HTC Touch Pro 2

I've finally changed my phone! It's super nice la! Pictures say more than a thousand words.... so just look at the pictures (1 picture only lol).

Taiwan Trip Day 12 (14/07/2009)

It's the last day that I'm going to stay in Taiwan. Apparently an earthquake occured over the night but Jian Wei and I failed to detect it. Woke up early in the morning due to stiff bed and Jian Wei kindly offered his bed to me since he's going over to the hospital to request for half day leave. We left for the train station near the afternoon, where we went to eat ramen :)

The Char Siew Ramen that I ate. Yum yum!

After that, I rushed to the bus interchange to catch a bus to Tao Yuan International Airport. Almost missed the plane... heng ar... Thanks lots for the driver who drove a little bit faster so we could catch the plane :)

The return plane that I took :) Home sweet home!

The internal view of the airbus A320. Sure looked like bus though.

Touched down at LCCT around 9pm. Waited for my parents at Old Town White Coffee before going back Batu Pahat. That concludes my 12 day long Taiwan trip. Being overseas for the very first time, I'm glad I chose Taiwan as my first destination, as it's essentially not a lot different from Singapore and Malaysia, hence I'm able to adapt to it rather well.

Besides that, great companies certainly spice up any trip. I am thankful that Jian Wei and Jia Wei were there, so that I didn't feel so solo in Taipei and Kao Hsiung. Also, thanks to Po-min and Devin who brought me along even though it's kind of last minute and they were not obligated to show me around. Thanks mum and dad for the extra budget :) and last but not the least thank God for His protection throughout the trip as well as the favor of men that he had given to me.

Certainly I'll be back to Taiwan some other time :)

Total damage done for the trip:1269 SGD (24k NTD for expenses in Taiwan and RM529 for air ticket)

P.S. Planning for graduation trip liao haha

Taiwan Trip Day 11 (13/07/2009)

Woke up early in the morning to catch the high speed train (similar to the bullet train in Japan) with Jane. Thank God we were able to save on the ticket price as we managed to get another 2 strangers to buy the promotional tickets (cost me 945 NTD in the end instead of 1265 NTD, cost saving of 320 NTD!). Rushed into the train with 1 minute left before departure. Trust me, the high speed train is even more punctual than the MRT in Singapore, and they really reach at the destination station on the dot! Super impressed.

The high speed rail station in Zuo Ying.

The ticket. It really leaves at 11:30 and reaches at 13:06!

How can I miss the famous train 便当? Yummy yummy for 145 NTD only (a bit ex haha)

The interior of the high speed train

Scenery out from the windows

Me and the high speed train :)

Upon arrival at Taipei, I went shopping with myself as I'm waiting for the other gang to slowly take bus back from Kao Hsiung. Met up with them in the late afternoon and followed Jian Wei to his hostel. Apparently the diner that Jay Chou opened is located in TMU, where Jian Wei and Jia Wei were attached. Super cool right? I don't mind a Jay Chou diner in NUS either haha.

Had Japanese cuisine for dinner. Their sashimi is super juicy, thick, and fresh! Just thinking of it makes me drool. Here's the bento I ate.

After that we walked around Ximending and went back after that. My 2nd last day in Taiwan...

Taiwan Trip Day 10 (12/07/2009)

A busy Chern Yih is a lazy Chern Yih. Since I'm both busy and lazy at the same time, I guess I should try to finish up my report on Taiwan.

Our second day (my third) in Kao Hsiung. We went over to Kenting which is by the sea for water fun! Took the bus which cost us 300 NTD and over 2 hours to reach.

Look at the blue blue sky!

How I wish my house is beside the beach :)

Guess who are the 3 people?

More photoes of the beach that we first visited in Kenting

After resting for a while beside the beach, we head for the water sports company and went out snorkeling at another beach nearby. The banana boat is super fun, not like Malaysia's. I managed to go 3 rounds. We only spent 400 NTD on snorkeling + Banana Boat, which is super cheap compared to all the beaches I went before. And did I mention that we have the full snorkeling suit? (Diving suit + goggles + water-resistant shoes) Didn't have any photoes taken using my camera as I'm busy playing with water haha.

We went to the night market at Kenting after coming back from the beach. Yummy yummy foods!

Siput! Got 3 levels of spiciness.

The food we had in a thai/vietnamese restaurant

Interesting stall. Notice the car :)

Jia Wei and the huge hotdog we bought

Mongolian roast? LOL dunno how to translate.

Super duper nice mua chi. Ate one full box just by myself (with Jian Wei and Jia Wei expressing their amazement). LOL!

Left Kenting at around 10pm, heading back to Kao Hsiung. Costs us 300 NTD each too, but the van is super luxurious, with super friendly driver and his wife who live just a few streets down Po-min's house. We got karaoke with lots of songs on our way back!
Reached Kao Hsiung around 12am. The driver drove us back to Po-min's place and to our surprise, Po-min's mother prepared supper for all of us. Felt super loved... The Taiwanese are really super nice la!

Going back to Taipei the next day. Almost towards the end of my Taiwan trip le. Stay tuned!

Taiwan Trip Day 9 (11/07/2009)

Alright, after being lazy for so long, I've decided to try and finish my Taiwan trip posts. Oh my second day in Kao Hsiung, the Taipei gang came over :) 1st stop of the day: Cijin Island to eat seafood! So, we met at Xi Zhi Wan Station to take a ferry.

The station

After that, we went over to Gushan Ferry Pier to take a ferry over to Cijin Island (Although swimming over is another option) XD.

Gushan Ferry Pier

It took us about 10 minutes' ferry ride to reach Cijin Island, where you can see the colonial building look-alike Cijin Ferry Pier.

Cijin Ferry Pier and us :D Rawr!

The first thing when we went over is off course find a seafood restaurant to sit down! Took us quite a bit of walking and sun exposure to get to some supposedly nice restaurant, and it seemed that the restaurant has relocated :( So, we went in to another random restaurant. No complaints there though, the food is nice and cheap! Couldn't imagine that kind of freshness and price back in Malaysia or Singapore. Without further ado, introducing the 220 NTD per person seafood feast!

Thick thick sashimi!

Prawns! Look at how fresh looking they are!

La-la look-alike. Forgot what it's called liao though

Fried juicy Oysters! It's not even oily. Notice the polystyrene look-alike thing... It's keropok lol haha. I thought it was polysterene... The whole table had a good laugh over it LOL

Sotong which is both chewy and yummy!

After the satisfying lunch, we went to explore the island. First up, we went over to the hillwhich houses the lighthouse of Cijin Island. The view from the top of the hill is simply breathtaking. How I wish I have a holiday villa which is located there haha.

View from the hill

The lighthouse. Looks colonial

Us on the top of the hill. Nice nice view!

After the lighthouse, we took a detour to the other side of the hill to a fortress (actually I think it's more like a battery). The wind there is zzzz Almost got blown into the sea below... It is used as a fortress against I forgot who during the Ching Dynasty I think. But then again, I think it was taken over in quite a brief battle..... Stupid reason to build a fortress if it's going to be taken over so easily haha.

The fortress

View from the side of the fortress. Good spot to snipe!

After enjoying ourselves on the hill, we headed back to the pier. Along the way, we bought this hmm forgot what it's called. It's something like fried egg dough thingy.

Nice but a bit oily IMHO

Before we took the ferry back to the main island, we went in to this shop to eat the super big bowl ice kacang!

5 of us finished this.... We're like saying no more mango for 5 days after finishing this lol

Next up, we went over to Kao Hsiung Arena. It's some shopping center with lots of branded stuff.

Arena take 1!

Walking around shopping centers sure make us tired, so we went over to Rui Feng Night Market for yummy dinner!

Rui Feng Night Market

Noodle Bread/Bun

The bun, nice but messy to eat if you're on the go

Besides the bun, we also bought smoked sotong, cream puffs, and a lot more nice food. Too bad I didn't take them down..... Anyway, I went back to my hostel to get my luggage over to Po-min's place. Day 10 will be a day full of the sun, the sea, and lots of fun! Stay tuned!