DAY 3

we got up early in the morning for our breakfast at the hotel lobby, and grab our stuffs, ready to explore the streets on our own.

photos of streets around Taipei:








and as you can see, we did alot of jumpshots here and there! we looked quite the same actually. but bcos jk's DSLR is really good with jumpshots, we can't help it but wanted to do more! hahaha. i actually got some muscle aches after all those jumpshots man!


after walking around the streets around our hotel, we headed back to meet up with the rest of the people to go on to this 土产店that sells all the local delicacies. pineapple tart, milk biscuits, dried pork, everything and anything! that are really tasty and good.




back onto the coach, we're heading to the zoo! okay. as you can see, me and jie were doing something funny actions/stuffs on the coach- we were asked to sing! apparently because we were like the only ones that could sing hokkien songs and were really quite on the ball throughout the whole journey. really paiseh lah! sing over the mic somemore. damn scared the bus uncle chua-sai; accident! choi~~


so here we are at the zoo!



jk, like some phidophile(Sp?), went about taking random shots of little kids around. can't deny, there cute!



and went to see the pandas! tuan tuan and yuan yuan~ ironically as it may seem for their names, they were actually separated and placed at 2 different parts of the zoo. so they never got to tuan yuan? hmmmmmm...



can only say that they are really cute! so big and fluffy, guess it will be nice to hug it? Awwwwww. anyway, so we roamed around, looked at various other animals. and afterwhich went over to the sovenier shops to get some keychains for friends. that's one thing about going overseas. need to get soveniers for friends? i mean i find it a chore lah. like need to think through who to get and who can forgo. so next time, just keep really quiet and off you go for a secret getaway ok!

after zoo, we went over to this beancurd street. this is a very 古色古香street. credits to the buildings and infrastructures.


and apparently, there were alot of 小吃around too! as its name suggests, it's famous for its beancurds. so we tried the smelly tofus and beancurd/soya icecreams and bought almond jellys. nice!

and the next stop was non other than the famous taipei 101! apparently its a must-go place for tourists? so as to look at the beautiful landscape of taipei itself. and personally i was quite excited over it! so we took quite a number of nice pictures there!



we took the lift that was said to be one of the fastest around the world and yes, before we realise, we're already at the top of the world! they even constructe the lift such that when the door closes, it becomes dark and we were treated to a view of the galaxy around the roof!




what an artistic jumpshot!




these were actually pictures taken when we got onto the highest level at Taipei 101. it was freaking cold and windy outside but i seriously liked that. so much so that im without my sweater yet i just don't wanna go in back to the enclosed area. apparently jk caught me emo-ing. hahaha!







it was really a breathtaking view from the top of Taipei 101. everything under your feet.


and these were taken outside Taipei101.






me n zhiler, having fun while waiting for the rest to gather.



and after Taipei 101, we were sent to another shopping district, Xi Men Ding! heh heh. we did a great deal of shopping over there in short span of 2 hours i think. obviously not enough but better than never! me n jie also went to have our 啊忠(?)面线 which was really good!


DAY 4:

after going through upill and downhill, high n low, we finally reach our next destination. we were treated to a session of 温泉!


it aren't the public ones that we always sees. instead, there are cubicles for us to go in pairs. it feels really comfortable to dip into the waters cos they are really warm. good for such cooling weather!

but as you can see, me n jie weren't really dipping ourselves into the pools. hahaha. we were having our periods. so yeah. we jus put our legs into it and enjoy the warm water, let it massage out feets, meanwhile camwhore!





afterwhich, we head off to another organic farm. we were introduced to alot of different plants that we didn't know they are useful to us, but in fact they are, in one way or the other. it was actually quite a small scale farm but i think its bigger than what we have over in spore? and the owner is really a great chap. i mean he is quite young, 30 over i think, and he actually gave up his work over at the city and took over this farm business from his dad. can really see/feel his passion for this farm which is really heartwarming for us!




as you can see, jk took alot of artistic photos there that are really good!
much as we liked that place, we gotta move on. before we leave, the owner treated us each to a bowl of greenbean soup!


on our way to the next stop, we passed by a whole stretch of sea. a really really huge stretch! and the view was really great! never seen such a big,beautiful and clean sea before. how i wished i could take a walk over there!







hard to capture that in the pictures lah. but i really really liked this place. there were even small shops/ cafes by the sea! imagine how nice it will be to be able to sit at one of those cafes, read a book, feel the sea breeze and listen to the sound of waves. reminds me of hai jiao qi hao! awwwwwww.... i wanna live there!


after a while of travelling, we finally reached our next destination- 野柳.apparently this was also a must-visit place for tourists because of its beautiful rocks structures and seaview.










this is the epic one.






and yes, i liked that place too. for its breathtaking view! and can't help but feel impressed with jk again! he is really a great photographer!


and the next stop was a 染布场 that is situated right smack in the middle of a steep hill. it was with much effort and danger before we really got there! cos the road was really narrow, and the hill was so steep, and our coach was big, and apparently we had trouble finding the way.... could hear the teachers talking about aborting this destination as it was really far too dangerous. and this time round, i can't agree to the teachers more cos i was looking outside, and seeing how the driver swerved and turned. scary! most of us were in deep sleep but as it gets more and more steep, they woke up and all of us basically sat still and quiet, hoping that nothing bad will happen. luckily luckily, everything went well and we were at the place safe and sound! and im really really gad that we didnt abort this place cos this was really one of the best experience i had for the trip! we were taught to design our own cloths with the natural dye provided. and we had so much fun! it was really an one in a lifetime experience man!

by the time we were all scheduled to leave, it was already 6pm in the evening. almost pitch dark! cos like wad i say, the night falls quite early over there. and consider the extent of danger the bus uncle have to take to come down for us, we decided to make our way up to a place that is less steep to meet the bus uncle. it was a cold and windy night, especially up at the hills. we were really really right smack at the middle of a hill for your information! and so we walked up, held hands and talked to keep our mind at ease. what a bonding session! i could only remember how freezing cold it was, and how much we were panting due to the steepness of the slope. and it was really pitch dark, only with the occasional light shone by the villagers on their motorbike to guide our way... finally, we all made it to the bus and the whole bus was panting like siao! i thought someone gonna hyperventilate! hahaha. so yeah, we were all safe and sound, and it was indeed an unfortable experience ever!


and the last stop of the day was to 九份. regretably, we were stuck at the previous stop for too long and by the time we got there, it was already 8pm plus. shops there close super early during winter so we didnt manage to get anything other than picturing how beautiful the place was at night. and of course, it's another freezing place cos its also located on some hills.


then we went to this sort of 'musuem' that produces gold/metals etc.

the owner was demonstrating how gold can be obtained.


jiu fen was a place filled with culture and the past of Taiwan, i guess. so now its actually sort of a tourist attraction+musuem? i would really love to visit it during daylight and enjoy the scenery and feel the culture, and of course, patronise the many shops there!


DAY 5

we went over to the orchid farm early in the morning!


okay we took alot of photos there too. cos we reckon that it was almost our last day in Taipei and we wun have much chance to already.












as you can see, we were introduced to many many kinds of flowers and different kinds of orchids. irony to me cos i didn't even get to see them in spore! when it is actually our national flower?





next stop,




funshots at their magnificient toilet!





this was actually their roof! transparent glass panes with chinese characters!


the outer view.



basically in here, we looked at the old monuments from past eras. we werent allowed to take any pictures of them so we end of with alot of pictures of ourselves!

next was to 中正纪念堂. this was a place that commemorates the past generals and preserved records of the past history.




pictures inside







pictures outside













as you can see, we took hell lots of pictures there too! cos it was just too beutiful to resist. heh.
anw, something went wrong with jk and he was emo shit the whole day! don't know what happened though we tried to poke around and in the end, we had to jus leave him alone.


afterwhich, we went to this miramar shopping centre! i don't know if you recognise this ferry wheel or not but they said it was the one in the taiwan drama 恶魔在身边(?). haha. yeah.

it was at this place where something really bad happened. we were told to meet at a particular time to board the bus to another place but apparently, the 6 of us got the timing wrong. infact, the 4 of us, minus dawn n zhiler cos we went separate ways. so me,jie,zihao n jk went to the bookstore to get some books. when the time was almost up for us to meet up, me n jie went to the washroom, leaving jk n zihao at the bookstore to pay for the books. nothing seemed amiss to me n jie until we got onto the bus and realised that all the people on board were waiting for the 4 of us. it was then that we realised we got the time all wrong. and then we realised jk n zihao wasnt on the bus yet. so there was some panic that they might have lost their way or something. so the teacher sent dawn n zhiler to find them. after a while, jk came back and we thought everything's fine then. but in fact, jk came back alone! then we were all like shocked while waiting for god knows what to happen next. and after sometime, dawn,zhiler n zihao came back. to our horror, zihao was all drenched to the skin and he was basically shivering! we all got a bad shock and then got to know that zihao actually got panic when he exit at the wrong door and didnt see anyone he knows. while he was frantically running about and met dawn n zhiler, he accidentally dropped into a waterfountain! it was a real bad scare to us all. and the 3 of us felt damn guilty for causing that. and zihao was sent back to the hotel to have a rest while the rest of us proceeded to have our dinner. apparently, the atmosphere was tense at the dining table cos all 5 of us felt guilty for wad had happened. in the end, we were reassured that zihao is fine
and it was then that we heaved a sigh of relief...

after dinner, we headed to the taipei bus interchange.
the interchange is really huge! with lots and lots of other facilities other than jus transport!



after everything, back at the hotel, we went over to jk n zihao's room to visit zihao. glad that he was fine and well again and we all decided not to talk about that incident again. so yeah. it was a small hiccup but it didn't spoil our otherwise great trip!


DAY 6

we reckon that we need to leave our footprints in this place where we called home for 5 nights, so we took alot of pictures at the hotel lobby!



as it was a free and easy morning for all before we head to the airport, we decided to walk to the taipei interchange since its really near.





again, took alot of pictures here and here- for memory keepsakes!


and finally, our last destination for the trip, the airport.
basically we weren't willing to leave cos we simply loved Taipei too much! and we loved our 导游to bits too!






and of course, before we leave, we took pictures again. hahaha. jus this trip alone i can't imagine how many pictures we have taken!but it's necessary isnt it?

as you can see, in a short span of 6days, we managed to cover so many so many places! though this means that we barely spend much time at each stop, im still very very very satisfied and pleased with the trip. it was really the best trip i have had ever, especially after the ever so tough A levels, and the solid weather over there, and the fantastic company. i don't think any one of you, who have been to taiwan, had went to this amount of places like we did.

but one thing i regretted was that i didn tmanage to go to the 24 hour book store at Taipei. heard that they are really famous for that!

and btw, did i mention that we slept like almost 4-5 hours only each day for 5 solid nights? basically the we went to each other's room everynight to talk, see photos, play card games and eat. party till late in the night before we went back for our sleep! it was fun lah. i mean how many such chance do we get to stay up late with frens everyday like this!

and also, i almost miss this out. we,(the 4 ladies) actually sneaked out at night to the shi lin night markets! can't imagine how bold we were. hahahaha. and we were really lucky not to have been caught and we actually met this super nice taxi uncle who taught us how to bluff our way through the teachers if they ask! lol. and on the other night, we decided to sneak out again and there's this 2 other ladies who wanted to too and we went off on a secret getaway together! hahahahahaha. that was really a great experience ever man!

all in all, this trip was the best ever trip i have ever gone to. it was a trip that left me with so much precious memories. a trip that made me see so much of taiwan, made me loved taiwan so much! that i wanted go back again for sure next time. and yes, im going back someday. i reckon that Italy,Rome got to be a place i go when im older, and with much cash and everything. but Taiwan shall be the place i go to after my uni, on a bagpack. yeah. i loved this place to much to not go back again!

thanks for the memories, friends, teachers, eco club, taiwan.