Trip to Taipei - The Final One

The last day in Taiwan. I miss the place so much. Wished we had stayed longer. Alright, if you have been keeping up with my blog, you would remember me mentioning that we went to beitou on day 4, but the beitou thermal valley was closed. So yeah we went on the last day. It was a super long travel but well i would say its kinda worth it.

Lots of mist are just rising from the water. Amazing right. You can feel the warm from the water but the weather is cooling so its like pretty balance. Imagine going when its summer. The last day was pretty much that's it. We spent a lot of time travelling to beitou and back, so yeah its kinda wasted. We had Dim Sum for lunch before we went back our apartment to pack up and prepare to leave for the airport. 

We got help from the guy who rented us the apartment. Really thankful to him. He managed to get someone with a big enough car to get us to the airport. 

Our ride back home

Really wished we stayed longer. Well, i had fun. Honestly, some things could be better or could turn out better. Still, the best trip i had so far. Thanks to the 3 girls who made this trip enjoyable. Thanks for looking after me since i am the youngest among us. I am the only guy in the group though, should be the one protecting you all hahahaha. I will never forget this trip. 

-End of Blog-

Trip to Taipei - The Adventure In Taichung

On Day 6, we decided to travel out of Taipei, hence the title of this post. We booked a car with this driver who we called "Ah Bing Ge". We found this driver through the guy we rent our apartment from. Honestly, this Ah Bing Ge is very nice to us. As we woke up very early in the morning to prepare to go Taichung, we didn't have our breakfast. So Ah Bing Ge drove us to buy breakfast at "YongHe Soy Milk King". We bought the basic soy milk with "YouTiao". YouTiao is a chinese word, so i tried using google, and it says that in english, it can be known as chinese fried churros, chinese oil stick, chinese doughnut. Ok you know what, if you still don't know what it is, go google and search yourself. Whatever it is, YouTiao and Soy Milk together is a bomb.

All the food freshly made

With our breakfast in our hands, we headed to Taichung. Yup, Taichung is the location we were heading that is out of Taipei. It was nice of Ah Bing Ge to let us consume our breakfast inside his car. Did i mention that he was driving a BMW? I could not believe it either. The ride from Taipei to Taichung is super long i swear. Slowly, all of us started to sleep...

Shhhh... she is asleep #sleepingbeauty3 (ft. smiling lady)

First stop, "Gong Yuan Yan Ke". Its a place where you can buy pastries, and the best part is those pastries are packaged in very nice boxes so you can buy for your friends or relatives as gifts. Also, this place is worth going once because the shop interior is gorgeous. I didn't take a photo of the interior though, but i would say its worth going just to see the interior of the shop. There is also an ice cream shop next to it which is very popular. Online reviews state that you may need to queue 45 minutes. For us, it was pretty fast. In short, go "Gong Yuan Yan Ke" if you ever go to Taichung.

Next stop, Sun Moon Lake. Apparently, the lake is called sun moon lake because half of the lake looks like the sun and the other half look like a moon. All of us rent a bicycle each and rode around the lake. Thankfully all of us knows how to ride a bike.

It was difficult trying to take these photos, had to ride with one hand. There are times i almost fell. Here is a video to show what i mean.

For all of you worried about what happen to me. I am totally fine, but almost fell while taking the video. We took stops in between to snap some photos of the breathtaking scenery.

We took this by ourselves, thus the photo isn't very clear

Weeeeeeee

"Let's get in formation guys"

Wanna pluck them out so badly

Finally after riding for maybe half an hour or so,  we reach the middle of the lake. There's a platform in the middle of the lake. To better explain, its a viewing platform located in between the "sun" part of the lake and the "moon" part of the lake. Right below the platform is the whole lake. The platform is suppose to be a place for people to enjoy the beautiful lake, but the four of us sat down and start eating the breakfast we didn't finish. Here's what the situation was like...

We just sat there, like a boss, ignoring all the other tourists who are there and acting like we are having a picnic. I didn't even realise we did something so funny like this, come to think of it, we probably look like a bunch of ignorant kids. It was dangerous though, as there are pretty huge gaps in between the floor. If we drop our phones or wallet through the gaps, we can already count them as offerings to the lake. There's no way getting it back. But i must say, it was a nice experience having a picnic on top of a famous lake. We could be the first people to have a picnic there. 

Don't stereotype please, the sun was in our eyes, that's why our eyes so tiny.

(Not Cause We Asian)

Give me hugs

One of the worst thing that happen to me on that day was that my pants split. It was a pretty huge split but not to the point that people will call me a flasher. It split at my butt area, horizontally, not vertically. I know what you thinking ahh...

 I got a little more self-conscious but at some point, i forget that my pants had tore. Damn, it was embarrassing. Next stop, strawberry farm. Its my first time going to a strawberry farm. Thankfully, our driver "Ah Bing Ge", manage to find this farm for us. We got to cut and pick our own strawberries. I started cutting and eating on the spot. Mmm, fresh strawberries are nice. I didn't want to buy at first but everyone else bought some of the strawberries, and in a way they convinced me to buy some too. So i ended up buying some strawberries, which i believed i didn't finish eating them. Oh well, it was a great experience harvesting strawberries. 

There's me at the strawberry farm. Don't bother trying to look for the tear in my pants from the picture, you can't find it. And this, is our adventure in Taichung. 

Next post will be on our final day in Taiwan. The most dreaded day, cause we didn't want to leave. The post will be out soon. -End of Blog-

Trip to Taipei - The Theme Park

So here we are, in Leofoo Village Theme Park. This is a place exciting for some and scary for some. Jia Hui probably looks forward to this the most. While Cindy was dreading coming here. However, this theme park is special because it is combined with a Zoo. Just a note, this theme park is not in Taipei. I have no idea which part of Taiwan this is, but I do know we took a bus there from Tapei Songshan Airport. It was a freaking long bus ride. When we arrived, there was barely anyone and for a moment, I thought the theme park was closed. But I saw people going in, so phew...

Its weirdly quiet for a theme park. But the perks? There's no queue for the rides we took, at most we queue for a minute and that's it we are on the ride. First ride we took was "Viking Ship". It was honestly the best and worst ride. Best because its was really fun. Worst is because I am not a big fan of roller coaster ride and stuff like that, so it was a scary ride. Well I am trying to overcome this and ride more roller coaster. This Viking ship though, I must say, is the scariest Viking ship I ever rode in my life, scary but fun.

This is us minutes before the ship started moving. Did you guys notice Jia hui is smiling the brightest? That's because the ride she is looking forward to the most is this. We sat on the second last row and we are actually way way way behind. From the picture you can't tell but the ship is actually really huge, so we are actually seated very very behind. When the ship started, it was fun and I am enjoying it. However, when it slowly goes higher and higher, my heart went faster and faster. IT REALLY GOES DAMN HIGH. There's one moment which I thought the ship have swung to the highest height already, but it just keep going upwards to the point that my face is parallel to the floor. No joke, the boat was 90 degrees, perpendicular to the floor and I was parallel to the floor. Like I said, the ship was huge and long, so I was held very high up. I was screaming initially but every time the boat swung to the highest point I just froze and couldn't make a sound. Also, if anyone saw my face, they would laugh cause I was making the ugliest face ever. Jia Hui however, was waving her arms in the air, enjoying every second of the ride. I can't believe it, even some strangers sitting behind us was saying that they were surprised that Jia hui was waving her arms. I can tell she really enjoyed this ride. Scary but still would say this is the best ride I took in the theme park

Then we went on to took some other rides like the spinning barrel, and even a roller coaster ride.

My head was spinning after this ride

This roller coaster is not even scary and quite boring

Before we go on to other rides, let me take a selfie.

She say our eyes are alike. Is it?

Typical #OOTD Photo

Meet your Prince

Don't run away Helbert(horse name)!!

We also came across an arcade in the theme park and we played a little bit. Here's the video of me using this hammer to see my strength. Obviously I am not very strong, I will just wait till I enter army to buff up a little. In the video it may seem easy but its actually tough ok. Also, here's a video of Cindy playing the boxing one.

After a few rides, we proceeded to the "zoo area" of the theme park. It was pretty amazing cause we managed to see some exotic animals. Maybe because its been awhile since I went to the zoo so those animals seems very exotic to me. I got some pictures, but mostly contains their butts. They just kept showing their butts to me, don't call me a pervert.

Yes, we became a part of the Meerkat family

Ok, not that I purposely took pictures of their butt but they just kept showing it, so the only photos I could take of them are these. I know this makes the photos I took of them horrible, but I did the best with what I got. We seen a lot more animals of course but I didn't take photos of them all because I'm tired of them showing me their butts. The only thing I regret about this theme park trip was that we didn't spend more time on those rides. There was barely anyone so we should actually take advantage of it and keep riding them. I got to admit, some rides were really intimidating, and the Viking is freaking scary, but that's how you get the thrill and fun. We left the theme park earlier around the afternoon and started to head to Shilin Night Market for our second round there.

Shhhh... she is asleep #sleepingbeauty2

On the bus, Caroline told me she felt dizzy or just wasn't feeling well, thus the inconsiderate behaviour. *Shake my head*. Hahaha, actually the bus was relatively empty, so that's why she just lay down there. And that's it for day 5 of our Taipei trip. Well, this day wasn't really spent in Taipei but whatever man. Look forward to my next post!! Which will be day 6, the second last day of our Taipei trip.

-End of Blog-

Trip to Taipei - The One That Is More About Food

On day 4, we went to Danshui, which is a place that was actually meant to enjoy a beautiful scenery of the sunset. But we planned to go to Beitou to visit the Beitou Thermal Valley after Danshui, so we did not manage to see the sunset. So what we did in Danshui was eating and just sight-seeing. Danshui is located right next to the sea, thus, the view was pretty incredible. The place that you should go for all the food is the Danshui's Old Street.

From what I remember, we had a tall soft serve ice cream. I don't have the photo of it but you can google for it, its really tall and the taste is not bad. One of the must-buy is the "Original Cake". Yes, there is an Original Cake shop that opens in Singapore. But obviously the one in Taiwan is better. IT IS DAMN FREAKING GOOD!! Basically, its sponge cake that is super bouncy, smells like heaven, and taste damn good. Legit, when we were walking down the Danshui's Old Street, we can smell the cake, the fragrance of the cake is overwhelming. Long queue for the cake but we queued anyway, the fragrance of the cake is hard to resist. There is the Original flavour or Cheese Flavour. Obviously we bought the cheese one. Unless you are allergic or you hate cheese, you have to get the cheese one.

So, after Danshui, we went to Beitou.

I remember clearly that a drunk and seemingly old guy was asking us if we wanted free foot bath, he said if we want it, we should follow him. We knew about the free foot bath but we weren't able to find it. Yeah, there's a free public foot bath in Beitou, you didn't read wrongly. So, upon hearing that the guy know where is the public foot bath area, we agreed to follow him. However, after following him for awhile, we felt that he may be lying because he looks drunk and probably is drunk. We didn't want to trust him and we thought that its just a risk we didn't want to take. Thus, when he got distracted, we all turned around and ran for our lives. Well, we ran like we are running away from some monster trying to eat us. When he was out of sight, we stopped running and continued walking towards Beitou Thermal Valley. Damn, we could have been kidnap man. Who knows if that guy is speaking the truth.

Unfortunately for us, the Beitou Thermal Valley was closed on the day we went. It was a bummer. We then found out that it will only be open on our last day in Taipei. Therefore we decided to come back Beitou again on our last day. However, we managed to come across trees with cherry blossom. Beautiful man, beautiful.

Day 4 is also finally the day we go to the most popular Shilin Night Market. This is a must go night market in Taipei. However, some of the food here is more expensive compared to other night market. But, you have to come to shilin night market cause of its 碳烤香鸡排. In English, it is "charcoal barbeque smell nice chicken cutlet". Hahaha. What they do is they deep fried the chicken cutlet, then they barbeque it. The chicken cutlet is damn huge too, moreover it is rather cheap. This is a must-buy, at least that will be what Cindy would said. She is in love with this chicken cutlet. But I have to say, it is really good. Also, in Shilin, there are lots of games around to play and prizes to win. You have to go at least once when you go Taiwan.

Each of us got one of these from Shilin

The above photo is the card holders that all 4 of us bought. Now, all 4 of us are using it for our ez-link cards back in SG. This marks the end of my post for Day 4. Do look forward to my next post, which me and my friends go to Leofoo Village Theme Park.
-End of Blog-

Trip to Taipei - The Ride

Alright, lets continue. So, after releasing our lantern, next destination is the shifen waterfall. However, we did not walk there, we rented electric scooters to ride there. Honestly, it was kinda scary cause its like riding a motorbike and its pretty fast. Here is a picture I got from google.

The auntie taught us how to accelerate and brake, that's it, we are on our own. We rented 2 scooters and shared. We decided to take turns taking the wheel. First up to take the wheel was Cindy and me, I can't remember if its because the both of us were more confident of riding it. Honestly, the tough part wasn't riding the scooter, its sharing the scooter. Two people had to squeeze on that scooter, moreover we had our bags with us. To make things worst, the rain had to start pouring. In summary, I am riding the scooter for the first time, on the road, with someone sitting behind me that i am responsible for, bags being an annoyance, its raining, its freezing cold and we had to figure out the route. Despite all these, I would say its one of the most fun thing that we did. ITS HELLA FUN FOR ME. Thank god nothing horrible happen. #Blessed

After a few minutes, we reached the entrance to the waterfall. The scooter is not allowed, so we got off and walked in deeper to see the waterfall.

We are kinda drenched but certainly cold. The waterfall is sure magnificent isn't it. Maybe to you people the waterfall doesn't look that great but it is to me. Soon after taking sufficient selfies, we walk back to our scooter and prepare to ride back. This time, we swap positions, Jia Hui was in front taking the wheel while I am at the back praying. Hahaha just kidding. I believe in Jia Hui. The auntie who rented out the scooter to us was saying that from Jia Hui's face, Jia Hui looked like she will be scared and not be able to ride the scooter. But I trust Jia Hui ok, and for the first few meters, she really rode it well. I was like screaming "WOOOOOOO!!!" cause it was really fun. Jia Hui was like "STUPID AUNTIE SAY I CAN'T RIDE!!!!". Yeah she said something along that line. Well, halfway through, she lost momentum cause of the cars stopping on the road. Then after she lost that momentum, she was never really able to recover from it. Eventually, she steered into the mud.

I don't blame her cause she had to ride the scooter with me at the back, adding weight and somewhat affecting the balance of the scooter. On the other scooter, it was Caroline who was riding, with Cindy at the back. They too, had a mini accident. She hit the lamp post HAHAHAHAHA. Sorry for laughing but its funny every time I think about it. Thank god everyone is alright though. Near evening, we took the train heading towards JiuFen. 

Sleepy heads

The train does not directly goes to JiuFen though, so we took a cab. The night view of JiuFen is really beautiful. I have seen pictures of the day time JiuFen, and the night view is certainly better. Basically the place we visited is called JiuFen Old Street. Its a place to buy souvenirs and a place to fill your tummy. One of the must eat in JiuFen is the Taro Rice Ball. You can choose either the hot or cold taro ball. As we were freezing, we got the hot one and it sure warm us up. I am usually not a taro fan but I was freezing so I just ate it. Turns out, its actually nice, might start to eat taro-related food now.

That's about it for day 3 of our Taiwan trip. I can't believe I am still at day 3. Four more days to blog about. Next post will be on day 4 of our trip, which we went to Danshui. -End of Blog-