Taipei - Day 2 of 8 (Sun 16 Sep 2007)

For this day, we follow the 1 day tour by our travel agency and is really rush - the disadvantage with tour :(

Our first stop is at the Chiang Kai Shi Memorial Hall. Some part of it is still under renovation so we didn't got a chance to go inside for a look, anyway even if permitted, our tour guide won't allow tat amount of time for us too. *sign*

The 2nd stop is Yeliu. We are really glad that the weather is bright and sunny otherwise it would be impossible to visit. The natural erosion of the sea rock forming the unique abstract figures is really amazing. There are figures of the famous queen head, glass slippers, mushroom, throne, old ginger and many more. So I just post some of the more interesting ones here...

3rd stop we went to Jiufen, there are lots of nice food ! There are bbq mushrom, fried potato like what I am holding on the left picture, bbq sausage, big meat balls, candied fruits... The most unbearable stuff is the smelly bean curd! Ok, delicacies for some fans but not me... The lane is so narrow and even so, the motorists still tries to drive through the crowd, omg, i give up.

Spotted a cute auntie with a big yellow flower hair accessory and big white glasses when strolling down the slope. Haha... she is really trying to catch attention, such an image sacrifice but i think her taste can be improved...

After Jiufen, the guide bring us to a shop selling lingzhi and natural honey which i think is really a waste of time. Our objective is to travel and explore and not to buy health products!

Anyway our official 4th stop we went to Chong Lie Ci to witness the changing duty of the soldiers guarding the place. Nothing exciting but i m impressed by their physical endurance and discipline for they have to stay motionless whole day...

Since we still have some spare time, the tour guide bring us to the Grand Hotel for some history review during the Soong sisters period. This hotel is built at Soong May-ling's direction. Supposedly meant to be for the Taiwan people, all profits were supposed to go to charity.

Again, the guide bring us to an organization on fortune telling and selling the jade holy beast called Pi Siu. I was told that i am born the element of metal and lacks fire element so the teller recommends me to purchase their fire element Pi Siu. (below picture) Ok they claim is real jade but i m skeptical of its genuity and feels that is better to consult the experts. Omg and it is expensive, moreover my budget doesn't include buying this kind of products. Honestly speaking, these side selling really spoils the trip (another disadvantage of tour) but still consider rewarding since my fortune is told.

Our 5th station of the tour was the hot spring in beitou, i can't remember the name. Below are some short clip we have taken.

So Alvin is a better host than me, haha...

We took the private bathroom for the hot spring and the picture on the left is the spring house's lounge bar, the design and atmosphere is a very oldies Japaneses feel...



Alright, finally our last stop we are at Shi Ling night market. I m a bit disappointed b'cuz most of the stalls are selling almost the same kind of food! Nothing fantastic about it. We ordered the oyster mee suah (In fact i will recommend the Ah Zhong mee suah at Ximending) , oyster fried egg and some pork soup. Omg, their smelly bean curd again... pardon me.

Next we take the MRT ourselves and back to the hotel.

Thats all for today and will post the rest of the trip next week.

Taipei - Day 1 of 8 (Sat 15 Sep 2007)

I will log some of my experience during my 8 days Taipei. It was really a fun travel...and we took a lot of videos n photos. Taipei is a nice place to visit especially for their natural scenic areas. Alright, start the ball rolling...


A bright and good weather for flying in the plane departing for Taipei. Feeling excited to reach the destination...







Finally reached Taipei hotel in the evening. Suddenly i feel paranoid and lost, and regretted the free and easy trip. But it was the opposite for Alvin, he claim that he feels very homely down there. Omg, guess his ample research did the trick. So I just wish I can adjust to the new environment asap.




Since is already evening and only the first day, we didnt actually explore many places. So we only linger around Ximending and took a picture at The Red Playhouse. Near the playhouse, there are a few night pubs for chill out at the back lane. The interior stage is unique in the sense that audience can enjoy their tea while watching the show just like what the people did in the oldies...

Gackt

Gackt is a singer, writer, lyricist, and musician (piano, guitar, drums and vocals) famous in Japan. His career began to truly blossom when he joined the band MALICE MIZER. He went on to begin a solo career with a band he called GacktJOB. Since the launch of his solo career, he's gained an even greater fandom than he had while as the vocalist of MALICE MIZER, and has been extremely successful.

Gackt's talents include composing all of his music and writing all of his lyrics. He can also play nine different instruments: the piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, trumpet, tuba, trombone, horn, and euphonium. He was the model for the protagonist of the video game Bujingai and more recently a mysterious character known as 'Genesis' in Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. He has acted in many different commercials and voice-acted for the anime New Fist of the North Star (Shin Hokuto no Ken).

At Otakon, on August 5th, 2006, YOSHIKI of X JAPAN announced he will be forming a band with Gackt. It has now been confirmed that Gackt, SUGIZO, Miyavi and YOSHIKI along will be creating a "super-band" together (S.K.I.N.) and touring the USA in 2007 after their concert in the Anime Expo in the Convention Center in Long Beach, Los Angeles CA.
(Above description from www.last.fm)

Actually I came across his songs thru Alvin, haha.. even a guy is attracted to Gackt. No doubt I find Gackt sexy and charming in a different perspective, guess is his image resemblance of an anime character. From his profile, he is indeed a talented artist.

Ok seems abit lengthy above so now watch this. I posted 2 versions for his song Mizerable. His live concert version delivers more impact and he really dance well.

GACKT - Mizerable (Original)


GACKT - Mizerable (Live Concert)

This video below is a from his live concert as well, feeling more solemn.

GACKT - Last Song (Live Concert)

Now this music video below will awe u! Gackt.. when he was the vocal in Malice Mizer, singing "Le Ciel" from the Merveilles concert. Look at their performing suits...they are absolutely stunning.

GACKT - Le Ciel (Live Concert)

Ayumi Hamasaki - Momentum & Heaven

These MTV is released not long ago and actually I had added one in my media player on the left sidebar but erm... that screen size is too small for viewing, more for songs listening.

I find Ayumi's Momentum MTV quite touching although i dun understand Japanese. I have always admire Japanese singers and love their music. That is why i decided to upload some of my favorite MTV (Eng, Chn, Jap) in this category to share with others. So enjoy! Oh and FYI, the clip screen is resizable.

AYUMI HAMASAKI - Momentum


AYUMI HAMASAKI - Heaven

Carrot Cake from Old Days

This carrot cake is from a hawker center in Yishun (should be nearby Jiemin Primary School) I posted this up not because it tastes special but find that the picture looks nice. Ya.. I did a little editing to it and turns out that it appears to harbor a nostalgic feel, like some snapshot from the oldies say 60s or 70s?

Feature back to the topic, if someone ask me which carrot cake is the best i ever tasted, my answer to it is the one at Serangoon North Ave 1 near Watson. The stall holder fries the carrot cake since i was a kid and now i could still see him standing hunchback, jangling the wok with a pair of ladles from early morning till late night serving only carrot cake (black & white).

Whenever i went to that coffee shop his shagged image emits a bitter affection. Heard from my mum that he has been selling carrot cake to support his children to university. Guess he wouldn't have to work so hard if his kids should graduate and be a high flyer. But if he retires, omg then that means i've got no more delicious carrot cakes to eat already...! So must treasure good food when we are blessed with one.

"The Shadow Of The Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Translated by Lucia Graves


This is a Gothic thriller set in 20th century Barcelona after world war II. It is written by a Spanish writer whom by far only this novel had been translated among all his other stories. (Which i think is a pity) It depict of how a boy, Daniel who is a bookseller's son since the age of ten laid his devotion to unveil the mystery of the dark and love life of the author (Julian Carax) of a book named 'The Shadow of The Wind' when his father brought him to The Cemetery Of Forgotten Books.

This book is engulfed with many flavors. Tragedy, romance, humor, witty, thrilling and aesthetic background to the imagination of readers. An epic story of murder, madness and doomed love. Readers will feel romantic and heartache for Daniel and Julian love life. I feel that this is a mixture of plot of Romeo & Juliet, Don Juan and Lei Yu (雷雨).

I believe every book lovers would love this story if they like this phrase from the book, "Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens." Well that is just my perception.

After reading it, I have developed an interest and hoped to be able to visit Barcelona some day to explore their cultures, Gothic architecture and sculptures...

Oreo Cheesecake with Lemony Swirls

My Oreo cheesecake creation (improvised version) which i did last week...

It is a 15 cm diameter cake decorated with mini Oreo cookies on top of swirls of lemon custard and dusted with icing sugar. The mini cookies really make the cake so cute...!

Mentioning about the lemon custard, I learnt from a cook book a few years back which I had used it for the fillings for baking my fruit tarts. Its been about 3 years since i made them, even though i wanted to try my skills on one now i can't cuz my oven was spoilt! *shake head*

I wish i got a nice oven again...

By the way, i think my Oreo photos are quite well shoot, any comments? (^_^)