Monday, April 24, 2006
Im back from Taiwan. Let's just say it was a terrible trip. For the first time, I actually look forward to coming back home. Even trusty SQ was a horrid experience. Sheez. Anyway, let pictures do some talking instead. Story telling for next time.
Upon arrival in Taiwan, the guide gave us a briefing and told us we will be staying at a great and famous hotel. "Jia Ri Fan Dian. 5 xing ji oh! Holiday Inn Hotel!" My sis was like what stupid hotel is holiday inn and i said its a good 5 star hotel. So we were all excited and looking forward to it. Moments later the guide said "Hao le! Wo men dao le!" I looked around puzzled and the truth hit me.
TADAH! This is "Holiday Inn Hotel". Wah kao! I tell u, i wanna slap the tour guide and the sg tour agency.
Which part of this stupid hotel looks like a 5 star hotel u tell me! Even their phone is ancient! But luckily dinner at a nearby steamboat restaurant was nice.
I found the price expensive except for the seafood king platter that we had above. At NT$500 (S$25), we were given a plate of vegetables, other ingredients, rice/noodle and the seafood platter. It consists of fresh clams, scallops, sotong, king prawns, oysters, one whole crab, abalone and i can't remember what else. Very nice cos all the seafood were damn fresh. Even oysters which i don't usually take much because of its taste. But i sure ate a lot of it that night! =X
Oh, saw these on my bus trip to somewhere.. These 'houses' are actually graves and tombstones for the dead. They have normal ones at other places though. Elaborate right?
This is the Yeh Liu Geo-park which essentially is famous for its rock formations. But seriously, i didn't tink it was that fantastic. Take that hippo rock above. They call it an elephant. Wah biang! Which elephant looks like this?? But the sights there was not bad..
Oh oh! This is interesting! Not sure if you guys can see it but there are rows and rows of huge bulbs hanging fr the boats. These are meant sotong fishing! Apparently sotongs are attracted to strong light so the more the better!
Another from-the-bus picture. This is a funeral and according to the tour guide, its for a very old lady. Apparently you can tell the age of the deceased by looking at the cloths hung. Since this is red, its for a very old person above 70 or 80 i tink. Cant rem. If its all white or something, it means the person is above 100 i tink.. Something alone those lines. And pp are not allowed to cry or be sad at the funerals of elderly pp also cos of some reason which i forgot. =X
This place is 'jiu fen' i think.. I'm always mixing up the names. Anyway, its famous for its taro ball dessert and other food stuff. It looks very much like Chinatown in Bangkok and all it sells is food like muah chee and stuff. The last pic is a restaurant with extremely old sch restaurant design and display. You can't see it here but the display had things like a transistor and many old books and players. Very nice!
This is some temple in some place near ot at Jiu-fen. I thought the buddha statues were pretty awesome. One is made of jade and the other in pure gold. It must be a pretty good temple cos there were ALOT of devotees praying.
We stopped by this place, Changchun Shrine, for a toilet break on our way to Taroko Gorge. Pretty nice sights too. But very perilous journey. Cos the route was SUPER curvy and crowded with buses and gaping holes on the road. Tsk.
I do not have nice pictures of Taroko Gorge so i ripped a pic from their tourism bureau site. But Taroko Gorge is indeed gorgeous! It is formed from eruptions and erosions over time and because its full of marble (which is super hardy), it didnt really break blah blah and over time became steep slopes of gorgeous marble formation. All the white rocks you see are actually marble. Impressive eh? I think this is a must visit place cos pictures do not do it justice.
This is a great tasting fruit! Its called 'Shi Jia'. It looks like a soursop but is really sweet and nice to the pallate! But its a seasonal fruit I think. So you won't be able to get it unless u go to Taiwan around this time.
Dragon and Tiger Pagoda and Spring & Autumn Pavilions. Again, nothing nice about this place except the sights. There is a stall outside the Pagoda that sells fantastic sour plums tho! I bought some ice plum to try and i love it! Its not too sour nor sweet and leaves a minty after taste. Yummy! But its S$5 for a pack. Pretty expensive.
This is the first gate at Fou Guang Shan Monastery. The back of this gate says 'Hui Tou Shi An" because pp are not supposed to exit from here. But of cos its also a pun on the idiom.
These are parts of the monastery which is quite nice also. The most amazing thing i saw was the procession of nuns and monks. Rows and rows of them walking in ABSOLUTE SILENCE. Not even shuffling of their feet. And they had some kind of procession also. They must walk a certain route and cut through certain big shot monk or nun to go for lunch or classes. Very very strict. Almost like some march on national day but with no sound at all.
Oh and they have these cute little stone monks with diff expressions and poses all over the monastery! So so cute! I kept laughing when i looked at them!
OH! The most amazing thing was i met a friend, Jiajun, on the top of this monastery's hill! Such a small world! In fact, i was telling my sis i might meet Big Collin when we were walking at the foot of the hill cause I saw some army peeps and I knew he was in Taiwan as well. But instead i met Jiajun. Haha! Everyone was staring at me thinking im some suaku trying to take pic with taiwanese soldier, picking him up or something. Sheez.
Not sure if you guys can see it but I spotted lychees on this tree in the monastery! Its still green colour now cos its not ripe.
Another highlight would be this hot spring visit. Not a very big place but i enjoyed the little spa-like treatment in mineral water with sulphur, cold and hot pools and fantastic jets to massage my aching body! I tried both the outdoor and indoor one. The only diff is that indoor pool seems warmer and requires you to be fully naked. But no fear! Cos i went prepared. *wink*
This is another nice place. Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. Which is divided into three parts, this white hall u see here, another red chinese palace looking one which is their concert hall and one more which i can't rem. But this place is good only if you had a guide to talk u through the history and stories behind the pictures and stuff on display inside. Else you would find it boring.
Look at this! CKS drives a freaking gorgeous Cadillac when he was alive! It was given to him by the Chinese in Philippines then. So nice right!
This is Zhong Lie Tang. Soldiers guard the doors, perform fancy drills during shift changeovers and stand at their post for one full hour under the sweltering heat. Its a really tough job because they cant move at all. Not even their eyeballs. And they stand there in rain or shine and have to bear with stupid tourists that keeps blinding them with flashlights or trying stupid antics to make them move.
People who have been in uniformed groups and army can understand the torture im sure. The current batch of soldiers are from the air force. This guard duty is rotated among the various armed forces every three months.
Look at the crowd and the floor. This is just half the crowd. Another half is inside watching the other changeover. If you look closely, there are three brown lines on the floor which is the actual paths these soldiers march on. However, im not sure if these lines are caused by the plates on their boots when they march or are they markings for the soldiers to march. From what i know, all of the soldiers hate this job but they have no choice.
These are taken at Shilin Night market. It is divided into 2 parts. The food and shopping area. One thing I noticed is that Taiwanese love to play games. I see lots of such game stations and arcades everywhere and its always crowded with people! I wanted to take pictures of hawkers fleeing the scene at Shilin. But as u can see it was a failed attempt bcos they are so fast and gone in just a blink! Sheez! Eh! They are very high tech u kw. They inform and talk via walkie talkies hor! Stylo rite? Ha.
This is Ximenting. Its crowded anytime of the day! In the morning (1st pic at 10am) and at night (3rd pic at 130am)! Look at the 3rd pic closely. Its another arcade and this basketball throwing game station is full even at 130am! Goodness, the last time i played those kinda games was prob in secondary or even primary school. But somehow it appeals to the teens and young adults here.
Oh, Ah Zhong Mian Xian is very nice. However let me warn u guys that the pig organs inside is very very rubbery and not tasty at all. I nearly choked to death cos half was stuck in my throat and the other half in my mouth. And somehow i cldnt swallow nor pull it out! But despite my near death experience, i hv to say the mian xian itself is really good. The last pic is a shop at some obscure corner in Ximenting. Very cute right? Lego blocks! Hee!
Check out the cool LCD screens i saw at Taipei 101 shopping mall! And its not that expensive also. NT11900 is about S$600. Btw, Taipei 101 is an expensive mall. So unless u have loads of money to spend on brands like coach and stuff, dont bother shopping inside. Ha.
I can't rem where i was. But this is a typical scene on the street. Rows and rows of food stalls. Motorists and cars would also pull up to the stall to order and buy yummy food!
The 'summon lady' in taiwan is damn stylo! Cos they are from private companies and earn money from tickets they issue, they keep giving out tickets to the motorist! hahaha! Look at this row of bikes. ALL of them hv a ticket! But they seemed pretty nonchalent when they see the ticket unlike us singaporeans. Maybe cause their fine is cheaper or something.
Taiwan has a lot of nice and interesting food. The pooh bear is some fluffy orange chiffon cake and this is a bite size cake in the form of doraemon! So cute right! I was binging on all the hawker food and stuff from 7-11.
Their takeaway food is very tasty! And cup noodles! Omigod! So damn good cos it has chunks of meat in it! *slurp* I was also drinking loads of milk tea and papaya milk! Very very nice.. =P
This is also damn funny. The hotel stuck a piece of paper on the phone, asking guest to get condoms from the receptionist if they need it. Talk about encouraging safe sex. Ha.
This is a little gross. Its call 'Lu Tai'. Which is the embryo of Mei Hua Lu, a deer found in Taiwan. Apparently it has great healing powers and cure Soong Mei Ling (one of the Soong sisters who married Chiang Kai Shek) of her asthma or something.
Its damn expensive. Costs thousands of dollars. They will cut up the deer when its pregnant to take the embryo out and sell it for its healing properties. Its kinda sad cos its so cruel. Besides this deer is hinging on extinction too. Sigh.
Some random pics i snapped and the last pic is Jimmy Lin Zhi Ying. Haha. He looks damn young and skinny.
After all the food in taiwan, i feel like the piglet on this advert now. Overall it was a terrible trip. Taiwan is nice, but it is only suitable if you're going with friends. Family trips are NOT recommended. Let me end with my only sincere happy pic in this trip. Taken at the airport and filled with glee cos im finally going hm. I hv stories about the flights to and fro Taiwan. Like i said earlier, even SQ failed me. *sigh* But leave it for my next entry.. Ciao.
Penned on: 4/24/2006 03:16:00 pm
Upon arrival in Taiwan, the guide gave us a briefing and told us we will be staying at a great and famous hotel. "Jia Ri Fan Dian. 5 xing ji oh! Holiday Inn Hotel!" My sis was like what stupid hotel is holiday inn and i said its a good 5 star hotel. So we were all excited and looking forward to it. Moments later the guide said "Hao le! Wo men dao le!" I looked around puzzled and the truth hit me.
TADAH! This is "Holiday Inn Hotel". Wah kao! I tell u, i wanna slap the tour guide and the sg tour agency.
Which part of this stupid hotel looks like a 5 star hotel u tell me! Even their phone is ancient! But luckily dinner at a nearby steamboat restaurant was nice.
I found the price expensive except for the seafood king platter that we had above. At NT$500 (S$25), we were given a plate of vegetables, other ingredients, rice/noodle and the seafood platter. It consists of fresh clams, scallops, sotong, king prawns, oysters, one whole crab, abalone and i can't remember what else. Very nice cos all the seafood were damn fresh. Even oysters which i don't usually take much because of its taste. But i sure ate a lot of it that night! =X
Oh, saw these on my bus trip to somewhere.. These 'houses' are actually graves and tombstones for the dead. They have normal ones at other places though. Elaborate right?
This is the Yeh Liu Geo-park which essentially is famous for its rock formations. But seriously, i didn't tink it was that fantastic. Take that hippo rock above. They call it an elephant. Wah biang! Which elephant looks like this?? But the sights there was not bad..
Oh oh! This is interesting! Not sure if you guys can see it but there are rows and rows of huge bulbs hanging fr the boats. These are meant sotong fishing! Apparently sotongs are attracted to strong light so the more the better!
Another from-the-bus picture. This is a funeral and according to the tour guide, its for a very old lady. Apparently you can tell the age of the deceased by looking at the cloths hung. Since this is red, its for a very old person above 70 or 80 i tink. Cant rem. If its all white or something, it means the person is above 100 i tink.. Something alone those lines. And pp are not allowed to cry or be sad at the funerals of elderly pp also cos of some reason which i forgot. =X
This place is 'jiu fen' i think.. I'm always mixing up the names. Anyway, its famous for its taro ball dessert and other food stuff. It looks very much like Chinatown in Bangkok and all it sells is food like muah chee and stuff. The last pic is a restaurant with extremely old sch restaurant design and display. You can't see it here but the display had things like a transistor and many old books and players. Very nice!
This is some temple in some place near ot at Jiu-fen. I thought the buddha statues were pretty awesome. One is made of jade and the other in pure gold. It must be a pretty good temple cos there were ALOT of devotees praying.
We stopped by this place, Changchun Shrine, for a toilet break on our way to Taroko Gorge. Pretty nice sights too. But very perilous journey. Cos the route was SUPER curvy and crowded with buses and gaping holes on the road. Tsk.
I do not have nice pictures of Taroko Gorge so i ripped a pic from their tourism bureau site. But Taroko Gorge is indeed gorgeous! It is formed from eruptions and erosions over time and because its full of marble (which is super hardy), it didnt really break blah blah and over time became steep slopes of gorgeous marble formation. All the white rocks you see are actually marble. Impressive eh? I think this is a must visit place cos pictures do not do it justice.
This is a great tasting fruit! Its called 'Shi Jia'. It looks like a soursop but is really sweet and nice to the pallate! But its a seasonal fruit I think. So you won't be able to get it unless u go to Taiwan around this time.
Dragon and Tiger Pagoda and Spring & Autumn Pavilions. Again, nothing nice about this place except the sights. There is a stall outside the Pagoda that sells fantastic sour plums tho! I bought some ice plum to try and i love it! Its not too sour nor sweet and leaves a minty after taste. Yummy! But its S$5 for a pack. Pretty expensive.
This is the first gate at Fou Guang Shan Monastery. The back of this gate says 'Hui Tou Shi An" because pp are not supposed to exit from here. But of cos its also a pun on the idiom.
These are parts of the monastery which is quite nice also. The most amazing thing i saw was the procession of nuns and monks. Rows and rows of them walking in ABSOLUTE SILENCE. Not even shuffling of their feet. And they had some kind of procession also. They must walk a certain route and cut through certain big shot monk or nun to go for lunch or classes. Very very strict. Almost like some march on national day but with no sound at all.
Oh and they have these cute little stone monks with diff expressions and poses all over the monastery! So so cute! I kept laughing when i looked at them!
OH! The most amazing thing was i met a friend, Jiajun, on the top of this monastery's hill! Such a small world! In fact, i was telling my sis i might meet Big Collin when we were walking at the foot of the hill cause I saw some army peeps and I knew he was in Taiwan as well. But instead i met Jiajun. Haha! Everyone was staring at me thinking im some suaku trying to take pic with taiwanese soldier, picking him up or something. Sheez.
Not sure if you guys can see it but I spotted lychees on this tree in the monastery! Its still green colour now cos its not ripe.
Another highlight would be this hot spring visit. Not a very big place but i enjoyed the little spa-like treatment in mineral water with sulphur, cold and hot pools and fantastic jets to massage my aching body! I tried both the outdoor and indoor one. The only diff is that indoor pool seems warmer and requires you to be fully naked. But no fear! Cos i went prepared. *wink*
This is another nice place. Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. Which is divided into three parts, this white hall u see here, another red chinese palace looking one which is their concert hall and one more which i can't rem. But this place is good only if you had a guide to talk u through the history and stories behind the pictures and stuff on display inside. Else you would find it boring.
Look at this! CKS drives a freaking gorgeous Cadillac when he was alive! It was given to him by the Chinese in Philippines then. So nice right!
This is Zhong Lie Tang. Soldiers guard the doors, perform fancy drills during shift changeovers and stand at their post for one full hour under the sweltering heat. Its a really tough job because they cant move at all. Not even their eyeballs. And they stand there in rain or shine and have to bear with stupid tourists that keeps blinding them with flashlights or trying stupid antics to make them move.
People who have been in uniformed groups and army can understand the torture im sure. The current batch of soldiers are from the air force. This guard duty is rotated among the various armed forces every three months.
Look at the crowd and the floor. This is just half the crowd. Another half is inside watching the other changeover. If you look closely, there are three brown lines on the floor which is the actual paths these soldiers march on. However, im not sure if these lines are caused by the plates on their boots when they march or are they markings for the soldiers to march. From what i know, all of the soldiers hate this job but they have no choice.
These are taken at Shilin Night market. It is divided into 2 parts. The food and shopping area. One thing I noticed is that Taiwanese love to play games. I see lots of such game stations and arcades everywhere and its always crowded with people! I wanted to take pictures of hawkers fleeing the scene at Shilin. But as u can see it was a failed attempt bcos they are so fast and gone in just a blink! Sheez! Eh! They are very high tech u kw. They inform and talk via walkie talkies hor! Stylo rite? Ha.
This is Ximenting. Its crowded anytime of the day! In the morning (1st pic at 10am) and at night (3rd pic at 130am)! Look at the 3rd pic closely. Its another arcade and this basketball throwing game station is full even at 130am! Goodness, the last time i played those kinda games was prob in secondary or even primary school. But somehow it appeals to the teens and young adults here.
Oh, Ah Zhong Mian Xian is very nice. However let me warn u guys that the pig organs inside is very very rubbery and not tasty at all. I nearly choked to death cos half was stuck in my throat and the other half in my mouth. And somehow i cldnt swallow nor pull it out! But despite my near death experience, i hv to say the mian xian itself is really good. The last pic is a shop at some obscure corner in Ximenting. Very cute right? Lego blocks! Hee!
Check out the cool LCD screens i saw at Taipei 101 shopping mall! And its not that expensive also. NT11900 is about S$600. Btw, Taipei 101 is an expensive mall. So unless u have loads of money to spend on brands like coach and stuff, dont bother shopping inside. Ha.
I can't rem where i was. But this is a typical scene on the street. Rows and rows of food stalls. Motorists and cars would also pull up to the stall to order and buy yummy food!
The 'summon lady' in taiwan is damn stylo! Cos they are from private companies and earn money from tickets they issue, they keep giving out tickets to the motorist! hahaha! Look at this row of bikes. ALL of them hv a ticket! But they seemed pretty nonchalent when they see the ticket unlike us singaporeans. Maybe cause their fine is cheaper or something.
Taiwan has a lot of nice and interesting food. The pooh bear is some fluffy orange chiffon cake and this is a bite size cake in the form of doraemon! So cute right! I was binging on all the hawker food and stuff from 7-11.
Their takeaway food is very tasty! And cup noodles! Omigod! So damn good cos it has chunks of meat in it! *slurp* I was also drinking loads of milk tea and papaya milk! Very very nice.. =P
This is also damn funny. The hotel stuck a piece of paper on the phone, asking guest to get condoms from the receptionist if they need it. Talk about encouraging safe sex. Ha.
This is a little gross. Its call 'Lu Tai'. Which is the embryo of Mei Hua Lu, a deer found in Taiwan. Apparently it has great healing powers and cure Soong Mei Ling (one of the Soong sisters who married Chiang Kai Shek) of her asthma or something.
Its damn expensive. Costs thousands of dollars. They will cut up the deer when its pregnant to take the embryo out and sell it for its healing properties. Its kinda sad cos its so cruel. Besides this deer is hinging on extinction too. Sigh.
Some random pics i snapped and the last pic is Jimmy Lin Zhi Ying. Haha. He looks damn young and skinny.
After all the food in taiwan, i feel like the piglet on this advert now. Overall it was a terrible trip. Taiwan is nice, but it is only suitable if you're going with friends. Family trips are NOT recommended. Let me end with my only sincere happy pic in this trip. Taken at the airport and filled with glee cos im finally going hm. I hv stories about the flights to and fro Taiwan. Like i said earlier, even SQ failed me. *sigh* But leave it for my next entry.. Ciao.
Penned on: 4/24/2006 03:16:00 pm