling mountains and greenery.. then the most unlucky thing happened.. my digicam battery suddenly died!!! So ironic I thought.. just when I get a window seat and a perfect view the camera dies.. so I got thick-skinned and asked if the people beside me had any batteries to lend.. they must have thought I was weird but I don't care they had batteries so I could take my photos happily.. the plane had passed by the more perfect view but beggars for batteries can't be picky so I took whatever I could see.. My last view of Taiwan was thus my view from the plane.. See in the following shot, you can see part of the mountains sticking out among the layer of clouds.. cool huh?
And that.. is the story of my 5 days in Taipei.. =)
Anyway, they were heading off to Taichung for a day and since I was on a more rushed schedule, I went off 1st and walked around Xi Men.. most shops were still closed so nothing much to see.. then I dropped off at Zhong Xiao Dun Hua which Jane said was something like Orchard Road.. well of course the buildings weren't as high (cos of earthquake danger) and not as fanciful as those here.. it wasn't really what I expected until I found the underground mall.. it's like our City Link Shopping Mall, just a lot longer.. =) it even links to another MRT station.. I got bored walking there after a while since I'm not much of a shopper and went aboveground.. found a street and alley with lots of eating places and tried the pork chop rice.. this dish is really common and everywhere I go I see stalls selling it.. so figured I might as well try it before I go.. quite tasty la.. hahah.. I think generally Taiwanese eat quite a lot of meat, since most of the roadside stalls I had seen sell meat dishes..
After that, I headed home to pack and get my luggage.. Jane had kindly passed me her keys so I wouldn't have to go around in the morning with all my luggage.. then it was off to Taipei Main Station, taking the express train back to CKS International Airport.. and it was as cold as the day I arrived.. -_-" I was early so I had to hang around.. then I noticed that the queue in front of the closed check-in counter was getting longer.. I wonder if it's a Singaporean thing or a Chinese thing.. so Kiasu.. hahahaha.. even when at the boarding gate people were so eager to board the plane.. The seats are already assigned so I was wondering why until I overhead this guy saying they should board quickly so that there will be enough space in the baggage compartment for their stuff.. kiasu-ism at work.. but looking at the amount of stuff people bought, I won't be surprised if they don't have space.. I think I was the only person carrying 1 backpack… everyone else has a few more bags of stuff bought in Taiwan.. shopping la.. so Singaporean =)
Anyway, this time back I was lucky enough to get a window seat and since it was evening the sun was still bright enough for photos.. the view was great, with clouds below and above us.. further below us, I could see the lights of Taiwan and the sprawling mountains and greenery.. then the most unlucky thing happened.. my digicam battery suddenly died!!! So ironic I thought.. just when I get a window seat and a perfect view the camera dies.. so I got thick-skinned and asked if the people beside me had any batteries to lend.. they must have thought I was weird but I don't care they had batteries so I could take my photos happily.. the plane had passed by the more perfect view but beggars for batteries can't be picky so I took whatever I could see.. My last view of Taiwan was thus my view from the plane.. See in the following shot, you can see part of the mountains sticking out among the layer of clouds.. cool huh?
And that.. is the story of my 5 days in Taipei.. =)
Day 4 in Taipei
Today is Sunday!! The day of the big trip out of Taipei City!! This time, we took one of the trains (the railway kind) to Kee Lung, which is where one of the ports of Taiwan is located.. right beside the Ocean also I think (I'm not too sure cos my chinese map says that's the East Sea) We didn't really see Kee Lung itself cos upon reaching we took the bus to Bi Sha Fish Port (I did the chinese to english translation cos my map speaks chinese) It's a small fishing port town famous for seafood and we saw lots of weird seafood at the fish market there.. crabs, lobsters, giant prawns, crayfishes, shark meat, huge whole fishes, sea urchins, fish roe, seaweed, squids, all sorts of clams and shellfish.. aside from the fish meat, most of the other sea creatures are sold alive so it's really really fresh.. we had a seafood dinner at one of the restaurants there.. Jane and I had to guess what the dishes were cos we weren't very sure what the chinese names of all those fishes were.. luckily what we ordered turned out quite decent.. hahaha..
After lunch, we took a boat to Kee Lung Island some 20 minutes away from the port.. after getting off at the island, we followed a guide as she brought us around.. unfortunately she was speaking Hokkien, so we only managed to figure out that the island used to be a naval port and was used by the Japanese when they occupied Taiwan.. today the island doesn't have its own source of water or electricity and I don't think it's really inhabited la.. lots of greenery, rocks, stones and other stuff you typically find on an undeveloped island =) you can see photos from Aibek's blog if you like.. he was climbing around taking photos..
When the tour ended, we waited (for quite a while) for the boat back to the port and then tried some SEAFOOD ICE CREAM.. yes the ice cream is made from seafood.. we tried 3 flavours: prawn, squid and seaweed.. the prawn one tasted like prawn paste that was cold and creamy.. Squid didn't taste very much like squid but it was gray cos they mixed in squid ink.. the seaweed tasted.. well seaweedy.. hahaha.. interesting huh?
After that we took a cab up to Jiu Fen, which used to be a gold mine town that has revived and is a popular and unique place to visit, since it rests on the mountainside.. we had to climb lots of stairs to get up but once there, the view is great.. you get to see Kee Lung Island and the port where we had come from.. in the distance, rolling misty mountains flanked by the sea completes the perfect scenary.. ahhh.. so nice.. =) the shops here sell nicer stuff too.. a lot of souvenirs made of wood and the food sold here is also different from that in the city.. the whole place has this old exotic feel as you walk along the sloping cobbly pavement with short squat shophouses lining both sides… I did most of my shopping here.. =) then we had dinner in a restaurant perched near the edge of the slope so we could enjoy the night view while eating..
But being more village than city, the shops starting closing at 8 plus or 9 plus and we had to rush to the bus stop in case we missed the last bus out.. the road down was very winding like Genting and quite dark and narrow at some places.. it's quite amazing how the driver could get us safely down.. we alighted at Rui Fang where we took the railway train back to Taipei again.. the train ride back was very funny cos we were sitting in the carriage with a local family and the kids were staring openly at the 3 of us.. probably because we were speaking English, because Aibek didn't look local and because we were taking photos of ourselves.. =)
What a day!! I thoroughly enjoyed everything =)
After lunch, we took a boat to Kee Lung Island some 20 minutes away from the port.. after getting off at the island, we followed a guide as she brought us around.. unfortunately she was speaking Hokkien, so we only managed to figure out that the island used to be a naval port and was used by the Japanese when they occupied Taiwan.. today the island doesn't have its own source of water or electricity and I don't think it's really inhabited la.. lots of greenery, rocks, stones and other stuff you typically find on an undeveloped island =) you can see photos from Aibek's blog if you like.. he was climbing around taking photos..
When the tour ended, we waited (for quite a while) for the boat back to the port and then tried some SEAFOOD ICE CREAM.. yes the ice cream is made from seafood.. we tried 3 flavours: prawn, squid and seaweed.. the prawn one tasted like prawn paste that was cold and creamy.. Squid didn't taste very much like squid but it was gray cos they mixed in squid ink.. the seaweed tasted.. well seaweedy.. hahaha.. interesting huh?
After that we took a cab up to Jiu Fen, which used to be a gold mine town that has revived and is a popular and unique place to visit, since it rests on the mountainside.. we had to climb lots of stairs to get up but once there, the view is great.. you get to see Kee Lung Island and the port where we had come from.. in the distance, rolling misty mountains flanked by the sea completes the perfect scenary.. ahhh.. so nice.. =) the shops here sell nicer stuff too.. a lot of souvenirs made of wood and the food sold here is also different from that in the city.. the whole place has this old exotic feel as you walk along the sloping cobbly pavement with short squat shophouses lining both sides… I did most of my shopping here.. =) then we had dinner in a restaurant perched near the edge of the slope so we could enjoy the night view while eating..
But being more village than city, the shops starting closing at 8 plus or 9 plus and we had to rush to the bus stop in case we missed the last bus out.. the road down was very winding like Genting and quite dark and narrow at some places.. it's quite amazing how the driver could get us safely down.. we alighted at Rui Fang where we took the railway train back to Taipei again.. the train ride back was very funny cos we were sitting in the carriage with a local family and the kids were staring openly at the 3 of us.. probably because we were speaking English, because Aibek didn't look local and because we were taking photos of ourselves.. =)
What a day!! I thoroughly enjoyed everything =)
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