Taiwan Trip Day 5: 高雄, 台中

Lots of travelling done today. starting with a 3hour ride from 高雄 to 日夜潭. Did a tour on the lake, then went for lunch, nothing outstanding.

After lunch, we went to 文武庙 opposite the restaurant. After prayers and photo-opps, we bussed down a short distance to 孔雀园, but due to the bad weather the peafowls were not let out in the open.

Next was another looong bus journey, before we reached 逢甲夜市 in 台中. Another disappointment, as we arrived at approx 4pm in the afternoon, so only 60% of the shops were open. Foodwise...I didn't manage to find the only street food that my brother recommended: 章鱼烧. We weren't supposed to eat much anyway, as we had dinner waiting for us later.

Dinner was a vast improvement from all the previous meals. 九菜一汤. Had we not eaten beforehand, dinner would have been much more enjoyable. The restaurant was called 伍角船板, and its owned by a disabled lady who built most of the the interior and exterior decor with salvaged flotsam and jetsam. Impressive stuff.

As the trip nears the end, so does the daily itinerary. Tomorrow, we're making a stop at 深坑豆腐街 before finally stopping at 台北's 故宫博物院, no more long-haul rides!

Taiwan Trip Day 3 & 4: 花莲, 台东, 高雄

Getting lazy to update the blog, so I'll make this brief.

Day 3:

Went to a place selling 灵芝 products that was run by 原住民, then went to 太鲁阁国家公园 and 长春祠 deep in the mountains.

Next up was 瑞惠牧场, nice place in the countryside, clean air good milk.

Lastly was 温泉 in 台东. What can I say? Lovin' it.

Day 4:

Left 台东 for a fruit stop. Fresh mangoes were in season. Not too sweet, yet so fragrant. Had lunch at 美浓客家村 which was...acceptable.

After lunch, we made our way to 佛光山, then 春秋阁, where we visited the 龙虎塔, 观音大士骑龙 and 玄天上帝神像.

The last stop was at 梦时代购物中心, which was nothing more than a ghost town shopping centre at the outskirts of 高雄. As the tour guide put it aptly, "那里的员工比顾客还多!"

Finally, we hit our first proper 夜市 of the trip: 六合夜市. So much food was ate there, so much disappointment.

Highlights: "七里香" (aka 鸡屁股), "印度拉茶" (aka Teh Tarik)

Lowlights: 排骨酥汤 (oily...and nothing else, meat was good though), 胡椒饼 (maybe it was the wrong place to buy it...not that fantastic), 鳝鱼意面 (yimian in tangy gravy with sliced eel, not that bad actually, but not as good as people make it out to be), "棺材板" (just...eh...)

Time to end it soon, got a long ride up the mountain ahead tomorrow. Itinerary has only 2 items for day 5: 日夜潭 and 逢甲夜市. This can only mean two things: there really IS nothing left to do, or there's a whole lot of travelling to do, and I don't think it's the former...

Taiwan Trip Day 2: 台北, 野柳, 九份, 南天宫, 花莲

Woke up at 0530 today, just so we could avoid the rush crowd on the HSR. Reached 桃园 HSR station at 0730, and took the 高铁 to 台北, then transferred to the MRT to 中正纪念堂. A few pictures later and we were off in the coach to 野柳.

野柳 was packed with tourists, mostly "陆客" as our tour guide pointed out. The crowds and the rain really put a damper on spirits. Ended up taking a photo of the "女皇头" replica instead of braving the elements all the way to the real one.

We were whisked to 九份老街 for lunch. It being a Sunday, the place was packed with locals. Still, I managed to eat some good grub.

Highlights: 贡丸汤, 椒盐杏鲍菇, 黑猪肉香肠 (综合: Original, black pepper and mentaiko)

Lowlights: 肉圆 (wasn't too bad, but an acquired taste perhaps), 臭豆腐 (same as the previous)

After lunch we went to 南天宫 to see 金身妈祖 and to offer some prayers. Impressive temple.

After that we embarked on a 150min ride through winding mountain roads to 花莲, where we watched a traditional 阿美族 dance performance.

Dinner was a traditional 风味餐, but was forgettable.

Tomorrow: Hotsprings at 台东!

Taiwan Trip Day 1: Changi Airport - 桃园

First day of week-long Taiwan trip, departed at Changi Airport T3 at 1220, landed at Taoyuan Int'l at 1810.

Took the tour bus to Cai Yan Leader Hotel, dumped our luggage there and headed to the nearby night market for some grub. Way too much grub.

Highlights: 葱抓饼 (with melted cheese and corn in it), 盐酥鸡, Takopachi, Yakult Milk Tea, 卤味

Lowlights: 咸水鸡 (the toughness of the meat, I can handle, but the salt content messed up my gums big time), 大肠包小肠 (it was tasty. but just different from what I expected it to be), 耗煎 (messed up version, gooey and sloppy and the 'Orh' was tiny), 生煎包 (lukewarm and oily).

I'll update whenever I can, which shouldn't be a problem, seeing how hotel internet is FREEEEEEEE. Let's hope tomorrow would bring better food to the table. Here's looking at you, 台北 and 花莲!

Back home?

And thus ends my brief 10-11month sojourn in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. So much memories, so little time (actually spent making memories), but the paltry bits that actually mattered, they'd last for a pretty long time, I reckon.

This foundation year has taught me that if I really put my mind to it, I can achieve things both in academia and relationships. I learnt not only about other people, but more importantly, more about myself. Things that I didn't know or took for granted, things that I thought were so, all turned out unexpectedly (and for the better). Oh and that I need a better image capturing device, for an integrated camera in a phone really can't cut it, as the following photos demonstrate:

Shots of the Valedictory Ceremony

With Chang Tian

With Gretl

With Cate (Chem Tutor)

With Juanita and Athari

Jumbo Prawn Risotto and '07 Cabernet Sauvignon

Final views of unit 611

Last look at Swanston St