I haven’t blog in a long while.

A lot of things have happened since then; some silly, some mundane, some important, some significant, some happy, some upsetting, some serious, others well, just plain normal.

Maybe its time to say (all I need).

“Say (All I Need)” – One Republic

Do you know where your heart is?
Do you think you can find it?
Or did you trade it for something
Somewhere better just to have it?
Do you know where your love is?
Do you think that you lost it?
You felt it so strong, but
Nothing’s turned out how you wanted

Well, bless my soul
You’re a lonely soul
Cause you won’t let go
Of anything you hold

Well, all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

Do you know what your fate is?
And are you trying to shake it?
You’re doing your best and
Your best look
You’re praying that you make it

Well, bless my soul
You’re a lonely soul
Cause you won’t let go
Of anything you hold

Well, all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

I said I all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it?
Better than you had it
Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it?
Yeah, better than you had it (Better than you had it)

I said I all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

I said I all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

Whenever the end is
Do you think you can see it?
Well, until you get there
Go on, go ahead and scream it
Just say it

So it’s Day 3, and we are off to Hualien (花蓮), on the Eastern coast of Taiwan by the Pacific Ocean for more adventures!

Inside the train from Taipei Main Station to Hualien Station. We took the Tzu-Chiang (自強) service, which is the fastest (but more expensive) and comfortable service. Can’t really remember how much the tickets cost but you can check out railway tickets here.

After traveling for half a day via train, we finally reached our destination! A fatigued smile, but a smile nonetheless. Say Cheese!

Welcome to Hualien (花蓮)! There are quite a lot of aborigines that reside here, including the Ami (阿美族), Ataya and the Bunun. And the Ami are quite famous as well for their excellent vocals and dance.

Apparently, it’s quite inconvenient to travel around Hualien in anything other than cabs as I heard buses come very irregularly. Outside the Hualien Railway Station, hordes of cabs wait for their passengers in the hot sun. If you look carefully, the cab drivers are actually waiting in the shelter by the side of the road after “parking” their cabs in the middle of the road.

We had “Bian Shi” (above) and “Lor Bak Peng” (Braised Pork Rice) for lunch over there. I am not too sure about the origin of this dish, but the cab driver made a strong recommendation for the stall. Maybe it is one of the faves of ex-Taiwan president “Ah Bian”?

The 6 of us outside the entrance to Taroko National Park (太魯閣國家公園). The cab driver who was also our location guide told us about the famous sights and sceneries within, including the Tunnel of Nine Turns (九曲洞), Eternal Spring Shrine (長春祠), Swallow’s Mouth (燕子口) etc. More picture of the magnificent sights below.

Us taking a shot outside the entrance (gate behind). The way beyond will be quite tricky for an amateur driver, because it is often single-lane, narrow, curvy and should one breach the metal railings by the side of the road, he would probably plummet down the cliff headlong.

As you can see, the water level’s pretty low and erosion and deposition is apparent on the banks of the river. According to the cab driver, when the water’s high due to typhoon or tsunamis (highest water mark coincides with the rust level on the bridge’s support), the bridge gets washed away. A scary idea I suppose, but he says that it is pretty common to rebuild the bridges due to the high frequency of tectonic movements and floods in Taiwan. Thank God I am in Singapore, phew.

See what I mean when I say narrow bending roads? Most of the earlier roads were constructed using dynamite explosives, hence forming unique rock features along the way. Look at the rock feature above carefully. 1. Which animal’s head do you see? [Answers to be revealed at the end of this post].

A group shot under the “Head”.

Leaning on one of the many bridges in the Gorge region. There are also a lot of slender and long suspension bridges in the National Park (see background). No room for the feint of heart in an area of extreme heights.

Venturing into the unknown? What lurks in the tunnel ahead?

The Eternal Spring Shrine. If you look closely at the bottom left hand side, you can see the name engraved in red on the stone. Doesn’t this remind you of some calendar scenery background?

A closeup of the same thing. Apparently, there has been some heavy rainfalls which lead to a landslide at the monument. Renovation at the shrine prevented us from entering the premises.

Group shot at one of the suspension bridge location (see below). This bridge leads into the mountains on the other side of the river and it is opening to visitors soon, if I am not wrong. Aborigines who still live up the hills must hike up and down everyday (about 10km walk or so) to go about their daily routines, e.g. work, go to schools, gather resources etc. Maybe this can explain why I don’t see plump Aborigines around there.

The Swallow Grotto (燕子口), so named after the many swallows that occupy the limestone caves within. Due to the prolonged influx of disturbance from visitors over the years, most of the swallows have sadly migrated to seek quieter better homes.

Swallow caves punctuate the smooth limestone face. Sad to say, you can hardly see any flying around though.

Finally, question no. 2: What do you see from the rock feature above? Hint: Head of something/someone. [Answer at the end of post].

After walking for quite a bit, it’s time to stretch and exercise! We had a little game of stone-throwing to see who could actually throw the stone over to the other bank (which is quite a substantial distance away). In the end, only Heng managed to do it with some clever hooking of the stone with his finger. I just did the “tongue out” action which Jordan would as well when dunking.

The Tunnel of Nine Turns (九曲洞), so called due to the many turns and bends (not just nine) at this particular rock feature location. We walked through quite a number of tunnels and winding road through the massive mountains.

“Coiled Dragon of the Nine Turns“, as written by Liang Han-Tsao, is a tribute to the marvels of natural engineering.

Alright, one last question for this post. 3. What can you make out from the rock feature above? Hint: Look out for the “animal” (protruding piece of rock halfway and slightly to the right of the picture).

Generally, it’s very safe strolling through Taroko National Park. However, accidents such as rockfalls and landslides do happen from time to time due to the volatility of weather, so it’s best not to walk too close along the cliff and be alert.

I guessed I have posted enough pictures for a single entry already. Anyway, after the Taroko National Park, we did went for sight-seeing and shopping at other locations in Hualien. More of that coming in Episode 4 of Taiwan Days.

Answers to the questions:

1. Head of lion

2. Head of Red Indian Chief

3. Fish jumping upstream out of the water

(From this, we can probably tell that the people over there are pretty creative in the way they see and perceive things).

Day 2 of Taiwan Days

So we’re still at Taipei, all rearing to go even though we have walked quite a bit at the Night Market last night. We woke up early on Day 2, because we have quite a lot of places in mind to visit.

Outside Longshan Temple (龍山寺), one of the most famous temples in Taiwan. As you can see, it’s quite packed even though it’s pretty early in the morning.

A view of the interior of the Temple. Apparently, there’s some procession or event going on that day, so we just mingled in and snapped some shots before heading for our next destination.

A shot of us outside our hotel in Ximen, Taipei, finally.

The Original “A-Chung Rice-Flour Noodles” at Ximenting, Taipei.

Yeah, you have to stand and eat the rice-flour noodles. And while you are at it, enjoy the piping hot handmade noodles with extra-chewy pig’s innards. Oishi.

Sorry, the picture’s a bit grainy and blurred ’cause we are all in the bus speeding its way up to Yangmingshan (阳明山) National Park up in the Northern region of Taipei. The temperature’s dropping as we ascend the mountain gradually. Brrr.

Map of Yangmingshan National Park at the Bus interchange. Apparently, the park’s huge and takes a whole day to explore, including features like extinct volcanoes, hot springs, cherry blossoms, sulfur deposits etc.

The view from Jhuzihhu (竹子湖), somewhere in the middle of the Park. As you can see, the scenery is pretty cool over here. The strong hilltop winds coupled with the altitude makes the weather cold, maybe somewhere around 15 degree Celsius or so.

The couples face off! Introducing the Girls…

And the Boys… (Behind us are the plantations and farms of different vegetables and plants, e.g. Calla Lily)

We found a nice cafe along the road near Jhuzihhu area, and we sat there, drinking hot chocolate and hot tea while waiting for the public bus to ferry us back to the Interchange. We ended up taking a cab down the hill instead because the bus that we waited for about half an hour was full.

Eventually, we took a bus to Beitou (北投區), a district famous for its hot springs and spas. As you see from the picture, we have a lot of options for our well-deserved Taiwan spa. Some of them even have interesting names like Hell Valley (it must be real hot in there) and Lotus-spa Hot Spring Resort.

Ultimately, we chose this resort for our Taiwan Hot Spring and Spa experience. Had to strip aside our conservatives and bare butt-naked for the experience (males and females separate of course), but it was, all in all, a heart-warming one.

We noticed something interesting on our way to our next destination via the Metro. This is a designated Waiting Zone for Female Passengers at night at the platform, obviously designed to protect the interests and modesty of the females traveling via public transport at night. Considerate idea, I must say.

After the sight-seeing and spa treatment, what’s next? Food is on the agenda next, at the Night Market near Tamsui 淡水鎮 station. Once again, we find ourselves swimming in the sea of colours, lights, noises, smells and scents and unfamiliar faces.

Took another short bus ride to Tamsui Fisherman’s Wharf (淡水漁人碼頭). A scenic spot where the Lover Bridge of Tamsui resides. A pretty romantic place to bring your loved ones to.

The Lover Bridge itself. Glows green under the spotlights at night, surrounding strolling couples with an air of romance and love.

If we hold on together, I know our dreams will never die.

We went for a stroll around that area after crossing the Lover Bridge, enjoying the sea breeze and the romantic saxophone music played by both amateur and professional musicians at the pubs lining the harbor.

It proved to be a long night. After returning to Ximen from Tamsui, we passed by the majestic looking PartyWorld (錢櫃) building (I think alternatively called Cashbox as well). Karaoke-ing is apparently the nation’s favourite activity, so we went to take a look as well. I still can’t believe they had a whole building of KTV lounges!

The last activity of the night: KTV! Turns out that besides the grand appearance of the building, each KTV lounge is very well-facilitated as well. You can order food (like dim-sum, which we did), enjoy a private restroom in each lounge, and convenient facilities like volume control panels on the walls and a digital console stand in each room. Not to mention that the much better microphones and padded walls for sound-proofing. Sing your guts out!

With that, Day 2 in Taiwan came to an end. On our next leg, we will be traveling to Hualien (花蓮) for more sight-seeing and adventures. Episode 3, coming up soon.

Think it’s just about due time that I wrote about my one-week trip to Taiwan, which took place between 10 – 18 May 2008. It was a well-deserved trip, and just as I expected, it turned out to be truly rewarding for both the heart and the mind. This would probably be the first episode of a series of posts dedicated to the times I had in the loving island of Taiwan, and only pictures, not words, can probably do justice to our visual senses.

I shall dispense these pictures. Enjoy.

The 4 of us set off (from right: Me, Meiting, Yatting, Benson) from Changi’s newest terminal 3 (T3) on the morning of the 10th, all excited and drooling at the prospect of a long-awaited vacation.

Me and my gf in the shuffle between the transit area and the departure halls.

Touched down at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport about 4 hours later, only to be greeted by strong winds howling down the airport aisles and embracing us in their chilly arms. I guessed the temperature’s between 15 – 20 degrees Celsius, and it was the transition period between the seasons. Cool.

Dear and Yatt at the Ximen station, after we took an Express Bus down to Taipei from Taoyuan. Checked in our hotel, Ta Shun Hotel (大順大飯店) in the Ximen area and went straight to our next stop for the evening via the Taipei Metro.

The first night market that we went to, undoubtedly the most well-known and popular one to all visitors and locals as well – Shilin Night Market (士林夜市) in Taipei.

Basically, these are Corn dogs of different flavors – Original, Chilli, Smoked, Black Pepper, Cheese etc.

You will see these stalls selling BBQ everywhere; apparently they can BBQ almost anything as well, from squids to intestine to meat to coagulated pig’s blood.  

Normal and Curry fishballs – Ain’t too hard to tell them apart huh?

Me and my Super Squid Ink Sausage.

 The stall with Shaved Ice and Fruits at Shilin – Desserts at their best.

Shaved ice + fresh mango cubes + condensed milk = Oh-my-god-its-damn-nice-ok?

Meiting and Benson are adventurous enough to try something new but common in the night markets – the oddly-shaped duck’s tongue.

Apparently besides pork, they have “live” piglets for sale as well at the night markets.

After the night market, we went to retire for the night. As it was still in the transition from Spring to Summer, the night temperatures were cooling and humidity was basically kept at zero. By the time we left Taipei 8 days later, the temperatures climbed beyond 30 degree Celsius for the day.

Episode 2 coming up in a while. Standby.

Read on.

Cost of a Cornetto ice-cream: S$2.00

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Cost of traditional Korean cuisine: S$10.00

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Cost of eating a home-baked Oreo cheese cake: Ingredients worth up to S$30.00

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Cost of eating at a Western restaurant with girlfriend: S$60.00

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Cost of eating at an Indonesian restaurant with family: S$100.00

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Cost of eating at a Chinese restaurant with colleagues: S$120.00

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Cost of passing the IPPT (Individual Physical Proficiency Test) without prior training:

Priceless

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I know that instead of the word “Priceless”, “Remedial Training” could replace it, so I thank God for making me pass the Test and possibly give myself the Best Birthday Present this year.

We know that there’s something money can’t buy; but for everything else, there’s …. (yeah, you know).

I told myself I would write this down once I get access to my computer (since this story has been floating in my head for a couple of days already).

Disclaimer: The paragraphs you are about to read are true but completely random. Please do not proceed if you are not feeling the same way.

***

“I sat at the corner of my bed, dazed and bleary from the few hours of sleep I had, and waited for my brain to boot up like an old but trustworthy computer. Normally, like a real PC, this process would take about 1 minute, as bits and pieces of information fall together and are loaded onto the multi-screen capital of grey and white matter in my head, while I slowly regained consciousness and awareness of my surroundings. I stared blankly for a few more seconds, unblinking, and suddenly, something small (but not that small) darted out from underneath my bed to no man’s land (referring to the 1m by 1m area of space between the corner of my bed and the door). In a fraction of a second, my eyes focused and my brain sharpened to register the little pale yellow thing as a house lizard (scientific name: Hemidactylus frenatus), a fairly formidable reptile capable of eliciting a louder-than-necessary response from even a full-grown adult human being (scientific name: Homo sapiens). It laid on no man’s land for a second, then, perhaps sensing the pair of human eyes looking at it dangerously, fled to my bedroom door and disappeared into the space  underneath the door. I hesitated, giving the lizard a slight head start, before leaping forward and opening the door, half-expecting to see the poor lizard fleeing for its life again outside. Instead, it was gone without a trace, without a sound, without a tail.”

***

I remembered I said something like this to my colleague today, as we sat eating bean-curd at the store.

“Cockroaches are marvelous creatures,” I said, sipping my smashed bean-curd, while watching an adult (how do you tell if a cockroach is an adult? By it’s size?) cockroach crawling in the crevices along the lighted pavement.

I did not wait for him to reply.

“You know why?” I continued. “They are the most successful creatures on Earth, and that’s because of several reasons.” I smiled, taking another mouthful.

“They are small; they keep low profiles of themselves; they reproduce in numbers; they can live in any conditions and best of all, they eat anything,” I explained, as we both looked at the creature scurrying from the people passing by.

“Which is why, for humans to be successful, we have to be like them. We have to keep a low profile, multiply in numbers and eat anything that comes our way.”

I thought I saw my colleague half-nodding.

***

Yeah, but maybe you should know, I will away on a leisure trip to Taiwan from 10 – 18th May 2008, so this blog will generally remain stagnant (like how it is always) until I come back. And maybe then, I can share some experiences and pictures of my trip so that my blog will not so philosophical and wordy as it already is.

Taylor Swift’s “Teardrops on my guitar”. It’s supposed a song from 2007 but I started hearing it recently. Anyway, this has been a fav on my Ipod since and I absolutely love her voice (and her looks). A future country pop singer like Faith Hill in the making? Maybe.

“4 minutes” – Madonna feat. J. Timberlake & Timbaland

If you have only 4 minutes to spare, listen to this. This song is crazily infectious, and I am humming it ever since I heard it. Somebody stop me…

Was lying on the bed when I heard this song, a classic hit from good ‘ole Sinatra back in the days, but done by Taiwanese singer, Gary Cao. It is an old song, my sister said, but even she hung around and heard through the song as Gary performed his excellent vocal ranges. Incidentally, I love this song as well (well, even though it’s not technically from my era, but I love old stuff nonetheless), and thought I shall just post this version sung by Gary Cao here. If you think he’s good, you have not seen him perform this yet.

“My Way” as performed by Gary Cao during one of the variety shows. Can’t get the MV version (partly because I think there’s no MV shot for this song). Eat this!

Yeah, I know that it’s mid-week and its probably darn surprising to see me writing after such a long period of dormancy. True, it surprises me too that I should be writing, but since everybody has been feeling the heat (both literally and physically) recently, I thought I should at least contribute and do my part to prevent the world from over-heating and exploding in a ball of flames. While some people take it out on the dance-floor on a Mambo-Jambo Zouk Wednesday, or chill out in some coffee place with some kick-ass friends, I’ll like to play some feel-good songs, lie on my bed and think of the good things in life: the sun, the blue sky, the sand, the sea, nature, kindness, the air-con, love, friends, travel etc. (this is rather erratic because I am typing a random list of things that make me feel good).

As you slowly drift into a state of non-activity, the music that plays in the background serves to bring in a feeling of peace and calmness that overcomes your fatigue and makes you forget, even if temporarily, about the hustle and bustle of the morning train, of your demanding targets and quotas at work, of people who step on your toes and make you tremble in anger at the thought of their faces.

You are not asleep; yet you are not all that sober as well.

It is a form of relaxation for the mind, at least for me, and it brings you further away from your threshold of endurance from everything that makes you angry, upset, tired and frustrated. When you rise from your resting place, you will find that things seem a little better, life gets a little easier and your head gets a little lighter.

That’s not sleep, but simply well-deserved rest for that 50-ounces brain of yours. It’s never a bed of roses living in a cosmopolitan city; make yourself feel better.

Declare your feel-good-day.

This is a perfect example of a feel-good song to go with a feel-good-day: Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. I heard it on my Ipod on my way back from work and it serenades me. His voice is wondrous. Put down your work, lie on something comfortable and listen. Enjoy your feel-good-day.