paiseh to keep u all waiting.. finished arranging e photos.. though i still haf some wif Cat, these more or less consist of all e places we went.. u can either go 'album two' to browse them, or click below for e slideshow (dun mind my crappy captions.. haha~)
~Taiwan photos slideshow~
due to differences in file type, couldn't upload some videos in e album, so i'll juz show them here la.. these r videos of e fireworks we played with in hualien.. met some nice pple at e 民宿 we were staying at, & they shared their fireworks with us~ e quality isn't tt clear, so u can't really c our faces, but e fireworks r visible..
& now, onto e more 啰嗦part.. Basically, we went to Taipei, Sun Moon Lake (in Taizhong) & Hualien.. wat i liked most abt e place is e food! & things i learned abt Taiwan:
Differences between e city & e rural pple
e pple living in e city (like Taipei) tend to dress more fashionably while those in e more 'kampong' place (like SML) tends to be more 朴素.. While walking in 五分铺, u'll notice e fashion follows tt of japan/korea.. e teenagers (even those in sch uniforms) accessorise, style/dye/perm their hair, wear baggy socks, etc. On e contrary, rural folks r more helpful & welcoming~ & some live a simple life, growing their own food, waking early in e morning (like 4/5am.. wa~)
Climate & environment diff
As we went in May, it was e 梅雨season (which refers to drizzle for long periods of time). It's quite irritating at times, cuz sometimes e drizzle is so light tt u dunno if u shld open an umbrella, & e photos dun come out tt well w/o sunlight.. Anw, e city is hotter, but u can always hide in shopping centres, or e nearest 7-11 (which seems to b everywhere.. once i saw 3 outlets on e same street..) Rural areas are great for relaxation, with e fresh air & cool mornings (though i'm still lazy for morning strolls.. haha~) Oh ya, e mosquitoes in e rural areas r HUGE! we tot they were flies at 1st.. Luckily, they only appear at nite, & insect repellent still works..
Transport
Their transportation modes r similar to ours, but named differently, MRT=捷运, bus=公车, taxi=计程车.. e most common mode is 机车/scooter (they even have a special stopping area for scooters at e traffic lights).. Most of e time, when e pple hear tt we're traveling ard, they would suggest going ard on a scooter as e most convenient & flexible way (but no choice, neither of us have a scooter license).. However, i muz say, e traffic in Taipei is more dangerous, even when u're crossing during green light, u have to watch out for scooters (which dodges everywhere) or even buses (which seems to turn at fast speeds).. e train/台铁 is comfortable for zzz-ing..
Avid supporter of recycling
There are free copies of newspaper given out at e 捷运站, & i've seen pple throwing them into a bin where other users can pick them up to read again.. 7-11 don't issue plastic bags, supermarkets too but u can buy bags there.. It's hard to find trashbins on e streets, & when e garbage trucks come, pple have to carry out their trash (tink it's sorta like japan)..
Eating
Food may not be cheap, but u can easily settle dinner juz by gg to e 夜市 everyday.. Dunno what's nice to eat at e 夜市? No prob, juz patronise those stalls tt have long queues! Most of e times, if there r many pple, it proves tt e food is good! With e large variety of food, like 超大炸鸡排，葱油饼，水煎包，胡椒饼，芒果冰.. *drool*, there'll sure be enough to fill ur stomach~ My fav food places: 士林夜市&九份老街!
Next, ~HK & Macau photos slideshow~ & a few things abt my stay there:
It would b best if u speak Cantonese
I don't, but Cat understands abit.. Although nowadays, e pple do speak mandarin too, e old pple tends to speak cantonese.. There was a nice old lady who talked to us in e eatery, but only Cat can communicate wif her.. (^_^") paiseh la, i can't even speak my own dialect, let alone cantonese..
Food proportions are v large
Advisable to share food, otherwise prepare to feel bloated.. They give alot of rice for their 烧腊饭.. We went for Dim Sum on a wkday morning, when most pple were working, so there's only uncles in there.. Felt abit out-of-place then.. (^_^") Besides 鸳鸯, another local drink is 杨枝甘露, which is mango+pomelo, though it's not my cup of tea.. hehe~ Oh ya, they serve 出前一丁 instant noodles in 茶餐厅.. dunno how they cook it, but it's quite Q~
It helps to go to theme parks early
We reached Oce@n Park juz when it opened for business, so at 1st we din have to queue at all.. By e afternoon, e crowd was over-whelming, & it was a wkday somemore.. We have to Q half an hour juz for a few mins ride, & they even ran out of seats for e animal show (lucky for us, we watched e earliest one).. If u ever try e "raging river" ride, prepare xtra clothes & dun wear ur sports shoes.. We ended up having to wash our stinky shoes after it was soaked by e water.. (-_-")
Shopping
Cuz HK's duty-free, it's worth it to purchase electronics/cosmetics over there.. Apart from Sasa, another chain store Bonjour is quite popular with e ladies (always crowded).. There's alot of Giord@no, B0ssini outlets along e streets.. Fa Yuen St is where cheap shopping is, apparently no one bothers to bargain there, so we din too.. Ladies Mkt req bargaining skills though.. Temple St not tt much for shopping, but there's a street full of 算命师(tarot cards, crystal ball, palm reading.. all kinds.. quite an eye-opener~) It wasn't e sale season while we were there, so too bad~
Casinos in Macau
Many casinos all over e place, some even provide free shuttle services to e hotels.. Only went to Casino Lisbo@ & Cr0wn Casino.. e former was near our hotel, & it even has bar dancing in e building.. e latter was further in Taipa, e other side of Macau (took a shuttle there), but they serve free bottled water, coke, even egg tarts! Tink we're there more for e entertainment than gambling.. haha~
if u've read e whole article, thkx for not falling asleep.. gotta learn how to 长话短说.. haha~
~Taiwan photos slideshow~
due to differences in file type, couldn't upload some videos in e album, so i'll juz show them here la.. these r videos of e fireworks we played with in hualien.. met some nice pple at e 民宿 we were staying at, & they shared their fireworks with us~ e quality isn't tt clear, so u can't really c our faces, but e fireworks r visible..
& now, onto e more 啰嗦part.. Basically, we went to Taipei, Sun Moon Lake (in Taizhong) & Hualien.. wat i liked most abt e place is e food! & things i learned abt Taiwan:
e pple living in e city (like Taipei) tend to dress more fashionably while those in e more 'kampong' place (like SML) tends to be more 朴素.. While walking in 五分铺, u'll notice e fashion follows tt of japan/korea.. e teenagers (even those in sch uniforms) accessorise, style/dye/perm their hair, wear baggy socks, etc. On e contrary, rural folks r more helpful & welcoming~ & some live a simple life, growing their own food, waking early in e morning (like 4/5am.. wa~)
As we went in May, it was e 梅雨season (which refers to drizzle for long periods of time). It's quite irritating at times, cuz sometimes e drizzle is so light tt u dunno if u shld open an umbrella, & e photos dun come out tt well w/o sunlight.. Anw, e city is hotter, but u can always hide in shopping centres, or e nearest 7-11 (which seems to b everywhere.. once i saw 3 outlets on e same street..) Rural areas are great for relaxation, with e fresh air & cool mornings (though i'm still lazy for morning strolls.. haha~) Oh ya, e mosquitoes in e rural areas r HUGE! we tot they were flies at 1st.. Luckily, they only appear at nite, & insect repellent still works..
Their transportation modes r similar to ours, but named differently, MRT=捷运, bus=公车, taxi=计程车.. e most common mode is 机车/scooter (they even have a special stopping area for scooters at e traffic lights).. Most of e time, when e pple hear tt we're traveling ard, they would suggest going ard on a scooter as e most convenient & flexible way (but no choice, neither of us have a scooter license).. However, i muz say, e traffic in Taipei is more dangerous, even when u're crossing during green light, u have to watch out for scooters (which dodges everywhere) or even buses (which seems to turn at fast speeds).. e train/台铁 is comfortable for zzz-ing..
There are free copies of newspaper given out at e 捷运站, & i've seen pple throwing them into a bin where other users can pick them up to read again.. 7-11 don't issue plastic bags, supermarkets too but u can buy bags there.. It's hard to find trashbins on e streets, & when e garbage trucks come, pple have to carry out their trash (tink it's sorta like japan)..
Food may not be cheap, but u can easily settle dinner juz by gg to e 夜市 everyday.. Dunno what's nice to eat at e 夜市? No prob, juz patronise those stalls tt have long queues! Most of e times, if there r many pple, it proves tt e food is good! With e large variety of food, like 超大炸鸡排，葱油饼，水煎包，胡椒饼，芒果冰.. *drool*, there'll sure be enough to fill ur stomach~ My fav food places: 士林夜市&九份老街!
Next, ~HK & Macau photos slideshow~ & a few things abt my stay there:
I don't, but Cat understands abit.. Although nowadays, e pple do speak mandarin too, e old pple tends to speak cantonese.. There was a nice old lady who talked to us in e eatery, but only Cat can communicate wif her.. (^_^") paiseh la, i can't even speak my own dialect, let alone cantonese..
Advisable to share food, otherwise prepare to feel bloated.. They give alot of rice for their 烧腊饭.. We went for Dim Sum on a wkday morning, when most pple were working, so there's only uncles in there.. Felt abit out-of-place then.. (^_^") Besides 鸳鸯, another local drink is 杨枝甘露, which is mango+pomelo, though it's not my cup of tea.. hehe~ Oh ya, they serve 出前一丁 instant noodles in 茶餐厅.. dunno how they cook it, but it's quite Q~
We reached Oce@n Park juz when it opened for business, so at 1st we din have to queue at all.. By e afternoon, e crowd was over-whelming, & it was a wkday somemore.. We have to Q half an hour juz for a few mins ride, & they even ran out of seats for e animal show (lucky for us, we watched e earliest one).. If u ever try e "raging river" ride, prepare xtra clothes & dun wear ur sports shoes.. We ended up having to wash our stinky shoes after it was soaked by e water.. (-_-")
Cuz HK's duty-free, it's worth it to purchase electronics/cosmetics over there.. Apart from Sasa, another chain store Bonjour is quite popular with e ladies (always crowded).. There's alot of Giord@no, B0ssini outlets along e streets.. Fa Yuen St is where cheap shopping is, apparently no one bothers to bargain there, so we din too.. Ladies Mkt req bargaining skills though.. Temple St not tt much for shopping, but there's a street full of 算命师(tarot cards, crystal ball, palm reading.. all kinds.. quite an eye-opener~) It wasn't e sale season while we were there, so too bad~
Many casinos all over e place, some even provide free shuttle services to e hotels.. Only went to Casino Lisbo@ & Cr0wn Casino.. e former was near our hotel, & it even has bar dancing in e building.. e latter was further in Taipa, e other side of Macau (took a shuttle there), but they serve free bottled water, coke, even egg tarts! Tink we're there more for e entertainment than gambling.. haha~
if u've read e whole article, thkx for not falling asleep.. gotta learn how to 长话短说.. haha~