Fri 23/4 : Breakfast lousy, very lousy. Went to Yue Liu to see natural rock formation . Rocks erroded by the waves. Fantastic. Drove up the mountain about 30mins from Taipei. More shops. Rained so heavily that all our jeans and shoes got very wet. But it was worth it tho. The snacks there are just ....yummy. We tried a few stuff, great. The only problem was our stomach not big enough, what a pity. Filled the tummy and emptied the wallet in the rain...hahaha.
Mongolian steamboat was on the menu that nite. ok ok only. Then ,it was last nite of shopping at Wu Fan Pu. The object of the trip was to finish what ever NT you still had in your wallet. Bed time at 11pm after a frantic attempt at packing cos only allowed 20kg.
Wake up call at 5am. On the bus at 6am. Airport at 6.40am. Breakfast good. Yes at last the breakfast was good. The hotel gave us packed breakfast of sandwich and soya milk. Yummy. Should have had packed breakfast every morning. We had our breakfast standing up outside the toilet. Yep! Convenient, eat and go. The airasia counter not opened yet. The plane left on time. Hoorah!!
Everyone was so hungry, but guess what? No food for sale....no typing error here. They sold out all the food on the flight from KK to Taiwan. So, this flight from Taiwan to KK no food. That is airasia for you. Luckily we are all familiar with cheap airlines. So everyone had buns in their handbags....hahaha...yep. Handbags are not for lipstick only. So we all had buns for brunch. Arrived at KK, took our luggage and went straight to KKIA, Mcdonalds !!!. Food! The rest as they say is history.........home sweet home.
Conclusion: Visit Taiwan only if you have no where else to go. Or, pay for a better tour.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Fun Taiwan 2
Kaoshiung was our next pit stop for 2 days. Its the southern most city. Visited the biggest shopping mall in Taiwan. They gave us like 1 1/2 hours so we couldnt really appreciate the place. Lunch ok. We bought some t-shirts and sotong. Its amazing how many types of flavor they can mix the sotong with!
We went for a river cruise at 2pm in the afternoon. Stupid tourists! Us! That took 20 mins. Maybe its a very short river...from 1 bridge to the other and back. More like from one end of the bathtub to the other. Then we checked into the hotel and had dinner there. No nite market that nite....so we had more time to sleep and watch TV.
Tue 20/4 : Breakfast lousy. Visited Fo Guan Shan temple to see the giant Buddha. It was long walk all the way up in the hot sun. Had an inch of sun block on my face. Then we went to another temple. This time we were told to walk into the mouth of the dragon and walk out from the butt of the tiger. Yep! Anything for good luck.
Had lunch at the Hakka village where they used cheap plastic utensils. Maybe they thought we might steal the spoons and plates. We ate just to fill the stomach. Get the picture? Dinner as usual, more vege then meat. Then its the nite market again.
Wed 21/4 : Drove to Taichung. Middle of Taiwan, not the supermarket at mile 4. The weather played up and it rained all the way. We couldnt get down at Puli Chung Tai temple. Sat in the bus. Finally the rain stopped and we went down and took a quick look around. Very nice and modern temple but no time to see all. Then off to Sun Moon Lake. Had lunch, then like sheep to slaughter, off to the Bee Place...hahaha . The royal jelly shop where money could not be used....so, out came the plastic. The stuff so expensive, that unless you paid with plastic you wont have money for the nite market again. Rain rain go away. Nite market again.....yawn!!
Thurs 22/4 : Taipei here we come. Had lunch at Din Tai Fong. Yes, the famous place for siau loong pau. Nice, very nice. After lunch stopped at the wharf to see a bridge. Apparently many movies have been taken there. Why? I really dont know. To me, nothing special. For dinner we had steam boat. Ok lah. Then to the famous 101 shopping centre where 1 plastic isnt enough. In my humble opinion KLCC is better and bigger. After walking in 101, we fell to the level of the nite market again. This time most of us just sat down and looked at the people walking up and down looking at the clothes. That was how tired we were of shopping.
We went for a river cruise at 2pm in the afternoon. Stupid tourists! Us! That took 20 mins. Maybe its a very short river...from 1 bridge to the other and back. More like from one end of the bathtub to the other. Then we checked into the hotel and had dinner there. No nite market that nite....so we had more time to sleep and watch TV.
Tue 20/4 : Breakfast lousy. Visited Fo Guan Shan temple to see the giant Buddha. It was long walk all the way up in the hot sun. Had an inch of sun block on my face. Then we went to another temple. This time we were told to walk into the mouth of the dragon and walk out from the butt of the tiger. Yep! Anything for good luck.
Had lunch at the Hakka village where they used cheap plastic utensils. Maybe they thought we might steal the spoons and plates. We ate just to fill the stomach. Get the picture? Dinner as usual, more vege then meat. Then its the nite market again.
Wed 21/4 : Drove to Taichung. Middle of Taiwan, not the supermarket at mile 4. The weather played up and it rained all the way. We couldnt get down at Puli Chung Tai temple. Sat in the bus. Finally the rain stopped and we went down and took a quick look around. Very nice and modern temple but no time to see all. Then off to Sun Moon Lake. Had lunch, then like sheep to slaughter, off to the Bee Place...hahaha . The royal jelly shop where money could not be used....so, out came the plastic. The stuff so expensive, that unless you paid with plastic you wont have money for the nite market again. Rain rain go away. Nite market again.....yawn!!
Thurs 22/4 : Taipei here we come. Had lunch at Din Tai Fong. Yes, the famous place for siau loong pau. Nice, very nice. After lunch stopped at the wharf to see a bridge. Apparently many movies have been taken there. Why? I really dont know. To me, nothing special. For dinner we had steam boat. Ok lah. Then to the famous 101 shopping centre where 1 plastic isnt enough. In my humble opinion KLCC is better and bigger. After walking in 101, we fell to the level of the nite market again. This time most of us just sat down and looked at the people walking up and down looking at the clothes. That was how tired we were of shopping.
Fun Taiwan ???????
We just got back from Taiwan, Pat and I, last nite. Fun it wasnt. Boring it was. Maybe we joined the wrong tour. According to Channel 707 , the travel channel, Taiwan is fun.....hmmmm. Do you think there could be 2 Taiwans?....hahaha.
The journey started with a bomb! No kidding. We were stuck at LCCT KK for 4 hours cos of the bomb found in the drain by the runway. we finally took off 4 1/2 hours later missing our morning sighseeing trip in Taiwan. For that they gave us back NT200.
Sat 17/4 : Arrived at Taoyang Int Airport at 1.30pm. Took the bus to the train Stn to catch the bullet train to Taipei. Had our first taste of Taiwanese cuisine....hotdog, hahaha. Well, that was the only thing that looked familiar. It tasted nice. Then it was a long walk to catch the bullet train. It was an old bullet tho. Not as fast nor as new as the one in Tokyo. Old bullet bites the dust!
Actually we missed the train, yeh, on the 1st day already late. There were 33 people in the group. Some were quite old so they could not walk as fast. Luckily the guard let us catch the next one. Then we took the MRT to The Chiang kai Shek Memorial Square. Nothing to see but bigger than life buildings. Just like in China. Dinner followed, ok lah!. It was cold outside.
Then we went shopping at the nite market. Apparently Taiwan is famous for its nite markets. We bought doughnuts for supper. Then we checked into Champion Hotel...haha. Well the hotel is nice.Room 202.
Sun 18/4 : Lousy breakfast. Theme Park was the next place. What do old people do at a theme park?? What else, grumble grumble. We had to queue for everything as half of China was there.
We managed to catch 1 show in the 4 hours we were there. Lousy lunch. NT 150. Dinner was better. The restaurant looked like a place out of a science fiction book. The owner is an artist so his whole place is decorated in a weird arty fashion. The food was ok, but the aircon was so cold. Maybe he wanted us to feel like we were on Mars.
Then nite market again. We couldnt shallow another nite market so Pat and I walked along the main street instead. Bought some very nice shoes for RM19. Couldnt believe it. Well, will tell you if the shoe last a week when I start wearing them...hahaha, for RM19 what do you expect? After that we went to Chung Yu Shopping Mall. Big but not as good as Mega Mall. The Hotel was terrible, the bed was hard and the pillow yakky.
Mon 19/4 : Lousy breakfast. Followed by a lousier train ride....trolley train, clickety clack...didnt understand a word the train guide was saying. But from the looks of all there, no one was paying attention. So, I didnt miss anything. The only stop was a milk farm. What a laugh. Milk farm indeed. More like a cow shed with a shop attached. Of course everyone bought goodies made from milk ( what else) . We didnt buy anything. The nougat tasted like cardboard with sugar. Lunch ok.
The journey started with a bomb! No kidding. We were stuck at LCCT KK for 4 hours cos of the bomb found in the drain by the runway. we finally took off 4 1/2 hours later missing our morning sighseeing trip in Taiwan. For that they gave us back NT200.
Sat 17/4 : Arrived at Taoyang Int Airport at 1.30pm. Took the bus to the train Stn to catch the bullet train to Taipei. Had our first taste of Taiwanese cuisine....hotdog, hahaha. Well, that was the only thing that looked familiar. It tasted nice. Then it was a long walk to catch the bullet train. It was an old bullet tho. Not as fast nor as new as the one in Tokyo. Old bullet bites the dust!
Actually we missed the train, yeh, on the 1st day already late. There were 33 people in the group. Some were quite old so they could not walk as fast. Luckily the guard let us catch the next one. Then we took the MRT to The Chiang kai Shek Memorial Square. Nothing to see but bigger than life buildings. Just like in China. Dinner followed, ok lah!. It was cold outside.
Then we went shopping at the nite market. Apparently Taiwan is famous for its nite markets. We bought doughnuts for supper. Then we checked into Champion Hotel...haha. Well the hotel is nice.Room 202.
Sun 18/4 : Lousy breakfast. Theme Park was the next place. What do old people do at a theme park?? What else, grumble grumble. We had to queue for everything as half of China was there.
We managed to catch 1 show in the 4 hours we were there. Lousy lunch. NT 150. Dinner was better. The restaurant looked like a place out of a science fiction book. The owner is an artist so his whole place is decorated in a weird arty fashion. The food was ok, but the aircon was so cold. Maybe he wanted us to feel like we were on Mars.
Then nite market again. We couldnt shallow another nite market so Pat and I walked along the main street instead. Bought some very nice shoes for RM19. Couldnt believe it. Well, will tell you if the shoe last a week when I start wearing them...hahaha, for RM19 what do you expect? After that we went to Chung Yu Shopping Mall. Big but not as good as Mega Mall. The Hotel was terrible, the bed was hard and the pillow yakky.
Mon 19/4 : Lousy breakfast. Followed by a lousier train ride....trolley train, clickety clack...didnt understand a word the train guide was saying. But from the looks of all there, no one was paying attention. So, I didnt miss anything. The only stop was a milk farm. What a laugh. Milk farm indeed. More like a cow shed with a shop attached. Of course everyone bought goodies made from milk ( what else) . We didnt buy anything. The nougat tasted like cardboard with sugar. Lunch ok.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
One good morning
This morning I led my first prayer meeting at Li Fah's house. It went well as everyone helped and participated without prompting. As I am new to this I needed all the help I could get and I told them so.
We sang songs we have not sung in a long time and we especially enjoyed the Easter songs. We read the bible and shared our experiences. Of course we also side tracked, that is the fun part. In the middle of this we stopped and ate chocolates, you know to re-energised....hahaha...more like to increase our sugar intake so we can sing better, as they say, high on sugar!! Everyone proclaimed that the chocolates werent sweet so, ....what does that mean? ....it means we can eat more lah!! that is exactly what some did. Not sweet bah !
Lunch as usual at Li Fah's house was good. Its good at every body's house. Sometimes you dont know whether we came for the prayer or the food...hehehe. Of course we ate more chocolates as dessert (who's to stop us) in addition to the tong shui. Greed and over eating are 2 vices allowed on thursdays! chatting while stuffing ourselves is one part of multitasking we do best. What can I say, boy we are good! We also enjoyed fresh dates and dried olives. All that was missing was turbaned men fanning us as we ate....like in arabian nights?...or maybe in the court of Fu Man Chu?
We enjoyed so much that we have planned to go to karaoke and make noise...ahem!....sing??? If the moon crashes or your dogs start howling next wed at 8pm you know why. We only live once.
We sang songs we have not sung in a long time and we especially enjoyed the Easter songs. We read the bible and shared our experiences. Of course we also side tracked, that is the fun part. In the middle of this we stopped and ate chocolates, you know to re-energised....hahaha...more like to increase our sugar intake so we can sing better, as they say, high on sugar!! Everyone proclaimed that the chocolates werent sweet so, ....what does that mean? ....it means we can eat more lah!! that is exactly what some did. Not sweet bah !
Lunch as usual at Li Fah's house was good. Its good at every body's house. Sometimes you dont know whether we came for the prayer or the food...hehehe. Of course we ate more chocolates as dessert (who's to stop us) in addition to the tong shui. Greed and over eating are 2 vices allowed on thursdays! chatting while stuffing ourselves is one part of multitasking we do best. What can I say, boy we are good! We also enjoyed fresh dates and dried olives. All that was missing was turbaned men fanning us as we ate....like in arabian nights?...or maybe in the court of Fu Man Chu?
We enjoyed so much that we have planned to go to karaoke and make noise...ahem!....sing??? If the moon crashes or your dogs start howling next wed at 8pm you know why. We only live once.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Begging works !
Well, today all the workmen came in for work. I was so happy as work would progress . They started upstairs, 4 rooms in all and , hey presto, they finished all the work. Not bad for 2 guys. hahaha.....the patches were very small cos I didnt want them to knock like they did downstairs. They went beserk down stairs and knocked everything that sounded empty.
Upstairs they only knocked where they could see a bulge. What a mess, so many things to move from 1 room to another, like playing merry go round. Of course it was happy dust day ! All in all the workmen were pretty accomodating. They tried their level best not to mess up.Poor things, we were standing there directing dust traffic.
I literally begged and " angkat kaki" of the master craftsman to get him to finish my bedroom. He did even though he said it couldnt be done at first....the power of sweet talk!! Men!!!. They fall for it all the time.....hehehe.
Now I can relax and go for holiday as they dont need to come upstairs, not for a while anyway, that is till the painter comes along. The next room to be bludgeoned to death is the maids' room. Dry cement dry!
Upstairs they only knocked where they could see a bulge. What a mess, so many things to move from 1 room to another, like playing merry go round. Of course it was happy dust day ! All in all the workmen were pretty accomodating. They tried their level best not to mess up.Poor things, we were standing there directing dust traffic.
I literally begged and " angkat kaki" of the master craftsman to get him to finish my bedroom. He did even though he said it couldnt be done at first....the power of sweet talk!! Men!!!. They fall for it all the time.....hehehe.
Now I can relax and go for holiday as they dont need to come upstairs, not for a while anyway, that is till the painter comes along. The next room to be bludgeoned to death is the maids' room. Dry cement dry!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Living in a war zone
You know, sometimes you wonder how people can live beside garbage dump, smelly rivers, clogged drains??......well, actually its very easy. You just get use to it, the smell, the filth,the eye sore. I have been living in a war zone for almost a month. we started knocking on 11/3, now its the 4/4 and no sign of finishing any month soon.
So how do we feel?...numb to it all, no eye see, just carry on like nothing happened. Really! WE walk up and down the stairs round the furniture etc etc, look at the workers, smile and life goes on. It isnt as bad as it looks. Its the dust that gets into the eyes and on all the things thats annoying.
The knocking starts at 7.40am, so its wake up call for Edwin and me. The kids sleep through all the noise and wake up very late. No one is bothered or stressed by it all. Amazing adaptibility dont you think? Now you know why people can live in yakky smelly places and still be happy. Well, I dont know if they are happy but you dont see the Sim Sim people going on strike or those living in Karamunsing complaining to Green Peace. You have pilot strike, postal strike, rail strike but never the slum dwellers strike. There is even a movie on it!!
I think my house will be in this bombed out mess for a few more months. There is still the upstairs.........sometimes I do feel like throwing up but , whats the use....I will have to clean up the mess myself....noooo!
On the brighter side of this unfortunate event is that I might as well take the chance to do some improvements. Change the lights , change the wall color, do spring cleaning, you know the usual stuff people do when they have nothing else to do........well, out of the ashes, a beautiful home will arise..........dreaming is free!!!!
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