Last 2 days of 2010

After I returned from my holidays in Taiwan, I was busy with tackling my persistent cough and office work. The office work has piled up so much since I was away for almost 3 weeks!

This is one of the bad points for doing office hour instead of shift duty; the work follows me even if I am away from the office.

I guess it must be the cold and wet weather in Taiwan that caused me to cough badly despite seeing the doctor. The phelgm in my throat seems not being able to clear completely and constantly irritate my throat, causing me to cough.

In terms of office work, more briefings and presentations coming up. My role as a secretary is not to the mark. The seniors have complained that my work was lousy. I should not throw in the towel so fast but perhaps give myself more chances before I accept the outcome.

My training role is also not moving anywhere and the big boss is quite unhappy that there is no progress in this area. She does not understand or refuse to be aware that I am busy with other tasks.

No signs of promotions but signs of heavier workload waiting for me.

Ok, I should be thankful that I still have a decent job.

Xmas Celebration with A Supplier

Upon return from Taiwan was a flurry of festive activities.

Work has piled up so much that I did not know where and when to start since mood is not there and many staff were away.

A supplier held a celebration at Clark Quay. The buffet dinner was served at Hooter's. There were just too much meat and thus I did not really enjoy it. J was busy chatting with his colleagues and friends. It became a norm for people to travel during Dec. Some just returned from Japan, others from Turkey or Taiwan etc.

The kids enjoyed themselves as there was a magic show during the dinner.

I enjoyed the river cruise that followed. I was able to look at our city's skyline at night from Singapore's River.

Last Day in Taiwan

By the time we were about to return home, our luggages were filled with goodies. J ordered me to stop buying as our empty luggage was already filled to the brim. I wanted to buy more as there were just too many titbits to bring home for family members.

As our return flight would depart in the early morning, either we check out in predawn on the date of departure or check out the day before. We chose the latter as we could save some money. We dumped our luggages at D's room. When we returned from shopping, we simply asked the D's room key from the reception. No questions asked and we thought this was not safe at all.

Anyway, we waited for D's return before we left.

We took almost the last Da You bus to the airport. We reached the airport about 11.30pm. The airport was not that busy at this hour. There were some travellers like us who spent the night at the airport.

Slightly after midnight, the airport became quiet as there were not many flights departing or arriving. We found 2 sofas and slept. We managed to catch some sleep though not very comfortable as I have to squeeze with Isa on the same sofa. J took the one next to us.

At about 4am, I was awoken by the ring from 7 Eleven. More people arrived at the airport. We waited for a while and the staff manning the SIA counter arrived. After we have checked in our luggages, we went straight to the Silver Kris Lounge. We had a good breakfast there. The service was great and this makes me to consider travelling with SIA again.

My holidays in Taiwan have ended. I like the trip to Taroko Gorge and Yeliu GeoPark most. Maybe during my next trip, I will spend more time at these 2 places.

Look at these birds!

(Thanks Jim for remembering me!)

Day 7 in Taiwan

After a long & tiring day in Taroko Gorge, we could not take a break the next day as we wanted to take advantages of the fair weather conditions. D suggested going to Leo Foo Theme Park and Yeliu Geo Park but I told her that since the day was short, it was not likely to go two places on a single day. In the end, I went to Yeliu and she to the Theme Park.

We took the same bus from Taipei West Bus Terminal again at the same price NT96 to Yelie. Once we alighted from the same bus stop the other day when heavy rain occured, the scenary was totally different. There were lots of people on the road and it was so easy to find the road leading to this Park. Some people went there for fishing too.

After a short walk from the main road, we could smell the sea and found the signage of Yeliu Geo Park. The entrance fee was NT50 for an adult and half the price for a child. At the Information Centre, there was a voluntary guide offering a free guide around this Park. We gladly took up the offer. This guide is Ms Mu ("mother" in chinese). She explained us the various unique rocks in the Park. There was a glass shoe and an elephant left by a fairy, after she fought with a playful turtle.


There were many candle-lit rocks, marine potholes, mushroom heads etc. The most famous was the Queen's Head whose head would likely to drop in about 15-20 years' time due to wind and seawater erosion. Long, long time ago, Taiwan was under the sea. As the time continues, this island gradually floats up to the surface. The rocks started to form into unique shapes due to the wind and seawater. It was extremely windy at this location as it faced the Pacific Ocean. There were people fishing despite the chance of huge waves. We spent about an hour with this guide before parting.


We continued to explore this Park until we were too tired to walk. Luckily we bought some sushi before we went into the Park. We had cup noodles at the 7 Eleven outside this Park.


By the time, we returned to Taipei, it was nearly 5pm. Everywhere was such crowded since it was weekend. We had some hot drinks and a seafood burger at McDonald. Here Starbucks is more commonly found than McDonald. Youngsters occupying the seats to do their work is also commonly seen here too.

We were in D's room and they returned after 9pm. They managed to go 2 places which was really marvelous.

Day 6 in Taiwan

Finally I saw clear sky with dried roads from the window of the room I stayed. This was a good sign to start the day.

We left the hotel at 6.45am without any breakfast since the breakfast time started at 7am. Our train would depart at 7.18am and the walking to Taiwan Main Station would take about 15 min. Along our way, we bought 2 bowls of Yong Dou Fu at Family Mart at 4 pieces at NT39. Upon reaching the Station, I rushed to its 7 Eleven to buy another 2 sets of bento at NT50 each. The train arrived and departed punctually.

Hualien is not that far from Taipei but the journey takes about 2.5hr. It certainly does not travel as fast as High Speed Rail as we boarded yesterday.

After a heavy breakfast on the train, we continued to take a short nap. Just before we arrived Hualien, we saw the sea - Pacific Ocean!


(The blue beautiful Pacific Ocean)

D booked the service of a taxi driver called Mr Li De Ming (each pax @ NT500). He was already at the station when we arrived. The temperature was quite low and we felt very cold. We gladly hopped into his taxi.

He brought us to Taroko Gorge National Park. Along the way, he gave us introduction of some tribes and the chinese living in Hualien.

Our first stop was Qi Xin Tan which is really a beautiful beach facing the Pacific Ocean. We saw the fierce waves splashing onto the coast and really felt the beauty of nature. The beautiful coast of Hualien left a great impression on me.

Then we went to Qing Shui Duan Ya which is a steep cliff overseeing the deep blue ocean water. The water is such blue due to the presence of some minerals in the water. It is quite an experience to see ocean water directly below us on the cliff.

(The Swallow Grotto; look at these gigantic rocks)



(Tunnel of Nine Turns)

We continued to Swallow Grotto, Shakadang Trail, Tunnel of Nine Turns, Ci Mu Bridge etc. His service was excellent as we had a good taste of a simple trail in Taroko Gorge. Our lunch was settled at a store which sold cup noodles.

Our dinner was done at Hualien city. We ate rice and steam buns. After that, we bought the famous tit-bits from Tzen Chi.

Mr Li promptly sent us back to Hualien Railway Station at 7pm to catch our 7.30pm train. I was so tired that I slept most of the time despite there were passengers standing behind me for about 2.5hours! We reached Taipei Main Station at 10pm.

I can't imagine standing throughout the train journey and these passengers have a valid tickets as there was a ticket master checking on our train tickets.

I was such relieved that the weather was such nice but cooling so that some walking could be done. We walked quite a lot today and the breeze was really cooling. We were such glad not to see any rain.

One of the places of interest He Huan Shan has snow reported and the roads were closed due to snowy and slippery conditions.n

Day 5 in Taiwan

Looks like this is a wasted trip to Taiwan. We saw nothing much except its non-stop rain and strong winds. As planned, we walked to Taipei Main Station to take its High Speed Rail to Tainan. A return trip (reserved seat) costs NT2700 for an adult, which is about S$135. I wanted to buy a train bento but J said we could save that money since we had a heavy breakfast.

There was a waiting area for HSR passengers. When the train arrives, passengers will take the escalator down to the platform. Since Taipei Main Station is the terminal station, the train is already at its platform. We snapped some photos with the train before hopping into the train. The train left punctually. The average speed was about 300km/hr. The ride was smooth, comparable to Japan's shinkansen. The seats and toilets were new and clean.

HSR makes a brief stop at Banciao, Taoyuan, Hsinchiu, Taichung, Tainan and then Zuoyin. The ride from Taipei to Tainan is only 1hr 45min.

From Taichung onwards, the land becomes quite flat. By the time we reached Tainan, it was still raining. The HSR Tainan Station was quite a distance from the downtown. There is free shuttle bus service. In the same train, there were many Japanese students occupying a couple of cars. The ride was quite noisy as the students were chattering happily.

The free shuttle bus left before 11am. The bus driver Mr Wu was such an extremely friendly and helpful man. He advised us not to make a trip to Qigu Salt Mountain under such weather conditions. Instead, we could make a trip to An Ping Old Street to have a good meal and some shopping. This place is famous for fried pawn crackers. The shuttle bus brought us to Tainan City Hall. From there, we took a cab (NT120) to An Ping Gu Bao. We had our lunch at Zhou's Shrimp Rolls which later D mentioned that it was one of his intended destinations. We went to this restaurant because a staff at one of the 7 Eleven told us. In Taiwan, there are many 7 Eleven, Family Mart and OK Mart. Getting simple food such as a bento is never a problem at all.

The fried shrimp rolls were 2 pieces at NT50, slightly pricey but delicious. We had a good warm meal despite the cold weather. Today the temperature dropped below 10C. We were simply not prepared for such cold weather. Our hands were freezing and we were almost shivering.

We gathered we could not continue to stay outdoor for long and took a bus (NT18) to Tainan Railway Station. There is a big shopping mall, enough to kill our time there before we returned to HSR Tainan Station. This mall called Yuan Dong Department Store has many storeys. We had some hot drinks at its McDonald. We were just too uncomfortable being cold and moist. We took the shuttle bus (about 45min) back to HSR Tainan Station. We were glad that we could change our 2015hr to 1815hr tickets. We could return to Taipei at about 8pm. Before we bought the train, we went to the 7 Eleven and bought 3 different bentos. Here, the availability of bento is similar to Japan except that the food served is taiwanese style.

Everybody enjoyed their food on the return trip.

Our trip to Tainan is not a very fruitful one. We experienced its HSR but did not have a good walk around An Ping and not to mention, we did not manage to go to Salt Mountain as planned, though many said it was just a huge mountain of salt.

At Taipei, it was still raining lightly. We bought food from 7 Eleven again. This time, it was a bowl of 6 pieces of Yong Dou Fu. Each piece was selling at NT10 and we have seen people buying it as a bowl of hot Yong Dou Fu. On our way back to the hotel, we saw Family Mart was selling at 4 pieces at NT39!

Day 4 in Taiwan

The wet weather continued to follow us. We watched the rain falling while having our breakfast. An obasan was quite friendly and recommended us to go to a newly opened big shopping mall instead of cooping in the room. She also suggested Miramar Ferris Wheel near Jian Nan Road Station. The kids were happy!

Upon seeing the rain became lighter, we took the subway to CKS Memorial Hall. Despite the non-stop rain, we managed to take some photos and watched the hourly Guards Changing Ceremony.


From there, we went to SYS Memorial Hall. I still cannot remember clearly the significance and importance of CKS and SYS. From there, Taipei 101 is just within walking distance.


(Taipei 101)
(View of Taipei City from Taipei 101)

The entrance to the Observatory is at 5th floor. The entrance fee is NT400 for an adult and NT370 for a child. If the weather is dry, we can visit 89th floor and 91st floor. But since it was such wet, the 91st floor was closed. Within 40 seconds, we travelled in a lift from 5th floor straight to 89th floor. The speed of this lift is about 1010m per min. Inside the lift, we did not experience discomfort at all. We found the ride in this special lift was simply too short.

From the 89th floor, we could have a good bird eye view of Taipei city. Due to the rain and clouds, we could only see buildings closer to Taipei city. At the 88th floor, there was a display on how to ensure this building is stable against strong winds and earthquakes. Taiwan is affected by typhoons and earthquakes yearly and thus its buildings have to withstand such shocks.

On 88th floor, there is also a big showroom on various corals made into different shapes and sizes of "gems", which were too expensive for us even to look at. The kids were already very hungry.

We had our lunch at the food court in Taipei. The prices were comparable to Singapore's. After lunch, D and I went on our own to explore this city. We took a free shuttle bus to City Hall Station. Immediately is the newly opened Ban Ji Departmental Store. We have seen advertisements on Heat-tech from Uniqlo selling like hot-cakes. We saw the shirts and blouses, real thin and soft, claimed to keep warm etc. But since we don't need them back home, why waste money to buy them. We continued to Eslite Bookstore. Instead of selling just books, this store sells a lot of other things. Customers can sit comfortably in the store to read books. Unlike our big bookstores back home, many books are wrapped to discourage browsing without buying.

J wanted to visit Hakka Culture Association located on Da An Station on the Brown line. We didn't take long to find this place. We spoke to the staff and were surprised to know that a lot of Taiwanese are hakka.

Finally we reached Jian Nan Road Station. We saw the Giant Ferris Wheel but there were little lights. We confirmed with the subway staff before exiting the station. The Ferris Wheel was located at the 5th floor and since it was slightly after 5pm, maybe we could have an early dinner before taking the ride.

The Miramar Building was not as crowded as Ban Ji but the prices of food were pretty expensive. We decided to take the ride first and have our dinner on our way back to the hotel. There were 2 types of cars in this Wheel, the normal and the transparent types. Since we made all the way here, we joined the queue for the transparent cars which were just 4. It was still raining but there were more and more people taking the ride. The fee was NT150 for an adult and NT120 for a child.

(Tickets for the ride on Miramar Ferris Wheel)

We waited for about 20 minutes before the transparent car arrived. The whole ride was also about 20 minutes. The car was smaller than our Flyer. The bottom of the car was transparent. However, I was too scared to look down. We could have quite a view of Taipei city at night. We saw lights from Taipei 101 though it was slightly blur due to the cloudliness and rain.

After much debating on what to have for dinner, we settled on Ah Zhong Mian Xian AGAIN! We ordered 3 bowls and bought 1/8 duck at NT200 from that famous duck store.

Another day of cloudy and rain can be expected for tomorrow but I pray hard for a good weather since we will be taking the High Speed Rail to Tainan.

I must say that the locals are very organised in taking the subway. At around 6.30pm, the trains were such crowded that we were literally shoulder to shoulder with strangers. The crowd can be comparable to Tokyo's if not worse. But there was no chaos as there were train personnel deployed to control the huge crowds.

Day 3 in Taiwan

When I saw the overcast skies and wet roads, I felt disappointment. The weather forecast was spot-on. I was praying hard that the forecast was wrong.

The breakfast was similar. I merely ate porridge with pork floss, fried egg, stir fry vegetables plus slices of ham. We bought 2 umbrellas and an extra jacket before setting off. As planned, we were supposed to go Ye Liu National Park before lunch and Jiu Fen after lunch. We took Kuo Kuang bus (NT96; NT48) at Taipei West Bus Terminal Block A. Half way, the rain started again. It rained all the way till we reached Ye Liu. The bus-stop that we alighted was pathetic. It was merely outside a shop house. There was no proper shelter. The winds were strong and we could see the winds carrying the rain. How to go to Ye Liu National Park in this condition? After much consideration, we went to Jiu Fen. From Ye Liu, we took a bus to Kee Lung located at the northeastern coast. At Kee Lung train station, we took another bus to Jiu Fen. Rain was following us all the way. By the time we reached Jiu Fen, we were hungry, cold and moist.


(Cloudy and wet in Jiu Fen)

Jiu Fen Old Street was a nice shopping street, selling various tit bits. We were not in the right mood to shop because there was little shelter along this street. Imagine, the street was crowded with people, the ground was wet, we were carrying an umbrella, holding onto the kids. The kids were unhappy because they wanted to return to the hotel. Luckily there were a lot of stalls offering free taste of tit-bits. Surely we bought some home. The pineapple tarts were quite expensive; a box of 10 pieces at a cost of min NT220 which means a piece of this tart costs about S$1!

I resisted buying any pineapple tarts except 6 packets of codfish pastry with seaweed, wasabi and spicy at NT100 each. I planned to give Li a packet. There was an outlet of Black Bridge Sausages here! A packet of 10 thick pork sausages costs NT220. D said pretty expensive but I intended to buy a packet before I return home. There was an outlet nearer to the hotel I was staying.

We left Jiu Fen before 3pm. There was a bus straight to Taipei Zhong Xiao Fu Xing Station. The bus fare was at an astonishing NT76! From there, we took the blue Bannan line to Ximen Station. When we reached there, the weather was just cloudy and windy. D wanted to return to hotel to take a warm shower. We wanted to look for the Red Theater House and found it easily when we exited from the station as indicated by the signage.

(One of our favourites in Ximending - Ah Zhong Mian Xian)

We tried Ah Zhong Mian Xian (small bowl at NT45) and it was really delicious. Isa said she wanted to eat again. Even for me who dislike Mian Xian very much, I found it real delicious.

Here I must mentioned that the Easy Card is real useful. The ferry to Fishermen's Wharf was paid using Easy Card. The bus and subway rides were paid using this card.

The announcement in the subway was made in 4 luggages; mandarin, hokkien, hakka and english! I am so surprised to hear an announcement in hakka.

Dinner was settled at a famous duck stall in Ximending. According to the guide book, this is the only stall in Taiwan. It sells bee hoon with duck meat or mee with duck meat, each bowl at NT50. You can also order duck meat at 1/2 or 1/4 or 1/8 which we did not. We ordered 2 bowls of bee hoon and 1 bowl of noodles. Isa has insisted on having Ah Zhong Mian Xian again as supper.

The weather was cooling in the evening. Cold winds blew and occasionally there were a few drops of rain. Ximending is more crowded during the first night (Sunday). From there, we continued walking in the direction to Long Shan Temple Station. We wanted to go to Carrefour to look for some local products. I am determined to buy some pineapple tarts back home. We found this supermarket after walking down a few cross-sections. But J insisted on buying during our return trip as he wanted to visit Hua Xi Night Market. After some walking, we found this Night Market. I must say that Shilin Night Market was more crowded than this one. We walked through the Night Market and decided to return. At Carrefour, I bought 6 boxes of pineapple tarts (6 pieces per box) at NT49, 3 boxes of assorted tarts at NT109 each and others. When checking out, we paid nearly NT1200 = S$60!

We bought 2 bowls of Ah Zhong Mian Xian as takeaway. J managed to put all the goodies into one of the check-in luggages. Seeing him spending much effort in packing, I think I better control my buying spree wie.

Day 2 in Taiwan

I did not have a good sleep as I was waiting for a call from D. I woke up slightly after midnight and knew that her family has reached Taipei. Around 12.40am, J received an sms from D that they were on their way to the hotel.

J went to the lobby to wait for them.

Before 1.30am, they were at my door steps. Her kids were still wide awake. J told me that there were quite a few guests at the reception at this hour. He simply brought them up to our room without any problems at all.

Once in the room, all just jumped onto the bed to continue sleeping.

The breakfast was taiwanese style ie porridge with various dishes and pickles. There were self-toast bread with jam plus ham. We bought Lydia along for the breakfast. The rest went out for a simple breakfast. The 2 girls ate some porridge plus bread. I dont really like the porridge. Or I should say I dont have this habit of having porridge for breakfast. I would prefer rice for breakfast. The breakfast was at the 13th floor but the lift served till 12th floor. So we have to walk the stairs to 13th floor to have the breakfast.

As the weather forecast for the day was fair and warm, we thought we should do outdoor activities than indoor activities. The kids suggested going to Leo Foo instead of the planned Museums etc. I asked the reception about going to Leo Foo and was glad to know that this theme park closed on every Monday. The next option would be to go to Taipei International Floral Exposition.

The nearest MRT station to this Exposition is Yuan Shan. Like yesterday, the Exposition was already crowded with people. With the store value card (Easy Card), there was some discount to the entrance fee of NT400. We spent almost 2 hours queueing just to enter Expo Dome.



The weather was very warm as there were little clouds. Inside this Dome, there were lots of exhibits using various types of flowers. There were many exhibits on christmas theme. So the red christmas flowers were mainly used.

By the time we left this Dome, it was time for lunch. The queue for the bento was the longest. We joined the queue and bought 2 pork chop bento at NT50 each and 1 drumstick bento at NT75.

(Our lunch bento at Floral Exposition)

The food was quite nice as we were quite hungry. After lunch, the queues for Taipei Story House, Expo Theater etc were just too long. The walk to Global Garden Area became long under the hot weather. In this area, different countries occupied various sites. Singapore occupied 2 sites but the exhibits were a great disappointment. Even the Hong Kong's, the familiar Clock Tower at Victoria Harbour and doiphins in Ocean Park were featured. For ours, not even a merlion or esplanade was shown. The weather became cloudy and thus cooler. We decided to go National Palace Museum. We took the MRT to Shilin. We wasted some time to find the bus stop to catch the bus to this Museum. By the time we reached the museum, it was 3pm+. The backdrop of this museum was mountains. We merely took some photos outside this museum before continuing our journey to Danshui station.

Once we reached Danshui, the weather was cooler and our walk to the pier was really relaxing. We took a ferry to Fishermen's Wharf at NT50 to watch the sunset. We were lucky to catch the sunset. We did not see the sun because the sky was cloudy. But we saw the colours of the clouds changed to orange.

(Sunset at Fishermen Wharf)


This scenary was beautiful. The walk on Valentine's Bridge whose lights were turned on when the sun set also gave us a nice feeling. We were quite hungry and took a bus (NT15) back to Danshui Station. The guide book recommended a walk at Danshui Old Street which was just next to the Station. We tried some local food such as sausages made from wild bore (3 for NT100), some baos which were like our wo tie (8 for NT35), fried squid at NT50 etc. Our stomachs were left filled by the time we left Danshui Station.

The nearest subway station to Shilin Night Market was Jian Tan Station. This night market is a few streets selling clothes, food, fruits, games etc. This was when we lost D's family. We ate mian xian (NT30), lamp soup (NT70) and fried noodles (NT60) with lamp for dinner before returning to the hotel.

D returned earlier and we were glad that everybody was back to the hotel safely.

Day 1 in Taiwan

We took the 1 am flight to Taipei. This decision was made after much consideration. We knew we would be unable to sleep during the short flight. We knew we would be very tired once we reached Taipei. But the ticket which was available to us was at this timing. Thus, we have no choice but to take up this offer.

J e-checked in about 48 hours before the departure time. Just a few days before our departure, J received a letter to inform him that his Kris Flyer membership was upgraded to Elite Gold and he could enjoy some privileges. We asked SIA to expedite his membership card and we received just a day before we departed.

At Terminal 3 after clearing the immigration, there was a lounge and there were many people there. There was food and drinks served. We had our supper before we left the lounge. By the time we were in the aircraft, we were very sleepy.

However, the cabin crew was extremely hardworking, serving food and drinks almost nonstop. Maybe I have taken my supper and I found the portion of inflight food served was huge. I had Singapore's Sling which I liked it very much.

There were quite a number of buses from the airport to taipei city. Besides the recommended FreeGo, there is Kuo Kuang, Ubus, Everygreen and we took Da You bus which charged us NT90 and NT45 for Isa, after showing her passport to declare she is only 11 years old.

The journey to Taipei Main Station took about an hour. Along the journey, the bus continued to pick up some passengers which didn't really bother us much as we were dozing away most of the time.

The hotel was quite a disappointment. The location was great, between Ximen and Taipei Main Stations but due to its age, the rooms and corridors were quite dull and old. D booked the Family Deluxe at S$103 which includes breakfast. We booked Business Suite at S$67.

(A waterfall in Long Shan Temple)

After dropping our luggages at the reception, we walked to Long Shan Temple. This is a famous temple and there was a praying session going on. From there, we took the subway to Yuan Shan station to look for Bao An Temple and Confucious Temple which are within walking distance from the subway station. The Bao An temple is to pray for good health and the Confucious Temple is for good academic results. Isa will be sitting for PSLE in 2011. Yuan Shan Station is also the "gateway" to Taipei Flora Expo. Maybe it was a weekend and it was crowded with people. I wonder if we should make a trip there.

The weather was also quite warm. There were little clouds and the sun shone brightly when there was no wind. We managed to find the free shuttle bus to The Grand Hotel to bring us there.

(Yuan Shan Hotel or The Grand Hotel)

This hotel really lives up to her name, so grand and posh. We wanted to have our lunch there - buffet lunch at NT770. After looking at this price, we thought we better give it a miss. On our way back to the hotel, we bought Japanese food to eat as lunch. I think the food was not too expensive; we each bought a bento at NT100. And we have bought the expensive types - with salmon. The cheaper ones in 7-11 can go as low as NT50 for a chinese style bento.

Though we were supposed to check in only after 3pm, we arrived such early and the hotel was kind enough to let us have our room as early as 1pm. We had quite a good lunch in our room.

I reminded Isa not to come here to eat Japanese food despite cheaper than Singapore. J already found a stall serving beef noodles and we have decided to have it as dinner.

We took a short nap in the afternoon. We were so sleepy and tired after the early hour's flight. We are here for a hol and not for a training. So we don't have to be harsh to ourselves.

We woke up nearly 5pm. We walked to the Taipei Main Station. In the morning around 7-8am, the place was quiet. In the late afternoon, it was such crowded that police were deployed to control the crowd. Opposite this Station, there are shopping malls. This Station has a subway, train and high speed rail. It is probably similar to Tokyo's Station.

We returned to that beef noodle shop. It was quite crowded. The prices for a big bowl of noodles (like udon) and slices of beef cost NT60 to NT66. We ordered 2 normal bowls plus a small bowl at a cost of NT176. A mistake AGAIN ! We made a similar mistake when we were in ShinOsaka station. During that time, we were such hungry and guess that we would gobbled up the noodles. We were wrong as both Isa and I could not swallow much the Japanese noodles at all. This time, I managed to finish half a bowl while telling myself that it was just normal thin noodles back home. J has to eat almost 2.5 bowls of the beef noodles. He said he might dream of the beef noodles during the night.

We walked past our hotel to go to Ximending. Yes, this is a place which is very crowded with mainly youngsters. We found the famous duck meat shop as recommended in one of the guide books. We bought a taiwanese bento at NT50 and a bottle of barley tea at NT17. I needed the rice before I could sleep. The temperature has dropped to about 18C, which was quite comfortable. The sun sets around 5pm. I recalled by 5pm, Japan was already totally dark but here, it was like 6-7pm back home. However, by 7pm here, it was totally dark.

There is plenty of food in Ximending. We guess we would be spoilt of choices of food available during our stay in Taipei.

We bought the store value card with a deposit NT100. This card works similarly like our ezlink card. However, the fare for a child is the same as that of an adult. I really wonder if it is better to buy an adult version (NT500) for Isa instead of her current concessionary type (NT300).

We were back to our hotel before 8pm. Isa was tired and preferred to remain in the room to watch her cartoon. This trip would be one of the most memorable one for her.

We have already informed D to call us once they were in the taxi from the airport to the hotel. I hope they would have no prob in sharing this room with us for a night.

Matterhorn (Zermatt), Switzerland

Western Europe faces heavy snowfall.
Source: http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/home.html

December 2010 arrives

Finally the last month of 2010 has arrived. This month should be a short working month for me as I have about 2 weeks of leave to clear - to be spent in Taiwan.

For the first few days of December, I will be returning to my previous office to work. I always love to return to this office because it is small and cosy. I see more animals, trees, insects etc than human beings. So a lot of time will be spent catching up with colleagues working there besides the usual routine work.

After the Taiwan trip, I will still return to this office to complete a few more tasks before I look forward to Christmas and then New Year Celebrations. With the christmas eve and new year's eve falling on a Friday, this means a longer weekend for festive seasons.