Back to reality... Back from my 7D trip in Taiwan. I didn't just go Taipei. I went around Taiwan... to some of their places of interests. And yes, with a tour group. In order to listen to some of the stories behind some of the places, and also because certain places are not so easily reached if you travelling free and easy.
A picture paints a thousand words.... so enjoy...
Me! With my dearie on SQ, early in the morning at 8.45 am. (Was telling him that we have conquered 'hai', 'lu', 'kong' aka sea, road and air together for this year. hahahah)
At the airport before immigration.
Our first stop, Taipei 101... But nothing to buy cos' they house mostly international brands such as LV, Dior etc. Sky's gloomy cos' of the forecast of a typhoon approaching... Luckily this typhoon bypass Taiwan (can't imagine the damage that will be done if it hits), thus the occassional gloomy skies and drizzles during the trip....
New York New York!
The Asia version of the "Statue of Liberty".
Been awhile since I ate pig's blood.... Woohoo....
The following day at 野柳風景區. This is the "Queen's head" - the landmark of Yehliu. But if you were to go there in the next few years, it may be different or may even disappear as these rock formations experience weathering and erosion....
They have stories on some of the rock formations... Mostly about the "Eight Immortals"
Doesn't this look as if I', so near to the sky?
Jiufen - the location for filming the show "Sad City" - but hor.... I don't know what's about this show but I know it won Tony Leung some awards.
Due to the pitch of the hillside, the buildings do not block the view of another. Interesting.
Brian's brother and I... Look at his face.. Machiam I force him for that photo.. hahha
We ate alot of mushrooms during this trip. This is good!!! You can have the mushrooms grilled or fried. And their mushrooms are super big!!! Delicious!
Taking one of their mode of transport in Taiwan - train.
A good 2 hour ride. Been sitting in coaches for long hours due to the distance between cities, towns. (We should feel glad here in SIN that from an end to another takes only 1 hour...)
This is Taroko Gorge in Hualien.
The water from this little waterfall is supposed to help blood circulation and many others. Compared to this, what is our little Sembawang hotspring water? Don't ask me about the after-effects cos I only dip my legs in for a while. Can't expects miracles, right?
When you go with tour groups, they definitely bring you to places where you can buy their so-called best products - in this case, stuff such as jade, royal jelly, pearls, lingzhi etc.
At one of their shops, as usual, playing a fool as nothing attracts my eyes except for the different carvings:
Being dragged to participate in the dance of 1 of Taiwan's aboriginal group at the 阿美族原住民山地舞表演. (By the way, Taiwan's diva, Ah Mei doesn't belong to this group.)
At Kaohsiung's Fou Kuan Shan Monastery.
The "Dragon Tiger Pagoda"
Ever seen a white bitter gourd?
Store selling titbits
At Sun Moon Lake in Taichung. This place is the biggest fresh water lake in Taiwan.
The "remains" of Lalu Island - part of it were submerged due to the major earthquake that happened years back.
At one of the stops, this is the best tea-bag eggs I think I have eaten!!!
We even took a photo with the Ah Ma!!! Heard that she has been selling this for the past 30 years. And guess what, it's only 3 for S$1.00! Cheap!
See what they are holding!!!
Kind of gross right? It's an ash tray actually. Think the aboriginal group residing at this area used to (do they still do now?) think of "this" as god. Can't remember the story about it already.
We bought a pack of "檳榔" so as to take a photo with the pretty and sexy gal. Always hear about the little clothings these gals wear in order to attract customers to buy those 檳榔. And they are really only in their lingerie.
Wana see the photo? Email me.
Actually, not all those selling 檳榔 will wear as such. Some wear normally.
At one of the night markets in Kaohsiung:
This is big right? Shiok! It's grilled cuttlefish.
Waiting for our bbq sticks...
Because of the protest against Ah Bian, we didn't manage to go CKS Memorial Hall and Ximenting. Sad. Watching the news everyday over as many as 99 channels, you can really see the clashes between the For and Against Ah Bian. For the first few days, the Against Ah Bian (all wearing Red) sits around the protest sites (which happens to be around CKS Memorial Hall / Ximenting). In the last few days when I was there, those wearing Green aka the For Ah Bian team started coming and that's when there were alot of clashes. Wearing either Red or Green at that time was pretty 'risky'.
While taking their cab in Taipei one night to go Shihlin Market, the cab driver so-called held Brian's collar and said, actually, I don't really like people wearing Red. But luckily, you are a foreigner. Phew....
This whole protest thing actually shows the level of freedom in speech and actions over there. Good? Maybe. Bad? Maybe. No right or wrong. A different view from each person's perspective.
But seriously, on a lighter note, to see what is being reported in the news about this happening makes me feel that I'm watching a drama.
Enough of political crap.
Back to Shihlin Market:
Me at Shihlin Night Market:
Guess what I'm eating? The famous chicken cutlet:
Their famous "Mian Mian Hua" aka "Chuan Bing"
Taking their "MRT".
Some of the stuff I ate during the trip...
This is interesting. It's actually fried bread with fillings. I suppose originally, the name wasn't supposed to be written in this way. It's supposed to have something to do with "Coffin". Thus the weird name. However, I think people prefer a more "prosperous" name.
This is not from the famous Ding Tai Feng. This is from Dian Shui Lou - heard that it's opened by a chef from Ding Tai Feng. Tastes the same to me. No difference to the ones we have in SIN.
Popiah with ice cream and peanut.
I may be back again, but, only to Taipei for the food and shopping. Sports stuff there are generally cheaper and of a bigger variety. If you like Japanese fashion, then that's the cheaper alternative to get similar fashion stuff. And I wana go Ximending!!!!
Alright folks, sorry for the late updates. Been pretty busy with work these days. Till then, please take care!!!
Cheers!
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