Seems that I have broken many habits I used to have and in their place are new ones.
One thing I really want, is to get back into the "habit" of music.
Before I wouldn't have to think about doing it. It would simply be part of my daily routine.
So now that I'm done with studies, I can finally go back.
But it really is a hard thing to go back to something you haven't done for a long time!

Time to get back into the "habit"!

Recently been listening to music of Rurutia. There are few females singers that I can bare to listen to. But Rurutia is an exception. She has a very distinctive voice which is what attracted me the most. A very fitting way to describe her voice is "weakly strong" ~ soft and whispery but strong at the same time. It's a pity she's not very popular (I had trouble finding any of her albums in shops) which is probably because she is with an indie music label ~ more creative freedom but less promotion.

So I will do a little promotion for her ^^

My favourite album cover:

 

I have finally succumbed to the full time working life in the shortest amount of time. I can't believe how much your life changes once you start working.

Now I sleep earlier. I wake up earlier...to the point that it becomes automatic for my body. I hope I can get used to it soon so that I can start fitting more into my day without feeling so tired all the time. I don't want to become another number that goes to work , comes back from work, eats, and then sleeps. Life should be more than that! And now I finally realise why people say to choose to do something you love...because work takes up so much of your life!

One thing's for sure ~ I miss travelling. And I miss hotel life

I'm back! And finally got around to recalling all my memories ~ it took me days to do it and even now there are many other little things I would have forgotten about already.

Warning ~ this is an extremely long entry and I will applaud anyone who has the patience to read through it all. It's mostly for my own personal memory because I had so many different experiences, good and bad.

18/06 Wednesday
Bro and mum took me to the airport where I met my friend and we checked in together after much delay to get seats together ~ we checked in quite late because my poor bro had just returned from Africa and was transferring his photos from his camera he was lending me...

Anyway, on the plane we had two meals. They were okay...but I expected better from previous experience with QANTAS. Anyway, I watched two movies since it was a long 8 hour flight! First was Jumper ~ watched it only because of Hayden Christansen...it was ok...but I could hardly see the dark scenes, I mean the scenes where the lighting was really dark. Then I watched The Bee Movie. Ah, it was hilarious. The Winnie the Pooh part was hilarious ~ bears are evil, lol. Hmm, but I think the movie was kinda a bit too long...I found myself wondering when it was gonna end.

Oh, and on the plane they had these awful smelling Nissan cup noodles. The odour smelt like vomit ><. My friend ended up feeling sick because of it and spent about the last 2 hours of the flight in the toilet --; She only came out when we had landed. She had me so worried! I thought something had happened to her and I was thinking what I would do if so. Turns out she fell asleep in the toilet. Ummm okay, I don't really believe her.

Anyway, we arrived in HK airport and there was a pretty long line through customs. I love that HK has "people movers" ~ we didn't realise how useful it could be until later. So after finally getting through customs, we went to buy Airport Express Transport Pass. OMG, I felt so bad when I was asking the lady about the pass (she actually reminds me of my friend Bettina). I wanted to clarify whether the return trip on the pass could be used whenever after the 3 days had finished. Ah, I guess I was really dumb and slow. Then the man beside the lady explained it to me step by step, and then I understood. So then I finally paid with by card because I had no HK cash yet. I picked up some tourist brochures just inside the arrival gate.

We then followed the signs to catch the Airport Express train to our guesthouse in Causeway Bay. But we had to transfer at Central to the free shuttle bus that stopped by a nearby hotel (Excelsior). I must say it was one of the worst bus rides I've ever taken. Let's say it was very bumpy i.e. brake and accelerate. And it must have been because it was peak hour during that time. My friend and I realised too late that it would've been faster to get off at an earlier stop and walk to our guesthouse rather than stay on the bus which made a big circle. By the time we got off, it was raining. I went into the lobby of Excelsior Hotel to call the guesthouse for them to pick us up. Hmm, I expected a car but instead found a young lady about my age come and we walked across to the guesthouse. It only took about 2 minutes which would've been okay if it wasn't raining. Luckily I had brought a raincoat. My friend shared an umbrella with the young lady.

The guesthouse really reminded me of Malaysia ~ that sticky, humid weather and the smell...of garbage, especially strong in the stairways. Well, I was only going to be sleeping and showering there. It had the essentials ~ private toilet and shower, slippers, tv, communal fridge, water, air-con, internet access (only one computer though), fresh towels every day. The place was small but clean, the people were friendly but most important was the great location. No matter when we went out or how late we came back there was always people out and about on the streets. Causeway Bay really does have a night life reputation.

We went to the office first to arrange payment which was cheaper by cash. But I had no cash then so they offered to swipe my card but not process it as a pseudo-deposit so that I could change some money the next day and pay them in cash. That was very nice otherwise I would have to pay about HK$300 more. Anyway, Tommy, the owner kindly showed us to our room, 407. I realised later that we had no phone in our room, but the owner readily gave one to us when I asked. We also asked for toothbrush and toothpaste because they stated that they provided it. But seems like people don't ask for it because the ones he gave us were really old. The toothbrush was usable but the toothpaste was turning brown around the lid.

So after settling down abit we decided to go out to look around the nearby streets. We ended up going to Welcome supermarket to look for slippers/thongs and toothpaste. It was almost midnight but there were still people grocery shopping ~ that's something you don't see in Australia! Anyway, at the counter they had some problem with my friend's card but after changing card machines it was fine. Hmm, and then we went to a Japanese restaurant that was directly across from the guesthouse we were staying at, called Hanabi (I think). One of the waitresses reminded me of Narelle ~ pretty with big eyes. Anyway, after deciding what to order they told us that the minimum we could order if we pay by card is HK$100...but we had only $40 worth of food we wanted...so ended up not eating anything there. Sad...we returned to our room, showered and watched some dramas/talk shows...mostly Taiwanese because they had satellite. I really can't stand Cantonese shows. I fell asleep first, actually every night in HK I fell asleep before my friend ^^; And I also showered first.

Oh yeah, I remember my first shower now ~ our guesthouse used a heater system to heat the shower water and I didn't realise it would be literally burning hot. I couldn't shower in it at all because I would've burnt myself. So I ended up using the tap water from the sink to roughly shower myself. Next time I wouldn't turn on the water heater before my shower ~ and that's also why I always showered first. My friend didn't think it was too hot. She's crazy!

19/06 Thursday
So first morning in HK, the first task was to go to the bank to change money, but the bank didn't open until 9.30am so we walked around. But not much was open. We wondered through Sino Plaza and ended up setting an alarm off when we tried to go through some doors. Ok, so that was obviously the wrong way. Finally it was 9.30am and we made our way to Chung Hing Bank (the one Tommy recommended) to ask what exchange rate they had for AUS to HK. I wanted to compare with a nearby bank - Bank of China so I went across to ask them what they offered. Chong Hing Bank ended up being the better one with an exchange rate of 7.352 with no commision. Bank of China was 7.4 plus HK$80 commission. I ended up exchanging AU$600 (a lot!). Felt really insecure carrying that much cash around!

We returned to the guesthouse to pay for our six nights stay then headed to the MTR station. We walked through Sogo first ~ the Japanese department store that my friend had never heard of until now. Later I would hate Sogo because that was the only store she wanted to go to, in HK and TW!! We bought a little snack for breakfast in the Sogo FreshMart. Then headed to train station to go to Central. I was completely lost for the first half of the day that we took the MTR. I think I was looking for specific signs of specific locations. Later I would realise that when you want to catch a train then all you need to follow is the train sign. And if you want to get out, just follow the exit signs then later look for the specific exit you need.

Anyway, we stopped at Central and eventually made our way to the Star Ferry terminal on the upper deck (I didn't realise til later that the upper deck is more expensive than lower deck, and maybe that's why there didn't seem to be that many people on the ferry with us). Anyway, it was a nice ride across the harbour to TST only that it would be nicer at night. We spent most of the afternoon at Harbour City ~ brand name shopping, then I tried to find a vegetarian place to eat. A man came and asked us what we were looking for and I spoke in Mandarin to him saying "這裏有沒有素食的餐館". He totally misunderstood me and thought I was asking are there any sushi places around! Later I asked a concierge (very cute by the way, in fact there are so many good looking guys in HK. The girls are pretty too but they all wear heaps of makeup so I really don't know if it's makeup or their genes ^^;) but this time in English so I wouldn't be misunderstood. He told there weren't any but some restaurants had dishes that were vegetarian. Anyway, ended up having lunch at Oliver's Super Sandwich. The place was busy, a good sign. I had some kind of egg salad potato, which had me feeling mildly sick. I would've enjoyed it much more if not for that. Maybe my stomach sensed that the food was foreign.

Afterwards, we walked towards Haiphong Rd to find that CD place I had read about on soompi. The stuff there was pretty cheap but wasn't very well organised so was hard to find things. Didn't end up buying anything there because it was only our first day and we wanted to compare prices some more. So we continued across to Granville Rd for some cheap clothes shopping such as In Fashion, Maple...it was only the first day in HK and we were already walking a lot!

Shopped around the streets in TST. Took the train to Prince Edward MTR station to find Treasure Vegetarian Restaurant. OMG, that must've been the worst dining experience I've ever had. Though the food was cheap, the service was horrible. Actually it probably depends on how you like to be served. The waitresses wouldn't stop looking at us whether we were eating or not. They put down a small plate of peanuts and pot of tea even when we didn't ask for it, nor wanted it. When we went to pay the bill we realised they charged for everything. I was really offended that they didn't let us know beforehand. I'm never eating there again! It was like they were forcing things on us.

Anyway, next we went really fast through Ladies Street (it was still pretty early) because I don't think my friend likes markets that much. We headed to Avenue of Stars (can't remember if it was by foot or train) but we missed the light show. There were lots of tourists taking photos. Seems like Andy Lau's star is the most popular...I couldn't get a picture of it because of all the people wanting to take a snap. Most of the stars I had never heard of. Hmm, we got sick of walking so decided to take the train back home rather than walk to the ferry terminal. I think we spent about half an hour there taking photos. Looked like there were fire smoke over the city.

We looked around Sogo before heading back to guesthouse at around midnight. Our routine every night we got back was shower and tv. Mostly it was the TW dramas such as KO One, Hana Kimi, 鬥牛,要不要...I always fell asleep watching tv. -_-;;

20/06 Friday
This morning we headed to Times Square, only a short walk from our guesthouse. Discovered they have nice toilets and hand washers (the ones that dry really fast). Made our way to Delifrance for breakfast. I had some baked asparagus with vegies, pasta and cheese with tea. Afterwards we shopped around Times Square and also one time went on the nearby streets to try to find hat to buy ~ no luck. For lunch we returned to Delifrance ~ our breakfast was that good! I can't remember what I had, but I do remember it was very nice that I finished it all.

We headed for the Peak Tram via MTR to Central and then by foot. Snapped shots of the famous city buildings such as Bank of China Tower, Lippo, Jardine House...it was nice that there were signs directing us to the tram. It was a relatively clear day in HK so there was a queue for the tram already. It wasn't too long though. There were Japanese tourists in front of us carrying their luggage ~ my friend and I were so glad we didn't have to carry luggage.

Once we got to The Peak, we just followed everyone else to the Peak Tower with many tourist stalls along the way. We didn't take our time to look at them but rather went straight up to the tower ~ something we should've done because later I found out that you can only go up once. So once up there, we went around taking photos on all sides...then realised we would have to wait about three hours to see the night skyline and maybe catch the light show. It was a long wait...but my friend and I killed time by people watching ^^. You can really tell where people are from by their clothes. I spotted a Korean girl ~ they're really easy to spot.

At night it was very crowded at the top of Peak Tower...it was hard to clear a space to take a photo. After taking photos to our hearts content we crossed to Peak Galleria...but most shops were closed by then. We found an Astroboy shop (iZone?) where my friend bought a shirt. I saw jeans that I should've bought but didn't. We didn't know how to get back down to Central until we tried walking back the way we came, but that led nowhere. Then we realised that the huge queue we saw outside Peak Tower was the very long queue we would have to wait in, to return. Oh yeah, this Western lady came up to us speaking Cantonese to ask where to take a taxi. We then told her we knew English but we were also tourists. It was so awesome that her Cantonese was quite good.

Anyway, we finally got on the tram and then walked down to Admiralty MTR station via Hong Kong Park. I think we must've past through Pacific Place or some really high-end shopping centre along the way. Well, I was too hungry to look at anything. We headed straight for the train back to Causway Bay. I decided to see whether the vegetarian restaurant 功德林 in World Trade Centre was open. By that time it was about 11pm and unfortunately the kitchen had closed. I vowed to come back the next day. Instead, because it was so late I didn't want a big dinner, I grabbed a crossiant at Starbucks.

I was starting to feel that I was having odd days of shopping ~ I mean one day I would shop a lot, then the next day I wouldn't buy anything at all.

One thing was constant ~ everyday there was lots of walking -_-;;.

21/06 Saturday
What did I do this morning? We must've walked around the streets of CWB or maybe Times Square again. We were waiting for 功德林 to open which wasn't until 11am. The wait was worth it. We had dim sum but it was only between the two of us and it was breakfast so only ordered 4 dishes ~ custard tart, spring rolls, dumplings (小籠包) and bean curd thing. It was veryyyyy nice food.

We then headed across the harbour for a full day of shopping. We went to Argyle Centre in Mongkok and planned to slowly make our way down to TST. It was packed body to body in Argyle Centre (as I should have predicted for a weekend) but there were heaps of clothing and accessory shops ~ they were cheap and bargainable. That was where I saw the bag I should've bought too. Importantly they had air-con unlike the street markets. It was our first experience of angry shopkeepers too. My friend was looking at a bag and was trying to decided whether to buy it or not. I was also getting pissed at her for not making up her mind. They had bought out a new bag for her and put it in a plastic bag...but in the end my friend didn't want to buy it. Yeah, I would be angry at that type of customer too.

Bargaining is easier than I expected.

There was so much to look at but we didn't end up scaling all the floors because my friend was losing interest in them. Later I realised it's because the quality of clothes in HK is not very good compared to Taiwan. So we headed down to look for food and eventually ate at Spaghetti House...mmm vegie lasagna. I think it was also the latest lunch I had ~ 4.30pm. Also probably why I didn't really have a dinner.

We wondered to Langham Place to look around. Everything was starting to look the same. We went to the food court for dinner. Actually only my friend had dinner (Korean), I just had a tiramisu ice cream. I think by that time I was more tired than hungry. My feet and back were killing me. Afterwards we walked along Nathan Rd abit then took the train down to Yau Ma Tei MTR station to see the Jade Market and visit Temple St Night Market. I must say that it was a complete disappointment. Either that or we didn't actually go to Temple St. I was too tired to look at a map to see whether we were in the right place. Anyway, I did see the whole row of fortune tellers. Yeah, I think we didn't actually walk through the market, there would've been a huge crowd otherwise -__-. But we saw some Japanese filming something. They were making a big fuss over a jumping ball with colourful lights. I guess you have to dramatise everything for tv.

Anyway, I decided to walk along Nathan Rd to see what shops there were and enjoy the night scenery. But we ended up walking the wrong and found ourselves back at Yau Ma Tei MTR station. Hmmm, that's how tired I was...I didn't even know we were going the wrong way. Hahaha, I was starting to feel numb from the tiredness too so decided to take the train all the way back to CWB.

That was one very tiring day. But also the last day of taking the MTR because the three days of transport pass were up. Next morning I would feel the pain of my tiredness.

22/06 Sunday
Yes, in the morning my back was completely aching, I could hardly bend over and sneezing hurt ><. Oh, I remember, this morning I had a bad dream. Can't remember what exactly but it was scary ~ something about losing my friend. On the other hand, my friend told me she dreamt that we had gone to France. So I didn't end up telling her about my bad dream.

Today our transport would be the tram and...foot.

We stopped by Yamazaki Bakery for take away breakfast. The girl behind the counter tried to sell me more saying that you can buy 4 for $10 rather than 2 for $6.50 or something. But I just wanted what I had. Then when I gave her a $500 bill she gave me a strange look and proceeded to check the authenticity of the note ~ this was like full on, holding it up to the light, rubbing it on paper...I didn't realised $500 was so big >< It's real girl! Eventually she gave me my $400+ change. I guess it was quite ridiculous to use $500 for such little purchase but I was running out of small notes.

We made our way to the Mid-Levels Escalator. We went mostly for the experience because it really wasn't that special ~ just the fact that it's the longest escalator. Initially planned to go half way but ended up going all the way to the top. I took a photo to prove it ^^. Then of course it was time to walk all the way back down. We browsed through Li Yuen St but still didn't buy anything. For lunch I decided to track down The Fringe Club because I read they have vegetarian there but when we went it was empty and they didn't have much food on offer so decided to go somewhere else. Ended up at some random "natural" food store called Kosmo ~ I liked their wooden spoons and tissues with aloe vera. The veggie rice paper roll lunch box I bought wasn't very tasteful though. It was bland. Even chilli didn't help.

Walked around Central today and went to IFC mall ~ more big brands. Today along the streets we saw heaps of Phillipinos 'camping out'. I'm not sure what they were doing but it might be because there was some concert nearby of a Phillipino group/singer.

Stopped by Commercial Press and discovered that stationary in HK is very cheap, even more so than Malaysia. Damn I should've bought more pens and paper. Afterwards we wondered through the streets of CWB. For dinner I ate Krispy Kreme for the first time. Imagine that ~ the only time I've ever had Krispy Kreme is in HK. Ironic?

Tonight I saw the news broadcast of the typhoon hitting the Phillipines and the ferry that had tipped over. I wondered about the Phillipinos I had seen on the streets today. I felt very thankful for the great weather HK was having these past few days.

23/06 Monday
Today we would explore the nearby shopping centres. For breakfast I finished my KK donuts. Then we walked to Windsor House but not before stopping by HMV. I realised that DVD's and CD's in HK are really cheap. I didn't need or want to buy from the streets where the quality is bad. I couldn't believe how cheap Japanese CD's were ~ they're usually really expensive for some reason. Unfortunately they didn't have what I wanted. In fact I couldn't find Rurutia in any CD shops anywhere (HK or TW). I ended up buying Coffee Prince and was about to get King and Clown but the DVD region was not right for Australia so didn't buy it. After Windsor House we returned to our guesthouse (Ah, the convenience! ^^) to drop off our goodies and then headed to 功德林 for take away fried noodles (very nice again). It was the first time we had come back during the day to our room. Next stop was Island Beverly, where I bought black pants and a shirt, I think (everything is becoming a blur now -_-). We returned to HMV because my friend told me that headphones were really cheap there.

Don't ask me what we did that night. Oh wait, how could I forget. We bought new mobile phones back at Times Square. It was really last minute for mine ><. My friend went to Broadway to get her new Samsung phone and the guy serving was super nice and funny and spoke English. I wanted to buy from him but unfortunately they had run out of Motorola E6. And somehow I really wanted that phone. So we went down to Fortress...which I later regret. When I was buying my phone, they were almost going to close down and the guy serving me wasn't as nice. I felt like I was being rushed. Consequently I found something wrong. Regardless, I guess it's alright. I still got free pouch, lanyard, 1G SD card, battery charger, screen protector and a second battery. But I didn't check the second battery and only found out later that it wouldn't even fit into my phone. And it wasn't even a Motorola original battery. I should've checked. But it was late and they were closing, blah, blah. There is always something wrong when I go to buy a phone >< I would've preferred Broadway coz they gave a better bag ><

Later (after coming back from Taiwan) when I went to Fortress shop at HK airport they were not helpful at all. The guy I asked didn't even know how to open and close my phone let alone take the battery out. I was scared he would break it. They definitely have horrible after service. They said they couldn't do anything for me because they don't sell those type of batteries there. Bullshit! I reckon they just give away their shit products. They told me to call the store I bought my phone from and ask what they can do. What I should've done was tell them to call the store >< After all they are both Fortress. Man, I hate Fortress. Broadway is definitely way better. More trustworthy and more friendly.

Anyway, that night we played with our new toys. My friend had heaps of media on her phone and I was trying to find where mine was. She was too absorbed in her phone to care about anything else. Later (back in Perth) I would find that it was in my 1G SD card. But it was hardly anything. Only got one Jay Chou MV, mp3, a promotionable short movie introducing the phone and a ring tone version of the same song. They had some other Taiwanese singers but I think you need some license to access it. I tried to but there was some network error whenever it tried to go online. Sigh, that's what you get with Fortress.

24/06 Tuesday
Today I quickly headed over to HMV once again to get that King and Clown DVD because it was so cheap, I had to get it regardless of the region. We then checked out at about 10.30 which we were told was early for a 1pm flight. Actually it wasn't early at all by the time we arrived. Anyway, we took MTR from CWB to Central which cost HK$5 then boarded the Airport Express Train to the airport. Hmm, I kind of regret not taking the bus to or from the airport...the scenery would've been nicer, not to mention cheaper.

Well, it was time to say goodbye to HK. I was too tired to feel anything.
~*~*~
My impressions of HK:

The shopkeepers are very annoying and follow you around everywhere. Everything you touch they make a comment whether to state the price or say something about how it's the latest fashion. I guess if you like to get opinions while you're shopping then you would love HK shopkeepers but otherwise they're really annoying. This one time I was looking through a dress store and I simply wanted to look at what styles there were but the shoplady wouldn't leave me alone. She asked me what sort of style I was looking for. And I told her I was just looking. She told me I would not be able to find a dress by just looking. So she asked me what it was for ~ a dinner? a party? I told her it was for a dinner. She asked me who it was with ~ family or friends? I said family...she just kept asking me questions when all I wanted to do was look through the dresses. God, she made me want to leave her shop.

On the other hand, I did meet a nice shopgirl. Thank god they're not all annoying. She was really nice and made conversation with me asking me where I was from because I spoke Mandarin to her. She thought I was from Taiwan but I told her I was from Australia. I don't why but whenever I tell people that I came to HK or Taiwan for holiday they always say I'm so brave. Is it really that hard? I think it's not so bad if you can speak the language. Everyone seems to know Mandarin in HK, at least everyone I talked to. At one time, in this watch shop the guy was speaking a mix of Mandarin and Cantonese. I understood it but my friend didn't.

Everyone is so good looking, especially all the girls, but it's also because they all wear makeup.

HK public transport is super efficient.
~*~*~
Ah, I must say it was so nice to head into a country where I spoke the language ~ Mandarin.

The flight from HK to Taipei was short, maybe too short to enjoy the inflight entertainment. But the important thing was they fed us. Can't remember what my lunch was. We arrived in Taoyuan International Airport just before 2.30pm and it was such a contrast to HK. There was hardly anyone in the airport besides our fellow passengers and the whole interior felt like a hospital. We also noticed the absence of 'people movers'. Anyway, we finally made our way out and somehow managed to get to the right spot to get a ticket for the Freego bus that would take us to our hotel. Luckily I had some Taiwan money with me already (Thank you mum!), because they didn't accept card and exchanging money at airports you get the worst rate. Also lucky that I had written down the hotel name in Chinese because they didn't know what hotel I was talking about when I used the English name. We got on the bus pretty fast, before we knew it we were heading towards Taipei city.

Taiwan was hugely different from HK. The first thing I noticed was that it was so much greener ~ more trees, more open spaces. My eyes were being spoilt by the scenery. The first big landmark we passed was the Grand Hotel, but it was too hard to get a good picture of it. The other thing I instantly noticed was the presence of scooters on the road. It really is true ~ scooters are everywhere in Taiwan.

One thing I liked about this Taiwan bus trip was that beforehand the driver asked everyone where they were stopping. That was so much better than in HK where you had to call out when you wanted to stop. We're tourists for god's sake, how are we supposed to know when out stop is.

So we got off the bus and were lost at first but then I found a map and figured out which way our hotel was. It was quite a walk but we made it.

Hondo Waikoloa Hotel (皇都唯客樂飯店).

It deserves it's own line and paragragh. I was immensely impressed with the service and the people at the hotel. Everytime we walked into the lobby the reception never failed to greet us warmly. The people behind reception were genuinely friendly and extremely helpful too. So much so that when it was time to leave, I felt like I was leaving behind a friend.

Oh wait, I remember now. When we got off the plane in Taoyuan and picked up our luggage I realised that my luggage was damaged so I went to China Airlines counter to report it and the lady was pretty good about it. She did the paperwork and told me the repair people would come pick it up at my hotel to fix it.

Anyway, so when we checked in at the hotel, I told them about this ~ how someone was going to come pick up my luggage to repair. And the lady was very nice about it. Even humorous about it.

We stayed at room 509. One of the first things that hit me when we entered our room was the smell. Later we realised we were on a smoking floor. But we were too mesmerised by the room itself to care about that at first. OMG, this hotel room was luxury compared to where we stayed at in HK. The beds were big and comfy. There was a lounge. There was a business desk. There was a wardrobe. There was a fridge and tea cups and tea and a kettle. The bathroom was just as amazing. And there was even a phone next to the toilet ~ I thought that was funny. The lights were controlled by buttons on the table next to the beds. And there were like 100 different channels on TV! Anyway, the whole room and the whole hotel was very nicely decorated with art. It was so spacious. Actually Taiwan on the whole is more spacious compared to the cramped HK. Anyway, we were so excited about the place that we spent a good few minutes taking photos. I felt like a little kid at some theme park.

We were so excited about our hotel room that we were already thinking about room service. When I used the phone to call reception the lady couldn't hear what I was saying (and I was also getting tongue tied between English and Mandarin) so she came up to our room. I felt kind of embarrassed for that. Anyway we ordered dinner which was hugely portioned. It was hard work finishing it all. I had fried rice because I didn't have any rice in HK and I was missing it. We of course ate in front of the TV. And then we started to plan what we were going to do in Taiwan. My friend wanted to go on a one day tour which including visiting the Taroko Gorges but that ended up being booked out. So we decided to just go to the north-east coast half-day tour.

Also for the first time, I unpacked everything in my suitcase to put in cupboards because it had to be taken away for repair. But it wouldn't be until Friday when I called China Airlines myself that they would come to fix it. But when they did it was super fast, like the morning I left my suitcase at reception and when I came back that night it was nicely fixed.

Tonight I washed my clothes for the first time. But we had trouble trying to use the washing machine to dry our clothes. It was all in Chinese. First one of the lady's from reception came to help us. But she thought our clothes were rinsed already. Then this man came (I think he was some car watch security person, the washing machine was out in the parking lot!) and asked us if it was rinsed yet. Because you have to rinse before you dry. He was very helpful. And knew the washing machine really well. For example after drying you have to unplug it from the powerpoint then wait 3 minutes for it to cool down before you can open the door. It took afew hours to get it right but eventually our clothes were mostly dry.

A few times in HK and Taiwan I found myself getting mixed up with speaking in English or Mandarin. Like when I went to Fortress I asked the guy in Mandarin whether he could speak English, because I was intending to speak to him in English but then I continued to speak to him in Mandarin for the rest of the time. Haha, I wonder if he thought I was wierd to ask that.

Anyway, I loved the TV channels they had at the hotel. There was Taiwanese dramas, Japanese dramas, Korean dramas but dubbed in Mandarin, they had English channels. Just about everything I would say. The problem was the only time we watched TV was when we came back to our hotel room late at night and by that time I was fully exhausted and fell asleep soon after. Thinking back I kind of miss living in Hondo Hotel -_-

25/06 Wednesday
When I first woke up I couldn't tell what time it was because the curtains were closed which made the room seem very dark. But when I opened the thick curtains, it was really bright outside. I didn't have breakfast at the hotel because I didn't know that breakfast was included in our stay until my friend told me later.

Anyway, first task today was to find a bank to exchange some money. Reception recommended we go to Fubon bank, but they didn't exchange Australian currency but we eventually went there to exchange HK money.

We headed to the MRT. We actually overshot at first because we didn't notice the train track above our heads. Anyway, we eventually found the station and bought TaipeiPass and took the train to Taipei Main Station with the intention of walking to Ximending so we could look at shops along the way. It was really hot and bright that morning. We looked in a stationary shop...that's where I should've bought letter papers. Arghh, there's so many things I should've bought but didn't. For late breakfast/early lunch we went to eat at this Italian place, can't remember the name but the food was very nice. The service was really good too. They were efficient but not too overbearing. They came to fill our cups with water when needed. They cleared our dishes on time. And when I told them I was vegetarian, they took away my non-vegetarian entree and gave me a vegetarian one. They offered a full course of entree, main dish, drink and dessert (chocolate cake...mmmm) for quite a small price (I think it was about NT$150). It definitely worth what I paid for. I regret not taking pictures now. But it was because the food was so nice. By the time we left, the place was filling up so I was glad we had come early otherwise we'd have to wait for our food. Oh and where we were sitting we could see the chefs making the food behind the bench across from us. Should've taken photos! My pasta tomato noodles were delicious!

Next destination was NTU. But I decided to take a detour to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall first because it was along the way. I'm glad we did stop here because it was a great chance to take touristy photos, LOL. Unfortunately the National Theater and Concert Hall was undergoing renovations so we couldn't go look inside. But we did look at the Memorial Hall. There was a really nice garden surrounding a pond next to the memorial hall too. The shrubs were so nicely kept! CKS was the only museum we visited during our entire trip!

Anyway, at NTU my friend went to buy a bottle of water and I really needed to find a toilet. On campus we came across these two girls who asked us whether we were students at NTU. When they found out we were tourists they started asking us about Australia (yep, you guessed it, they asked about koalas) and offered to help us with anything about Taiwan. They were nice, but I think they were apart of some campus club that helps tourists or something. I've still got their card. So we wondered around campus for a bit. Then I wanted to go visit the Museum of Drinking Water because it sounded interesting. We went passed some water park first but then couldn't find the museum and we had been walking for quite some time already so we didn't end up going to the Museum of Drinking Water after all.

I think we went back to Ximending that night. We walked around some more and was trying to find some fruit star ice place that was recommended in the tourist brochure. In the end I realised that it wasn't the name of the actual store but rather the name of the food! Oh yeah, and it started to rain at that time. So then we decided to find another place that was recommended called 阿宗麵線. But when we found it, we realised that there were no seats, people were just standing around eating the noodles. But it was really popular. Sooo, then we tried to find somewhere else to eat. My friend spotted Young Young Restaurant which looked interesting because they had swings as seats. Unfortunately their menu was only in Chinese, which my friend can't read, and there wasn't much vegetarian dishes for me. So after much delay, we just ordered drinks. Ah, we really had a hard time trying to decide what to eat during our whole trip! We walked around some more, but still didn't buy anything. I think because it was raining we couldn't really shop. We hadn't brought an umbrella.

Afterwards we headed to my friend's beloved Sogo. There are too near our hotel: Pacific Sogo and a Fuxing Sogo (I think). Anyway, I got dinner at the Pacific Sogo foodcourt. It was a Korean pasta store and was the only store that specifically offered vegetarian dishes. Yep, I had noodles for the second time that day. These noodles were more 'clear', I mean the sauce/soup had a mushroomy taste (I don't really like mushrooms). It was not too bad though. And also at the food court just inside the entrance they had a sink and soap for you to wash your hands.

We returned to our hotel relatively early that night. Did the usual, shower then indulge in Taiwan dramas =P

Tonight while watching the news we found out that the typhoon had hit HK. Heavy rain and extreme winds to the point that businesses were shut down. We were counting our blessings that we hadn't been caught in the typhoon. Actually before we came to Taiwan, we had seen the weather report that there was a typhoon crossing between HK and Taiwan. We were so lucky!

26/06 Thursday
This morning we had our first breakfast at the hotel (11th floor). The little restaurant was just as nice and comfortable as the rest of the hotel. The lady greeted us and asked for our room number and whether we wanted Asian or Western breakfast. I chose Asian. It turned out to be congee with four appetizers. It was so much to eat for breakfast and no matter how much I wanted to finish it I couldn't. That morning we saw two Japanese businessmen at breakfast. This hotel is popular with business people. Wow, everywhere in Taiwan they love their mirrors. But I always end up walking into them thinking there is something behind >< They had it in the restaurant. It was actually quite small but the mirrors made it look twice its size.

Anyway, I asked reception where we could change Australian money because I was running out of cash or I was intending to spent a lot that day. Initally I asked for Sinopac bank but the receptionist told me it's quite far to walk and that there is a closer bank. She drew me the directions to get to Mega International Commercial Bank. We got there a few minutes before 9am so we had to wait a bit for them to open. This time they asked to see our passport before exchanging money. I only changed AU$100...now I regret not exchanging more so I would spend more! Imagine that, I wanted to spend more money. That's right ~ I didn't buy enough in Taiwan and now I regret it. But the exchange rate was really high that day: 28.8! The hotel receptionist told us that the HK dollar was declining rapidly.

Once we were loaded with cash, we made the long walk to the Nanjing East Rd MRT station, as we would every single morning and every single night on return >< It really is quite a long 10-15 minute walk. We bought a two day TaipeiPass and found out that there was no $50 refund like on the one day pass. Oh well, I guess we could keep the card for souveniour. Today we were going to Danshui and relax in the hot springs at XinBeitou. Today was the day we did the most walking.

At Danshui MRT station I really wasn't thinking. I thought that walking a few minutes would take us to some familiar place (I had read that Jay shot 'Secret' here). So I just walked towards the riverside. We passed by all the shops attracting tourists, there were a few game places too. And we also came across a lady selling ice cream for NT$10, that's like 35c in Australia ~ not bad. It was definitely refreshing eating ice cream while we walked along Danshui River. We stopped and sat down for awhile where the boat terminal to cross the river was. There was a nice breeze cooling us. We then continued walking with the intention of going to the Fisherman's Wharf. Later I would realise how ridiculous this was.

Anyway, we reached Aletheia University and went to have a look. We had to walk up a really steep road to reach it though and we actually passed a bride and groom taking photos in front of the university. We took a few photos and saw some turtles in the water. We peeked into the classrooms and it reminded me of primary school. They had the wooden chair combined with side desk thing. Should've taken photo again. Well, we ended up walking to the other side of the university but decided to go back and continue along the road next to the river.

I finally realised that it was a really long walk to Fisherman's Wharf. Later I would realise how far we actually walked ~ we actually walked halfway there!!!! We took the bus back to the MRT station and waited for the next Red 26 bus that went to Fisherman's Wharf. Yes, I would remember the number of the bus ~ it was relief after all that walking and it was one of only two public buses that we took in Taiwan. While waiting I saw an Ice Monster at the station, but wasn't really in the mood for it. On the bus we saw a lot of middle school kids get on and off. There was this one school that had the same uniform but in different colours. And each student seemed to have a particular number on their shirt left breast.

(Ah, I remember, I was introduced to the actor in 'It started with a kiss' from watching Taiwanese variety program here. He's actually really cute, well cuter than I remember. I was watching him on 100% Entertainment where he visited his middle school ~ he's so tall! Also realised he is in the Taiwanese version of Honey & Clover after watching that scene where the girl confesses that she loves him but all he does is say '嗯').

We got off the bus where the people left on the bus, got off. Later I realised we weren't at Fisherman's Wharf yet, STILL. It was actually right next to a beach. The beach was different from Australian beaches. The sand was browner which I always link with dirty. But I don't think it was that dirty. On the sand there was little balls of sand arranged in a pattern. My friend told me that they were made by crabs. It is so amazing to see it all over the beach. Kind of looked like flowers. There were only a few people on the beach. But we walked all the way across the beach and I wanted to go to this port place. It had those man made rocks and looked like some factory. I thought it might be Fisherman's Wharf, but my friend told me it wasn't. So then we walked back. Along the way, this random man asked us where we wanted to go. He told us which way the bus was. Ah, it was one of the many times we were graced with the friendliness of Taiwanese. So we walked away from the beach onto the road. We passed some equestrian training place and eventually returned to the road where we got off. A man walking behind us saw that we were looking for a bus and told us there is no bus stop on this road, need to go back. But then we saw the very bus we wanted to catch, pass by. The bus driver kindly stopped for us even though there was no bus stop there. I really love Taiwan's bus driver's ~ they stop for you if they see you running. Wouldn't happen in Australia ><

This time we got off at the right stop. Fisherman's Wharf complete with the Lover's Bridge. We walked pretty fast across the bridge and back. I would've liked to stay and look around some more but I think my friend was sick of walking already. On the bridge there were heaps of young teenagers. I think there were a few tour groups because I saw the big buses parked nearby. Anyway, I guess it would be popular with young people.

So we took the bus back to MRT station to head for the hotsprings at Xinbeitou.

Once arriving at Xinbeitou we decided to find some food first. I was trying to find a vegetarian restaurant but there were none around so we went up to this restaurant that had some vegetarian dishes. Can't remember what I had, but it might have been pasta again. By that time I was so hot, sweaty and red.

Next we tried to decide which hotspring to go to. Finally decided upon the public one so we headed towards it. But then it started to rain so we took cover under this covered wooden bridge. What seemed like harmless rain turned into a full storm. There was thunder (extremely loud), lightning and rain. My friend told me that we were right in the centre of the storm. It was scary to be stuck in a storm on a wooden bridge! We weren't the only ones taking cover under the bridge. There was a lady with her dog and a man. And also a group of Korean girls. The more the rain dropped the more steam was produced by the hotsprings under us. The water was gushing under us. I was getting cold and wet, but luckily I had worn two layers even if they were both short sleeve. I think it must have been an hour later before we decided to run to a nearby hotel. That was right after the Korean girls had taken a taxi. We ran to the hotel where there were two hotel staff outside and asked us if we wanted to go in. But I told them we were 'hiding from the rain (躲雨)'. Eventually we decided to see if they have hotspring in this hotel. They did so we paid and went up. We chose the public one because it was cheaper (~NT$200) and no time limit whereas the private one was more expensive (~NT$1000) and only for two hours.

The lady just outside the indoor hotspring told us about everything. She told us that we couldn't take towels into the water, we'd have to go naked. I understood perfectly and I thought my friend did too. Apparently not ~ she thought we could wear our towels. She really didn't want to so we went back to the lady and told her we didn't want to go anymore. She said it wasn't refundable. She told us to go and try and not think too much about people looking us and that it would be really comfortable. We were both extremely hesitant at first, but after awhile I thought it's not that bad. After all we're all females. Then she took us in herself and told us what to do. Then I agreed to give it a try, my friend was still hesitant, but what could we do. The ticket was non-refundable. Afterwards, I was glad I went. We had to leave our shoes in an outside locker. Then we could put our clothes and bags in the inside locker. Then we had to shower to wash ourselves, and this was of course naked but everyone could see you. I mean everyone in the indoor hotsprings. I tried not to make a big deal out of it. The lady had told me to just go in and pretend that you didn't care. She said no one will be looking at you. Ah, the lady was really nice and understanding! Luckily at that time there was only two other people there. Later when we were leaving there were like six other people coming in.

There was a hot spa and a cold one and a steam room. The hot spa was extremely hot at first but it was really nice and warm after awhile. The cold one was really cold at first but that was where the water massage was. It was indeed very comfortable for my back. But it got really cold easily so I would have to go back into the hot spa. Then after awhile the hot spa got too hot so you would return to the cold one for a massage. Apparently that's what you were supposed to do. That's why it was good that there wasn't too many people there. Because there's only two spots in the cold spa.

Hardly anyone used the steam room. I went in there once for a few minutes. But it was really hard to breathe in there. I think we were at the hotspring hotel for about 2 hours, from 4 to about 6pm. I caught a cold from the cold spa. I was shivering at one point because it was so cold. Anyway, I dried my hair there, because they provide a makeup area with mirror and also hairdryer. When I got out of the spa's I felt very weak and heavy. I think it must be because my muscles were relaxed. My friend told me later that she felt the same after coming out.

Ah, it definitely was worth trying. And I can even say that I experienced the real thing. Hmm, but maybe next time I will find one where you don't have to go naked ><. But that was where I bruised my right shin in the cold spa >< Hotsprings would be so nice in the cold weather I'm experiencing in Perth right now.

We were supposed to go to Shilin Night Market tonight but I felt kind of tired and abit sick from the cold so we decided to go tomorrow instead. We took the train back and stopped by to get takeaway at Very Veggie Thai restaurant (for me) because I really love Thai food. While I went home alone my friend went to Sogo to buy her ugg boots. I had pineapple seafood rice which was absolutely delicious. I finished everything even though it was quite a lot to eat! It was super nice! Tonight I went down to ask reception how to make a phone call. I wanted to call China Airlines to ask them when they were coming to pick up my suitcase. I also called my cousin to see if she was free to take us around the next day. She was! We arranged to meet outside the main entrance of Taipei 101 the next morning.

27/06 Friday
This morning I had Western breakfast of toast, eggs, salad, they had pig ear biscuit too with some kind of potato and egg salad on top. It was too much to finish even though I really wanted to eat it all!! This morning my friend left me to finish my breakfast alone =( I don't know why but I seem to eat really slowly compared to my friend. She always finished before me.

Anyway, today we were meeting my cousin who would take us around Taipei. We took the train the the City Hall MRT station and walked towards Taipei 101. Later I realised we could've taken the bus there rather than walk for 10 minutes. Ah, we should really use the bus some more! Anyway, at least we got to see the nice street landscape. Taipei reallly love to have perfectly lined street landscapes like what you see in the Taiwanese dramas. I should've taken photos as we approached 101 but I thought we would be late to meet my cousin. When we finally got there, we walked into the business section and a security guy asked us where we wanted to go so I asked him where the main entrance was. Then he told me that there was section of offices and another section of malls. He directed me to the mall entrance. But I don't think it was the main entrance so we walked through the mall to another entrance which turned out to be the Songzhi Rd entrance. I couldn't see my cousin anywhere so I called her and told her where I was. Seems like she was running late too. Soon, she appeared. OMG, I totally didn't recognise her from the last time we met, which was when I was only 8! She was short (I shouldn't have been surprised) and petite but when she smiled I could see the resemblance between her mother. She kind of spoke like my sixth aunty too. Anyway, I was excited to see her. She took us up a level and asked if I was her 表妹 or 表姐. She turned out to be two years older than me. We chatted while she showed us places near 101 but unfortunately nothing was opened yet. She took us to the cinemas (Vieshow, I think). We talked about uni and Taiwan mostly. She had just finished her pharmacy course and was graduating next year in September. I asked her if she was going to stay in Taiwan or go back home to Singapore. She told me she wanted to go back because her family was there but also because if she goes to Singapore she can start work immediately whereas in Taiwan she would have to take more exams. Found out that her little brother was also trying to get into a school in Taiwan. It took her two tries at the entrance exam before she got in. Wow, her brother must be smart too.

She also thought I was brave to come to Taiwan by myself and tour by myself. She said that Taiwan is really safe, even a girl walking alone at night is safe. But in Malaysia it's very dangerous, you can't walk alone at night like in Taiwan and all the information is fake, it's very easy to get tricked. I found out that she worked at a bubble tea store at her uni and she actually did a shift this morning. She told me she would take me there.

Anyway, because all the shops were not opened yet she decided to take us to the Sun Yat Sen Museum but I told her we had been to the CKS one so didn't take us there because it's pretty much the same. Instead she took us to the underground mall at Taipei Main Station. I didn't even know it existed, or at least I had forgotten! The stuff there was really cheap. I bought afew shirts and pants. There were shoes, bags, socks and towards the other end were mostly game shops so we didn't walk over that side. This was actually the first time that I had done some real shopping in Taiwan! Can you believe it!

For lunch, she took us to a small restaurant in the streets near Gongguan MRT station. The whole dish was in a steamboat...it was really nice and great that they had vegetarian option. I was really glad to have someone decide for me what to eat too! ^^

My friend wanted to cut her hair so my cousin took us to O-chi which was right where the MRT station was. She said it was cheap there and was where all the high school students went to cut their hair. Initially I didn't plan on getting a haircut but after seeing my friend getting her hair done, I wanted to do mine as well and so did my cousin =P. Anyway, my cousin helped my friend translate between the hairdresser. My cousin's English is really good! In the end my friend decided to curl her hair or rather make it wavy, which would take 3 hours. I decided to 'tidy up' my hair but layering it more. The hairdresser told me that it would look better if they wash my hair first so I agreed. After all it was really cheap to wash and cut my hair there - only AU$13.

The hair wash was pretty relaxing, as they gave me abit of a massage. A different girl washed and blow-dryed my hair. And she looked really bored doing it, lol. I was glad when my hairdresser returned to cut my hair. It didn't take too long to finish and at first it didn't look right, but now I'm completely satisfied with it. By the way, my friends hairdresser, Rita who I think was the number 1 hairdresser there (I saw a plaque with Rita, no.1 and another next to it with my hairdresser's name, Ayako, no.2), was really pretty and stylish. I loved her shoes. Actually all the hairdressers there, guys and girls, were really good looking. Some more than others. They all had really, really nice hair!

It took me awhile to get used to my sideswept fringe. Oh yeah, while I was getting my haircut my cousin went down to get us some bubbletea. She came back with bubbletea for me and my friend but then soon she had to go back and start packing because she was moving house. She told me she was going to call me later to go to Shilin night market with us. Anyway, after my haircut and finding out that I could pay later when my friend had finished, I went down to look at the nearby shops. There were heaps of clothes shops but I didn't buy anything there, just looked around many times. I couldn't go too far because it was raining at the time and I hadn't brought an umbrella. I felt so limited. There were heaps of people around as well because it was right over the MRT station.

Anyway, I returned about twice to the hair salon before my friend was done. I realised my mobile phone battery had died so I tried to use my friend's phone to sms my cousin to tell her to call my friend's number. Later the my friend's hairdresser called me over to translate to my friend about how to care for her newly curled hair. My friend ended up spending over NT$3000 on hair! Both our hairdresser's were really nice.

So after spending hours at O-chi we went down to look at the shops (the ones I had already been to while waiting for my friend). Then we went down to the MRT station to return to our hotel. I called my cousin and it turned out that she ran out of credit so couldn't call me. This time she spoke to me in English! Anyway, she told me she still hadn't finished packing so she couldn't come with us to Shilin Market. I told her no worries and wished her a safe flight home. And that was it. I didn't get the chance to take a photo with her! I really wanted to and I know my parents would've wanted to see how she looked like.

Anyway, by that time it was past 8pm, but we still made our way to Shilin Market. There were heaps of people there! We headed straight for the food square/circle first. We walked around a few times to see what was on offer. Every food store was calling us in to come sit and eat. Eventually I found the vegetarian corner and ordered 麻醬麵 at one store. Kind of felt sorry for the lady because there was no one at all eating at her store. The food at Shilin was super cheap. I wished we had discovered it earlier! Hmm, my noodles were really salty, not sure if sesame noodles are supposed to taste like that, but it was still not too bad. The proportion was good too. My friend went off to get a drink. We then went to the very same store where 羅志祥 learnt to make 蚵仔煎(oyster omelete). There were photos of 羅志祥 and Corner Love at the top of the store. I could even recognise the uncle who owned the store as the very same man who taught 羅志祥 to make 蚵仔煎. My friend tried it and said it was nice. Ah, I should've taken pictures! But I didn't want to seem too cheesy and touristy.

I also went to get a drink ~ mango ice. We then crossed over to the night markets where it was even more packed. It was your usual market and some things were really cheap. Like I got my shoes for just NT$100! Oh, and we also saw something pretty wild, if that's the right word. We were walking through the markets near the entrance and I was looking at the crafty bear things in the middle of the street. Everything was normal until I saw the lady saw "Don't look anymore. I'm packing". I wondered why she would say that because they're usually really eager for you to buy their things. Then I heard someone say "Police!" I saw the policeman himself and also the most amazing thing: the stores in the middle of the street packed away their 'fake' goods soooooo fast. They ran to the side in like 1 second just as the policeman walked past. I've never witnessed something like that before. Then I realised why some people have their goods on those foldable wooden cases or shoes/clothes spread out over sheets of cloth or plastic ~ it's so they can pack them away in an instant when the police come.

The funny thing was that afterwards, the street seemed so much less crowded because the stores in the middle of the street had been cleared. My friend and I couldn't get over how fast these people were.

Anyway we walked around the rest of the market and there was so much to see. There was still food between the stores as well. And I noticed that in Taiwan there are a lot more game shops than in HK. Well, we wanted to get home before midnight before our TaipeiPass expired so we couldn't stay for long. But we would come back the next night for sure.

28/06 Saturday
Today would be our final full day in Taiwan. We would also be joining the half day tour to the north east coast this afternoon. This morning we went back to 101 to take photos because we didn't take any of 101 yesterday. This time we took the shuttle bus there from the train station. We then walked around nearby. My friend spent awhile in Sasa. I was so bored everytime she went into Sasa -_- That took most of the morning then we headed back towards the train station but we took a detour to the Eslite bookstore. I was just curious to look inside but it was a quick peak as we didn't have enough time. We needed to be back at our hotel at 1.30pm at which time the tourguide would pick us up. We got off at a MRT station to try to look for somewhere to eat. We ended up walking all the way to the previous MRT station before we found any food! We ate at a simple noodle shop...but it was also the cheapest meal I had in Taiwan. Too bad I couldn't take my time to enjoy it. I had to rush because it was almost 1.30pm already. They were really nice noodles too =(. Simple but nice. Anyway, we caught the train and quickly walked back to our hotel just in time. The tour guide was there already so we immediately got on the minibus. There were just another two people on the tour with us ~ an Indonesian mother and daughter.

Finally we could sit back, relax and let someone lead us. The tour guide was pretty good. He explained about all the landmarks that we crossed. He pointed out the cemetaries on the hills which only the rich could afford. He mentioned a whole lot of other stuff that's impossible for me to recall it all now. Anyway, we went to the Nanya rock formations first and stopped to take pictures. We saw some emergency staff there and I think there was someone who had jumped off the rocks! There was the tape around but it was at the bottom of the rocks where we didn't go. The tour guide pointed out the coast looked like a dragon head but I had trouble trying to make it out. We then passed the Bay of Two Colours before slowly winding our way up the steep hill to Jiufen. Because it was the weekend there was heaps of tourists there and consequently there was traffic! It also started to rain then >< We were taken to Jiufen Old Street for shopping. We tasted some sticky rice cake before we were set loose to look around the streets and buy things. It was very steep with many steps which wasn't very nice in the wet weather. There was a great view which would've been ten times better if not for the rain.

My friend and I were sharing an umbrella but because the umbrella was too big, my friend kept getting stuck behind so I decided to just go off by myself. Later we met at the store 148 and walked down to the street where the police station was. There our driver was waiting for us and took us down the hill and back to Taipei. On the way back the tour guide didn't talk as much ~ I thought he might be abit annoyed that we had taken longer at the Jiufen old street shops. Well, our final stop was the handicraft store to buy souveniours. That was where I bought my panda accessory. Ah, I remember, in HK I saw the exact turtle (Kuma) key chain that I wanted but didn't end up buying it >< Ah, I should've bought it. It was blue one for HK$18 at Mongkok =(

Anyway, we were dropped back at our hotel where we lightened our load and then immediately headed for Shilin Night Market for the second time! I borrowed an umbrella from reception because it was raining tonight. First we went back to the food square to get dinner. This time it was easy to decide what to eat. My friend bought those huge sausages (大腸包小腸, that we had seen on 大小愛吃 program on a previous night) but they cut them into small pieces. I'm glad about that because it didn't look  too appetising at that big size. Anyway, I went to find a vegetarian store that had vegetairan oyster omelete. This time there were other people eating there so I knew the food would be better. Yep, it was really nice. Different but nice, especially liked the sauce! Then I quickly got lemon ice cream next door. My friend didn't feel like anything cold tonight so I could only enjoy it by myself -_-

Just outside the Shilin food square there was some fundraising concert going on. Something about lending a hand for something. When we walked past there were some westerners singing in Mandarin! My friend felt ashamed =P

We then headed across to Miramer Entertainment Complex, especially for the ferris wheel made popular by Taiwanese dramas. The free shuttle bus ride there was packed and we had to stand all the way there. It was full of young teenagers too and couples >< Once there we had trouble finding where to take the ferris wheel. Then we got stuck at the B1 level because the lifts were so busy and packed. Eventually we found the wheel and immediately joined the queue. Only until we were almost gonna get on the wheel, did we realise that you need to go buy a ticket. Can't believe I didn't think about it! Anyway, we then spent a good few minutes trying to find out exactly where to buy the tickets. Eventually we got it and rejoined the queue. We got on carriage number 37. It didn't take very long to go a full circle but enough time to take plenty of pictures. But it was raining before so there were raindrops on the carriage windows. At first I was too busy taking photos but when we were at the top, I suddenly realised how high up we were. I tried not to think about it too much! Heights are not my favourite thing! Too bad for the raindrops otherwise my pictures would've turned out better.

Anyway, we didn't have enough time to look around the rest of Miramer. This was our last night in Taiwan after all and we still had Shilin Market to return to. Of course there was a huge queue to take the bus back to Shilin night market. Once again we were standing up during the whole bus trip.

Back at Shilin we came across a shoe shop going crazy with their prices, though it was also abit misleading. There were shoes on sale for just NT$95. That's like AU$3!!!!! My friend was going crazy with shoes and ended up buying three pairs that night. It was misleading because while the guy at the front announcing through the microphone that every shoe in store was selling for $95, there were plenty of shoes that were more expensive. I really want to buy shoes there but there was nothing that really appealed to me, and I had already bought a pair of shoes the previous night. Anyway, eventually we left that store and I managed to find a clothes store selling jeans. Heaps of jeans ~ two whole rows of jeans! It was so hard to pick the right one. But I knew I had to buy a pair of jeans. Was gonna get another shirt but it didn't turn out looking nice. Well, I was happy to finally find a pair of suitable jeans. It's hard work jeans shopping!

My friend also finally bought a suitcase for $990 (pay with card, if pay cash then it would be $900). I had already run out of cash, and really regretted not exchanging more money! Like really, really regret. I didn't end up spending a lot in Taiwan. Anyway, it was past midnight by that time and I was so tired that I couldn't keep my eyes open for much longer nor walk straight. We made our way back to the MRT station only to find out that it was closing.

What!? The station closes after midnight?! OMG, we totally didn't know there was no bus or train after midnight in Taiwan. Then this random guy came up and asked us whether we wanted to share a taxi. He was so nice to ask us but he was heading for Danshui, which was the opposite direction we wanted to go. We stood around abit thinking what to do. At one point we even considered waiting there until 6am when there was public transport. Hmm, I'm so glad we didn't. Instead, the same guy asked us whether we wanted him to help us call a taxi because it would be cheaper than if we took one of the many taxi's already parked on the side there. I was wondering why there were so many taxi's around and why they kept asking us whether we needed a ride. Anyway, the guy was so nice. He called the taxi for us and when his taxi came, he decided to let us take his taxi first and he would take the next taxi that was supposed to be for us. He gave me his contact details just in case there was any problem I could contact him. Ah, this is why I love Taiwan people! They are so generous!

So my friend and I got into the taxi and throughout the trip the driver tried convincing us that we should take the taxi to the airport tomorrow when we leave. I told him it was cheaper to take the bus. He said that taking the bus you need to wait whereas taxi will take you straight there. But I know he was just trying to be helpful. He was actually really nice. At one point I thought he had passed by our hotel. But then he explained to me that Hondo Hotel has many different branches. Ah, I was panicking until I realised he knew where he was going and was in fact taking us to our hotel. The taxi fair was $260 but he decided to charge us only $200. That was really nice of him too. I must say that taking that taxi was much more convenient than taking train and walking back to hotel. But I think I can handle it. Was a good experience though. I mean taking taxi in Taiwan ^^ That night left me with an extremely good impression of Taiwanese, but maybe not their public transport system -_-

That was definitely a long night and I didn't get to bed until about 2am. I was thoroughly tired and happy to tuck into bed for my last night in Taiwan.

29/06 Sunday
We only had half a day left in Taiwan. There was so much we had left to do. Like go to the Korean apparel street and go back to Ximending to buy stationary. But there was not enough time. We had to check out of the hotel by 12 noon. In the end we just went to the nearby Asiaworld shopping mall. We found a CD store, finally. I hardly saw any CD shops in Taiwan! But they didn't have what I wanted =( One thing's certain: CD's are cheaper in HK.

So we returned to our hotel a few minutes before noon. Finished final packing, though I really wasn't ready to leave yet! I was already accustomed to living in a hotel; accustomed to only shopping; accustomed to the long walk every morning and night. Ah, there was so much that I still wanted to see and do in Taiwan. Six days was not enough at all. I think I would need at least another week. When we finally checked out at the reception, I sort of started to miss the ladies behind reception. There were so friendly and helpful to us.

Anyway, we walked with our luggage trailing behind us to the bus stop for the Freego Airbus to the airport. Along the way, we came across a girl with a tray of small Starbucks coffee asking people to taste it. She was trying to promote it. Why would I refuse if it was free? =P The cups were so small and cute too.

Anyway, the bus had comfortable seats. Along the way to the airport I took some last photos of Taiwan trying to take it all in for the last time, this year at least. My friend slept =P. But we ended up getting off at the wrong stop. We got off at Terminal 2 rather than Terminal 1. So then we had to find out where to take the shuttle bus to Terminal 1. Eventually we got to the right terminal and checked in. We were still early regardless because our flight wasn't until 4.30pm. It was about 2pm at that time. We ended up waiting outside because we didn't know there were more shops inside past the first set of gates, eg duty free. Oh yeah, Taoyuan airport was where I bought my Yoshiki CD. I needed to make myself feel better for not spending more in Taiwan -_-.

Anyway, we were one of the last to board our plane. We sat next to a 16 year old girl who was going on holiday to HK with her family. The food on this flight was not so good. My friend befriended the girl sitting next to us. She actually majored in English and that's how my friend was able to talk to her. Otherwise communication would not have been possible. Her brother sitting in front of us was really good with the Rubix cube!

At HK airport we had about four hours to kill. First we went to return our transport pass to get HK$50 back then we went to Fortress to ask about my battery. Fortress definitely have bad after service. Never going there again! We then walked around the few shops there while waiting for our boarding gate to be announced. When it finally was, we went inside to look at the duty free shops. I found the cigarette shop and bought the Virginia Slims that Virginia asked me to buy but I was like HK$2 short in HK cash so I had to tell the lady at the counter to wait for me to come back while I looked for my friend to borrow $2. It's because I wanted to use up all my HK money.

Then my friend spent ages looking at perfumes. So boredddddd -__-''. Finally she finished buying perfumes and we went to find CD stores again. There was very little selection there though. At the airport we kept hearing those cars that carry people inside the airport (I think for people who are late for their flight) going around and beeping. We saw the same guy go up and down. He must really enjoy his job!

We were starting to get hungry. Our flight wasn't until 11.30pm! And the meal on China Airlines from Taiwan to HK was not very filling so we decided to get some food at a cafe. We had to walk quite a fair way though. That was when we made full use of the 'people movers'. That way we could eat and at the same time get closer to our destination (our boarding gate) =P

This time we were flying QANTAS and I was sitting at a window seat again. Yay!=P But this overnight flight was one the worst flight that I can remember. I don't think I will ever take another overnight flight again. It was extremely cramped and uncomfortable while I was trying to sleep. I was so tired as well! They also didn't provide toothbrush! But before I uncomfortably fell asleep, I watched 'The Other Boleyn Girl'. It was ok.

When I finally had managed to fall asleep, the next thing I know the lights were open again and we were being served breakfast. I was so tired! Not enough sleep.

I had forgotten how cold Perth is right now ~ it hit me the instant I stepped off the plane. Before we went out to get our luggage my friend had to buy alcohol for her brother. OMG, I was annoyed, because I was tired and groggy. All I wanted to do was go home and sleep. I called Jade to let her know I had arrived. Our luggage had to be checked, or at least mine had to be x-rayed. They just let my friend pass through, I think because her luggage was small. Anyway, I had to wait a while before Jade came to pick me up. Said a quick goodbye to my friend. It wasn't a proper goodbye because I was still so tired, cold and groggy! I was happy to be back in Perth but I was already missing Taiwan!

I want to go back to Taiwan again. I've really fallen in love with the place ^^.

Anyway, when I got back home, it was so strange. It always happens when I've been away from home for a period of time. Everything seems strange even though it's familiar. Suddenly my room seemed really small! Well, I didn't sleep straight away but rather checked my email. The I had lunch and unpacked abit, listened to the CD I had just bought. At 2pm I slept. My mum woke me up once just to say "you must not have had a good sleep for weeks now" -___-. Then I woke up one more time at night but I was too tired to see what time it was. Anyway, I ended sleeping for 18 hours, waking up at 8.30 the next morning. Yeah, that's what the awful plane ride did to me ><

I really experienced a lot during this trip, especially in Taiwan. Become more independent. But I always end up becoming the map reader. That's something I would like someone else to take over next time.

Man, it took me days to finish recounting everything during this trip. There is a lot that I have missed or forgot but this should do for now. I will add if I recall anything else -_-

The End...finally...for now...until my next trip ^^

Yay! I'm going on my trip to HK and Taiwan in two weeks time. This will be my very first overseas trip that I plan myself. It's stressful but exciting! Stressful because me and my friend only decided two weeks ago to go on this holiday. The sane me would never do something like this ~ I mean I'm really pedantic about planning everything out, especially if I'm gonna be in a foreign place. I would need at least a month. But I'm not complaining ~ I will take any opportunity that comes.

It feels good to not have to think about exams too. Normally this time of year I will be frantically cramming -_- But...those days are OVER!!