(Saturday / 21:36)
27th
Went to COEX and had trouble with finding food. They do write what they serve but they do not indicate the price so I was afraid of being cheated.. (In Taipei I bought a stick of chicken meat and another stick of veggie and it costs me SGD$4. Cheated or not?!) In the end I got jjajang noodles (Y) Was freaking hungry!
Visited the aquarium at 19,500won D: Actually contemplated outside the aquarium for 5 minutes before going in haha I have never been to a aquarium before so I guess it is a good experience? Saw a lot of creatures I have never seen before :D
There are also some parts of the aquarium that allows you to interact with the creatures. I touched the starfish~! They aren't soft like I thought...
Attempt to take picture with a shark. Say Hi.
The last part of the aquarium is the penguin enclosure and the penguins were all fighting for wood stick for those house damn cuteeeeee. At the side of the enclosure there is a small see through glass for us to take a look out a couple house and these two darlings were adorable-st! They were so intrigued by my DSLR lens so I hold the camera up down left right and their head follows ~*(v.v)*~ Played for about 15 minutes before they got less interested in it hahaha
After that I headed to Apgujeong station in attempt to go to the Rodeo Street but I think I never got there? haha I walked around for a little while though. Yeah la I actually got lost could not get out.
When I finally got out I took the train to Dongdaemun. Was craving for chicken so I went into a shop and only to realize the smallest meal is going to cost me 11,000won D: And so many pieces of chicken but I still finished it all lol Turn out that I turned the wrong direction away from the crowd. There are so many better looking street food why was I so silly?!!!! Need to go back. I am not done with that place anyway.
the chicken i could not turn down because the ahjjumas were just standing next to me waiting for me to order...
28th
Went down to Anam station because it was highly recommended by YC & SY. 1,000won delicious waffle and cheap restaurant food~
It was cold so I forgo the ice cream waffle but it is good enough! See, I took a bite out of it before the photo. Where else can you find waffle so crispy you tell me! And it is amazingly cheap. Even in Jurong Point that bakery that sells waffles makes it more expensive than this. Almost went for a second. haha
Next is a restaurant name 奎花 that is pretty near to the waffle shop. It is on the second floor but you won't miss it if you pay attention to the signboards.
very nice ambience
As usual I had trouble ordering food. I really did try my best to read them (I practice reading on subway whenever I am not sleeping) but nothing is registered. Thank goodness the waiter bought me an English menu! I pretended to read it for a bit and ordered the first item on the menu. It was the cheapest and tbh, I had no idea what it was when I was reading the Korean menu but yeah, I am pretty sure nothing is going to scare me.
The moment my meal came, I almost cried. My first proper Korean meal! Rice, soup, seaweed, side dishes. The pork was really spicy though, I washed it with the soup when there is a little left but it didn't work very well. I finished it still. ^^
The rain got heavier so I forgo the plan of going to the palaces and went to Lotte World instead. The queue for the amusement park was crazy! Mostly students in uniform. They were also having a halloween themed party I guess? Did not join them. Saving that money.
Went to the Folk Museum instead.
The place is bigger than I thought! Basically its a museum on the history of Korea and they showed the different dynasty and all. Very neat!
After walking around Lotte World a little bit more I headed back to the hostel. Very tempted to go for Club day but stayed back instead. Drank soju with the hostel owner and more people joined in as they return. The conversation, or debate, got really interesting but I could not understand the things they talk about. I felt so ignorant D:
Labels: South Korea, travel
(Wednesday / 23:48)
OMG guys I just realise that one date is missing from my previous posts but i don't know which day! hahahaha whateverrrr
24th
Meet up with Ruby in the early evening~ GOT MY CONCERT TICKETS MUAHAHA In order to thank her we went to a nice cafe I found online and gave them all a treat ^^ Ruby says that she have been there and they waited for 2 hours or so. Bloggers recommending the place also said that it is advisable for people to make reservations ahead.
But the moment we got there we got seats YAY We are too pretty.
No lah maybe it was because it was 5pm and most people are working thus there are empty slots. Either that or we are really pretty.
Never had a prettier cup of red tea before so must take photo
It is compulsory for everyone to order a drink and there is a time limit of 90min for our meal. Weird right? I think they are really desperate for quicker table turnover. Had banana chocolate crepes and 4.0 pile up bread with ice cream strawberry and cream. It's version 4.0 because you do not need to cut the bread HAHA seriously thats what the waitress told us. 4.0!!!!! So do not think that those are thick toast. It is actually just a 'box' with cubes of bread inside.
After that we walked around the area a little and Ruby left to meet her friends while we make our way to Tonghua night market.
Tried Smelly Tofu for the first time! Not as bad as I thought or maybe the chili really powerpack.
25th
Last day seeing familiar faces as we fly different ways. Seperate but not apart ;)
Flew to Seoul with Koreanair and watched a little bit of The Hunger Games. Then I got so distracted by the view outside the window even though it was at night. The lights were so pretty! And the sky was so clear~
I still have a hard time believing I am here.
It was a late flight so I had to rush for the last trains to get to the hostels. Tried to withdraw money but the machine says that I can't. Asked a security guard where I am change money but he couldn't understand. Tried again with another machine and it works. Went to the convenience store to ask if I can purchase the transportation card but he said no. Thats contradicting what ICN website says! But I still managed to get the 2nd last train so not so bad. And I actually purchase the ticket at a wrong price but the subway staff could not be bothered to charge me extra and just told me to go ahead. hehehe saved a dollar!
So now I am staying in a newly open hostel and have got 6 beds to myself now. hehehe And there is no fan nor air con in the room but yet I slept so soundly. Good to have autumn is it not.
26th
Started my afternoon but walking around Itaewon and then went to the Express Bus Terminal at Gangnam. There is a shopping area at the basement and it is really cheap! Bought 2 pieces of clothing at 5,000won each :D Would really like to get more but had to stop myself. To make sure I do not get cheated I walked around the huge area like 3 times.
After that I headed to Hangang Park and had a stroll there. Really tired of all the walking then. haha The park is so pretty though!
Wanted to watch the Banpo Bridge light up but I was too early then. Walked towards Sinsa-dong shopping area unknowingly because I saw a huge billboard and it turns out to belong to Forever 21! Gosh I miss it so much while I was at Taiwan. And it is SO MUCH CHEAPER than Singapore! Bought nothing though ughhhhhhs
Window shopped the area and then took the subway to Myeongdong. I was so overwhelmed by the place. I was looking for facial wash and shampoo so I went into all the Korea cosmestic brand stores. To my surprise, every brand actually opened up more than 2 in just Myeongdong alone! So many that I lost track of which one I went into and eventually got embarrassed to walk into anymore stores because I was afraid they would recognise me. haha
And it is a good chance for me to try out those product since I am here. It is so much cheaper than Singapore! And they gives sample haha Pretty sure they are very desperate for sales by the way the staff try to promote their product in different languages and many masks on their hand.
Bought a shampoo from Missha & facial wash from Innisfree, two lesser known brand in SG I think?
As for dinner,
The first picture is a chicken stick and the second one.. I have absolutely no idea what it is. It's fried dough with some chocolate sauce and some other unidentified items. heh Quite delicious still! Especially since I was feeling really hungry then. All I had before these was a bowl of plain udon.
I am too shy to walk into a restaurant and eat dinner alone as of right now so there might be a chance I might slim down haha
Wanted to walk up to the N Seoul Tower but halfway up the hill I turned back because I was afraid I might get lost and will not be able to get help. As I make my way to the subway station there was a yellow bus waiting and apparently it goes to the cable car station heh It's a hint to go up right! On the way up I realise how close I was to reaching the cable car station when I was walking up. Aye
Did not take the cable car though. Just took two pictures of the tower and left. haha Look at my dark circlessss ew
Labels: South Korea, Taiwan, thcrashedlyrics, travel
(Monday / 15:37)
19th
Visited the Miniature Museum of Taiwan. My iPhone GPS got to be my bestest friend throughout the journey!
Funny that the museum is located at the basement of a office building (?) but the displays were amazing! Just think about the amount of effort used to make the furniture and figurines!
Took me less than 2 hours to finish exploring the place but this is definitely worth your time!
Caught Resident Evil: Retribution 3D at Miramar. Not very impress with the plot. Felt like this episode was made for the sake of it. Please do better for the next one!!! Oh, and the ticket costs about SGD$12. D: That is a little high, no?
When I came out of the cinema it was raining pretty hard but still I managed to see the ferris wheel. Maybe it was the wind, the rain and the music, the ferris wheel look gorgeous! I was so amazed by its beauty! I even took a picture of myself with it alone.. it's a common sight in Taiwan okay.
20th
九份!
We shared a cab to this old street at NT$500. He proposed NT$600 initially (and says that the normal price is NT$1000) and said that taking a bus will cost about the same. As a tourist I kept doubting his words though haha Luckily he is not really taking my mean words into heard :x
It was a Thursday and it was pretty crowded. Cannot imagine the crowd on weekends!
Took a bus to Keelung night market and slept so soundly I almost slept on the shoulder of a student :o I swear I did not do it on purpose. A lot of foooooooooooood! But we did not eat a lot. Tried braised pig trotter and crab and.. I think my mum do it better. Maybe it was just the wrong stalls to eat at.
21st
I stayed in the hotel for the whole day in preparation for my Korea trip. As some of you know, Felicia will be heading back to Singapore while I continue my trip to Korea. I am very glad that I made the choice to go even though I am freaking out. As of now. hahaha Hopefully the trip will be good!
And! I almost miss my chance to watch Mr Huang's first concert! D: I read about his concert on 11/28 online but failed to notice that the ticket is already on sale! During one of the night, I had a hard time sleeping so I woke up to watch Yubai and 蝴蝶 said that the tickets were almost sold out. I almost screamed.
Found the booking website but they need a address to mail the ticket to! :o In the end I waited for the next day to book because I asked if Ruby could help me out by 'loaning' her address to me. THANK GOD FOR FRIENDS. I also emailed the company to ask if I could get the ticket on site but it seemed impossible because they kept asking me for a address..
(As of now, 9/24, the ticket have already arrive at her place. Thought it would take longer if not I could have gotten them to mail it to the hotel I am currently staying to save troubles. But who am I to complain about efficient service! lol really want to complain about everything ah)
22nd
Went to a place near Taipei 101 called Simple Market. At first I was really lazy to go out because its a Sunday! Sunday = Crowd. D:
On the way there I thought I would see Eddie Peng (Taiwanese actor) because they were promoting some movie he starred in but instead I saw three members of Lollipop F because they sang the OST haha Okay la better than nothing.
The place was so cool! It is like a flea market (picture below) but all the items are handmade/organic. There is also a shop and cafe by the side selling more organic stuff and also a museum which I think is about the land in the older days.
All the D: were gone haha
Had our early dinner at a Japanese restaurant that Singapore has too but it was so much cheaper! I ate only the vegetables (and a few slice of meat. i swear a few slice only) because I was too full from the breakfast. I ate two meals okay. After that I went to Gongguan night market and returned back early because food turns me off.
Yeah maybe after 20 odd days surrounded by glorious food in Taiwan I am getting sick of the sight of food. How can?!
When I returned to Ximending I heard Mr Huang's 搞什么鬼 and I went towards the direction immediately. Turns out to be Fun4 performing on the streets. They are a bunch of talented boys who wrote a couple of Mr Huang's hits!
They mentioned that one of the member was not there due to a recent accident :( But I salute to their spirit! It is actually quite a common sight to see people singing and performing on the street but I believe it is not an easy task. How thick must their skin be to perform in the streets and receive silent treatments and passerby who do not stop to appreciate their effort but still continue performing. How much time they had to put in to give the best possible show for people. These people (Y)
Labels: Taiwan, thcrashedlyrics, travel
(Friday / 01:33)
16th
Woke up around 4am in the morning to go to the swimming carnival at Sun Moon Lake. It was only then I knew we were taking some sort of a company bus so everyone on the bus knew each other except us, the two aliens from Singapore. Still, the people really took care of us ^^
The amount of people is insane!! From far you will only see a lot of white thing bobbing on the water haha We took a ferry across to Ita Thao and some of the swimmers waved at us. I cannot swim but I would love to be in there to join them because it looked so fun!
Managed to explore the island a little while waiting for our group of people to reach the shore. Tried rice wine for the first time! Taste a little like champagne if you ask me. Went back of our base (where the souvenirs and food are placed so the swimmers will get their stuff right after coming up the shore) and fell asleep sitting down. haha
After that the bus took us to a few tourist sites.
The bus started to become really noisy after everyone had enough rest. They had a KTV session on the bus! Damn cool but the songs they sang were mostly of their dialect so we could not participate haha But it was so joyful on the bus. People clapped after every song! I don't think you will ever get that in SG
And because of the drop outs from the swim (and thats why we could go), we got the souvenirs too! OMG like I did not even swim but yay Awesome! I can now wear the shirt and pretend like I swam that 3.3km lake.
17th
Woke up in the late morning and their parents took us out for farewell lunch. SO AWESOME RIGHT!
They said that the restaurant is often fully occupied by visitors because their meatballs are freaking good. And it is not a lie. Freaking awesome! Actually every dish is awesome, even the tofu. I do not usually eat tofu unless it is egg tofu but this! I ate like 6 or 7.
After the meal they took us to the high speed rail and even paid of our tickets :`) How can people be so nice seriously?! From them, I saw true hospitality and it made me want to be that nice to people too...
I'm just kidding HAHA I will never achieve that level but I'll try!
And so Choo & I took the HSR and we tried every possible method to travel? Plane, taxis, buses, bikes, cars, bicycles, bicycle for 4, walk, MRTs, HSR, TRA, boats, ferries. heh Quite an achievement there.
After settling for our hotel we went around Ximending & Shihlin. Relaxing day~
18th
Was craving for pasta so I settled down at a french restaurant call Pizza & Pasta nearby. They were having a set meal promotion at about SGD8 so why not!
The portion is a little small though. Like for the salad I got two pieces of vegetable, one bread stick and a little sauce in a ice cream cone haha But the pasta was satisfying! I love wine with my pasta!
After the meal I walked to the salon next door. Discussed with the stylist and...
I shaved off a side of my hair and dyed my hair greenish grey with purple dip dye. WUT
pictures next time! ^^
Labels: Taiwan, thcrashedlyrics, travel
(Tuesday / 13:35)
12th
Moved to Taichung and stayed in a homestay. Did not know that a cat lives there too! 0.0
Peter
When the owners knows that I am afraid of cats, they put it in a room. I was so thankful for that until I realized Mr Peter knows how to open the sliding door.
While Felicia was in the toilet and the owners were somewhere else, I stayed in the living flipping through books when I saw the shadow of Peter by the door. He stood up against the door and the next time I realized the door was creeping open. I was telling Felicia about it and she suggested that I should sit down on the couch. Did as I was told but the cat slowly make its way towards me. He stopped to sniffed our bag, which is about two human steps away from me and then looked at me.
I awkwardly said Hi.
Our room was not ready yet at the moment because they had yet to receive the mail from hostels.com But good thing the room is vacant! They suggested that we can go visit the night market first and return later.
Went to Feng Jia night market and it was not very crowded. Heard that the crowd is crazy during the weekends. A lot of students though because it is situated just next to a university. Did not eat much because a lot of the food available are repeated but queued for 'big intestine wrap small intestine' because of the queue. That has to be one of my favourite food from night market ^^
13th
Visited the National Museum of Natural Science. Took a bus but we missed the stop so we ended up walking again haha Anyway the museum is really huge! We spent more time there than I thought :D Pretty fun because they do not only display artifacts but there were also some interactive machines. There were dinosaurs displays too! Never seen so many dinosaurs at a place before
Was at the museum until closing time and left for Yi Zhong night market. It was peak hours so we could not get onto the bus. Felicia and I was like B1 & B2 and decided to walk in the end haha
When we went back to the hostel the cat was chilling but his owners and I gave it a pat voluntarily as a proof that I am no enemy of his. But later when Felicia was bathing, he decided to have a showdown of staring competition with me D: He stood outside of the glass door and stared at me for an entire of 15 minutes!! I tried to pretend that I do not really care about him and used my laptop but HE.JUST.KEPT.STARING. Even when Felicia came back he still continue staring at me WTF :'( I almost not want to step out of the room and bathe that night ughs
14th
Met with Felicia's friends and they brought us to a well known eatery near the train station.
After that we went to Sinshe, a town outside of Taichung. When we told our friends that we are taking a bus there they were not convinced. In the end we all went together with Poppy driving. hahah When we tell our walking and transportation methods to Taiwanese, it always seem like crazy to them. Guess that is what we get in a country that heavily depend on cars and bikes as their transportation.
Went to Sinshe Castle and the air feels so great because it was somewhere on a mountain I think? ^^ Felt like we were in some European country too.
Spent the whole afternoon exploring the place and then went to a small night market. Finally tried street side pig knuckles! Taste better than I thought ^^
Went back to our homestay early and changed to get ready to play ball at 11pm! Cool right! Apparently the university court are available during weekends for 24h? As long as you pay NT10 the lights will be on for 20minutes. It is very crowded too! Guys on the court, girls with dogs by the side haha
Taken at 2am when we were about to leave.
After that we left and went for supper. There was this guy who is Poppy's friend who seem to have absolutely no clue what Singapore is like. He kept wondering if we have those dimsum back home or not haha But one thing that is different about us is that we eat xiao long bao with vinegar while they have it with soy sauce. Nothing I say could convince them to try our method.
And Felicia took the water for soaking the ginger instead of vinegar over HAHAHAHA
15th
Left for Hsinchu and met up with another friend of Felicia haha And gawd THEY WERE SO HOSPITABLE I CANNOT STAND IT (in a good way). :')
Ruby and Xiaoliang took us to a cute cafe as a start. On the way there it was raining because of a passing typhoon I think? They also told us that Hsinchu is well known for being a windy town and we managed to experience it first hand haha
Pancakes with fruits~
Interior of the cafe
After the meal, they took us to cycling despite the strong wind and slight drizzle heh We rent the bike that is for four people! First time for us all and it was crazy because we had to coordinate and we ride around pretty recklessly and stopping anywhere we want haha
We took pictures too but our hair were flying at every direction so... None with me!
After the crazy ride we went to a Thailand restaurant for dinner with their family. At the beginning we were afraid of awkwardness but their family is so fun to be with! All of them were making sure we were well taken care of and fed us a lot~~~~! We also stayed at their place because they were also going to the Sun Moon Lake Annual Swimming carnival.
When they know that we were initially take a bus there, they were also shock hahaha They were going by a company bus and just nice there were slots available for us because three people dropped out last minute. :`)
Labels: Taiwan, thcrashedlyrics, travel