Another trip to the other side

In 3 days time, I'll be heading to the other side of the planet - United States of America.

This is going to be my second trip there, with the first being approximately 1 year ago.

This time round, I'll be gg to Florida for a 3 days conference.

It is a very last minute trip, which I was informed only like last week???!!! After which, it was damn busy days trying to register the conference, get quotations for flight tickets, finding accommodation, liasing with exhibitors etc etc.

I only managed to secure my air tickets yesterday and sadly, I'm gonna fly on UA which I heard is pretty bad! Bo bian, we can't justify for the other airlines which are expensive especially given the departure date is This Week!!!!

Alright, based on my itinerary, I'll be in the air for 19hrs and 4 hrs of transist time. SG>>HK>>Chicago>>Florida.

Hope I can return safely as another bigger and more important trip is awaiting in 1 mth + time!

An "APPLE" a day for a yr

1 of the things i like to do when visiting my own blog, is to read what happened 1 year ago on the same month.


So i referred back to my April 2011 posts and found that I had bought my APPLE iPhone 4 in Apr one year ago.


I am dedicating this post to my Dear Iphone.


Much has been said about Apple's innovative product, but I still feel the urge to praise Apple for creating such a revolutionary product which has changed people's life.

After 1 year of using the phone, i am not at all sick or bored by the phone !

The iphone has really brought so much conveniences to my life.

-  I get more interconnected with my friends as i can access facebook anytime and anywhere (besides overseas due to data charges)

- I can read my emails and check for important updates

- I can talk to my friends via Whatsapp at Zero costs! this is probably the most functional part of the smartphone. Such free cyber communication methods encourages more interaction among people.

- The phone keeps me entertained during my long journey to work. This is a very important tool during the journey to work. As our trains get increasing crowded, it is hard to fight for a space to stand in the train, needless to say the space for you to hold and read your TODAY or myPAPER. Thus, the phone is my next best alternative to keep myself updated on the news and financial markets movement.

-   I can play game on the phone as if it is a PSP. I've never grew up playing nintendos or handheld games. Thanks to 1 of the integral experiences which iPhone creates, i am able to experience the joy of playing interesting games on a handheld device.


This certainly is very useful when you are bored and want to relax your mind by playing some games.



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In conclusion, the last 1 year with the iPhone has been great. I have never regretted buying it and also never will.

It has brought so much convenience to my life.

 Kudos once again to APPLE for revolutionizing how a hand-phone should be. 


Hope iPhone 5 which will be coming out this year, will bring more surprises and unique experiences to us :D

7D Taiwan trip (2) - Alishan

Alright, after a morning spent at 九族文化村 and lunch, we headed up to ALISHAN to catch the cherry blossom.


The road up to Alishan is really long and windy, turn left turn right turn left turn right. So if you have motion sickness, please make sure you take some medicine or in this case, i bought for my mum this Ginger Pills from Guardian which is suppose to alleviate motion sickness.


Along the way up, we stopped by this couple tree, 夫妻树which stands uniquely out of nowhere.


It was a very foggy day as you can see from the photo.



sometimes i really wonder how their sanitation network fucntions. This toilet is nicely built in the middle of a mountain, and really puzzles me where the waste will be routed to...interesting ya?





we met some cheeky monkeys (or what i call them as LAO GAO) along the way up. this mother monkey was eating the WANG WANG biscuit we gave, while the child just watch helplessly at the mum. End up the mum also never give a single bit to it. HAHA



Me and 1 of the cherry blossom trees spotted along the way up.
 


Very foggy day in Alishan. Makes 1 feel that we stepped into another realm of life..(^^)



We did not manage to catch the peak of the cherry blossom season as the weather turn cooler this year, so the blossom happened a bit earlier in early March. Else, end march should be an ideal period to enjoy the cherry blossom season.


By the time we reach in end Mar, 70-80% of them has already withered.






A group shot :D






Spotted this three trunk that looks like an elephant.



i love this shot






This Stone monument was built by the Japanese to appease the tree spirits as they cut down to many trees






Next up, we saw the Sacred Tree which is over 2300 yrs old!!!!






There is also a small 土地公 temple set up in the area.






the whole trek takes around 2-3 hours i think, cant remember.


It was pretty cold up in the mountains...11 degrees ! wohooo..heng no wind, else i sure catch a cold given that i only wear 1 jacket above my shirt.
 


We left Alishan around 4-5+ plus. Along the way down, we sounded to our driver and guide that we want to buy Alishan Tea. So here we are at our next station, 1 of the famous tea plantation around.





Tea plantation at xx,xxx feet.
 


1 of the ladies, (can i call them Alishan Gu niang?) demoed on the different types of tea leaves and tea flavor.




they actually charged the tea leaves based on the altitude which they are grown and harvested. It is NOT CHEAP!!!!


My family ended up buying the 1 which cost SGD$80 while my uncle they all bought the even more premium tea leaves which cost like close to SGD$200 !!! scary sia !
 


We rested in Chiayi as the hotels up in Alishan is quite ex i think. after dinner, we went to Chia Yi 文化街夜市, a very hustle and bustle night market that is both good for eating and shopping!




That's about all for Day 2 which was enjoyable with a day filled with walking and sightseeing :)

Day 3 will be slightly boring as it's a "cultural" day which brings us back to the HAKKA tourist sites in Taiwan. hope to blog about in tml. 

7D in taiwan (1)

Alright, I am going to start yet another long series posts on my trip to Taiwan.

I am making it a point to blog all my overseas trip as I find it very useful to recap the places i have been to in the future.

This is my 2nd trip to Taiwan, yet also my 1st trip there as a tourist (yup, i bet you know what i mean).

The last time i visited Taiwan was like end 2003. So it has been 8 years since i landed my foot in this island.

We went on a private tour for this Taiwan trip as we want it to be OWN TIME OWN TARGET. Only in this manner, then we can really enjoy and learn more about what we see. If we follow tour bus, then it will be super packed, rush here and there and you may not be able to spend enough time at places which you liked.

Since it is a private tour, we have to pay more $$. Our tour itself costs around S$2K, inclusive of air tickets and hotels.

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Our flight: Trans Asia, 1 of the Taiwan airline (not budget airline).

Initially, i thought it was Budget airline...

 

after 4  hours of flight, we touched down in Taiwan.

and here is the vehicle which is going to accompany us for the next 7 days - Volkswagen Transporter, a 9 seater car which is very spacious and comfortable.

Along the way to our first stop, we dropped by the famous 一福堂 shop and grabbed like $100+ worth of goodies like 太阳饼，凤梨酥，绿豆糕 etc....

 here is our driver, 王先生. a very friendly and funny person

After a few hours ride, we arrived @ the famous 日月潭.

after touring Sun Moon Lake, we proceed to visit WEN WU TEMPLE which is just a 5-10mins drive away.

WEN (文） refers to the ability to study, WU(武） refers to the ability to fight. Thus, we can guess this temple houses which deities/ gods. Yupz, they are CONFUCIUS and GUANG GONG.

 

That's about all for Day 1 in Taiwan. After a night stay @ Sun Moon Lake, we proceed to the nearby 九族文化村 on Day 2.

Here's the view of Sun Moon Lake in the morning. Nice reflections.

We arrived early at the theme park, and visited the garden which was really BEAUTIFUL!!!

It is littered with colourful flowers like Lavender etc. A very scenic and serene place to start a day :D

nice fountain

 

at 0930hr, we went in to watch the 迎宾舞, a.k.a Welcome Guest Dance.

It was performed by the Aboriginal otherwise known as the 原著民.

It happened to be the School excursion week, so the theme park is filled with students.

here comes the YUAN ZU MIN dance, very interesting.

 

 

 

they are really good dancers and i really enjoyed their tribal dance.

 

九族 refers to the 9 tribes in Taiwan. Along the theme park, there're several signs to show the culture of the different tribes

 

after walking for 1 hr ++, we took the cable car back to Sun Moon lake area. It is my 1st time taking cable car =P

 

and here's our lunch.... 阿Q instant noodles from 7-11 !!!!


I like the 7-11 concept in Taiwan..they have areas for dining and the 7-11 just looks like a mini bar where people can grab a quick lunch at. How i wish SG also can have such 7-11 (^^)
  

ok, that's about all for 1st post..Next post will be on 阿里山!

more pics to come :D