I have been too lazy to blog...

Yup, no particular reason... just plain laziness.

One year

03 Nov 2008 marked my 1st anniversary in Taiwan. But nope, no nostalgic post for me because I'm not feeling any...

But I am going to move out of my current apartment & into slighter cheaper, but just as nice one downstair. I won't save a whole lot of money, but I really wanted a change of fengshui. Not that the fengshui of my old apartment is bad... or that the fengshui in my new pad is good. It's just a feeling I have.

My mom used this yet another excuse to visit taiwan & is now happily ironing my clothes. Love u mummy!

Ah Bao in Taiwan

The FIRST jiemei to visit me in Taiwan. So fun to do nothing but eat, shop & sing Karaoke!

You must come again next year!!

See ah bao's post here

It is ok, I still love u fatass

Anik cancelled her Taiwan trip at the 11th hour. Needless to say I was terribly disappointed. All that planning gone to waste. Hours spent researching B&Bs (in trad chinese websites!), googling forums for reviews (in trad chinese!!), planning hualien roadtrip route (borrowed GPS!!)... all my beautifully laid plans put on hold. For a while all I could feel was my own disappointment.

Then i told myself to snap out of it. SELFISH BITCH!!

Anik: I know this is much harder for you then it is for me. You were looking forward to Taiwan just as must as me. It's ok. There will be a next time. You may feel overwhelmed right now. And helpless. And even alone. But you can survive this. Just remember: No point keeping the rotten fingers!

Lake Jiaming 嘉明湖

Lake Jiaming: A tiny meteor lake some 3310m above sea level. Formed after a asteroid collision thousands of years ago.

To get to the lake we had to trek through some really gruelling terrain - hours of steep uphill-downhill-uphill-downhill climb like this...


and this...


But it was definitely worth the effort







But this trip was also somewhat spooked by the disappearance of a female hiker just one week before I went (eve: the weekend you wanted to go!!). Apparently she got separated from her group & simply disappeared. And many are convinced that she was "taken".

It was then that I was told that Lake Jiaming has one of the highest casualty rates among all the mountains in Taiwan. Mainly because the area is prone to extreme weather changes. But some also say it's because the place is haunted...
Years ago a Jap plane carrying an American POW crashed around Lake Jiaming. The Jap amy sent in search & rescue to try & locate this American POW. However that year Lake Jiaming snowed & the entire team died in the freezing cold. A 2nd team was sent in & they too perished. Hence till today many locals believe that the Lake is haunted.

I felt my hair stand when I was told this story. But for me, this piece of history merely added to the mystical appeal of the place.

I went I went I really went!!!

Just came back from a 3 day round trip hike to Lake Jiaming - a place I have been DYING to visit. Damn shack. But the terrain is beautiful, very different from my other hikes. Will post my beautiful photographs later. Now need to do laundry. LOADS of it.

My blog is NOT dead

It just that I was back in Spore heehee
One month flew by just like that. Back to UCL I go...

Time flies

omg, didn't realize it's been so long since my last entry... in the meantime i have:
- visited Kee Lung (too hot to go in this weather!!)
- played tourist with psze. Revisited ximenting, 101, cks memorial hall.... the works
- discovered Jimmy (Taiwanese cartoonist/artist)
- escaped the biggest typhoon that landed in Taiwan this year

Now back in Sunny Spore. Will be here for a month. Already one week has passed.

3 weeks down. 9 more to go

My marathon grand plan is NOT going well... I am so sick of my UCL running route.
Can't wait to go back to Spore & run!!
...
...
And bossie told me to make my next trip back to Spore a long one.
We are now on travel budget control so I can only make 1 trip back this Q instead of the usual 2.... so may as well make the best out of this one trip. Yippie!!!

Fatcat's calling?

We had our quarterly Asia team meeting this week. 3 full days.
3 weeks before this meeting fatcat was arrow-ed to do a 45mins presentation on : "Email communication in English".
Apparently bossie say Fatcat writes fantastic emails to "high level mgt" so team-mates must learn from her wor...

So as usual fatcat procrastinated & procrastinated. All the way until the night before the presentation.... and started doing the slides at 10PM all the way till 2AM... AND only managed to complete 70% of the slides. Luckily the presentation was in the afternoon & fatcat used her lunch break to complete it.

Guess what... despite the last min effort, everyone was DAZZLED ha.

Fatcat has found her calling.

Work

Will be locked in full day meetings for 3 days. My slides are 30% complete. Caught between mutiple timezoned-interdepartment colleagues. I think need another holiday.

Snow Mountain

Over the weekend, I conquered Snow Mountain 雪山 - Taiwan's 2nd highest peak.

DAY I
Wuling Farm 武陵農場 is where we will start our Snow Mt climb. We arrived the day before & spent the night at the campsite

At an elevation of almost 2000m, Wuling Farm was originally a fruit growing area for retired soldiers (hence the name). Now it's part of the Sheipa National Park 雪霸國家公園.

I got a tent all to myself!

Think the they were inspired by the Kampong.

DAY II
Its 6AM...


The climb begins... & yes that's an umbrella.

A lotus print one no less. 7th month u know...

2 hrs later, we arrived at Snow Mt's famous slope


The climb wasn't so bad. In fact, I was more amused by the English.

Rained for last 30mins of our climb.

But mother nature made it up to us after we arrived at base camp...



DAY III
Since it's summer, 太陽公公 aka the sun raises at 430am
To be on time to catch the sunrise at the summit, we had to wake up at 12AM

We reached the summit in record time - 3hrs instead of the usual 4


And had plenty of time to catch our breath before sunrise...


The view is absolutely stunning.








The descend begins...

Or so we thought... we made it to the summit so fast, our guide decided that we were fit enough to conquer another peak - 北稜角峰：North something something Peak

We had to climb up the gravel to get to the summit
The rocks were damn loose & all of us kept slipping down.


I was scared shitless.
Am amazed that I managed to take photo


But we made it! Summit#2: 北稜角峰!!

And we descended safely, for the 2nd time.

Now back in UCL. Aching like mad.

Dreaming about my next destination haha

My new investment

Merrell Waterpro Maipo - Can be used both on land & in water.



Justification:
- I destroyed my last pair of Nike cross training shoes on Jade Mt
- My new Asics are running shoes, not for cross training
- My new Asics have to see me through a marathon
- These are pretty enough...
so I'll can wear them on all my future backpacking trips!

The damage: SGD100

Photo from zappos.com

ceking = 洗衣王 (xi yi wang)

C E King aka 洗衣王 is a 24hr laundromat opposite my apartment
洗衣 = Xi Yi = C E ...geddit?

Dunno why, but i find this highly amusing.
This is how I entertain myself in UCL.

What is ceking?

It's the name of a shop opposite my apartment. Guess what shop is it?
I gotto hand it to the Taiwanese... only they are creative enough to come up with cool names like that.

Cannot cheat hor, no goggling!

Anik, want or not?

Adidas ClimaWind Jacket - Black with pink logo.


And my mirror is soooooo dirty haha.

12 weeks to Success!

Nope, not a diet plan. But if I succeed I'll fit, toned & slim!!
Will be keeping track of my marathon training progress on the sidebar.
Move over Ah Fat... The Bionic Puss is back!

OMG!! can I make it?

Good news is Nono is coming to run with me!!!!

My 12 week marathon training starts TONIGHT!

Yushan: Wet & Foggy

Must post my Yushan photos to prove that the trip wasn't fictitious haha. I kenna damn shitty weather so the trip can be described in 3 words: Wet & Foggy

Like Mt KK, we opt for the 2 day climb.

Day 1: 6 hrs climb to base camp 排云山莊

Day 2: Summit climb at 2am to the main peak

Conclusion: The climb is peanuts compared to Mt KK

Weather looked good when we set off

Then it got foggy

& foggier

The it got wet AND foggy so no mood to take photo.

Next day: Summit climb in the rain

No photo coz trying not to slip & fall 3900 metres & die without my body ever being found...

Made it!

Told you it was wet & foggy

Can't see shit

Weather cleared as we descend

It would have been a relatively enjoyable climb. Pity about the weather.

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Then 1 week later my guide led another group & sent me this

This is THE view if the weather was good.

FARK

3 weeks in Singapore

Ok technically I was back for 18 days.

- Sis's bday & I treated her (& my other sis) to Melt. The famous waffles are overhyped. Other then that, food is fabulous.

- Incident in the family. But I'm sure everything will work out eventually. Hope the affected family member will learn & mature from this.

- Spent WAY to much time with the fambly... then again I don't really have a lot of friends...

- Managed to meet Ah Bao. She flew back one day before I flew back!

- Had over-price Indian food at Dempsey.

- My new discovery: Prive. A little secluded great to hangout on a Sun morning. Serves a pretty mean brunch.

My all time favourite WWII-theme movies

I love WWII war-themed movies, especially the ones made by Europeans. Just caught The Lives of Others for the 2nd time, hence the inspiration for this post.

In no order of preference:
1. Life is Beautiful
2. The Lives of Others
3. The Pianist
4. Enemy at the Gates
5. The Counterfeiters
6. A very Long Engagement (ok this is WWI...)
7. Goodbye Lenin

Living alone made me realize

Inspired by a marie-claire article, I decide to create my list...

Living alone made me realize...
1. Wah lao eh... I used up a whole roll of toilet paper already?
2. All those hair are mine?
3. Dinner tastes better eaten skirt-less/pants-less/ bra-less
4. Whatever I can find in the fridge = a really satisfying meal
5. It's easy to go 48 hours without speaking.
6. It's easy to go 48 hours without brushing my teeth.
7. I used up a whole tube of toothpaste already? even after point 6?
8. Things I Can Now Do Naked:
sweep, wash, hang, fold, iron, read, put on mask, wash off mask, shop online, bank online, pay bills online, blog, talk on phone, talk on skype, msn, watch TV, conf calls, reply emails, create powerpoint slides
9. I can always sleep naked if my PJs/ undies are not dry/ if i run out of clean PJs/ undies.
10. I Need To Do That?
deodorize the microwave monthly, change bedsheets weekly, defrost fridge every 3 months, dry clean comforter every 6 mths, wash the washing machine every 3 mths, clean the iron

Here's one on Taitung

Taitung is blessed with some of the most beautiful coastal & mountainous scenery in Taiwan & is also the town nearest to Green Island. Spent a day there after our our Green Island trip.

Jinzun Beach - Best place to chill





Actually... cannot remember where this is haha

What does this look like to u?

Little Yeliu - Yeliu is an attraction near Taipei famous for the interesting rock formations.



One day is definitely not enough to see off of Taitung.
I will be back!

I love Green Island

This is why I am in love with Green Island...


Clear, pristine water of the Pacific ocean


Gorgeous volcanic landscape



Beautiful sunset



And sunrise...



Fantastic beaches



Me driving around the island...



With some very nervous passengers

Taiwanese generally avoid the sun like plague so during the day we had the beach all to ourselves!

Trying to do a Sports Illustrated...

View from Green Island towards Taitung - Look carefully & you can see outlines of the Central Mountain Range

Again I love Green Island!!