Taipei adventure ~ day 2

Taipei adventure ~ day 1

travel date: April 20th 2012

we got some instant ramen the night before from 7-11(they are everywhere) for breakfast. i wanted one with meat, but got plain ramen instead :( down side for not able to read chinese. Still yummy regardless.

we made our way to the Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station exit 1 where we boarded Keelung bus 1062 to Jiu Fen. the trip took an hour and cost NT102(accepts easy card).

i would say Jiu Fen is a must visit for tourist. there are so many food to sample, souvenirs to buy, tea to drink, and sights to see!

mr. adventure love the deep fried calamari with chili powder. he chowed down a whole cup on the way in and out.

The best ice-cream combo ever. The seller shaved a giant block of nuts + cilantro and wrapped it in a thin crepe.

this artisan wanted us to take his photo and helped him promote his ceramic instrument(like a flute, but way cuter). i got one for my sis-in-law.

if you're looking for cell phone case, "pluggies", or those cute hello kitty glasses, get it from jiu fen. they are way cheaper than anywhere i've seen in taipei. Naturally I got one to play with(boo left it in kl though). Ah po you yuan is a savior after a short hike in humid weather. Taro is my fav (I'm obsessed with it)

These kind of life-like dolls kinda freak me out. Remember chucky?!!!

Enjoying tea with a hilltop view and fresh cooling air. Aahhhhhh~~~~~~~~

We picked a random fruit and flower teas cos' the menu is only available in chinese

Haul from Jiu Fen not including food stuff. The jerky is delicious by the way. iPhone case, "pluggy", candy, mask, key chains, accessories.

We stopped by wu fen pu and raohe night market on the way back to Taipei. I was super excited for my 1st clothing haul. The experts in shopping wholesale actually bring their own trolley. Pretty smart!

I was shopping happily with amazing bargain and suddenly the sky decided to dim down my joy. There is no escape from taipei rain. Dang! We continued shopping for a while, but gave up soon after it started pouring really hard :(

3 t-shirts(100-250nt), 3 blouses(250-390nt), 2 dresses(375nt), 1 shorts(300nt), 2 scarfs(100-200nt), 1 beaded collar(150nt, regretted not getting more), 1 necklace(150nt)

Thankfully 7-11 and familymart are everywhere. We bought umbrellas and continued our journey to raohe night market.

I personally prefer raohe over Shilin mainly due to the variety. Raohe has a lot of Japanese/taiwanese fusion food. Don't miss out the pepper biscuit if you're ever there.

We of course didn't miss out on the famous Formosa chang's lu rou fan. It was the best we tried in Taipei. The shop we went is just by the houshanpi mrt station.

There are also a ton of clothes, accessories, random stores to satisfy any cravings. I got the vest and shorts for 500nt, cute polka dot umbrella for 100nt and falsies for 100nt(have not tested them)

I'll be posting day 3 soon

Friday Photo Meme: Non Makeup Edition aka Random Things Edition

i saw yumeko's friday photo meme and decided to join in the fun. excuse me for being a week late. i love looking at random photos. instagram made everyone a professional photographer without much hassle.

1. Plushie/Toy

i won this from the UFO catcher machine in taipei. i learned the technique after eavesdropping from a bunch of kids and deciphering the entire conservation with my limited chinese ability. i was really lucky to get 2 raccoons in one attempt. they are happily decorating my car now.

2. Food/Snack/Meal

i'm addicted to anything ube/taro flavor. this ube sponge cake is great for a 4pm snack in the office.

3. Stationery

cute memo pad. mum picked this for me :) i hardly write anything with a pen though.

4. Something you wear [clothes, shoes, accessories]

tetris studs to satisfy the geeky side of me. quick trivia: i have 5 piercings.

5. Something Random

This is absolutely random. My sis gave this to me, but neither of us knows what is it. You're supposed to put it in water and grow a rilakkuma. It's currently a ball shape. Leave a comment, if you know. Something edible? A bath bomb?

 

the nuptial day

mr. adventure and i tied-the-knot early this month on 5/3/2012. we had an intimate wedding with our dear families. i managed to hold back tears when we signed the papers. quite an achievement considering i'm pretty easy on the tears.

 

it was a fun ceremony, filled with laughter, funny and touching moments. our big celebration reception will be early next year. we've decided to do them separately as it's more convenient and easier for us. planning for a wedding is a demanding task. it's almost like having a second job. I'm sure some of you know what I mean ;-) regardless, it's exciting and fun to look and search for the dress, the venue, the cake, the photographer, the music etc......yup, the list just goes on and on ;)

her

• dress: small vintage bridal boutique in austin
• shoes: nude stuart weitzman
• Accessories: boutique in kl
• birdcage veil: icing
• Hair flowers: gift from sis
• flowers: diy; brooch: estate sale
• corsage: diy

him

• pink shirt: neiman marcus
• vest: kenneth cole
• pants: calvin klein
• Shoes: clarks
• boutonniere: diy

Decor

• Vintage suitcase: thrift store
• & sign: gift from sis

 

 

Taipei adventure ~ day 1

i'm back from my asia getaway. i apologize for the lack of post, but i'm trying to play catch up(if i'm not too distracted from diablo 3. any gamers out there?).

travel date: apr 19th 2012

as always the journey from central texas to asia is excruciating long. i'm forever grateful to in-flight entertainment. after several movies, meals and naps, we finally landed in taoyuan international airport.

we boarded the kuokuang bus to taipei main station as there were no buses to ximen early in the morning. the ticket cost NT120 and it was a fairly comfortable ride. once arrived at taipei main station, we looked for the MRT station and bought the easycard. it easy to travel with easycard as you just swipe the card at the entrance and exit. it requires NT100 deposit and can be reloaded at any station.

we left our luggage at the hotel lobby and head out to hunt for food. ximen is pretty much empty before noon on a weekday. most shops were close and we were getting desperate for food. we stumbled upon a small shop  where an "ah yee" is frying lou bak gao (turnip cake). we finally settled on a corner table waiting for our food. the food was delicious, but mr. adventure prefers more "rou" in the "lu rou fan"(stew pork over rice).

after re-fueling our stomach, we decided to make a stop at chiang kai-sek memorial since i was too tired to even shop(omg, never thought i'll say that). we were amazed by the huge buildings and the huge gate.

cloudy sky == bad photos :(

next stop, longshan temple as we had time to kill before the check-in time at 3pm. we felt weird walking towards the temple from the station as we passed by a park filled with retirees playing "chess". all eyes were on us as we were the only "20-something" there. they were probably thinking, "why aren't you at work?"

people from all ages, all walks of lives pray in this ornate temple. devotees were seen chanting, praying, giving offerings and worshiping.

upon exiting the temple, we spotted ten ren. i read about it from several bloggers and definitely want to try. the milk tea is so so refreshing in hot summer weather. drinks from ten ren is quite a bit more expensive than others ~NT70-NT150.

our dinner at shilin night market was quite an adventure as we tried to figure out the best stall. the indoor basement night market is probably where you want to be since it has all the local delicacies under one roof. i don't understand why they have several stalls selling the same type of food though. i think they're the same owner since the sign looks exactly the same. anyway, we had so much food. each item ranges from NT20-NT100.

my tiny haul of the day.
t-shirts:2 for NT350
flats: NT200 (USD6.8. you can't never find a cute flats for that price anywhere else)
scrunchie:  NT50
amulet from longshan temple: NT30

i'm still working on filtering thousands of photos for day 2, but i hope to post it in the next few days.

ps: USD1 is equivalent to ~NT29.6

the missing posts

i'm have not been a very good blogger lately. shame shame on me for missing the entire month of march. i blame it on work and life changes events. work is really taking a huge toil on me. it happened when your teammate decided to call it quits without advance notice and you're still new to the team. basically an exponential learning curve where everyone expects you to be an expert in a short time. i'm glad i'm taking a vacation starting tomorrow evening ^_^

march was actually an exciting month for me. celebrating birthdays, planning a vacation, planning an intimate wedding and attending parties. they kept me alive and sane.

unfortunately,  i'll be missing for the rest of april as well. i have no idea how bloggers keep up with their posts while traveling. i can never have the energy to write after a long day walking, seeing, eating, posing, shopping etc. kudos to those who can!

aus - sfo - tpe - kul - tpe - sfo - den - aus

i promise to post more when i get back and catch up on your lovely blogs.