it has been 2 weeks since i came back from tw, yet i didn post anything abt it.lols. well, the trip to tw was a fruitful one, went to many places in tw, from north to east then to south then to west then lastly went back north before heading back to singapore.
first stop. tao yuan airport. reached tw at abt 6am, the sun was rising when we were abt to reach the airport. the sun rise though couldn see the glaring sun rising from the horizon, the gradual change of the sky was a soothing one.. the dimly-lit sky slowly turned from dark blue with a glimpse of pale yellow to a light blue with orange lines..the colours of the nature.well, it was because i didn sleep on the plane as well as i was sitting beside the window that i could see the colours of the nature..the seat on the plane was so hard that i couldn fall into sleep..
okay, back to the main topic, tw.
when i was at the immigration, looking out the glass panels, i thought it was 7 plus, 8 in the morning cos the sky was already so bright, yet it was only 630 about 7 perhaps. the weather looks great. we took our luggage then gather to meet the tour guide. he is a fun person n has great knowledge (i suppose most tour guides shuld hv diverse knowledge). during the trips, he kept talking non stop, introducing tw to us, talking abt the history n geography of it. so those mp3, psp n stuff we brought happily stay in the bags n rest.lol.
second stop. breakfast at tao yuan hotel. it was a buffet breakfast (every hotel serves that). the food was so-so, didn really whet my appetite cos i was getting tired after the 4 hr flight which i didn slept a wink n there were so many people fighting for seats n food. the soy bean milk taste blend n weird. the toaster was a lil spoilt n bread couldn be toasted nicely. sian. ate a bit of salad, something that taste okay out of the food i ate.
third stop. yang ming shan. famous for the hills. where the president office is. where jiang jie shi (founder of tw) built his hse n office. there was a exhibition on chysanthemum then when we went. that was the only type of flowers bloom at that time. the chysanthemum were big, bigger than my palm. took some pictures of the flowers, some not very nicely taken though. there was also an area abt the olden days of yang ming shan when jiang jie shi came to tw, exhibiting the limousine then mr jiang n his wife used to travel ard. the president office wasn open to public that day due to maintainence. there were 2 types of garden there - chinese style garden n european style garden, one of which was for mr jiang n other for his wife respectively. how nice. there was even a catholic church that they used to pray n do their service there, now it became an out of bounds place and could only see from outside, though the door is open with chains inhibiting people from barging in. the day is getting hot then.
fourth stop. lunch. at a si chuan style steamboat restuarant. ate steamboat(of cos), although have other dishes as well cos the steamboat only hv vege n some meatballs. food was not bad. had xiaolongbao too(: yum yum.drooling... full and exhausted after lunch.
fifth stop. taipei 101. where high end boutiques survive and departmental stores fall.. u can find all sorts of branded goods there - coach, louis vuitton, dior, tiffany co, chanel, loewe, etc etc... why i say departmental stores fall is bcos the only departmental store, sogo, has closed down. only 6 storeys are open to the public for shopping (B1 to 5th floor). the less expensive branded goods like esprit are usually found on the ground floor. hope they can survive there. even food there is branded, haagen das ice-cream, godiva choc, etc..except for basement, which has a food court n 7-11,watsons etc.. as the tallest building, observatory level is a must. taking lift up to fifth floor(if my memory doesn fail me) then go to the counter to buy a ticket for NT450, about SGD 21, to go up to the observatory level with the lift bringing up to 80+ storey. i didn go up, cos it was really too ex n there were quite a lot of ppl. went B1, buy food! bought mua chee with jap red bean, soft n Q~~ with hot brown rice tea. yum!(i mean the mua chee). went 7-11, bought CC-lemon, with feilunhai as the spokesmen, a carbonated lemon drink. the 7-11 there is really convenient. they sell all sorts of things, even have photocopiers, tables n chairs for people to sit down n eat their food. miss the 7-11 there. the day starting to cool down..
sixth stop. ximending. headed for ximending, quite long ride from taipei 101 abt 40 min.. free and easy time after checking in. it was about 3pm. tired. our hotel is beside ximending..how nice. checked in the hotel n rest. slept for an hr or so before walking to ximending to shop n eat dinner. night time comes early, abt 5 plus in the evening. this is called day short night long i suppose, since is abt autumn going winter in abt 5 to 6 weeks' time. weather is cooling, abt 20 degrees, with cold wind. ate 阿宗面线 for dinner. delicious. ate 鸡排，蚝煎，雪花冰/泡泡冰.(similar to ice-kachang but the ice is like pencil shavings type). the 鸡排 and 蚝煎 were piping hot, warming our bodies. the 蚝煎 is a lil diff from here, they had sauce like western food chicken chop sauce top on it, some vege and it is in one piece unlike here, in many pieces. it wasn very crispy like here but jus as starchy or even more starchy..lols. the 压轴-雪花冰/泡泡冰. yummy! we ordered 4 bowls - red bean with mucha, 3p(strawberries, mango, kiwi), yam with sweet potatoes, last but not least, the only mango. my fav was the red bean with mucha. the combination was superb. mucha is like green tea so if u like green tea, then mucha shuld suit as well.. bought 葱油饼，韭菜盒子, quite okay, a bit blend n think cos it cooled down, it has lost is tangyness n crisp. so hv to eat it while it is still hot. love the graffiti there, looks very professional. there are 2 or 3 movie theatres there.how nice. sells lots of food too. corn dog, various types of fries (i ate this!), bbq quail eggs, mua chee, bbq corn with a licorice sauce(taste a lil weird), deep fried sweet potato eggs, many many more which i cnt rmb.. then walk around before going back to hotel n rest for the night.
well, i think i shuld stop here for now..type until my hands are a lil tired le..very long post le..some ppl shuld be entertained le..lols.stay tuned for the next episode..lols.im crapping. 
