Jiaxin 21st!

Friday night went over to Aloha Loyang to celebrate Jiaxyn's 21st! Haha.

Our Family!

I think this polaroid thingy is damn cool lah! Haha. The photo it take's really cool! =D

Oh and did you notice tweetie's in almost every photo. Haha. Crystal painstakingly brought it from Holland V to Pasir Ris.. on the MRT! Haha. Kudos to her. Haha. And now it/he/she's Adam's new love. Haha. =X

2010's the year of all the 21st birthdays for my batch of peeps. Hahaha. Fun!

When there's more birthday parties and stuff, it simply means more food and eating. Haha. So yes more running needed to burn off the excess (a lot of it) calories. Haha. Yes I just went for running. Haha. It seems to be getting more and more sian. Haha. I need a new running route.  Anyone who knows of any nice running route please tell me. I will be more than happy to give it a try. Haha. And cycling anyone? Haha. I need exercise. Haha.

No school for me today, so it's all about resting at home. I'm getting used to having something to do everyday, so one day without work is really unberable for me. Haha. So that made me contemplate about changing a new blogskin. But to my dismay there ain't any nice blogskins that I come across, so yupz, I will stick with my present one. Haha. Did just a little tidying up of the links. Oh and I removed the chatbox. Quite redundant. MSN and Facebook will do. Haha.

Anyway went for driving again today. The traffic around bedok reservoir area is really congested during around 5pm. Had a hard time during driving. Haha. But I guess that's what I have to face everyday in the future if I drive to school. Haha. So must practice more in this kind of situation. Haha.

Vincent has finally set up his blog! Haha. After a million years of all say and no talk. Haha. So noisy lah. Got a real shock when I entered the page coz the music blasted at maximum volume once you enter. LOL.

I have been thinking of taking up another language for eons and I still haven't decided. Haha. I was thinking of German or French. I totally left Japanese out coz it's so common. And not many parts of the world use Japanese as their first language. So no point. Haha. Same for Korean. And I think German and French would be much easier to pick up since it uses the alphabets, unlike Korean and Japanese. Learning Chinese alone took me many many years, so I really can't imagine taking up another of those languages that use another form of symbols. Haha.  As for which one of them, I will start to find some books on them and I will try to decide as soon as possible. Haha. I want to go for exchange in some non-English speaking countries during university so I really gotta start learning something soon. Haha.

Oh and today's the release of the posting results to JC. Haha. My students are coming! Haha. LOL. Now gotta start preparing some lesson plans soon. Haha. Math math math math...

2nd day at the job already. Haha. Doing relief for JC1 H2 Maths. I've got 4 JC1 classes and probably a few of my mentor's (Mrs Khet) H1 and H2 classes once she goes for maternity leave in April. But my tutorial classes don't start till 17 Feb, so from now till then, it's pretty much slacking away for me. I don't need to be in school everyday too, only on days where there's lectures. Only from 17th onwards then I will have to go to school everyday, coz that's when everything starts rolling. These 2 days are pretty much about settling admin matters and induction to the school. So nothing really taxing. But I've gotten my notes and tutorials already! Time to start working on them. And why must series and sequences be the first topic? It's quite a nightmare for students. Hahaha. I used to enjoy calculus and functions/graphs much more. Haha. 

It's quite a different experience transforming from a student into a teacher in the same school. In JC, we tend not to care much about studying, as it's our own responsibility. However, when one becomes a teacher, our scope of responsibility grows way out of proportion. I have to make sure I'm 101% sure about my concepts and knowledge, coz I'm really scared that I teach the wrong stuff to the kids. Haha. It sure is scary, but I know that I can strengthen my foundation in math really well. Haha. So it's a good thing after all. =D

See some familiar faces. John doing relief for JC1 H2 Bio, David doing admin, Jonathan from my batch too doing relief for H1 GP, Clovis project officer and quite a few MOE/NIE interns, mostly doing the Arts. Haha. I really wonder how some of us dare to relief GP. It's really too overwhelming. Yupz, not for me. Haha.

Seng Giap's Wedding!

After months of preparation, yesterday was finally the day! Haha. Started the day early in the morning at 5am to prep ourselves. Then my bro drove me and my other 2 cousins over to giap's house, so fetch the bride back. My bro's 318i is the third of the wedding cars, the first being giap's S-Class and second being his C-Class. Damn posh lah. Haha. And there's no need to rent cars too. How convenient. Haha. Anyway all of us went over to the brides home in Tampines.

 

 Yupz, so we went up and had some games. Haha. The usual dose of sadis-faction needed to open the door.

I've gotta admit the groom had a harder time than us. Haha. We only helped him with all the rubbish "food" they gave us. Haha. There are only extreme flavours. Haha. Extremely torturous for the stomach and the taste buds. Haha. But it's ok lah, quite a bit milder than I expected so it's great. Haha. And finally a huge Hong Bao is needed to open the door. Haha.

The groom going in to get the bride. Haha. So sweet.

Us and the couple! Haha. After some customary practices and photo-taking, we proceeded on to Giap's home for the official customary practices that awaits. Haha. And also for buffet lunch! Hahaha. I was so hungry by then.

The four of us cam-whoring before the couple arrived back home. Thanks to my bro and his fast (but within speed limit) driving, we got back earlier, coz it's a customary practice that I need to open the car door for the couple. Haha. Hong Bao! Haha.

 

Next we proceeded with the tea ceremony and thank goodness that weren't that many people to serve the tea too. Haha. Super tiring for the couple though. Haha.

A photo with my family, giap's family, wilbur's family and finally the 2 old folks that have been extremely helpful in getting the marriage practices right - my 2 grand-aunts. Haha.

Next up is the very much younger 兄弟姐妹团! Haha. As you an see I'm pretty much the shortest (other than giap=D). LOL. So after all these customs and photo-taking, we went on to lunch. It's french food for lunch. My aunt actually went to hire a french chef to cook at their home. Damn extravagant. Haha. But I like. =D The food was alright for me, probably coz I couldn't get too used to it. Haha. I prefer my rice and noodles. Haha. Anyway, after that, we went home first to catch some rest before heading out to Ritz Carlton for the Wedding Dinner!

The entrance to the place is rather ulu, but once you get inside, it's like... wow! Haha. Really posh place to hold a wedding. I love it. Haha. Anyway giap reserved a room for us, so great, went up to the 28th floor to have a look.

Too bad for the reflection, but the view is fantastic. You can see the entire CBD area from there! Haha. Plus the esplanade, Singapore Flyer, F1 track... breath-taking view indeed. Haha.

Yupz, we proceeded with a little cam-whoring. Haha. After that we went down to prepare for registration and stuff. Haha. Really reminds me of my TMS council days. Organising prom nights and stuff were our specialty then. Haha. Yupz, 4 ministers came too. If I'm not mistaken it's Dr Amy Khor, Ms Grace Fu, Mdm Halimah Yacob and Mr Ang Mong Seng. Haha. It's a private event so yupz, there were no distractions. Haha. Anyway the whole night was busy doing stuff and organising people, hence, I've got no time for photo-taking. Haha. Anyway it was a great night - good food, great ambience, fantastic people... What more can I ask for?

Everything turned out really great for the wedding and yupz, it really made my day. Haha. But when I reached home, I was dead tired. And yes, I slept for a good 10 hours before waking up at 1pm today. Great. Hahaha.

Ok now back to reality. I'm going for the relief teachers induction programme tomorrow. Haha. Yes, I'm gonna start work! Woohoo! Haha. I need the money. Haha. Anyway gonna be really busy once everything starts, but really looking forward to it. =D

Yesterday went to buy office wear. Haha. It's really very much cheaper than I expected so that's great. Haha. My parents sponsored everything, haha, so yupz, nice. Haha. Bought everything I need to start working. Haha. And I think my parents a bit to kan cheong. Haha. They bought sooo much stuff for their holiday lah. Haha. I’m so envious though. They get to go Switzerland, France, and Italy for 12 days during Chinese New Year. Haiz. I miss it again. Damn. I miss it every year! Unfair coz they keep going for holidays during their CNY break, which I don’t have. Haiz…

Today went to collect my suit from the tailor. It’s so fitting and nice. Just on time for Giaps wedding. Haha. Saturday’s the big day. Gonna be a really busy day. Haha. I’m quite looking forward to it actually. Good food, good place, good company. Haha. Love it.

Tomorrow gonna sign up for Passion run. I decided not to go for Adidas Sundown le. Haha. I think I need to train more before going for another one. Haha. The pain from the last marathon was... excruciating? Haha. I’m going to try the shorter one first. Passion run’s only 25km (from what I heard from Sebastian.)… Haha. Should be good.

Dad's birthday today. Haha. Celebrated at home with a feast! Haha. Lucky for me I did some exercise yesterday, if not I would definitely put on quite some weight. Haha. My dad absolutely abhors eating out, so birthday celebrations is always held at home. Haha. The Black Pepper Crab from 螃蟹之家 is absolutely fantastic. Haha. On the first few mouth fulls, it seemed so pungent and spicy. But as i ate more of it, it became heavenly. Haha. Love it. Damn messy affair, but what the heck. Some effort is needed to taste good food. Haha. Anyway bought this chocolate banana cake too. Wanted to try something new and it turned out unexpectedly nice! Haha. Yumz. Finished off with some white wine. Haha. Absolutely gorgeous. =D

This week's gonna be all about eating good food. Haha. I'm sooo putting on weight. Hahaha. More running needed! =X

Oh where did I left off.. Oh yes.. Met up with the army guys for dinner on Friday. Everyone's so different le! Haha. Most of them working already. And sebastian is sooo slim now lah. Hahaha. continuous slimming. Haha. But then again, it's really unbelievable. He slimmed down a hell lot since I last saw him. Oh and I also saw chin boon. He's even more kua zhang. Haha. It's like deflating a balloon. Nononono.. it has got to be liposuction! Haha. Seeing too many successful slimming cases in a day is traumatising. Haha. LOL. Anyway ate as PS Xin Wang HK Cafe. Then sebastian quite thoughtful lah. Pretend to go to the toilet, but went to buy a cake for Wei Jie. Haha. His 21st birthday is on this thursday, but yupz, we just celebrated his birthday in advance. Haha.   

Today went to my cousin's home in the morning for some pre-wedding briefing and planning. Haha. Sounds damn serious right? Haha. It sure ain't. Haha. Just went to his house to talk cock lah. Haha. Walked over to his home (nice and convenient isn't it? Haha) And he's like totally bo chap lah. Haha. He just wants to get married and that's it. Haha. But coz his dad's quite a businessman, so yupz, got to entertain lots of guests at the HUGE wedding dinner at Ritz Carlton. Haha. But it's damn cool though. Hahaha. Anyway the 7 of us drove around to recee the route to fetch the Bride back on the actual day. Haha. So convenient coz she lives nearby too. Haha.

Anyway highlight of the day: lunch! Haha. We drove over to Changi T3 to settle lunch. Cousin's treat. Woohoo. Haha. Almost ended up at Xing Wang again! Haha. Fortunately there wasn't any seats, so we ended up at Dian Xiao'er. Ate the "healthy menu". Haha. Crap, other than a few more specs of herbs and less salt, it's nothing much healthier. Haha. But that's a good thing. Haha. Coz it's pretty nice actually. Haha. Yumz.

In the late afternoon, I got the sudden urge to go running. Haha. So off I went. Ran about 12km or so today. Haha. Damn shag! It's been sooo long since I last ran.. Probably before Taiwan. Haiz. Got to discipline myself these days to get my legs going. Haha. Run run run! Hahaha.

Tomorrow's gonna be my first driving lesson in 2 months. Hope I don't crash the car. =D

When someone who has never ever called you, calls you, you should sense something's wrong.

(Hints: MLM)

But then again, there are always days where you just don't feel like talking. Today's one such day.

Perfect!

My notes are back! Haha. Got my JC maths and physics notes back from Fahmi yesterday. Speaking of Fahmi, he's the same as those BMT days. Haha. My BMT buddy no.2. Haha. My other buddy being Kah Fai. Haha. Those were tough days eons ago. Haha. Great bunch of peeps though. Anyway Fahmi went to down PES! Like David and a few of those Zulu peeps. Haha. I guess I'm the only one left that's still PES A after 2 years of NS. Haha. Damn wasted. Haha. Ok whatever lah.

Since my notes are back I can start to revise and make some serious preparations for relief teaching. (Partly also because I'm impossibly free.. Haha..) I'm going back to TJC! ... but as a teacher, not student. Haha.. Damn..

Yesterday also helped my friend brush up on his poly work. Haha. I'm telling you he's ridiculously slack. His exams is today, and yesterday he came to find me, not knowing almost half his work. Haha. It seemed like I was panicking more than him. Haha. Looking through his notes, I suddenly feel that working at my Dad's shop isn't exactly a waste of time. Haha. My friend's studying Supply Chain Management, and I can actually see everything on the notes happening in real life. So cool lah. I'm actually quite amazed that I can explain those nonsense supply chain stuff to him, despite going through JC and not poly. Haha. *Proud of myself* Haha. Anyway hope he doesn't do that badly for his exams. Haha. Final year le. So it's make or break for him (Although fortunately/unfortunately, he prob would have to go SIM or something.. depending on how you look at it.)

Now  O levels/A levels/university application seems like eons ago that I can't really remembered what happened. Haha. I'm growing old. Can't relate to these stuff as much as before le. Haha.

Gonna meet up with MSU peeps later on. Haha. Haven't seen them for like.. 1 month.. ONLY?!?! Yes it's been on 1 month since I officially ORD-ed. Haha.

Headache

Just before I O.R.D., I was desperately looking for a job, and I didn't get any. Finally after I O.R.D., I got offered a place in TJC for relief teaching for 6 months. Now, the civil service is offering me an internship spot at the Ministry of Manpower. Both pays around the same (relief-teaching pays a little bit better ^o^), and both offers good job experience. I'm stuck. Someone please enlighten me.  
I'm enlightened. I will just do relief teaching. Forget about MOM or Spring Singapore; TJC's still better. That's final. =D

The Great ORD Life

The Great ORD Holiday! Taiwan!
Yes I finally have time to start updating on my great O.R.D. holiday. Haha. It was a tiring but really fruitful trip to Taiwan this time now, without the restrictions by the Army. Haha.

Day 1 - Taoyuan/Taipei

Took the morning flight from Singapore Changi International Airport to Taoyuan International Airport. Reached at around 3pm. Pretty short flight of about 4.5hrs, but slept almost my entire way through. Haha. Was dead tired from the last few days of activities. Haha. Anyway, upon arrival, we immediately got onto the coach and headed straight for Ximending.

Did some shopping and food hunting there. Coz it was a saturday, the place is packed with people man. Haha. To make matters worst, it was raining. Haha. But it didn't really dampen our mood. Haha. It was, in fact, a pretty nice day for some shopping. Haha. After that, we immediately went to check in to the hotel. 

 

Checked into the Yaward Resort in Taoyuan. The place was pretty secluded so yah, nothing much to do at night, other then exploring the place. Haha. The rooms were awesome. Damn nice. Haha.

The place was pretty classy, but was far too boring. Plus it was damn cold out there! Haha. Hence we had an earlier night. Haha. 

Day 2 - Taoyuan/Taipei/Hualien

In the morning headed straight to the Taoyuan High Speed Rail Station. The place is also awesome. Looks like an airport terminal, and yes, a far cry from out train station at Tanjong Pagar. Haha.

Took the bullet train straight down to Taipei. The journey only took like 20min. Awesome. Haha. Upon reaching Taipei, we went to visit this Taiwan Pastry Specialty shop. Bought quite a few boxes of Pineapple tarts and Mochi. Haha. It was damn nice lah! Far better than the Singapore pineapple tarts I must say. Haha. Money well-spent. Anyway after buying the stuff, we walked over to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. The place is really nice. Haha. The Taiwanese really go the extra mile to commemorate their first ever President, Chiang Kai-Shek. Haha.

 

 Really good place to take some really nice photos. I like! Haha.

Next up, we headed over to Fishermen's Wharf to visit the site that the Taiwanese hit series Meteor Gardens was filmed. Haha. Other than the very nice bridge, the place was pretty much boring. Haha.

After that headed to the nearby Danshui Old Street for lunch and some shopping. Haha. The food was pretty nice and I must say that it's awefully cheap! Haha. After that headed over to the Taiwan Rail Administration (TRA) Train Station to take a train down to Hualien. Heard from the tour guide that Hualien is only open to tourists from December to March every year due to it's frequent earthquakes and typhoons. Yupz, so pretty nice time to visit Taiwan.

Took a 1hr train ride to Hualien. Upon reaching, we immediately checked into the hotel. It's called Naruwan Hotel. Naruwan means hello in the Aborigine language. Pretty good service from the staff, and the room was fine. To qualms staying there at all. Haha. After that we decided to go for foot reflexology. Haha. It was Wanyee and Vincent's random thought. Haha. So off we went. 

First time doing foot reflexology in my life. Haha. It was painful but damn shuang. Felt really refreshed after it. Haha. Paid like NT$450 for it, which includes shoulder massage too. Haha. Shioks! After that, we decided to go for some K-session! Haha. Went to this Holiday KTV nearby.

The KTV's awesome! Although there were only the 4 of us, they gave us a huge room that comes with a personal toilet and free buffet! And the best thing's that Betsy's NUS student card came into use here! Haha. The gave us a student discount too. Haha. So at the end, it only costs us NT$360. Damn cheap lah. Good quality, service, food and price. What more can you ask for? Hahaha.

Day 3 - Taitung 
Took a coach ride down to Taitung early in the morning. Headed directly for the Taroko National Park. The view's breath-taking indeed!

 

The temperature was also really low. Haha. Sooo cold. Haha. Enjoyed the scenery and explored the place for a while before heading to this Lingzhi specialty shop.

 

Not into too much of these Chinese Herbs so didn't buy any. Haha. But this deer skin on the wall's so beautiful and nice to touch. Haha. =D After that headed for lunch at this Hakka restaurant.

 

The food was so-so, but the scenery behind the place was great! Haha

After lunch headed for Chulu Ranch, where we had fun with some farm animals, mainly cows and horses. Haha. I loveee the horses. They are so adorable lah! Haha. Can't bear to ride on them. Haha.

Maybe one day when I get rich, I would consider getting a horse myself. Haha. After some exploration, we headed towards the Master Bear Resort.

 

Contrary to the name of the resort, that area doesn't have any bears. The only reason why it's named this way is because from an aerial perspective, the resort looks like the paw of a bear, and hence it's name. Haha. Went to cycle around before having dinner. At night, I got to play with fireworks! Haha. Another first in my life. Haha. So much fun! Hahahaha.

I guess growing up in Singapore has deprived many of us of such childhood memories and fun. Haha. Thoroughly enjoyed myself. The resort stuff also organised some activities for us like some dances, games, lighting of large lanterns and finally a firework display. Haha. Really really enjoyable night. Hahaha.

Day 4 - Kaoshiung

Early in the morning, we headed further down south to Kaoshiung. Started off the day by visiting this Mei Nong Hakka Village.

Basically it's just a village selling and exhibiting Hakka specialties. Pretty interesting, lots of weird stuff. Haha. After that we went over to the famous Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Kaoshiung.

First had lunch within the monastery. Had vegetarian which was awesome! Haha. It's damn nice lah. Must try. Haha. Anyway this monastery is a far cry from what we see in Singapore. It's huge! And in it, there's a museum, a university, numerous pagoda's and temples, and to top it off, there's this super duper big statue of buddha.

Quite interesting place, good for people who believe in buddhism and excellent for sight-seeing. But I guess for kids, it's really not that fantastic a place to visit. Haha. So I guess I'm not a kid anymore? Haha. I found the place pretty good. Haha. After that went to this pearl specialty shop.

Bought some pearl powder for my mum. Heard it's good for this skin and for health too. Haha. Why not give it a try? Haha. Also, bought some collagen pills for my dad. He keeps saying that his knee joints are starting to give him problems, so I guess collagen will render some help to his ailing knees. Haha. Anyway, after that, went over to Kaoshiung Dream Mall to ride on the Hello Kitty Ferris Wheel! Haha.

 

Nothing really to wow about, with the Singapore flyer right at home, being many times bigger than this one. HAha. But I must say that it's the theme of Ferris Wheel that's special. Haha. Anyway I don't think I have sat on a Ferris Wheel before! LOL. Another first for me! Haha.

 

Oh and did I mention that the Ferris Wheel was on top of the shopping centre? Haha. Cool right? And it comes with a small theme park. Haha. So nice. Haha. Anyway after that headed to hotel to check-in our stuff before going to Liu He Night Market for dinner and some shopping! Haha.

 

It's one of the most neatly organised night market in Taiwan! Haha. Had no problems navigating our through. Haha. The food was also the best here! Haha. I love it. Anyway after some food and shopping there, with our aching legs, we went to have foot reflexology again. Haha. So comfortable. Haha. After that, we proceeded for more shopping and food at another night market.

Nanhua Night market was just a few streets away so we went over to visit it. But on the way, we passed this MRT station that look so cool. So we decided to go down and explore it. Haha. And we were pleasantly surprised..

It's damn nice inside right! Haha. So much effort went into designing this MRT station. Haha. Anyway back to the Nanhua Night Market. It's much less crowded than Liu He, but the stuff there is pretty much cheaper and there's more to shop too. Haha. Food wise, it's no match for Liu He though. Haha.  Saw some filming at the night market too. Haha. Cool! Anyway we shopped till we were totally exhausted. Haha. We decided to cab back to the hotel. The cab fare is so cheap lah. Haha. So nice.

Day 5 - Taichung
Started off the day with a long coach ride and visited the honey specialty shop first. Haha. It's set up by the Aborigine of Taiwan. Really warm reception and fun too. Haha.

The person in the centre is one of the Aborigine people's leaders. Haha. She's damn entertaining. Haha. Next we proceeded to the Wen Wu Temple in Sun Moon Lake. Haha.

 

The temple's beautiful! Haha. Too bad for the thick mist, if not the scenery of the Sun Moon Lake would be even better. Hahaha. Think I will go to this place again some day to take that new cable car. Haha. Damn cool. Anyway at the temple, we learnt quite a lot about religious practices and stuff. Quite interesting. I think the tour guide's super knowledgeable. Cool. After that had lunch at this green tea restaurant, we left for Taichung city. We headed straight for Fengjia Night Market. It's one of the 3 most popular night markets, the other 2 being Shilin in Taipei and Liu He in Kaoshiung.

Had the famous 大肠包小肠. It was alright, but I felt that it was a bit over-rated. Haha. The place is pretty big I must say. Ate quite a lot of street food and shopped quite a bit for me and my family. Pretty nice place to shop and it's cheap. Haha. Perfect. Haha. After that we headed back to the hotel to deposit our treasures and freshen up before heading to another nearby night market - Zhong Hua Night Market.

More shopping and eating. Haha. I think Zhong Hua Night Market sells mostly food while Feng Jia is more for shopping. Haha. But together, it's great. Haha. After that walked back to the hotel, since it's nearby.

Day 6 - Taipei

Started off by going to this tomato farm near Miaoli. The tomatoes and strawberries were great. Haha. Had some good morning snack. LOL. After that we proceeded to Xiao Ren Guo. It's a theme park with a lot of models of famous places of the world. Also, it has Doraemon themed attractions too. Haha.

 

It was drizzling so the place was not crowded at all. Haha. So it was nice and we could visit places easily. Haha. Anyway after that we proceeded to Yehliu Geological Park.

It was soooo cold! Haha. Really strong wind and low temperature. Haha. Nothing much to see during the winter season. Should have gone there during summer. It should be really nice then. Haha. We ended up at 7-eleven coz it was much warmer there. Haha. Had our late lunch there too. Nice. After that we proceeded to Taipei 101.

Other than being the tallest building in the world, and the nice bakery at the basement, there's nothing nice about the place. It's like Ion Orchard minus the basements, which means it's all the super expensive brand name shops. So for students like us, it's totally boring. Haha. After that, we headed back to the hotel to deposit of stuff and freshen up.

The hotel is really grand and nice. Haha. Didn't expect such nice hotel. It's supposedly 5-star, other than the fact that it's been there for quite a while le. Haha. After that, we took the MRT down to Jiantan Train Station - Shilin Night Market.

Anyway the MRT was really advanced! Haha. In my opinion, it's better than Singapore's. Haha. Anyway, we were at Shilin, so of course, the main attraction was FOOD. Haha.

This is the famous 鸡排. It's SUPER BIG. Haha. So big that me, Wanyee and Betsy have to share one piece. Huge. Haha. After that proceeded on with more food - Oyster Omelette, 官财板, etc. Really good food. Next up, we went to walk around and explore the shopping streets at Shilin. Bought quite some stuff. And the place was really crowded, even on a weekday and when it's raining. So nice though. Haha. Our spirits are not dampened by the rain. Haha.

See, I'm like the 2 Tai-Tai's bellboy lah. Hahaha. Anyway after that we decided to head back to the hotel to deposit our stuff before we headed over to Taipei Main Train Station where there's this underground shopping street.

It's really quite big. managed to buy some stuff from there too. Oh and we saw this Bee Cheng Hiang. Haha. Good to be able to see Singaporean companies set up their businesses overseas. Haha. After the long shopping trips, we decided that it's time that we sit down at some nice cafe to have some nice dessert and stuff. Yupz, so we went back to the hotel area and settled down at this Italian Gelato Cafe.

Betsy bought this book about reading hand prints or something like that. So we decided to read it up and see how it works. Haha. Really cool. Spent quite some time there having good Italian Gelato and reading palms. Haha. LOL. Really a day well-spent. Haha.

Day 7 - Taipei/Taoyuan

For once, I get to wake up abit later during the trip. HAhaha. We headed off to Matyr's Shrine in Taipei City for some sight-seeing and also to watch the drills there.

 

It was raining slightly, but everything went on as per normal. Haha. I think that it's really tough to serve the nation in Taiwan. Haha. They have to stand at the same spot for 2 hours everyday, and they can't even move one bit! Also, they can't tell their parents that they are stationed at the Shrine lest they come and visit. Really gald that we could book out every weekend in NS. Haha. Anyway after that we proceeded to this Fengshui Shop in Taipei. Ok I think that place is totally a scam. Pardon me but it's really unbelievable and expensive. Haha. So don't bother visiting there. After that, we headed down to this really posh restaurant for lunch.

The meal was alright, but the place was awesome. Hahaha. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Haha. After that signals the end of our trip le. We proceeded to the Taoyuan International Airport.

I really miss the place as well as the tour group people. Haha. Probably coz we were the youngest group there so they all took the best care of us. And our tour guide BETTY! Haha. She's one of the best tour guides I have ever met. Really strict but fun and knowledgeable at the same time. Really interesting person. Haha. Lucky I have her contact. I would probably call her the next time I visit the place. Haha. And also, there are places that I haven't visited yet, such as Yangmingshan, Chiufen, etc. Hence, probably if I have the chance, I will go back to Taipei to do a free-and-easy trip. Haha. Although it was a tiring trip, I felt that I learnt quite a lot on the trip, in terms of culture, etc. And also I really enjoyed the company of my friends during the trip, namely Vincent, Wanyee and Betsy. Haha. They were really great people and I really had lots of fun on the trip. Looking forward to more trips in the future!

TJC Open House 2010!

Hours after landing back in Singapore, I am back at TJC! Haha. Went back with the primary purpose of visiting the teachers who I am in-debt for life. The great tutors of TJC. Haha. Saw Mrs Aileen Lim, Mrs Jagit Than, Mr Desai, Mrs Lim Kia Huan and Ms Tan Chork Meng. Haha. Too bad Mrs Ng Chee Yen was already posted to MJC. The rest were pretty much still the same. Haha.

 

Mrs Than's as funny as ever. Hahahaha.Spent quite some time chit-chatting in her office.

Haha. Here's a tip, to get into her office, first buy her a cup of coffee! Wahahaha. Oh and we attended Mrs Than's sample Econs lecture too!

After that, went to have lunch opposite TJC at the hawker centre. Eating there brings back really good memories. Haha.

Meiying's 21st!
In the evening, went to celebrate Meiying's 21st Birthday at Liquid Kitchen near Chomp Chomp.

The food and place was alright, but the service was terrible and slow. I'm never going there again. Haha. Anyway, on such occasions, the people is more important than the place. Haha. Had really great fun with the TMS guys yesterday. Haha. Looking forwards to more 21st birthday celebrations this year! Hahaha. O this note, I wish Mei Ying all the best in whatever you do in the future. Stay cheerful, healthy and fun like you always are and all the best! Jia You!