Sunday, July 6, 2014

Taiwan with the EY mates (24 to 29 May 2014)

went to the kris flyer lounge for breakfast before boarding our flight to Taipei.

Again, we won free tickets via Tiger's "Fly a friend for free" contest. This year has definitely been such a fantastic year with lots of chances to travel thanks to Tiger :D







Arrived in Taipei in the noon and took the shuttle bus to Taoyuan High Speed Rail (HSR) station. It was a pretty cheap bus ride costing HT20 per pax (i.e. less than S$1).





All together now--- showing off our HSR tickets to Taichung station




Our hostel near FengJia Night Market.

Wei Lin doing a pose against the harry potter-ish backdrop of a "bookcase" wallpaper.





the contact lenses and spectacles in Taiwan are dirt cheap. 

I made a pair of glasses for 50SGD. how cheap is that.

Vicki and my mgr managed to purchase branded frames "Loewe" and "Givenchy"too….guess how much they cost? 

wait for it….

…..

…..

S$1.

yes. serious. i am not kidding. (not much of a joker anyway).



We were trying out the 蛋饼。


Wan Ting chomping down on Pig's Blood sprinkled with a dash of chilli powder.



Taiwanese sausage wrapped in glutinous rice. super deli.


smelly tofu and fried chicken.






cuttlefish.


There were tons of stores along the night market selling trendy sunglasses. Hence, the above pic! haha, i actually really like that sunglass…but it just does not suit me. I'll look like a bug….you know the kind with huge, protruding alienish eyes and a small body.


Day 2




Went to 永和豆浆 Yong He Dou Jiang for breakfast.

We'd arranged for a 9 seater car to Alishan around 9am. 


Heading off to Chiayi!





Stopped by a restaurant for some Taiwanese fare.



The driver then brought us to 地久 bridge where we visited the 龙隐寺济公庙 (ji gong temple). 




Wan Ting went crazy with her poses. LOL.











Finally, we reached our humble abode for the night! 


It was a really pretty cottage set within the mountain ranges. Pity it was almost an hour's drive from Alishan and pretty inconvenient to reach (with not many stores/ eateries nearby). Apart from that, if you are looking for a peaceful accommodation close to nature, this would be the perfect choice.








As it was raining pretty much the entire day, we could not do much. Hence, we rested and had steamboat for dinner. The steamboat was alright, though the kimchi soup could have done with a bit more flavor. That having been said, the amount of ingredients they gave were bountiful and more than enough for a horse.






Enjoyed a cup of Alishan Red tea while admiring the view of the mountains. 

A surreal moment.
















camwhored out in the garden porch.

decided to catch the sunset hence we made our way to the other side of the mountain.


As you can see, the clouds were blocking every single view. We could not get a good view of the sunset. As such, we took a few photos and headed back to our inn.








Day 3