Taiwan Expedition Day 2 - Guest-Blogged By 浪迹天涯小狗

Hihi its the Doggy again!

Without further ado, Day 2!

23rd April 2006

Heard firecrackers going off early in the morning. Very cool to hear such an occasion-related thing crackling abt in a morning like all others. The mistress was enjoying the "music" in the bathroom.


View from the bed


Sets the mistress wondering again why is there so many traffic lights on a short stretch of road when motorists doesnt seem to be obeying them.

After clearing our stuff from the double bunk bed, we packed some 豆浆油条 from the shop below and proceeded to Taipei Main Station. The 油条 is really 油 for something to be eaten early in the morning.


Stairs are harmless... NOT IF U'RE LOADED WITH LUGGAGES!


Taipei Main Station - exterior


Taipei Main Station - interior


There's our train. 自强号. 9.55am. Thats an hr later. No more tickets for the one we wanted to take.


Access to a 3 hrs railway experience


Here comes our train!


OHH!! Got doggy in front!! But it bo hiew me throughout the journey leh. Damn attitude brat.


Off we go!!~ 嘉义 in 3!


This is one of the things the mistress had been wanting to try for so long after always drooling to the bento sets shown on TV. 铁路铁路!! NT80.


Yummy!~ The 豆腐干 is very nice!!


Uh Oh! Train uncle 来 liao! I no ticket!! HOW!?!?!! *hides beneath the bag*


Green space!

We alighted at 嘉义站 to transfer to the 阿里山铁路. The obasan we arranged directed us to the 小火车 platform and keeps showing us where the toilet in the train is.


小火车!


Tickets to another few hours of rocking.


The inside. 厕所有人!


Map of 阿里山铁路. 嘉义 is out of the picture. Mistress too slow in snapping the full shot.


Mountains


More mountains


Mountains galore!


Somehow this picture looks eerie.


It started pouring!!

We reached 阿里山 in the late afternoon. The hotel personnel came looking for us in a minivan. Maybe we have a tourist look or something. People there jus know we're the one they're looking for.

The auntie said we sound like Hongkies. Hmm.. I dun remember Mistress and RR having any hint of Cantonese accent. Mistress cant even speak Cantonese for goodness's sake!


View from the hotel room window.

As night falls, we went to the market place in search of food. Loads of steamboats there. Very good for the hovering ard 10 degrees temperature up on the mountains. Its was so cold we're blowing smoke with every breath we took. Somehow we ended up with the instant noodles that the mistresses' 2 other animal frens were raving abt.

Actually hor. WHATS SO NICE ABT IT HAR? Its jus a few pieces of REAL MEAT, with gravy, coupled with instant noodles, being steamed in styrofoam/paper bowls lor.

Expectations too high I would presume.

Day 3 up next!

Taiwan Expedition Day 1 - Guest-Blogged By 浪迹天涯小狗

Hihi! 我是浪迹天涯小狗, guest-blogging for the lazy mistress sprawled on the bed studying (i hope). *peeps* NOOOO SHE'S NOT STUDYING!! SHE'S ZZZ-ING!!! Heck! Let's not care abt the pig already.



I got ang moh name oso, called Doggy. [-.-"] Bcos the lazy fella din bother to think of a more stylo name. DOGGY!??!?! I'll prefer to be called Jay lor.. Yoyoyo! Wats up man!

Dun see I ish small small, I can type on the lazy bum's lappy ok. See..



Ok enuff of self-intro. Jus tok to me if u see me hanging on the fella's bag ok? I ish not shy one!

Lets get on to the trip...

22nd April 2006


A bright and sunny day in Singapore. I ish excited to be on foreign land in a few hrs more. Here's the boarding gate. D36.


Woah!~ Took off already!! Ard 1pm.


Some dunno wat island at dunno where..


The menu for Jetstar Asia. No meals included in the flight tickets.


We ish seated near the wings. The sky jus looks pretty doesnt it?


The lady is finding weird with this instruction printed on the wings. It reads "Do Not Walk Outside This Area". Its printed facing both sides of the wings. So if the person is standing on the movable part of the wing which is not supposed to be stepped on, and the instruction is facing him, doesnt it mean that he shldnt be stepping onto the fixed part of the wing? Or if its correct, and the person is already on the movable part, aint it too late to say its not to be accessed??



So which is the area that shouldnt be accessed??


Cotton Wools!!~


Finally reached C.K.S. Airport after a grueling 4 hrs which the lady spent sleeping, reading the Geisha book, playing PSP, watching anime on PSP. Its already nearing evening time when we stepped foot on Taiwan.


We took bus transport to the city area, Taipei Main Station for this trip.


Bus tickets. NT125 each. Journey takes abt an hr. The lazy owner slept somemore.

Oh ya, the owner's cap the tag tore off when she boarded the bus clumsily. Cap drop oso nvr realise. So the cap went tagless/hookless from dat point on. Very mah fan, have to squeeze in the already filled bag. But at least its not blocking my view hanging on a hook near me anymore.

We reached Taiwanmex Backpackers at 8pm after walking past the area and admit getting lost. Surprisingly the owner found us. Apparently we looked lost enuff to let the owner get right on.

Its not a big place, with quite a few rooms occupied mainly by exchange students, mostly ang mohs. We're supposed to be sharing our room with an Indonesian girl. Seriously the mistress doesnt find it safe to share rooms with others but its for one night only so.. DONG!!

We went out again after placing our luggage in the room. Walked along the stretch of 南京路 looking for food but there aint much interesting stuff there. There's a 新光三越 nearby and it looks jus like the Isetan or Tangs of Singapore so we din went in to explore.

We finally settled on origiri from 7-11. Not very nice as its not cold, and the packaging is playing a fool of the mistress. Considering it costs NT22, its so-so only.

Somehow the mistress got tempted by bread, yes BREAD, at the Taipei Main Station. Its damn cheap at closing hrs. NT23 for 1 big raisin bun and 2 small hotdog buns after a 70% discount. Normally the raisin bun would have cost NT25 on its own. Bread jus smells so nice over in TW.

We got back to Taiwanmex and took a bath b4 going to bed. The showerhead is attached to the wash basin in a cramped space with the clothes hanging very closeby. Needs a bit of skill to 1) adjust the temperature of the water and 2) avoid getting the clothes wet.

There's 2 internet connected PCs in the common hall but its always occupied.

The Indonesian girl whom we're supposed to share room with returned at 11.30 while the mistress was sprawled on the top bunk highlighting her notes. So hardworking hor. Dunno real anot siah.

Stunningly, the girl asked the mistress where we came from in CHINESE. After a few words, she changed and went out again. Din see her ever since. Damn havoc man.

The double decker bed was hard and the pillow too low, preventing the mistress from sleeping soundly. Whats more, there's this stupid idiot practising Jap at the balcony next to the bed very late into the night. Very the noisy arh.


This is the small room that we spent our 1st night in Taiwan in. It costs less than $10 per person per night.

End of Day 1

This is 浪迹天涯小狗 blogging. Day 2 coming right up!

Live from Xi Men Ting Taiwan!~

ARrrhh.. getting this up while RR is bathing. I cant seem to detached myself from internet from dat long man.

Been up Alisan n back. Been Janfusan n back.

Next up on the agenda....

SHOPPING!!!~~~

update the details n photos when i get back. not sure if my sd cards can last dat long. I've used up 1gb+++++. *faints*

hope no blurred shots.. no blur no blur....

*yup yvonne i bought ur book liao.*

PAnny~

I splurge on electronics again.



I've been eyeing this little rascal for a yr (or more). The $100 drop in price simply calls me out to bring it home. N I did. (So RR, its up to u to go borrow a camera anot. I might bring both of them there.)

Its a close battle btwn Canon Powershot S2 IS, Panasonic Lumix FZ5 and a certain Sony Cybershot. 12x optical. I've always wanted dat. At least after now, the concert pictures will turn out nicer.

I've always love the user-frenliness of Lumix, esp after the experience of my old Lumix DMC-LC50 but this one seems a wee-bit hard. Guess I jus need to play with it more often.

Some samples here,


Macro shot


My desktop wallpaper in office. The glare is seriously no good for the eyes.


My fishy at home (with flash/night portrait)


Isnt he yandao? (without flash/macro/in a dark corner)


He keeps showing me his butt!

Damn Tough to Read Scripture

I wonder if all eldest grandchildren/child faces the same fate as me. Make it "favorite" grandchild.

家家有本难念的经

But my this scripture seems uber hard to read.

To speak the truth, I only inform my ah ma & mum I'm going TW 2 weeks ago. Yeah, 1stly, I dun wan them to worry too long n start thinking of ridiculous suggestions. N then I wanna confirm everything so that I can face the firing squad (& they cant alter anything already oso).

But seriously speaking, I actually mentioned I had plans to go TW like 2 yrs ago. I repeated the statement again last yr, when they wanna make me go Genting to be ah sum. But who remembers? Who bothers? Who LISTENED?

NOBODY!

Now they're saying I nvr tell them earlier. 2 yrs ago? 1 yr ago? What was dat? How early u wan? A decade ago? U ppl nvr ever listen to me. TV on so loud for wat? All deaf? Then tok in loud pitches to overcome the tv. Thats 恶性循环. No end till everyone gets sore throat n no pt is put across.

I've been in this family long enuff to noe that I will get refuted for everything that requires me to be out of reach/out of singapore out of their CONTROL. Even thou my ah ma mentioned, if u say u wanna go, we'll let u go one.

NOW WHO'S STOPPING ME!!??!??!!

Ok ok, u're not stopping me. Bcos u cant. BUT U'RE SUBCONSCIOUSLY WILLING ME NOT TO GO! I feel the power overwhelming me. Every sentence u say, there's a hidden agenda. DUN GO TAIWAN.

Whats with take care of urself over there and enjoy when the hidden agenda is DUN GO? Freak lah. I feel damn terrible now can. Like I did some super hideous sin jump into yellow river oso cannot turn yellow.

I've had too much experience of asking them and get refused. Think St John's. Even in the company of all the teachers n caretakers, I was still forced to stay back in school n watch some stupid film while my kakis are out learning survival techniques.

How abt the time I wanna go shopping in JB with my mum? She jus wanna rush back home as soon as possible bcos she's tired of lugging all these luggage. And so, wat did I do?

Take a look at my passport. I sneaked to JB last yr.

Whats the use of saying it'll be allowed if u asked? I asked!! I got refused. So I 先斩后奏 lah. N who taught me dat?

U! The caregiver who thinks everything u all do is good. And everyone out there is BAD.

If I wanna be bad, I'll be bad 10 yrs ago. Or 5 yrs ago. I'm still the little tame pearl white that only runs ard in the cage.

Even my now became angel pearl white gets to run abt in my room.

Then they keep saying they'll be less worried if I'm going with agency. Ya. How many agency fatality accidents did u see on the papers? A lot. Bus fell down cliff, overturned, blah blah. I think its more dangerous to go with them.

But at least got leader. LEADER? U MEAN LEADER?? They LEAD u to colluded shops and force u to spend there for them to earn their commission. If not, they'll turn black in the face and not carry on with the tour. It really happened to my colleague. Its worse with agencies, not to mention the extra $$ and forgone freedom and flexibility. Once u've signed in, u're under their beak and order.

Y only 2 ppl? Bcos the rest no $$. And who was the one who disapprove of me staying out to socialise? Dat = less frens = less ppl lah. Who disapprove of going out with guys? SO only 2 girls lah.

It all routes back to wat was done ages ago. CANT THEY SEE THE CAUSE AND EFFECTS!??!?!

And do they noe that I lead a stressful working life? (Even I DUN LOOK DAT STRESSED?) Do they noe that I wanna break from ALL MALAYSIAN COUNTRIES?? My mum commented that every yr I get to travel on business wat.

SO?? I DUN WANNA GO MALAYSIAN COUNTRIES WHERE CAB DRIVERS DUN ON METERS!!

Dun say its bcos I nvr share the day with my folks. They nvr listen. And no use telling if end of the day, I'm the one facing and solving the problem. I strongly believe in this pt. There's no use wasting ur breath if u're the one who's gonna solve it in the end.

And I think Sarawak and Melaka is 12412374697235 times more dangerous than TP lor. And do they noe that I kana BLUFFED to go climb some haunted mountain hole in Sarawak? If I tell them, they'll say its my fault again for not rejecting them. How to reject when some queen say something abt teamwork. I dun think its any teamwork when its all wat u WANT TO DO, and forcing others to go according to ur plans.

Its impossible to balance office politics with ur own thinking unless u're someone powerful. Like the queen.

At least in TP, u noe wat they're tokking. If u wanna say something abt them, jus speak in darn good english or rotten jap lah.

And to make things worse, my uncle came yest n start to scare my ah ma with stories from (NOTE!) CHINA. Hello! I is going TP. TP is NOT IN CHINA!! Dun make matters worse can?

I have no FREAKING say in the family. Nor in the office. NOR ANYWHERE! So I keep quiet. Dun blame me, since NO ONE's listening!! Everyone seems to be INSISTING on their own ideology. I pull no weights.

Jus dun care abt me. I'll be happy dat way. Serious.

My ah ma was suggesting that I bring my mum along. THEN?? I think I might as well bring my dad along, so dat my mum got company mah. Then where's the break?? If my mum n dad doesnt mind exploring on their own, I dun mind paying. But obviously my ah ma is sending them on a mission. Means I cant do a lot of things = no fun = more stress = no break.

I threw them my iternary (I can nvr freaking get it spelt correctly). They could have specifically asked for it long long ago if thats wat they wan. They keep asking repeatedly abt the hotel names (I cant rem) flight details and stuff. They dun understand english. I need my aunt to give them proper details of wat was written in the piece of paper.

I think we did the iternary BETTER than travel agencies lor. Wats the fuss abt dunno wat bus to take. Its all WRITTEN in the iternary.

But throwing them the iternary proves not much use, since my mum can still ask me why my flight back is so late. She insist its 9pm. It was 6.25pm, written CLEARLY on the iternary.

Even giving my ah ma they all the iternary, they can still spread the WRONG INFO. Very irritating arhhhhh.

How much more breath m I going to waste EXPLAINING wat was already self-explanatory?

But at least now she's not insisting my mum to go with me. (where to get the tix and stuff. Even can, she able to run so many places meh?) I dun wanna bring a burden but I dun mind planning a family trip there the next time round.

The whole extended family noes I going TP. News spread like wildfire, covering whole of SG. Then all these think-they're-doing-good-by-sharing-experience-but-is-only scaring-my-ah-ma-only relatives start to pollute my ah ma.

The funniest one was. They allow me to go Japan or 'ang moh' countries as they're more polite. Ahem. I beg to differ. There's a lot of fightings in ang moh countries lor. And Japan? Hmm.. I need to brush up my language b4 I venture there.

I live in a weird family. Its been weird since I was born. Sad to say, I grew used to it.

没有去过的地方不要去. 但就是因为没去过才要去第一次嘛. 不然就一生都旋转在同个位子上. 世界也只有那个位子一般大.

Who ask u all nvr bring me go ANYWHERE b4? I've only been on a plane for the 1st time on the Sarawak trip.

Now I earn my own keep. I use my own hard earned $$ and hard work to reward myself with a trip to TP oso such a big hoo-ha. Then I work for fark? I'm feeling alienated from my products. Its like a capitalist society. For now, I jus wanna re-enact and edit lost pieces of my childhood can?

Do all "favorites" get protected like this? I'm already.. 24. Not 12. Y my younger than me female cousin can go Japan for ITP???? Y i get nagged like no body biz for 8 days in TP??

I shld faster find someone n marry. BREAK THE INVISIBLE BOND~~~~~ Where's the prince?

Sat faster come. I dunno wat other stunners they gonna 出 again. At least dun let me go on holiday and still have to worry abt u worrying me can. Dat = no break already.

See, I'm supposed to be studying. I spent the last 1hr + on this. Wats with ALL the DISTURBANCES?? LEMME RELAC CAN!??!??! My $$ oso NOT EASY TO EARN ONE CAN?!??!??!

Light-headed

For being unable to tahan my block-head hair, I went to the salon again. Another one that is. 2nd salon visit in a span of 5 days.

I thinned my hair. It kinda spoilt the texture of my hair but at least its not one stiff hairstyle. It actually felt like I had short short hair when I washed it. Very light~ (See Clara, told u to THIN THIN THIN u cut until so thick.. My head feels like the soil of a burning forest lor..)

I need another treatment. I wan Kimage!!~~

When I was thinning my hair, the hairdresser commented that my face shape quite good, can suit a lot of hairstyles. I look in the mirror. My face looks so rectangular. hehhehe. But I tried from short to long b4. Maybe shld try perming. No no no. Dat doesnt look me.

Costs $10 to fix a $30+ hairstyle. -.-"

Yeah, I got my pay increment already. 14%. Not bad. I expected 10% only. Pessimistic me.

Wah raoz. Another eg that Singapore is not creative, watch The Undisclosed. Wats with the scene where Huang Biren and Li Nanxing point guns at each other on top of a building?? Its so Wu Jian Dao (Too bad the scene was made popular by them, not that they're the 1st to come up with it. -.-"

*Forced to eat papaya* Argh! Back to doing work stuff. At home.

Old Acquaintance

Its 9+. I'm at home, watching tv with hands busy sending food to satisfy my hungry gastronomy system. PDA calendar reads a Sociology lecture today.

YES I PONTEN-DED. Well, halfway thru. All thanks to Sunny who's making me blur-er than blur. He's not going thru powerpoint slides, he doesnt even have ANY. His handouts consist of pages of notes. And he's not following the sequence. I only remembered drawing watever he drew on the whiteboard and listening to the stories but dunno where the link to the topic is.

Anyway, 2nd half is more on the answers to the mock exam. I din bring the paper. Stay oso a bit waste of time.

So I exited the lecture hall with my bag during break time. While I was walking, n smsing Birdy dat I ponten-ded (she have not replied YET), I heard someone call my cheena name. I turned, looked at the few guys sitting near the flower bed. Hmm.. Have I met u b4?? I was wondering in my head. I stared for a while.

OHHH!!!!~~~ It was my primary school classmate (minus the specs). Kaoz it really took me A WHILE. I almost wanted to ask. U r?? Blur koks koks me.

Gosh! n he managed to recognise me in a mere few seconds. Which means, I LOOK THE SAME!?!??!?!?!??!?!

EVEN AFTER 12 yrs!??!??!?!

Or issit my kuku hair dat makes me return to my pri sch day looks?? WAH RAOZ!~

Ok lah.. I still remember who he is (only after a while). He's surprised I remembered him oso (kaoz n m i not surprised u can recognise me faster than I do..).

Did a few min of catching up. He din ask me to exchange number as I thot most long lost frens will. Hehehhe. Cant remember if he's in my frenster list anot (oso nvr bother there already). Not bad. Working in big computer MNC.

Lets see if fate will happen a 2nd time.....

Nerdy Me

How did I get a nerdy hairstyle when my intention was to cut the Huang Biren's cool cool hairstyle!?!?!??!

I wanted my hair to be shoulder-length. Its still as long as ever. N my fringe is ultra thick and nerdy.

Its so nerdy that I 三步拼成两步 walked to Watsons and grabbed a bottle of Lucido wax.

Much as I like to complain abt my nerdy hairstyle (Hey! Do I look DAT NERDY that my hairdresser had to cut a nerdy hairstyle to suit my nerdy look??), I love their service.

Actually, I looked more jap now than ever (even thou the fringe is so kuku).

Enuff abt the nerdiness. I did treatment while I was at Gorgeous.



Check out the packaging of the treatment. Ambulance! N its called Hair Rescue! Confirms the fact that my hair is uberly damaged that it needs a rescue team. And the fact that the packaging is not as professional as Loreal or Wella, and I dunno wat brand it is, it does not mean it costs peanuts. Its a freaking $80+ (I paid $113 total, after discount)! N I actually FORGOT to bring the tube in the picture home. Its supposed to be a home care thing. -.-"

I think I shld try the Kimage treatment someday.

N I still wan my cool cool hairstyle...

Anyway, I dropped by Cineleisure and got this Tsubasa set. (OOPS!!~~)



They're in a Tiffany crystal bowl (company reward for a fruitful 2005), filled with crystal stones, on my table. My display cupboard is unable to take anymore addition, wats more, its a totally Gundam Seed/Destiny collection. Putting this in will be a bit out.

Needing sleep.

Study Regime?

Study?? Study 是什么来的? 可以吃吗??

Wah raoz. I really mean WAH RAOZ.. Somebody actually asked me how I study and wanna follow my regime.

Yes. The slacker + procrastinator ME!!

Not wanting to destroy the potential future school teacher, I told him I read (take note: READ!!) one chapter every night (insert: whenever the mood comes). I couldnt tell him I burn my notes and drink them right. I'm not gonna take responsibility for any note poisoning situations.

With the exam in a mth's time, I only READ 4 Sociology chapters. Its not a healthy schedule. Maybe its only suitable for me.

As to how I memorize the Durkheim/Marx/Weber/Parsons,etc etc theories, I write. I write and rewrite notes. Scribbled and neatly. Dats the way to delaying the sleeping effect or I'll jus fall flat when I open my notes.

The biggest problem with working and studying part-time, is that u cant concentrate fully on ur studies. There's jus too many distractions to divert ur attention away. E.g. The Wicked (Stuck at 36 with everyone else n I aint gonna crack my brains till better hints r released) and Wicked Junior (CLEARED in 2 days during office hrs!). There's still this chinese drama that's taking 1 hr of my time every nite and also like now, blogging instead of hitting the books.

Ok its time to play a bit of game while waiting for the show~

My Teeth Chews $$

Wahhh.. I nvr knew dentists earn good $$.

My 1st bill came to $120 for polishing, scaling and filling. I went to visit the auntie again for my nerves are reacting with the crazy weather. I dun wanna do another root canal.

The bill today came to $76 for filling one major hole and disturbing the one next to it. I HAD TO MAKE CROWNS FOR THOSE! Crowns cost... $380 EACH! x 2 = $760 Not today. It can afford to wait. Luckily. I dun wan my Progress Package fill the gaps in my tooth. 2 units only. And my set of teeth is like the beach after a heavy rain. Full of holes (As wat the dentist auntie says). -.-" How many more '00 m I gonna spend..

I still feel the tingling feeling now. wrong tooth treatment??

*boss~~ pls increase my pay more so dat i can go n fill more holes..*

N I think I swallowed a lot of dugged-out teeth chips bcos the saliva sucking thing is not sucking the right place. The water + watever stuff dugged-out is flooding my throat. Will they become stones in my digestive system?? 0.0 *horrified*

Work wise, its my crazy reporting 10 days again, spiced up with BA stuff to be completed b4 13th. I think he's planning to zao already. I have training with him every week!!! *faints*

To tell the truth, I was hunted oso. But the work at the other side requires a different area of expertise so I din follow up. Maybe I'll. IF the mgmt becomes too biased (Its going in that direction it seems). I wan COMPETITION!!~~ I NO WAN WALK OVER!! heheheh

Jus like the elections. Pls come contest Jurong. We want the chance to utilise our rights! I'm eligible to vote already! Lai Lai!!!

Studies. Erm.. Accomplished my 9 days intensive foreign lectures dat I brought upon myself. 6 10-5 lectures, 4 7-10 lectures. Covered all my foreign lectures. Left a few more local lectures to go b4 the exams. FREAK!!! N it seems like everyone other than myself is worried. EVERYONE!! Everyone at work seems to be asking if I took leave for exams already. (No I din) Sees the highlighted part on my calendar. (Study? No. Go holiday) Mwahahhahaha. I seem either 1) too confident; 2) too bochup.

Up till now, I only read thru 3 lectures for Socius. Nothing else. Exam is in 1 mths time. Siao liao......

But still, I'm not motivated to read my notes.

I mus finish reading Socius by 22nd..

*Anticipating Taiwan......*