Taiwan Day 8 / HK Trip -- 24-26 Feb 2010

We decided not to take the hotel breakfast provided for, and went out venturing for some authentic Taiwan breakfast!!  But quite disappointed, cos nothing much we can find here, only some small shops, but I guess better then nothing... at least I know what are the types of sandwiches the locals are having...

We also went to do some shopping @ the Cheng Pin bookstore inside the MRT station before we head back to our hotel to gather our luggages to catch our flight to Hong Kong...

Ehm, I must say, I do like Taiwan, but our next trip should be a Free & Easy one, mainly spending time in Taipei, I don't think I would like another trip down to Hua lian, cos of the long journey and mainly the cliffy roads along the Pacific Ocean!! hahaha....

For Hong Kong, we had upgraded the hotel stay to HK Disneyland Hotel, as we thought to reward the kids to Disneyland for 2 days, rather 1-1/2 day to be exact! & Yes, lucky the hotel gave another day of entry into Disneyland when we stay there, so the kids will have more time this time!!  But, we wouldn't wanna miss out Kowloon again, so we decided to take their train down to Kowloon after checking in and had dinner @ the Temple Street... But was pretty disappointed as there were not much stalls there now and the shop which we had Gui Ling Gao 3 years back was GONE!  So we went other shop to try... haha.. And WL had a bad flu this time & the fovever HK milk tea he loved, was tasteless to him, but after my tasting, I had to tell him, it was sooooo good!!! Comparable to the milk tea he likes @ the Myanmar restaurant @ Marina Sq!!

Taiwan Trip Day 7 -- 23 Feb 2010

We shall be heading back to Taipei today already, first stop is Jiu Fen lao jie... and I really love this place!!  We tried the yu yuan from here... it's really good & Q!!   Too bad can't buy back!!  But if have a chance, I'll definitely be back here & walk the whole day... The street are small & interesting, I guess they are specializing in making clogs, cos we saw many shops selling them and even customising them! But Ashley does not seem interested!! haha...  We had limited time shopping around, only had time for lunch (Lu rou fan, fish ball soup, drunken chicken, desserts - Yu yuan in ginger tea & red bean soup).

Next stop is the Muesum.... there were tons of people inside, which really surprised me!!  And, we were not allowed to take any pictures inside and Yeo only showed us some of the highlighted items, anyway, the walk thru in the Muesum was very brief and rush!!  And the 2 kids were killing us, as they requested us to carry them thru out the walk....

Following next is a more boring place... Pi Qui... as usual a talk by the shop manager is compulsory again and over here, they actually give you free fortune telling so they can better advise what type of Pi Qui is suitable for you ... but we gave it a skip!  Afterwhich, we were again being brought to another place for honey talk sale! hahaa... another miss here...

We had our dinner in a classy place, sorry, I really can't recall the place, but it's a restaurant built & design by a lady with all parts of a vessel... which I thought was very messy! hahaha... terrible me with no artistic genes!!

Anyway, after dinner, we will be heading back to our hotel to settle our luggage and we are free to roam till tomorrow's flight to HK!!  We will be heading to the famous Shi Lin Night market and will have to take their MRT back to our hotel...  Had intended to try the famous Fried Chicken here, BUT it was CLOSED!!! So disappointed!!  But still, we tried some other food here... Guan cai ban & Oyster omelette & more bubble tea!! haha...

Taiwan Trip Day 6 -- 22 Feb 2010

We will be on the road most of the time these few days, as we will be heading back to Taipei.  Along the way we are seeing much of the padi fields, interesting to see them in the southern part of Taiwan, and much more interesting is, there's a stop for us to buy rice back home!!! OMG... I thought we had enough of things to bring back, if we were to buy rice back, I think we will need to have extra hands and legs!! haha...

So far I see our meal restaurants are very much like village areas, which is interesting, cos we can never find such places in Singapore anymore, except maybe in Malaysia...

And we will be heading to hear talks about Ling Zhi and Placenta of deer!!  And to my surprise, WL suggest to buy the ling zhi pills & try, it's not cheap... SGD500/bottle, which can last a year if 1 person takes 1 in the morning each day... so shall try it out & see if it's really so effective to purge out all the poison from our body!! hahaha...

I was really amazed when I see the scenary @ Tai lu ge... it's really like a chinese painting comes to life!!! So amazing!!!  But the rocky road in may not be very safe.... :p  After this stop, we will be heading to Shangri-la resort for some activity... am looking forward to release the lantern up the sky (fang tai deng)...  I actually thought we can buy 1 & put up ourselves but it's a group activity though... & I also thought of buying crackers or fireworks for the kids to enjoy, but did not do them also... hahaha.. Why? Cos I guess I was pretty lazy and also the cool weather is making us tired and the kids are hooked onto the bubble thing there... But this is a pretty relaxing place lah...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taiwan Trip Day 5 -- 21 Feb 2010

Long Hu Ta was our first stop today, the weather is good in Kao Siong, sunny & cooling!!  We are lucky to have met the Petrol police on white horse! hahaha...  And the next stop was not impressive, Pearl outlet... almost everyone left the hall after a compulsory talk by the lady.

We had our lunch @ a restaurant near Fou Guang Shan.  The place was really huge and grand!  A interesting place to visit lah, I must say!  Afterwhich, we will be on a long journey to Hua Lian, Hot Spring hotel, along the Pacific ocean.  I must say, this is the most scary journey, cos the bus was really travelling along the coast line on some cliffs and we saw some broken roads left from the last flood.  And also cos the bus was travelling at a faster speed to catch the stall that is selling the Shi Jia (Taiwan version of soursop).  But the lian wu was really nice & sweet and we even brought 6 big ones back! haha...

Yeo advised us not to let Adwin go to the Hot Spring at the hotel due to his age and the temperature of the water, so we allow the kids to have fun in the bath tub in the room!!  We only tried the hard boiled eggs using the hot spring water, ehm, the smell is very different from the normal hard boiled eggs we had back home! haha...

Taiwan Trip Day 4 -- 20 Feb 2010

Today we will be heading to a Theme park... Jian Hu Shan!!  Before the park, Yeo brought us to a local fruit stall, buying fresh squeezed orange juice, which is so sweet that it's unbelievable! haha...  And the sour prune powder I bought from here is nice!!

The park is big, but due to the time we have here, the kids only had 2 rides, especially with the long queue to each ride takes a long time... Our lunch venue was at a local restaurant about 5 mins away from the park, their food was very nice and their coffee jelly dessert was also impressive!

We are heading down to Kao Siong after lunch and will be boarding ferry to Qi Jing Dao upon arrival for our own expense seafood dinner...  We had watched the Taiwan Food show on Qi Jing Dao and really looking forward to it, cos we did not see this on other travel agency itinerary.  Anyway, we had our fill of seafood dinner here and I was lucky to see the Taiwan Post having a stall here to sell their stamps! Of cos, I bought some for souvenirs back! hee hee...

And after Qi Ji Dao, we were supposed to head to a popular Night market in Kao Siong, but cos we had our dinner already, instead we went to another Night market, should be Xin Kan Jiang,  for some shopping before we head back to our hotel...

Food we tried today: Sugar cane juice with milk (@ Qi Ji Dao), Green tomatoes with some homemade sauce (cranchy & nice!), lousy Papaya milk...

 

Interesting app...

Thought this is an interesting app in iPhone... Photofunia!

Here's the pencil drawing of me and adwin:



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Taiwan Trip Day 3 -- 19 Feb 2010

From tonight onwards, we will be shifting hotels every night as will be moving down South for the rest of the trip...

Today's weather was one of the worst, the temperature was around 8 degrees only and with the strong wind and rain, it's feeling like close to 0 degrees!! And am really worried about my kids, asking them to keep the zippers up and try not to expose their hands, with the hood on always...  But am freezing from inside!! hahaha.... Cos, I have not brought my thick jacket along, only a windbreaker, to break the wind! hahaha...

Anyway, my Adwin was comfortably napping when we arrived at Daeramon Museum & Xiao Ren Guo.  There's an amusement park, but due to the time constrait, it was not in our itinerary.

We will be having our lunch @ Ri Yue Tan and visit the Wen Wu Miao. Afterwhich we will be heading down to TaiNan for dinner and stay over...

Dinner is provided for today, but it was not very impressive, cos the place was abit cramp and they were timing us, due to the limited seats and it was a rushy dinner!!  Forgot to mention, its Steamboat dinner, and how fast can we eat with the steaming hot food just out from the boiling soup?? :(  But the night market was very big and interesting here!!  If I remember correctly, it's known as Feng Jia Night Market!  WL & me each bought a pair of shoes here...

Some of the food we tried here: Da Chang bao Xiao Chang (my 2 kids love it), Bubble milk tea, Guava again, Mao Keng Chou Dou Fu (VERY NICE!! Hahaha... ** how can a smelly food be nice?? **)

Taiwan Trip Day 2 -- 18 Feb 2010

I liked the Taiwan breakfast, cos they served their authentic Taiwan porridge!! haha...

I make sure I had put on enough clothings for the kids, as it's the first time they came to a cold country and am really afraid they may catch a cold or what if they are not used to the cooling weather. Anyway, as I mentioned, it's always good to have MORE then LESS! hahaha... call me kiasu mummy!! :p

Ok, our first place to go is Zhong Zheng Ji Nian Tang... but the wind was so strong that we only have time to take a shot & board the bus!!  haha... And next stop was Jing zan, a place to buy Taiwan food back, but I was thinking if it's too early to do tat?!? haha... Anyway, we can select & pay for the things here, they will pack & send to our hotel on the last night in Taiwan.  And next place of visit is Zhong Lie Tang, we were on the bus, cos the kids were having their nap... And also cos it was drizzling & it's just a place for a shot, so we decided to give it a miss!

Our tour guide, Yeo (he was a Singaporean, but came to Taiwan for his U and stayed here cos of his wife! hee hee...) brought us to Yu Ren Ma Tou, according to him, this Love Bridge was used to shot Meteor Garden (but I can't recall @ all... haha.. though I had watched the seriel a few times! hahaha...) Anyway, the cold is getting unbearable here, cos of the strong wind & drizzles.... But we were busy eating @ the food stalls there instead of taking pics @ the bridge! hahaha...

Next stop was interesting, Dan Shui Lao Jie, taking our lunch (A-ge &; fishball soup) & buying some Yu Su & Xia Su... And also, we managed to get some gloves here, cos as I say, the weather was getting quite unbearable... haha... And we realised the kids love the Taiwan sausages here!!

Taiwan 101 was our next stop...  Yeo asked if anyone wanna pay to go up to 101, but he suggest not, cos 101 is no longer the tallest bldg in the world after the one in Dubai came up! So, we went with his suggestion and just went shopping there...

By then, it was already in the late afternoon and we went to Wu Fen Pu for some cheap shopping, but got nothing also, cos the place was not properly sheltered and the streets were all wet and to make it worst, my Adwin was having his nap!! OMG... carrying a 13-14kg sleeping toddler & shopping in a like wet-market place is not fun at all!!  Anyway, we tried the guava here, it's nice!!  And in fact, the place here is recommended for bulk buying, most of the shops deal with wholesale and I think it's a good place if we are doing business... this is a place I'll come IF am in business next time for Ladies clothings! haha...

We were not supposed to have our dinner here, but cos we were tired of shopping, & we found this dumpling shop opposite (as recommended by Yeo @ Xi Meng Ding yesterday night!).  And we were happy to have made this choice!! haha.. cos the Guo Tia was good & cheap!!  And also we had order a bowl of noodles for the kids.  As we will be heading to another night market after this, afraid we have no time to sit down for the kids to have proper dinner...

Next stop, Rao He Street Night Market!!  At least the weather is abit better, not much drizzling.. haha... The kids bought their shoes here, and we tried these food here: Lu Rou Fan here (not impressed), peanut soup with Yu Yuan (Ok only), WL packet a Beef soup back & also Herbal Lamb soup (nice!), oh yes, and also a piece of Zhu Xue Gao (yucks!)...  All these end our 2nd day!!!  :D

Taiwan Trip Day 1 -- 17 Feb 2010

WE finally have the chance to go for a long holidays (to me only lah, cos it's 7 days in Taiwan + 3 days in HK) & especially when it's a first time the kids are away for 10 days!! And also first time for us to be able to go travelling during CNY period! haha... We departed on the Forth day of CNY this time, after much scheduling and trying to miss as little classes as possible for the kids.... And also, decided to go at this time before Adwin starts his childcare...

We are having transit @ HK before we land in Taiwan in the evening.  And the weather in Taiwan was not good, cos it was drizzling and the weather was quite cold.  Lucky I brought along the thick jackets for the kids, as I was quite unsure of the weather there based on the weather forecast here.  Anyway, in my mind, I always thought it's good to bring MORE then LESS! haha...

We went to Xi Men Ding upon arrival, having to take dinner on our way and headed to Long Shan Si before we head back to our place of rest for the day!  We did not expect a Service apartment for our first 2 nights, but I was really glad with it though... cos there's a WASHING MACHINE CUM DRYER!! hahaha... You must be wondering WHAT'S SO GOOD ABOUT THAT?... haha... given the terrible weather there, I need to make sure we have enough pants and socks for the cold weather, so the first 2 days, I had been washing & drying whatever we had wore!!

 

Quick update...

I just realised I have not posted our trip to Taiwan/HK in Feb this year! hahaha... ok ok... i'll try to do so this week!! hee hee...

A quick update, we managed to sell our flat over the weekend.... ehm, must say we are very happy with the price... & now am very worried about us finding the unit we like, also with the price we are happy with.  As we realised that many sellers are really asking for unreasonable COV (Cash Over Valuation) amount, which we thought is ridiculous!! haha...  So, we shall wait for another month or so, as we are expecting the price to go down by then... :p  But, I also pray we have enough time to move to a place in early September... haiz... stressful months for me till we settle down... :(

Looking for another flat

It took us some time to decide to move out of our current place and move to a unit near the pri sch we hope Ashley and adwin can get into. This was something which I didn't expect us to do. Previously I really thought, those parents who moved house for the sake of their children are crazy and unbelievable but we are one of them now!

We had just had our unit valued last week, hoping the value is high enough so we are done with our home loan when we downgrade to a smaller unit.

So we are busy selling and looking for houses now...

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Ashley's new shoes

Ashley got a new pair of shoes today and she's extremely happy!! Cos it has a bit of heels which she had been yearning for. Furthermore, it's from the Disney princess series!! And in her fav pink colour!!


































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Mother's day

I finally got my kids artwork for mother's day this year!! Cos the past 2 years Ashley was not in the childcare due to HFMD!!

And here's what adwin did for me:

















and this is ashley's:

And also the kids each gave me a carnation after our dinner at junction 8 on friday, of cos, they were bought by WL lah... Haha...:


















I feel so wonderful this mother's day!! :)

Mother's day celebration @ Chong Pang

We had an early Mother's day celebration the last weekend. Saturday was a dinner at Sushi Tei @ Paragon cos my mum likes jap food!! Haha... Cos it's rare for the older generation to like jap food!

And Sunday was a dinner at Chong Pang CC. The food was good cos it's catered food from Pin Si and there's also some entertainment show, just like the 7th month ge tai! Haha... But surprisingly my 2 kids did enjoy the show!!

Here's a pic of me and my sticky adwin:

















Now adwin would posed in front of a camera and also give you that cheeky smile!! Haha...

And here's a pic of me and my Ashley: