2006年06月30日Friday

It is actually possible for me to get darker

It was 36 deg today and I even felt faint after being in the open for an hour. Not in the SUN mind you, just in the open coz the air is just heavy with heat! Managed to find the original Ding Tai Feng at Yong Kang St and got our claws on yummy xiao long bao!! But somehow P and myself felt that Ding Tai Feng in BJ serves better red bean dumplings and ginger :) And dou miao here cost a hefty S$12 a plate!!! and it wasn't a BIG plate of a mountain of greens. Just normal portions. Irregardless, there was a darn long queue when we left. Stumbled upon P's historical fix of the day - Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall. Again lots of old photos and they even preserved the cars he used :) Then we braved the heat to get our butts to Dan Shui Ferry Terminal, which is similar to Spore's Pasir Ris but with a great sea view :) Even the sea winds did not cool us and we literally ran into the first air-con cafe (Sunrise Cafe) we came across where we enjoyed sinful and very slurpy sorbet drinks. Wandered around the old streets and shops and you would think pple avoid these places in summer but no!! Crowds of school kds, families thronged the place to eat, drink and play carnival games. Very festive..... must be a Friday :) Sun really did get to us and I didn't make P go to a night market with me today. Tomorrow, a friend will bring us to Yangming Mountain so better rest early yar? Dark and sleepy signing off....
Posted by Sakuragi at 23:36:06 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Crappy crappy

Je suis mal heurex :( It was a crappy end to an otherwise great day in Taipei. I lost my BJ SIM card!! I only realised it just now and I searched the WHOLE room - hence, I will have to change my BJ hp tel when I get bk. Darn!! So angry at myself for being so careless!! Today started out so great with fantastic cake and tea at Yannick, a french pastry store near our hotel. Truly YUMMY!!! Then we braved the HOT HOT sun to go to Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall (see pics) where P happily spent hours reading all the chinese history while I looked at photographs. Not that I cant read the same chinese thing but they use a lot of traditional chinese characters here. Why not the simplified ones?! Grrr..... P went to visit his colleagues while I ventured again to Wu Fen Pu Fashion place where I wandered for hours surrounded by lace, long skirts and cute bags. I even managed to rummage through some cheap racks and bought stuff I like :) For dinner, we tried our luck at Roger's near Liu Zhang Li MRT stop. P has kindly volunteered to company me to another night market while I promised to only stay for 1 hr. But we were both tired out from trying to FIND the place (got lost in a roundabout road) and so chanced upon a cool restaurant Roger's where it serves really good chicken in Thai sauce, terrific ribs in pepper sauce and sppon-licking soup :) Gaining strength from the cool air con and lips smacking food, we finally found Tonghua Night Market which I do agree that it is similar to Shilin Mkt. Strolled and ate bits of stuff - DESSERTS!!! I had jelly and lime!! I miss that!!! The air was filled with stinky tou foo and we also spied grilled sausages being cut open and stuffed with veggies/pepper. They really like pepper here :) Managed to crawl bk to hotel where P couldnt resist but sneak another chicken chop back to the room. Ah well..... now no mood since I lost the stupid SIM card.... will brood till tomorrow - maybe it will turn up somewhere......

Posted by Sakuragi at 01:09:21 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

2006年06月29日Thursday

Starting out....

It is another new day... new HOT day with sunny HOT!! Saw a couple of umbrellas opened out there. In BJ, not many pple open the umbrellas unless it is raining and even then, I think they 'celebrate' the rain of sorts and go abt without shelter. Here, when the sun is hot (and it is), they use their brollies..... P is now happily watching all the taiwanese variety shows where celebrities compete in stuff. Some of them are pretty funny but all in all, quite brainless lah. And I realise they love dogs a lot here. It is the same with BJ where they also bring their dogs out to walk but dogs here seem to be more well groomed and they are SO cute with ribbons and pins in their hair. Interesting..... ok, start of a new walkabout. Perhaps I will explore some places without P today since he has to meet some frens..... update you guys later!!

 

Posted by Sakuragi at 10:52:24 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

2006年06月28日Wednesday

Men are fm Mars and I am on Pluto

Guys are REALLY not into shopping. No matter what they say abt it being "ok" to follow you around. They really cannot take it if you drag them for consecutive 3 days. P has been real sweet but even he got really bored with all the markets and shops we were popping in and out of the whole day. Taipei is really fashion center for GIRLS - out of 10 shops, maybe you get 1 for guys and that might be the handphone shop. Here things are frilly, elegant and quite classy - very different from what you see in BJ usually. Again, why am I here instead of my sister? But THAT does not stop me from wanting to see what's around and just wander around to see how pple dress, accessorize and carry bags. I think I am abt 15 years late in starting this :) Today we went to Ximen St where it is Hereen capital for youngsters. Also ate yummy sweet curry for lunch - Taiwanese likes curry ne!! I see lots of restaurants offering curry. After P almost got dragged into every shop (in the morn, I made him walk this underground mall b4 we entered the MRT :)), we left to visit Taipei 101 - one of the tallest bldgs in the world! The view is great!! but a tad cloudy and it is NOT that breathtaking - perhaps I have been to too many observatories where I see built up cities. Like R told me - it is OK..... then again I planned to drag P to another night market at Hou Shan Pi (my grand plan is to visit a new nightmarket each night here) but we stumbled on this Wu Fen Fashion Market area which was really really big with small small alleys and stalls of fashion (supposedly wholesale). Unfortunately, it started drizzling and yet I was STILL determined to explore all the alleys there even tho P protested that all of them look the same. And so, I decided he had enuff and we went back to our hotel for dinner nearby (shabu shabu at this Jap place 'Mo Mo Paradise' recommeded by R). P came home with sore feet *hee hee* I feel a BIT guilty lah but our concepts of a holiday are different - I NEED to be out there seeing and walking and prob munching on some titbit. Even if my back and feet hurt like crazy also I will continue till the MRT line stops. P just doesnt think we need to holiday at a breakneck pace.... :) poor poor man..... ah well, there is always tomorrow.....
Posted by Sakuragi at 22:24:30 | Permanent Link | Comments (2) |

All mixed up

I am convinced that Taiwanese are closet Japanese... I know I know, historical baggage but hey, they really like the food, clothes, stationery... heck, the hotel staff even bowed to us! They are rather in between HK and Japan which is great for me since I love the $2 shops here and cutesy stuff. I am sure my sister will go crazy here with all the accessories every 5 mins of walking and there are so many of them that my eyes are glazed over. Everything is just cute - cute bags, cute notebooks, cute shoes, stuff to hang in your house, your neck, your hair.... anyway, Shilin is great for night wanderings and we wandered till 12am winding in and out of tiny but tastefully decorated shops. But not cheap. Cheap if you come from Spore and Great Sale hasnt started yet or you don't shop in AMK, but when you come from BJ.... it is tough to spend that kind of money. BUT I must say that quality counts here. Stuff here are just SO nice to have and show off coz they catch your attention. Even the same stuff you find in BJ - here, they shine more (prob the stall owners polish their wares more often :)) and are definitely less dusty :) There is also SO MANY things to eat that I cannot describe everything - beef, liver, taiwan sausages (of course), oyster (we had oyster/shrimp omelette) and pork ribs and desserts (yummy!!), etc etc etc. Will check out new night mkt each day. This is cool man!!!

Posted by Sakuragi at 02:50:06 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

2006年06月27日Tuesday

Down with Bian!@!#$%

Personally I have nothing aganist the guy but hey I was at my first ever rally in Taipei!! See pics in Stuff :) It was darn hot and the police had secured much of the perimeter, but we got to the yelling by following the sound of the horns! The elderly seemed VERY enthusiastic and I even spied a few in wheelchairs :) Mainly they just insulted and scolded Ah Bian. In the end, the impeachment motion did not go through.... so we will see what happens these days. Proceeded to a great lunch at Dante's Coffee where I had FANTASTIC Thai red curry rice - but it may be because I was hungry and waiting for P to finish catharsizing his rally fantasies. Stumbled on this day market "Sunny Market" with small stalls/shops selling clothes and even veggies! PLENTY of snack and drink shops which you can never find in BJ of course. We proceeded to Taiwan's National Palace Musem - pretty nice place with wonderful aircon (the heat is unbearable! I was near fainting!!) They didnt allow pics but sneaked a few :) And obviously P loved spending loads on all the coffee table books (and we don't HAVE any such tables yet, mind you).... a fren is bringing us to the night market now so I will update again if not too bloated and sleepy!!

Posted by Sakuragi at 20:04:51 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

2006年06月26日Monday

Sniffing into Taipei

Was nervous when I passed by the temperature chk at customs in Taipei. Had some flu and although you cant tell from my tan that I am unwell (no doc ever thinks I am sick anyway) but was running a fever in the morn. Totally suffered during the flight - they are right when they say you shouldn't fly when you have flu - and Cathay Pacific has the COLDEST air conditioning!!! And then it drizzled a little when we finally reached the airport. Now currently at Shen Wang or as the English name printed in the brochure "San Want Hotel" and my window faces a sad concrete grey facade BUT we are located at a popular street littered with restuarants and shops.I even saw Sogo shopping mall - havent seen it since it closed down in Spore. Very first impression is that drivers here actually keep to their lanes when they drive on expressways :) Another is how clear the skyline looks with 'clean' and rather green air. Yes, the roads are lined with green trees!! And no clouds of dust when vehicles pass by :) Another unique feature is all taxis here are in bright NY yellow even if they belong to different companies. Also, very few bicycles :) SCOOTERMANIA!!! Many many scooters here..... okie going for dinner soon.... will be prowling the streets of Taipei with my red nose!!! See photo album Stuff for latest photos!!
Posted by Sakuragi at 18:14:40 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

2006年06月21日Wednesday

My cheese and thank yous

Shopping here in BJ is actually quite interesting in terms of human behaviour. Textiles are generally cheap if you know where to go. Ok, so cheap generally also means mass produced even if the design is from Korean or Jap (whichever is more popular at that time) becoz everyone copies something off the magazines. And to make it "unique", they prob stick a plastic flower or ribbon somewhere that makes you roll your eyes. At many local shops, you can't try out what you buy, so many pay and then bring to the toliet to try their purchases on. If it doesn't fit, you bring it bk to change. And at those very toilets, you see girls changing even outside the stalls. In fact, some of them change in the stalls, come out to check the mirror and then others will go into the same stalls and pee with the stall door still open. I am not very sure whether it reflects "open society" or just a simple lack of modesty? Not in a negative way but just interesting to note. Yesterday I was treated like a "clothes hanger" while waiting for my turn to USE the stall. She just asked me to hold her bags and even clothes while I stood outside a stall. Then while I WAITED for her to finish dressing, a few others CUT me to the stall I was waiting outside of. Got me so frustrated that I handed all the stuff back to the half dressed girl and walked out. I mean I need the toilet and here I was surrounded by aunties and girls all half dressed!!! There is just something here that makes you wonder whether it is the selfishness in me that refused to help the girl or I am just being bullied to be door hanger..... grrr.... I think this whole place is making me bad tempered.....
Posted by Sakuragi at 14:59:47 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

2006年06月20日Tuesday

I hate leeches

Currently CSI NY is showing this leech episode on AXN and really, I hate leeches. Now Xiao Qiang is already disgusting but leeches.....eeeks. How can ANYONE want to act with them on their bodies? No way!!! It's like Fear Factor and once they just put a leech next to me, I will freak out. I never knew I was afraid of them till I was 25 though. Always thought they were ok, just slimy slugs and I was even prepared to face them should I ever make that trip to Taman Negara. Wanted to go there to rough it up b4 I got lazy :) Then I went to Kenong Rimba and developed hysteria just by looking at those creepy sick wriggling hair standing worms. Now it might be an experience I will NEVER forget - which is kind of what I wanted to mark a birthday but I was not prepared to face a forrest filled with them. And the rain just makes it worse. It rained all 4 days I was in the jungle surrounded by bugs with no hot water, no proper food (guide cooked for us) and no electricity. I may sound like some pampered siow jie but NOTHING can be compared to the wriggling liver lookalike. Anyway, I think it's a job hazard coz I am collecting all series of CSI but only the one on Las Vegas. NY and Maimi just doesn't have Grissom.... he is just way too cool......but he likes bugs.....eeeks....
Posted by Sakuragi at 22:22:54 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

2006年06月15日Thursday

Train Man

This is actually the 2nd time I am writing this coz a web hiccup did not load this post up and ARGGGGHH!! So I was musing about this popular Jap drama "Train Man". Finally managed to get my hands on the series and I cant say it was based on a "real true love story".... I mean, the guy is REALLY nerdy. And usually I am kind to many pple and I don't call someone nerdy and most guys with specs are not too bad looking..... but really this one is the ULTIMATE geek. He would win in the reality show "Beauty and the Geek" (currently on Star World) He actually makes me cringe. Yeah, even after the supposed good haircut and contact lenses. If he stands among 5 others and I pick a geek, he is the one I will choose blind folded. And the gal is dreamy... yeah, she is McDreamy, very classic, very luminous in her gentle chiselled features. She IS Ms Hermes - she exludes CLASS ne!! And I just CANNOT GET IT that they will end up together. Kind of a modern "101 Proposals" without the great song. But the fun part is the ex-bf and the internet gang of frens who are VERY real :) Strikes a cord with anyone who uses a blog which means A LOT of pple out there. The psyche of those who fail to connect in the real world but yet manage to find warmth through the computer screen is a just trifle ironic coupled with a pinch of sadness. The show DID not catch my fancy till the ex-bf started his antics and that was way late into episode 6 or 7 I think. But I was touched when the nerdy guy managed to talk to the stalker - I teared man..... However, the movie CANNOT be compared to the series. The male lead DOES not make me cringe enough - he is not pathetic, ugly, zero confidence enough to inspire that strange sense of despair and hilarity. I just found him fake whinny. I mean the guy in the series WAS whinny but he was the little man fighting his destiny of low self esteem, the true Train Man with the iconic _|-o or something like that.....

Posted by Sakuragi at 23:19:19 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |
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