Footprints in London - Arrival for Training Week

3 Nov - 9 Nov 2007

Prelude: Adventurous Journey to Heathrow Terminal 3

I embarked on my first ever journey (alone) to London for my training at HQ. 14 hrs flight on-board SQ was quite tough - couldn't really sleep nor eat. I alighted from the plane and stepped into an almost-empty airport + arrival hall. This is how shagged I was when I arrived at Heathrow Terminal 3 at 6am (London time)

Went to take the Heathrow Connect to Paddington station, since it was relatively cheaper at 6.90 pounds, instead of Heathrow Express, which costs almost 15 pounds. However, I had to wait 15 mins in the cold for the train to come, %^*$@$^. Should have taken the Express train instead, since this expense is on company's tab.
(PS: the train in the picture is the Express train, since I was getting bored waiting for the Connect train to come)

Finally, my train came and here's the first glimpse of London as the train came out from the underground ...

Alighted at Paddington station and crossed over to take the Underground (our version of MRT) to Liverpool station. OMG, there were no escalators and I had to carry my luggage + backpack +laptop bag up and down the flight of stairs *faint* Finally, reached my hotel after like 15 mins of walk from the station (got a little lost, but turned out that I was on the right track all along). Had to wait in the lobby since there were no rooms for me to check in yet. Totally shagged out!

I was staying at the Crowne Plaza hotel, which costs a freaking 200 pounds per night *faint* Luckily the company is paying for this. Since the room is so freaking expensive, must take pictures :

Quite a decent room, but it's certainly is not worth the price tag. I was pretty amused by the mini bar. All the drinks in the mini bar are electronically tagged to your card , whereby once the drinks are removed from the bar, the money will be charged to your card. The TV even "greeted" me when I switched it on to watch show.

Ordered room service, my first meal in London. I gathered that the serving will be pretty big, thus I ordered the kids' meal - spaghetti (cost 8 pounds). They included this tray charge - which is 2.50 pounds *faint*

I was eating my first meal and msn-ing with Leecher when he told me not to eat beef (cuz of mad-cow disease). At this point, I have finished my meal. Thanks Leecher for the warning |||

Took a nap and went out for dinner with Trevor and Nick + his brother and GF. No pictures, cuz I forgotten my camera, haha. Look out for my posting for the rest of the week =)

2nd Year Anniversary @ Black Angus Fullerton

This was supposed to be a travel blog, but Blamer decided to pop the most feared question (of all guys in a relationship) during our dinner and ended up I have to write this entry. Just in case u guys out there are wondering wat's the question:

Blamer (in her kei kei sweet voice): Dear, do u still rem where did we go for our 1 yr anniversary?
Me (with a caught off guard expression on my face) : Huh? eh...

BANG! no escape man. So guys out there please be prepared the next time u are celebrating any occasion with your girlfriends.

Anywaz... to start the blog, all anniversaries must start with a bouquet of flowers sent to the workplace of the girlfriend. It can be any flowers, but the idea is that the bouquet must be BIG! Think its a pride thing, same with guys must have flashy cars that kind of thing lah.

So a pic of happy galfren with flowers in her hand.


Flowers nice rite, I got lobang for nice and affordable flowers. Post a comment if u wan the number of the florist.

This is the restaurant that we went to


Read a lot of reviews on this restaurant that serves one of the best steaks around. Most of the reviews posted a "definitely will come again" rating and since the restaurant is situated near the Singapore River with alfresco dining available, I figured it will be quite a romantic place of a good dinner.

Continue to take pictures of my galfren and her pretty flowers,


And finally a pic of with me inside (notice I'm wearing my Taiwan loot, ha ha),


Since it's her birthday, I let her order watever she wants on the menu, regardless of the price, which she really did. (Pwzzt, punctured sound as blood trickled from the hole in my wallet)

For Starters, we had the steak soup (which is highly recommended by the reviews) and bread complimentary of the restaurant.


Next up, the mains. Blamer ordered the Prime rib cut with grilled prawns combo (the most expensive) while I ordered the ribeye with garlic mash and some fried onion thingy which is quite nice actually.



Next we decided to go for a short walk to Esplanade for desserts at Hagen Daz. We discovered tat different outlets actually have different items on their menu (thought they are supposed to have standardized products). We ordered the "Flower Blossom" which consist of five scoops of ice-cream, some strawberries and green apple slices and lotsa whipped cream (that we scooped away ha ha)

Right now Hagen Daz is having a contest to name their new creation. I forgot to take a pic of it but I named it "curly wurly" cos of the unique curly wurly waffle that was the main attraction to me. Hope we can win the contest for the first prize is a trip for two to Paris! Den maybe I can get Blamer to buy some LV for me! Ke ke ke.

ps : I still owe Blamer her present, and I think it's gonna hurt my already injured wallet a lot more. Haiz but only one galfren, wot to do... Got my cheque ready though...

Footprints in Taiwan - Aftermath

Aftermath: Shopping Loots (Leecher)

As all of you would have known by now, Leecher bought A LOT of stuff in Taiwan, from shoes to T-shirts to vest to Jeans etc. Here's a recap of what he bought (he still got the cheek to take dent dent from me to take pictures of his loots):

2 T-shirts - Mario mushroom + f*ck (bought @ Ximending)

1 woollen vest + 1 long-sleeved shirt (bought @ WuFenpu)

2 pairs of Levi's Jeans (bought @ RaoHe Night Market)

Brown + Black Nike Sneakers (bought @ RaoHe Night Market)



Useless Pen (bought @ Eslite Bookstore) - You can watch the video to see how useless the pen is, but apparently, he is quite captivated by it *faint*



PS: there are still some items that he forgot to take pictures, but I can still rem - 4 ties, 1 Acne cream, alcohol from DFS etc.

Aftermath: Shopping Loots (Me)

Compared to Leecher, I didn't really buy a lot of stuff. Spent my money mostly of food

1 pair of Levi's Jeans (bought @ RaoHe Night Market)

2 shawls (same design but in different colours, bought @ WufenPu)

2 necklaces (bought @ WuFenPu)

Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil (Miaoli's) + Pore Principe + Sample Pack which I thick-skinly asked the SA for, haha (bought @ DFS)


Aftermath: Gifts for Colleagues + Friends + Family

MJ Lipgloss for Friends + Freebies - Olay Cream & Notebook (bought @ Watsons)

Shiseido Lip Amulet (bought @ Watsons)

2 shirts - Batman + f*ck for my brother (bought @ Ximending)

5 Organiser - only 3 left (bought @ Eslite Bookstore)

Lucky Charm Post-it Pads


PS: bought Nightmare on Elm Street stuff for Dennis and Roger (Leecher's brothers, but they're definitely not leechers, heehee) to put in their cars. Forgot to take pictures of those =(

Footprints in Taiwan - Aftermath

Aftermath: Shopping Loots (Food only)

Our shopping loots ... local products. This are all my stuff + 1/4 of Keith's stuff.

8 Packets of Mua Chee (bought @ Danshui + Hualian)

12 Packets of Fish Crackers (bought @ Danshui)

4 bottles of Ah Zhong Chilli Sauce (my mother's fave, cuz it's super spicy)

4 Packets of Cuttlefish (bought @ Yeliu, see if you can locate the famous Queen's head on the packaging)

7 Packets of Prawn Crackers (bought @ Danshui)

1 box of Ringgo Bread (bought @ Hualian)

6 boxes of Pineapple Tarts (bought @ Danshui)

2 bottles + 3 Packets of Prawn Crackers (bought @ Jiufen + free gifts)

4 boxes of Sun Biscuits (bought @ Danshui)

1 box of Pork Floss Egg Roll (bought @ Hualian)

Most of it are for family+ relatives + friends + neighbours + office. My mother is the happiest of all, since she loves titbits. She been munching on them and now, she is suffering from a headache from eating too much "heaty" stuff, haha. Opps =P

Footprints in Taiwan - Journey Home

Nineteenth Stop: National Palace Museum

Started the day with Breakfast at JSP outlet (again). This time, I saw the cute milk bottle and bought the chocolate one to try. (PS: had to wear specs, since it's a 4 hr flight back to Singapore later)

Made a trip down to the National Palace Museum which is an art gallery and museum in Taiwan containing artifacts of ancient China. Famous pieces include: Jade Cabbage, Meat-shaped Stone, Boat carved from olive pit and the painting of 100 horses.
(Can't take pictures inside, so google the pictures for all to see. The painting of 100 horses is marvellous, too bad this is only a part of it)

Finally utilised our Youth Travelling Card and purchased the admission tickets at NT$80 (half price). Leecher was pretending to exert the artisitc flair in him, while he went looking at the exhibits while I was going all over the place, looking for the stand whereby I can get a souvenir stamp of the National Palace Museum in my notebook. I collected 18 stamps in total, depicting different pictures of the exhibits in the museum.

Since can't take picture inside, must take pictures outside.

Twentieth Stop: Ximending

We decided to hang around Ximending area after checking out from the hotel. Last minute shopping for gifts, as well as to spend the rest of our TW dollars.

Had to go to Ah Zhong to eat it for the last time and I even bought 4 bottles of Ah Zhong Chilli back to Singapore, hee. Must try the Bubble Tea + Braised Egg.

Us, standing in the alley of Ximending. (Why did we forget to take pictures with the famous big screen?) It's here whereby Leecher bought another 2 T-shirts to add to his ever expanding collection.

Haiz, goodbye Taiwan. Will be back one day!

Epilogue: Taoyuan Airport Terminal 1 - Changi Airport Terminal 1

Us, pushing our trolley of goods. The 2 boxes that you see are local products bought @ Danshui. We spent NT$2650 at the shop. The shop-owner even packed the items into boxes, to allow us to check in. He recognised us as Singaporeans, cuz he commented that only Singaporeans will buy the goods in boxes, haha. We really exhibited our kiasu-ism well.
(We even brought 2 luggages from Singapore to pack our purchases. Total = 2 hand-carry, 1 huge backpack, 2 luggages, 2 boxes - impressive, hee)

Shopped at DFS and waited in the lounge to board the plane. Leecher was quite sad to leave, while I can't wait to be home sleeping in my comfortable bed.

So, well, that concludes the end of our holidays. Looking forward to next trip with Leecher =P

Footprints in Taiwan - Lover's Bridge

Sixteenth Stop: Yang Ming Shan

We paid a visit to Yang Ming Shan, which is located on the Beitou station.

We missed the 10am 230 bus up Yang Ming Shan, thus we had to loiter around the bus station to wait for the 1030am bus.

Finally reached Yang Ming Shan after another terrifying bus ride.

We kind of wasted 1 hr walking to Yang Ming Park, as we mistook Yang Ming Shan Park for Yang Ming Park.

Thus, in the end, we had to walk back to the Yang Ming Shan Bus Station and take bus 108 to go up Yang Ming Shan.

Scary ride up the mountains. The mini bus drivers were all females - who says only males can be Chiu Ming Shan Che Shen?

First stop: Er Zi Ping.

According to the park warren at the visitor centre, we must go and see the 2 male ducks swimming in the pond in Er Zi Ping. There was supposed to be females ducks too, but they got eaten up by the wild dogs roaming the area. Since only the males are left, how are they going to reproduce? Brokeback mountain, heehee. Quite an adapt description, since they are really situated in the mountains - LAME =)

Pic 1: Ducks swimming lesisurely in the water.
Pic 2: Duck 1 whispered to Duck 2 - I think someone is taking our pictures. Let's get out of here.
Pic 3: Ducks making a turn.
Pic 4: Ducks swimming away from us =(

This place is nice, with beautiful scenery of the trees and flowers. However, we were too cold to enjoy, thus, we just snapped a few pictures and left the place.

We walked back to the visitor centre of Er Zi Ping to wait for the shuttlebus to take us to Xiao You Keng, which is a place to see the volanic features of YMS. However, it was very cold, since we are at the top of Seven Star Mountain and fog started to form. Managed to capture some picture of Xiao You Keng before the fog sets in. Oh, the place smells like rotten eggs, due to the presence of sulphuric acid.

We decided to abandon our next 2 stops: Leng Shui Keng and Qing Tian Kang as it was starting to rain. Another regret, must visit YMS next summer to watch the cherry blossoms and the flowers.

Seventeenth Stop: New Beitou (Hot Spring)

It's a rush to New Beitou Station for the hot spring.

We were searching for this particular hotel's hotspring that I found in the internet. However, after walking 1 round, we gave up. It's here that we came across this library smacked in the middle of the park. The library is housed in a genial wood building with an environmentally friendly design, offering a perfect spot to enjoy a book in the beauty of nature. Wow, library + park = nice combination, not bad leh.

Tried the hotspring at this Sweetme Hotel.

It's a private suite which cost NT$840 for 1.5 hrs. Nice ambience and I really liked the hotspring in this super cold weather. Refreshing.

Eighteenth Stop: Danshui + Lover's Bridge

It was already over sunset when we finished the hotspring. Thus, we missed catching the sunset at Danshui. Nevertheless, we still made a trip down to Danshui, since the hopeless romantic me wanted to walk on the Lover's Bridge.

Took the ferry from Danshui to the Lover's Bridge. It costs NT$50 per person one-way. The ferry ride was ok, but we stayed inside the boat, sheltered from the strong winds.

Famished by the time we reached the Lover's Bridge. It dawned on us that we had no food since our breakfast. Saw this stall selling spicy smelly beancurd + fishballs and devoured them in less than 3 mins. The spicy smelly beancurd actually tasted quite nice, plus, it doesn't smell of SHIT, haha. The Leecher quite like it

Before setting foot on Lover's Bridge ..

Told the Leecher must hold hands while walking the Lover's Bridge, heehee.

There is a plaque with "Qing Ren Qiao", of cuz must take picture with it.

This is another place of regret, as I think I lost my newly top-up Easycard on the Bridge. Good-bye my trusty Easycard ~

Tried their braised food, but somehow, it doesn't taste that nice. Think it's too salty for my liking. But the chilli is good, super spicy. Wanted to find the prince noodles to bring back to Singapore, but can't seem to locate it.

Took the last ferry back to Danshui. Almost got a fright when water started to splash all over the boat as we were approaching the port. The ferry was rocking left to right. Initially, we thought it was pouring, but it turned out that there was a high tide. Gosh, almost scared the hell out of me.

Tried the famous "tall" ice-cream. Well, it's supposed to be tall, but since we were quite full from the food just now, we settled for the semi one that costs NT$10.

We didn't get to try Ah Gei - another regret. Well, that makes me wanna visit Taiwan soon, so that I can get to visit the places that I didn't go and try the food that I have missed. Metro ride back to Ximending with 2 boxes + 2 bags full of food.

Feeling sad because it's the last day in Taiwan tml =(