Monday, October 29, 2012

Taiwan trip 2012!

In a blink of an eye, 5 days and 4 nights in Taiwan was over. I still remember 2 weeks ago after i had confirmation from my workplace that i can go on long leave, i was busy planning the itinerary and sourcing for cheap airfares and hotel stay. (which apparently wasn't very cheap in the end as it was too last minute) Well, i'm glad it all happened.
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Made it a point to photo instagram every now and then in TW so i can make into a collage above! Not bad right!

Thankfully i had references from my friend's itinerary, not forgetting blogs like Gisiang's and Darren's for information on where to go in Taiwan. I think i mentioned in earlier post that i was quite skeptical about going to Taiwan (you can read the post here) and the places i would like to visit, and i'm glad to say, other than the Miramar Ferris Wheel, i visited every single places i mentioned in the post! It was quite difficult getting around at first, and reading the chinese signage but slowly we got the hang of it. Couldn't believe i had trouble understanding and conversing with the locals -__-

I know you guys are looking forward to the travelogue but it's gonna take awhile (i took about 1300 photos in total!) and the sudden pimple outbreak beside my nose is not helping at all, i have to photoshop it away in every single photo. FML But still, do look forward to my idiot proof 5D4N Taiwan travelogue in the upcoming days!

Friday, October 26, 2012

HAPPY 23rd RAINBOW BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I realised before i turned 21, my birthdays were always planned by my close friends, until i hit 21. That's when i started planning for my own which i candidly planned for it to be at McDonalds, and for my 22nd, i planned a simple dinner with a group of close friends at Mind Cafe and this year, i hit 23. I told myself it's just another year and there's nothing special or significant turning 23 so i decided to scrap the celebration and pamper/reward myself with gift(s) this year instead!

Got myself a Gucci wallet as my LV was getting old. Planned a 5D4N holiday to Taiwan, flying the next day after my birthday. Set aside 1k and still deciding between the iPhone 5 or the Samsung Note 2 and lastly, get a more adult-ish watch - an Emporio Armani. Estimate of about 4 thousand dollars in total expenses. What a 23rd birthday i would say, LOL

Did not plan anything on the actual day (even though i took the day off work) as i thought i should spend the day resting and packing my luggage for my TW trip the next day. Jiaqi asked me out for dinner and i thought, why not. So i suggested meeting at NEX so i can have my favourite Ramen at Men-ichi and Ying zi decided to tag along as well (:

Image randomly grabbed from google image as i never thought of bring my camera since it's just a dinner...

 Secretly happy that Jiaqi and Yz decided to pay for my dinner, went  to walk around and up to the library as Jiaqi wanted to return her library book. It was my first time going to the NEX's library so i was pretty excited(?!) to see how it looks like. Was right infront of the book drop when i heard someone shouted, "HAPPPPPPP" I literally jumped.
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The next thing i knew, Joyce (who shouted shamelessly), Weijie, Limei and Jinglong came out of nowhere with a cake!
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It was a really tall cake and i was quite suspicious that it might be a rainbow cake that i always wanted but they kept saying, "Sorry to disappoint you lah, it's not a rainbow cake" blah blah blah. But still, i took out my instax camera (brought it as i wanted to try if the expired films inside still works) and took photos with everyone! It works!
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I wished i brought my digital camera though. Couldn't get better quality photos or a group photo :(

Made a wish and blew the candle. Their eyes were damn eager when i made the first cut into the cake (i was super excited also as i was quite sure it was a rainbow cake. WHERE GOT CAKE SO TALL ONE?!) THEN, when i removed the knife to make another slice, I SAW DIFFERENT COLOURS ON THE KNIFE. CONFIRM GUARANTEE CHOP IS RAINBOW CAKE. Joyce still can act yi ge continue to tell me, "It's not rainbow cake lah, no need to see." -___- LOL
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A REAL LIFE RAINBOW CAKE RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY EYES. OH MY TIAN.

Everyone was raving how delicious the cake was and it totally changed our concept of "it's just a plain butter cake with colouring" I forgot where they got the cake from, but it's from this online baker i think. I heard it's not cheap also...
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The design of the birthday day they designed. Literally full of shit, HAHAHAHHA
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Went over to Holland Village for a drink and returned home past midnight. Luggage not pack yet, LOL

Last but not least, just wanna thank this bunch of *Cousins, mainly Jiaqi, Limei, Jing long, Joyce, Ying zi, Wei Jie, Ruo Xuan, Josh, Kaizhi and Don for making this boy's little rainbow wish come true! Love you guys deep deep!
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One last photo of the rainbow cake to end this post!

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Planning a trip to Taiwan!

It's almost the end of the year and it's time to reward myself for whatever i have accomplished/ worked hard for the past 10 months! What's more rewarding than a good holiday getaway out of the country! (maybe an iPhone 5 or the upcoming Samsung Note 2 but still!) Tentatively the trip would be early November so i'm left with less than a month to plan for a trip! There's so many countries that i want to go to such as BKK (almost all my friends have been there at least once -.-), Japan, Korea, Australia, Paris and erm, did i mention i'm heading to Taiwan for this holiday getaway?

Honestly, i'm rather skeptical about going to Taiwan. Yes, i know a lot of people have been raving about what a great destination it is but to me... The thought of all the Chinese characters everywhere (i can't really read for nuts) and having to converse in mandarin , the traveling time to different attractions (which could last for HOURS) and what is there to look forward to in Taipei? Example, if i were to go to Hong Kong, i know i have to visit Lantau island, Disneyland etc. Phuket, i must definitely go for snorkeling. Paris, visiting the Eiffel tower is a must. You get what i'm trying to mean?


Well, I did a "google image" search on Taipei and here's the result:

Okay, i get it. So i have to visit the Taipei 101 when i'm in Taipei. What else?

After reading travelogues on blogs after blogs, and researching online for a few days on the different tourist attractions, i finally have a list of places that i will include in my itinerary when i visit Taiwan and here they are:

I will definitely be staying at Xi men ding - 西門町 which is like a hotspot for night shopping and food.

Visit the Taipei 101 - 台北101 which is the "must" when you visit Taipei.

Something that i always wanted to try. Release the Kong Ming lantern at Ping Xi - 平溪.

Take the Ferris wheel at Miramar Entertainment Park - 美麗華百樂園.

How can i forget the Shilin Night Market - 士林夜市 for the snacks!

Not sure if i will visit the Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe though.

Mr. J Restaurant - Mr. J 餐廳 opened by Jay Chou himself.

Heard bad reviews but still gonna try the Modern Toilet Restaurant - 便所主题餐厅!

Fisherman's Wharf  - 淡水漁人碼頭 to visit the Lover's bridge... or maybe not.

One of the theme parks, Window in China - 小人國主題樂園 which is like a mini land of landmark replicas! Must visit!  

The above are the places that i would want to visit in Taiwan! I'm thinking of going for 5 days 4 nights which should be enough to cover all these places? I know there are a lot more places to visit in Taiwan but i'm not so much of a scenic person so i'm not intending to go look at mountains and trees. Are there any more places that you guys think i should/must go? Do drop me a comment below or tweet me at @andystorm! Would definitely appreciate it! Thanks!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Samsung Note 2 or iPhone 5?

What's your choice? I'm still trying to decide.