It's been a tiring week for me after a week trip to Taiwan. Not enough sleep because we have always been waking up at 6.30am and ending our day at 10pm. By the time I fell asleep is already 12 midnight.

The weather is quite nice like air-con temperature but of course you still need to wear quite a thick sweater because the wind is cold.

Now that I'm back from Singapore, I have to study for my Nihongo Elementary 1 before
my test on 30 Mar.

Day 1 - 9 Mar
Took EVA airlines to Taipei with our Tour Leader Sabrina. Went to 士林夜市 for dinner. We had "Ou Ah Jian" and it was not very nice as expected. It's different from the Singapore style because their's was sticky and watery.

As there were some seats on my side, this ang moh with his friends decided to sit. Because our sitting arrangement was like 1 to 3 person, i decided to volunteer to sit on the opposite side to 2 - 2.

So I told the ang moh that he can sit my place and he ask me "一起的吗？" I replied him "Yes, we are together"

After that he replied "对不起啊" and I answered him "It's ok"

What I find it funny about this conversation is he speaks to me in Chinese and I replied back to him in English. Lol.

What's more funny is my parents were saying that the "Ou Ah Jian" was not nice but on the ang moh side, they were saying "how tasty!" it was. haha.

Also tried their sausage, OMG it was so huge!



We also tried something which has a very nice name called 七里香。Such a nice name and do you know what is it? It's actually 鸡屁股！Haha. Quite nice actually, not as bad as expected.



Was quite lucky to see fireworks on my first day there. In fact, fireworks there was a very common thing. They put fireworks whenever they have festive occasions like a deity's birthday etc...

After that we went back to our hotel, Holiday Inn to rest. Although it's graded as 4* hotel, but i think it's really good with LCD TV and a nice environment.



Taiwan is so good. They have so many TV Channels not like Singapore where we still have to subscribe to Cable TV. The Taiwan tour guide was telling us that we just have to watch 1 channel for 1 min and to cover all the channels you need 1 hr 30mins to do that haha.



My sister favourite japanese show. Normally she will download it from the internet but now she gets to see it here!

Day 2 - Taipei ~ Hualien
We packed our luggage and get ready to go for our next destination - Yeliu to see special rocks. The weather was quite bad as it was raining.

Raining makes the weather even colder and I was like freezing like hell. I don't really have the mood to look at the rocks because of the rain and I did not bring an umbrella with me and I have to share it with my sister.


Some of the scenaries I took:




My sister with her umbrella


Me with my hood on.


Next destination - 九份
The rain still did not subside. My shoes were not waterproof and it was so wet and uncomfortable. Bought an umbrella so that I do not need to share with my sis and a furry shawl to keep myself warm since Jiufen is located on top of the mountain and the temperature is definitely going to be lower than ground level.

Definitely wrong timing to visit this place because it was dripping with rain and it's so uncomfortable. Tourists are also rushing to have their lunch at the small food stalls with so little seats.

After that, we were brought to the train station to take a train to Hualien. Duration is 3 hrs. Had intermittent sleep and also took some photos of the scenery.

Train station, looks quite rundown like those in Malaysia


My sister and father sleeping in the train >.< They didnt know I took their pic haha.


This is what I see for almost 80% of my journey.


After 3 hours of train ride, we finally reached Hualien. Had dinner and the food sucks. After the dinner, went to watch the 阿美族山地 performance. The guys are quite handsome ^^ and the ladies have very fair skin. All the guys who perform are all half naked and I wonder if they will feel cold without any clothing. o.O

Not very nicely taken but this is all I have.




Ended our day as we went to our next hotel called the "Marshal Hotel". Also rated 4* but it's soooooo not as good as the one at Holiday Inn. The tour leader said it was because Hualien was more of a countryside area therefore the hotel were not as good as Taipei.

Day 3 - Hualien - Kaoshiong

After our bland breakfast, went to Taroko Gauge to see beautiful scenery. Very pretty scenery and the air was so good. About 70% of the land in Taiwan was mountainous. They had a cafe where you can drink coffee using spring water. How I wish I could just sit at the cafe whole day......










This is the cafe that serves spring water coffee. This is my favourite place of all! I really wish I can stay there longer! I was fantasizing that how nice it will be if I can build my house there haha.


Next destination we went to see their biggest marble factory. Because Taiwan has so many mountains, therefore they are also the biggest manufacturer of marble and this green jade which I forgotten the name, follow by Thailand. They even taught us how to differentiate fake jades. Of course when you come to this kind of place, they will be promoting you with all their jades to buy.


Biggest carved jade ever!


Their marble and jade muesuem

I also found out that our Singapore tour guide (Malaysian) was same age as me, born in the year of Ox so she dragged me and took a photo in front of an Ox statue. My sis said we have almost the same spec and we even looked alike! Haha.


Had our lunch nearby the marble factory. Again, the food sucks! One word I can say is "Bo Bian", even the food sucks, we still have to eat because after that, we are going to travel 7 HOURS by bus to Kaoshiong! Very tiring even though they do stop at intervals for you to rest and relieve yourself. The route we travelled was going via Mountain roadway so the bus was always turning in and out. My sis was feeling very giddy after that and she felt like vomitting.

Finally reached Kaoshiong, went to another night market for dinner before going back to Metropolitan hotel to rest. This hotel is great because it's 5* and we all have free upgrade to a suite as both my sis and me had our own Queen SIZE BED. Wheeeee!

Day 4 - Kaoshiong

Went to this very big temple for sightseeing. Not sure what's the name. When I reached Hualien and Kaoshiong the temperature was not as cold as Taipei so I can say I'm quite happy there haha.





What is special about this temple is they have this fortune telling machine. You just have to put in 10 yuan (approx. 50 cents) into the machine, the doll inside will go into the house and take out a scroll which has your fortune.



My father's fortune. To decode the verse, they have a book beside it and they will explain to you in simple chinese.




After this, we went to this unique restaurant for lunch. It's called the 五分船板. There's a story behind this shop name but it's too long so I rather not explain. The place is nice and the food is also nice! Finally some good food!

My tour group in the background.




After lunch, went to Jian Hu Shan, their biggest theme park *eyes rolling* In fact, I'm disappointed with their theme park because it's not very fun and it looks so run down. My tour leader said that if the water theme park is opened it will be more fun but it will only be opened on April when the weather is hotter.

Even their "Russian circus performance" sucks! It's damm boring. They say something like "TOP 10 Most Dangerous Acts" but What the hell it's not interesting at all!

They have this virtual roller coaster movie where the seat vibrates or moves and IT'S NOT VIRTUAL AT ALL! I think our Science centre virtual ride is MUCH BETTER that theirs.



The only ride I took at the theme park. I think our Singapore flyer is much more better and nicer!


Longest escalator ever! Because they are built on mountain top therefore the escalator is so long.


Bad Theme Park! No more Taiwan theme park for me haha. Maybe children may find it fun.

The only thing I like about the Theme park is the Ah Gua show or what they call it the 人妖.

They are so SEXY and TALL. How I wish I can be that tall! weeps... They were so close to you that you can actually see everything haha. (Not everything, they still cover whatever they need to cover)

One of the Ah Gua dragged one of the teenager (boy) to dance with "her". "she" even kissed the boy and told the boy to kiss back and so the guy did! Haha. Very funny I was laughing so hard. Another Ah Gua also gave this boy "her" flower as a gift! It really seems like they are all very interested with this boy.

His father was a real estate agent for historical buildings. Really interesting job. He gave me his namecard and saw his blog / website at www.browse.com.sg. His son's photo is also in the blog. GO CHECK OUT!

After the performance, we can take photos with them! The photos are not very clear >.<





After the photo taking, we walked back to the JiahuShan Hotel (Prince Hotel) to rest.

Day 5 to 6 - Kaoshiong - Taipei

Disclaimer: (At this point, I'm confused of the sequence of the places I went to so I will just write whatever I know >.<)

Finally after a 3 hr bus journey we are back to Taipei. This also means that our trip is ending soon. At the same time, we also get along quite well with some of the people in my tour. Went to Miramar Shopping Centre. Other than cheap Jap Drama DVDs, everything there is very expensive, or you can say that it's a similar Takashimaya.

They have a ferris wheel on top but you have to pay for that so basically we are just hanging around before we board the bus to go to our next destination.



After that we were brought to visit the 原住民's shop where they sell Lingzi and Lu Tai (the deer's foetus, taken out before it was even born). I know people will get disgusted by that, but it is a very effective medicine that's treated Ah Bian's wife asthma. It's up to you to believe but the deer has been considered as their country's 国宝. If I'm not wrong they have printed the deer picture on their 500 yuan notes.

The Lingzi is also their 国宝. It has also treated our Prime Minister's illness when he came to Taiwan in search for an antidote. I didn't even know about this until our tour guide told me about it. I'm really convinced when he said Lingzi is a very effective medicine.

But they said lingzi is not a medicine, it's just a supplementary herb that improves your health. People with High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Cancer can try drinking Lingzi Tea. As you should know, Chinese medicine takes time to see the effect so it may probably take 1 year to get your illness healed completely.

But mind you, Lingzi is a VERY EXPENSIVE herb. I think 1 big Lingzi which you can boil to drink for 1 year is about Singapore dollars 1K plus! It's cheaper to buy in Taiwan. If you go Yu Ren sheng and buy, i think it costs you about 3k.

After lunch, we went to Taipei 101, again another shopping mall which sells branded stuff. Again we just hang out. The shopping mall itself is 5 stories, to go up to the 89th level, you have to pay about 350 yuan (approx. 15 dollars), to go up to 101th level, please pay again haha. I think it's quite expensive so I did not go up.

Taken on the bus



Taipei 101 Entrance



We went to 淡水 night market after that before going back to China Trust Hotel to rest. The worst hotel I ever stayed even though they said that they are 4*. I think it's lower than 4*. The lobby is small, the lift is small, the room smells of cigarettes (they should give us a smoke-free room), the bathtub has stains and the place looks eerie....The restaurant is small, even the food choices are very little. The concierge looks fierce also.. (so many things to complain)

I think they should just downgrade to 3* and below.


So guys, next time if you are looking for a hotel to stay in Taipei, DONT GO TO CHINA TRUST HOTEL AT DANSHUI.

Day 6 - Our last day of the tour. Went to Xi Men Ting for shopping. Went to Fisherman's Wharf or 情人桥, also went to Wu Fen Pu (largest wholesale clothes distribution area)! Best place to look for Soooooo many clothes. I think I need at least 1 week to finish the whole place. Not kidding, it's really too big.


At Xi Men Ting. My sis's favourite idol on movie! Too bad Singapore is not going to have this show. Taiwan is really the place to look for everything Japanese!

Wu Fen Pu (largest shopping centre for me!)


I don't know what's this place is called.








Also went to the Grand Hotel, world's top 10 hotel, ranking at no 7 in the world. Someone was asking the tour guide why we didn't stay at that hotel. It seems that the hotel does not accept tour groups to stay because it too highly demand therefore it only accepts walk-in.

It's DAMM NICE LAH! Whenever we are travelling on the road, I was always awed by that beautiful building and now I get to see it! Too bad I don't have the chance to stay there. A MUST to visit if you are going Taipei.

It's so noticeable even from far. You know what I mean when you go there.


Their Grand Lobby. Everything is so oriental! Ang Moh will like this kind of place haha.




Too many photos to show. Anyway, that's my end of the post. Actually I stayed 1 more day while the rest of the tour went back so that I can do last minute shopping coz the tour really don't have enough time for us to do shopping.

Some of the things I bought:


Taiwan flag and Ma Yin Jiu tissue paper: They are distributing this while we were walking around Xi Men Ting and Wu Fen Pu. I have lots of Tissue Paper Packets that I don't even need to buy! VOTE FOR MA YIN JIU! haha.

Bought Ayumi CD which is quite cheap, around 250 yuan (less than 15 dollars)

One Piece Stamp Collection: I went to their post office to buy this, 350 yuan (around 15 dollars plus).

Jiu Fen Ku: It's actually sock material, my hairdresser told me to help her buy. It's so cheap there, only 80 yuan (approx. $4), she said it costs $10 in Singapore. But I seldom see people in Singapore wearing but alot of people in Taiwan are wearing this.

Omg! I'm so looking forward to the Taiwan trip which is coming this Sunday!!!! I can't even work now that I'm too excited. I'm definitely going to visit Cutie Shop at Taizhong (thanks to orange who helped me looked for the map at google). But the place is really abit not convenient as I still have to take train (not MRT) and walk 1km to reach my destination.

Went to hear the briefing yesterday at People's Park Complex. Got the schedule from our local tour guide sabrina and it seems like a very packed schedule because we are always changing hotel EVERYDAY!

I became =.= when sabrina told me that we have to give tips to HER and another Taiwan Tour Guide. Haizzz. $$$$.... and they charge PER DAY.

Ahhh going mad already! I can't sleep haha.

But when I come back, I have something else to worry about. That is to apply for my studies and also how I'm going to cope when Meiling quits. Haizzzzz, I already have the feeling that I want to quit already haha. Why everyone is leaving before I do! Not FAIR!!!

Recently was so mad about all the songs from "THE ALI PROJECT". The name sounds strange right? In fact it's supposed to be called "ARI PROJECT" Japanese songs which I fell in love with it the first time I listened to it. After that, I went to search for all the songs from Ali Project haha. It has the fantasy and very unique tune, with some addition of ancient japanese style music. If you like fantasy stuff, this is definitely the song for you!

Some info about them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALI_PROJECT

Ok. After reading this: http://www.last.fm/music/ALI+PROJECT, this is what they say "a Japanese duo with a strong Gothic Lolita image" Wow, I like songs from Gothic Lolita people? Haha.

Went to Isetan supermarket after my Japanese lesson. They were having this Japanese fair where they sell authentic Japanese delicacies and snacks. Was looking for Takoyaki but unfortunately there isn't. But I did saw this pancake that Doraemon always like to eat so I bought it and tried.



It's red bean paste and it's not bad. One thing I find embarrassing was I was talking to the lady who was selling this in Chinese and she doesn't understand me. After looking at her name tag do I realise that she was Japanese. >.<



Drew this on Meiling's notebook because she told me to. She said to keep it as a momentive?? Anyway, here's the drawing.

So excited about my trip to Taiwan hehe. Have been preparing things to bring for the trip. Can't wait for it!

Wow. New Year was really a busy week for me. Helped my mother in some house cleaning before my relatives come over for reunion dinner. I was so looking forward when I heard that my uncle from Penang will be coming over to celebrate New Year with us.

My house was so crowded with all my cousins who came over to play and have a reunion dinner. Really like the atmosphere of having so many people together in my house.

some photos taken of my cousins:


-My Cousin from Penang- Elder


-Cousin from Penang - She is the younger one


Singapore Cousins



All of them were going to y8.com to play flash games. They have the fashion flash games for girls and those fighting games for guys. No wonder all my cousins liked it alot.

1st day of new year

Brought my uncle and family from penang to jurong east to play arcade. I think that's the only place that is opened plus the movie theatres.

2nd day of new year
Brought my 2 penang cousins together with 四婶 to Sentosa since my 2 cousins have never been there before. I was quite frustrated that I have to QUEUE to take the cable car, QUEUE to buy tickets to go Underwater World, QUEUE to take the sky ride and Luge Ride, QUEUE to take the bus. QUEUE QUEUE QUEUE!!! I wasted at least 2-3 hours queueing! Zzzzz. I went to Siloso beach and there's so many Bangaladesh!!! Omg. What has happened to Singapore. I'm seeing them everywhere! I don't even have the chance to take the Beach ride because it's occupied by ALL BLANGLADESH. You know why? Because that ride is FREE!! I don't see any bangladesh when I enter the underwater world because it's expensive.

I don't really have anything against them but it's just irritating to see this kind of phenomenon o.O.

After the sentosa trip, we went to Boon Lay Raja Restaurant for an expensive dinner, of course at the expense of my uncle from Penang who suggested it. ^^

Now that new year is over, it's back to work again. But I have another thing to anticipate because I'm going to Taiwan! Yay! Taiwan Shopping here I come...

Holy S***! The stupid adapter costs me $110 (before GST) to replace. I have to like wait for 45min before I was told it was that expensive to replace an adapter. I was estimating like less than a 100.

Anyway, I promised to post the photos on the bird park trip. I'm lazy to talk more about the photos but just a short description. I went to jurong bird park with Meiling, my mother, sis and "han han" my next door neighbour's son (Thanks to Orange). Han han is a smart little ass and I really find him cute but a bit mischevious.



















Had already attended 3 Japanese lessons at Bunka. Was quite impressed that we were taught so much and I'm expected to learn all the hiragana in such a short time. According to my sis, the speed that we are going at is really fast compared to poly. And I think our sensei, Ms Murata was a good teacher.

Yes Yes. I know that I said in my previous post that I wanted to post some photos but pardon me. My Acer laptop's adapter wire has worn off. Initially, I thought it was the switch that has spoiled. But after trying it on another switch, the laptop still shuts down due to a short circuit.

Now I have to make a trip to Acer to ask them to replace a new adapter for me. (Or is there somewhere I can buy a new Acer adapter?) Hmm I think I better make a trip down. Bet that there's going to be alot of people, since Acer's laptop is quite "Lao Ya" one haha.

Finally my throat is well again. There is no more pain like last week which I kept complaining. Lucky I got well 1 week before Chinese New Year if not I will not be able to taste all the Chinese New Year snacks! >.<

Remember that I complained that my rebonded hair is "Too Straight". Now, it's not so straight anymore, or I can say it's more natural now. Hehe.

Chinese new year is coming. I can feel the new year atmosphere even though I have not visited Chinatown. Why? Because, during CNY, all my uncles and nephews will come to my house to play and reunion dinner. Although I have a generation gap with my nephews because all of them are very young, but I like the atmosphere of so many children and adults gathering at my home. It's such a festive feeling I get.

So to at least engage a conversation with them, I talk to them about MapleStory haha. That's the only thing they are interested I guess.

Lastly, I'm still figuring out how to blog using my sony errisson phone since it comes with the feature of blogging. Hmm....

Suddenly, I was now at the crossroad of life. Getting really sick and tired of this job. Even revamping a new website does not make me feel alive. In fact, I rather someone do it for me. Just hope that the choice that I made is correct.

Till now, I think I did not regret rejecting the offer from SMU because I know that if I really went it, I think I will be very stressful and I think it's not really what I want too.

I think I'm really a pain in the neck. Being so undecisive and I'm always worried about money, money and money since you should know studying University is 10k, 20k, 30k!

zzzz. I'm sick again. Now is Cough and Sore Throat. It's only 3 months after my previous breakdown. Although this time it's not so serious, but it's definitely affecting my sleep. Was coughing so badly while sleeping (probably due to the cold wind) and I told my mum that I DO NOT WANT TO SEE THE DOCTOR! Why? Because I hate eating pills.

Unfortunately, those chinese medicine do not really improve my cough and sore throat. In the end, my mum told me I need antibiotics to get well. So? In the end I went to the doctor at last resort. >.<

I'm better now after eating these pills. Haizzz. In the end, I'm still dependant on pills.

I think my new year resolution is Restrain myself from eating too much junk food, fried food, KFC, Macdonalds, Long John Silver and whatever that is fried and oily.

Will post some photos on the trip to bird park soon.

Sometimes I'm just lazy to write. To reduce my chances of writing my blog, my 3-year old desktop was not able to power on. Checked the problem and found out that it was because of a faulty power supply unit. So now, all of us in the family has to rely on the only 1 acer laptop.

In a way, I think it's good that the PC died down because I realised that all of us have been too reliant on computers. Whenever we are bored, we will always go to the computer to surf the net. For me, it's worse, I keep going to Cutie website to look at clothes. It's like a habit or an addiction. VERY VERY BAD. Now that I cannot use my computer after I come home from work, I divert my attention to other things, such as drawing, reading books and self-learning japanese.

I've been receiving email messages from Facebook like "someone has poked you", "someone has hugged you" etc...To be honest, I'm not at all interested with Facebook. Just joined in to see what's so fun about Facebook. Till now, I still do not know what's fun about it. >.< Sorry guys if u "hugged", "poked" or give me something and I did not reply. Coz now I don't even bother to login to facebook.

Dyed and rebonded my hair. I kind of disliked the "rebonded" part because IT'S TOO STRAIGHT. I know you will say, it's not rebonding if it's not straight but I just don't like it. TOO STRAIGHT!!! The reason why I rebond my hair is because my ends are getting on my nerves. Anyway, it's too late to do anything. I wonder how I'm going to get used to seeing this straightness....

Time really flies. Christmas has ended and I have not more than a week before my holiday ended and going back to work. (Nooooooo, I don't want tooooo!)

I realised that so far I have not been doing something very useful lately. In fact, I have been watching all those Japanese idol videos that my sis had (she keep asking me if I want to watch so I just oblige). Some of them is damm funny so I think it's worth it. You may be wondering what idol video show I'm watching. It's the popular group called KAT-TUN. They also have their own TV show called "KAT-TUN CARTOON". Some of the series are very funny so I recommend watching it. Just search it in YouTube.

Finally had the time to went for a jog yesterday. Was so disappointed that my stamina is dammmmm bad. Now, I have muscle aches all over haha.

Took out an old album "BEST OF 99" and listened. The songs until now are still quite nice to my surprise. Of course, I also find it quite stupid now with songs like "Tarzan and Jane", "Culcutta". I especially enjoy this song "Butterfly" from Smile. Really Nostalgic. Definitely going to put these songs on my ipod.

Ok. I must really make use of all my time left before I start work. So long then~

Yesterday, I was been given a "reality check" on whether I should pursue a Design Course. The truth is, Singapore is not the place to be talking about "DESIGN". Taking Design course is like flushing your money to the toilet. When you come to the working world, there is no "Creative Design", you design what your boss or client like, not what you like.

A very dim future for a designer. Check this out: http://www.happeepill.com/home/designhell/dhell.htm

A whole lot of truth about being a designer. The truth is, you can't survive in Singapore as a designer, you will starve and suffer in Singapore's practicality.

Not just that, I listened to 98.7FM while on the bus after work. Their topic was "Passion or Being Practical". Indeed, most of them go for "Practical" while few of them go for passion.

There is one which I remembered clearly that he said he was a cartoonist for Suria Channel. However, after his contract ended, he did not receive any re-contract from mediacorp and now he was working as a security guard! OMG, this is the REALITY CHECK.

Another commented that in Singapore, "No Money No Talk". Damm True Man!

I think it's really fated that I get to hear all of these in just a day, can you believe it? Maybe I should just treat design as an interest, not as a career.

Ok. Maybe I will consider taking a Business course....Hmmm.....

Oh my haven't been writing my blog. One reason could be because I'm lazy, another is because I was poisoned by my sister's uncooked nuggets which got me in a very upset stomach, feverish. I was almost a dead corpse lying on my bed whole day, unable to do anything except going to the toilet constantly.

After going to the doctor, the usual stuff from my grandma, "Don't go home so late next time!", "You must have eaten the Japanese raw food, next time don't eat again!" .....

I think I really need to exercise, staying in front of the computer all day is really an unhealthy lifestyle and that's why I became sick. My boss keep asking if my food poisoning is because of the Prima Deli Chocolate cake haha.

Now that I'm fine again, let me rant again.

What's wrong with putting Ayumi's photo? Someone said that I must be LESBIAN. OH MY GODDDDDDDDD, what's wrong with appreciating beautiful girls? They are really beautiful, god's creation. Not everyone is given such beauty so we must appreciate ^^ (unless they went for surgery like the koreans then they are not pretty) To prove that I'm not LESIAN, some handsome jap guy photos that I really like.

Cute Guy - Yamashita Tomohisa
He's more of cute that the handsome type. (Although my sis might not agree to that)


Oooo, he's cute in glasses!


I always like to see him wearing school uniform.

Sexy Guy - Jin Akanishi
One of the main singers from the popular pop group KAT-TUN. He's really SHUAIIIII and really like his sexy lips >.<. KAT-TUN would not have survived without him.


Omg. Very nice picture!


Cool, cool


Omg, his lips are sexy! He's really SHUAIII! AHHHHH!

Ok. That's about all. When I have more photos, I will post it soon. Have to pass this laptop to my sis for her project. Ja Ne!