Genting Trip

15-17MAy
It was great travelling to Genting, altho the trip was 7hr long, if count from my house onwards, it would be 8hrs long.,.Cos we travelled to Golden mile complex b4 setting off on the tour bus...Great massage chair on the bus..a pity tt my chair was spoilt on the way there.. Could only enjoyed the massage on my way back...

The casino there were quite grand..Initially won some money...but was abit too ambitious lost in the end..But was a great experience as I understood tt we should avoid temptation... When we won money, we should promptly stopped gambling.. I guessed life is like tt too.. When you mixed w bad company or when u r not comfortable w one or a few frens, you should stopped contacts to avoid urself fr getting hurt... Haha my own philosophy.


Another insights I got from the trip is from the 3couples I travelled with (My parents,my mum's married frens and a single couple still patoh-ing. Haha I must say there is a resemblance..
The aunties taught me to find someone you can get along with and tahan...If not, be a torture to live w him for the rest of the life... It is funny how my father and the uncle is so alike... Really bad temper and naggy...wonders if the older u get the more fan you get.. but there is a light hearted moment oso... the uncle showed care to the auntie in a quiet way..My father is the more rough type..showed care in another way..

haha the single couple is still very much in honeymoon...wonder wat will happen when they get married...

Overall Genting stuff is quite ex..din buy much stuff... but the air there is cold man...think great for the skin like taiwan's hot but not humid weather
..

Hehe great to go travelling..eye opening experience.... It's always been my dream to want to travel ard the world...perhaps when I retired, I would tour ard the world..

More updates on Taiwan Trip

My "2 Guirens"

Before I forget, I must also thank the two Singaporeans whom we met at the hot spring. One of them said that I looked familiar..shrugs...think I got a common face.. they toild us which are the good springs to try...shiok man..

They oso showered care on me on the final day of our trip at the airport.(We happened to take the same van to airport). on my way to the toilet at the airport, I told them I had a fever on the lst day of my trip..was 37.9C... One of them put her hand on my forehead and assured me that I was only slightly feverish and asked me to drink more water... I was quite gan dong cos ppl whom hardly know you actually showed concern for you.. But on 2nd thoughts, if we were to switch position, I could have done the same too.. Great knowing them, but a pity tt i din ask their names..

On the lst day to taiwan, Boy I was shocked when I was asked to stopped after the heat sensor test..Must be cos of the wine I drank on the plane (2Baileys, 1Singapore Sling)..Ok lei..think my alcohol tolerance quite gd..Think my fever shot up cos I din drink plain water to dilute the alcohol..Haha...was careful on my way back..din drink alcohol..settle for juices instead...

Our "Cheeky car guide"
On the 4th day of our trip, we took the chartered bus to tour ard taipei, we found out later tt it was much cheaper if we had booked the bus thr the car guide directly...Hhaa nxt time if I have the chance to go Taiwan, would find him....

Haha I must say our Car guide is really cheeky, told us his love history... was really funny when he says one of his ex gf went off w a lorry driver.. One nite when he came home he found his house emptied... no Tv, nothing left.. He said the house was actually rented and shared betw him and his gf... Till now, he cant find where his gf is..

Before we started to sympathise w him, he told us that it was great feeling to steal other ppl's gf.. At this moment, three lines started to form....I was stunned, I mean I dun approve of his behavior but sometimes it maybe hard to ctrl one's feelings.. No wonder the tv shows always has this catchy phrase, "As long as the gal is not married, the guy always has a chance!" Hhaa very appropriate here...

The taiwan Trip

Day 1 – 7th May 2007 (Monday)

Places visiting: Airport à Kilin Hotelà >Ximen >à KTV Tall Partyworld Building at Ximen (Did not sing KTV as it was quite late when we reach and the pricing was abit ex as compared to Singapore)

Get all the maps and tourist pass booklet. Head to airport tourist counter to check for maps, any discounts for youth travelers - tourist.(Youth Pass)

Personal Experience: The youth pass was not as useful as we thought mayb cos we did not visit the museum places and the more ex places so not much discount.

After checking into Hotel, proceed to MRT station to get an Easy Card. a) Take a MRT to Jiantan Station. Turn right after exiting the station for a shuttle bus to Miramar Ferris Wheel.

Personal Experience: By the time we’ve checked in, it was very late. No point going Jiantan or Miramar. b) We walked to Ximen Station (ard 20min, quite a long walk) and walk around Ximending. Ximending stuff was not as cheap as we thought but the ah zong mian xian there was quite ok... tho it is quite a unique taste, gd experience tho.. KTV Tall Partyworld Building located at Ximen MRT (Zhonghua road Sec 1) Din managed to go in and sing. The chou doufu was really stinky but tasted nice....

Recommended eateries @ Ximending:

- 阿宗面線 located @台北市峨嵋街8巷号之1, 8-1 Er-mei St, Shimenting.
Tel: (886) 2388 8808

• Famous goose meat at Ya Rou Bian

• 永和豆浆

• Kong Kee 港记酥皇店, located @ 台北市汉中街6巷号之2 (opposite 东龙饭店).
Tel: (886) 2 2389 5587

- Sun Bro Dessert

Day 2 – 8th May (Tuesday) Places visiting: ½ day city tour à Taipei 101 à Wufenpu à Raohe

6.30 am Wake up!!!

7.30 am Breakfast

8.00 am Off for the half day trip ( Boy, I spent alot on the 2nd day on the half day trip, spent on royal jelly, lingzhi, tian lu (a jade that brings peace to the holder and her family 's well being).

2pm Head to Taipei City Hall MRT Station. Take a free shuttle bus outside exit 2 to Taipei 101. (Quite a wait for the shuttlebus, bus abit smaller than singapore's, the outer front seat at both side has a seatbelt, for safety; most seats are single seats actually) NT350 to go up. Additional NT100 to go to the observatory deck. Take pictures etc… ( We din go up as we found it quite ex esp. when we just go up to take pics).

Personal Experience: There is a queue in a busstop outside the station for the shuttle bus. Reached 101 at about 4-5 pm and ate dinner there. Kinda expensive but the serving is super huge! Don’t bother trying the Singapore food there. Standard sucks compare to the authentic food in S’pore. Joon and I shared the korean food there and it was quite delicious) No point going all the way up if it is raining. Night view was so so only on top. Do note that Taipei turns dark at about 5pm during the winter period! Try going to the supermarket. Lots of interesting stuffs.

Possible places near 101:

- Walk to Warner Village (Tix NT290/pax)

- Shopping at Taipei 101 à Eslite Bookstore, New York New York, Neo 19, Singkong Mitsukoshi

6.00 pm If still at Taipei 101 area, either walk to Wufenpu or take bus 611 or 284 at XinYi (Taipei 101).

Personal Experience: Wufenpu is for gals. Good stuff for guys oso but the gals shop outnumber the guys shops by alot… We din manage to shop the whole wufenpu, only managed to shop 1/4 of the place.. Really big...Good to bargain there and there is quite alot of korean clothes..nice and cheap..

9.00 pm Proceed to Raohe Night Market. · Hu Jian Bing (Must try but queue is damn long!)· Really very nice... · Jeans shop available·

11.30 pm Travel to Ximen Station to go back to Hotel. Drop of all the stuff you have purchased, freshen up.

Day 3 – 9th May (Wednesday)

Places visiting: Beitou à Danshui à Shilin

9.00 am Wake Up!!!

9.30 am Proceed for breakfast.

10.30 am Walk to Longshansi station and take train to Xin Beitou. You may like to visit the scenic area of Hsin Beitou too. · Aboriginal Museum· Hot Spring Museum· Thermal Valley or Hell Valley (next to Beitou Park)

2.00 pm Visit Hotspring: Beitou wen zuan resort NT299 for 2, can use the coupon in the NT180 one day unlimited bus and metro travel but got promotion for mother's day so we got the offer even with the coupon too. Was really relaxing the spring..got a massage spring which helps to relax ur shoulder"s muscles and a bubble pool which was too hot for me.. Joon and Beth could tahan the spring tho.. Got a waterfall spring oso..When u stand high, the water force is not tt strong but once u bend now,. the water hit u as if it is rocks and ur shoulders hurt alot..but i guess it is gd for muscle relief...

5.00 pm Head back to Beitou MRT and proceed to Danshui MRT. Ate the KFC drumlets and it tasted abit hot but it has quite a unique taste as compared to singapore.

5.30 pm Take Bus Red 26 outside the Station to Fisherman's wharf. Recommended eateries @ Fisherman’s wharf: - Che Lun Bing (Wheel’s Biscuit) – outside Mos Burger near the bus stop – Nai You Bing - Factory made fish cracker (谈水镇中路184号；（02）26211414) - Freshly ground almond/ sesame powder - 黑糖糕 - Japanese Food

6.00 pm Take a short ferry ride to Pali and see the Sunset at about 5.45 pm. Lighting of the Lover's Bridge at about 7 pm. This is the place where a scene in “Meteor Garden” is shot. Personal Experience: Din manage to take the ferry as we were quite low on budget...

7.30 pm Take Red 26 and head back to the MRT and walkabout Old Danshui. Shop at Danshui Lao Jie. Look out for a bag shop that sells bags at 50NT! (Quite ok but the designs were not so nice, better to buy belts from there at the same price instead) Ask around the ppl there. You can shop for lots of famous snacks such as “Ah Ma Tie Dan” (abt NT65, cheapest we could find there, the other places sell at NT100), Fish Crackers and “Ah Geh” (beancurb with noodles inside, opp the ah ma tie dan or another call Wen Hua, not too bad, but was abit weird taste). Ask for directions to the food stalls along the Water front. (There is a good map on the wall outside the MRT Stop)

Personal Experience: The bags were only so so. It’s also call Thai Guo Bao Bao according to the locals. Not that splendid. Saw nicer ones in Bangkok and at cheaper prices too. Ate the Ah Geh. Not that wonderful but it’s an experience. We did not try the Gong Wan.

Recommended eateries @ Dan Shui Lao Jie: - Seafood /Meat Kerbabs - 淡水鱼丸 with seafood and pork - A-Ge (Tofu wrap with homemade hot and sour sauce) - Granny’s iron eggs - MeatBall stall manned by 3 ladies( was supposed to be delicious but too ex at NT100 that we buy the cheaper ones..cos find the iron eggs taste alike) - Sour prunes - Taupok with Tang Hoon @ 淡水镇真理街64 号（02）26213004 9.30 pm Back to Ximen MRT on the same line from Danshui.

Proceed to Hotel to freshen up before proceeding to Ximending for shopping.

Personal Experience: Went on to try the street food in XMD. The lurou fan is quite nice, cheap as well . Don’t bother trying the ji rou fan, heard not nice at all.

Day 4 – 10th May (Thursday) Chartered Bus day, less torture for our legs

Places visiting: Jinguashi à Yehliu à Jiufen à Shilin

7.15 am Wake Up!!! Bring more water.

7.30 am Breakfast

8.00 am Wait for the chartered bus at our hotel

Jinguashi.

Get to see their historical sites left behind by the Japanese miners as Jinguashi used to be a gold mining town. Walk around their typical houses that are all painted in black, including their ceilings. http://www.gep.tpc.gov.tw/ Quite a good learning experience to see how gold was found in Jinguashi... and the Yinyang sea was a result of pollution so you can see 2vivid colors of the sea.

Recommended eateries @ Yeliu:

- 炸紫菜 quite nice, crispy, worth buying.

9.45 am See the natural rock formations – an amazing array of artistic shapes created by erosion and other natural forces. Take photos of the site. Only managed to see the queen's head, quite a pity, got so many other rocks as well.

10.30 am The driver drove us to several spots at Jinguashi – Ying Yang Hai (Must See! A place where there are 2 distinct colours at the sea. Photos turn out nice!), a structure which looks like palace-cum-defensive purpose (right opposite the Ying Yang Hai. After Jinguashi, he drove us to Jiufen and arranged for a time to meet us after our shopping at Jinguashi. Also, we covered more spots without having to walk around and exploring by ourselves. We weren’t familiar with the place. Without the driver, we would not have had covered the temple, Ying Yang Hai etc. 2.30 pm Head towards Jiufen to see the old fashioned way of live that still exists. · Famous local dish of Taro and Sweet Potato· Can buy local products here such as Taiyang Bing, fried hai dai was nice. Muan chee was super nice, i mean the freshly made one..Thx to Mr. Ng, we was able to try all these stuffs...he treated us to the small snacks cos he cant finish...

Recommended eateries @ Jiufen:

• Famous local dish of Taro and Sweet Potato Ball
• Try the fishballs here
• Can buy local products here such as cheese Taiyang Bing.
• Try drinking tea at their teahouse too.
• Muah Chee
• Ginger Sweet
• Sour Plum
• 阿兴
• Li Yi feng li li à NT 15/pc
• Jiufen lao mian dian
• 阿兴
• 赖阿婆Yam Ball (NT 30) not too bad..
Personal Experience: We did not manage to find Cheese Taiyang Bing. Walked several shops but weren’t able to find.

7.30 pm Head to Shilin Night Market.

1. XXL Chicken (Last item to try, super nice, but got bone)
2. Da Bin Bao Xiao Bin (No more space in stomach to try)
3. Fruit Ice / Mian mian bing
4. Hu Jiao Bing - Raohe one better same brand one
5. Guan Cai Ban ('coffin board') - (big piece of fried bread with fillings, very nice)
6. Hong You Chao Shou - looks like wanton. Din try tt

7. Lu Rou Fan

9. Leng mian (cold noodle)

10. Tempura (really nice and special, lucky to eat tt...quite famous shop...)

Personal Experience: We went to Shilin for 3nites as the things there was more worth it..and cheap..

Day 5 – 11th May （Friday)

Places visiting: LongShansi > Zhongxiao Dun hua à Zhong Xiao Fu Xing à Shilin

10.30 am Wake Up!!!

11.00 am Breakfast at
11.45 am Head to Long Shan Si, pray there...

Take MRT to Zhongxiao Dunhua Station (Blue Line).
- Sogo & Taka ; Ming Yao Dept Store
4.00 pm Head to Zhongxiao FuXing Station via the same route.

5.30 pm Head to Underground Malls at Taipei Station - Taipei City Mall and Taipei Station Front Mall and Taipei Metro Mall (at rear of station).

8.00 pm Head to Shi Lin Night Market for dinner.

Personal Experience: We went to Taipei underground mall – not worth going. Shi Lin nite mkt definitely worthwhile to go.

Day 6 – 12th May （Saturday)
10.30 am Wake Up!!!

11.30 am check out of hotel.

12.15 pm Lunch at Ximending Goose meat store with Mr Ng. Quite nice tasting mee hoon and the goose meat was quite delicious, the duck chang was quite special, tasted like preserved meat, dun really like the duck kidney, quite hard...

1.30 pm Tried the lengendary Milk tea once again, super nice... the pearl was quite sweet and soft.. The bags at Ximending was super cheap NT100 only, heard fr owner that ppl would buy his bags and sell at NT 190.. This was the price we pay at Shi Lin...Luckily for us, we din buy the designs the NT 100 store have....

3.00 pm Head back to Hotel for transport to the airport ( We finally took a cab back hotel, super comfy) and prepare to go back to Singapore!!! (1/2 hr trip to airport)

10.50 pm Home sweet home

Taiwan trip journey fr 7to12May 2007

This is my lst plane trip... Before I write the details of my trip, would like to thank a few ppl...
XinYing for selfishlessly sharing w me her plane experience and offering advices on buying of motion pill and wat to do when I have a headache on the plane(open my mouth as wide as possible), Yifang for sharing her fren's itinerary and wat to bring list (Really useful for a lst time plane traveller), Beth for typing out the finalised itinerary (tho we did not follow the planned itinerary but we did manage to find most of the food listed there and it tasted great), Joon for reassuring me on the plane ( Man, I had quite a fright when the plane took off) and teaching me how to use the remote ctrl on plane, Zewei for offering to lend me his cam ( was able to take pics with it) and finally Mr. Li, a Beijing based singaporean who offered to pay more than half of transportation for our trip to jiu Fen and for treating us the snacks and giving us a farewell lunch at Ximending duck meat bian... Think he was our Gui Ren, we were able to go to all the wonderful places ( Yeliu, Jinguashi,Jiu Fen and finally Shilin on a one day tour with a chartered bus) at a much lower cost. Taiwan is a memorable place with great scenary and food.. The ppl are quite friendly too...The only pitfall would be the not so safe traffic, even if it was green light, cars and motorcycles would dash past the roads.. The nite mkt was another great experience, the stalls located at the middle of the road offered the lowest price but there will be a commotion once in a while when the police came.. This was cos the owners would run away in fear of being fined by the police (Heard the fine was NT1200, ard S$60 which was considered a big amt for a small biz like them)....

Events after the exams..

I been gg out non-stop since end of the exam... Hai but my money was running low...Spent alot but it was enjoyable.. Had tuition on wed, fri and sun... Cos next week would be out of town for the bulk of the week but my student's exam is next thur.. I Went Bugis on Tue and Wed, Thur went marina sq sang ktv, bowl, fri tuition, sat discuss itinerary, ate fish & Co and watched Spiderman3...

Hehe Tue I went shopping for travel stuffs and luggage w yifang and zijia at Bugis OG... Wa the Swiss Polo luggage was cheap lo...Buy 25 inch and get a 20inch luggage for free...at just 39.90.. What a bargain..I bought the small luggage and Yifang buy the large one... Finally settled the most impt aspect.. Before that we went to eat pasta mania.. buy travel essentials at Watsons, blah blah.

Wed I used the free spa voucher given by my Bro as he signed up for some card.... Quite relaxing but was abit uncomfortable with having to wrap myself up with towel... Satisfying but abit ex... The 45 min spa at bugis street costs $120.... Dun think I will try it again... Mayb when I start work... I would look for foot massage instead... Hehe..

Thur I went ktv with zijia,gladys and alex.. Hai actually I'm not very keen on singing cos my singing cmi.... But enjoyed the singing session.. Alex and Zj quite gd singers but Alex really too high...We had to ask him to ke zi when he sings...You should see him sing...so many "interesting" expressions.... Then we went bowling....AHHHHHHHHHHH...the lst round I was last, kept bowling to the drain...You should see how I bowl, the ball would lst be straight..then towards the pins....then landed up in the drain...Aiyoh....

Luckily 2nd round I started to have some "understanding" and emerged the winner w 80 pins.. But to be frank I actually scored just 71 points.. Cos my lst round the pins was stuck after I bowled.. I bowled the 2nd time and had a spare but the computer reflected a strike...so I got 9extras points.. Hehe..Great experience!!!

Fri had tuition...

Sat had a busy schedule... Sat morn discussed the itinerary with beth theyall..actually edit the other's itinerary... we managed to squeeze alot places within 6days.. update uall when i come back... Then aftern met my Cac frens for lunch at Fish and Co..Shared seafood platter with zj... and soup oso... Wa it did not taste very well..Maybe the calamansi should be fried, would taste better... Hahah preferred the Century Square branch seafood platter for 2..Got mussels oso..
Then went to meet diana at toa payoh lst to walk ard... Then ly and flor came oso...and we finally got to watch spiderman 3 tog...I must say the story was very interesting and exciting..esp. the fighting scenes.. The funny scenes came when Spiderman got too full of himself... and started to dance and twist his butts when he walked... It was so hilarious..

The ending was quite touching... with spiderman's best fren dying in his place... Mayb there would be a 4th season.. Who knows?

Haha exciting lst week of holi..but must watch my purse... Aiyoh... pray hard can get a part time job or strike toto... running low on cash but high on spirits....

My thoughts

Finally completed my last exams in NTU...But really fearful this sem...The subjs this sem were all very tough, test on "our highly analytical skills" as my aa304 professor puts it...I be rushing to complete each week's tutorials like mad...as a result didn't really understand wat I was doing..The worse was wat this sem wanted to test us was on quantitative aspects of accounting adjustment, consolidation.....blah blah...I know my strengths lie in qualitative theory....and my crapping skills..haha...so this sem was really like chasing after the 3 big cores...

Glad that the exams is finally over...just hope can pass this sem subjs....This sem had a hard time doing the papers..wonder if it was my brain running dry..... Just praying hard i can graduate and start working... Be going for a holiday with my frens beth, joon theyall to taiwan on 7may and to genting with my parents and my mum's frens on 15may..haha hope it's be fun and for my money to pays off... Hehe i be starting work only on 13 august...Hope my little savings from what's left from my trips and my small tuition fee (just have one student now) would be sufficient for me to last till end of aug...

Hai speaking of tuition..miss my blk 201 student...hai our tuition suddenly ended without any news from her...she initially told me she was going on a holi then we postpone our tuition by 2 weeks...She would inform me to start the tuition but it never did...At that point of time, I was busy with quizzes and projects that I thought it was better without the tuition..can free up my time...But after the exams, kinda miss her..We were very close..We would always talk abt personal stuff..like the guy she liked..and how I was coping with my sch...Haha guess good things must end somewhere in time....I wish my student all the best...

Hehe feel happy that my frens are all doing fine...It is a nice feeling when you see ur frens finding their loved ones.. But sometimes I do doubt abt the sincerity of a guy.... But this feeling has gradually changed after hearing my frens and their bf... Hmm I still find female frens more reliable than guy frens...No offend to the guys.... Mayb cos gals share more common things tog...Haha...

Hehe just want to spend the time to relax b4 I start work..... and to spend time with my frens b4 the sucky job takes the bulk of my time...