Taipei // day 2 //

our proper day of adventure!
hahah only after 1+ days.. whoops.


breakfast at our airbnb before heading out.
we went downstairs to buy all these food.
VERY TRADITIONAL TAIWANESE BREAKFAST I LIKE ^^v

we asked a taxi uncle to drive us around for 4-5 hours cos we wanted to go to YANG MING SHAN 阳明山／陽明山!
normal public transport wouldn't get you there la lol.
actually there is a bus service but I think its not so convenient as compared to having a car for your own use.

Taiwan taxi drivers are allowed (I think?) to do this kind of thing, so we pay them say TWD300/hour (I don't rmb the actual amount) and then they will drive us wherever we want to go. And then add up the number of hours he took us around and pay him at the end of the day/trip :)

We hired a very nice uncle.
He not only drove us around but also explained things to us and the history/stories behind the places we went.

so first stop YANG MING SHAN!


nothing much there!
just a temple and my 3 travelling companions lol.

after that we went for lunch at some random restaurant.
the uncle recommended this shop because we had no idea which restaurant is good or not good lol.


TOO MUCH FOOD FOR 4 PEOPLE.
we didn't even have rice HAHAH.


some organic vegetables, think they grew them on their own?
or they belong to the mountains or something.
and ginger pork.


the soup was too awesome!
we even had our own stove and pot HAHAHAH.


how it looks outside... really ulu/ in the mountains.

then we went to some touristy place!


volcanooooooo


still active-ish.


they had a sign that says 'DON'T COOK EGGS HERE'.
LOL.

then we went to DAN SHUI after that.
淡水渔人码头／淡水漁人碼頭

the taxi uncle dropped us there, so we can walk around and chill and not worry that he is charging us HAHAHHA.
we took another taxi back at night! (even though there is the option of taking the train lol)






the iconic bridge that everyone takes photos with.


not very good weather that day.

then we went to some cafe/restaurant to chill.
they had live singing and we just sat that and used our phones HAHAH.
chilling~~~


colourful theme.


then so fast at night already T.T


took a boat to the other side, where the night scene is.


eat more...

shop more...

AND EAT SOME MORE HAHAHAH.

their traditional food!

and bought some desserts..


this is why taiwan makes people FAT.

and we decided that the night is still young and went to sing KTV after that when we got back to Taipei XI MEN DING hahah goodness.
I don't know how I survived.


YUM YUM.

the KTV was good!! and cheap!
I rmbed we paid like $15/ person for 6 hours?!

yup that wraps up day 2~~~
and then we headed to Taichung/Tainan after that :)

Taipei adventures // day 1 //

I just went to see my stats... and there were a few views from Japan?!
こんにちは皆さん！
日本語がわかるけど、旅行の内容を書きにくいから、英語だけがある。
ごめんなさい。

maybe the stats is wrong and no japanese readers HAHAHAHA.
then I'm like talking to myself SHIT.

anyways, back to blogging about Taiwan :)


woke up bright and early the next morning HEHE.
this was taken at the street below our airbnb!

our airbnb had 3 rooms so it was enough for all of us, and very conveniently tucked at XI MEN DING 西门町／西門町 but was also at a quiet corner so it wasn't too noisy :)
TIP: please read all the reviews in the airbnb page before you decide! normally the previous people who stay there give very good advice/ recommendations.
airbnb の中は他の人の紹介があるから、みてみてほうがいいと思います。
例えばこの家はいいとか、悪いものもあります。


while waiting for our breakfast order...
the taxi and bus of Taipei.
Since their drivers drive on the left (and Singapore is on the right), I kept thinking that the buses had no drivers and scared the shit out of myself HAHAHA.
so retarded. I remember this happening in Europe too OMG.
運転手さんのところで見たときはいつもびくりした！
シンガポールの運転手さんは右いるけれども、台湾の運転手さんは左から、違います。


how a typical shop looks like.


some of what we DABAO.
in Singapore, when we takeaway, we say DA BAO 打包, but in Taiwan they say DAI ZOU 帶走。
so remember not to say DABAO cos the aunties will be like ??? lol.

we took a bus to Taipei 101 after that.
luckily one of my friend is a Taiwanese so we could navigate around with buses yay.


how it looks like from the bottom...

the tickets weren't cheap but its a good experience la.
I mean what's the point of taking a picture from below HAHAHA.
チケットは安くないけど、いい経験と思います。
時間とお金もあれば、みてみてください。

we took a super fast lift and the pressure got to everybody's ears but it was fun.
I took a video but I need to figure out how to post it here whoops.


this is what you pay for! $.$


trying some ice-cream beer thingy.

the top reminds me of Jungfraujoch in Switzerland.　スイスの山みたいところです。
it is like a mini shopping centre with souvenir shops, food (ice-cream etc) and also jewellery etc.
you can spend up to 1-2 hours there.
MAKE YOUR TICKETS WORTH!


a very cute bag I got hehe.
think I bought it the night before... and used it immediately ^^ #girls
AHAHAH.

J joined us from Japan after that and all 4 of us went for.. DINNER!!
decided to try LU ROU FAN (braised pork rice) 卤肉饭／滷肉飯 :)
but I have always been obsessed with JI ROU FAN (as mentioned in the previous post) so I got that instead.


LU ROU FAN on the bottom left and JI ROU FAN on the bottom right.
everyone ended up loving the JI ROU FAN YAY!




close up of the goodness.
the rice is drizzled with garlic oil and when mixed with the chicken... OMG!!
I LURVE <3

友達は豚肉御飯はいいと思うけど、私は鶏肉の御飯より面白そう。
もより美味しいと思います。

and of course we ate till about 70% cos the other 30% is reserved for the night market HIAK HIAK HIAK.


FRIED CHICKEN!!
I forgot the name of this stall but it is quite good. some japanese brand?

MY NO.1 FAVOURITE IN TAIWAN HAS TO BE MENG JIA JI PAI 艋舺鸡排／艋舺雞排!!
OMG I TELL YOU... I tried it in all 3 cities I went to HAHAHAHA.
it is thick, juicy, yummy, tasty and EVERYTHING A PIECE OF FRIED CHICKEN SHOULD BE.
all 4 of us loved it too!!!
it is really DA BOMB. please try it!!

一番大好きのもの！
とても美味しい！！！食べてみてくださいね！


THIS! can you see how thick it is? and it is JUICY. REALLY.


I don't drink bubble tea in Singapore but I have to admit this is good hehe.


and the usual suspects. 大肠包小肠／ the cheese potato thingy.


some collage I did of the food we had :)
this was for instagram so its filtered and all...

anyways, this post is getting me hungry.
more adventures in the next post~

Taiwan, HELLO! // day -1 //

Since I am so bored now...
I shall attempt to blog about Taiwan hahaha.
We went on 28th August and came back 4th Sept~ So that's about 7 nights?
which is alot for Taiwan.

But we went to Taipei, Taichung and also Tainan,
so its not alot of time in each city.

It's called day -1 cos we reached about 4-5pm so we didn't have a full day.


waiting for our flight because we are... EARLY :D
my friends would know I cannot stand being late, its like my organs are jumping inside.
so being early is always good ^^


went to visit the sunflower garden because it is inside the departure hall so if you're not flying anywhere... YOU CAN'T VISIT.


nice mah? my picture with the flowers hahah.
its nice enough to be my FB profile pic lol.


I LOVE SINGAPORE'S AIRPORT.
we have so many things to do and EATT!!! had ramen for breakfast.

we took SQ so we were pretty stuffed throughout the flight lol.
keep eating and eating OMG.


got these SIM cards from the Taipei airport~ Taoyuan airport I think.
its quite cheap cos unlimited data hehe.

it was raining SIAN, and the taxi queue was so long and we spent a long time in the jam :(
but finally got to our airbnb place at 7pm ish I think.
okay la just in time for dinner.

our first meal in TAIWAN! :D
slurps. I really like 鸡肉饭／雞肉飯/ Chicken rice but its quite different from our local one.
and the portion I like! not too filling and I have enough space to eat other things hahaha.

 

of course I had to try this! It's not bad but if the queue is too long I wouldn't wait.


and then MORE FOOD.
this is like roadside BBQ-ish kind of thing? you pick what you want and they will BBQ it for you.
LOVE THE CHICKEN DRUMSTICK HEHEHE.
damn fat but damn good.

Taiwan's food in general is quite affordable/cheap and nice BUT the only thing I don't really like is that there is this sweetness in alot of food...
I don't like my savoury food sweet ._.
But some people mentioned its part of their culture because having sugar signifies wealth in the past so it got into the food as well.
I guess every country/culture has their own distinct flavour :)

So this is it for day -1!
AND I ALREADY HAD FUN ^^

Taiwan is one of the places I didn't thought I would love SO MUCH.
The food, the price, the people and of course the cheap taxis HAHAH.
my travelling mates didn't fancy taking public transport -.- so we took taxis alot but it was okay!
since there were 4 of us to split the fare :)

MORE STORIES IN THE NEXT POST~~~
再見！

2016

WOW HELLO NEW YEAR~

I started this blog in 2014 (wow wow wow, it has been 2 years!!) when I left for exchange in Sweden :')
It is really nice to look back once in a while on what I did, so..

I will try to be diligent and update this space with more of my travelogues when I have time/ when I actually travel HAHAHAH.

2016 is going to be eggciting <3
BRING IT ON!!