Our plan today was to cover the Yongkang St, Wufenpu and Raohe area.

Slept in a little later today since we had such a tiring day yesterday. Left the hotel at 9 plus and headed to Yongkang St (永康街).

Took the MRT to Daan (大安) Station and asked for directions to the bus-stop that has the buses to bring us to Yong Kang St. We can take buses 20, 22, 38, 204, 209 or 294 from the bus-stop diagonally opposite Daan Station.

There are many Dim Sum places in the area. Din Tai Dung and Kao Chi (高记) are among them. Chose to eat at the latter as it is more popular among the locals. Asked one uncle at the bus-stop for directions and he said that Kao Chi's food is less oily than DTF. As we walk along the way, we can see many others big and small eating places too.

Ordered chicken soup, some noodles, stir-fried 小龙包 and crab meat 小龙包. Our bill for brunch came up to to NT860 and with our Taiwan Youth Travel tag, we have another 10% discount. Paying about S$35; a very affordable meal as compared to a comparable meal like that in Singapore.

After that, had wanted to go for some dessert at Ice Monster (冰馆) which is further down the street, but was so full after the meal that we decided to go for a walk first. Walked further down and discovered a Japanese confectionery shop. It's a small shop but with wide variety of goodies. Got some stuff here of course.

Headed to the Wufenpu area after that, but stopped by a shopping mall on the way. There was Daiso occupying an entire level and we spent about an hour there. At the same mall, I got myself a new pair of NIKE shoes to replace my worn out pair. It was heavily discounted, even the sales person commented so.

Saw that Starbucks was having discount for its Appreciation Day and decided to stop by to rest our tired feet. Had our drinks and yummy New York cheesecake.

And also on the way was eslite bookstore. Went in to take a look. Saw some nice, cute stuff there but was too expensive... =P

Saw Taipei 101 from afar and took a shot. Too misty to capture it clearly though. Did not include that in our itinerary this time...

From eslite, we walked to Wufenpu. It was a crowded place with narrow lanes. Did not spend much time here. Still, managed to buy a scarf and 2 tops.

Next stop, Raohe. Had a hard time locating the place, but was glad we've finally made it. We all agree that it was the best Night market of all that we've visited for the entire trip. Loved the oyster mee suah here; the peppery taste. Papa wanted to try the mutton and pork ribs soup and we ordered 2 bowls to try.

Walked and ate. Walked and ate some more. And we saw the famous 胡椒饼 and joined in the queue. Was already very full by then but still bought 2 to try. Did not regret our decision. It was fantastic!

After so much walking today, we decided to take a cab back. Not very expensive, only NT$200.

It is our day to Hualien.

Had wanted to wear our normal jackets out. Thankfully, the people at the hotel reception warned us that the day's weather had turned cold and we had better wear something thicker. Of course. we'd to listen to the locals, we got the keys and headed back to our rooms to change to our thicker coats

Had earlier engaged the services of a taxi guide and he'll meet us at the Hualien station. The train ride to Hualien takes about 2.5 hours. We bought our breakfast at the 7-11 at the station and had it on the train. The rest of the ride was spent sleeping. Good that we brought along those inflatable pillows for this trip...

Arriving at Hualien, we met our taxi guide, Mr Lu Lai Fu. Knowing that he is such a sought-after guide, I had made the booking since September. His schedule is already up till Mar/ Apr.

Mr Lu Lai Fu (吕来福)
Mobile phone: +886-09-2856-9081 (drop the first 0 if calling from Singapore)
Rates: NT$2,200 (up to 4 pax) + NT$500 for Cingshui Cliff

Along the way to Cingshui Cliff, we picked up our boxes of packed lunch from one of the eateries. Coincidentally, we met a troop of people going around from shop to shop to garner votes for the Local elections that will be held on Saturday. A scene we usually see over the news appears right before our eyes. Could not resist taking a few shots of the action...

Places we had covered today include:
Cingshui Cliff (清水断崖)
Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑步道), also known as Mysterious Valley Trail (神秘谷)
Swallow Grotto (燕子口)
Tunnel Of Nine Turns (九曲洞)
Cihmu Bridge (慈母桥)

A pity that we were unable to reach the Baiyang Trail (白杨步道) and Water Curtain Cave (水帘洞) as they are still under reconstruction; destroyed during the typhoon earlier this year.

Before sending us to the station for our train back to Taipei, Mr Lu brought us to have our dinner of dumplings and wantons and to taste the 葱油饼. Then, we headed to 曾记 near the train station to get some freshly-made muah chee and other local products.

We were real tired after all the walking and trekking today. Planned for a more relaxed day tomorrow.

Arrived at the airport at about 8 am and met Papa and Mummy. Was the first in the queue for our China Airlines flight to Taipei. Went to the staff canteen for our breakfast. See Papa's artistic arrangement. (Hint: eyes with eyebrows, mouth with tongue sticking out.)

Before booking our CI flight, we were actually considering budget airlines as well and after some calculation we felt that it was more worth it to get the CI flight at slightly more than $500 (with insurance, food, more comfortable seats and great in-flight entertainment). Mummy and Papa got their tickets a little later and had to pay a bit more though. =P

Went in early and had time to walk around the shops. Noticed a sign that shouted "Free 10 mins Neck and Shoulder massage" so we thought why not...

The flight was full with at least 3 group tours and many families on holiday. Thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the in-flight entertainment, and did not sleep much on the journey to Taipei. Managed to catch Up and another movie and played a few games of Sodoku. Was a little irritated by the constant announcements though...

And Oh, the flight has cameras to show the view in front of the plane as well as below the plane. That was an exciting part of the flight =)

Welcome to Taiwan!
After hearing, reading and watching so much about Taiwan, I am finally here! This was a free and easy trip, wanting to relax and enjoy ourselves. I was the one arranging the itinerary. Thanks to my friend, Sheryl, who contributed her March itinerary for reference. She brought her Mummy and another friend to Taipei earlier this year and thus the trip was a well-balanced one. Good for going with parents and the family. Amended her itinerary a little to cater for a stayover at Sun Moon Lake.  Click here for my itinerary.

Took the Kuokuang (国光) airport bus to Taipei Main Station (at NT$125 one way) and had to walk about 5-10 minutes to our hotel. Cityinn is a neat boutique hotel along Huaining St. Per night at NT$1690. I had earlier made a booking through the internet and had to pay a deposit for the first night.

We checked in quickly and then went to get the tickets to Hualien. Next, we went to get our Easy Card (悠游卡). The adult card costs NT$500 ($100 deposit and $20 admin charges if return within 3 months).

And we are off to Shilin Night market. Went to the shopping belt at first instead of the eating places. Realised only after a while. Asked for directions to where all the food stalls are and once we reached the place, we could immediately see the queue for the famous chicken cutlet. And how can we not try after travelling so far?

After more food and drinks, we headed back to the shopping area. It was our first day/ night and we did not really shop much. Headed back to Cityinn for our zzz. Got to get up early to catch the train to Hualien tomorrow.

By Hui Zhi

Have been wanting to attend the Vienna Boys' choir concert for a long... time and finally found company to attend the most recent one here in Singapore. It was such a fantastic experience!

The choir on Saturday, 7 Nov 2009, consists of 20 boys. Loved the soloists; the most outstanding one was a Chinese. =) Maybe they had tried to include more Asians in this leg of their tour, especially so when the new album is entitled "Silk Road". Familiar songs like 高山青 and 弯弯的月亮 were sung to close perfection and earned strong applause from the appreciative crowd.

In the second half after the intermission, the choir managed to draw the attention of the audience by having 4 boys perform a short but cute Austrian dance in Austrian dressing (ie. Sound-of-music style). The conductor was able to get audience participation by having us clap along as accompaniment.

One word: Awesome! =)

By Hui Zhi
Finally some time to walk the streets of Orchard. Visited Ion for first time and spent most of the time in Prologue- the book store. Went to Taka and managed to get a pair of shoes for Bernard to replace his worn out pair and a bag for me.
Was deciding where to go for dinner and Bernard suggested going to Wasabi Tei. Have been wanting to try out the food several times but didn't get to do so until today. Was in the queue for about an hour but was truly satisfied at the end. =)

Queuing outside the little restaurant.

Bernard keeping himself occupied with soccer game on his new mobile phone,  his fave team in action- Man U!

Finally to the front of the queue...

A photo of the restaurant. Tried calculating their daily earnings. Even with limited seating capacity, their monthly takings goes into the 5-digit range...

In operation...

Enjoying our salmon sashimi...

Generous and delicious portion...

Hi friends, do you see the girl in the file attached below turning clockwise or anti clockwise or both? =)

Bernard: Can see both directions
Hui Zhi: Can see the girl turning anti-clockwise

Ever wondered what side of your brain you use most often ? well now the clever people at Yale University have completed a five year study and a simple test to help you work it out.  Below is an image of a spinning girl. If you see her turning clockwise you are using the left side of your brain and if you see her turning anti clockwise yes you guessed it, you are using the right side.

Now, if you can see her turning both directions, and obviously not at the same time you are a member of only 14% of the population.

It's time of the year for gifts again... My collections at my workspace and at home. Among the gifts: edibles (home made cookies, cupcakes, agar-agar),  traditional red pens and soft toys, towel with name embroidered and photo frame with photo printed from my Facebook. And the cards and letters, I had read everyone of them. Thanks to pupils and parents. =)

30th August 2009, we celebrated our 1st Year Wedding Anniversary.

To celebrate this occasion, we got a room at Marina Mandarin (where we had our wedding dinner exactly one year ago). When we arrived, we were delighted to learn that the hotel have given us a free room upgrade as well as extended room check out. Praise God for favour.

We were a given a room which has quite a good view. Able to see part of Singapore Flyer as well as the on-going construction of the Marina Sands IR.

We went to Jing Hua, a chinese restaurant along 1 Fullerton Rd, to celebrate our special occasion. Thoroughly enjoyed the food there. We only have one word to describe the standard of the food and service there: EXCELLENT! Check out their website www.jing.sg if you are keen to find out more.

Skipped Sunday morning service but went for evening service. =P Managed to sleep in a bit more than the usual Sunday morning. Went for a hearty brunch @ Aqua Marine. Wanted to go for swim, but the weather was rainy throughout the whole morning.