回首看2010年

So 2010 came & is going to end in a blink of eyes.

In fact, the last quarter of 2010 was crazy... lotsa parties, lotsa food & drinks & lotsa happenings.
I shall end off 2010 with this recap.
Though i have not been blogging much this year.
Thanks to fb & twitter and a much more busy year.

换了
job with the drama-mama mdc and ended at wonderful 眼睛.
And so i joined the morn sardine pack train to CBD for work.
Felt more job satisfactions and appreciation from client.
But also met some real bitches who like to make life difficult for us.
Nevertheless, boss here was much better which kinda make me sad to bid goodbye.

到了
KL - Slurp.Shop.Spa with my silly gals
Bali - Sun.Sea.Spa with jt
Bangkok - Sun.Shop.Massage with jt
Taiwan - Eat.Shop.Sight with the amazing 4some
Actually in between, there were other 1 day trips too
JB & Malacca.
Alot more stamps in my passport!

看了
阿密特 , 縱貫缐, 洛克先生 & 不会飞的超人杰伦!
Inception, Eat.Pray.Love, Berlin 36, Hachiko & 海洋天堂

去了
Marina Barrage, Animal Lovers League & Noah's Ark
All has dogs around
Marina Bay Sands & RWS stay at Hard Rock Hotel plus Universal studio
And a co. offsite to Pulau Ubin cycle & seafood with an overnight stay at chalet which gave me a totally new insight of ah neh classmate.

变了
看不见，听不到，不知道
Adjusted myself to be a nobody to some.
So that somebody can be happier.
不喜欢，不高兴，不讲理
to one so that i wouldn't be taken for granted that i'm ok to be alone constantly.

买了
Mini Me camera, LV & Longchamp

第一次
missed offsite with silly gals (to Redang)
Being the only audience in the whole movie theater. So sad that Jubilee Eng Wah is closed now
Worked with ah neh in the very same team
Attended YOG opening
Doggy sit Dashel while his family was away
Going to the airport umpteen times but many more times through crew entrance
Attended 6 whopping weddings
Set up twitter account
Gave xmas presents to jt's bros
2x of Last day of work in a year
Have another pet other than toto in our hose, kapi-bara the pair of hammy

Sadly i have not yet
travel out of Asia
complete my Taiwan scrapbook
reduced the clothes in my wardrobe (in fact it has been increasing!)
been keeping to regular Yoga stretches

And i experienced quite a bad health for this last quarter
constant tummy-ache, bad menses cramp, the usual flu & cough

Hopefully everything will be better soon.
Everything as in work, health, wealth, travel & relationship with everyone i care.
same goes to u peps reading this!

Con't... 台中。南投。台北 之旅

Warning: This is also a photo heavy entry

Part 3: 台北

So we took HSR from Taichung to Taipei, by the time we reached it was evening time & drizzling. And we learned a lesson. Taipei cabs are too small to take in 4 adults with 4 large luggages. So we split in 2 cabs. Our Taipei dorm - See You Hotel
modern & chic design

After settled down, we decided to first check out the most night market "士林夜市"
No more driver so we gotta buy their Taipei Easy Card 悠遊卡 (similar to our ez-link card) to travel around.

Before we start shopping, we have to fill our stomach (like again! hah!)
the must tries: 蚵仔煎，大香肠，官财板 & 蜜酥鸡排

Returned back hotel nearly 1am and i was super duper tired by then.

Remember we woke up at 4.30am to watch Alishan sunrise?

The next morning we were all so tired we decided to sleep in and skip the breakfast. So we start off the day with a visit to Taiwan Storyland which was around the corner where we stayed.

we originally planned to stay here around an hour plus. Who knows we actually spent nearly 3hours there!
都怪我们的戏瘾! Oh! and we had great fun playing those olden days games
i would recommend this place if u're into vintage

By now which was 3pm, we were all starving (if u remember, we skipped breakfast. So this was our first meal for the day). And we made our way to 台北医学大学 for
Mr. J!

Yay! i finally came here!
超屌哦！
To be frank, the food actually taste pretty good.
It's not just a pretty looking restaurant. J obviously had good chefs.

After dinner, we made our way to Taipei landmark skyscraper 台北101.

The gloomy weather with thick clouds hid the top portion of the skyscraper.
But the effect was surprisingly good for photo taking as it seems to be glowing in the dark sky.

Last stop for the day: 饶河街夜市
i guessed because of the wet weather the crowd there wasn't too bad.
Food again! 山猪肉香肠 & 甘梅薯條 which is basically 炸地瓜
i like the 外皮 which was not oily given that it was deep fried.
地瓜有淡淡的香甜味，加上撒上的甘梅粉，甘甘甜甜的。 我喜欢。
my sis obviously don't

End off the night with the dessert shop right next door to our hotel. Ok having tried the Taichung 東東芋圆, i would say i prefer the 芋圆 at 東東 rather than 鲜芋仙.

We finally woke up early enough to catch the free breakfast today!
Before setting off, my sis decided to relive her childhood favorite game

ok time for breakfast @ KFC! The hotel give us complementary vouchers to redeem our breakfast set at the nearby KFC. and their breakfast sets are surprisingly good. very unlike what we have here.
except the milk tea which tasted like Earl Grey with milk. tasted weird to us coz u don't usually add milk to Earl Grey right?

With an IT man in the tour, we have to make a trip to at least 1 IT mall.
So off we went

Amidst the gadgets, we found this sweet doggie

Lunch was done at 永康街
Being there we must of coz try the famous Ice Monster
a gigantic bowl of shaved ice enough for 4 of us!

and being in Taiwan we have to try the authentic 鼎泰豐 小籠包

Verdict: 小籠包 is good, 元盅雞湯 is good, 蛋炒飯 is equally good too.
No wonder this restaurant has been awarded Michelin star.
The standard of their food is equally good no matter u have in Spore or Taiwan.

吃的饱饱得，we can now go splurge at 五分埔
in fact all 4 of us bought a fair share of things here. In fact, i think the guys spent more! Coz the things they bought were more costly compared to us ladies'.After few hours, we decided the damage is enough.
We have to stop venturing to more shops.
So the natural thing is to go and EAT!

胡须张卤肉饭我承认我太爱卤肉饭了!
可以每天都吃吗? pls lah!

Afterwhich, we return back to put the overwhelming of 战力品s Then walked over to 西門町. Did i tell u our hotel is located strategically near to Taipei Main station & walking distance to Ximending!
i like.Didn't really shop here as it was quite late so we proceed to the entertainment for the night
KTV!Their KTV room even comes with individual restroom!
How cool~

Next morning we woke up to a chilly wet weather but we still braved the rain in search for agnès b. CaféAfter making a wrong wasted trip, we finally found it in Breeze shopping mallNothing fantastic. i still prefer the agnès b. le pain grillé at HongKong.
The decor there was nicer.
Since the weather was wet, we gotta stay at some indoor place so we made our way back to 五分埔 for more shopping! This 2nd trip the guys were more restraint. Ladies won in terms of quantity!

And a 五分埔 trip would not be complete without eating 胡须张卤肉饭!
Back to 西門町 for some more shopping
Saw this lady drummer 陈蔓青 whom i think was one of the contestant for 星光And this impressive artist who does art pieces using spray paint & fire! we were so impressed with his work that we bought that piece of art we witnessed him doing on the spot.
Now some more food.
Not that we were hungry but we just want to try this place coz we have got egg fanatics among us.
Cafe Tamago Ya Omelet rice The food is pretty good if u order the right ones.
Some hit & some missed.

Despite the cool weather, we still must have shaved ice
So we had one at Ximending
Back to Shilin Night Market coz i wanted to get something here which i can't find elsewhere.
Blame myself for not getting it the first night we were here.
and we had another shaved ice at the famous 辛发亭!
Actually their name is 雪花冰.
The shaven ice tasted a tinge of milk, just add on any flavors u prefer and u get one good dessert!辛发亭是士林有名的老牌冰店，也是雪花冰的创始店
To keep customer entertained, they have this little lucky lots for u to draw.
看看我的签是否是大吉? As we are done here, it started drizzling so we called off the night and returned back to our warm beds.

Last full day the weather was finally good enough for some outdoor sites.
Had our KFC breakfast then venture out First stop after breakfast: Miramar which was nothing much actually.

Just a shopping mall with all kinds of shops u can usually find in Spore. But we were just here to take a pic of the giant Ferries Wheel. A scene that appeared in many Taiwanese drama!
Lunch was at 伍角船板
The Taipei branch is an elaborately sculpted facade made up of driftwood, iron sheeting, and flagstone into a female aboriginal dancer with flowing hair.

i really like the restaurant concept by artist Hsieh Li-Hsiang, who has created her imaginative and dreamlike restaurant out of driftwood and her sculptures creations.
The food is good too.

Next stop: 淡水

Having being to Mr. J restaurant, i must make a trip to 淡江中学 where 杰伦 studied
and filmed the movie "不能说的秘密"
Don't be mistaken. This is not 淡江中学. Just another nice looking school next to it.

This is 淡江中学

very nicely done up school facade.
Unlike the practical and boring looking ones we have here.

At Taiwan, i ate at Mr. J, visited 淡江中学 & watched Mr. J 频道!
True 杰伦迷! hah!At 淡水 of coz we gotta go 鱼人码头 see sunset & 逛老街

Then we proceed to EZ 5 where we spent our last night at Taipei Managed to catch 林芯儀 & 卓義峯 performance.
Last day was the day to return home.
We had morn flight so it was an early morning for us again.
Our hotel is walking distance to the bus station for us to board the 8.20am airport express bus. We just have to lugged our heavy luggages through 1 street & crossed 1 traffic junction to reach.
This hotel is just so so so recommended!

After 9D8N, we went home with lotsa goodies, lotsa memories, lotsa photos & lotsa weight (both luggages & body)!this is my third trip to Taiwan and i'm sure it will not be the last.

台中。南投。台北 之旅

Warning: This is a photo heavy entry

2nd time we travel together
we as in jt & his bro plus me & sis
for 9D8N
So off we went to explore 台中。南投。台北
After flying 6hrs with transits in between at HK, we finally landed at 桃源机场

Part 1 of our trip: 台中

To get there we have to take a bus from the airport to Taoyuan HSR(High Speed Rail) station then board the HSR to Taichung
Upon reaching, our hired driver guide Mr. Liao is there waiting for us.
Checked in to our lovely 民宿 （台中逢甲角落民宿）
recommended by Mr. Liao
After dropping luggages at our respective rooms, we brave the rain & head out to 逢甲夜市 to fill the starving foursome
With the expert recommendation from Mr. Liao, we sunk our teeth into 大肠包小肠，排骨酥，烤虾， 豆乳鸡， 刈包 & 木瓜牛奶　A group shoot before we return back & rest for the dayNext day we woke up bright & early for some real good breakfast (complementary from 民宿)
拉亚汉堡 the current popular 早餐店 in Taiwan
And this marks the beginning of our foodie trip for the day
The next 2 stops that Mr. Liao brought us to was fantastic too
So good that i believed the pictures say all
Now that we are so damn full after all the eating, we are ready to start our first sight seeing stop - 薰衣草森林

Since we are still not hungry due to the overwhelming breakfast, Mr. Liao brought us to this No.1肉圆 store in Taichung for lunch
The shop only sell 3 types of food and the whole place is chaotic.
So packed, so busy.
Every customer that sat down basically just inform the store people the no. of bowls they want and the gluey 肉圆s will be served.
1 肉圆 per bowl.
淋上他们的特制米浆和辣酱，Super chewy 的外皮Q 到不行，我喜欢。

Part 2 of our trip: 南投

We immersed ourselves in the scenic wild greenery at 清境農場 located at 1,750 meters above sea altitude.
The main attractions here are 青青草原 & 绵羊

Animal lover me no like the 绵羊s there.
Too dirty & smelly. *Blah*

Next stop we moved on to 廬山 for their famous hotspring! Wee~

One of the random stop we made along the way as we saw some 野生sunflowers

By the time we reached up 廬山, night has fallen.
Time for dinner at a 野味饭店
me like their 山苦瓜土鸡汤 & 香酥溪虾 but no like their 清蒸鳟鱼.
After filling our stomach, we went for a stroll at the 老街 coz we can't soak hotspring right after meal.
And bought eggs to cook in spring water. Their famous 温泉蛋!
After that, we excitedly check in to our hotspring resort 樱宿温泉會館
Yup! We have the hotspring tub right in each room.
Apparently, according to Mr. Liao, Taiwanese do not like to soak in public hotspring pool (those open concept shared by everyone) as they find that it is not hygienic.
So they usually do a short getaway to these hotspring resorts to soak away in the private.

Our night entertainment after soaking warm hotspring is 喝台湾啤酒 吃温泉蛋 before we get Zzzz

Next day's plan is to go Alishan but we stopped by 日月潭 first.
And we finally see some bright sunlight!
Did i mentioned it was all gloomy sky for the past few days?

Another random stop along the way cos we saw blooming cherry blossom!
In Nov! How lucky!
To 日月潭 we first made a brief stop at 埔里
to visit 18度c巧克力工房

酒廠 & have a 绍興香肠 each
And this is the famous 日月潭

The place didn't wow me away as it was pretty touristy place.
i just want to been there done that.

To fill our stomach, Mr. Liao made a detour to 嘉義 in search for good food.
i only tried the 嘉義肉羹 as the 黑松春饼 has got parsley which i don't like.
i must say i really like the 嘉義肉羹.
猪 肉滑嫩，配料丰富（有大白菜、筍絲，还有香菇，金針菇）
湯头吃起來有很重的香菇味.
Reminds me of homecook food

While on the way up Alishan, the weather turned bad.
The clouds were all surrounding the area.
Making the visibility very low
Another random stop at a tea plantation.

Along the way, Mr. Liao made another stop at 奮起湖 a key scenic spot along Alishan railway.

i like this place. Rustic & nostalgia.
Mr. Liao wanted to bring us to this old grandpa who sells homemade 爱玉 but too bad it was closed on that day we visited. So we had to made do with other store located at the 老街.

Another random stop along the drive
See the thick mist surrounding us.
The mist was formed due to the clouds in this high altitude.

Finally we reached our Alishan 青山別館.
a quaint cozy resting place what keeps you warm
Our scrumptious dinner at Alishan
The highlights are 石头火锅 & 山猪肉. In fact the 山猪肉 was so good we ordered a second serving!
Since it was our last night before bidding Mr. Liao goodbye, we also had a good chat & drank with him. But the 高粱 is way too much for me to handle. Alcohol level is 58%!

Next morn, we woke up at 4.30am to make our way up Alishan mountain top for sunrise.
The top attraction in Alishan, the crowds board the predawn train for the 30min ride to the mountain peak on the east side of Alishan. There's even a viewing platform right next to the station which tells you how touristy this place is.

Although we have to woke up at wee hour,
Although we waited for more than an hour,
Although the 云海 wasn't very thick,
Ultimately when we managed to catch the beautiful sun ray,
i must say it was all worth it.

After breakfast, we bought some wooden postcards to mail back home from Post office located at the highest point in Taiwan.
Followed by 阿里山国家公园 tour lead by our lovely 民宿老板娘
Introducing you the most senior dog at Alishan - 海葛
How can we resist a photo shoot with this blooming maple tree just right outside the 民宿
Lastly, that's our lovely 民宿老板娘

And then we proceed on to witness the beauty of 玉山, the highest mountain in Taiwan.
With panoramic views, overlapping mountains, and deep, plunging valleys filled with 云海.
The sun was bright, the sky was blue, the clouds was white & fluffy.
Perfect photo taking spot!

Lunch was settled at an eatery that i know a certain Ms. Ong will like
How's some ice cream & milk tea for dessert?
never try the spring onion pancake as it's not my cup of "onion"

Along the way back to Taichung, a very colourful train caught our attention

Lastly, Mr. Liao brought us to buy some super nice 太阳饼 & 凤梨酥 and buy some betel nuts from 槟榔西施.
Before finally dropping us back at Taichung HSR station.
i am really happy to have booked Mr. Liao as our guide driver for this trip.
He really knows where to find good food for us to try, know how to read weather so that we can take the best opportunity for nice photo shoot & knows how to keep us entertained with his broad range of mp3 songs in his car.

Bringing with the wonderful memories of 台中 & 南投, we embark on our next journey to 台北
Keeping ourselves entertained on the train

to be continue. . .