簡報...

跟各位快快地報告一下，因爲最近工作比較忙，所以一直沒時間更新部落各的内容。
下禮拜的時間應該會好多了，到時候再跟大家分享最近發生的事：

• 12號到烏來玩
• 17號到桃園玩
• 25號在台北嘗試亞坤的新加坡式早餐

=)

反省后的一些想法...

不知不覺的，我已經在台灣呆了快半年了... 可能是因爲上個星期剛過了二十五嵗的生日，或是因爲最近周末都沒出去玩，加上最近工作比較輕鬆（應該是暫時性的，希望是:P），所以花了一些時間來做一下人生的反省...

反省的過程中，回想到當初會要出國工作，主要也是為了多看多了解新加坡以外的世界，挑戰自己的適應和辦事能力，並從中更了解自己的能力、自己在事業上的方向、以及自己在世界和社會上能付出的貢獻...

至今，我發現其實對自己下來想走的路還是有蠻多疑問的... 而在某种程度上，也對自己的能力有所疑惑... 雖然覺得自己到目前的確有學到很多東西，但還是懷疑自己好像並沒有突破性的成長，在了解下來的人生方向也好像沒有什麽突破性的發現...

但后來跟幾位同事聊了一下，然後再回想到自己在AIESEC的經驗，結果發現其實現在走的路是有符合到自己去年定下的 “個人五年發展計劃”... 也領悟到，每個人走的路畢竟是不一樣的，所以用來發掘自己人生方向的時間也不一樣... 雖然我現在並不是非常確定未來方向，但至少在發掘它的過程中還是在做有挑戰性的工作、還是遇到很多非常優秀的好人（並跟他們學習)、還是在做對社會有貢獻的事、還是在發現台灣的美...

當然，這些都算是好事，但經過這次的反省，也決定要讓自己生活更加充實，所以定下了一下個人目標：

提高自己的中文水平
在認字方面，已經有相當的進展了。但發現有時還是沒辦法很清楚地用文字或語言發表自己的想法。所以決定，以後的部落各文章以及工作上的電子郵件要盡量用中文寫。

更積極擴充自己的知識
我給自己的目標是，每個月都要看完至少一本書，而且中英文的都要看（應該就輪流看吧，這個月看英文的，下個月看中文的）。
還好公司收集了很多有關商業管理、品牌管理的書，要看小説的話應該可以跟同事或朋友借...

健康生活
已經找到運動伴了！下來的每個星期四晚上要到附近的公園跑步了！

目前大概就這樣吧...
很顯然的，反省的過程並不一定能讓我們找到想要的答案，甚至會讓我們越想越困惑... 但我想，有了困惑才能有新發現、有突破！
希望在人生中，我們一直會有困惑，一直有發現和突破！

p.s. 我用了接近一個小時把這篇寫完，真是太慢了

p.p.s. for those of you who can't read Chinese, I hope the Google Translate toolbar I added on the left of my blog will help!! Please note that you will not get a perfect translation (it's a machine doing it after all)... perhaps if time permits in future, I will post in both English and Chinese so you get exactly what I am trying to say :)

Ali Shan and Chiayi county - 27 & 28 Jun 2009

My family was in Taipei to visit! Lots of funny moments since this was the first time my parents are in Taiwan and first time since a loooong time ago since my mom traveled overseas...

They touched down on the 23rd and stayed at the TS Hotel in Xi Men Ding (really reasonable rates for a decent and comfortable 3-persons room)... most of the next few days saw them going around in Taipei and occasionally I met up with them for some eating and traveling after work...

in any case, the highlight of their trip was probably our visit to Ali Shan and Jia Yi county over the weekend... This was a tour package I signed up for via one of the local tour agencies and for a one-time fee, covered the following:

• Overnight coach ride from Taipei to Chiayi
• Trip up to Ali Shan to watch the sun rise and see the forest park
• 1 night stay at a 5 Star hotel (耐斯王子 Nice Prince Hotel in Chiayi)
• complimentary dinner and breakfast at the hotel (international buffet style for both meals)
• All other meals, as well as transport costs e.g. train ride on Ali Shan) were also catered for
  
• Tour in Chiayi city which includes Chiayii city park, Chiayi Insect Museum and a visit to 布袋漁港 (Bu Dai Port) including a boat trip to sea
• Return coach ride back to Taipei

We didn't get to visit the port unfortunately as the waves were too rough due to a nearby typhoon that week so they brought us to a farm resort... unfortunately it was themed around Bali and Thailand so we didn't find that very authentic or attractive haha...
(If you're interested in this package, check http://tour.colatour.com.tw/b03ticket/show_ticket.asp?seq=402&type=3 for more info... the tour is organized by the hotel and promoted by tour agencies)

Anyway, it was really fun, enjoyable and totally worth the money (which wasn't really that expensive considering what the trip included)... I didn't get a lot of group shots on my camera but here are some from the trip:

Us on the train to the peak of Ali Shan.. This was about 4 plus in the morning... and yes it was cold, probably 15 deg C or less.. hence my mom's attire...

The sun rise on Ali Shan, at about 5.15am

Cool sign we saw on Ali Shan

Night view of Chiayi city from our hotel room on the 14th floor

Now I can proudly say that I have conquered Ali Shan as well as the Sun Moon Lake! Key icons of Taiwan!!

More photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=275510&id=576355703&l=b2e5de7d99

明池山莊 - 30 & 31 May 2009

2 weeks after my visit to mid-Taiwan, I was heading back to 宜蘭 (I-lan county) again, this time to spend the weekend at 明池山莊, Mingchih Forest Recreation Area with 3 of my colleagues...

There's a dedicated shuttle bus service (not free though) that leaves Taipei City for the recreation area and the journey takes about 2 plus hours I think... The recreation area is actually within a "basin" created by surrounding mountains so it's some distance above sea level and the journey there involves some mountain roads, which meant lots of winding left and right on the bus... for those of you who get motion sickness easily, better bring your motion sickness meds and avoid too heavy a meal before the journey!

Despite that, I think being in the area itself makes up for the winding journey up.. and I'm sure most people will feel better already the moment they reach the area... we were greeted by very fresh air, lots of greenery everywhere and the sounds of nature (birds, water, wind blowing through trees)... Once there, we went on a guided tour through the area near our resort and the guide introduced us to the history of the area as well as to the different types of trees growing there...

the next day, we went on another guided tour, this time higher up in the mountain (another winding bus journey up) where we saw the famous 神木 (literally translated to God Tree) forest... these 神木 are trees that HUGE and extremely old (1500 years is considered quite young here)...

For nature lovers who want a definite break from city life, this place is extremely recommended! Do note that since it's in the mountains, the temperature can get low so bring your coats... Also, it's a pity that the tour guides only speak Chinese but in any case, you can move around on your own as well if you don't want to join the guided tour... It's probably advisable to go there with a group of friends and perhaps book a chalet room for 1 night and share the cost... otherwise, if you drive or intend to stay over in I-lan, the recreation area is good for a 1-day trip as well... oh and 1 last thing, those who are staying over, bring your own snacks!! There is only 1 restaurant in that area and no convenience stores at all... :)

Here are some photos of the area

You can view the rest of my photos at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=7049291&l=d7bea1209f&id=576355703

Day in Changhua County - 18 May 2009

This post is way overdue.. but to do justice to the trip, I still have to update it here :)

as mentioned in the previous post, I traveled with Prior and Eva to the middle of Taiwan... Saturday (17th May) was spent in Nan Tou county where I finally saw the Sun Moon Lake... Sunday (18th May) was spent in Changhua itself experiencing lots of wonderful food... :)

Here's a map just to show you very quickly where Changhua is within the whole Taiwan Island... It's quite a quiet place where you can see immediately that the pace of life is quite different from that of Taipei. There aren't as many tall buildings either so it's refreshing to be able to see so much sky...

We started by picking up Sandy (who was in the area having attended a wedding the day before) and headed to our first stop, the temple street at Lugang...
You can probably tell from the roof that this temple is really old.. old enough that its construction did not involve using any nails at all; everything is pieced together using wood...

As a matter of fact, walking around in this part of Lugang gives an overall "old" kind of feel...
The houses here really date back tens, even hundreds of years for some... so it was definitely a cool experience walking around in these narrow alleys and occassionaly peeping into people's homes...

We also paid a visit to 八卦山 where there is a sitting Buddha statue that overlooks the entire Changhua city... I thought it was really great that they made the area around the statue so family-friendly since it brings people together and makes things more lively...

That aside, the rest of my Changhua trip was mainly full of food.. here's a montage of all the food I ate and had taken a photo of (yes I missed out some)

1. Yam Pork Bun
2. BBQ Squid
3. 麵茶, a kind of paste in peanut-ish sauce
4. 地瓜球 (Tapioca balls)
5. 狀元糕 (literally means Scholar Cake), tastes a bit like Kueh Tu-Tu in Singapore
6. 五味庚, a dish that had cuttlefish, prawn dumplings, pork dumplings, mushrooms and vegetables (hence the 五 or five in the name)
7. Shaved ice dessert
8. Pork Bun
9. Fried chicken wing
10. 肉圓, pork dumpling (ate this on Monday morning in the office)

I actually ate more cos we had breakfast and dinner at Prior...

All in all, extremely fulfilling weekend trip to mid-Taiwan which I highly recommend to anyone looking for a cultural, scenic and gastronimical experience!

For more photos, visit http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=258209&id=576355703&l=d79096179e

Day in Nantou County - 17 May 2009

So this is again way overdue but because I'm committed to the cause of enticing more people to come to Taiwan and discover its beauty, I'm still going to post this :)

So on Friday evening 16 May 09, I traveled to Zhang Hua county with Prior and Eva since Prior was going back to his hometown and invited me along.. this is my first time to the central part of Taiwan and it did prove to be an amazing weekend...

on Saturday 17 May 2009, we headed to Nantou county (see map on the left). Prior drove and the trip took just abit over 1 hour thanks to a new expressway that opened linked Zhang Hua and Nantou...

As you can see from the map, Nantou is actually the only county in the whole of Taiwan that does not touch the shoreline... so yes it's entirely inland...

Yet despite that, I can assure you that it's visited by many many people because the allure of the Sun Moon Lake is just too great


It really is very very beautiful! they say that the lake looks different at different times of the day and I do believe it even though I did not see it (we spent about 3 hours plus there)... surrounded by mountains covered in greenery, the lake gives a really peaceful feel to visitors...
The road goes all around the lake so there were a lot of tourist buses as well as cyclists... our 1st stop was the Wen Wu Temple (文物廟), a beautiful temple directly facing the lake.. a large part of it was damaged in the 1999 earthquake but thanks to aid that poured in from within and outside of Taiwan, it has been properly restored...

We then went on to take a boat ride on the lake... these boat rides come with and without guided tours... we did the one without since Prior was pretty much an experienced tour guide already :)

The boat trip was about 1.5 hours and included a stop at another smaller temple as well as a view of this mini island in the lake (it used to be much bigger but most of it sank in the earthquake). If you go during the weekdays, you can even go on the island... you can't do that on weekends since there are already too many visitors then and I'm sure that island will sink if we all went on it :)

for more info on Sun Moon Lake, visit http://www.sunmoonlake.gov.tw/sun.aspx?Lang=EN

After the Sun Moon Lake, we then headed to the Pu Li brewery
The brewery is actually featured in the book "Blue Ocean Strategy in Taiwan" as one of the case studies... Once a pure brewery that almost went out of business, it is now one of the biggest and most famous breweries in the whole of Taiwan and draws huge crowds of locals and tourists every day to buy products related to 紹興酒 (Shao-xing wine, a form of traditional Chinese wine fermented from rice) or to visit its museum and learn more about the process of making various forms of alcohol as well as random facts about alcohol...

A tunnel whose walls are made up of wine urns...
More on Puli Brewery at http://www.sunmoonlake.gov.tw/TW/04001114.aspx

Our final stop of the day was at the 中台禪寺 or the Chung Tai Chan Monastery... located in quite the rural part of the area (we passed by farms and large plots of lands before reaching it), the monastery is built by the largest (I think) Buddhist association in Taiwan and is said to cost NTD 4 billion to build...

From the outside, you can already tell that a lot of effort was put into the design and construction of this monastery... when you step inside, it's even more amazing...

Here you see the grand hall of the monastery on the 1st floor... that statue on the left is one of the four guardians in the halls and is 5 storeys tall and weighs 120 tonnes... It is entirely hand-sculpted, just like many of the other statues and structures in the monastery...

They definitely didn't hold back when it came to getting the best materials and the best craftsmen for this monastery...

Only the 1st two floors are open to the public and there are monks and nuns who help explain about the statues, the construction and of course about Buddhism... they cater to foreigners too (we passed by a group where a nun was speaking fluent English)...

It's an interesting way of spreading Buddhism to the world... this organization has also opened schools in the area where children learn Buddhist values from young while receiving high quality education (all students have to learn Chinese, English, French and Spanish)..

To find out more, check out http://www.ctworld.org.tw/english-96/html/index.htm (the chinese website features more information but the english one is not too bad.. comes with a virtual tour too :P)

So all in all, it was a very enriching day where I saw great scenery, learnt about wine making and had my breath taken away by the monastery while learning more about Buddhism... Definitely a worthwhile trip!

More photos at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6892183&l=3934180b1e&id=576355703

Just a thought...

People have often asked why I chose to come to Taiwan, considering that the culture between Taiwan and Singapore are quite similar... and I am always confused by this question...

I'm confused because I don't understand how people know that the cultures are similar when they have not lived in both Singapore AND Taiwan...

After all, isn't culture more than what we see on the news? in the newspapers? in books? Isn't culture more than just food? and fashion? and isn't culture also more than that group of friends you have from that country?

Definitions tell me that culture is a set of behaviors, values, beliefs and attitudes within a group/community of people... I don't dispute that, I think it does make sense... but on the other hand, some part of me insists that culture is nothing more a pair of "perspective lens" that Man puts on due to our very innate need to group, to classify and to distinguish...

Isn't it conflicting? We seek to belong yet we seek to differentiate ourselves... We learn the accents that the locals speak, we shake hands and exchange name cards the way locals do, we hang out at local spots to experience life like the locals and sometimes we fear being found out because it means we will get charged tourist prices.. yet we also seek to be special; we look for differences, we ask questions about the way things work, we point out how things are like in our own countries, we ponder why some things suck back at home when they work so well here locally...

and it is in this process of classifying, grouping and distinguishing that we slowly get the sense of what, in general, this "culture" thing really is... so if you think about it, cultures exists, or more accurately, we recognise culture BECAUSE there are differences... it's like how you can't see air which is all around you, but you can recognise it when you experience
1. a lack of it or
2. the differences in the environment when air moves or changes its state (e.g. when the wind blows)

If this is the case, saying that cultures are similar is also acknowledging that there are differences.. and if differences exists, that means that there is something to experience by going or living there... and if there is something to experience, why does it seem strange for people to uproot themselves sometimes and live in another country?

Am I making sense or am I going round in circles? Just a thought...

HIV / AIDS in the World

Fantastic talk and presentation by Dr. Hans Rosling on HIV/AIDS...

http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_the_truth_about_hiv.html

I can't embed it here but I assure you it's definitely worth a view!

Dr. Rosling talks about how we always tend to oversimplify the HIV/AIDS problem into something that is "Africa" and he shows with hard core statistics the disparity within African nations, and even within the different cities of an African nation... He also talks about why it's essential to tackle the problem by preventing transmissions instead of only focusing on developing and delivering treatment...

Something that really struck me was with regards to statistics that we typically see. For example, we occasionally see statistics about the number of HIV/AIDS infected people in a certain country, or the % of people in a country / region that has the AIDS. This really doesn't paint a very accurate picture if you think about it.

For one, if people don't get tested, naturally the number of infected people will be less. Because we just won't know.

For another, in some of the worst hit countries in the world that are too poor to deliver much medical support to those infected, these people die young from the disease. Which then affects the total number of people infected (which usually only refers to the living)

If you flip this around, it means that a country with a moderate number of infected people and has the ability to provide more medical aid can help these people keep the disease at bay and ensure they can live longer and more meaningful lives. And this again affects the total number of people infected.

So what should we do in the face of this daunting challenge that faces mankind, and the very strong tendency for us to "over-simplify" or "out-classify" the problem when we see the news or the statistics?

As far as I can say, let's get ourselves tested so we know for sure and let's spread the word so people know more about HIV/AIDS, how to protect themselves and how to curb the transmission of this terrible virus.

Dilbert MBA Series - funny!

This 2nd one is so classic Alice :)

Help with survey

Please help with a survey, it will not take more than 3 mins of your time! Thanks in advance!
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=cms1aFQtWlhCNEU3SjQwN1EwOGtlOVE6MA

or

http://tinyurl.com/o2lzmp

(they are the same so just fill it up once :P)

Labor Day Company Outing

Labor day wasn't an official holiday in my company but quite a few other companies were off so while we did go back to the office, it was extremely casual... plus, we had half day off for our own company outing...

The outing started with the all-important item: food!

and it was Thai food!! and quite authentic one too!! which meant it was tasty spicy!! sooo good... unfortunately for my colleagues though, they were all sniffing by the end of the meal...

anyway we then headed on to 大溪 (I don't really know where it is exactly but I think it's somewhere west of Taipei city and lies along the border of Taipei county and Tao Yuan county).. there we met up with our boss and went for a nice stroll checking out the rice field and greenery around..
everything here is so green... very good for the eyes :)

There are Tung flowers here as well lining the side of the hill... for more about Tung flowers, check out my previous post on Miaoli...
This is us at a "garden cafe"... you can see my colleagues and the king of the day, Da Wei! He's Quentin's 2 year old son and I think he had the most fun that day :)

The other major highlight of that day was seeing fireflies.. it was too dark to take proper photos and videos but it was really an amazing sight! The bushes and undergrowth were dotted with small blinking lights and some lights were even flying along... I also managed to catch one and in general they seem quite content to just stay on your hand and just.. flicker :)

So yes it was another outing full of nature... loving it!

for more photos, check out http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=251682&id=576355703&l=0ad88f9675

Dave was in town!

Dave was in Taipei for about a week thanks to the Golden Week in Japan (where's the golden week in Taiwan??) so of course we hung out and had lots of fun :) it's also cool cos this is the 3rd time we've met up with each other and it's always been in a different country... 1st in Japan in March 2008 during APX, then in Singapore in December 2008 when he was on holiday, and now in Taipei... I wonder where we'll meet again next...

Anyway, this post shall be a photo feast cos otherwise it's too hard to describe all the stuff we did :)

We had Sichuan noodles lunch with the rest of my colleagues and Dave was cordially invited to join us the next day at...

Karaoke! random self-organized thingy in a really fancy KTV place... I thought it was a hotel when we walked in... plus, they served really good dinner, had very well-dressed waiters and waitresses, and all in all really looked like a hotel... our KTV room even came with an attached bathroom... I am so impressed with KTV in Taiwan... even Dave was impressed, which says a lot since he's in the land where KTV was born (Japan)

then we went for hot spring at the 八煙溫泉會館 Ba-Ian Hot Spring Resort on a Saturday... my first Hot Spring experience and a really cool one... the place was in the middle of another mountain 金山 so while soaking we could see outside to the vast amoun of greenery...
and we ordered the package that came with lunch, which was a Japanese meal with a lot of dishes! here's Dave posing with his Unagi lunch set... there was rice, salad, cold tofu with sea urchin sauce, curry fried chicken, mushroom soap and pickled fish with lots of roe...

So we got back to Taipei city at about 3pm and since it was Dave's last day in Taiwan, we had to try something very Taiwanese... which led us to...
Ding Tai Fung 鼎泰丰 for dinner! This is our basket of fish dumplings and a bit of our vege dish... Aside from really tasty food (it tastes better than the Singapore one), I was really impressed by the service quality because

• when I submitted our orders (you get to place your order while waiting for your seat), the waitress asked if I was new and recommended their Xiao Long Bao... I told her my friend doesn't take pork and she went through our other orders and pointed out that the shrimp dumplings came with pork. She then proceeded to inform me which ones didn't contain pork
• The queue was really long as usual and we were told we would have to wait about 45 mins. But 30 mins into waiting, another waitress came up to us and asked if we were ok to share a bigger table with other guests. We said ok and were ushered in.
• Turns out they placed us at an international table as the other guests who arrived were all Japanese... so all the waitresses and waitors who served our table were the ones who could speak fluent Japanese (and English of course, since they didn't know Dave is "from Japan" too)
• when our 1st dish arrived, the waitress checked our order list and confirmed if we did order a pork bun... which meant she actually knew that ours was the sort of "don't eat pork" type... and this was a different waitress from the one at the door.. so they have really efficient communication throughout the whole restaurant!

and finally, after our sumptious dinner with great service, we headed to Ice Monster 冰館 for some dessert: Mixed Fruit Ice! We were both so full after that :)

So it has been a bunch of very fulfilling days and meals.. isn't it great when friends visit? :)

Weekend in Miaoli / Hsinchu - 25 and 26

I didn't realise how much of a backlog this was until I looked up the exact dates I was in Miaoli... But I'm committed to clearing all that backlog today so reader beware: you're in for my blogging diarrhea fit! :)

so yes... the trip to Miaoli was quite a last minute decision... Justian from YZLC MSNed me on Friday evening asking if I was interested in joining their ICX Functional Meeting (yes again.. I am becoming a regular on their monthly FMs) which will be held in Miaoli this month (April)... so naturally I said ok and next morning, we met up at Taipei Train Station for a 1.5 hour (I think) train ride to Miaoli.

Miaoli is further South of Taipei and at this time of the year (end April till early May) is famous for its Tung flower blossoms. This is the season when the flowers start falling from the trees and because the flowers are white and extremely plentiful, they have been described as 五月雪 or "Snow in May".. you can read more about the flower and the season HERE

Of course, one can see these flowers in other parts of Taiwan as well (even in Taipei) but this season is even more significant in Miaoli because of its link to the Hakka people and their culture, which is another characteristic of Miaoli...

If I could summarize this weekend trip to Miaoli in one word, that word will easily be: Nature.

We stayed at a peaceful hostel high in the mountains... riding up on scooters from the train station took us almost 45 mins and involved some pretty winding hill roads as well as some really really steep roads... but the scenary along the way was really amazing and once we were at the hostel, it was so refreshing to be away from the hustle and bustle of the city...
Here are some shots of the hostel (it's actually a 三合院, one of those oldish chinese houses with a courtyard in the middle) and the greenery found on the way to and around it... (they're a bit small but don't worry. I will provide my facebook photos link at the end of this post)

The hostel is called 黃石山莊 and I definitely recommend it to anyone looking to spend some time within nature... they only started operating early this year as a hostel. Their main "trade" is actually hand-making lights using bronze and colored glass so the craftsmen work in the left section of the house, while the hostel rooms are on the right...and needless to say, you'll get a chance to see their works of art around the house...

Anyway, after checking in we headed to the Wood Sculpture Museum area, not to visit the museum but to check out the mountain (hill?) park beside it... it was surprisingly crowded and goes to show how the Taiwanese enjoy their nature :)


We climbed up quite a lot of steps to reach the top of the hill and all along the side we could see Tung flowers on the ground... some people were even picking them up and stringing them into a flower bracelet :)

right at the top, we were greeted by the sight of a HUGE tea plantation maintained by some Buddhist society... and beside the plantation, there was a specially maintained meditation area which is open to the public.. (Shirley, I think you'll love this place :P)

So in terms of actually introducing Miaoli, this is really all I have... for the rest of my photos, check out http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6633795&l=547d5e9d81&id=576355703
You'll find some shots of the hostel in the early morning with fog rolling all over the place.. it's like being in some really zen and heaven-ish place :)

We headed to Hsinchu on Sunday afternoon instead of staying on in Miaoli because the weather was getting quite bad with rain and lots of fog... and I didn't get to see much of Hsinchu since the trip was mainly to go for Karaoke there :) lots of fun, but more on Karaoke later on :)

Think about it...

"Truth has nothing to do with words. Truth can be likened to the bright moon in the sky. Words, in this case, can be likened to a finger. The finger can point to the moon's location. However, the finger is not the moon. To look at the moon, it is necessary to gaze beyond the finger, right?"

Quick Update

Here's a quick update from my very happening weekend... elaboration post will come later in the week (might be a bit busier this week, plus it was REALLY happening)

Anyway, in just the past 2 days, I have

• traveled to Miaoli county by train
• stayed at a hostel right in the mountains
• climbed a hill, saw beautiful flowers and experienced very strong chilly winds
• Pillion-rode a scooter up some pretty steep mountain roads to reach the hostel. It was about 7pm, quite dark at some stretches and raining
• Slipped off my scooter which slid backwards because we were on a slope, the road was slippery, and our scooter brakes didn't hold properly
• Walked up the slope to get to the hostel.. it was sooo exhausting
• Saw fireflies along the walk up... pretty!
  
• ate 7 dishes (and helped prepare 1) cooked by AIESECers across 3 hours as part of a random creative cooking competition we decided to hold at the hostel
• Experienced temperatures of between 11-14 degrees at night and in the morning at our hostel on the mountain
• felt like I was taking a glimpse into heaven, what with all the mist and fog at our hostel and in the surrounding on our mountain
• traveled to Hsinchu by train and sang KTV for the 1st time since arriving in Taiwan

So as you can see, definitely a somewhat random but extremely happening weekend... I'll take a while to organize photos and write a more detailed post :)

Thanks again to the ICX team from whole of AIESEC Taiwan.. seems like I have become a frequent visitor of their monthly functional meetings

Trip to Keelung

So I have been lazy and failed to update my blog as frequently as I used to... but in compensation of that, I promise this post itself will be a proper feature of Keelung, a lovely port city north of Taiwan...

As you can see from the map, Keelung is further north of Taipei but it's really quite accessible. I took the bus and it was a 30 - 4o mins ride. You can also reach Keelung by train, and I'm guessing it takes just a bit longer than the bus ride... Because the city is so north at the coastline, much of its development is thanks to port activity and even till today, while ship traffic has lessened considerably due to developments in Kaohsiong for example, the city still has many trades depending on the sea.

Perhaps due to the fact that shipping hasn't really grown into such a major activity as it did in Singapore, I think Keelung presents a really fascinating mix of modern development (in terms of port activities) and retaining of "old flavor of life".

As a start, let me bring you through the sights I visited:

Bisha Harbor
We started from the National Taiwan Ocean University (which features courses on oceanography and marine biology) to enjoy the view... Imagine being able to see this everyday when you are in school...

We then walked along the shoreline to Bisha Harbor, where many fishing boats dock after their fishing trips. Because of that, the seafood market there is quite an amazing sight in terms of the variety of seafood sold.

Here you see lots of prawn species ready to be bought, cooked and eaten.

and here, you see LIVE cuttlefish!!!! and a LIVE octopus in a net!!!

Frankly, I have only see live cuttlefish and octopi in the Underwater World in Singapore... so it felt a bit weird to come face to face with them just before heading for a big seafood lunch... We also saw live sea urchins, crabs, clams, mussels etc...

Speaking of our big seafood lunch, be prepared to meet some very aggresive restaurant waitresses lining the corridor just outside the market (where the restaurants are located)... they'll literally surround you to persuade you to eat at their restaurants... otherwise, the food there's quite ok (I still think Ilan had better seafood)

He Ping Island (和平島)
This place is sooo beautiful! It reminded me of my Tai Dong visit in 2007 as well as of Cappadokya in Turkey... The island is connected to Keelung by a small bridge and its main attraction is the coastine, which has been weathered by waves and wind into a really beautiful and natural sight...

You see a small inlet where the waves from the sea travel inland, and eventually form shallow and clear wading pools which become home to small fishes, crabs and seaweed.

Further out along the shore, you will find weathered rocks like below:
As you can see, the rocks are kind of in strips separated by "valleys" carved out by the water. There are also small potholes on the surfaces of these huge rocks.

This is shot taken closer to the land. Notice the different colored rocks we are standing on. Clearly the different geological components of the area have led to this very unique final formation. In this photo, you can also see Keelung island, a small hump in the distance which can be reached by ferry from Bisha Harbor.

So in conclusion, if you are a lover of the sea and nature, He Ping Island is a must-visit for its spectacular scenary!

Zhong Zheng Park (中正公園)
Zhong Zheng Park is located at the top of a hill in Keelung city, within walking distance from the train station. It was quite a lot of stairs to climb in order to reach the top, but a climb worth taking. Along the way, we came across a few small temples, a memorial hall for the Lunar Seventh Month festivities and finally reached the Kuan Yin statue that overlooks the town and harbor.

It was nice and breezy at the top, and surprisingly quite crowded by families who had brought their children to enjoy the many carnival stalls there.

However, I'm not sure if there are buses that travel up so if you're not a fan of stairs, you should either take a cab or give this park a miss :)


For more photos of my Keelung trip, check http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6531545&l=cf648dcfdd&id=576355703

And for more visitor information on Keelung, please visit http://tour.klcg.gov.tw/english/index2.asp

p.s. there is a visitor office right beside the Keelung Train Station so remember to drop by and pick up maps of the place!

A tribute to Singapore Kopi

I was lamenting to my colleagues about the lack of really cheap coffee here in Taipei so naturally they asked how much is the coffee in Singapore... and naturally, I told them a cup of hot coffee in the coffee shop costs SGD 0.80, which is roughly about 17 NTD...

Now that's considered very cheap, considering that the cheapest made-on-the-spot coffee you can get here is from 7-11 or convenience stalls and costs NTD 30 (that's for a Latte) Packaged or canned coffee costs about NTD 25 here, so Singapore still beats that...

From there, our conversation continued into how the coffee in Singapore is made, how to order coffee etc... which made me realise how unique our eating and coffee culture is in Singapore...
this post is dedicated to Singapore Kopi! :)

Making Kopi
Here, you have the typical 'equipment' for making coffee...

The boiling water, which goes into the pouring can. On the rim of the can, you can see something that looks like a filter... That is the coffee sock holding the coffee powder. The hot water is poured through the powder.

Here's a close up view of the sock... Here, you can also see the condensed milk and sugar used in Kopi (more explanations on the names in a moment)
Coffee from pouring can then goes into the cup. (p.s. the guy in this photo is showing off his skills.. they don't usually pour from such a height). Depending on the person preparing, the milk and sugar are poured into the cup before or after the coffee goes in.
After adding a final bit of hot water, your steaming cut of Kopi is ready for SGD 0.80!

Ordering your Kopi
Now you know how it's made, you need to know how to order it like a true Singaporean... It's an art similar to how some Americans order their Starbucks (Half-caff half-fat soy latte grande with rose scented syrup and vegan dark-chocolate biscotti)... so here's how it works:



All the above apply to orders for Tea (or in Hokkien, Teh)
Warning though... not all drink stalls may understand this, as far as my experience goes, it works best with Singapore chinese because of all the Hokkien involved... but it really depends, we have ordered Kopi-O gao Kosong at an Indian stall before and it came out just fine...

Prices vary for Kopi, Kopi-O, Kopi-O Kosong and Peng... I don't think they change for Gao and Siew Dai...

and speaking of prices, it also depends on where you have your Kopi...
So here's a quick guide to the types of eating places in Singapore (and where you can find Kopi... If you want to order Kopi in a Chinese Restaurant, do it at your own risk of embarassing yourself)