
DSC02105.JPG
from left: weiyang, wai kit and doreen, on board the pku bus to gugong!

DSC02102.JPG
yingloong!

DSC02104.JPG
doing a zipai

DSC02103.JPG
weiyang and wai kit are the shao shu ming zhu: ie from rjc, but they are very nice and funny!

DSC02110.JPG
balongzhi, meat, weiyang and yingloong, who's trying to take a pic of me taking photo of them.

DSC02109.JPG
erms... is this the gu lou? (cant remember)

DSC02108.JPG
weiyang and balongzhi, a chinese who migrated to jap when he was young. he is doing econs at pku now.

DSC02107.JPG
meat and wai kit

DSC02112.JPG
meat, weiyang, balongzhi and wai kit on tiananmen square

DSC02115.JPG
tiananmen square!

DSC02118.JPG
we got the guys to do funny faces, so this is no. 1 from weiyang!

DSC02119.JPG
wai kit!

DSC02120.JPG
yingloong!

DSC02121.JPG
and weiyang again!

DSC02125.JPG
the tourguide holding the pku flag

DSC02122.JPG
me and doreeeeeen!

DSC02126.JPG
yl in the very unglam prc squat position

DSC02128.JPG
taking pic of TAMS amidst the suffocation crowd

DSC02127.JPG
a pku uncle who's taking random shots of us on his video cam

DSC02123.JPG
evil evil smile!

DSC02124.JPG
meat looks funny here!

DSC02129.JPG
erms....... weiyang managed to talk to a rather cute girl in the group! tsk

DSC02132.JPG
tsk again

DSC02135.JPG
wai kit this time round. tsk tsk

DSC02131.JPG
inside gugong!

DSC02130.JPG
the crowd is teribleeeeee

DSC02136.JPG
bao he dian is where the emperor receive gifts on his birthday etc

DSC02137.JPG
some of the halls in the forbidden city are under renovations to prepare for the olympics =/

DSC02139.JPG
these stones were transported to gugong by spilling water on the road during winter n moving them on the ice tt was mad

DSC02141.JPG
CROWDS! O.O

DSC02142.JPG
jiaotaidian is the hall between the emperor's and the empress' hall.

DSC02145.JPG
the words wuwei were written by kangxi

DSC02146.JPG
a sundial, indicating the time accurately!!!

DSC02148.JPG
an ugly shot of yuhuayuan

DSC02150.JPG
me, dor and meat!

DSC02151.JPG
i love this pic! everyone looks so happy!

DSC02147.JPG
yl in the unglam position once again while talking to our tourguide

DSC02153.JPG
we took pedal boats at beihai and thats meat, dor and weiyang on the boat!

DSC02155.JPG
we gotta pedal and pedal and pedal while maneuvering the boat using this

DSC02154.JPG
meat, dor and weiyang again!

DSC02152.JPG
beihai is beautiful! but the sun was terrible.

DSC02158.JPG
yl on the boat!

DSC02159.JPG
me on the pedal boat!

DSC02164.JPG
the citizens will gather and listen to snr citizens play CO pieces. it's a very beautiful scene!

DSC02167.JPG
a common sight in beihaigongyuan: using a sponge maobi and write on the floor with ink

DSC02165.JPG
this guy is damn zai! he can draw this beautiful girl in minutes!

DSC02170.JPG
and a horse!!!!!

DSC02169.JPG
amazing isnt it?

DSC02168.JPG
DSC02168.JPG 2007-09-08

DSC02171.JPG
zhong guo shu fa yi shu yuan yuan liu chuan

DSC02173.JPG
a sign on the bus back to school

DSC02174.JPG
a banner in school. cute eh?

009.jpg
leaving the main singapore island for pulau ubin...

015-1.jpg
while the rest of the world started school on 6th aug, 4 jia bao bo dai ji girls went cycling at ubin!

021-1.jpg
the rest of the passengers on board, who we guessed, should be going to the temples

186.jpg
Ubin! (this is actually taken before we left, not when we first step onto the island, haha!)

025.jpg
the number plate of vehicles on pulau ubin starts with PU!

028-1.jpg
the first "landmark" we saw on our cycling trip: cookie monster!

005.JPG
chek jawa: 190m to go! at this point, we were to get down from the bikes and walk the remaining journey.

134.jpg
map of chek jawa!

031-2.jpg
and we were greeted by this dog and its only companion: a poor ubin volunteer sitting in a pavilion handing out pamphets

034-2.jpg
and then, we climbed up the viewing tower

035-2.jpg
to enjoy the beautiful scenery of pulau ubin!

037-1.jpg
the coastline

038-3.jpg
and the lush greenery

039-1.jpg
a group photo on the viewing tower!

056.jpg
a tiny male crab with one huge pincer to attract ladies, haha!

060.jpg
nipah, more commonly known as the fruit which bears attap chee (which are its young seeds)

058-1.jpg
a whats-his-name lizard =/

063-2.jpg
a mudskipper!

087-1.jpg
low tide

077.jpg
i thought these roots look like skirts of the lanky mangrove trees.

086-1.jpg
the crabs are cute! they will line stones around the entrance to their homes :)

133.jpg
a huge wave splashing against the bridge leading to the pontoon. it was the transition from low to high tide then.

125.jpg
meat and georgia eating ma ti su at the floating pontoon.

137.jpg
waves!

141-1.jpg
chek jawa is reopened recently after these viewing platforms are constructed.

151.jpg
a cottage, which is actually the visitor centre of chek jawa

162.jpg
a quarry behind the fences. it looked placid and peaceful!

166.jpg
yinghong's luohan zai!

163.jpg
this bag of water hanging above the dinning table is supposed to scare houseflies away by reflecting light. cool eh?

167.jpg
our yummy lunch! :D

173.jpg
and soon, they are gone!

178.jpg
a freaking funny sign outside a cold drink stall. that's a great business idea!

180.jpg
it was really ulu (and quite eerie). there were still incense burning but the doors were locked when we reached.

181.jpg
a banana plant! *thinks pontianak*

183.jpg
the provision shop where we got our cooling coconut drinks! it looks old and sixties, haha!

185.jpg
a mailbox, which erm, surprised yinghong and i!

187.jpg
It's sad we didnt get to see the police post. i want to see how do the police posted to ubin look like!

184.jpg
leaving pulau ubin~

190.jpg
the evening of ubin

194.JPG
a man who caught many many crabs near the jetty!

195.JPG
yummy!

192.JPG
the uncles manning the boats

199.JPG
bill the dog! his owner ivan brought him to ubin for a run, cool eh? =D

202.JPG
bill is so cute and clever! ^^

231.JPG
goodbye ubin~

DSC00899.JPG
Taipei Key Mall (Kmall), this is where our warm and cosy hostel is!

DSC00897.JPG
Our first dinnner. A huge Japanese Curry Pork Chop Set that I shared with PJ. Yummy~

DSC00896.JPG
Kmall Traveler's Hostel, with very nice uncles and aunties and cute angmohs :)

DSC01364.JPG
Toilet!

DSC01363.JPG
Our room..

DSC01365.JPG
Shoes

DSC01366.JPG
MESSY! thats the consequence of squeezing 6 people in one room

DSC01367.JPG
The bed that PJ and I shared

DSC01368.JPG
Other beds..

DSC01369.JPG
The hostel's counter

DSC01370.JPG
Letters of gratitude and appreciation from all over the world!

DSC01371.JPG
Boon Pin using the laptop

DSC01372.JPG
The Hostel Lounge, where we sit around to have breakfast and chit-chat with the people

DSC01373.JPG
Kitchen! Breakfast is DIY =D

DSC01190.JPG
More letters...

DSC01374.JPG
Kitchen again...

DSC01375.JPG
and again...

DSC00907.JPG
Eating our breakfast

DSC00905.JPG
Toasting our bread

DSC00909.JPG
Washing up the utensils. Everything is DIY at the hostel =)

DSC00901.JPG
First day in Taipei. The city is messy but nice =)

DSC00903.JPG
A looooong queue of yellow taxis

DSC00913.JPG
A plastic bar that I received when I paid the bus fare. Strange huh?

DSC00914.JPG
haha I love the way they name these seats

DSC00919.JPG
On the treacherous route up Yangmingshan!

DSC00920.JPG
Cute sign~

DSC00926.JPG
The green and healthy and exhuasting forest route!

DSC00924.JPG
Shell and I, on the way to zhuzihu (bamboo lake)

DSC00927.JPG
Beautiful green maple leaves

DSC00934.JPG
3 pink girls in classtee, eating pink luoshenhua ice creams D=

DSC00943.JPG
As we approach zhuzihu, the surroungding trees changed to bamboos only! They are soooo beautiful!

DSC00944.JPG
A weird tree with curly feelers (?)

DSC00939.JPG
Some other signs on Yangmingshan

DSC00938.JPG
An interesting sign...

DSC00945.JPG
Taken on top of zhuzihu guan jing tai

DSC00948.JPG
A hairy caterpillar of a moth called qing1 ku1 ye4 e2

DSC00961.JPG
We spotted a squirrel!

DSC00964.JPG
The spectacular xiao3 you2 keng1, which was emitting sulphur gas, so the place was actually quite smelly

DSC00973.JPG
Sulphur accumulates around the opening where the gas is gushing out

DSC00967.JPG
Small puddles of water boiling at xiao you keng

DSC00971.JPG
Smelly rotten egg odour

DSC00975.JPG
Our sushis and fan tuan!

DSC00977.JPG
Our picnic at xiaoyoukeng!

DSC00978.JPG
At 811m above sea level, we are touching the clouds! yay I love it :)

DSC00979.JPG
A cloud floating nearby. It will rain for around 5minutes whenever a huge blob of cloud floats across our heads.

DSC00980.JPG
the hot spring at leng3 shui3 keng1

DSC00989.JPG
Big juicy and spicy squids! They were delicious!

DSC00991.JPG
ZX and my looooong ice cream

DSC01003.JPG
Yu ren ma tou's qing ren qiao. Beautiful!

DSC01025.JPG
The single trip journey tokens (instead of a card). Cute eh? =D

DSC01026.JPG
The new MRT tokens can be inserted into the machine like coins! so cute!

DSC01031.JPG
Shell, me and ZX with our MRT tokens!

DSC01046.JPG
At Fengyuan (Taichung). We were pushing our bicycles up to the bicycle lane

DSC01047.JPG
The long bicycle lane that attracts many citizens to go during weekends and holidays!

DSC01072.JPG
Tombs we saw on the journey. I have a fetish for them :)

DSC01048.JPG
PJ, ZX & TJ couldn't cycle, so they got these cute bicycles instead. The tent was terribly useful in the hot sun!

DSC01049.JPG
as above...

DSC01052.JPG
A spectacular artpiece that is made from bicycle parts.

DSC01053.JPG
This lane was a railway before the train was eliminated as people begin to own their own transport.

DSC01054.JPG
So this is one old and abandoned train that is kept as a monument.

DSC01056.JPG
The inside of the train

DSC01064.JPG
A bridge that was destroyed by a typhoon.

DSC01070.JPG
The river, with beautiful water rushing down, and the fine blue sky!

DSC01073.JPG
Great xiancao baobing! (notice the number of ice kachang that we'll eat later, hehe!)

DSC01074.JPG
ZX's peanut baobing. Fantastic treat for a hot summer!

DSC01075.JPG
Juicy tomatoes

DSC01076.JPG
lizi + ginger powder. We had a ultra-healthy day at taichung since our lunch consists of fruits and corns only! =D

DSC01078.JPG
Zhanglaoban, the boss of the muji dian we visit. He is explaining the procedure of making wooden clogs in this picture.

DSC01079.JPG
His shop. That HUGE pair of wooden clogs is 1300+ kg O.O!!!

DSC01083.JPG
Zhanglaoban fixing our DIY wooden clogs.

DSC01084.JPG
My wooden clogs!

DSC01087.JPG
A cute pair of Japanese clogs that ZX and I almost bought. It's freaking cute! =D

DSC01088.JPG
A small wooden clog, a handphone holder in actual fact.

DSC01089.JPG
Zhanglaoban's shop. He even drove us to our next destination! So nice of him! :)

DSC01100.JPG
Miao4 dong1 (Temple East). A bustling street with many delicious food.

DSC01102.JPG
or-wah mee sua. Kinda forced myself to eat the hao2 =/

DSC01103.JPG
or-wua mee sua and or-wua jian, in our stomach!

DSC01105.JPG
The busy fengyuan street

DSC01168.JPG
Our little wooden hut at Dong Shi Lin Chang, up on the ulu mountains!

DSC01107.JPG
inside of the hut, beautiful isn't it?

DSC01108.JPG
Nice, soft and springy beds!

DSC01111.JPG
On the firefly night tour, we saw two fireflies mating!

DSC01116.JPG
The enthusiastic guide went down into a well to catch different species of frogs for us to see :)

DSC01117.JPG
Juicy Peach given by Huanwei's Aunt!

DSC01119.JPG
Sharing the big packets of food and fruits sponsored by HW's aunt

DSC01121.JPG
Took a 1.5hr walk in the forest at 8am! Phytoncid released by trees can strengthen our immune system and kill germs

DSC01129.JPG
A small waterfall with a Guanyin statue on top. Graceful!

DSC01136.JPG
Nice pink flowers!

DSC01137.JPG
Huanwei doubled as our guide and introduced the different types of trees

DSC01134.JPG
Tall trees standing neatly

DSC01140.JPG
An interesting plant. When someone inflict a fatal injury on it, it will bloom and reproduce quickly before it dies.

DSC01141.JPG
We are immersed in a sea of phytoncid and negative O2 ions, hence the name green forest shower. :)

DSC01142.JPG
This zhangshu slided 80m downslope during the 921 earthquake...

DSC01143.JPG
... and managed to survive!

DSC01147.JPG
A section of the forest route we took...

DSC01148.JPG
Busy busy bumble bees!

DSC01151.JPG
more of them...

DSC01149.JPG
and more...so cute!

DSC01156.JPG
Little bees that brought home pollen grains (the yellow balls on their legs)

DSC01152.JPG
Honey can be extracted by spinning these wooden layers of the articifial beehive in this machine

DSC01153.JPG
We cld put our finger on the tap & sweep the honey up to taste. Some pitiful bees got stucked in viscous honey as well:(

DSC01157.JPG
Selling balls of pollen grains that the bees collected

DSC01165.JPG
Foot hotspring! :D It was a luxury!

DSC01166.JPG
Full view of the hotspring

DSC01173.JPG
Where they introduced the life cycle of firefly and many other insects

DSC01174.JPG
Vaguely familiar huh...

DSC01175.JPG
A pair of styrofoam pigs that were badly corroded

DSC01178.JPG
My DIY windchime! cute right?

DSC01185.JPG
Train ticket back to Taipei

DSC01184.JPG
Bye Bye fengyuan!

DSC01186.JPG
ONION HEAD! kawaii~

DSC01194.JPG
Messy hostel room

DSC01195.JPG
Breakfast at lounge

DSC01196.JPG
A hostel staff teaching Andrew how to buy a handphone in Taipei

DSC01200.JPG
Andrew is a 22-yr-old American who came to Taipei alone to study Chinese. He's so diligent!

DSC01202.JPG
Taipei MRT station

DSC01203.JPG
Taipei MRT station again...

DSC01208.JPG
Longshan Temple, a first grade historical site

DSC01214.JPG
Qingshan Gong, where we met a hospitable lady who brought us around the temple and introduced the gods they worship.

DSC01218.JPG
Map + Camera strung around the neck + fisherman hat. TJ is so touristy!

DSC01219.JPG
XiMenDing!

DSC01223.JPG
Green apples dipped in chocolate are a pleasant visual feast.

DSC01226.JPG
A cute bouquet of chocolates with a cute lamb!

DSC01231.JPG
Desserts we had in one of the many old and famous shops we visited during the trip.

DSC01233.JPG
Mee sua lunch at yet another old shop

DSC01236.JPG
CKS Memorial Hall - The place I've been ranting to go!

DSC01237.JPG
Because the taiwan government wants to change its name to this

DSC01239.JPG
A model fo the CKSMH. cool~

DSC01241.JPG
New name. hrmph.

DSC01243.JPG
Lv Xiu Lian and Chen Ju when they were young.

DSC01249.JPG
Calligraphy by Sun Yat Sen!

DSC01245.JPG
SYS and CKS on a train, this is a magnificient drawing!

DSC01247.JPG
XH is always fascinated by the life of dictators, so she took a lot of random photos on the life of CKS...

DSC01254.JPG
such as this...

DSC01256.JPG
this...

DSC01260.JPG
this...

DSC01261.JPG
and this!

DSC01268.JPG
CKSMH looks awkward with all the scaffolding and barricade.

DSC01269.JPG
A TV reporter interviewing a man!

DSC01270.JPG
Security guards sealed the stairs up the memorial hall. sigh.

DSC01271.JPG
A banner with the new name was covering the paibian initially.

DSC01272.JPG
But it was cut off by a guy who protested against the name change on the day we reached Taipei

DSC01275.JPG
This reminds me of Tian Tan in Beijing, since they are both white with blue roofs

DSC01295.JPG
A musician performing on a street concert!

DSC01282.JPG
My SALMON HEAD! it is the mascot of a sushi company endorsed by hei se hui mei mei. haha!

DSC01296.JPG
Taipei 101!

DSC01303.JPG
A cat sleeping on a table that was supposed to attract people to buy the sunglasses! What an interesting sight!

DSC01306.JPG
The traffic came to a halt to let the train travel. Interesting...

DSC01312.JPG
BP and I blended into the MRT seats. hah!

DSC01316.JPG
Di Hua Street, which sells many chinese herbs

DSC01324.JPG
Taiwanese love to rear dogs. This uncle even brought his dog into 7-11 and feb it there.

DSC01318.JPG
Wu Dao Cheng, near Di Hua street

DSC01321.JPG
Yummy red bean and almond baobing, from an old and famous shop as well!

DSC01325.JPG
A cute shop~

DSC01326.JPG
Gugong museum was quite boring, since the artefacts were similiar to those in Beijing

DSC01327.JPG
Falungong members holding a protest in front of Gugong Museum.

DSC01330.JPG
I thought it looked interesting... It's the first time I see FLG members protesting.

DSC01331.JPG
There was a HUGE crowd at the museum, since it was the last day of the British Museum Exhibition.

DSC01333.JPG
urgh the crowd...

DSC01341.JPG
Mr Chin! The mascot of the Gugong Museum which ZX and I adore :D

DSC01344.JPG
Shilin!

DSC01345.JPG
Shilin again!

DSC01349.JPG
Hao da da ji pai! There was a long queue waiting to relish the juicy chicken meat!

DSC01351.JPG
Our very own ji pai!

DSC01352.JPG
Lemon tea + pearls (fenyuan) + jelly (aiyu) = qing1 wa1 xia4 dan4!

DSC01353.JPG
Guan cai ban!

DSC01354.JPG
Da Bing Bao Xiao Bing!

DSC01355.JPG
Yummy baobing! the ice was as fine as snow!

DSC01376.JPG
A group photo with Uncle Joe (boss of the hostel) and Andrew!

DSC01377.JPG
Uncle Joe and Andrew

DSC01383.JPG
A group photo again, with another obasan managing the hostel

DSC01385.JPG
Uncle Joe insisted on wearing sunglasses when taking photos. he's really nice and took care of us!

DSC01384.JPG
Andrew! He came to taipei alone and wasn't afriad of using broken Mandarin when speaking. Very admirable character :)

DSC01387.JPG
Andrew's healthy diet - nuts!

DSC01381.JPG
Another cute guy that we saw. We thought he is a Japanese until he spoke Mandarin.

DSC01388.JPG
The change I receive when I paid a $100 note for a $35 MRT token. Hah!

DSC01635.JPG
Taiwanese stand on their RIGHT instead if the LEFT when taking the escalator. It took me sometime to acclimatize to it.

DSC01391.JPG
MRT!

DSC01394.JPG
Since it was a Monday, there was barely any visitors to the zoo. =D

DSC01395.JPG
Tj the pirate!

DSC01399.JPG
A cute koala named Pearl

DSC01489.JPG
Monkeys...

DSC01519.JPG
Camels..

DSC01525.JPG
Giraffes in the African Zone

DSC01537.JPG
These Hippos reminds me of pork...

DSC01539.JPG
We guessed that he is the laoda of the herd, since everyone going into the water has to rub its head against his butt.

DSC01541.JPG
more hippos...

DSC01542.JPG
And a hippo buttock! so cute!

DSC01546.JPG
An African elephant

DSC01548.JPG
i don't know what are they doing, but they look cute!

DSC01549.JPG
An endangered White Rhinoceros

DSC01574.JPG
American Bison, they look sei =D

DSC01577.JPG
A stick insect!

DSC01579.JPG
Pere David's deer, otherwise known as Si bu Xiang

DSC01581.JPG
This reminds me of hana kimi!

DSC01606.JPG
Emperor Penguins!

DSC01628.JPG
Cute Plushies at the Zoo merchandise shop

DSC01626.JPG
Cute owls!

DSC01629.JPG
Cute Elephant!

DSC01631.JPG
and cute horse! XD

DSC01634.JPG
An interesting sign that we saw at the Zoo MRT station

DSC01633.JPG
Last but not least, our last dinner!