Saturday, September 09, 2006

ok, been procrastinating over tis for quite a few days already. so i shall blog abt my 4D3N trip to taiwan now.. pictures will be up soon. i promise. anyway, tis entry will be v v long. bcoz its my adventures over a 96 hr period. i'll try to make it interesting though. n yes, i noe my darling h=sis hv been advertising on my tagboard to say tt her's hv pics uploaded already. but her posts r so v v v short!!!


Day 1
we flew budget!! yeap, took the discounted jetstar asia's airbus to the city of taipei. it was honestly, one of the best aeroplane trips i hv taken ever. instead of breaking apart n falling into pieces during take-off like i expected, the flight was strangely smooth, the air stewardess although not as pretty n statuesque as singapore airline's flight attendents, were v friendly n helpful. the seats r leather n apparently had osim's latest accupuncture technology to relieve headaches n jetlag. despite not having personal tv n gaming consoles tt can be found in major carriers, they provided TODAY newspaper to help us pass time.

dunno izzit bcoz the seats were leather or bcoz they did not serve food on board, u alight frm the aircraft w/o smelling funny like always. the cabin, although smaller then the usual boeing size, is far frm claustrophobic n in fact, sorta cozy.

peanuts, drinks n snacks hv to be purchased. tis helps u not to over-eat n thus, not alight feeling nauseous n bloated. (btw, jj d'jus orange n calamansi sucks!)

upon reaching taiwan's chiang kai-shek international airport, we were greeted wif yellow lights, low ceilings n unfriendly airport staff. a far cry frm changi's standard. there was no 'wecome to taiwan' signboards. no flowers, no carpets. juz glass, metal n edgy wrds. wat a dampener!

met our chauffeur who drove us to our hotel in the ximen district. on our journey to the rich garden hotel, we drove along v long expressways which were poorly lit by street lamps. the bulk of the lighting came frm car headlights n reflective 'cat eyes' along the side of the rd. there was oso horrible traffic jams.

in s'pore, we hv the erp (electronic rd pricing) to regulate cbd (central business district) traffic. over there, they hv maunually-manned toll booths collecting money to fund highway maintenance.

when we finally arrived at the hotel, we were greeted hospitably in a warm n quaint lobby. the staff personally brought us to our rms, gave us maps n spared no expense at making us comfortable. mommy, daddy n bri took the 2nd floor rm. alisa, trix n me triple-shared the 3rd floor rm. although tis hotel is not some grand hotel. acutally, i tink its juz 3-star. the furniture is pure rosewood, we had free internet connection n almost 72 cable channels! other then the movie chnls (eg. HBO) the rest was in chi. even disney!! imagine zack n cody in chi?!?! oh the horror!

the hotel being juz a 5min walk frm the ximending shopping district, its convenient but not noisy.. nice. but the bed was higher n springier then the one i'm used to at hm. so it wasn't really comfy to slp on. trix n alisa shared a double bed n i took the single one. which means everytime i turn, the bed bounces! being paranoid singaporeans tt we were, we even took the pains to drag heavy rosewood chairs to block the doors when we slept. hahaha.

aft settling down, we took a night-time trek to the bustling nightlife taiwan has to offer. ximending, although renowned for its teenage suitability, its not of orchard rd standard. prob juz abt bugis quality. n some of the clothing resembles 'this fashion' patterns.. omg. but the sheer awesomeness of the city vibe was omni-present (def: present everywhere simultaneously).

flashing neon lights covered every building. moving adverts n celebrity endorsed billboards screamed "look-at-me" frm every available wall n pillar. god, they even printed rainie's face on the floor n sell clothes similar to those worn by singers in their mvs! tts how madly star-crazy they are.

another interesting pt in tis teenage hideout was the presence of clocks. be it digital or analog. everytime u look up, u'll be able to see the time. in fact juz outside the mrt station, 4 clocks frm the 4 surrounding buildings vie for ur attention. if i lived here, i wun be able to use "i forgot the time" as an excuse for breaking curfew le. haha.

but stuff there r all pretty cheap. so technically, u can call it bargain haven. earrings for S$1 n latest cds for only S$12.. n they give u loads of freebies. i tink its coz they get to save on freight charges since the celebs come frm taiwan anyway.

the IN thing there is knee-high socks, mini skirt or pants for girls n hip-hop or bball wear for guys. n their hair r jet-black in colour.. so jap style. btw, bball is HUGE there. its the yao-ming influence. haha. their selection of bballs n bball shoes is even greater then the common jogging attire. n bball throwing machines (the arcade sort) can be found everywhere. even inside sports retail shops.

the 7-eleven n convenience stalls r all cutesy cute. pinky packaging, bright colours n celeb faces cover loads of products! only, they dun hv our slurpee machines n hot products. i guess its coz the street food (eg. chou tofu (fermented beancurd) n oyster meesua) r much tastier n easily available in all hrs of the nite.

sanrio, disney n lolita shops can be found along any street. bimbotic gds like glittery or gem-stone covered notebooks, furry pencils, hello kitty erasers, pinki-fied clothes r hot buys. tis is barbie heaven man. haha. i pratically went screaming into every shop. oops. *blushes*

there r oso some stuff tt can't be found in s'pore. bubble tea comes in 2 sizes. 500cc n 700cc. even the pearls come in standard n miniature form. n the chewiness is perfect! did i mention, they still shake ur bubble tea for u so its all frothy n nice! such a pity they had no strawberry flavoured milk tea. bahx. there r oso whole shops n alleyways dedicated solely to turn-turn n kiap-kiap machines. haha. [dun understand? wait for the pics!!!] its so super-duper kawaii n there r loads of tofu man products. so many tt jj wld go insane wif delight! they r also v into self-indulgent neoprint booths. only here, there r movable seats n funny props to add to ur wacky moments! cute cute.

the first meal we had in tis new country was at tis cute eggy restaurant, tamago yo. everything here is smoothered in egg. urggh, tink of the cholesterol lvl! ting will faint! haha. the food is ok only lah, barely passable but the cuteness of all its 4 storeys more then make-up for the food standard. they hv doll-hse sorta furniture, kiddy-looking meals n pretty waitresses. it was oso here tt i had my first paiseh moment. who ask them to print their menu in freaking CHINESE! misread mei gui (rose) soda for cao mei (strawberry) soda. i muz be deprieved coz i even insisted i was correct when the waitress "huh" me. much to my higher-chinese taking sisters' suaning delight. geez.

in all their chinese 'pro-ness' i declare them a language-ist (aft racist n sexist)! hehe.

shopped a little then went back to the hotel to watch doomsdayer, a really nice spy show. n yup, its in eng. haha.

p/s (everyone here has tt china-doll fringe. so i'm not tt out of place afterall. in fact, i'm in vogue! haha.)


Day 2
woke up to buffet breakfast. yummy. tis time, we shopped on the rd opp ximending. n gosh, its the direct opp of the hipness of ximending. the shops here r more aunty but we bought loads of makan stuff frm the supermarket n local tidbits frm the street market tt strangely resembled bugis street. only here, motorbikes r zooming around u. which makes shopping one dangerous exercise!

but the things r kinda gross. coz the govt is v hands-off, selling raw food among cooked food is soo common. but even more unhygenic is tt fish n pork is sold frm the same booth which happens to be selling clothes too. imagine, a chunk of raw, red pork hanging between racks of cloth. gross can?!?

aft tt, we took the jie yun (mrt) to taipei city hall. mrt there is v diff frm s'pore. ppl queue up orderly (1 line!) to get in. n if the carriage is full, they do not push or shuffle but juz get back in line for the nxt train. the eats r oso L-shaped leh. so gd for cam-whoring n gossiping lah. :P they oso abide by the 'keep-to-the-right' rule on escalators strictly - even during rush hr. also, instead of saying 1 min before train arrival, they count down in terms of 5 sec. so u can pace ur running. so cute rite?? also, their entry is not automatic n u gotta push (or rather wrestle) ur way onto the platform. they oso got stars like F.I.R to record their mrt messages like "pls do not eat on the platform", etc. they r really star-obsessed!

we proceeded to walk to taipei 101 coz we missed the free shuttle bus. before we reached taipei 101, we walked through tis 3-in-1 shopping centre. its actually 3 seperate shopping centres linked by tunnels n bridges. it is tis tt is of orchard standard. wif brands like prada, gucci taking up big shop spaces. there was oso a warner village tt is waaay bigger then cineleisure. the place was sprawling. but the things here juz screams expensive.

had lunch at tis korean restaurant. set meals for NT$180 only. slurp. i now feel closer to hyun bin. *drools* haha. n another cool thing here is tt ppl can bring their dogs into the shopping complex provided the dogs r in doggy carriers. unique ba? we oso went to hv haagen daz dessert! their menu n flavours is much more extensive then s'pore. watermelon n honeydew flavours oso hv leh. haha. n instead of juz choc fondue, they hv cheese n yoghurt fondue too!

it was here tt i quarelled wif mommy. her mouth really cannot stop moving. 24/7 yak yak yak. frm s'pore to taiwan, across oceans, she is still tt same old naggy person. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. muz really master the art of selective listening to automatically switch off when she starts her daily routine of 'singing'.. cmi.

we continued walking towards taipei 101 - the tallest building in the world. n its earthquake proof! amazing. there r many boutique shops like walt disney, mango, anna sui n playboy! ya.. the clothes n bags r totally cool. but prices range around the hundreds. cher n loti muz be sooo envious. haha. aft tis, we went to taipei's financial district. to meet aunty jennifer n her son joseph. he is so super-duper cute. n he is absolutely smitten by me. lol. haha. (dun believe? wait for the pic n weep man!) lalala.

she brought us up to amex taiwan hq so mommy can visit her collegues. if the s'pore dealing rm was big, tis wld be considered huge. the sheer size of manpower is overwhelming. no wonder mommy n uncle jason always tell me to nv wrk for local banks coz its only these foreign banks tt can give u bigger n greener pastures n opportunities. i wanna be like mommy. i wanna wrk in new york n all over the world. ok, i'm digressing. back to my hol...

aunty jennifer treated us to he feng zhong guo cai, tis apparently famous chinese restaurant. n i tried authentic prune juice. yucks. but the dishes were ever so delicious. as usual, the host will order alot alot of dishes. much more then we cld ever finish so alot was wasted.. but i guess its juz a show of generousity. anyway, i was too busy swooning in the cuteness of joseph. his eyes r juz soo dazzling. haha. :P

aft dinner, we cabbed down to miramar. one of the tallest ferris wheels available today. taxi fares start at NT$70 n jumps by NT$5. it took NT$125 to get there. we paid NT$150 each wif us four kids sitting in one ferris wheel carriage while mommy n daddy had some private time in their own air-conditioned carriage. there was merry-go-rounds, bubbles n a live band down below. one wrd: romantic. they even hv private alcoves (def: secluded structures) for couples. when u see how they juz sit n stare into each other's eyes, hands entwined but yet not straying, no hankey-pankey. its juz so sweet. *gushes*

on our way back, we were too exhausted to take public transport anymore so we hitched 2 cabs. can't possibly squeeze a family of 6 into 1 taxi ba. anyway, we were ripped-off. the uncle brought us round n round. even when we corrected him, he insisted the price wun differ by much. my foot lor. not all tourists r stupid can?!?

we went back to ximen area n tried out snow ice for NT$100. something like ice-kachang. but smoother n hv real fruits n milk covering it. 2 shops were fighting for our biz. tis m'sian guy was trying to use our countries' proximity to convince us to eat at his up-scale looking shop, black wif hanging lights. v chic can. then tis another taiwan girl was bugging us to enter her grafitti-adorned but cheery shop. we chose the latter coz it was packed! tt means they muz be gd rite? haha. typical singaporeans. tsk tsk tsk. trix n alisa shared a qing ren xue hua (lover's snow flake) its more pricey but much lovelier n who can not go gaga over the name? anyway, decided to be adventurous n try bittergourd juice.. the bittergourds were big n WHITE! its ultra bitter btw. well, juz as i was enjoying the experience thoroughly. i received smses concerning camp. haiz.. forcefully brought back to reality, filled wif responsibilites n commitments. :(

was deadtired by the time we returned to our rm. n i took a long bubble bath. haha. sorry meis for taking so long. it was only in the tub did i realise taipei's water is blue. it looks normal until u contrast it wif the whiteness of the bathtub. shows how much chlorine they need to use to make their water safe. thank god s'pore is not like tt. phew.


Day 3
we took the railway. yup yup. huo ce, the one tt runs on coal n produces smoke. haha. took it out to the outskirts of taipei. visited song shan for wufenpu, warehouse sales at wholesale prices. the things r cheap but looks cheap too. bahx. n daddy actually said they r designer. define 'designer'??? except the children clothes which r so utterly adorable!

like all the street shopping area we visited, shopping is dangerous bcoz of reckless teenage motorbikers. they wun stop or slow down when they see u. those jerks hv the cheek to accelerate. they r soo gonna kill someone one day.

we tried liang mian (cold noodles served wif salt, wasabi n cucumber) at tis rd side stall. kinda nice but the wasabi was killer. they mix it wif water n almost poured a ladle full of it over each of our plates!!

aft tt, we moved on to danshui. the seaside wif wonderful scenery. perfect for lovers to watch the sun set.. bought the bulk of my souveniers frm here. my fav place of all.. =D tasted 2 foot tall ice-cream tt was more ice than cream watched the idyllic (def: charming n rustic) lifestyle of the fishermen in their sanpans, artists painting potraits, quaint little shops doing honest business n of course a huge population of cute guys. i bet its the fresh oxygen tt makes then so drop-deap gorgeous. like the chou tofu seller. izzit the smelly fumes tt make him all the more gd looking? haha. deep breaths everyone!! lol.

had dinner at ah gei, another famous food. its vermicelli (tung-hoon) wrapped in tofu n meat wrapped in fishballs! aft tt, we moved on the the ultra popular n happening shilin night market. it was packed but its here tt the real bargaining takes place. bought lots of clothes n suprisingly, their fake gds look somewhat real!! soon, it started to rain n we had to make our way back to the hotel.

Day 4
woke up later for a last breakfast. packed up n went for a last jalan around ximending. n coz there was no need to keep any more of taiwan's currency, we really went all out n spulrged. mommy bought soo many clothes. even a trenchcoat. it was cool but a trenchcoat in s'pore? haha. we took neoprints (lousy quality for expensive price!!) turned out alot of toy capsules n i tried out the kiap kiap machines! i'm proud to announce tt i've a 100% record!! spent NT$20 on 2 tries n got 2 plushies! even won bri who pumped in hundreds of dollars n only got 1 successful attempt. its skill man, skill. haha.

tried papaya milk. yummy.. n apparently, it helps boobs to grow. so bri shld not drink so much. haha. soon aft it really poured. n we had no umbrella. wat a bad end. so we found internet connection! instead of blogging like all my sis, i tagged all my darling's blogs.. see, instead of doing a once in a blue moon thing - like blog frm taiwan, i gave u all the honour of a tag frm taiwan. spread my joy ma. haha. :P

soon aft, the chauffeur came to pick us up for the airport. bye bye taiwan, hello singapore. hello 'home-sweet-home'!!

the trip back was much more fun. coz the 3 sisters played hangman n crapped alot. plus, there was tis couple making out juz in front. the guy is hot. abt 18 too.. but the girl was so-so only.. one guess, they lied to their parents tt they r on a sch trip so they can go overseas for a getaway rendezvous. haha.

it was mass sms when we touched down. juz 4hrs on the plane n i hv missed calls n smses. no wonder they say we cannot do w/o a hp in today's world anymore.. alisa was hilarious coz her hp was running low in batt.

alisa: "come on baby, dun die on me.."

cabbed hm then went out to the nearby 24 hr kopitiam for horfun supper coz trix needed to get acclimatised (def: to become acquainted) back to singapore. excuse to eat actually. haha.

I LOVE SINGAPORE. HOME AT LAST!!