Taipei Feb 2013

Went to Taiwan over the Chinese New Year period in Feb. Contrary to what many people thought, most stores were actually open and the streets bustled with festive ambiance. We stayed in a simple boutique hotel right in the middle of Ximending, one of the main shopping area and it was just the perfect location.

Prior to the trip I did some research and found this list of top 40 foods Taiwanese love: CNN Travel Best Taiwanese food. I set forth to conquer this list (which was no mean feat) and am proud to say I completed about 70% of it!! For me, this was such a mega food trip. Taipei is the best place for street food and I can't wait to go back and indulge in those sinful stuff all over again :)

yummiest duck noodles

yummiest braised "snacks"

crowded streets of Ximending

we prefer this market over Shilin

yummiest cuttlefish

street suckling pig

cherry blossoms

just for the fun of it @五角船板

Shinye at Taipei 101 with a great view

Taipei 101

National Palace Museum - & the minute jade cabbage

Shilin Night Market, much more commercialized than before

yummiest braised beef noodle

must try

pork cutlet - must try at Shilin

where I bought my braised goodies every other day in Ximending

Gaudi-looking restaurant with the weirdest structures

Yangmingshan National Park, nice only with good weather

Feb 2013

S' Birthday celebration... where a ridiculous major miscomm occurred. Hmph.

I am back!

Am alive and kicking in another part of the world now. Took a half year break from blogging mainly because of the intense preparations needed for our relocation from Singapore to Shanghai. Documents, permits, licenses, movers, pet travel, housing and what not. It was overwhelming but it's all worth it.

Another reason is our 3-week long vacation in Europe just before the move. I must also say the fact that I printed my blog into a 250-page book somehow felt like an end to a life episode. Well, time to overcome inertia again and start on my new book. Gotta do my blog justice and fill up this half year gap with whatever I can remember of it!

*flipping through 6 months worth of photos*

Lets start with a simple one - Batam (12-15 Jan 2013) with my lovely ladies who bought me this trip for my birthday. The group tour included visits to the Chocolate House, Polo outlet, local snack shop and a temple, lunch at Golden Prawn 555, a massage and some shopping at a local mall. It's funny how Rena snapped up lots of ___ at the supermarket and even brought a huge bag for it (inside joke)! Can't remember the name of our hotel but it was rather grand by Batam standard. Went home with food poisoning but still enjoyed our 1st mini getaway :)