Roman Holidays Part Cinque

Colosseum - One of the places that I have wanted to go after watching the "Gladiator". I read from books that there are still some gladiators around and we wondered whether those posing pictures are truly gladiators?  

We took a bus from Jewish Ghetto there. Didnt take many photos in the Ghetto - the buildings were brown and grayish and traffic was heavy even though the roads were narrow. Just kinda of sad feeling when we visited the ghetto. 

We used our Roma pass to gain direct entry, again skipping the long q. By now, I was fully pleased with my planning skills - our term used was "excellent organisation skills". Really important to do research or else we would end up queueing and spending less time in the old buildings. The Colosseum was huge. As it was summer, it was extremely hot and we had to hydrate ourselves to avoid any signs of heat exhaustion. Posing pictures was really a challenge due to heat and crowd. 

There was a section of grand stand for the royalties or VVIPs. I would imagine walking down the platform and hearing the roars of crowd. Making reference to the scene of the gladiators, the King would decide the fate of the lost gladiator by using his thumb - up or down. I could not be a good gladiator cos I dun have six packs. But I could imagine the glamour standing in the centre of the colosseum, just like the time when I performed NDP in the old National Stadium. Could feel the public pressure and atmosphere. 

There were no greenery in the Colosseum. You would go round and round and up and up. There was an air con book shop and enuff for us to hide insides.  I rem we went to watch a show showing the couple who went to explore the colosseum at night. Then it rained. It would be scary there as there were no lightning rod. So open area. 

It was very amazing to have right in the roads modern buildings and old buildings. It feels like standing at the crossroads of time zones - past and present. We took some pictures, wary of the people around of us. Right outsides the colosseum was where one of the General marched out to fight a victorious battle. Pebbles, my smartie wife "Advised" that they were meant for horses not soldiers like you and me. Yup, logical. She said so in the pavement outsides avignonsi too. No wonder I felt so uncomfortable walking on the pebbles. Had to eat gelato again to cool down. 

Roman Holidays Part Quattro

Water - Especially in Summer Rome, water is crucial for us walking under the hot sun. There was no need to buy mineral water in Rome as there were "rome water" at strategic locations. Like what I mentioned previously, I was a bit careful in trying out the water. Not sure if there were any impurities or bacteria.  However, it was really hot that I dun care about it anymore - started to look for water fountain to tap on the richness of water.

It was amazing to taste the Roma water which I called it. Cold and "crystal clear". When the water drained down the throat, cooling feeling.  Water cooler had a different meaning as compared to Rome fountain. My wife was afraid that I might kenna heat stroke. So, she would always use the filled bottle to rest against my neck. Kinda sweet and loving though it usually wetted my neck and my collar. 

I was constantly amazed by the abundance of water. I realised or more correctly learnt from my wife that there were bottled water - water from the tap that sold more x or not economical since we could just tap it anyway. I was browsing the web and chanced upon the Roman way of drinking the fountain water. There was usually a hole about the running tap and the web revealed the correct "roman way" of drinking. So, I decided to act smart when I saw similar fountain next time. 

We chanced upon one when we were on the way to the Jewish ghetto and market in Rome. As I spotted the hole, I told my wife to watch how I drink and wonder if she would be amazed. Well, not so. Before I could demo, she told me she knew and she had observed how the Romans did it. Well, a bit of an anti-climax. Nonetheless, she still allowed me to show her and I could not rem if she had acted amazed or not. 

Of cos, we took one of our fav photos tog drinking the water. It was one of the memorable things that we did - drinking the roman water. Back home when we chanced by a fountain, I still kept joking with my wife if we could drink straight from the fountain.

Roman Holidays Part Tre

Vatican City! Frankly speaking, I didnt even realise it was in Italy until I started my research. Saw my wife's friend's photos about the queue and I knew we were not going to q. Vatican city remains a very sacred and distant place to me as I have not even thought of going there. This Summer, we did it. 

We made full use of our Roman pass to travel to Vatican and I explained to my wife that we needed not to queue not becos of the Roma Pass but my "excellent org skills". I was a bit worried when I saw the long q and there was no "bypass lane". Nonetheless, we walked pass the long queue and BINGO - we bypassed straight to the entrance. I could not imagine how to stand under the hot summer heats. Very excited to enter the Vatican museum but this time we were more experienced in viewing the paintings. Something I learnt this trip was about "fresh coat paintings" - frescos if I understood from my wife correctly. There were many great artworks and even sculptures - though I could not remember most of them except the ceiling painting - "The Last Judgement" at Sistine Chapel. We were also lucky to be able to take a sit and admire the arts in the Chapel. Even someone not artistic like me also marveled at the works. "WOW". One amusing thing that I recently copycat was to say "Silence, Please" as the guards in the Chapel were reminding the crowd.

The spiral staircase was another interesting area for photo taking. This time, I too lazy to bring my wide angle. So, managed to get some good angles only, not perfect wide angle shot.  Initially I wanted to ask my wife to proceed down to the ground floor and for me to take a pic. However, I was afraid that she might not like the "art" since she would be too tiny to be seen in the photo. She used to say that the artistic wedding photos were those that the couple could not even recog that they were in the photos after donkey years. Hee, better dun take. 

We got ourselves in a bit of a mini mess at the Museum canteen.  The drink got stuck in the vending machine and we were pissed off. My dear checked with the staff and they asked us to check with the canteen vendor.  Usually the smartie, my wife asked me to take a photo to claim. A very unique collection of my Rome collection and my wife specifically asked me not to delete this photo.

Could not rem the taste of the drink as we were in piss off mode. At this moment, we also needed to hunt for a red background statue and this got us in tiring aimless hunt. I told myself I should have listened to my wife carefully and stop at that "statue" even though it might not be there. After the "macho man in red background" hunting, my wife was convinced and I also learnt to take care in listening to her and dun dismiss immediately. Learning. Hee.

Of Cos, we must have a vatican postcard! Actually, I could sense that my wife thought it was no big deal sending a postcard at Vatican city - when her friend told her it was "Vatican City" post card. I guess she wasnt aware that it was a small country and the history behind at that time. Hee. 

Post cards posting seems to be part of my travel itinerary and I would look out for post office in map. Just that at times when we could not find a post box, I always feel insecure to ask the receptionist to post for us. Dunno why. 

Roman holidays Part Due

I seldom blog about guesthouse. Daphne Trevi was the B&B that we stayed in Rome. It was on a road called Avignon* which was a place that we liked alot in France. It was on a cobblestone path - JJ said it was of history. I recalled some of these stoney paths in Colosseum were difficult to walk and JJ, the smartie as usual, shared that they were used by horses and chariots - well, make sense!

It was quite a romantic path and finding it was not difficult as I have penned down the way on a mini notebook. The impression of Daphne Trevi was good. JJ liked the place as it was part of a real Italian apartment. Our backyard view was shared with other locals. A very interesting feel and we started to feel and taste living the Roman way. As I was not very good in understanding instructions, I asked my wife to listen 100% to the instructions on how to enter/exit Daphne Trevi.  

The toilet was clean and filled with a lot of toilet rolls. Something caught our attention was the additional "toilet bowl" besides the usual bowl. We've been to France, Germany and London but this was the first time we saw this. We were trying to figure out how it was used for. My wife said it was for me (well, I dun think so though). But we too lazy to ask or surf the net. This was called bidet after we surfed the net back in Milano. It was for both males and females. Indeed, we found the "toilet" facilities very interesting in Rome. We overheard from some travellers that they had difficulties finding the flush - yup, some were designed to be on top, at the edge and they were quite unconventional. There was once when I didnt notice the flush would be activated only when we stepped on the device at the bottom. 

One reason why I chose Daphne Trevi was it was near Trevi Fountain - a place that I wanted to go for a long time. I saw the "replicate" before in Korea and really wanted to see the real one. Was also thinking that we could walk there on foot anytime if we wanted. We could even throw the first coin on the day.

The breakfast spread was good. We were always the first ones to eat and the breakfast corner was just outsides our room - very convenient. We liked the muesli, the ham and fruits. On one day, we nearly finished the ham and we noticed that they cut the ham into smaller portion instead of leaving it in circles. JJ said this served as rations for all the guests. JJ liked to eat flakes and muesli in yogurt while I liked them in milk.  Though when I tried them in yogurt, they did taste nice but I refused to "succumb" to this new way of eating. Frankly, it was quite nice especially when you ate with strawberry yogurt and muesli - yummy.  Must confess. 

Roman Holidays Part Uno

第一次去意大利，感觉已经很兴奋。八月的意大利，应该会热吧。就是这样，我们还是去。JJ was down with flu on flight to Italy Milano, so I have to stay awake and take good care of her. It was the first time that we slept on arrival at our guesthouse in Rome - in fact we have been zzing from plane to train and to guesthouse. Ignoring the pre-plan itinerary, I decided to let my wife have a good rest. It was more important to let her recover and then we could roam more subsequently.

Day 1 in Rome really started on Day 2. We did our map reading and then started our journey to Spanish Steps (where the shopping centre was near). Purposely planned this way so that we would not be "baked" so early under the hot summer sun. The Spanish Steps were nice, and the fountain caught my attention. Was a bit worried even to try to taste the water so initially we agreed to "wet" our lips - I thot that would at least provide some safety precaution in case. I got a sensitive tummy after a mini food poisoning incident in HK.  It was very hot and we took cover in the buildings' shadow. JJ told me the origin of the name "Spanish Steps" and though I didnt read properly, I still acted that I also knew - just that my wife could decipher when I "acted smart".  We did some windows shopping in the "Orchard Road" of Rome - boutiques and branded goods. Frankly, I seldom touchbased with branded goods, not even in Paris. This time I was thinking that Italy was a fashion city and really have to immerse in "designer clothes" mood. In this way, my wife said I really visited or demanded to visit most of the branded shops in Rome. 

We also wanted to do the "Roman" way - having espresso in cafe. We saw this elegant cafe known as Caffe Greco so we went in to take some cakes and kopi O.  It was then that we realised that the food was not cheap. There were also paintings and the waiters were very well-dressed in tuxedo.  Even the toilets were nice and the "toilet auntie" well-dressed. A surf on the internet revealed that this cafe was Rome's poshest kopi bar since 1760! The speciality was paradisi made with lemon and orange - Not sure if our orange cake was the one or not. But it was still a very RomanTIC experience.  A place for us to rest our tired feet and cool down.

Something that we learnt while roaming was that Pinocchio was in fact ITALIAN! yup, this really surprised us. We saw so many pinos until we convinced ourselves that he had italian citizenship. Well, one consequence from this discovery was I had to pose in a Pino shot.  Guess this served as a sweet Pino memory in our Rome adventure. Along our way, I started to recall the story and my wife did "challenge" me if I could rem the story. Frankly, the most vivid part was the nose and somehow he got swallowed by a whale.  And finally he became a real boy. I would remind my wife next time to highlight to our kids that Pino was Italian during the story-telling. Hee. 

台北游记12 Day5 －热烘烘的体验

We decided to "squeeze" in a half-day excursion to "hot spring" at Beitou, which was about 30mins train ride from Taipei. It was doable becos we purposely booked our flight late pm. We wanted to experience the private bath experience as compared to the public pool in Japan. Taking simple cleansing lotion and off we started on our early morning journey. We passed by a small breakfast eatery besides Cosmo Hotel to fulfill my wife's craving for nice and economical breakfast that her brother has brought her to try before. 

The journey to New Beitou was smooth. We have to make a change only at Beitou and I read that there supposed to be a "pick up" shuttle to send us to "hot spring" hotel. Reading from the guidebook and internet, there were several recommended ones to try and we decided on a 5-star one called Spring City resort (we like "Spring" theme for this trip, I guess). I rem watching a show about hotspring hotels in Taiwan and the importance of visiting reputable ones to ensure quality experience. As usual, we decided to walk to find for the pickup transport and we missed it and only saw the van driving past us. As determined as usual, we walked to the hotel. It was a cool 30 mins walk and luckily it was still early morning.

The hotel gave us a modern feel and we were ushered to a private room for an hour experience. Didn't want to stay long as it was not advisable to immerse in mineral water for long anyway. There was a warning sign next to the bath tub and made me feel uneasy and more conscious when playing with the hot spring. It was interesting to have such artificial way of hot springing where there were separate taps for water and spring water. I liked to put the hot towel on my forehead like the japs and this time I did it quickly to adhere to the guidelines of not hot springing for a longer than recommended timings. It was really a hot feeling but we felt relaxed after the hot springing.



After hot springing, we went to Thermal Valley and the hot spring museum to understand the hot spring culture in Beitou. Along the route we chanced upon a public hot spring bath and also a natural hot spring river. We saw two pairs of couple - one young and one old and my wife thought it was an interesting scene to capture. I felt so too. 

It is good to travel with loved ones and there will always be fond memories to talk about and to laugh about. Being a "difficult" traveller, I am amazed how my wife love to travel with me. Looking at the two couples, I can imagine how much things we can talk about when we go traveling at old age. It is the things that we do together that make our lives fun and memorable. Things that we try together and things that we may succeed or not that piece the happy family puzzle together.

As how "difficult" traveller could I get, we were "hot" again carrying our backpack to the train station. I rem there were two different stations and it would be important to get to the right one especially with our heavy backpack. After sweating out buying my doeraemon buns and my wife's delighted goods, we went searching for the station and finally got there after sweating profusely on my back. A bit pissed off but we managed to cool down on our journey. I must rem to get to the right station next time when I bring my wife and family to Taipei again. Heh.

台北游记12 Day4 － 再见清境

不知不觉我们已经在深山野林三天了，有点依依。I have purposely bought the bubble bottles to blow bubbles with my wife at the balcony but there were simply too much distractions from the bees and insects. However, the "tree" house we have was really an experience and that it would be a pity if we did not enjoy sitting at the balcony blowing bubbles.

Looking at the bubbles - some bigger and some smaller flowing down to the mountain and trees was a nice feeling. I blew a few real big bubbles and I even took one photo of the big bubble (or aptly called balloon) as it followed the wind into the deep forest.

我们没安排太多节目，清境显得很轻松。因为想再吃不同的摆夷菜，就google到云南十八怪这间菜馆。It wasnt very far from our homestay, about 10 mins walk but upslope before reaching the makan place. I read from blog that this restaurant was also yunnan people. I also noticed that there was a special type of fish which they would cook - one of the 18 different types of dishes - giving them this unique name.

Trying not to order too much before our journey back to be town mice, we ordered the dishes that we have not tried before at 七彩屋。The food was okay and the place was interestingly decorated. I liked the "yunnan" tune that they played and it was the same at the 七彩屋.

There were some pictures of "stars"  on the wall, probably local ones which we did not recog. Overall experience was good like eating in a tree house. Tree houses were unique of Yunnan people I was told.

It was a good getaway from the busy Taipei life. We packed our stuff and took a few more photos before walking to our boarding point. Without coming here, we didn't know the culture of yunnan has immersed greatly in this mountainous area. I have the urge to travel to the real Yunnan some time in our lives to experience the yunnan delicacies and culture.

台北游记12 Day3 － 七彩屋

七彩屋 － 窗外景色

Day 3 - I browsed through the internet using our paid TW 3G SIM (No WIFI at home stay) to check out any nice food to eat. Little did I realize that this district was previously occupied by immigrants from China and they appeared to originate from Burma, Laos and Thailand or carrying some of their culture.

Interestingly, we checked with home stay owner if they could ferry us to sample nice food - and they recommended "Seven Colours" House. http://7colors.okgo.tw/index.html

It was slightly further down from the famous "Ru MaMa" which I read from internet. Homestay owner said it was opened by his friend and it was as nice though not as famous. We could also ask the owner to send us back and got a 10% discount too. So, we decided to keep that as an option and roamed around the old district there - it was supposed to be settled by old soldiers and the town was quite quiet that day. There was a museum but it was quiet when we found it. We wanted to "venture" in it to see old photos displayed in the museum but when we "on" the power for the lights, we heard a lot of buzzing bees' sound and we decided not to "risk" it especially when I spotted bees flying around at the entrance. Decided to "fly out" as fast as the bees, or rather before the bees found us. A mini-episode we have there.  

At "Seven Colours" house, the atmosphere was nice and cozy like a house. Makan for lunch starts at about 1100hrs and we were a bit hungry by then as we didnt have breakfast. Asking the waitress to recommend and she explained that the dishes were usually spicy, and some were like Thailand pancakes and delicacies.  It is interesting to know how YunNan culture actually slowly immerse into Taiwan Nantou. One of the favourite dish was this cauliflower packed with spicy meat ("Jingli" I think it is the name). The spices were very nice and unique. The background music from Yunnan let us immerse into the "mood" of border culture.  I like border culture as it usually shows the interaction of two or three countries.  I recalled going to Thai-Cambodia border and could see the mixture of goods and people from both countries. I could get a preview of the neighbouring country. 

The food tasting spurred me to find out more about the culture.  The owner drove us down to "Swiss Garden" and on the way, he shared that he was actually the chef for the food we ate. My dear said that guys were good chef usually and I felt proud hearing that as she has said I could whip up a good meal without me knowing too! The owner used to work in restaurant downtown and he decided to open the shop and could keep his family company as well without the need to travel up and down the mountain. Indeed, his roots were from Yunnan though he has not visited Yunnan before. It was still a new business for him and I could sense that he was working hard and also enjoying the birth of his baby soon (The wife was PW and still helped out in the stall).

I like talking to locals and I am more sociable when I am overseas. Interacting with them allows me to know more about local life so as to inspire me in taking better pictures. Similarly to what we experienced in France, the people at countryside seemed to be more friendly and helpful. They were not "petty" and quite sociable. 

台北游记12 Day2 －春大地民宿

Frankly speaking, I like to stay at higher ground and enjoy the scenery of mountains and clouds. Though I have spent time at Alishan, but I have not really tried a "home stay" before. This was the first time.  We surfed the web and I booked 春大地民宿 "accidentally". 

It was only recently that I have heard of the story of country and town mouse from my wife and nephew. So, it seemed that I was going to live a "country mouse" life for the next few days. The air and view were good from our balcony. We chose 精致二人房 and it also has a balcony with door "protected" by wire mesh. By the time we checked in, it was around evening time. We were greeted by a "5-cm" big moth and I started to appreciate the life of a country mouse. The room was generally clean except the presence of small insects like beetle, moth etc. They were harmless though. The LCD TV seemed to be a bit out of place with the wooden column and wooden decor like a tree house.  I read that the "tree house" concept is quite popular for yunnan people. 

I like to see stars and wanted to count the number of stars with my wife at the balcony. But it was a bit "challenging" as the lamps outsides the balcony were a source of attraction for moths at night. However, we did go out and take a quick look at the sky and it seemed to be starry night as well. This made us recall Vincent's starry night painting in Avignon. 

There was no need for air con as cool breeze flew into the room, just like the rooms in Genting. We could hear different birds' tunes in the morning and I was not "allowed" to watch the TV as my wife said we should listen to nature instead of disrupting the peace. This made me try to imitate different birds' songs that we heard。

It is easy to find this home stay as it is located besides a grand England home stay 老英格兰. The home stay owner told us that a night would cost nearly 10,000TWD. My dear said there was no need to stay in such England castle and it was better to go London for the actual stay instead.Nonetheless, it was a "iconic" building even when we were traveling up to the home stay.

We did not sign up for the sunrise tour as both of us have seen the sunrise at Alishan. Though the home stay staff said the sunrise was different at 合欢山. I actually like to catch red sunrise but I think we could not catch the red one unless we were at the peak e.g. my Kinabaru climb.  

I secretly decided to wake up to see the sunrise from our balcony - sun wakes up very early in taiwan especially in mountainous area. So, I woke up at 4 plus to check the direction and wait. Managed to see the sun rose over the mountain (Dear said that this was not really sunrise but merely sun appeared after being shielded by the mountain).  Bingo, it looked the same as the one in Alishan.  But, I still liked it. After viewing the sunrise, I went back to bed and realized that I was quite "cold" as compared to my dear dear. She woke up and commented that she was so cozy warm in bed under the blanket until I slipped back to sleep besides her. This was funny to me.

Feedback: The owner and staff were helpful and we got free lift from the owner to certain points. I think it is still a good stay as I am also certain insects do appear in other home stay since it is actually mountainous area. To me and my wife, it was a nice and "adventurous" experience as country mice.  Frankly speaking, my wife adapted better as a country mouse than me. 

http://springground.cingjing.tw/

台北游记12 Day2 － 青青草原

饭后，我们就搭公车到青青，车程不到十分钟。盖个印章就可进出草原。我们沿着指示牌走到表演区。草原很大，辽阔，空气清新。很多人已在等着看表演，我们选好位，开了有草

原味的伞，等。前排的couple还好有自动听主持人的话，收起伞，不然就"kenna" 了。表演前有小马在绕场地，喜欢骑马的，可以pay and try.

The show started on time and the NZ host was very entertaining. Despite sweating and panting while he talked, he was comical and engaged well with the audience. The finale was the shearing of the sheep's "clothes". A bit "cruel" when he held the sheep but I guessed this was the way to control or manage the sheep. We could hear "meh meh" backdrop sound. One interesting point was the use of whip and the sound effect it produced actually controlled the sheeps rather than the actual hit itself. Sheeps would follow the instructions of the shepherd once the whip sound was heard. After the show, there was autograph session with the host while we went to buy sheepy ice cream - Wife complained that her ice cream got very strong sheepy smell but I kinda liked the taste. It was fresh and refreshing for me. No chance to squeeze milk though.

我已经准备好去喂羊，买了饲料，就带老婆去找绵羊了。绵羊很聪明，闻到饲料就紧跟我们。绵羊吃了后，会用舌头“清洗”我们的手。老婆有点紧张，但也有玩。The sheeps were very adorable. I wanted to take a photo of us lying down with sheeps behind us, but forgot to bring tripod along and the sheeps were also scattered all over. 

The farm closed at around 5pm and we started to wonder the way back to our home stay. From map, it was still a distance back but we felt that it was still manageable as the sky was bright and won't be trapped in the farm.  There were designated walkways and paths down from the farm, so we were more assured that we won't be lost. Walking back though was quite remote as not many visitors took the route down. The trees did not "flower" as seasons were over. We could image how nice it would be during the flowering season. 

We wanted to take an alternate route besides the steps (I rem it was 步步高升 - name of path), but as the route appeared to be not well maintained, we didn't take the risk. However, we could see the view of the path as we walked down the steps. We passed by a fruit stall selling 蜜桃, and we bought to try. Frankly, I have not tried the fruit after birth so it was a new experience. Quite nice and soft, and we decided to buy more when we have the chance again. Also passed by a vendor holding up "bees nests" asking us to take a look at the queen bee. "No thanks". 

It was a relaxing but long walk back to "Swiss Garden" and to home stay. Luckily, there were wooden walkways down but after "Swiss Garden", we have to keep to the side of the road, took care walking down as there were no designated walkway. We walked in single file and I would keep a close watch to ensure we were safe. 

Our real "country mouse" experience would start when we checked in to our homestay...

台北游记12Day2

Day 2: We decided to follow "E-Go" bus service to travel from Taipei to QingJing （清境）。Unless you have the time to travel by rail and also ensure that you don't miss the connecting buses, the E-Go bus is the best bet since the moving off time is the same.

We have an early night at Y Hotel and went to Taipei Train Station to meet up with E-Go bus operator. Have read reviews that it is a good service and we boarded the bus on the dot. There were toilet breaks along the 5-hr journey and we topped up our food and tibits along the way. Called or emailed our 民宿 for alighting point and they mentioned the drop-off point at 见晴 was the nearest and it was within 5 mins short walk to our home stay at Spring Ground 春大地。 Checkin time was strictly 2 pm so we dropped our barang and bought the tickets to 青青草原，瑞士花园，纸箱王makan. The owner was sharing that the weather was good today and we should go for such excursion. So, we took up the offer and the owner granted a lift to 国民宾馆 where the swiss garden and makan place were located.  As it was a Sunday, there were public buses from this point to the farm and each pax at 15 TWD. The makan place was uniquely "paper" and I was worried if the paper chair could tahan my weight.  The waitresses wore "Girl Guides' uniform" and this attracted my wife's attention until I have to signal her to "stop". The food was okay, just a very unique makan experience.  Our drinks were served in cute paper box which could be converted to be "piggy bank" - really innovative. 

There was a 7-11, post office and the swiss garden there. There were also "Bees" decoration for the "paper makan place" and I wondered Y.Frankly, we were very excited to see the "she eps" roaming around freely in the pasture. The home stay owner shared that there would be a "sheepy shearing" performance today as it was a Sunday at 1400hrs so we were keeping track of the timing to ensure that we hopped onto the public bus to the farm.  I didn't really have the chance to enjoy playing with the sheeps in Australia as I was on training. My wife didn't have the chance too so it would be a fun experience.  I was thinking of sayanging them and also squeezed milk =).

After a full meal, we headed off to the bus stop slightly downslope (where traffic police officers stationed), and prepared our gear and coins to the farm (fun) journey. Weather was cool and so no sweat.  I got a bit annoyed with the long umbrella that the home stay owner lent us in case of rain. Hee, it was "restricting" my movements esp when I wanted to take pics.  Nonetheless, the owner was a nice person and his voice did sound like "康康“. 

台北游记12 (Day1)

It has been some time since we last stepped onto the land of Taiwan. My last trip here was in 2008 CNY when I came with my parents. It was a rainy CNY though.  Cosmo Hotel was the choice hotel as it was near to Taipei Train Station.  This time, however, we stayed at YMCA Hotel - it's known as Y Hotel here. (We didn't book Cosmo cos its website was not accessible at that time of booking)

Y hotel was convenient as usual, just like its HK one. There was a 24-hour book store but only its first storey opened 24hr to be exact. Our Day One was for my wife to do her shopping as this journey was primarily focused more to be a "country mouse" type than a "town mouse" type.  I like to use the "mouse" analogy as I only recently got to know about the story through my nephew and wife! There were changes in Taipei even at the Airport. Though there was a delay in transit flight, we were still happy as we were traveling. I love traveling! 

After shopping, we took the train to night market. It was a walk from train station to the night market and we saw a long q for this "pepper bun". We decided to makan other things first including smelly doufu. Initially, we went around, hot and sweaty to find for food. Got a bit "frustrated" as all stalls were full and packed on the Saturday. I came with the mentality of eating a bit of everything and so we went around sampling. I recalled bringing my parents over here. Night markets in Taipei were quite fun and really got good food. Due to hot weather and stuffy environment, we were too lazy to use DSLR.  I rem hearing someone saying that there was a nice bean curd there so we went to try. This time round, forgot or lazy to read Lonely Planet for makan recommendations, so we would look at the Q and then try.

Our last stop was the pepper bun and it was quite spicy and nice. After all the sweating, we were too lazy (ya, lazy) to think of walking the way to train station again. As I recalled passing by the railway station, we decided to pop in to see if we could take a rail ride back to Taipei instead. Bingo! Dear said it was a good decision and cheaper option (by about 10 TWD I think). So, we went into the trains, and hopped onto a train down to Taipei. I have thought that the trains were not so frequent as compared to the MRTs that we used to come Raohe. 

We have to be back early as it was a early bus ride tomorrow for our country mouse journey. 

再见小娘惹

娘惹糕

We started our simple trip again - 4 days kinda of trip which was manageable & fun. Our luggage were hand carried one way and check-in the way back.

This time round, we selected Penang - a place that most of us will just transit when going to Thailand or down to KL. I have been to Penang for several times, mostly by bus and once by plane. Penang to me was more like a makan place with open air hawker and Penang is good for laksa and chendol. The last round I went was with my parents during CNY.

This round, we went on "makan" mission, engaging local contact to drive us around trying local delicacies. Frankly, though I knew Penang as one of the former straits settlements, I didn't connect it to Nonya and Baba culture. It amazes us for the rich culture it has. 

We also wanted to catch fireflies as part of the trip. However, it was raining and thunderstorm lurking around and I made the decision to forgo the trip for safety and assurance. I felt that the bugs won't be flying or appearing under the bad weather and hence no point to continue feeding the mozzy in the waters.  I didn't know kerbaya was a delight for my wife and we should plan it in our itinerary to avoid any disappointment. We chanced upon a local "antique" shop near Chulia Street and there was a real Nonya granny sharing with us her family photos and history, Her rich and okay-maintained kerbaya were colorful though I usually dun prefer to buy old stuff like old clothing.  As can be deciphered from the family biz that kerbaya was only a secondary biz among other antiques sold. This culture may soon diminish if we do not value or treasure it I guess. This might be the reason why the Nonya granny found joy and pride in sharing her stories with us.

Penang was real hot this time - making us reluctant going far or staying out long. Nonetheless, we still enjoyed a fair bit of outdoor excursion to Si Lek Si Temple and Khoo Kongsi mansion and went to Gurney Mall and very far Ferringhi.  One thing strikes me was the friendliness of the bus drivers and they really provided good customer service and patience to every passenger. Bus tickets are still a norm and we have to ask the driver the fare before paying. We took buses most of the time and Komtar was one of the "interchange" station for us to change and connect buses to other areas.  Like what my wife said, Komtar was not as interesting and she didn't plan it in the itinerary as she told herself she won't go there after her last trip in Penang LPC. But me as usual who remember Komtar as a "In" place wanted to go there to take a look and rekindle fond memories. Frankly, I am one that likes to take a look at places that I have been to so as to see if there are any more changes. Recollecting memories is a fun way of revisit a place and sharing old stories with my loved ones.