1st week of 2009

Back flew back to Spore on 31st Dec & count down to 2009 with some of my best friends.
So happy :)

My luggage this time is the heaviest ever. Had to hand more then 10KG onto the plane (in a backpack so dun look so unglam). I think it's the 4 big bottles of Shu Uemura cleansing oil that I happily offered to help people buy (fabulous deals!!), the bag of rice, vinegar, hair spray, shampoo, yummy assortment of Taiwanese sauces...

But I miss the Taiwan weather. It's cold enough to justify buying lovely winter wear but not so cold that we need to bundle up like bah chang. So can still look good & feel cold.

In view of the recession I had sworn NOT to shop. But being clothes starved in Taiwan, the land of tiny women, I could not resist. I fit the clothes here!! It's been a long time since I stepped into a shop & tried on clothes without feeling like a whale.

Beige-Brown Mango Jean/Pants
Price: $49; Picture not available

Charles & Keith pumps
Price: $14 (after using my $25 voucher from std chart)
Picture not available

Topshop tunic dress
My sisters bought the grey & black ones AND naturally as their oldest sis, it's my right to borrow. Then I decided that I look too good in them (so slim...!!) to not get one for myself.
Price: $46
picture below:


Dress from Far East.
Price: Paid-too-much-$$
Thanks to the evil csb & nono. They practically forced me to buy the dress! How can a girl resist being lavished with words like "slim" "pretty" & "chio" from your best friends?? True friends tell the truth!!
Picture below:


Longchamp Bag - small size, Chocolate
Price: $85
My mom had permanently "borrowed" my yellow one so I NEED a small, everyday carry, simple bag. Moreover I got Bobo to buy it from Paris so it's CHEAP!!

THATS IT. NO MORE SHOPPING!!!

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.