Alishan & KaoShiung 2016

March is supposedly a beautiful season to visit Taiwan, with the cooling temperature and nice weather. But alas, the weather turned sour on us on our 2nd day onwards.


Took the early flight out from Singapore, via Scoot. Took the KRT directly from the airport to ZuoYing, caught the HSR and managed to meet the last bus up Alishan (1310) but the bus was full. Left without much of a  choice, we took a taxi up (NT$1500), but was kinda of a blessing. On the way up, we passed an area with the Sakura with a full blossom and the taxi driver stopped for a while letting us take some beautiful shots.


Reached our Minsu at 23.5 Sunrise around 3 plus, checked-in and had our tea break provided by the minsu. The tea-break was all made by the owner which is pretty amazing. Took a free ride to Fengqihu and spend the afternoon walking around and of course got the all famous Fengqihu Lunch box set.


The next morning, we woke up very early(3.30am), checked out of the minus, and got all our luggage up the mountains. Managed to get the cab driver that gave us a better rate then the minsu. Took the cab to the mountain top, queued for the first train ticket and hope on the train for the sunrise viewing. However, the morning was too foggy and all we see is a sea of white. Did a morning hike at the mountain, and shortly, it started raining. It's a beautiful day, but as it got later, the crowd of tourists also increases. Finally around 9am, we gave up, and went back to the main train station. Despite planning to spend the day at Alishan, we took the 1030am bus back to the Chiayi HSR. Cold and wet morning, and finally we reached our hotel in Kaoshiung around 3pm. Just in time for check-in and a rest.


The rest of the trip was spent at Kaoshiung. One of the days was spent at Fo Guan Shan. My 2nd trip but still as amazing. We took the cab all the way up to the main temple, and from there, we walked around the temple grounds for around 1.5 hours, before making our way to the Buddha Memorial where we spent the rest of the day. The day is still a rainy day, making it cold and wet but we had a very spiritual day and it was really energizing.


The fourth day, we actually planned to visit Cijin Isle. But due to the rain, we decided against it, since our main intention is to ride the bicycle. Walked around and went to the British Consulate instead. The view up there is beautiful despite the rain. Took a walk all the way back down to the bridges and finally we decided to take the ferry to Cijin just to have our seafood lunch. Heading back, visited the Takao Railway Musuem.


On the last day, we went by Pier-2 Arts center, and came across their weekly Saturday Flea market. It's really full of little curios! Bought a few interesting souvenir's back for my friends. On the way back, we took the Duck Tour along the Love River. We passed by a Labour museum and had a eye opener visit to the small but interesting museum. they happened to have

HK 2016

Back from my 4 days of escape to HK with Ah Von.
IT was really a misty and magical 4 days. Almost everyday is a misty white due to the fog.
This trip, we did a bus ride (no. 15 from Admiralty Station) to the top of the peak and hike all the way down to Pok Fok Lum Reservior. It took us about 3 hours (ard 9am to 12noon). But it was a magical walk, probably due to the mist/fog. Everywhere is  misty white and with the morning dew and the fresh morning air. True, our knees almost turned jelly due to the down stairs but it's still a worthwhile walk.


Another memorable part of the trip was our walk from Mui-Wo to the waterfall. It's kind of rural areas with many expats with their kids. The walk took us around 2 hours, slowing exploring the area, and the houses around. Beautifully quiet. Saw that they planted quite a few Sakura trees along the pathway at regular intervals. Once grown, the place would be super beautiful.


Oh we made a little off trip to discovery bay on one of the foggiest day. We couldn't really see anything , it's just a blanket of white!


Of course the rest of the trip is eating and shopping. We had dim sum, very nice coffee and much much more! Yummy Trip.

London~~off for a while more

Seems like my "fate" with the Europe countries have still not arrived. The Planned for trip to England has to be postponed, since my friend's sis is uncertain due to the financial commitment for this year. Maybe next year (hopefully).


anyway, decided to do another short trip with my friend. It has been years since we last travelled together. Hopefully we can make it happened. A short trip to Vietnam would be good! haha Phu Quoc would be nice. haha....