#AnnoyingTravelBoy 4

Being in Taiwan and live like a Taiwanese!

Zooming past the suburban streets on the small motorbike and my giant head being crammed in the very tiny helmet, along the journey, I found myself deeply mesmerized by the quaint characteristics of this small town in Taichung, which is dotted with crops, and I cringed at the strong wind brushing against my face as my Taiwanese friend accelerated his bike. 

It stirred up a few childhood memories of mine when I was still a small boy who clung on tightly to the waist of my father （or the supporting iron bar below the passenger seat) as we traveled to numerous places close to Mother nature in Malaysia and the uncountable times my father used to send me to the tuition classes with his motorbike.

As I was drowning in my fond memories, soon the suburban road led us to the town centre. We arrived at the local，Taiwanese, typical restaurant and had our mouth-watering yet very cheap steamed dumplings which can only be tasted in the small rural areas of Taiwan.

Views as a motorbike passenger.

10 Steamed dumplings for 30NTD!! I am sure 鼎泰丰 and 龍的傳人in Malaysia would cost me a bomb for the same (or almost identical) food!

PS:My mom will surely freak out if she finds out that I ride a motorcycle in Taiwan...(or anywhere on this Earth)..

#AnnoyingTravelBoy 3

Day-4  in Taiwan - 3/7/2013.

I ate a bun which was bought in FengJia Night Market and a piece of banana (from 7-11 outside my University)

This is how their 7-11 receipts look like. There's also a coupon too.

This is how bright and sunny (before 7am) during Summer in Taiwan. This photo was taken when we were waiting for others to gather before heading to SunMoon Lake 日月潭。

Route to SunMoon Lake. Not sure how long it took us to go there as I was in deep slumber the whole journey. But when I woke up, I found this beautiful scene and quickly grabed my phone to catch a glimpse of the SunMoon Lake.

Jetty of the SunMoon Lake.

Jetty.

We then cruised about the centre of the SunMoon Lake. I was lucky enough to get a seat in front of the boat and had a nice view of the place.

SunMoon Lake is a picturesque place with the land strategically protruding  and concave to form one half of the lake in the resemblance of the Sun shape and another half  in Moon shape. Besides that, according to the tour guide, as one half of the lake is shone by the sun and another one hidden in the shadows of the mountains around, the water appears in two kind of shades. The water in the 'Sun area' is characterized by the warm colour (orangey) it reflects on to the viewers and a more colder colour of green and blue shades can be found in the 'Moon area'.

I enjoyed substantially in the tranquil ambinece of the SunMoon Lake. I heard that SunMoon Lake is at its tip-top/ most beautiful state during sunset time. But our group already left the place after having our lunch. 

Trying to shield my eyes from the strong UV rays of the summer? Or trying to pose a smoldering sexy look?

We were allowed to take some pictures on the prow too.

Another side of the lake.

Taking group pictures of the Asia University facilitators. You can also find the stylish teacher (who  was in charge of this trip) standing beside the stair. She even sang along to the Karaoke with the students when we traveled in the traveling bus!

Sun Moon Lake

Sculpture.

The tour guide's recommended must-have food at SunMoon Lake. The Herbal tea smells good but I wanst really impressed by its taste. 

We also visited various shops located at the base of the mountain after cruising the Lake.  I had a little fortune reading from this machine and it is Japanese themed one!

Also bought a few pieces of Owl-related souvenirs from the Owl-themed souvenir shop.
They are super cute right?

It is said that the owl is an auspicious animal to the Chinese and this is especially true to the local Sun Moon Lake people as they reckon that Own brings fertility to their race.

Thanks the kind facilitator to treat me this green tea drink! It is good to quench the thirst and cool down the body from the summer heat!

Wall at the base of 文武廟。

A stone carved with the words "日月潭“ - Sun Moon Lake, in front of the 文武廟.

The magnificent 文武廟 with its delicate architecture details inside out of the whole building.

Met another Fortune Telling machine and this one is Chinese Themed!

Always wish the best for my family, friends and myself.
All iz wellll
All izz welll

Trying to be artistic e to capture the picture of little golden lanterns hanging around as decoration.

Next, we also visited 日月潭水社壩。

It's an exhibition building displaying SunMoon Lake related stuff, knowledge, history, etc...

More owls. More owls!

Also watched a brief introductory 3D film about Sun Moon Lake. I almost fall asleep half-way through the movie...=.=

Can you see the Sun and Moon shape? I seriously doubt you do...because I dont!

Most of the time I will read all these boring stuff which many people wont even care to know...

There were many tourists from China that day.

On our way back to Asia University in this highly equipped bus. There is a karaoke system and moving Wi-Fi service in the bus!

Then at night, I had my dinner with another 17 members (facilitators and a few UM students) at their local 快炒店. Basically it is a typical chinese restaurant (not the high-end) you can easily find everywhere in Malaysia.

This is their menu. Thank you for the very helpful facilitator to request this paper from the Boss because I mentioned that I want to keep one for blogging purpose...

This is just 1 of the dishes out of another 17 dishes we ordered!

Typical surrounding you can expect in a Chinese restaurant.

2nd cup of Bubble Milk Tea in Taiwan. Accumulating toxic and fat in my body huh?

The young facilitators brought me to bowl after dinner. I started off doing really badly but managed to catch up after half of the round..

Impressed by how safe it is to walk on TaiChung Street during nigh time.
Malaysia, Y U so unsafe??!

#AnnoyingTravelBoy 2

Day 3 (Tuesday) started with a very rushed breakfast at the7-11 store which is located exactly outside the main door of Asia University. I was a little bit annoyed that morning due to the miscommunication between me and my friends about the meeting time and place.

I couldn't fully taste the taste of the instant noodle because of my taste and smell sensory being partially blocked by runny nose in the morning(s). Not sure what trigger the runny nose so far...Hopefully I wont sneeze and start to produce mucus so much in the coming mornings.

Then we were divided into 3 classes based on the Test we did yesterday.
I can't believe I am chosen to study in the best class!
We had a fun time listening and watching Professor Cheng in action, talking about Cultures. 

Had curry rice at the 7-11 store within University in order to satisfy my spicy taste buds!! It was nice and  I love Taiwanese rice!

Went to WuFeng 霧峰 PEKAN (LOL, pardon me. This is the closest word I can think of to aptly describe what I see and feel about this small town) to get myself a SimCard and 3G data service. While I was lost in this small town, ( no details needed, all you need to know is I did feel panic and worried being left alone in a new place and having no help at all), I bought my very first Bubble Milk tea purely out of my curiosity to compare the difference the same tea will have in Malaysia and Taiwan. It tastes good, unhealthy nonetheless, but a lot bigger and less costly compared to the same tea in Malaysia. 

Originally I planned to get myself 中華電信 phone service, but as I was desperate to get myself a SimCard sooner to avoid myself from succumbing into unforeseen troubles, I bought the phone service from 遠傳電信 instead. As usual, the dramatic and clumsy me, didnt bring my Malaysia Identity Card with me, and hence I had to ask for my friend's identity to register for my new Taiwan phone number. 

Travelling from WuFeng to TaiChung station before boarding another bus to 逢甲夜市。I heard that this station is quite historic. 

And got myself an Easy Card from a 7-11 around TaiChung station which can be used for a reduced  travelling fare by bus. As it is summer break now, the Easy Card is running out of stock at many outlets because the local students buy the card to go back to their hometown and many exchange students from foreign countries (like me) are also hunting for this card!

大腸包小腸. The first food I tried in the 逢甲夜市. It was good but not impressive.

The 大腸包小腸 stall and the bustling night market ambience.

逢甲夜市 is located right outside of 逢甲大學！

The entrance to Feng Jia Night Market.

Had a nice Mochi from this stall too!

Disappointed with the very plain chicken cutlet of this stall. Somehow feel deceived by the wordings decorated the whole place. 

誰說魚與熊掌不可兼得？

冬瓜檸檬 to quicken my the digestion of my now very full stomach.
Then, we took bus to go back to our University again.