+ A Piece of Heaven +

you're my song

some dreams live on in time forever
those dreams,you want with all your heart
and i will do whatever it takes
follow through with the promise i made
put it all on the line
what i hoped for at last would be mine

if i could reach,higher
just for one moment touch the sky
from that one moment in my life
i am gonna be stronger
know that i have tried my very best
i would put my spirit to the test
if i could reach

some days are meant to be remembered
those days we rise above the stars
so i will go the distance this time
seeing more the higher i climb
that the more i believe
all the more that this dream would be mine

"reach" by gloria estefan & diane warren

hitting the highnotes

"among my most prized possessions are the words that i have never spoken." ~ orson rega card

a simple girl in a big big world

Seldom,very seldom does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised,or a little mistaken.

- Jane Austen, Emma

Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

sounding the rhythmof life

"there are moments when i wish i could roll back the clock and take all the sadness away, but i have a feeling that if i did, the joy would be gone as well." ~ nicholas sparks

Friday, June 03, 2005

To all working friends out there, it’s Friday!!!

Yup, and I’m like holing up at home today. I’m living off the computer. No vcds or dvds to watch leh. Zhiyun,I want my Dolphin Bay lah. Quick pass over.

Ya, so that explains why I’m blogging especially lots today. No no no, I’m not going to find a guy to fill my Friday slot. Would be so crazy to do that. Anyway, not that any guy would even be remotely interested right? *rolls eyes at oneself*

Wendy gal,your clubbing escapade tonight still onz or not? Don’t think I’m going k. But I’ll pick up on that invitation another time *winkz*

My throat still feels dry and hicky. I drank like a bottle of green tea just now. Eyeing the aloe vera drink next.

Shall now try to complete my travelogue here.

Day 4: Realised I’ve forgotten to introduce my Taiwanese guide! So I shall get down to it now. My guide for the 7 days is Ah Xiang, at least that’s what she made us call her. She gives you the impression of this Da Jie Da character. Should see her handle the cops when our coach driver was stopped for driving on the wrong side of the road. Anyway, it turns out that Ah Xiang’s hubby has passed away and she has to raise her 7-year-old daughter. And they are often separated due to her job nature. We only got to know of this in the later part of the trip. Really sad right. Ah Xiang started to coin the three of us as ‘stamps and envelopes’ cuz we were always glued together.

On this day,we went to Kaoshiung and visited the Fo Kuang Shan Monastery. It’s this pretty huge place, has various halls and even schools for those understudying there. To do so there,you gotta shave your head bald and all. FKS is also practically international because of its reputation. We met an Aussie monk there. He actually introduced himself to us in Chinese. One of our group members has a daughter at FKS too, so we kinda witnessed their reunion.

At night, we went to Sin Jiao Jiang Night Market. Think we got a little lost there. Had to make a crazy detour around the place. Thank goodness Meiyi has a wonderful sense of direction. We had bubble tea, Guan Cai Ban (translates to Coffin Board in English) and this fish gravy soup dish. Xiuzi found a Mos Burger beside our hotel. She was so delighted. We concluded it was comfort food for her and she must be homesick.

Day 5: Onwards to Taichung today. Ah Xiang told stories about the 921 earthquake that rocked Taiwan to pieces on our bus journey. The older folks in our group tend to nod off whenever she talks. As a result, our bus screened those Taiwanese Hokkien telemovies to entertain them. The only better show that got on the screen was HK Movie ‘Needing you’ with Sammi and Andy Lau. But I had already watched it before. Then we had Ktv on the bus. I tell you, the songs are like really really old. I’m not even sure my mum has heard of them before. And the MVs are those types with bikini clad figures prancing and posing around on the screen. Right, so all the aunties and uncles had great fun while us, the poor younger folks were either cringing or laughing half the time, politely declining the kind offers to let us sing.

We saw the famous Sun Moon Lake today. It is said to be one of CKS’ favourite summer retreat hangout spots. Half of the lake is supposed to be round and resembles the sun, while there were contours for the other half, the moon part. We climbed to the top of the observatory to view. But as the lake is like really huge, we could only use our imagination to make out the shapes.

Shopped around abit at Feng Jia Night Market. It is located in a school zone so shops there sell relatively more hip and cheaper stuff. Reminds me a little of Japan's Harajuku heh.

Dinner was at Ni Ba Wu aka Tree House, a themed restaurant that was conceptualized by a lady who likes nature. It was really beautiful and spacious inside, pretty dark with soft lighting, very nice ambience. Then the food were cooked by different methods. At the end of it, we were even served dessert and drinks. If you’ve seen my pictures, their washrooms are very unique too. The sinks in the ladies were often mistaken for the male urinals haha. Everyone started to pose with the sinks. I think the locals there must have thought we were nuts or something haha. Overall, I would say it’s like a 5 star restaurant. Now,if only we can have something like that in Singapore. Girls,shall we go get the franchise rights for it?

Day 6: Back to Taipei today. And it was raining like nobody’s business. Just crossing the road alone got us drenched. And it shucks when your jeans gets wet. Visited Song Meiling’s Secret Garden. A place where Song used to plant lots of roses because she loves them. Couldn’t take much pictures cuz we had to do the balancing act with the umbrellas and all. Plus, not the season for full bloom yet. We headed off to seek shelter at Taipei 101 and do some shopping there. Tallest building in the world! Unfortunately, couldn’t capture the full view of the building. This is how it looks like, from my set of Taipei 101 postcards hehe.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

We also went to the National Palace Museum. Famous for it’s large collection of Chinese historical artifacts. Scrolls by various Emperors, bronze ware, jade pieces, imperial seals etc. It was fascinating. I recall Prof KK saying with pride that it is a must-visit place when you’re in Taipei. So rich in culture that some people can immerse themselves in it for days and days.

Then we went to Shilin Night Market. We went to browse around the stalls selling clothes and shoes first before heading to the food section. From the outside it doesn’t look a lot like where Jacky and guys go on TV. But once you are inside, voila! It’s Shilin!! The place is crowded and it smells of smelly beancurd cuz so many stalls selling it. Sorry, didn’t snap pictures there cuz simply no hands!!! Too busy finding good food haha. We ended up buying so much back to the hotel we couldn’t finish all the food. I think Xiuzi never looked happier than the moment in which she bit into the crispy chicken. I will remember the look of bliss on her face for a long time heh. Wished I had taken a picture of her then. But I’m happy she was so happy :) And yes, the XXL crispy chicken by the Shilin shop in SG is nowhere in comparison. **drools pple**

Day 7: Visited CKS Memorial Hall today. So it was rather like ending the trip on a high note. Another famous site in Taipei to visit. The area also host the National Theatre and the Concert Hall. A lot of artistes like to hold their open air concerts on the spacious grounds. The main memorial hall itself houses the statue of CKS. We started discussing whether a similar memorial hall of sorts would be built in future for MM LKY.
Yup, with that, we happily flew back to Singapore. So now we can say we’ve been to Taiwan and back!

The end!

Haha,this is actually so fun. I can imagine myself reading this next time and reminiscing about my trip all over again ;)

indulging my senses|9:32 PM 0 comments

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