Day 2 in Taipei 2013

I certainly have a sense of being at home in Taipei. A lot of familiar things bringing smiles to my face. :)
Breakfast at Taipei Hero House was really value for money. It is mainly Taiwanese style, Chinese dishes and with soya bean milk, buns (mantou) and porridge. We didn't eat too much because we would be getting a treat for lunch lol.

After breakfast, we browsed at the 7-11 store in the hotel. There are so many different variety of drinks and food as compared to Singapore's 7-11 stores. It is so much more interesting here. :)

After breakfast, my mother's youngest sister brought her second daughter over for a "hello" as she couldn;t make it for dinner last night. It is really nice of them to take the trouble to do that. :)

We slowly made our way to our lunch venue. My mother's friend treated us at Jen Dow Vegetarian Restaurant. It is buffet style and it is a very popular restaurant! I love the desserts lol. Although it was vegetarian food, we felt really satisfied and full. :)

After lunch at 2pm, we took the MRT to Tamshui Old Street. We met another old friend of my mother's and she accompanied us to the Tamshui Old Street. There are many exciting shops at the Tamshui Old Street as well as food vendors selling interesting food. Unfortunately we didn't try any food as we were still trying to digest our lunch!

Our favourite Owl store :)

A temple along Tamshui Old Street

At 6pm, we made our way to our dinner venue. My uncle was giving us a treat and it was a special occasion too as his three out of four children happened to be in Taipei currently. We were shocked to find out it was buffet again! Our poor stomachs! :P There is a good mix of Western and Asian dishes.

An enormous oyster! A table spoon is placed next to it for comparison. I didn't dare to dare it.

After dinner, we went to my uncle' place for a short while. I chatted with my cousins as I last saw them many years ago, ranging from 12 years to 21 years ago lol. Plenty of laughter. We, the cousins, took pictures with one another and our children also took a photo together lol. :)

By the time we reached our hotel, it was past 10pm. With so much food in our stomach, none of us could sleep lol. :P

Updated 12:38am, 8 June 2013
We experienced earthquake tremors. An earthquake happened in Hualien on a scale of 6.2. Juliane was fast asleep so she didn't feel it. Marieann was playing on the iPad and she didn't feel it. I didn't know what was going on except wondering to myself why are the "Make up the room" sign rattling against the door and the cloth hangers banging together in the closet. Thought for a moment I have a visitor from the other realm haha. :P Only my mother was alert. She was in bed and she at once said we are experiencing an earthquake! What an end to the day.

Day 1 in Taipei 2013

Our 3K 721 took off at 7.20am, 10 minutes behind schedule  At 7.45am, we were served our breakfast that I pre-paid for. We could choose a cold drink with our main meal of teriyaki chicken with rice. The girls walloped up their food lol. The journey was very smooth, much to my disappointment lol. 

The sun rising while waiting for departure

On the runway, with the sun rising

We are in the air :)

My pre-paid main course - Teriyaki Chicken with rice and a drink

We see land! Taipei!

We arrvied in Taipei at 11.55am, right on schedule. My mother and her friends were at the airport to pick us up and we left straight for Yang Ming Shan National Park for lunch and sight-seeing.
Lunch was at this place called Qing Cai Yuan, which is our second visit. The vegetable dishes are local produces of Yang Ming Shan. Absolutely delicious!

We went to the "Valley of Sulphur" within Yang Ming Shan National Park. Phew, it really stank like rotten eggs. :P But it is a sight to see the vents of steam, the ponds of boiling hot water and sulphur-stained rock surfaces. It was an educational moment for the girls.

Valley of Sulphur map

Boiling water + steam = HOT

Sulphur-stained rocks behind us

A stray puppy in the cordoned off area

At 4+pm, we arrived at our accommodation, Taipei Hero House (台北國軍英雄館). :) It is a value for money accommodation. If you are looking for luxurious, 5-stars accommodation, then this is not it. Taipei Hero House suits our purpose well - Family Room, near MRT (2 mins walk away), 7-11 and I-Mei Convenience Store within the accommodation, self-service laundry service, free wireless, and a restaurant. It is a really safe area too, the Military Police HQ is just opposite Taipei Hero House.

The view outside our window - a rainbow and part of the Military Police HQ

The lobby area for my floor

We rested for an hour and a half before going out at 7.30pm to meet with my mother's youngest sister who came up from KaoHsiung (she was married to KaoHsiung) to see us. We went to the Japanese Shabu Shabu restaurant where my cousins worked for dinner. We had the best service and the ingredients were really fresh. No wonder the restaurant was packed. I have not seen this Aunt and my cousins for the past 21 years lol. It was really good catching up with them.

The girls playing while waiting for the MRT train

My cousin, my mother and Juliane

A group photo of my Taiwanese family

We arrived back at Taipei Hero House around 9.30pm. It has been a really long and eventful day. My mother has planned tomorrow's itinerary - meeting with friends and family again. 

Arrived in Taipei!

Just a quick update. We have arrived safe and sound in Taipei and have been busy having lunch at and visiting Yang Ming Shan National Park since we touched down at 11.55am and we are going out again later in the evening. I will update our Day 1 in Taipei as soon as I can, within these two days. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Please check back later. :)

Counting Down

Updated 6am, 6 June 2013
We have cleared the customs and now waiting for boarding at 6:40am. Check in and clearing customs were a breeze and really quick, all done in 15 minutes. :) Now the kids are bored and sleepy lol. My mother will be waiting for us at the airport in Taipei and she has already planned where to take us for lunch at Yang Ming Shan (陽明山). Going to be hard to maintain my weight! 

I just finished my check (of the umpteenth time) for all the luggage - 1 check-in luggage and three carry-on luggage. I think that is the FINAL check. Bringing kids on holiday is never an easy job, there are many things that I need to pre-empt and have Plan Bs on hand. 
Our flight departs at 7.10am so we have to be at the airport by latest 5am. Although I have already checked in online and we are required to be at the airport 90 minutes before departure, I would rather play safe and be there slightly earlier. :)
The kids are fast asleep. I should sleep soon too as I have to wake up in three hours' time! Maybe one last check?! Haha. :P

Farewell, David

Today, I bade farewell to my favourite ex-boss who hail from Australia. Sigh, all the good ones are leaving. :( We had a farewell party for him and a bonus for me, my other favourite ex-boss who hail from USA was in town and attended the party too. :) There was a nice slideshow for my boss and we did a scrapbook for him. It is really amazing to see how creative some of my colleagues are with their scrapbook page!! :) There were plenty of delicious home-cooked food and desserts. I have never seen such an array of desserts! They tasted as good as they looked!

My favourite ex-bosses, Prof Paris and Prof Hogan, and Prof Renshaw

Group photo of everyone who worked in Core 2 :)

David and his three PhD students

It has been a real pleasure working with you, David. Thank you for giving me the opportunities to learn, to grow, to lead, ... You have been a great mentor. Thank you. You will be greatly missed.

Checked In

With the online check-in opened 48 hours before flight departure, I have just checked myself and the girls in for our flight on Thursday 7am. Now, we need only get to the airport at least 90 minutes before departure. I have bought ourselves an extra hour of sleep! :P

Closet Korean Drama Fan

I finally realised that I am a closet Korean romantic drama fan. :P
The girls started watching "Fabulous Boys" on Channel U and asked their father to buy the series as they really like it. Unfortunately their father bought the Korean version instead of the Taiwanese version which is what's on TV now. Apparently, "Fabulous Boys" (2013) is a cover of the original Korean drama, "You're Beautiful" (2009) and there is also a Japanese version, "Ikemen desu ne" (2011) lol.
I started watching the Korean version with the girls and found myself hooked to the story! We could watch the series for the entire afternoon non-stop haha. Although I can't understand the Korean songs in the series, I like them a lot. :)

Still/ As Ever (uploaded by lilrudegirlxD) 


Without Words (female version) (uploaded by chibipayucute)

Promise (uploaded by chibipayucute) 


What Should I Do (uploaded by chibipayucute) 


Song For a Fool (uploaded by chibipayucute)


Lovely Day (uploaded by chibipayucute)


 Goodbye (uploaded by 3nityBlood)

Packing

I finally started packing for our trip to Taipei, Taiwan today. We will be flying with Jetstar and I have a check-in luggage of 15kg. I have to make sure I don't exceed the weight limit. Thank goodness, we still have the hand-carry luggage of 10kg each person, meaning we have a total of 45kg! :) Well, we won't need all 45kg lol. The stuff that I need to bring over for my relatives in Taiwan weighs about 10kg and our stuff would probably take up another 20kg. Guess I can do lots of shopping in Taipei. :P

Start of June Break 2013

It is officially the first day of the June school holidays. The girls will be occupied for the first 2 weeks with 1.5 weeks being in Taipei, Taiwan. Have to think of how to keep them occupied in the last 2 weeks of June, other than doing their holiday homework.