蕊和妍的画像

这是我们在渔人码头找画家画的像。可爱吧？

Day 11 in Taiwan - 台北

It's our last day in Taiwan. As our flight is at 6pm, we will need to catch the cab at 3pm to get to the airport on time. So we spent the afternoon walking around 西门町. We had yummy breakfast of 馒头蛋 and 烧饼蛋 as we woke up too late to take the hotel breakfast. Our lunch was taken at the 便所主题餐厅, which is a theme restaurant modelled after toilets and bathrooms. The food was lousy. After that, we tried to catch the girl band SHE in action as they were having an outdoor event at 西门红楼. It proved too crowded for us although the girls were really excited.

Our 11-day Taiwanese trip had been Fantastic! We were surprised the girls could cope with the hectic travelling schedule. On average, we were on our feet for 8 hours a day, walking around, touring places. There was little complaint from them although Yan did whine whenever she got tired. Rui was especially cooperative and enjoyed herself thoroughly. Both girls loved the food in Taiwan.

We are looking forward to our next Taiwan holiday!

Day 10 in Taiwan - 台北

It is chilly today. The plan is to go to the Taipei Zoo in the morning and then make our way to do some shopping at 五分埔. The Taipei Zoo is interesting only for the pandas 团团圆圆. This is our first encounter with a real life panda!

We had lunch at 五分埔 and then did some shopping there. 五分埔 is an area in Taipei that is well known for selling clothes wholesale. Ben and I each bought some tops and we also bought some for the girls as they have run out of them. The clothes are not that cheap though especially if they are imported from Korea.

After that, we took the 捷运 (Taiwanese equivalent of our MRT) to meet Uncle Teddy at the famous 士林夜市. That place is huge and crowded as it was a Friday night. By then, we were all tired and cold (only 15 degrees celsius) so we didn't walk around too much.

Day 9 in Taiwan - 台北

The temperature really dipped today. We are all togged out in our jackets and jeans and layered our clothes to keep out the cold. As it is also raining, we decided to go to the zoo the next day and stay indoors instead. The hotel staff recommended 京华城 as there is a indoor facility named Baby Boss that lets children try out different occupations such as firefighter, air crew etc. What an interesting concept!

Rui and Yan tried out the following occupations - firefighter, hair stylist, manicurist, gas station worker, donut shop worker, astronaut, nursery nurse and farm worker. After each working session, they earn "money" to buy stuff at the shop. Alternatively, children can choose to deposit the "money" in the bank and use it when they return the next trip. They had so much fun! We had as much fun watching them. Due to time constraint, there were some occupations that the girls would have wanted to try but could not, such as air crew, pizza maker, policeman etc. Next trip perhaps?

We then met up with an ex-colleague of mine, Teddy, who is now based in Taiwan. We had dinner with him, his wife Celine and their daughter Lok Hei at an airplane theme restaurant. The food was bad, just like airline food! The girls then tried their hand at clay art at the mall. They produced a cute penguin and caterpillar with the help of the instructors there.

Today was indeed a fun-filled day.

Day 8 in Taiwan - 九份与台北

The weather in Taiwan is really erratic. A day ago, it was scorching hot in 花莲 we were in our bermudas and short sleeved tops. However, today the temperature has dropped sharply and it was al fogged up. We heard the temperature is going to be even lower tomorrow.

We did a more thorough tour of 九份 today. After a delicious breakfast, we walked around 九份老街(基山街) once more. The other interesting street was 竖岐街, which is a slopey windy lane featuring the eateries, especially the one where 悲情城市 was shot. There was also this shop displaying all things retro. Rui and Yan dressed up in the costumes and posed for pictures with all the old stuff that they have never seen before. Pretty much like the one we have at Arab Street.

After 九份, it's back to Taipei, our last stop. We checked into our cosy TS Hotel at 西门町, then made our way out to look for a restaurant that accepts credit card! We are short of cash and most shops and eateries accept only cash. There are no money changes around town like in Singapore and the only place to change money is at the bank which is already closed. We are left with only NT$600!

Luckily, with the help of the internet, we found a restaurant nearby at Carrefour that accepts card payment. After dinner, we strolled down 华西街. Quite a sleazy area I must say. And we remembered not to spend too much money until we manage to change some the next day.

Day 7 in Taiwan - 远雄海洋公园与九份

The girls were excited to be at the Far Glory Ocean Park which is located very close to our B&B. We headed there right after breakfast. The entrance ticket is NT$820 per adult and free for kids below 115cm. Quite expensive, especially since the park is nothing to shout about. Just a couple of the standard rides and a sealion and dolphin show. What surprised us was the discovery that Rui has turned out to be a speed junkie! She scoffed at the slow rides like merry go round and preferred the roller coaster rides. We went on that twice! Yan also preferred the faster rides better.

After lunch, we took a frantic taxi ride to the train station to catch the train to 瑞芳, which is near 九份，our next destination. This is a quaint little town nestled in the hills made famous by the movie 悲情城市. All the shops and houses are built on the hills, creating an interesting sight. The 九份老街is a steep windy road with all sorts of shops selling Taiwanese snacks, souvenirs etc. We enjoyed the walk. At the end of the 九份老街 is our B&B - 温莎堡日光涵馆. Nice B&B offering good view of 九份 but ex at NT$4800 per night!

Day 6 at Taiwan - 太鲁阁国家公园

Today is our 1-day tour around 太鲁阁国家公园. I think this must be the most famous part of 花莲，and the reason why people come to this part of Taiwan for holiday.

Our B&B recommended a taxi driver to bring us around the park. We started with the interesting Taroko Tourist Centre, which offers quite good insight about the National Park. It also offers educational displays for children, which is a great idea in my opinion. We then took a walk down Sakadang, which is the route that the traditional tribes took to get to their homes in the hills in the past. And of course, we also visited 九曲洞，燕子口，长春祠， 天祥， 布络湾 etc. We spent total 8 hours in all visiting these places! The girls were tired out and fell asleep midway.

We then headed to 自强夜市 for dinner. Disappointing, as the night market turned out to be very small and there was nothing much to eat.

It's then back to our B&B for a well-deserved rest.

Day 5 at Taiwan - 花莲（近月旭海民宿）

This is our final day at the farm. We were brought around the rest of the farm to see the animals. We visited the wild boars, the turkeys, the geese, the goats, the chickens and the buffaloes. The interesting thing about the tour around the farm is that there will be little stalls around the farm feeding us traditional taiwanese snacks. We were also introduced to the padi farms and to the old-styled mud huts built in the past. After a delicious lunch, we were driven to the train station to catch the train to 花莲, which is located at the eastern side of Taiwan.

We reached our B&B - 近月旭海 at around 6pm. It faces the Pacific Ocean and hence offers a magnificient view of the ocean. The girls are thrilled that there is a little playground at the backyard and there is also a resident beagle! Our room is a duplex, with one bed on first floor and another on second floor.

We decided to stay in and rest after a tiring trip. We dined in at the B&B, soaked in the atmosphere, took pictures and watched TV. Great way to end the day!

Day 4 at Taiwan - 头城农场

The weather was bright and sunny. Great weather for a day working at the farm.

We were brought around the farm to catch butterflies - (yes, we did catch 1 each for the girls). We also plucked out some carrots, radish, planted some vegetables and learnt a great deal about life at the farm. Check out our farming gear.

After lunch, it was art and craft time. We made some handicraft out of bamboo and also did leaf-painting on 4 T-shirts to take home. Rui loved this part the most!

礁溪, which is a town near the farm, is famed for the hotsprings so we were given vouchers to try out the public hotspring there. It is like our public swimming pool, except the water is hot and has minerals in it! I nearly got scalded in one of the pools as I had underestimated the temperature of 44.2 deg celsius.

Day 3 at Taiwan - 诚信书店与头城农场

We have booked a train ride at 2pm to go to 头城农场 which is located at 宜兰 so in the morning, after breakfast (I had yummy 鸡蛋馒头 from 永和豆浆), we went to the famous 诚信书店 at 信义路. This is one of the largest bookshops I have ever seen! There are 6 floors in all and almost every single floor is dedicated to selling books. The highest floor is the kids' section that we have heard so much about but we didn't think it was that fantastic. There are lots of children's books but that's about it, nothing unique. The problem with buying chinese books for children in Taiwan is that Singaporean kids learn 简体字whereas Taiwanese chinese books are all in 繁体字.

We reached the farm at around 4pm. The tour guide there brought us to the kilning grounds to observe how kilning of sweet potatoes is done. It was an eye-opener as we city dwellers have never seen something like this. We had a go at it and surprisingly managed to set up fire!

It was BBQ dinner next. Yummy! Scattered around the farm's vast grounds are swings, small playgrounds, a pond with fish and ducks and also little food stalls serving sweet snacks and tasty soup noodles. Visitors can eat whenever they feel like it! We think the farm is very well run and well planned out.

Final program for the day - 放天灯！First, we had to make the lantern out of paper, paint our wishes on it and then release it into the sky! This is something we will never get to do in Singapore! Our lantern flew all the way and never caught fire. Good job!

Day 2 at Taiwan - 北投与淡水

Day 2 was spent at 北投 and 淡水.

We took the Taiwanese version of MRT to both places. The ride was simple enough and very enjoyable, as Taiwanese are very considerate when it comes to giving up seats for those who need it more. They have small posters everywhere on the carriage, reminding people to give up the privilege seats （博爱位）to those needy ones.

北投 is known for its hotsprings. We first visited the public library which is built entirely of wood and shaped like a ship. I loved it! There is a faint musky smell when you step into the library. There is outdoor seating for those who prefer to be closer to nature. The basement is dedicated to kids' reading. The girls had lots of fun browsing.

After that, we took a walk through the hotspring museum. It showcases the evolution of hotspring culture in 北投. Interesting walk.

Finally, we settled down for lunch cum family hotspring session at Four Seasons Hotel. It cost us around S$83 for a 90min private hotspring session and 3 Japanese styled set lunches. This is the first time the girls experience hotspring baths so there is lots of novelty for them. As for us, the Japanese onsens are way better.

It's to 淡水 next. It's an old town and well known for the old style living. We walked through 老街 and then took a ferry to 渔人码头。The sunset view was great and the lit up 情人桥 looked as good as on travel brochures.

We finally headed back to Taipei after a tiring day of walkabout.

Day 1 at Taiwan

Our first day at Taiwan was spent mostly travelling. We reached Taipei airport at around 5pm, took a bus and taxi and finally reached our hotel East Dragon at around 7. After checking in we headed out to 西门町, which is a stone's throw away for our dinner. Dinner was simple Taiwanese food - noodles, fishball soup and 鲁肉饭。Simple but yummy! We then toured around the area before heading back to our hotel for a well-deserved rest.

Day out with the girls

It's my half day off today and I wanted to bring the girls out to a farm. Unfortunately, most farms are pretty quiet during this period of time, with nothing much for the kids to do. So we changed plans and headed out to one of my favourite parks - Jacob Ballas.

I like it for the many playgrounds for the kids to play in, the many interesting plants for visitors to explore and the vast grounds that makes it less crowded than the botanical gardens.

We brought along the girls' bicycles. However, we discovered that bikes are not allowed in Jacob Ballas for safety reason. We detoured to Eco Garden nearby for a bike ride first before heading back to Jacob Ballas for the Tree House playground.

Despite having been there so many times, we still enjoyed ourselves tremendously.

噩耗

前几天，接到了蕊和妍托儿所发来的消息。说她们以前的华文老师的女儿在中国病逝了。她才不过6岁。

这位小妹妹因为有先天的疾病，必须动手术。可是动完手术情况一直不明朗。

当我听到这个消息时，我一边为老师感到难过，另一方面，我也想了想，如果换做是我，突然失去我挚爱的孩子，我会怎么面对？我会一蹶不振吗？还是我会化悲愤为力量， 振作起来，继续生活下去？

我希望我这一辈子都不需要知道这个答案。

Taking a breather (just slightly...)

With the crazy hectic exam period finally behind me, I can take a slight breather. Just slightly. Cos there's still new module notes to develop, BB site to set up for the new module, MCQ pools to get ready (for quizzes), reports to write, planning to do, meetings to attend. All before we take off for a 11-day holiday.

It may sound like I am complaining, but I am secretly relishing the new challenges. Perhaps it is because I really like doing what I am doing now. It ain't a job if you enjoy it.

Ollie and the Slurge

I highly recommend this play Ollie and the Slurge. It is very entertaining, with some good and hilarious acting from the actors and actresses, interesting monster costumes and outfits as well as a very meaningful theme - Do your part to save the earth or you will have to bear with the consequences.

Yan thoroughly enjoyed it. Too bad Rui couldn't see it as she was feverish.

I want my Jie Jie!

Rui is still running a slight fever so we decided to keep her at home. That leaves Yan to go to school alone. She was very upset that her sister was not going along. She started crying as we were leaving the house and insisted that her sister came along to school cos, and I quote her, "I like Jie Jie!". Rui, being the ever adoring sister, gave her a hug and then held her hand and we decided we will all walk to the car together. Throughout the walking distance, the girls were holding hands with Yan looking melancholic. Despite all the crying, Ben and I thought it was quite a heartwarming sight.