Fragments of a Dream: 12/01/2008

Elo~

I'm back from my 7D6N Taiwan trip. Overall, it was not as good as I expected. Shopping was kinda boring. Except that we travelled to Hualien (which is East of Taiwan) and visited the grand Taroko Gorge. Too many pictures to upload. Will do that later when I 'm not that lazy...

1st Dec:
We took Jetstar plane to Taoyuan International Airport. There was not much leg room but other than that it was ok. We shared a $11 Nasi Goreng with Sambal Fish meal on board. When we reached there, we took this Freego Bus. We thought it would bring us right to our TS Hotel. But nope, it stopped halfway at Taipei and we had to change to another bus to get to Ximen where our hotel was. I was quite annoyed as, both of us had to stand throughout with luggages by our side.

TS Hotel, was one of the popular 3 star hotels recommended in HWZ and flowerpod forums. The room was around NTD 11000+ for 6N. The room was small but the bathroom is like half of the room. I love the bathroom. The bathtub was solid! :) Well, guys would probably love the porn channels there. The hotel staff were friendly especially this young lady. She's really nice. However, what surprised me was, the hotel used key to unlock the rooms and not those keycards. Kinda old, I guess. The hotel doesnt have 4th storey (superstitious!) and it's only 6 storeys high.

I missed Shihlin Night Market food. BUT! The Chicken cutlet was a letdown though we bought two. Kinda wasted! Da Chang Bao Xiao Chang (大肠包小肠) was nice and the Hong You Chao Shou (红油炒手). It's like wanton mee in peanut/satay sauce. Really yummy! We ate this again when we visited here a few days later. Anyway, we finally completed the 2nd half of the Shihlin which we missed out last year. There, I bought a pair of long brown boots for NTD 390 (SGD 1 = NTD21.26), long black socks (so as to wear the boots). The boots was for fun and also, they come in handy for the next few days since the temperature got colder from 5th Dec onwards. Oh yea, we also bought our train tickets to Hualien (4th Dec) for round trip @ NTD 802 at the Railway Station.

2nd Dec:
This was dedicated to Dear's IT day. Before making our way via the MRT to Zhongxiao FuXing for GuangHua IT Mall, we stopped by Taipei Main station to go to K Mall & NOVA (IT places mainly). Dear bought his NOCTUA P12 fans. Had our lunch at K Mall's Pepper Lunch. We visited our favourite 7-11 at the MRT station as well. WOAH! Nice Sushis selling there! I love the 7-11 @ Taiwan! How come the one near my house sux big time?

Guanghua IT Mall has shifted to a new building. So, it was the first time we have been there. Before gg there, Dear was looking at some IT shophouses and out of boredom, I saw a long queue at this streetside stall, selling pancakes, and decided to join in while waitin for him to finish. After eating the pancakes, I seriously had no idea why it was so demanding. I think the one selling at Tamp was much better. So we spent quite a while at Guanghua. He bought a motherboard (GIGABYTE UD3P), quad core CPU Q9400 and ram TRANSCEND DDR2 1066+. (Above description is supplied by Dear Mr Yip who wants people to gian his new found darling. Hmm Hmm!~!) I also bought a David Attenborough documentary DVD "Trials of Life" and "Metero Garden 2" Jap Drama set for my sis. We drank hot coccoa and ice tea from the stall last year near Guanghua.

After that, we ate at Bao Men Tian Bu La Stall (宝门甜不辣). It was not as good as I thought. Should have bought from the streetside stall we tried last year. By this day, my lips already showed signs of drying up. Sigh!

3rd Dec:
Started off at Taipei City Mall (台北地下街). Was looking out for some anime merchandise but nothing much. Only managed to buy Fate Stay Night File. Didnt know the package actually consisted 2 files. I only wanted the file with all the summoned heroes and not just the female lead, Saber. Ah well, I'll probably give that file to Huppy if he wants. If not, maybe I'll pass to JunJie. We walked through the whole city mall. It was boring! Not as exciting as last year. I didn't buy much anime merchandise. Sigh.

After which, we made our way to Houshanppi where the famous wholesale clothes market, Wu Fen Pu, is. As we were too hungry when we reached Houshanppi (it was ard 4 plus), we had our lunch at Pizza Hut. It was past lunch so we only made it to their tea time. Buffet salad + main course + drinks + soup. Rather ok. Probably, we were too hungry to complain. Selection of soup includes minestrone soup with fish, Pulut Hitam or Korean Ginseng chicken soup. Weird stuff rite? I guess, most of these resturants here already modified their menus to suit the local tastebuds.

Wu Fen Pu was really boring. Probably cuz my legs were tired. I was wearing boots the whole day! I didn't buy much there except a blue long wallet, 2 tops and more stockings/socks/leggings. Dear managed to buy a thick red jacket. After Wu Fen Pu, we had to go back to the hotel early as the next day we were heading to Hualien, which is eastern of Taiwan and our train was supposed to depart at 8am. We went to this Cafe 85 which is found along our walk back hotel from MRT station and bought 2 slices of cakes - Strawberry and Blackforest. Each is just NTD 35, less than 2 bucks here! Oishii~ and I bought hot ginger tea to warm myself up and sandwich for tmr breakfast.

4th Dec:
We called Mr Lu Lai Fu, a popular cab driver from Hualien as mentioned a few times in forums. However, the night before he told us that he couldn't make it and hence, got his 'disciple', Mr Li Feng Zu to drive us around. The charge per cab was NTD 2200 which was ok. Woke up super early. 6.50 am. I was up and ready to take the train to Hualien. But, Dear had stomachache and took quite awhile to prepare. We tried to rush for the train but, we went to the wrong platform. When we reached the correct one, the doors of the 8 a.m. Tze Chiang Train ( 自强号 ) closed. SIGH!!! I was very disappointed and almost wanted to flare up at Dear but I controlled. So he suggested asking the ticket counter staff when's the next train to Hualien. The staff told us 20 mins later. Fine. That didn't seem too bad. Dear also called the cab driver, Mr Lu to inform him that we would be late.

But when I saw the train stopping at the platform. It was totally different from what I thought. The staff didn't say we were gonna take the slowest train! Chu Kuang Train stops at almost every stop from Taipei all the way to Hualien. There's not allocated seats and yeah, u have to go and find your own seats. What is most interesting about this train is that, there are washrooms on board and food/drinks are allowed. At one station, the train stopped longer and you could hear people selling packed lunch outside. I wanted to go and buy cuz the journey was long and we were terribly hungry since we only shared a sandwich. But I duno whether the food is hygenic anot. Hence, I forgo the idea. Nevertheless the toilet is interesting. U needa press the buttons at the side and, the toilet bowl, urinal are within the same toilet. Toilet is spacious compared to the one @ Jetstar.

The train ride was long but comfortable as more and more passengers alighted and fewer boarded. The scenery was also superb. Dear was tired so he felt asleep but I was looking at the scenery. U can see the transit from city areas to countryside. I got all geared up when I saw Pacific Ocean!!! ( I followed the train route from the journey and found out that it was travelling near the borders of Taiwan) Yes!!! I finally saw it! I mean, not from the top but from the side. I immediately woke him up to see the view. The water was really beautiful! It has different shades of blue and, lotsa mountains here and there. Water was also glistening. Really beautiful. The whole pictures were actually quite touching. Really remind u that simplicity is actually beautiful at its best.

We took alot of such views with my camera and his Omnia ( he was bloggin on the go). N saw some rice fields, a few cows, a few cross junctions where vehicles cannot cross as to allow the train to pass (there will be a sound 'ding ding ding' to signal the train arrival). Man, it's just like in animes! I actually enjoyed the train ride to Hualien more than the ride back to Taipei. It was really a comfortable feeling, when u looked out to the window, saw some sceneries and listening to Jap anime songs. HAHAHAHA! The whole train ride took 3.5 hours. 1 hour longer than the Taroko Tze Chiang train. We reached Hualien at 12.04 pm.

We felt extremely bad when we saw Mr Li. He was a tall guy. We thought he was not married cuz no sign of any wedding ring. But after that day, he told Dear that he's actually a grandpa with 2 sons married @ Taoyuan. He was a nice guy, with typical Taiwanese accent. We apologised for our late arrival. He actually waited 2 hours for us! Sheesh. He brought us to this resturant to have a quick lunch, next asked us to get water and poncho from 7-11 as we were gonna visit Water Curtain Caves (水帘洞) at Taroko Gorge. I brought mine but Dear had to buy. It was cheap anyway. Then, he drove us up to Taroko in his yellow cab.

Along the way, we had some history and geography lessons about Taiwan. We know the Aboroginal pple have been 'counseled' by the government to move from the mountain areas to the city areas (near Taroko Gorge). He also helped us to take pictures on and off and even lent us torches as, some caves which required us to walk in are dark or no lights at all. Taroko Gorge is famous for its marble stones formations. Lotsa stones here and there. We saw 4 waterfalls of different heights and walked along some bridges. As it was so huge, we only covered some of the highlights like Swallow Grotto, Tunnel of nine Turns, Baiyang Trail. Although Taroko is now considered one of the popular tourist attractions, Mr Li told us it actually caused lotsa deaths. 200 plus workers (mainly farmers) were killed while trying to build the roads and tunnels through the caves. 700 plus workers were injuried. Hence, there is a temple built to commemorate the deaths of them. Hence, if any of u wanna go there, pls show some appreciation to them. :)

I always thought Taiwan is the Land of Scooters. LOL! But, he told us that acutally Taiwan is full of mountain ranges. After one mountain range, u can actually see other cities like Taitung, Taichung etc. I thought this was rather true. Haha I didn't realise this fact.

The highlight of this Taroko Gorge was definitely the Water Curtain Caves (just like in Journey to the West!) We had to walk almost 30 mins up there as no vehicle can actually enter. Poor Mr Li told us that almost everyday, he has been driving tourists to Taroko and accompanying them up to the caves. No wonder, he's not fat at all! It was a tiring hike up there. I was complaining where the bloody caves were. Sigh! Ah well. Finally we reached there. I think few tourists actually ventured up there as, the hike was long. I was a bit scared as the cave was very dark. We had to remove our shoes, fold up our jeans up to our knees, put on our ponchos and bring along the torches. The water was cooling and the stones in the water are like massaging our soles when u stepped on there. The cave was really dark but wet as water's dripping down from the top of the caves. As we ventured in, the sound of the water curtain got louder. It's actually rather scary. Haha! I have no guts, I know! When we entered, water was coming down on us. The water, according to Mr Li, is cooling all year round. He also told us to try drinking the refreshing water. He was absolutely right! Taste like mineral water but much better. We should have brought along the water bottle to top up the water in there. Dear stood under the water, as if the water is massaging him. It was fun! Cooling water, though the dark caves just made me kinda uneasy. Hehe. First time I played with water coming down from a cave.

When we left the cave, a Hongkong couple asked us whether it was worth it to go in. As they didn't bring along the ponchos, I suggested we passed them mine. We really wanted them to try the experience. Haha. So we just gave them, though my poncho was ard SGD 5! Haha.
After that highlight, we made our way down to the cab. Mr Li walked ahead of us since he needed to drive the cab over.

Be careful when u're walking along the trail. There would always be signs indicating rocks may fall off, hence brisk walk. I was thinking, Valerie hime would love here but well, the parents probably prefer to go shopping than climbing mountains. We also chanced upon maple tree. Too bad, it was wintertime. If not, we will be able to see some birds, bear and even boars.

Mr Li drove us to a local night food market outside a local temple. We tried this Yong Tau Foo like stall but the Mala was too hot for us to take it. Sigh. The only consolation was the drink, Lemon Ice Jelly. It was sweet and refreshing. I decided to buy their chicken cutlet to eat on the train in case we were to be hungry on the way back to Taipei. It was terrible, though the stall holders gave us a cup of Red tea for free when Mr Li told them we were from Singapore.
Mr Li brought us to a local store to get some local goodies. I spent ard NTD 500. After which, he drove us back to Hualien Railway at 7pm. Our train was at 7.30pm. We thanked him and Mr Lu, apologised to Dear over the phone for not being able to accompany us today. We gave Mr Li NTD2600, NTD 400 more for tips and for waiting so long for us. He kept persuading us to stay one more night at Hualien as he had connections to get minsu and special discounted price for the Farglory Ocean Park tickets. I also want! But, I was not prepared to stay overnight there so too bad!

The new Tze Chiang Taroko train (which is said to be faster), had services similar to a plane ride. There's this female waitress pushing a cart around asking whether we want drinks or snacks. You needa pay for them tho. The seats are of leather materials. It took near to 2.5 h for us to reach back Taipei before changing to MRT to go to Ximen. As it was already dark, there was nothing to see out at the window. Boring! So, we rested or played our NDS together.
We bought some snacks from 7-11 to compensate for the pathetic dinner we had earlier.

5th Dec:
We woke up late as probably, we were still rather tired from the Hualien trip. Went to have our lunch at this Fei Tian Ma La Huo Guo beside Cafe 85, hence near our hotel. NTD 400 plus for buffet steamboat, icecream, deserts, and drinks. Rather worth it! N u know what, the ice creams are from Haagen Daaz! Seh! Not bad rite? The food has alot of variety from oysters, mussels, scallops, vegggies, mushrooms, eggs, japanese rice, mee. N I didnt know Muachee can be put into steamboat! We ordered 2 diff soup bases - Mala and some non-spicy lemon chicken soup. Ate till rather full. I love the chocolate cakes there as well! :D

Today was initially fixed to go Keelung but, again, I was too lazy. We went window shopping around Xi Men Ding instead. I chanced upon this guitar store. They had this duplicate HIDE's hilarious yellow looking guitar, going off at SGD 2000 plus!!! So Exp.... Finally found Jia Jia Music Store. N.... N..... I found my LUNA SEA's LAST CONCERT DVD! I've been finding it since Di Xia Jie but none sold it. I was really excited and was really gonna buy but when I checked my current money at hand. I hesitated. The DVD cost around SGD$125! I was really unwilling to pay so much for it. Hence, I left the store empty handed whereas, Dear bought his Mai Kuraki albums with posters. Sigh!

We went back to hotel. I used the computer to ask for opinions from Shuhua and Ling Kit whether I should but the Luna Sea's DVD. Sigh! In the end, I still can't bear to buy.
That night, we went to another night market at Tai Power Building. Shi da Night Market. ( 师大夜市 )I was told this place sold lotsa sports apparel but they were not cheap at all! Sigh! Dear was really bored. We found a shop selling lotsa Sanrio products and of course, the famous Wan Wan character. In the end, I bought 2 bags, red one for me and brown/black for my sis. Both cost NTD 200 only!

After which, as it was still early, we visited Shihlin Night Market again to eat and walk around. Ate Hong you Chao Shou and Da Chang Bao Xiao Chang again. We also tried this new Peanut Icecream (花生卷冰淇淋). It's like popiah icecream, just that it has ice cream as fillings. Yummy! Dear also bought a Shark sling bag...

6th Dec:

Ate brunch at this Japanese DSR restaurant (大车轮日本料理) near our hotel. Food was alright, rather cheap as well. Dear said wanna go K Mall to buy his Gundam figurine. We also bought some stuff at the Sanrio store there. That includes gifts for my tuition students and Hello Kitty hairband and toothbrush for Valerie. Once we came out of the building, we saw Da Mouth holding their autograph session. The Korean guy in the group is very yandao! Lol! Aisha looked pretty. However hard the MC was trying to get the crowd up to the stage, the amount of crowd there was pathetic. I feel for the artistes themselves. The weather has been rather cold since the day before (15 deg C). Both of us had this impulse to go and get their pre-released album and have their autographs. Why? Cuz I can sell the album! Lol! Snapped some pics of them.

After which, we made our way to Taipei City Hall as Dear said there was a IT fair going on there (just like last year). We found the mega 5-storey Eslite bookstore and spent quite a long time there with me, buying Jimmy's comics and others, plus selecting 2009 organisers for myself and my mum. Spent quite a lot there. Sigh. Then, we walked to where Taipei 101 was.

We took quite a while to find the conference hall with the ITMonth (IT Fair) however, it closed at 6pm. We were not allowed to enter at 6.20pm. Dear was rather sian, cuz he wanted to get power supply. Nevertheless, we went to Taipei 101, sat outside the toilet, trying to decide whether we should actually go up the 101. As we found it rather exp to go up, we spent time at the toy store there. I bought a squid hand puppet and octopus hp holder. We had dinner at the foodcourt at Taipei 101. Lotsa food choices and all look so delicious. I settled for a ramen while he bought an average Kebab with fried rice.

After long walking around, we took the shuttle bus back to Taipei City hall to return to our hotel. Tired and aching legs!

7th Dec:

Last day! We were rather reluctant to go back to Singapore. Hehe. I got myself a Japanese rock band, Kagrra's latest album 'Core'. I had heard of their names but haven't heard any of their songs. Album cover was pretty tho. In the end, only the title track was passable. Sheesh... Nvm, Support Japanese Visual KEI!

Went to walk around at Xi Men Ding. Tried this hip-looking Pasta Bar as I have craving for pasta. We waited. The place was small and squeezy. The pasta was horrid. The sauces are all diluted and yucky. Even Dear said that I cook better pasta than them and can open a store there. It's really bad! Not as fragrant as Pastamania as well. Sheesh.

After the awful lunch, we bought a big sausage. It was not that yummy as it looked. Sheesh. Finally after loitering around, we saw PARADISE! We finally found an anime merchandise store! K & T Anime Shop. By then, we only had enough money to get a cab back from hotel to airport. But.... the stuff there were really alot! Damn! That's where we wanted to go since day 1! I bought lotsa stuff, merchandise of DGrayman, Fate Stay Night, Blood+ and even bought Katekyo Hitman Reborn. LOL I didn't watch the last anime but well, there are lotsa merchandise there and I think probably I will like the anime in the future. HAhaha~ So I bought a card holder and a file. Total cost was NTD 700 + and I had to use my visa debit to pay it.

We went to buy some Takoyaki. TS Hotel staff helped us to book a cab to airport. Initially we thought it was the usual cab but no, the cab was like a mini-van (maxi cab size), the seats were all leathery. Both of us actually dozed off during the hour car ride. Fare: NTD 1100.

On our flight back, we were able to admire the night scenes. We bought dinner and rested on the plane.

Fragments of a Dream

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

79th

Sunday, December 28, 2008

78th

Sunday, December 21, 2008

77th

Friday, December 19, 2008

76th

Monday, December 8, 2008

75th

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