阿清的台湾8天周报 - 第二天

第一站: 野柳
野柳是台湾东北海岸的一个名胜景点. 其实特别之处是它很奇特的地理构造.
规模不大的海洋世界.
野柳1
野柳2
野柳3
很像蘑菇吧?
传说海龙王为排除龙女思亲之情,特别雕刻一座其妻女王头,以陪伴龙女能够日夜仰慕遐思.
仙女鞋.
第二站: 九份
九份位于山上,是昔日的金矿产区. 有很多地道小吃,纪念品,还有售卖很多台湾特产.
阿信的店..大家都忙着购买名产,东西多到得用箱子装喔.
九份的小巷子..旅客太多,所以造成拥挤现象..哈哈! (还好我们早去...)
素包子..忘了叫什么了..(也有荤的喔..)
烤章鱼!
芋圆刨冰的料, 不过只能选四种..(其实选多一点也没关系,店主没什么留意啦..)
港式臭豆腐..外皮比较脆, 口感跟台湾style有些不同.
盐冬菇加芋圆. 芋圆在热汤里还是很Q,很不错.
九份风景...
我在那里还吃了日本お菓子...大概是45台币(2.14SGD). 太后也买了现磨的葡萄籽, 相当好喝.
第三站: 宜兰(香格里拉休闲农场)
在前往宜兰的路上,可以看到太平洋的风景,还有很多高山. 旅遊巴士在途中让我们休息一下. 东岸的海岸线,不是大石头,就是褐色的沙滩. 因为很久以前,台湾是座火山岛,所以才会有这种景观. (去韩国的济洲岛也是差不多一样..)
北关海潮公园.
我们抵达了目的地,位于冬山乡的香格里拉休闲农场. 它刚好就在宜兰大元山上. 从那里可以瞭望山下的乡镇. 那个红屋顶就是房间的位置啦.
其实差点以为每家可以住一栋cottage. 谁知道只是房间啊..跟想象中的有所差异.不过没关系啦,房间感觉有点日式. 两个queen size beds在platform 上. 唯一的麻烦是蚊子多..哈哈! 我们首先到它的水果园去参观,大多数的水果都还没长出来哦..要不就是刚刚长出来的小果子. 里面还有些设施,像走吊桥等.
晚间节目开始了. 今天刚好有来自马来西亚的旅客,和台湾某公司的员工们跟我们一起参加活动. 感觉其实有点competitive，因为那团邻国的旅客，还挺热情的. (SG vs Msia..哈哈!). 第一个项目是搓汤圆.台湾的汤圆大概有分两种.一种是我们冬至时候会吃的有陷汤圆.另一种,是没有陷的小汤圆. 你知道新加坡人看过的汤圆都是大大粒的,所以大家搓的汤圆都很大一颗..哈哈! 后来司机铁人解释...汤圆太大颗,会很容易糊了.所以要搓小一点.
第二项目是打陀螺比赛. 哈哈..小孩和女生可以用小陀螺,男生只可以用比较大的陀螺. 最后,新加坡的成绩还不错..包了第二和第三名. 第一名是邻国的朋友啦..哈哈!
在陀螺比赛的途中,大家开始在天灯上写愿望,要写四面喔. 看我写了什么...
准备放天灯了! 不好意思...这张拍得不好啦. 天灯很快就飞上去了..希望大家的愿望能成真咯. 别的旅客开始回去了,不过我们"万众期待" 的节目才要开始. 钟导自己买了小烟火和鞭炮给我们放哦. 不过最后...大家几乎都跑得远远的...哈哈! (因为大家都怕被炸到..哈哈!) 大家都很兴奋啦..像我从来都没在这么近的距离看烟花和鞭炮.
回到房间...啊!这里有近100个channels..太好啦!

阿清的台湾8天周报 - 第一天 (改版）

在这之前...
先介绍一些重要人物. 首先是看起来不像62岁的导游钟导, 领队Mr Ong, 还有很会说话的driver铁人.哈哈! 这团一共有23人, 四个小孩和三个“大孩子”. 基本上, 没有人和我同个年龄啦, 要不就太小, 要不就已经踏入社会啦.
我在台湾的8天里, 每天都下雨. 因为刚好碰上梅雨季, 雨是一阵一阵的下, 多少影响了整个旅程.
听友人说台湾有百多个电视台, 其实有太多电视台也不是件好事啦..哈哈! (手会很累哦...) 到头来, 还是经常看一些在老家也能看得到的节目.
(Gotta type english now...XP chinese software is playing games with me...)
Impression of Taipei...rundown...the city did not look very lively to me. The traffic condition and the city structure were kinda messy too. Well, I understand I can't use our standards here to compare lah, but being the largest city in TW, I think the city needs some new development. Haha! What's interesting were the names outside their taxis and coaches. They were the names of the drivers on the doors lo...quite a gd idea ya? Can complain the taxi driver straight away if we are unhappy with the service ya? Haha...not sure of the real purpose for doing that though.
1st stop: Taoyuan International Airport
Boarded CI 2662 at 1.10am. We took the middle row, didnt feel comfortable most of the time, perhaps I felt hungry and then my stomach was kinda emptied la. So, didnt´have much appetite and I couldn't finish my chicken rice, only managed to clear up the side dishes. CI's inflight entertainment Dynasty Sky was not bad, many movies and music selections. There were short infotainment programmes and games too. Some more, it's touch screen..hehe!
Watched Aaron Kwok's "Fu Zi" first, kinda boring somehow...but Aaron's acting was good la. There were "Curse of the golden flower", "Ghost Rider", "Letter from Ijima", "200 pounds lady" etc. Only realised there's 200 pounds in the middle of my flight, so couldnt finish it. Haiz...The plane was an Airbus 333, a modified version of Airbus 330...seating was alright, cusions and blankets were given. (Window seats were better tho..).
Time passed, and I hardly slept...saw the rising sun on plane lo...super beautiful scene! Wow...super red and sunny sun...(I hardly see the sun later on...lolz!)
Reached Taoyuan at 5.37am.
TIA Terminal 1 looked old to me...very old....E.W said it was like HK's old airport ard 20 yrs ago. I think their T2 was way better ba. Gotta travel an hour to reach Taipei city.
Had my breakfast at Yong He Qing Zhou Da Wang. Quite traditional mixed vegs plus porridge la.
2nd stop: Yang Ming Shan Park
Was a little disappointed that I couldn't visit "Xiao You Keng" at YMS la. Actually there's nothing too special abt the garden. There were much more things to see up on the mountains, but u know...we were on a tour la...that's quite impossible la. Haiz..
This is part of the mountain scenery i saw at YMS. Bascially many mountains were covered by clouds during the trip...very beautiful actually...
Mr Chiang Kai Shek's statue.still intact ah..lolz!
The main attraction of this park..the flower clock with Mr Chean. Don't rely on this clock wor...not accurate at all. haha!
3rd stop: National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall (Zhong Zheng Ji Nian Tang)
Managed to visit this memorial hall la...all thanks to the Taipei city govt? Haha...Get to see many exhibits of Mr Chiang Kai Shek la...
The back view of the memorial hall...that small banner was "irritating"..
The "Pai Fang"....lucky they haven't change it...lolz!
The new name & logo la...
This is kinda sacarstic, you're saying gdbye to Mr CKS in his "di pan"? Haha..it's like saying goodbye to your forefather...what the heck?
Front view of the memorial hall.
One of the two halls along the main walkway to the hall..forgot what's the purpose..seemed to be musical halls or what..
Far view of the President office (Zong Tong Fu).
A bad shot of the famous "Grand Hotel" a.k.a "Yuan Shan Da Fan Dian". Basically u get to see it once u enter TPE city...
4th stop: Martyr's Shrine
Basically, tourists couldn't enter the main hall..only the president could enter la..What's the shrine for? Hmm...remembering those who had sacrificed for the nation ba?
The main entrance of the shrine...
The soldiers at the changing of guards ceremony. They gotta change every hour lo and they had to stand still and remained silent...a tedious ceremony.
5th stop: Shihlin Night Market
Due to the rain, our tour guide wanted to let us see see how the night market looked like and told us to go back again at night. Well, though they claimed Shihlin do open the whole day...it's definitely not true la..only a few stalls..and there's a wet market inside also la, which opens in the morning la.
6th stop: Hotel Riverview & Xi Men Ding
Riverview's hotel rooms were small...can "fight" with HK's hotels liao...haha! Limited channels on the TV..sianz..Basically I had my free time to walk around liao...so walked over to XMD, walking distance was not very long, not short either..lolz! Saw "Eslite Xi Men Branch" first, went to look around, nothing much la..coz' it's too small. There's another old mall (think the name is Wan Hua)...selling many shoes, toys and stuffs...
The road junction at XMD...
The famous "Ah Zong Mian Xian"...many ppl said it was delicious, but it was average to me..may be I preferred "Zhong kou wei" la..preferred the oysters mee sua @ our Shihlin franchise stall..lolz!
Ah Zong Mian Xian.
From Mister Donuts.
"Hong Lou Theatre" opposite Xi Men metro station...unique "ba jiao" structure. Many singers do hold concerts there...
View of XMD opp Hong Lou.
Returned to hotel, coz' our relatives came to visit us. Long time didnt see "bo fu" liao...only met once in SG. Saw his daughter-in-law and her son...omg! I became auntie liao lo! Alamak la..lolz! Anyway, I had 2 nephews liao la..only managed to see the younger one, and he's a bubbly baby...likes to smile and super active. Hehe...
7th stop: Shihlin Night Market
Walked back to XMD and to Xi Men metro station, their single ticket coin token was similar to Bangkok's metro la. Transferred to the red line at Taipei Main Station..
Not all stations has this protector...even Xi Men didn't have one. I wonder why they didn't covered it up...anyway, when the train comes and the station does not has this glass protector...the train would create a big wind when it enters the station...don't stand too close sia. Also, they queued up quite neatly while waiting for the trains, I think our train stations shld follow up somehow...draw the lines longer? haha!
Went to Shihlin, tried the famous "Hao Da Da Ji Pai"....big, with bones, and didn't cut into small pieces. Well, it's not particularly very delicious...the "Sheng Chao Hua Zhi" (our sotong)..didnt look delicious to me also la...haha! Tried their smelly tofu and "guan cai ban"..not too bad. Not all the stalls were opened leh. They off on Mondays huh? So anyway, we were quite disappointed la...There's another part selling clothes and stuff, didnt walked over la..well, Shihlin was very famous, but then I was not convinced with what i saw...lol! Even the crowd was not big ...(Weekend ba..that's what i heard...)
Practically didn't sleep for a whole day...amazed.

Dinner+Overseas Trip+Post-exam life

--Yesterday's dinner--
Went to "celebrate" my aunt's birthday yday @ Furama Palace. Well, though i got exam the next day...die die also muz go la..coz' it's on Mr Chean's treat. Ha...Anyway, the food was rather delicious la..and quite innovative. Butta, i ate the most expensive fish in my life also...hahaha! Kinda feeling terrible now...coz' it's a live one....arrghh...nvm..fishy, u'll be in my prayers.
--Overseas Trip--
Settled all the payments yday. Just some info for my coming Taiwan trip.
Date: 4/6/07-11/06/07
Flight details: Midnight flight to TPE and evening flight back to SIN via China Airlines.
Tour type: Group
Agency: Nam Ho
--Post-exam--
Haiz....exams are officially gone liao...and I know i am gone as well...haiz...September-doom month. Anyway, what will slacker Ching be doing for hols? Honestly, "temp job" is still on my waiting list...hahaha! Going to meet up my gals, chiong dramas, chiong bks and chiong games la. Oh ya...gotta do excercise also...I really need to shed some weight...gosh...

Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Bangkok special

Honestly, I couldn't remember much of Bangkok before the trip. Not much photos were about the city in my photo album. So, when I first stepped out of Don Muang, the immediate memory struck me...the expressways. Lol....
Ya, I wonder how they build their expressways, it's messy to me. Kinda spoilt the city landscape. Their expressways were very high up, dont know how many storeys high though. U have to pay a toll free whenever u use the expressways. Not like our ERP, only at certain time hor.
Also, they have to make big u-turns in the city. No kidding man, it can be as long as 30mins leh!
Yellow shirts...all over the city & on the tv too. This is how they loved their King. Really impressive. Their yellow shirts are not very cheap also..haha!
I think Thai students have to wear uniforms even in Universities (not sure about private ones). Anyway, alot of their uniforms are in black colour..very hot leh! Many i saw outside Bangkok were like wearing heels and formal (blouse & tight skirt) to school lor. Some others even wore those with blazzers and tie! Like office ladies...and black colour blazzers of course.
Generally, if u think our SR gals' skirts are long, see the thai gals. U will know how long are their skirts. Hah! Thank goodness, i really must pei fu them. It was really bloddy hot there.
Taxis ... basically they are safe transport. However, it gotta depend on your luck sometimes. It's cheap to travel in taxis la, but it's a different situation when u are stuck in a traffic jam. Hahaha! Their meter jumped very slowly, not like ours...aiyo! Sometimes i also wonder how they can earn money like that. Lousy drivers, i met them in mins time. It was raining that day and we were queuing @ the taxi stand. Some drivers either dont know the destination or refused to switch on the meter. Kns! We finally met one cabby after two failures. He requested for tips, good enough. He told us they can fetch many people on rainy day, so many wld switched off their meter. Very unprofessional...sianz!
Ha...Thai Dramas. From monday to sunday, at least 3-4 stations showing dramas at their prime slot, 8 pm plus ba. Saw some familiar faces..hehe (I had watched some thai series on TV2 la..) Handsome guys and gals all on tv ah...lol! Their drama plots quite similar la, but their filming techniques were kinda "outdated". Also, they jumped many scenes, no connections in between and suddenly the scene jumped back...diaoz~ Well, hardly any other entertainment besides the world cup matches, Thai dramas are still ok to watch la, despite the language barrier.
I believe that in 10 yrs time or even lesser, things in Bkk wont be as cheap as now. Their std of living are getting higher lah. Just look at their downtown. We have a Taka & a Paragon..they can have a few "paragons" just down a street. Also, 3 Robinson buildings which are quite near each other. Hahaha! Many rich ppl sia.
Nice trip overall, though some unhappiness struck me in between. Dont know when I will step into Bangkok again. Till then...

Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Day 7

[Bobae Wholesale mkt] My hotel's first to 6th floor were the "shopping centre" for the mkt la. Selling clothes, jeans etc. U can find other stalls by the roadside surrounding my hotel area. The prices here were cheaper than those found in night mkts la. However, some shops only sell things in bulk hor. Met one unfriendly shopkeeper who practically bo chap us as he knew we were nt buying in bulk. Sianz.. Also, they dont have fitting rooms, so if u wanna try the shirts on, bao zhong la. Haha! Their t-shirt sizes were quite small la, dont know why leh. So skinny gals, u all are lucky la. Hahaha!
[Prince Palace] We went back to the hotel from another entrance, and found ourselves in another wing! Hahaha! Lucky didnt lost inside la. The ballroom was so posh lor..and this wing was really nicer than that one we were staying at. Even the toilet also nice...lol!
[Lunch] Checked out out hotel, the guy picked us up and we reached Dong Muang. Lunch @ KFC, and the price was nt cheap leh. Surprised! We took the jumbo set @ 16 sgd. A normal 2 pc chicken meal cost about 8 sgd leh. Wah seh...
[Departure] Walked quite far to the airport gate. Sianz... Think i really got used to queuing up lah. Check-in luggage & check-in for gate departure...all must queue for quite sometime. Hahaha!
[Finnair AY97] Looked new to me, on both outside and interior of the plane. Hahaha! The cabin crew were "older" than the previous ba? Lolz...Left Don Muang @ 2.40pm sharp. (sg time 3.40pm) Suay things happened very soon. Air-con leaking...sianz! That Thai air stewardress was nice enough to give me a blanket, though she couldnt do anything with it. Lucky the leaking stopped once we were stable in the sky la. Phew~~~
Lunch again..Chicken noodle. It's definitely better than the rice they served the other time. However, my only conclusion was...dont expect too much. Lolz!
[Home] Landed on 5.53pm. Actually I think we could reached changi earlier, but heavy air traffic ba, so the pilot had to "dou quan zi". Haha! Home sweet home~~~ The queue was so long again...sianz...

Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Day 6

Still a shopping day...Hohoho!
[Chatuchak wk mkt] I am back!!! Let's see my shopping list now. 4 pairs of socks & a bamboo made bag. Mum also bought a bag too.. hehe!
[Grand Palace & Wat Po] Decided not to pay my 200 baht for it. Wanna go Wat Po instead, just pay 50 baht will do. However, the taxi driver stopped us at the wrong place. Wat Po was rather far down. Then, a guy working at the palace told us Wat Po only opened at 2pm on sunday. We were like sianz...coz we came all the way here from Chatuchak..not near leh. In the end, I didnt visit lah...a little disappointed.
[Chinatown] I hate jams...and i met a long one while traveling to our destination. We actually didnt know where the driver would stop us at, coz we only said "Chinatown", no exact location. In the end, he stopped us at their wet market. Bought some food stuffs there lah, but think we were at the wrong place lah. Haiz...Anyway, you can see chinese temples and many very "chinese" stuffs here. Hoho!
[Downtown] Taxi again! Wanna go to central world, but that friendly taxi driver drove us to Central instead. (another shopping mall) Goodness me. Lucky the malls were in walking distance. Saw central world, under renovation though. I think their Isetan was still opening as normal. Gaysorn was a very classy mall like our Paragon, hardly any souls inside. Can skipped it lah.
[Lunch] Fuji Restaurant @ Siam Paragon! Raining heavily, lucky got bring brolly. Hahaha!
I had katsu curry rice while tuan had ebi curry rice. We also ordered gyoza & makimono moriawase (5 types of sushi). Their curry was kinda too wet la, preferred the one @ Ni jyuu maru. Hehe!
[Downtown] Walked through Siam Center & Siam Discovery to reach MBK. These malls were like ours lah, nothing special and nothing cheap (though there are discounts la). Hahaha!
MBK was still the hotspot for people la, see the human traffic can liao. Shopped around but Tuan failed to find another bag.

Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Day 5

Shopping Day? U can say that la. The most taxing day of my trip, causing my legs and arm muscles to ache. Damn it! Hahahaha! Ok...blame myself for that.
Thailand's VAT, or GST known in SG is 7%. Not including service charge hor.
[Chatuchak Wkend Market] Took taxi to the market, it was located rather far north of Bangkok. (will write more about their taxis later in BKK special) We were there in the morning la, hoping to siam the place by mid-afternoon(very hot). Alot of things to buy, whatever u can imagine. There are alot of petshops there too...hoho! Bought many stuffs there...Stronly advise u all to walk around first before buying, coz' many shops selling the same stuffs but with different prices.
My personal shopping list: A scarf,a knee-length pants & souvenirs. Mum & sis also bought lots of stuffs. We bought something for mr mao mao, while aunt jo bought most of her stuffs for her 3 dogs.
Think only some sections are open in weekdays. So better dont go there during wkdays lah.
[MBK] A 7 storey shopping mall, selling rather cheap stuffs & fake stuffs as well. The 7th floor is their cinema complex plus restaurants. Had our dinner at Fuji Restaurant, queued for about 20 over mins. While, it's worth it. The food was just CHEAP!!! Tuan had her sashimi set meal for 6.27sgd. I had a full sashimi bento set+chawan mushi @ 8.78sgd. What's inside the bento? Egg, yakitori,sashimi,cooked salmon,fried prawn & vege, pork, rice rolls & some others. What's more? the sets come with Miso soup, fruits and coffee!! Wah their ice coffee was so nice! On par with starbucks. What else i ate? I ordered watermelon juice, sotong, sanma fish & mussels. Altogether it costed about 46sgd..less than 50 leh! Shiok!
Btw, Fuji restaurant can be found in many malls in bangkok, as well as Phuket & other major cities in Thailand.
Bought another bag in MBK...got sales there la.
[Other malls] Walked through Siam Square & Siam Center before reaching the newly opened Siam Paragon. Hahaha! Can just go walk walk lah, the stuffs are not for kids. (Branded gds mah) Bangkok's ocean world is located at the basement of the mall, but the tickets are not cheap la. So i didnt went in.
[BTS Skytrain] Took at Siam station. Was confused by their ticketing there. Coz they allocate the stations by zones, so kinda blur la. However, it should be easy once u know what's going on. Took the train to Sala Daeng station. You can glimpse the city view from the train.
[Lumphini Park] A very big one park ne! Can see the Thai's way of life there, actually same as us la.
[Suan Lum Night Bazaar] After a long walk through Lumphini park, i reached the night bazaar. It can be reached by MRT Lumphini station too. Surprisingly, I didnt see many tourists here. The shops were in much order compared to those in Chatuchak. However, soon we realised that the things were quite expensive lor. After some walking, only bought something for my cousin. There was a big ferris wheel too, but looked like nobody went up leh. Hahaha!
[Mrt] Basically, their mrt is underground train, while skytrain is above ground. Haha! Had to buy our tickets too, this time round it was in token shape. Then we scan and went in. They had something like ezlink too but, but cant be used for Skytrain, coz skytrain's using those cards we used before ezlink la. Sian right? Took all the way to their last station at Hua Lampong. Not bad too. Clean and nice.
[Tired] Very tired ah, took taxi back to our hotel at Thailand train station. Hahaha! Poor mum, so hard to find vegetarian food for her. Surprised right? We actually managed to find one at Hua lampong, but it closed down! Damn it! Other restaurants were at some ulu area, then mum dont want to go. The same thing happened at Robinsons Sala Daeng branch. We went to the food court, but realised that only some stalls were opened. Hardly any souls there...sianzzz