AIESEC Global Community Development Programme - 台南 ,台灣 - Week 6 (last week)

06/01/2014-10/01/2014:

It's the last week and I attended classes as usual. I did henna for all the students in the school as a gift for them before I go. At the end of each class, I took a group photo with them and their hometeacher. Henna is the only thing I can give them as a memory though it can only last for 1 week. I regretted not buying Instax camera before coming to Taiwan because I could have use it to take photos with the students and give them the photo instantly. Then, that will be a gift that will last forever. :( WHY DIDN'T I BUY IT........

I attended a meeting with all the teachers. During that meeting, I shared about my experience and gave each of them a small handmade gift. I bought the materials needed last week and started to make them furiously, as fast as I can so that I can give the teachers during the meeting on time. So what did I give them? I made dragonflies with satin cords and beads and attached a note with a small wooden peg. The reason for giving them this is because I didn't prepare anything for them before I leave for Taiwan. Therefore, I thought of making something myself.

It took me about 4 days to make 82 dragonflies and 3 days to finish writing all the notes. I not only gave them to the teachers but all the staffs working in the school. I gave it to Eehui and asked her to passed some to Bolin's friends and family. I'm also giving them to my host family and Maggie's sister's family. For my host family, I bought 4 cards at the bookstore and gave them together with the dragonflies instead of giving them a small note. I definitely have to use a card as I have more things to say to them! HAHA, I'm really thankful for their care for these 6 weeks. They provide me with all the things I need, brought me to many places to visit and bought me many food to eat too. It's a great 6 weeks with them.

Throughout the week, I received presents from the students too. I received 7 decorated bananas (yes, it's decorated and why banana? It's because I told them my favourite fruit is banana), a big red apple, 3 蛋饼 (this is from the students who gave me bananas), 2 big bags of cards and small presents too. I took photo with those students who gave me cards and presents as I scared I might forget who gave me which card or present. I can't remember all their names so taking photos with them is the way to go. Anyway, I ate the 7 decorated bananas all by myself! I had 2 bananas in the morning to clear them. As for the 3 蛋饼, I finished them all too. My highest record thus far is to eat 蛋饼 for breakfast for 3 consecutive days. Now, I have broke the record by eating 3 蛋饼 in A DAY. I'm still lovin' it ~~~ The children from the kindergarten also gave me a card. I think, that's my favourite! It's fully decorated and with drawings and colours. There's also a message for me too. They wrote each and every word on the card. I'm really touched to see the card.

Lastly, I got a present from the principal too. She gave me some of the elementary school sovenior and a plaque. O.O For the first time in my life, I receive a plaque as gift. It's kinda big too. The principal wanted to give me something that I can use and smaller in size. However, she explained that she was really busy the day before and only communicate with the vendor by phone and thus they got the wrong one. Nevertheless, I really appreciate her gift.

Teachers here are also very generous too, I received presents from some of them. One of the teachers actually gave me 2 big bottles of 金门高粱. I was shocked! She said the 金门高粱 is the best thing in 金门 and it's really nice. She told me the one she gave me contain 50% alcohol. O.O Also, she said the longer I keep it, the better it taste. I'm kinda worried how am I gonna bring it back home. Then I realized I can't hand-carry it because they are liquid......so I gave one to my host family and return one back to my colleague.

My return trip check-in luggage was only 25kg. When I came, my luggage in total weighed about 24kg. I only had 20kg for check-in luggage so I handcarried one. I was thinking my luggage might be more than 25kg as I bought quite a lot of food, some other stuffs, a pair of shoes and 3 pieces of clothing. Plus, I got presents from both students and teachers. Therefore, I decided to add another 5 kg. When I went online to check, it costs 16 SGD for 5kg and 17 SGD for 10kg. Of course I took the 10kg one since it's just 1 SGD more. So now I have 35kg worth of check-in luggage to spare. Heheheh.......

Oh ya, the principal gave me a present too. She gave me a 剑狮 plaque because 剑狮 is the 守护神 in 安平. There's a short message at the bottom, to thank me for what I've done. It's my first time receiving a plaque as a present. It's kinda big but meaningful. Other than hanging it on the wall, I can't really use it in any other way. Nonetheless, it's something memorable from the principal and I really appreciate it. :)

On thursday, I went for the badminton session. Since I'm leaving already, it's better for me to attend and bade farewell with the badminton players there. I had fun with them. Although they are still so pro and making me feel stress, I learn quite a bit of skills from them. I'm also thankful for 郑老师, he helped me a lot by guiding me along. He will tell me where to stand, when to hit, when not to hit and most importantly, break the ice by making the atmosphere not so awkward. He is like a 开心果, in the group. I can't imagine how it will turn out without his presence. I'm so glad to meet such a person. A person who will help me get along with others, pull me into the group so that I won't be awkward. I'm always grateful to these kind of people. Too bad I only manage to start to talk to him more when I'm leaving but still, I'm still feel very grateful to be able to meet him.

11/01/2014: Bye bye, Tainan, Taiwan!

I took the High Speed Rail from Taoyuan to Tainan when I arrived in Taiwan in December. Therefore, I decided to take the coach back as suggested by Maggie. The main reason is to save moeny as the High Speed Rail is really expensive and second reason is for another experience. According to Maggie, the coach is comfortable and is those with 2 columns of seats only, so you can imagine the amount of space each passenger has.

The principal and her husband came down to send me off. They came to Maggie's house at around 8.30am and had a chat before I leave for the bus station. It's been a great 6 weeks with them. I'm thankful for the care and concern from the principal. To thank the principal, I went to the bookstore to buy another card so that I can write my message and give the card to the principal on my last day in Taiwan. I totally forgot about principal when I was buying the cards for my host family. I didn't mean it, I guess I've just many things on my mind at that point of time....such as making of the dragonflies, giving out dragonflies, taking photos with all the classes, packing my luggage, planning which modes to bid etc.

We leave at about 9.30am but before we leave, we took group photos outside the house to keep it as a memory. Yup, there's always an end to everything, I bade farewell to the principal and her husband and my host family sent me off at the bus station. They accompanied until I board the bus. It's a wonderful 6 weeks with them. I'll definitely be back and visit time but before that, I'll have to save up for the trip.

It's about 4 hours and 30 minutes bus ride to the bus station at 中栗, where another van will pick me up and send me to Taoyuan International Airport. The return journey is really always faster.....I slept a little, day dream a little and the next moment, I'm already at the airport. It was only 3.30pm!!! My flight was at 8.15pm and I can only check in at 6.15pm. So what did I do while waiting for my flight? All thanks to my laptop and free wifi at the airport. I watched Exo's showtime EP 6, surfed the net, chat with the students on Facebook and ate some tidbits. After that, I checked in my luggage and have dinner at the food court. Once I finished my dinner, it's already 7pm. I can board at around 7.30pm so once I finished my dinner, I make my way to the boarding gate.

When I reached the boarding gate, there were so many Singaporeans waiting for the flight to go home. After being away for 6 weeks, for a moment, I couldn't get use to the Singaporean's english and the slang. It just feel weird.....I guess I'm already used to the Taiwanese accent. The flight back took about 4hours plus. It was super fast too....I slept my way back as I was SUPER DUPER TIRED. When I reached the airport, I was the first few to be out of the plane as I was seated in the first 10 rows. However, my luggage took about more than 20minutes to reach me. =.= Lesson learnt, no point sitting in the front and get out of the plane ASAP. Anyway, my dad came to pick me up from the airport. The first time that came into my mind when I stepped out of the airport that day was, 一个字：热! I was wearing 2 layers of long sleeves can! I was perspiring like mad when I stepped out of the airport. I think partly because I also need to carry my luggages around. I got the same surreal feeling before I fly to Taiwan. The surreal feeling because I couldn't believe that I'm back in Singapore. 6 weeks, 1.5 months, away from Singapore. Singapore is a still the same to me but the feeling is just not right. I feel a little foreign to Singapore although I'm away for 6 weeks. I feel like as though I'm a foreigner in Singapore. HAHAHAHAHAHA....

Anyway, a lot of things are different when I'm back. There are now a lot of new tv programmes, dramas that were previoulsy showing before I left were replaced by new dramas. My house? There's a new drawing hung in my living room, new bedsheets and cups. My brother even got a new phone and new number. Then I have to start school a day after I come back. It's super rush.....I was super tired too. Yet, I still have to unpack my luggage, wash the dirty bags that I've used during the trip, prepare for school, plan and prepare for tuitions. It's exactly what I've predicted...BUSY BUSY BUSY. Hais. I have yet to find time to upload the photos I took too......then many gatherings have been planned too as many are back for school reopen, so can meet up already. :) Looking forward to see my friends, as it feels like a LOOOOOOOONG time since I meet them. I wonder if they have change in anyway. :) :) :) Looking forward to the meet ups!

Oh....I've finally decided to change my phone. YUP. I'm going down to Singtel to get a new phone. This means that I will have no more rebates for my monthly phone bills and my data plan will no longer be 12 GB. :( I was in a dilemma for at least 2 months regarding this. I couldn't tolerate my phone any more. Let's not just say how lag it is, the fake cable wire which I bought couldn't work after 1 or 2 months and my earpiece is like a cui now. SO, getting a new phone means I will have new ear piece, new cable wire and no laggy phone. I gotta start to control my use of data plan already. :( :( :( So what phone will I be getting? It's none other than the IPHONE 5S. YUP, YUP, YUP. I can't get enough of apple products? Nope, I think it's more like I'm already used to it and I don't really fancy huge screen for phones. Laptop yes, but phone....not really. Anyway, this means that I have to spend money. I know I shouldn't since I'm just back from a trip but still, I just can't tolerate it anymore. And then, I found out that my BLUETOOTH MOUSE is spoilt. I sort of fixed it by adding something into the mouse so that I can still click but the connection is sort of cranky and keep losing connection. I went to check out the mouse in stores, most of them are USB mouse which I don't like. It just take up my USB slot. *URGH* I'm still struggling with my current spoilt mouse. I hope it can still work for some time because I don't want to spend money so soon....at least let me get my ang bao money first? Hehe......

AIESEC Global Community Development Programme - 台南 ,台灣 - Week 5

30/12/2013：

It's a monday.....so it's time for 每周一句! I went up the stage and shared this sentence: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail, credits to Mr Quek. HAHAHAHA. I shared this as it's quite meaningful....I do hope that the students get what I meant.

Then it's lesson time. It's already week 5 and I want to give something to the teachers and staffs in Shimen Elementary School before I go. I actually wanted to ask my mum to airmail me some packets of coffee from Singapore and use it as a gift before I leave. However, I realized the coffee that I drink in Singapore is not suitable for most Taiwanese as they prefer small sachets. Therefore, I came up with another idea: to give them handmade-dragonfly. I went out that day to get the materials to make the dragonfly. Googled for the nearest and biggest bookstore near me and found out that there's one near Tainan Train station. SO RELIVED CAN! I was quite worried what if I really can't find a shop that sell the materials I need? Then I will have to come up with other ideas......

Anyway, I went out to get the materials. I got the pegs (for the note), strings (body of the dragonfly) and was hesitating for the beads (eyes of the dragonfly). The reason is because they don't sell round beads with holes big enough for the satin cord to thread though. I just have to make do with the small and rectangular-liked beads. *SIGH*

OH....Ashmin and Kiatni were at Tainan and we were supposed to meet for dinner that day. However, when I told them I was near the train station to get the materials during lunchtime, they replied saying that they were at the same area too. In the end, I met them and went back to 安平区 together. They were waiting for me at the bus stop. The moment I saw them, I was really happy and excited. It's like finally able to see some familiar faces AFTER SO LONG (okay not very long, it's just 4 weeks and I do Skype with my family, but still....in real life is different.....). I think only those who experience this can totally understand what I'm trying to say here, just like how Kiatni understand it too. When we board the bus back to 安平区, Kiatni saw a friend who was boarding the same train too. It's such a coincidence! It's really nice to meet someone familiar when you're overseas. Trust me. ;)

Once we're back to 安平区, I have to attend a class before I can have a break. I have yet to have lunch at that point in time so I munched on some biscuits in my bag before coming out to meet Ashmin and Kiatni for lunch at 周氏虾圈. I finally can try their 担仔面, it's delicious!!! 果然名不虚传！Next up, I went to have some 冬瓜茶 since the weather that day was quite warm, We walked around the streets before heading back to the school together for my last class for the day. Ashmin and Kiatni's Tainan Trip is supposed to be a relaxing one so they didn't plan to visit any historical site.  Instead, they sit through my lesson and watch me teach. *SO SHY CAN* However, the class that day was the naughtiest and the noisiest among my 4pm to 5pm class. Therefore, the side which they saw was the ugly and bad side of my teaching. The children were really out of control. There was a teacher behind but it's the same, useless. Lucky for that lesson, I planned some dancing and game for the class which sort of caught their attention. Some attention.

The kids had fun with the 2 new sisters and Ashmin even took photos with them. :) Putting the naughty and noisy side of them aside, all of them are really very cute!!! Taiwanese children are so adorable. The questions they asked, what they do, their actions are just CUTE, ADORABLE, CUTE, ADORABLE........not sure about Singapore kids as it's a long time since I meet a whole class of them.

Dinner was just eating along the way......焦糖番薯，蚵仔圈，嫩肉饭，大肠 and 丸子汤. I took them to the pier to have a look at the beautiful scenery and we camwhored there too. ;) I mean it's a must to take photos to keep them as a memory. It's something for me to look back and think back about my trip in the future. :)

I sent them off at the bus stop and walked home after that. They are leaving Taiwan the next day for Hongkong before they go back to Singapore. So good for them to be able to travel to so many countries consecutively...I do hope that I can do that in the future but first, build up my courage to do that, alone.

31/12/2013:

Went to school as usual, from 8am to 5pm. Once I got home, I packed some stuffs and at around 5.30pm, my host family and I head off to 崗山, 高雄. Maggie once live there and her parents and siblings are all there. Maggie's family prepared a countdown New Year Eve's dinner that day. We went to her sister's house which is 6 storeys high and so they even have an elevator in the house. My host family and I stayed over at her sister's house, on the 5th storey as there are 2 bedrooms on the 5th storey. It's a very pretty and cosy house. The first 2 level are her sister's family business office and the rest are her sister's home. They have a open air rooftop where we had BBQ and lots of food for dinner that night. I had LOTS OF LOTS OF FOOD. Maggie's parents and sister kept feeding me food that day. 只差沒有撐死！真的好撐啊！However, the food are REALLY VERY GOOD, especially the boiled smelly tofu prepared by her sister. I normally prefer the fried ones but that night, her sister's smelly tofu just changed my view towards the boiled ones. IT WAS SUPERB! *SLURPS*

Anyway, we ate and chit chat all the way until it's time for countdown. I prepared my camera and was all ready for the fireworks. YES, fireworks. Her sister's house is 6 stories high and the surrounding houses aren't very tall, unlike what we have in Singapore. Therefore, although the fireworks were very far, we still can see it as the sky was very dark and not much buildings were blocking our view. I think this was my second countdown. My every first was at my aunt house and I was still quite young that time.

01/01/2014:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We woke up and ate the leftover food from the countdown dinner last night for breakfast. Of course, I had more boiled smelly tofu, just couldn't resist. Then I chit chat with Maggie and her sister for quite a while before I head off to an insect and animals exhibitions with Hanson and Maggie's sister's daughters, Yining and Wanqi. For a moment, I thought there will be real insects and animals for the exhibitions but I'm wrong. There's real animals, only at 1 section of the exhibitions. This exhibitions was to introduce the different animals and insects that can be seen in Taiwan and all of them were just air-pumped figurines or statues of different kind of sizes. It's an exhibitions for kids, I find it not very interesting though but it's still an experience for me.

I spent the whole afternoon at the exhibitions and once I reach back to Maggie's sister's house, it's time to bade farewell. It's about 1.5 to 2 hours ride between 台南 and 岡山 therefore my host family and I must leave early. I'm really thankful for Maggie's parents and sister. They were very friendly and made me feel like I'm at home. They were very hospitable and nice people too. It was a great time able to meet time and interact with them. Maggie's sister even gave me a tin of tea before I leave her house. She's really a nice person. I've added her on Facebook so will definitely keep in touch with her. :)

02/01/2014-03/01/2014:

Back to school and same time again. I shared about the festivals celebrated by each race in Singapore. For Chinese, I specially chose Hungry Ghost festival so that I can show them how Getai is like in Singapore. I also showed them some snippets of the movie - 881 to make them understand how is it like to be a Getai singer/performer.

For Malay, I basically touch and go about Hari Raya Haji. I realized they don't have much special celebration which I know of.

Lastly for India, I talked about Deepavali and Thaipusam. For Deepavali, I talked about Henna. I actually bought 5 tubes in Singapore before coming to Taiwan as I know the students here will love this kind of things. I helped the lower primary to draw and allowed the upper primary to choose to draw themselves if they want. All of them enjoyed it and even asked for more. :)

04/01/2014: One day trip to 高雄

I traveled to 高雄 myself and explored 2 places. I took the 区间车 to 左营 and took their metro to 凹子底 I station to go 爱河之心. The metro in 高雄 only accpet their very own ezlink card so I can't use my 悠游卡. I didn't buy their 1-day pass ticket as I will only be going to a few stations. I bought single trip tickets throughout my day in 高雄 if I were to take the metro. Their single trip ticket comes in the form of a plastic coin. I was very puzzled when I first got it as I don't know how to pass the gantry with the plastic coin. Their gantry is the same as the ones in Singapore. There is an area where you can scan your card. I went to ask the staff at the station and she said just scan the plastic coin at the scanning area..........I felt so stupid after asking her for help. LOL. It's quite cool, the plastic coin works the same as the card. When I'm coming out of the station, I don't need to scan the plastic coin. Instead, there is a hole at the scanning area that I can insert the plastic coin. The purpose of this is to reuse the plastic coins. I think this idea is quite good, very environment friendly too.

First stop, 凹子底 station. I walked about 5-10 minutes to get to 爱河之心  It's a beautiful place. There's couple dating along the river, people having their morning jog and family having some fun time together. As for me? I'm all alone enjoying the river and camwhoring myself. HAHAHAHAH.....I spent about 1.5 hours exploring the river......

Second stop, I took a bus from 凹子底 station to go to 三民市场. I read about this yummy yam local delicacy on a travel guide book and decided to go try it. It looks DAMM GOOD in the book, plus, I LOVE yam too, just have to try it. There's something I still cannot get use to it in Taiwan, that is, the waiting time for their public transportation - buses. I waited for about at least 40 minutes for the bus just to go 三民市场  *FRUSTRATED MUCH* Once I got there, I found the stall BUT 晴天霹雳......the stall owner told me that the fried yam biscuit is out of stock! I waited for soooooooo looooooong for the bus, traveled all the way there and it's OOS? He told me I need to wait for another 20 minutes for the coming batch. *OH WELLS* Of course I wait for it.....meanwhile I was so hungry that I had 小笼包, 水饺 and 烧麻糍. The 烧麻糍 was so interesting. It's in a form of a baseball size of ball and it was in submerged in boiling water. It's served without any water or soup but was coated with either sesame powder or peanuts, depends on which one you want to have. I tried both....it's was very different from the 麻糍 I had before. It's more chewy, tender and GOOD. I prefer this kind than the original ones. I wonder if other places in Taiwan have this kind of 麻糍 because it's my first time seeing it in Taiwan after coming Taiwan for the 3rd time. When I went back to the stall to buy the fried yam biscuit, I was too full to eat it so I just bought it and move on to the next stop.

Third and the last stop, it's 美丽岛 station. Maggie told me that there's this famous bakery named 不二家, selling a famous and delicious yam cake. I love pastry so I definitely have to try it. When my reached the bakery, it was about 3pm and the staff told me that it's out of stock! X.X I placed an order and came to collect it after 2 hours. While waiting for my order to be place, 3 customers came in and asked about the yam cake. This proves that it must be very delicious and famous! While waiting, I went to  美丽岛 station to shop. Yup, shop. There's many shops at the station and most of them were about art and handicrafts. The things over there were really very interesting and cute. There's a lot of things too see so I took my time to visit ALL the shops in the station. I bought quite a few things for myself and gifts too. :) Oh ya, I ate the fried yam bisuit! IT WAS SO SPECIAL AND GOOD! Totally worth my trip down. It's my kind of snacks luh. Oh, I forgot to mention that 食尚玩家 interviewed them too.

Before I collect the cake, I went to 六合夜市. I couldn't stay in 高雄 till very late as I need about 2-3 hours to get back to 台南. I have to leave at about 6pm. So, I went to 六合夜市 at around 5.30pm to have a light dinner as I was still quite full. The night market was a big one and there's a lot of food over there. It's really a pity that I'm full and couldn't stay much longer. I woud love to go back and visit 六合夜市 someday. I bought their famous papaya milk as recommended by the travel guide book and a cup of 杏仁菇. Their papaya milk is so creamy, tasty and you won't get sick of it at all, no wonder it's highly recommended. Once I finished my dinner, I went back to collect the yam cake and went straight back home to 台南.

I reached home at around 8pm and my host family rent a DVD for the movie named, 总镨师. We watched the movie together and had the yam cake. THE YAM CAKE WAS HEAVENLY, OMG. The yam was super duper creamy and there's still small bits of yam in it. The sponge cake which layered with the creamy yam was super light and it went so well with the creamy yam. I really flew up to heaven and came back down. T.T Too bad I can't buy more because this cake has to be consumed within 3 days. Furthermore, it's freshly baked out from the oven that day and it's about 8.70 SGD for the cake which served about 7 slices. SUPER WORTH IT.

The movie was a good movie too. It's about a Taiwanese culture and there are some jokes in it. It's a funny and interesting movie. In addition, there were a lot of places filmed in 台南 too. The theme is more towards vintage which I absolutely love about it. It's a movie worth watching. Before watching this movie, a teacher in school told me about it and asked me to go catch it if I can.

05/01/2014: One day trip to 鹿港, 彰化 with my host family

It's about a 2 hours ride by car up to  鹿港, 彰化. There's a lot of temples there. That day, I think I went into 4-5 temples to have a look. The main highlight of the one day trip was the 鹿港老街. As comapred to 安平老街, it's much bigger. It's like about 3 to 4 times bigger and longer. There's so much things to see. Most of the shops there are of 古早味 and the food there are very traditional too. I had 面茶 and my host family bought 2 packets for me to bring it back to Singapore. It's some kind of starchy drink which is good for breakfast or tea time. I bought 2 containers of 黑糖姜茶 for my grandmother. I bought them for her during my previous trip and she loves it. So I bought more for her this time round. There's really a lot of things to see but we don't have much time. I don't think we finished exploring the old street and went home. It's along ride back and have to rest early today since my host parents need to work and Hanson and I need to go to school the next day. 鹿港 is a place worth going! My host family told me they will visit 鹿港 once in 1 or 2 years.

AIESEC Global Community Development Programme - 台南 ,台灣 - Week 4

23/12/2013: Road trip to 關子嶺

It's sports day on Saturday so Monday will be a holiday for the school. Teachers don't have to work so one of the teachers, 炎秋主任 offered to bring Eehui and I out for sightseeing. Her husband and her plan to cycle from her house all the way to 關子嶺 so they need to drive through the route and see how it is. Therefore, Eehui and I tagged along with them.

It's a long ride, along the way we saw many views, most of them are the rural side of Tainan. There were many fields, farms and factories along the way. What I loved is the wide and endless sky. The weather was great and the sky was in the nicest shade of blue. The clouds are fluffy and white that came in all sizes and shapes. It's really relaxing to see such a view. It's something I like to do when I'm here. This is because once I go back Singapore, I won't be able to enjoy such a view again. Most of the time, the view will be blocked by skyscrapers or HDB flats. =.=

First stop, we passed by a huge field of Canola flowers. IT'S SUPER PRETTY!!! I've never see such a huge field of flowers before. It's really beautiful. What's more, they're yellow in colour. MY FAVOURITE COLOUR. AWESOME X2. HAHAHAHAHA. I took as much photos as I can with my camera but the number of photos I took with the flowers are limited. :(

We made a toilet stopover at the University of the Arts. It's a new university, out of no where too, very remote. There's still a smell of paint and some places are still in a mess. However, I've to say that the school is really HUGE and MAJESTIC. It's quite atas too, has this artsy-fartsy feel.

Next stop, we had lunch at a 7-11 as there wasn't much food stall along the way. I had a bento! Taiwanese bento meals are cheap, nice and filling too. However, I don't know why but the rice I had in Tainan is a bit different from the rice I had in other places. It doesn't have the super nice taste which I had before. Maybe it's due to the way that it's being cooked or might be really due to the type of rice that they eat here in Tainan. That's okay, I will be going Taipei on the weekends with Eehui and I think I can get to eat the nice Taiwanese rice.

The trip up to 關子嶺 is really long. However, once we reached the top and saw the scenery, I think it's all worth it! 關子嶺 is a place for people to enjoy hot spring. There are many motels and hotels there which are hot spring based. There are quite a source of hot spring which are super HIGH in temperature. The once I saw which they showed us the temperature is about 80 degree celsius. We got to see the water flow pass and there were steam coming out from the water. There's also a smell from the water too.

It's so relaxing to be there. I got to see mountains from somewhere high, breathe in fresh and clean air and listen to sounds from the insects and birds living there. I really have to thank 炎秋主任 for bringing me along. I wouldn't be able to see such beautiful views if I were to travel myself as public transportations will take a super long time and I doubt there's public transportations going up the hill.

Last stop, we went to 水火同源 and a pavilion at a temple. The SHUI HUO TONG YUAN IS DAMM COOL! Its name says it all, 水跟火有同个源头, they co-exist and come from the same source. Nature is really interesting isn't it? There are nature gas coming from the ground thus the fire. The water flowing down and near the flame are boiling due to the fire. Yes, the FIRE, it's considered a huge fire source given that it's all natural. NOT JUST FLAMES OKAY, FIRE. I will show the picture of it and you will know (once I upload all the photos). 

Then the pavilion from the temple is a HUGE ONE. 有山有水, IT'S MAGNIFICENT. Taiwanese are so lucky to be able to have so many pretty scenery in so many places. I know many countries especially the western countries are like this too. They have both city areas and suburbans areas with beautiful scenery. Singapore is just too small....but I'm not complaining because the fact that I don't have a driving license (don't think I will have it in the near future), public transportation is really important to me. I really don't like the fact that, in Taiwan, I have to wait so long for the bus and have to worry for the last bus which might be early. I really need fast and convenient public transportations.

24/12/2013-27/12/2013:

Same routine but because it's Christmas, there a few special events which happened on 25th.

A community group that are in charged of "special" children came to the school to perform and gave presents to the students. The "special" children also dressed up as Santa and elves to go around and gave out presents to the students. All of us had fun and I think it's a meaningful activity.

I started the sharing of the different festivals celebrated by the 3 main races in Singapore. I can finally use the henna I brought over. My first sharing session was with a primary 4 class. I actually wanted them to draw themselves which is why I bought like 5 tubes of henna. However, no one wants to draw it themselves, in the end I have to go around to each and every students to help them draw. I think I will be a PRO in henna drawing after many rounds of drawing.

27/12/2013:
After school, I went to 小西门, the new mall behind, 新光三越西门店. It's a mall for the youngsters as the brands and designs of the shops are quite modern and funky that are targeted at the younger generations like me. However, it's a mall after all. The things over there are really expensive. It's a 1 story high mall with basement 1 and 2 filled with stores too. The area for each level is also very big therefore personally, I think the mall is quite big although there's only 3 levels. I walked around each level to have a look and left in about 30 to 45 minutes as I can't buy or eat anything there. Oh ya, there's a ice skating rink at basement 2, something like the one we have in Jcube but it's much smaller.

I left 小西门 and made my way to 国华街. This street is a SUPER LONG street with a variety of shops. I think it's quite nice to shop there and some shops are quite interesting and pretty. I had dinner there too. It was very cold that night so I wanted something piping hot to warm my stomach. I went into this noodle shop which was around since 1984. I ordered 馄饨干面 and indeed, IT'S SO GOOD. There's a reason for them to be able to survive for so long. The sauce went so well with the QQ noodle. I'm swallowed my saliva as I recall that bowl of noodle already......YUMS.

Before I found this 1984 noodle shop, I actually wanted to try the noodle that Maggie introduced me. She told me that it's really nice and when I reached the stall, there were many people queuing for their noodle. I'm alone so I couldn't reserve any seat for myself. By the time I want to submit my orders, there isn't any table left, so in the end, I gave up and went to find some other things to eat.

Dinner was good and so was my shopping too. My purpose of walking to 国华街, is not only to have dinner but also to get a pair of sneakers as I will be going to Taipei for the next 2 days. The shoes I've brought over to Taiwan were pumps that will not keep my feet warm. Even though I do wear socks for these kinds of shoes, they are not thick enough too. I'm really scared of cold so I told myself I have to get a pair of sneakers to keep my feet warm.

I always wanted to get a pair of New Balance sneakers as I think they have this vintage feel. Hahahaha, don't ask me why but I just have that feel. Many taiwanese here wear their sneakers too and according to my inspection for about 3 weeks, New Balance sneakers are quite versatile as they are able to match to different kinds and style of clothing. They are quite expensive in Singapore since you can only buy them in shopping malls. I didn't really go check the price but I assume it's at least a $100? I really can't buy a pair of sneakers for more than $100. For sports shoes yes....but sneakers.....NOPE. I went into this shoe store that sells many brands of shoes and that includes New Balance. The choice of colours were VERY limited. Out of the 5 colours, 2 were PINK based and one of them consists of LIME GREEN. Pink is a BIG NO for me. As for lime green, it's just way too bright. So, I'm left with yellow/navy blue and orange/light blue. I quite like both colour combinations and I wanted to try both to see how I look. However, the yellow/navy one is out of stock for my size. I'm left with orange/light blue. I hesitated a bit as orange is still kinda bright and the blue is considered quite bright too. However, it's a new model, going at 1850NTD but there's discount so I can get it for 1570NTD. I think it's a pretty good deal, therefore I bought it in the end.

I had a problem when I got home that day. I didn't wear normal sock when I went to buy the shoes. I was wearing the socks for pumps so I know I have to leave some space for the socks. When I wore the shoe and checked if it fits, I'm still able to put in my index finger at the back. I thought to myself, this should be the allowance for the socks, this size should be just nice. When I got home and tried it with normal shoes, TO MY SURPRISE, even after wearing normal socks, I can still put in my index finger at the back. I should've gotten half or one size smaller and it will fit just nice. *SIGH* I cannot go back and change since I have to wear it to Taipei. I know I can just don't wear it and go back and exchange after I'm back for Taipei but that will defeat the purpose of me buying the sneakers. I just tell myself that it will be more comfortable as my toes will have more space and I just have to tie the shoe lace tighter. *SIGH* *SIGH* *SIGH* It's a long time since I buy sneakers, totally don't know how to gauge even though I was at the store trying out the shoe.

Anyway....I'm still loving the sneakers!!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH! No regrets buying it. The more I look at it, the more I love it. ♥ ♥ ♥

28/12/2013:
I woke up early in the morning to have breakfast at the breakfast shop near my host family house before I head off to Tainan Train Station to meet Eehui to go Taipei together. Our train is at 10.30am so we have to be at the train station at 10am. I made sure I'm early so that I won't be rushing for the train. I had 综合蛋饼 for breakfast! It's SO GOOD. I can really eat 蛋饼 everyday for breakfast. I'm serious.

I reached the train station at around 9.30am plus and Eehui arrived at around that time too. We waited for the train, bought 台铁便当 for lunch so that we can eat on the train since we will only reach Taipei at around 3pm. It was a 4 hour and 30 minutes train ride from Tainan train station to Taipei train station by 自强号. It was SUPER LONG can........save money ma, the ticket is like less than half the price as compared to High Speed Rail.

When we reached Taipei Train Station, Eehui's Taipei friend, Bolin who is also the host for us for the 2 days came to pick us up at the train station. He was really nice and still gave us a bag of gifts. We followed him back to his house to put down our stuffs before heading out.

We went to to an exhibition with Bolin's friends, Zhaoxiang. He was the one who introduced us the exhibitions. It's an interactive exhibition, something that I've never see and experience before. After talking to him, then I got to know that Zhaoxiang actually worked at the exhibitions and had already been to this exhibitions for 5 times! His professor was the one who came up with the theme and idea of the exhibitions. The name of the exhibition is called 梦想馆. There are around 5 or 6 stages in the exhibitions and at each stage, there will be faciltators helping you to go about abd explore each stage. The main idea for this exhibition is about having dreams and to work towards your dreams.

At the start, each of us got a device which will help us to explore the exhibition. With the device, I got to take photos, played music with it, received a phone call and lastly board a plane. The whole experience was new and fun! I really like the idea of interactive exhibition. It's no longer just looking at exhibits, boards and reading them just like that. Interactive exhibitons allow me to be part of it, choose what I like to have and all in all, we have to thank Technology. Without technology, none of these would be able to happen.

After the exhibition, with the same ticket, we are able to visit another exhibition, called, 音乐盒. This mucial box is as though we are in a real muscial box. It played music through real instruements but with the help of robots and machines. Although at the end, the drums were kinda unscyhronise, the whole experience was relaxing and soothing for me. After walking for quite a bit at 梦想馆, we get to sit down and listen to music to relax for a while which is just what we need.

Dinner is up next! We cabbed down to the area with restaurants and took us quite some time to decide what to eat as the number of resturants there were quite limited. We went 点水楼 and had 4 baskets of 小笼包. The XO with chilli one was SUPER GOOD! I had never tried that before. While making the payment, there's a banner above the cashier that says: 小笼包排行榜: 1st-点水楼, 2nd-鼎泰丰 and I forgot the 3rd one. I was quite surprise to see that as I thought 鼎泰丰 is the Number 1 in Taiwan. Apparently, according to Bolin, this is how resturants promote themsleves. For 鼎泰丰  their banner will be 1st-鼎泰丰, 2nd-点水楼 and so on.

We meet another Bolin's and Zhaoxiang's friend named Ah Q.We spent some time at 成品书店 and when to cycle Ubike from the bookstore area to Taipei 101. It's another new experience for me! I have cycled both in the day and night but never in a city and definitely not near any promient skyscraper or what's not. Being able to cycle along the road with Taipei 101 by the side is like.....DAMM COOL! Hahahah, sua ku much.

It's around 10pm plus when we reached Taipei 101 and parked our bicycles therefore we went home after that. We went back home to put down our bags and went to a nearby eatery for supper. Bolin's parents insist to have supper together since they ended their work and were hungry too. Their supper is like SUPER SUPER SUPER ENORMOUS MEAL. They ordered like at least 10 plates of dishes (small but still a lot....) and a hot pot by the side. Bolin, Eehui and I were really not hungry as our 小笼包 dinner have yet to digest. We ate anyway....what to do. 差一点撑死！没在开玩笑！I don't know if it's a taiwanese tradition, Bolin's parents called for a toast before we start eating. I was quite surprised....it's like what I see in 夜市人生......

The supper ended at around 11.30pm plus to 12am......Eehui and I were super tired but still have to wash up. In the end, we didn't wash our hair since it's super cold and will take a long time to dry. We washed up and sleep immediately. 累死了！

29/12/2013:
We worked up at around 7.30am as we need to leave house at around 8am for breakfast before we start the itinerary planned for the day. What did I eat for breakfast? Well, it's none other than my all-time favourite: 蛋饼. It wasn't as nice at the one near my host family's house though. Anyway, we head to a metro station and waited for Zhaoxiang. He was late so we walked around the place and then finally decided to find a place to sit down and wait since it's drizzling that day ever since we stepped out of the house. I hate rainy days.......once Zhaoxiang reached, we took the bus to go 故宫.

The museum is very big. We spent like 2-3 hours there. It's a sunday so there were many tourist and I meant for real, MANY, A LOT. LIKE A LOT....the queue was long like MAD. We queued anyway since we're inside already. Oh ya, Bolin invited another friend whom I forgot/didn't catch his name.

After the museum we went to an aboriginal centre to take a look before we head back to the restaurant that Bolin's mum is working in. She wanted to treat us lunch before we head back to Tainan. The lunch was like the supper we had the day before......AGAIN, many dishes and a hotpot by the side. This time round, the hotpot is much bigger than the night before. It's like a basin we see in the toilet, I'm not joking, I'm SERIOUS. My jaw dropped when I see that hotpot.....how are we going to finish that BIG BOWL of hotpot???????????????

Bolin's another friend whom I forgot/didn't catch his name came to join us for lunch. He lives at 淡水 so Bolin asked him to bring 铁蛋 for us to bring back to Singapore. Although there were 5 of us, we really can't finish all the food, especially the hotpot. We were seriously full like nobody business at the end. We tried our very best to finish all the dishes and just gave up on the hotpot. Bolin's mum is really very hospitable....this is how passionate Taiwanese are.

OH YA, throughout the day, I was playing with my mouth. How? Keep exhaling.....because it was so cold that I can breathe out water vapour!!! I never expect I can actually do that in Taiwan......see how cold it was? Thank god one of the 主任, lent me her coat which is thick enough to fight the cold. She used the same one when she was in Korea during the winter season.

By the time we finished our lunch, it's already 2pm and our train back to Tainan was at 3pm. We went back to get our luggages and head straight to Taipei Train station. Bolin, Zhaoxiang and his friend tagged along all the way to Taipei Train station to send us off. Although it's just 2 days....they were very hospitable and nice people. Even though I met them through Eehui, I still hope that they can treat me as friends and I can be their international friends. This idea of international friend is really cool and interesting as we get to know more about a certain country much easier since it's through a local. In addition, there will be someone to host us if we get to meet the international friend at the country.

And it's a 4hours and 45 minutes back to Tainan. It's supposed to be 15 minutes shorter but the train was late.....what can I do? Eehui and I didn't buy any 铁路便当 since we were bloated due to the lunch. We survived the ride and head back home straight.

Overall, it's was a nice trip up to Taipei. My favourite part was to experience the COLD in Taipei, able to cycle in the city area and able to visit the interactive exhibition: 梦想馆. :) I really have to thank Bolin and his family for hosting us and his friends for the accompany. I hope I can host them too when they come to Singapore. 礼尚往来嘛.....