Anyone been to Taipei b4?

[greenie]

wah... u both so daring!!!!

maomao, i pai seh leh.... dun wear anything... dun dare lah... even though its a pte room... we r gog in a grp, dunno got such arrangement anot... anyway i oso dun wan... dun feel comfortable!

wah the food is soooo gd until u all gian gian ah? hmmm... then i muz b prepared to gain weight when i come back!

 

[okeanosmao]

jojo, if u paiseh hor, wear a t-shirt or u wan bikini oso can..up to u lor..i oso travelled in a group mah though only 4 of us lah..they arranged pte rm. so no worry lor..

u must try the fd there..hee..especially taipei hor, so many things to try..me n hubby share 1 type each so we wun eat till full mah..leave stomach for more..

me cm back put on weight wor..so u got an idea liao??

 

[meagan]

Wow, all these talk brings back fond memories of Taiwan. I think it is one of the best places I have ever been to, as it has a mixture of city life and natural scenery.

Alishan is great. The sunset is truly beautiful. You can drive around and stop where you want to take pictures. The sunrise is also nice but dun like the part where we have to wake up very early and walk to the train station in the dark. The train is also quite cramped. Pity I din catch the double rising.

Taroko Gorge is only so-so leh, i feel. The cliffs and rivers are spectacular, but the view is the same after a while. There is a cafe, where you can sit and order fruit tea and sandwiches. Expensive, but it is so shiok just to nua there.

For Yangmingshan, I only remember the trees. Lotsa of nice, leafy trees with different colours. Nice place to take pictures. The place is huge, so it might be better to have a guide so that you will know where are the more scenic spots.

Hey okeanosmao, you said you have some pics of taiwan. can send to me too? My pics are taken on film. Will also try to scan some esp the Alishan sunset.

Thanks!

 

[okeanosmao]

hi meagan,

i like taiwan alot..so if possible, i wld like to go back again..this time to alishan, penghu, etc..
duno which photos u wan? cos i went to many places..

 

[soap]

Hi Okeanosmao,

Can I have a look at the pics that u have taken at Taipei ( me leaving next Thurs for my CNY trip). My e-mail address is [email protected]

Cheers

 

[greenie]

hi mao,

so u & ur hb shared a room & u went in naked?

i will def cover up... wun go in stark naked... heee...

i noe, i noe! after the way u all described the food, i really believe got goodies & i will gain weight when i am back... ok, then i try to go light these few days.... then after tt i can gouge! heee

i used to think TW is no big deal but u gals said u all wanna go back again... really so nice ah?

hi meagan, can u send me the pix of alishan as well>? the gals here said so much until i oso wanna see... thks... my email [email protected]

soap! u gog TW on thurs??? me on fri!!! how long will u b there?

 

[idono]

I think if follow tour group, TW no big deal. Been there whilst I was 12. Not so special.

But during my time there, realise there's so many fun things in taiwan + lots&lots of delicious food actually been there on & off many times liao. but hv not went back for the last 2 years, kinda missed it.
If i go again, will go taroko, taitung, lyutao (green island), alishan, hehuanshan & kenting.

 

[okeanosmao]

hi starz,

cos i din bring xtra clothings, forgotten got hotspring. so no choice lor..anyway oredi married mah..

idono,

oh yar, kenting oso nice place to go hor?
wah u since 12 oredi went there? u mean bcos of yr parents work commitment?

 

[idono]

Hi,

I mean I went wif parents for a tour at 12 years old. can't remember much of the trip except tht its hot. my mum likes warm climate. whilst i found out tht i love cold climate, so my 1st impression of taiwan was quite bad.

its later tht i went taiwan for 1 year work stint. and after tht, a few more short trips.

kenting is quite a relaxing place too. can rent a jeep to drive around. quite fun. the last time, i got a motorbike & was caught in the rain. quite fun too, but dun think wanna tht to happen again .

 

[okeanosmao]

sounds fun..there are alot of places to go but the thing is tat travelling time hv to be v long..
isit some places can take domestic flights to reach?

 

[greenie]

hi maomao....

as long as u feel comfortable, its alrite... btw its juz u & ur hb in the room rite? actually isnt it so hot until ur body cant take the heat? cant imagine the water against my body w/o clothes...

wah alot of plcs u gals mentioned, i got no idea....

 

[okeanosmao]

starz,

hot spring mah..anyway, u can adjust the flow of hot/cold water yrself..
actually its nice feeling to soak in hot bath, cos the weather is cold.
http://www.tbroc.gov.tw/lan/cht/index/

u can go to this website to c all the infos u need.

 

[greenie]

thks mao! will chk it out!

 

[meagan]

hi okeansmao,

Yep, will want to go to taiwan again. Did you scan your pictures on a website? I dun mind looking at all the photos in taiwan, if you dun mind. =)

Hi idono, ha i can imagine when you are 12, going on a package tour with a lot of ah mahs and uncles. of cos not fun one. anyway, i will try to go free and easy if the language permits it.

I want to go kenting too! I heard it is a beautiful and peaceful place. Wanted to squeeze into our itinerary the other time, but the place is too far south away from kaoshiong.

Hi starz, can refer to this map to have an idea. Alishan is near sun moon lake.

http://www.orientaltravel.com.hk/Taiwan_map.htm

 

[idono]

Oh, there's another place I quite like due to its rustic appeal. Its an old town call "LuKang" (Deer Port), somewhere outside TaiChung. There's a tiny alley call "MoiRuXiang" (Touch Breast Alley). Becoz its a small path/alley, only 1 person can pass thru at anytime. Hence, if u meet a gal walking the other directory in the alley, u know lar.... kekekek

Anyway, the appeal of this place is its old buildings & structures from the early 1900s. When the place is a port where deer meat is traded. so u get to see lots of nicely preserved old houses. sort of interesting if you're the type of person for antiques.

 

[okeanosmao]

hi meagan,

nope, i din scan onto the website. cos i used digicam to take photos.i only uploaded a few photos.

idono,

the place u describe sounds interesting..where is this "MoiRuXiang"?? outside taichung oso?
any other interesting place u went?

 

[idono]

Can share the photos, mao?

I've been to quite many places, but all on the western part of taiwan. hmm... i would say that my fav for:-
Taipei area -> JiuFen (City of Sorrow), would drive there to visit the town & then make use of car to visit the surrounding hilly regions. The "best" scenario is when the weather is misty & foggy. The feeling is that of ... well, sorrow. As if the whole hilly region is mourning. One of my friend says that not good for people with history of depression sickness...heh heh. JiuFen's region used to be a gold mine, so u can get to see the "drains" being used for mining gold the old fashioned way. The city is sitting facing the sea. Used to have a port there and right "behind" the city are the hills. So the route to this city is interesting to, you'll find yourself driving into the hills then suddenly "burst" out and head downhills towards JiuFen.

Also Northern area -> "Dong Bei Jiao" (North East Corner). Need car to reach here. its a scenic coastal drive. A bit like Highway 1 on the western coast of USA. Following this drive will lead you into the eastern coast of taiwan where u can carry on your tour with visit to Taroko.

Central Taiwan -> Alishan. Desc above. Also, will take the central highway to cut across the mountain range. This is considered a "risky" route ever since the 921 Earthquake. You should still be able to see the effects of this earthquake. some mountains are 1/2 collapsed, ie, you'll see half the mountain "bare" due to its collapse during the 921 earthquake. Following the central expressway from alishan will lead you into the areas worst affected by this earthquake eg. Nantou, including sun moon lake. They've kinda "repaired" sun moon lake, but most of the original relic, esp. the temple in the centre of sun moon lake is already changed. Used to have a big idol there, not sure if they rebuild that. By the way, the way to Alishan is from Jiayi. There's this "little red train" (think that's wht they call it) which will climb alishan. its a very scenic route. can take the train if you're not driving or following tour. book early to avoid disappointment

Also, LuKang as mentioned above. Actually, Lukang is in ChangHwa. But I keep thinking Taichung since I usually approach it from there. I like the "meat balls" from ChangHwa and also the "yam balls". the yam balls are bluish in color.

For taichung, i like its shopping. you might give the TaiYangBing (Sun biscuit) a try. its the specialty here. I dun find it special though, its a very sweet thingy shaped like a flatten TaoSaPia. If u really free, can visit TongHai University. Its damn big and have its own farm in its compound. The unique thingy abt here is a church in its compound, this church have no supporting pillar at all. its build using 2 side walls, then allowed the 2 walls to collapse onto each other. The church survived the 921 earthquake w/o any damage.

For southern taiwan, its Kenting for me.

Island-wise, PengHu is fun. The other place i hvn't been to but heard its good experience is Green Island.

 

[meagan]

Hi mao, yeah if you dun mind, can send me wat you have uploaded? Thanks

Hi idono, yah you are right that the mountain range route is the riskiest route in taiwan. From taroko gouge, we drove for one day through the mountains to taichung. It is quite scary. some parts are wide enough for one car only. When there is oncoming traffic, the two cars have to slowly inch past each other. We also saw lots of debris along the way, which shd be part of the old roads destroyed by the earthquake.

You know there is an accident at alishan last year? The old red train fell off the track. I can't remember the details, but it was on the front page of Zaobao.

Yeah, we love the sun biscuit. Bought lots of boxes in Taichung. There are supposedly authentic and imitation shops. Idono, maybe the one you ate was from the imitation shop.

 

[idono]

Heh... not. I dun like the sun biscuit in general. Yar, i know which are the authentic ones. but it really depends on personal taste. some of my colleagues prefer the imitations. we tried from many many shops...haha. I remember there was once i had to buy 30 boxes for someone to bring back singapore. will not forget such incidences easily...haha.

yar, heard of the train accident. taroko freq. hv accidents too. just got to be careful lor. tourism sites in taiwan is not so well developed so the mountain range is always quite dangerous.

 

[okeanosmao]

idono,

me too..also like jiufen..like the atmosphere there..i got photo of jiufen, mayb can send to u too..but can give me yr email?
i remembered we had to drive past 3 mountains to reach taroke..somemore quite scary oso, the driver cum tour guide drove continously and nearly fell asleep!! wah, so scary..all of us were sleeping and noone was there to talk to him..wat i dun like is the mountain roads, so winding and long journey.
din manage to try taiyangbing leh..not sure the taste but i bought alot of niushebing (cow's tongue biscuit?) back n eat.
sun moon lake, nice scenery..we took boat ride to the small island also..hee, the boat man oso do self intro himself n we came to know tat he was the regular boatman who used to ferry president jiang..thruout the boat ride, he kept saying abt the past. he still mentioned tat only the 3 pinlang trees bhind a hotel was not damaged by the earthquake..

the temple had jus finished rebuilding..beautiful temple, got alot of nice carvings..so wasted that it had been damaged in the earthquake.

meagan,

okie, but hv to wait liao..hee..my hubby always fight for pc use..so i'll send to u nxt week,k?

 

[greenie]

hi ladies, juz got the itinerary.. the trip is officially 6 days but hor, the 1st nite & last day kena 'makan' liao... so actually we r only spendg 4 days in TW only... so dissappointed. and cannot extend coz there is no flight back..

maomao, was ur tour oso like tt? makan the 1st & last day?

anyway we r not gog alishan... only 2 yangming shan....

 

[okeanosmao]

starz,

mine is wif commonwealth travel. first day reached taipei ard noon time. then the tour guide bring us to yangmingshan liao..the journey frm airport to yangmingshan took ard an hour plus lor..so basically, first day go yangmingshan, then go to shilin market to shop ard. after is free n easy liao, so my hubby n me took train to go ximending. we stayed in taipei for 2 days afterwhich we proceeded to lake taroke, hualien, a-mei tribe,kaoshiung,then back to taoyuan.
last day makan liao cos we have to catch 8am flight so hv to be at the airport b4 7am.
isit yrs ard the same?

 

[greenie]

hi maomao... so in total how many days was the trip includg the 1st day & last day? mine is 6 days.

1st day, departure at SIN airport, 1705hrs. arrival in TW ard 2325 hrs. the itinerary is a faxed copy & so many chinese characters were rather blurry. thus i only made out the itinerary would b to yangming shan, hot spring, some strawberry farm etc... then we will b takg the morning flight back. the itinernary states the 0230hrs flight from TW and rch SIN 0630hrs. but my hb told me we r takg the 6am flight from there & rch SIN ard 11am. i dunno wats the correct time we shld b back... u see lah, really makan our 1st & last day then still wanna call it 6 day trip... very pissed. there was such a long delay over the confirmed details apparently coz his boss was trg to negotiate for a 7 day trip or we take an earlier flight there & a later flight back. but i think coz there is such a big grp of us, its not easy to arrange tt. and due to this, no extension allowed coz no more seats available back 4 a later date.... wat a wet blanket!

in the itinerary, i dun even see we got F&E time... sigh... told my hb when we rch TW ard 11+pm on the 1st day, we dun waste time & quickly go to the nite mkts on our own! we can sleep all we wan when we r travelling from one location to another by bus... but we muz fully utilise the time there...

 

[idono]

yo starz,

pretty poor itenery IMO. Maybe they hv no choice of other flights? I think the 1705 is the last flight of the day to TW. From experience, u'll probably leave TW airport at midnite & arrive in taipei 1 hr later. tht means u can only visit shilin at 1am. i've nvr been to shilin so late . Not sure wht they do during wee hours.

 

[greenie]

hi idono, wats IMO ah?

i guess u r rite, by the time we checked into the hotel, its very late liao.... btw wats shilin? one of the popular nite mkts?

 

[idono]

IMO (In my opinion)

Shilin is the night market you might wanna go in Taipei. There's anr "night market" in taipei, not so famous one, I can't remember the name. And then there's a red light district you can visit too, also consider a night market. You can try the red light district, should be still active. They sell lots of wild meat like snake meat, deer meat etc. I can't remember the name too. but if i suddenly recall, will post here.

 

[soap]

Hi Starz,

Sorry for the late reply. Didnt come in for the past few days. Ohhhhh, I am leaving on Thurs (22/01) & returning on 27/01 (Tues) immediately after 26/01 (Mon) after 12 midnight at 2.10am, reach Spore at 6 plus in the morning. Then can rest and sleep for the whole day of 27/01. I suspect that u are joining SA tours rite, I think our itinerary is quite similar

I am very excited to my trip, start counting the number of days left and moreover, can avoid the CNY crowd and visiting

 

[okeanosmao]

starz,

how come ur intinerary like tat one? so late take plane?hmm..if urs is SA tours, then most of their package always planned quite packed..at first, me oso considering SA tours but when we c the internary, we both shake our heads..wah, so packed..will be v tired..
by the time, u go there, i dun think shilin market will open till so late..mayb u can try..shilin sells clothes, accessories..the other one selling food..the delicious food..yum! yum!

oh where will u b staying?
for me, total 6 days..as both 1st n last day, we took morning flight back..so i guess, we kena makan last day lor..i din took direct flight frm taiwan back to sin cos oso no seats liao..we gotta transit over in hongkong.
oso becos of improper arrangement by the commonwealth agency, i quarrelled with them..over the flights, etc..cos u c, our group so far only 2 ppl..me n hubby..and they din tell us they are not going to continue this tour.as over at natas fair, the sales lady told us even 2 ppl they will oso organize..so piss off with them!..so unhappy experience wif them..luckily, in the end, another couple oso join'g..so phew, we manage to fly off..

 

[meagan]

Hi mao, thanks, I will wait for your email.

Ok here are some pics of my trip:

shi lin night market.

bing tang hu lu at Ximending

Jiufen

Jiufen at night

Boatman at Sun Moon Lake

Sunrise at Alishan

Sunset at Alishan

A tree on the way from Sun moon lake

 

[okeanosmao]

meagan,

wow, yr photos taken r v nice leh..r u a professional??
hee, paiseh, hv to wait.

 

[greenie]

hi ladies... my travel agency is not SA UIC, its some 'ini machiam' small agency in chinatown.. saw the agency's name was like 'Jun Travel' or sth... aiyah cant rem....

i suspect coz our grp is quite big, >35 of us, and the boss was quite last min in his arrangemt to decide to go there, thus they r not able to accomodate a earlier flight from SIN & a later flight back from there. watever it is, i dunno lah.... juz follow lor, wat to do?

hi soap! u r juz one day ahead of me... hey is ur itinerary same as mine? how much was ur tour?

i was initially very excited but after i saw the itinerary, i sian liao... and i dun see any F&E time on our own....

hi maomao, i dunno where i will b stayg either... it juz said '5* hotel'....

i think if shilin mkt is so popular, then they shld at least bring us there bah... keeping my fingers crossed tt the trip will b pleasant...

the very initial was to b there for 8 days, wif i think the 1st & last day kena makan... but at least i saw the last day got F&E... i dunno why his boss chose 6 day instead & its so rushed.... siao...

ah? tt means ur tour only 4 of u!!! heee... at leat dun hv to wait 4 so long right?

wah, they like tt wan, wan to go back on their words??? hmm, nxt time muz make them write down wat they say... but u already paid the deposit mah, if they dun wan to continue, then they willing to refund?

hi meagan, wow!! tts very lovely pix from alishan & sun moon lake... too bad we will not b gog alishan this time....

 

[okeanosmao]

starz,

i think the guide there will incl shilin market bah unless they think it is not neceesary to go. but still a tourist attraction over there gua.
hee..4 of us only of cos gd..cos we can decide on the spot if we wanna go to those gifts shops. u knw lah, the guide wil bring us to gifts shops to buy this n tat..then every morn, we v on ones..wake up early, hv bfast then set off liao..w/o having to wait for who n who..tats a plus point lor..
oh tat time, they even asked me to change to 7 days instead, i was so angry n insist on 6 days. they told me if there is nobody to join us then hv to cancel and will refund us back.the only thing i was amazed was tat, they can even ask another group of 5 to change to our date n travel wif us.they are 1 day later than us.wah, 5 ppl changed their plan bcos of us???
anyway, the cust serv side oso messed up liao..this person duno that person's job n hv to ask here n there..so fustrating lor..wait for nearly 1 hour at the agency there.

 

[meagan]

Hey, thanks for the compliments. No, I am not a professional lah, just like to take pictures especially when I am abroad.

Starz, if they are not taking you to Shilin, can try taking a train there. I think it opens quite late, it is quite busy ard 11pm and we always had supper there.

If there is not enough F&E time, try to ask if the boss can exempt you and your hubby for that day's activities, and roam on your own. It is quite easy to get about in taipei. Maybe skip the strawberry farm? Where are the places listed in your itinerary?

 

[greenie]

hi maomao & meagan...

indeed we r contemplating to 'escape' from some of the places they planned in the itinerary if it doesnt interest us... i cant rem the places we wld b gog coz the faxed copy of the itinerary was quite blurry... cant really make out...

mao, cant tell u r so aggressive... hehehe... me always thot u so soft kind... but i guess when the agency tries to cheat us, we muz fight back, else they will bully us! i support u!

u noe ah, my hb said his colleagues gathered info from TW tt its pretty cold now at abt 11 deg & the locals r already donning 3 layers of clothings... i rather b KS & so tdy i go & borrow cold wear from my fren whom travels very frequently... she has a huge selection tt i can borrow... hehehe... thus i save on my shawl & gloves liao...

meagan, the strawberry farm is our 1st plc of visit... its not interesting ah>? then might consider to skip... btw the night mkts only open at nite?

hehehe... i noe its a stupid qn... wat time do they open? from meagan's photos, i feel like i can buy a lot of things from the nite mkts!!!

 

[meagan]

hi starz..i have not been to a strawberry farm before, but I think a farm is not very interesting unless you are a fan of strawberries. =)

Haha, I am not sure if the market is opened in the daytime leh. Cos we always go there at night for supper before returning to our hostel.

Oh yah, near the Shi lin MRT station, you can find the authentic 'Yong He' shop selling you tiao and soya bean milk. Nicer than the geylang one.

Wah 11 deg..so nice and cold! Rem to bring an extra pair of gloves in your bag. Cos if they got wet, you wun be able to wear them again. Can change into the dry pair. =)

 

[idono]

hi meagan,

did u visit the origin "yonghe" shop in Yong He district in Taipei? They've some dishes unique only to the shop.

nice pics btw.
Jiufen seems to be always drizzling. ha ha... of the 5-6 times i went there, i only remember 1 time when it was dry

i also heard tht the shilin night market is moved indoors? in the past, shilin is not open during day time as the roads are being used by vehicles. they only "close" the road after 5pm thereabouts. But i guess with it being indoors, it can be open in the afternoon.

 

[greenie]

hi meagan & idono!

if the farm is our 1st destination, i dun think its nice of us to say we dun wanna follow... i guess we will see how it goes lah.

ok, tips taken for the soya bean milk!

huh? u feel 11 deg is nice & cold???

er, i am so worried if i can take it anot. anyway i only borrowed a pair of gloves from my fren. if it gets wet, then i will buy another pair there... spent too much $$$ on winter clothings this time liao...

ohh, i heard TW is always wet & drizzling? plus the cold weather, bet it muz b freezing!!!

 

[soap]

Hi Starz,

My itinerary :-

I have booked my holidays to Taiwan with SA tours departing on 22/01/04 and back on 27/01/04 (6 days).

Day 1 (Chu 1)
Flight to Taiwan

Day 2
Taichung (Sun Moon Lake), Wenwu Temple, Bei Pu Hakka Village & Feng Jia Market

Day 3
Changhwa (Flower Expo), Lugang & Shilin Night Market

Day 4
Ye Liu Scenic Area, I-Lan Farmstay with farm activities

Day 5
Wulai hot spring, Taipei Marty's Shrine, CKS Memorial Hall, National Palace Museum & Ximenting

Day 6
Home sweet home

Paid abt $1K per pax. Dunno which hotel I will be staying. Looking forward till 2mor

Wow Meagan - yr pics are very clear n nice. It is very well taken, which brand & model camera did u buy? I am impressed.

 

[greenie]

hi soap... i noe u hv left 4 taiwan liao... i am gog off 2mrw evening... i think ur itinerary like mine, kena makan 1st & last day! so in actual fact we r only spendg 4 full days there.

its very cold in taiwan now... abt 10 to 13 deg.... brrrggg....

me paid abt $1K too, inclusive of all the airport taxes etc. however, i got travel insurance 4 me & hb at extra $35/pax.

i got no idea which hotel we will b stayg... they juz said its 5* equivalent. i heard some ladies mentioning the hotels in TW is quite chia-lat.... hope we wun get a run down room... lookg fwd to my trip as well... see u back here next wed!

happy new yr to all! XIN NIAN FA DA CAI!

 

[meagan]

Hi idono, no leh, i only went to the yonghe shop near shilin market. We chanced upon the shop accidentally while looking for breakfast. You mean there are more yonghe shops in taipei? What do they sell?

Yah, it was raining when we reached jiufen. Luckily the rain is not heavy so we can still walk about. The shops sells very interesting stuff. There is this small musical instrument (forgot the name liao) which sounds like a flute, paintings and tibits like green tea tarts. Yum. Did you tried their fried cod (xue yu)? Delicious! I think its one of staple food there.

Yeap, Shilin is now indoors. My fren preferred the old shilin as it is bigger and there are more stalls.

hey starz and soap, have a great holiday! do update us when you come back.

 

[idono]

Hi meagan,
yar, yonghe is like a chain-store/franchise. Lots of stores thru' out taiwan. the original yonghe is... from the yonghe district in taipei. Took me a while to find it. very authentic kind of stores, and layout like the old "shops" we normally see only in kongfu movies.

They seems to have a type of bao which i can't find in other yonghe.

heh, jiufen is becoming more touristy for the sovernoirs. the food is still authentic though. the fish is nice. did u dare to try the "pig blood cake"? quite nice, tht is, if can overcome fear to try it... *eeks*. I can't overcome my fear

 

[meagan]

Hi idono, now that you mention it, the pig blood cake! Actually it doesn't look that bad, but when you know what it is, it is like eeewww...

Actually taiwan sells some weird stuff. At sun moon lake, there is this drink which is a piece of deer horn immensed in wine. Suppose to cure sinuses and colds, but we din dare to try that. And the snake killing at hua xi street for their blood. Poor snakes.

 

[idono]

haha. ok, i remember now tht its call hua xi street (aka, red light district). Dun be surprise, they've civet cat meat too, but must inquire discretely if you're game for it.

Did u try out the fried butter ball at "DanShui"? And also big barbeque sotong?

 

[soap]

Hi all,

I am back from my Taiwan trip. Wow the weather is like brrrggggggg so cold (at the mountains and in the morning abt 5-8 deg). I saw from the weather forecast that it is between 12-18 deg so I didnt bring much winter clothings. Wan 2 be mei mei n fashion show in my pics, in the end, have to stick to my grey coat almost thru

Now my skin is so dry (fingers, mouth and face), think have to apply more moisturer to recover.

Thanks - Idono & Meagan for yr recommendation. AH ZHONG mee xian is sooooo delicious, makes my saliva droop when I think of it now ......... (After dinner my tour guide brought us to Ximending, if not I will eat 1 more big bowl, it is so cheap ($1.80 for small bowl & $2.50 for big bowl) with so much intestine, not like the YONGHE(Spore 1), so little intestine.

But just dun understand y, my tour group has lots of old ppl, not much youngster????? Maybe to alot of ppl, Taiwan is a place for old ppl to go hee hee

Wei all, wishing u all a Happy "REN" day & Gong xi fa chai

 

[idono]

Welcome back,

For me, I love going cold countries. Was afraid that all my tour photos turn out and people might comment why always same outfit... haha. so i got a reversible jacket with red color one side & green the other ;p.

dun it feel shiok! when u eat the hot mian xiang in such cold weather? yummie!

 

[meagan]

HI, idono, no I din try the fried butter ball leh, sounds delicious...but i went to this beancurd aka dou hua store in danshui. They have many types of beancurd. Yum!

hi soap, haha i always had the feeling that i am eating sharks fin soup when I am eating ah zhong mian xian. I dun like the intestines leh, but i will add lots of vinegar and chili. Sadap. =6

You dun like cold weather ah? I love cold weather!! Cos it feels so refreshing which is different from hot and humid singapore. Less air pollution too. Next time, if you are going to cold countries, can bring more scarfs and beanies to brighten up your outfit. I think it will better than bringing jackets cos they are so heavy! Idono's idea of a reversible jacket is cool..

apply more moisturiser ok? Do share with us your pics when they are ready!

 

[greenie]

hi ladies... me still tired & blurry from the flight this morning... i dunno why, i din enjoy the trip at all...

we took the 2.10am flight last night from taipei & landed ard 6.30am this morning... the plane was so cramped & was too small 4 comfort.... went back to hb's plc & we slept till 3+ juz now... still feel a bit blur now... my hb & i feel so uncomfortable in the plane & by the time i woke up ard 6am, i felt so nauseous & my hb was feeling worse, he had a bag wif him & seemed like he was gog to puke anytime... luckily he controlled it & we managed to land 'safely'... it was a horrendous feeling in the plane coz our legs were so long & we cldnt straighten our legs... our necks were so sore & tired....

got so much to complain abt the trip.... in short, it was too cold & the itinerary was damn screwed up.... taipei was ard 5 to 9 deg... it was so cold! it was a challenge tryg to bathe & go to zzzz.... really.... my 1st true experience battling wif the weather. the guide said taipei had nvr been so cold b4.... we were really unlucky...

and the bus was not comfortable... we landed in taoyuan, stayed in taipei for the 1st day, then slowly the bus took us to tai chung & down to kaohshiung & guess wat? from kaohshiung, we took the damn bus from there back to taipei!!! it was so stupid... i wondered why they cldnt plan the itnerary better tt we din hv to come back to taipei all the way from the bottom at kaohshiung... the bus trip took more than 5 hrs & there was jam.... brrrggg.... really screwed up...

and the food was not fantastic... as the trip was paid 4 by my hb's boss & the employees were heavily subsidized, so watever the boss said, all had to obey. i wasnt impressed, esp the stupid boss demanded tt the night mkt visit time b cut short from 2 hrs to 1/2 hr! can u believe it? cant imagine tt bugger got any brains anot.... 1/2 hr is juz enuff 4 us to drop, visit the toilet & mayb hang ard one or 2 shops.... was damned pissed but my hb said we hv to endure coz he is the BOSS!!!

i even had an arugment wif my hb coz i was grumbling abt his boss & complained he is such a tyrant! in the end, the guide insisted that 1/2 hr was too short & we compromised to 1 hr. the stupid boss was in a bad mood over other things tt he blew his top at the guide in kaohshiung when there was a small prob there... i was really pissed wif his boss's attitude & behaviour... dun even noe how to behave properly in front of his employees... anyway i din enjoy the trip & most of the time i was feeling nauseous when we travelled on the bus... his colleagues thot i was pregnant! of coz not lah, the bus trip was so uncomfortable & the road was turning here & there... it was esp bad when we had to go up the mountains.... oh my! i wished i was bak in SIN! the feeling was very bad & my hb had to stand by a plastic bag 4 me in case i puke... i dun dare to puke on the bus coz the smell wld b overpowering & i dun wan to make everyone puke too...

in short, it was real horrible & i dun ever wanna go TW again! it was not as fun as i imagined it to be or perhaps the itinerary was not planned properly & none of us enjoyed it at all...

sorry ladies 4 the long list of complaint... all i can say, i LOVE SINGAPORE!!!! i dun mind even if its hot & humid here. at least its not tt torturous whenever i had to take off my clothes to bath, and i can sleep in peace w/o hvg to shiver in the cold... brrrrggg...

and the midnight flight was so untimely.... we were all so tired after spendg alot of time at the night mkt, and everyone was struggling to stay awake...

i cant even find the ah zhong mian xian.... pron too tired to look ard.

i dreaded each time we had to go up the hill... yangming shan was sooooo cold tt we barely stayed outdoors for 5 mins & all of us was scampering onto the bus liao....

we went jiufen too... it was nice & cosy but as usual, i dun like the bus ride. a few plcs was cancelled coz there was not enuff time.

my skin was generally ok coz i took care of it, applied moisturiser frequently. but my hb dun care & he came back wif dry & flaky skin.

i dun enjoy the weather when its so cold.... 6 deg!!! it was very warm in kaohshiung though, perhaps juz a couple of degrees cooler than SIN. in taichung, the weather was much more bearable. cool & nice.

 

[greenie]

soap, seems like u enjoyed ur trip? i certainly din enjoy as much as u did... i rem the ah zhong mian xian but some how juz din rem hard enuff to search 4 this.

i tried the tie dan at jiufen but i dun like it leh, so din buy back.... but everyone said its nice... prob i am the freak here coz i dun enjoy it... the candies (dunno wat they call it) wif some filling inside was nice... the skin was soooo soft & smooth....!!!

jiufen was the only plc i din spent a single cent except 4 the fish ball soup.

shilin mkt was big, but i din buy much stuff.... oh yah, i love the fruits there... the jambu was so nice & sweet!!!! i rem eatg this fruit in SIN but its not so nice.... my hb's colleagues bought cartons of fruits back! hahahaha... i wonder did the locals there do some 'magic' to the fruits? coz even their honeydew, which looked so green to me, tasted so sweet & nice!

idono, i oso had a reversible jacket like u, but the jacket was useless, cant keep me warm!

the winter wear there was cheap, like wat u gals said, i bought a very comfy pullover tt costs like SGD$17 and it kept me very warm & cosy, a pair of gloves & hat for SGD$15 together... very good buy & was useful.

but dun think i wanna go back TW after this experience, unless next time its a F&E trip & we noe where to go liao... this time was a disaster!

 

[idono]

Poor starz, bad experience and planning ;p. The tour guide should have been more experience regarding the plans and esp. the traffic hours. not sure why a 5D trip need to go round whole taiwan, waste lots of time travelling.

Guess u met a cold front when you're in taipei. I dun quite like Taipei cold weather myself. coz the chill factor is really high. Its not just cold feeling, its those sickly chilly feeling.

I think your hotel heater system must hv sucks. I enjoy bathing in winter becoz its so cold, then u turn on hot water and stand under it for a while. after shower, body feel so warm and can even live w/o sweater for a while

 

[fishball]

hi all,
juz to share some food pics!

Ah Zhong Mian Xian - Ximen (me not inside)

Fried bee hoon with meatball soup - Jiufen stn (not me inside)

Their version of Buddha Jump over Wall - Shilin

Meat Ball - Changhwa

Meat Ball stall

Honey Tea nad Lavendar Milk Tea - Bamboo house in Changhwa

Ginger Duck Hotpot - Changhwa

Lovely cakes - Kaohsiumg